Need business cards?

Receive 10% off of business cards at Moo by using this link.  Enjoy! 

http://www.moo.com/share/mtkygx

It is good.

                Don’t tell my kids, but I don’t take them to the zoo and the aquarium just because they like it.  I like it too. Actually, I love it.   Truth be told, I could spend hours gazing at the amazing creatures that God has created, watching their habits, their relationships, their coloring.  There’s the surprisingly peaceful elegance of a school of jellyfish, the imposing presence of a hammerhead shark, and the adorable nature of a loggerhead turtle. There are lackadaisical camels asleep in the mud, ornery goats who my daughter insists are puppies, and an unending variety of fish and turtles and frogs and bugs and bison and ostriches and kangaroos that never cease to capture my attention and amazement. I love the coolness of the aquarium, where the illumination of the fish highlights their every move.  How many ways can a fish swim?  Some dart, some ooze, some seem to hang there in the eerie light, unblinking, waiting.  Waiting for what, I wonder?  Their next meal, perhaps? I love the fresh air of the zoo, where the animals almost seem to pose so I can snap a pic of the fuzzy headed ostrich or quickly catch the shy smile of a lumbering tortoise.

                Of course, with small children in tow, there is rarely time enough for anything
but a quick glimpse of the exhibit and a flash of the camera on the fly.  But I can’t complain in the slightest, because I know we’ll be back in a day or two, or maybe a week at best. And I wonder as I wander through the myriad of plants and animals about all of the studying, collecting, feeding, and animal husbandry that goes into creating these beautiful exhibits.  Men and women have spent years of their lives studying and working so that the rest of us can learn about and enjoy these intricate creatures.  I am amazed at the painstaking care that goes into each exhibit: recreating habitat, ecosystems, symbiotic relationships between particular plants and animals, water type, temperature, lighting, space…. Who can understand the complexities that go into re-creating such beautiful places to see these creatures?

                After our last trip to the aquarium, feeling simultaneously tired and satisfied and refueled by my adoration of all these things, I shambled across the cul-de-sac to get the mail.  I was contemplating the mysteries of the animal kingdom, and how each fish and animal were placed so perfectly in their particular habitat by dedicated scientists and zoo keepers. I gazed mindlessly across the field, and there, just a few feet away, was a beautiful blue heron. It carefully picked and stepped its way through the mud, giving me sideways glances now and then as it went about its business.

                And I paused.

I took a breath

and stopped 

and watched,

 because as amazing as a zoo or an aquarium might be, they all pale in comparison to what God made.  He didn’t just study and recreate habitats to show off his favorite plants and animals. He created each and every plant, bug, and animal, and he also made a place for them to live. He made their habits, their personalities, their relationships, their habitats. He placed each and every one exactly where it needed to be.

As I look across the field, and watch that graceful heron pick and choose its way around the mud, I am amazed.  It gives up its mission, and gives me once backwards glance, spreads its enormous wings, and soars away into the tree line.   And there I stand, in awe of this earth and all of the creatures in it.  Some just a few feet from my own backyard. 

God was right, you know.   He created the earth and He filled it with animals and plants and water and earth and bugs and people.  And then He declared it good.

“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” Genesis 1:31, NIV.

A few quotes and a few links for today...

As I'm writing papers or articles or devotional ideas, I'm always searching for the right quote to make my point.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Preach the Gospel always.  Use words if necessary. -attributed to St. Francis of Assisi

Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength. - Corrie Ten Boom

Today you are you, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive that is youer than you. -Dr. Suess

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. -Marilyn Monroe

What Shall We Wear to Worship?
Beauty Guru: How I Save Money on Makeup