Photo Essay: Turtles

Enjoy the photo journey of baby turtles hatching on Hawk's Bay Beach:

It usually begins with hawks, dogs and crows announcing the turtles arrival.


They begin to dig their way out. Slowly...


Slowly…


Slowly…









The hole is deep and the climb arduous.


Sometimes just one appears.


Others bunch together, pushing through to the surface.
Sometimes two...


Sometimes three…


Once free from the sand, the crawl to the ocean begins.

It's a long, tiring trail for these little guys.

Footprints from camels in the sand feel like giant crevices.

 Off to life in the adventurous sea!!!

Till next time... 

thankful for turtles, 

m

inSIGNIFICANT

 The world says,
"know yourself"
"do something meaningful"
"achieve happiness"
"avoid pain"
"find peace"
"take"
"find your significance"


The hawks circled, dogs raced, crows cawed at a spot in the sand.
We ran to the rescue. We were just in time to watch 99 baby turtles crawl up out of the sand from a hole feet below the surface. Sometimes just one would poke his head through the sand, struggling to reach the top. Other times two or three would push through together.
Months earlier, in the middle of the night, a mother turtle had returned to her hatching place to lay her own nest of eggs.  Sometimes over 100 eggs lay under the sand about two feet down, waiting for the time when the tide is high and they hatch, crawling to the surface and straight into the ocean, swimming off until the day some of them will return once again to land to lay eggs.
These little baby turtles are completely helpless. Yet they have been given the instinct to climb to the surface, crawl to the shore and swim off, no one caring for them, no one teaching them. They are small, so very small. They are seemingly insignificant, seemingly unremarkable.
Yet God displays his intricate design and involvement in these little insignificant creatures lives. He grants them the air to reach the surface from feet below. He grants them the timing to typically hatch at high tide. He's given them the ability to immediately swim off into the ocean. They are carefully designed, yet seemingly insignificant.

"Find your significance."

When presented with creatures like baby turtles, I can't help but ponder my very own existence. I was made to glorify God and enjoy him forever. If these baby turtles confirm the immense and intimate involvement of the Father in his creation, what about my life?  These creatures are without a personal relationship to the Father yet they have such careful design and beauty. How much more you and I?

For you formed my inward parts;

    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;
my soul know it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,  

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

We too have been given by God the ability to live within his perfect design. We have been created for a significance found in Christ. Though we are also weak and relatively insignificant, yet we have a role in history. God has chosen to reveal himself and the gospel through weak, broken, and sinful children he has called to be his own.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:5-11

God's design gives meaning and significance to every life. Even on the most unremarkable of days, we should stop and remember that God's sovereign plan, his purposes, and his intricate design are being fulfilled. We have been saved, made righteous reconciled and called to this ministry of reconciliation.
In Christ we have purpose.
The Father has called us to "go and make disciples."
He has told us to "abide in me."
He has commanded us to, "deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow."
He has invited us to fellowship, communion, freedom, and eternal life.
God, in Christ, has given us significance.

God's Word says,
Know the Father.
Fulfill his meaning for your life.
At his right hand is pleasure.
Deny yourself.
Trust God, he is your peace.
Give generously without expecting to be paid in return.
Christ is your significance.


Sometimes it takes seeing something small to recognize just how small we are.
Sometimes it takes seeing something seemingly insignificant to realize how significant God really is.
Sometimes it takes acknowledging the Craftsman to recognize the meaning and purpose of the craft.
Sometimes, amidst the seemingly unremarkable, we are reminded what is truly remarkable: the gospel.

Let his design amaze you.
Let his design control you.
His design is perfect.

designed by God and for God,
m

My Favorite Place

We took a few days of rest at the beach only a couple hours away from our home here.
We are so blessed to have places like this right here, in country, to just be able to relax, get away from electricity, phones, internet etc.

As we were enjoying our time together with a friend, over a lunch of Thai curry, she asked Thomas where his favorite place to go was.
After a moment or two he answered, "Hyderabad and the Cockroach (the nickname for a restaurant up in Murree)."

This is the doing of our Father, that he has given my son a love for this country. He has experienced so many places and the blessings that each one affords, yet his heart is at home when he is here, right where God has called us to be.

I am so thankful to our Father for giving Thomas this love and contentment for right here. What a wonderful reminder to us to be happy right where God has placed us, not looking to somewhere else, or someone else's life, house, family, job, education, or experiences.  God knows what he is doing and he is working for our good always, that we might become more and more like Jesus.

"Happy are the children whose God is the LORD."

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 Andthe peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4: 4-8

Thankful,
m

Eleven Years: God is Good

Twelve years ago tomorrow, Walt took me out for dinner on our first date. Vietnamese food (one of our favorite foods to date).
It was the beginning of our journey together that now has us celebrating 11 years of marriage today.
There was no way of knowing 12 years ago, that we would be where we are today.
We have lived across the United States, in 3 countries, adopted two kids, learned (continuing to learn) two languages, and seen more sorrow and joy than blogging allows.
God has been so good to us. He has given us an increasing love and desire for one another. He has granted us grace towards one another. He has privileged us with the responsibility of two precious children. He has allowed us to be part of his kingdom work and has kept us, through it all, loving one another and desiring to work hard at our marriage. God is so good.
When God first told me I was going to married Walt, I was on my way overseas. I was ready to brave the world a single woman, strong and over confident. The Lord had other plans and brought the two of us together. He has gifted us so differently that together we might be better equipped as well as stretched and challenged. I know it is for his glory and my good that God has called me to love, support and be a helper to my husband. I look forward to all that the next years have in store, not knowing where or what they will bring but fully confident that the things God has in store for us, he wants us to walk together, as husband and wife, for his glory and his kingdom.  I pray our marriage would only grow to reflect more and more the love Christ has for the church. I pray that I would love well and expect great things from the Lord. God is so good.

I am so thankful for Walt.
I'm thankful for his faithful love for me.
I'm thankful that he finds me just as beautiful now as the day we were married (more I think).
I'm thankful for his heart for others to meet and know Jesus as their Savior.
I'm thankful for his humility, that he is willing to say, "I was wrong," first and doesn't wait for me to say it!
I'm thankful for how he demonstrates grace and hope in our children's lives.
I'm thankful for his determination to stay in the Word each day.
I'm thankful for how he prays for me and with me.
I'm thankful for his patience with others, longing to see people grow.
I'm thankful for his passion for truth.
I'm thankful for his servant heart.
I'm thankful he longs to be more and more like Jesus.
I am so thankful for my husband!



God, you are so good.

m

Beasts of Burden

Coming home from a weekend with friends we took the following pictures of loads being carried along the road.  Enjoy a taste of the burdens we sometimes get to witness:

 

The loads being carried were varied.

The modes of transport diverse.

From motorcycles turned into wagons, to Suzukis loaded down with men, 

Each one is carrying a burden.

Moving crops, herds, or people.

Loaded to one side, about to fall, or perfectly balanced on a head.

Burdens carried from place to place.

Loads transferred from here to there.

From trucks fully loaded to donkey carts staggering under the weight

The loads are obvious.

Their weight unmistakeable.

And for you and me?

...Our loads being carried may vary.

The mode of transport the same.

Hearts entangled in the sin that clings, minds enslaved to thoughts unseen.

Each one is carrying a burden, 

Though the load may not be obvious.

Loaded down in unbelief, in loneliness, in worry, in anger, or disappointment.

Burdens we carry but are out of place.

We've been set free from sin, released to live.

In Christ I am truly free.

Called to run this race, looking to Jesus who endured the cross.

I'm set free to truly love, forgive, serve, give grace, compassion and kindness, patience and endurance. 

Freedom.

Running hard.

Burden free.

Weightless.

Freedom.

Joy.

  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2

No longer a "beast of burden" but set free from slavery to freedom in Christ, 

m

The Keeping of Traditions

I have struggled over the years to create meaningful traditions in our family.
We begin things one year, only to have moved to a new city the next making the traditions no longer possible.

On thing we have kept over the years at Christmas is some kind of advent celebration. The idea of lighting candles just makes evening devotions that much more inviting and anticipated. Advent has looked different from year to year, but we have always been able to do something.

This year Thomas was once again an integral part to the creation of our advent wreath. As we rolled out the clay, braided our wreath and got busy with the painting, I asked him what each color was going to signify as we celebrate Christ's coming.

Here are his chosen colors and meanings:

Green: Jesus lived on the earth
Red: Jesus died for our sin
Blue: For the party because Jesus is alive
Yellow: Jesus is the light of the world

So each night as we light our candle and continue on in our family devotions we are reminded that Jesus lived and died that we might have life. He is alive and he is a light in a very dark world.

Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!

Jesus! Lover of my soul;

Friends may fail me, foes assail me,

He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Hallelujah! what a Savior!

Hallelujah! what a Friend!

Saving, helping, keeping, loving,

He is with me to the end.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!

Let me hide myself in Him.

Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,

He, my Strength, my victory wins.

Refrain

Jesus! what a Help in sorrow!

While the billows over me roll,

Even when my heart is breaking,

He, my Comfort, helps my soul.

Refrain

Jesus! what a Guide and Keeper!

While the tempest still is high,

Storms about me, night overtakes me,

He, my Pilot, hears my cry.

Refrain

Jesus! I do now receive Him,

More than all in Him I find.

He hath granted me forgiveness,

I am His, and He is mine.

Refrain

Regardless of the tradition, I'm thankful today for a little boy who knows the meaning of our Christmas celebrations. I'm thankful for Jesus who has made me his friend, is my guide, my helper and my keeper.

I'm thankful for Christmas and the chance to remember Christ's coming has changed the course of my life and that of history, bringing God and man together. I am so thankful for Jesus!

How about you? What traditions do you have that have tested the trial of time, transition, and change?

m

Undeserving Part 2

Life continues.
But does the feeling of "undeserving"?

My mom sent this quote from Elizabeth Elliot's book, A Path Through Suffering:

"Faith need never ask, “But what good did this do me?”  Faith already knows that everything that happens fits into a pattern for good to those who love God.  An inconvenience is always, whether we see it or not, a blessed inconvenience.  We may rest in the promise that God is fitting together a good many more things than are any of our business.  We need never see “what good it did,” or how a given trouble accomplished anything.  It is peace to leave it all with Him, asking only that He do with me anything He wants, anywhere, anytime, that God may be glorified."

Life's pain and suffering, whether they be deep losses or unexpected inconveniences are all part of the plan of a loving Father, working for my good. God keeps his promises. God never lies. God is in control and this life is all for his glory.

There are days when my heart asks the Father, "Why?" And there are days where I rest in the knowledge that my Father's design is better than mine. 

Then there are days where I am stopped dead in my tracks as I encounter others stories of faith while walking through pain and suffering. 

 Just last week I saw this stone of remembrance:

Faith. Trusting his grace through the loss of 4 children in only 7 years of service. Do I have faith like that? Do I have faith that keeps me recognizing how undeserving I am? Is my faith such that my heart will not grow hard, or weary? Will my faith last through the test of time, trial, and temptations? Faith?

God calls me to have faith and to enter his rest, believe his power, his promises, his plan and his provision.

Unbelief keeps me from entering that rest. 

Unbelief hardens my heart. 

Unbelief says, "I am undeserving of this suffering or inconvenience." 

Unbelief causes me to ask, "Why God, is this happening?" 

Unbelief leads me to believe in my own power, my own plan, and my own provision. 

Unbelief puts me in the place of the Potter, designing rather than being designed.

Faith. My cry to the Father is much like that of the father in Mark 9:24, "I believe. Help my unbelief."

I am undeserving, help my unbelief.

I am suffering, help my unbelief.

I am weak, help my unbelief.

I am unable, help my unbelief.

You are my hope, help my unbelief.

You are the Potter, help my unbelief.

You keep your promises, help my unbelief.

Your ways are good, help my unbelief.

You are all powerful, help my unbelief.

Your plans will stand, help my unbelief.

Your grace is sufficient, help my unbelief

My needs you will supply, help my unbelief

Your design is best, help my unbelief.

I enter into your rest, help my unbelief.

I'm trusting only Jesus, help my unbelief.

I believe. Help my unbelief.

Believing God, 

m