All Creation Can Be Our Teacher

I took a short walk outside today. It is raining now, and I thought I might like to be out for a short time before the rain hit. It always amazes me at the lessons God can show us and teach us in His creation if we look with spiritual eyes. When I think of all that goes on around me, it totally amazes and awes me at how BIG God really is. He orchestrates all the seasons and the trees, and the animals, and the weather and makes it all work together.

Here is one lesson I saw this morning. I have posted pictures several times lately of my broody hen who was sitting on eggs. I knew there was little chance the eggs were fertilized since she no longer hangs out with my other chickens. However, God placed in her the need to set on eggs and be broody. She did not question this. She OBEYED. This is what God designed her to do. She left the results up to God, but she just obeyed. That is what He wants from us. 1 Sam 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. Here she is sitting somewhere else (not being broody). She sat the amount of time she was called to and now she has moved on. I know she sat longer than the 21 days it would take to hatch a chick. She has been released to go on to other things. I know she is a chicken and not a human, but isn't that what we are called to do?

We don't always get to be planted where we would like to be. I have a dream that may never come true. It is OK if it never comes true, but it is still a desire of mine. I would like to live on a small farm in the mountains. I can picture the beautiful views, the quaint little farm, my 1947 blue chevy pick up truck with little wooden stakes on the bed. However, right now, I am not planted there. I can't wait to live life until I live in my dream, but I need to bloom and be fruitful right where I am. Here are 2 sunflowers growing up out of our burn pile. We have not burned anything in it for awhile because of the drought. The ground is too dry and we could cause a major fire. Look at the ugliness that surrounds these 2 flowers. God told that seed it was time to grow and it did not question where God had put it. It is blooming right where it was planted. If the weather holds, it may bloom there. Am I doing all that I can right here in Ohio on my farm with a tiny bit of a nice view, and barns that desparately need painted and piles of junk that need to be hauled off and all the other not so pretty things around me.

The rest of these are mostly just pictures. I am sure there are some lessons here if I look hard enough. Here are the 3 little calves out resting in the pasture. They love to lay down and be a bit hidden in taller grass. This is an instinct that God has given them for protection. Maybe I see a lesson here after all. We are also given protections. One of the biggest protections we are given is to stay under our God given authority. Jesus always kept Himself under the authority of His Father. Men are under Christ's authority, woman are under their husband/father's authority and children are under their parents authority. We are given protections when we stay there. When children rebel, or wives don't stay under their husbands, we open ourselves up to attacks from the devil. The 10 Commandments were given to us as a protection. Many look at them as a list of things they are barred from, thus it is a negative thing. I look at them as protections that God so lovingly set up for me.

Two of the dogs were in the house as this walk was impromptu and they did not go out the door with me. However, 2 cats and Belle did go on the walk with me.

Here is a sign that is on my driveway. There used to be a handpainted sign that hung above this. We need to find it and hang it back up. People come flying up our driveway. Once they go beyond this point, it is open and that is usually where any visiting children or the dogs are. If they pay attention to the sign, then chances are that nothing bad will happen. Again, in life, God gives us warnings. If we choose to not read His Word or listen to the warnings given then bad things can happen. I am not saying that bad things never happen to Christians. That is not true. However, some of those bad things we bring on ourselves because we refuse to obey or heed the warning signs God gives us.

Here are some leaves. These oak leaves haven't begun to change yet at all.

This little maple is snuggled in amongst the oaks and hickorys. It has started to change its colors and also to shed many of its leaves.

Here is a hickory. These leaves never get very pretty in the fall. They turn a sort of dirty brownish yellow and then fall off.

Here is a young black walnut tree. It has very little foliage down low in the woods, but it has stretched up into this open bit of the canopy. It is still fully green as well.

Here is another type of oak. It has not started changing either.

I am not sure what this is, as I did not get close enough to see the leaves. It is probaby a type of maple.

This is leaves from one of my dogwood trees. You can see the little bud like ends in a couple of places. They usually get red berries as well. This one had no berries this year.... at least so far.