"As a piece of art suggests an artist, the orderly universe and every living thing suggest a Designer."

-Dr. David A. Noebel

Beautiful isn't it! This is one of the many incredible creatures we saw at the Minnesota Zoo yesterday! It inspired be to post a "Glory Blog". This leafy sea dragon propels itself by means of a fin on the ridge of its neck and a fin on its back closer to the tail end. You can hardly see these two small fins that are all it needs to move through the water. What an amazing Designer!
It makes me think of the verse, "And why take ye thought for raiment?...even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these...Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, [shall he] not much more [clothe] you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is] the evil thereof. " Matthew 6:28-34

"And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind...and God saw that it was good...

Coleton & Sarina (above) Monkeys (below)

I think this guy had a crush on me. I've never had such an easy subject to photograph! Look at those eyes. Don't they just make you want to take him home with you? Maybe I'm going a little to far, but, they are pretty cute.

...And God made the beast of the earth after his kind,...and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that [it was] good." Genesis 1:21

Dreams

What do we long for and dream of? What is BIG to us? What consumes our thoughts and makes our heart rate accelerate? Has this dream or longing come to the point of taking our attention from God? Has it stifled our love for God? Has our intimacy with God eroded away, similar to a marriage gone bad. If I had a few moments to spare, what would I choose to do? There are so many choices: Surf the internet, e-mail friends, plunge myself into various hobbies, go for a run, hang with friends or family... Giving Jesus first claim on my spare time has really been a challenge for me lately! Why is it so easy to put these other things before God? Why am I adoring them more than God? Material possessions, people, popularity, beauty, food, and sports give only temporal satisfaction, but, why do they seem so BIG?
This last week we had my niece and nephew staying with us. If you've ever experienced the extremely annoying reaction of a toddler who has their precious toy taken away, I imagine you have an idea of what it's like to be in God's position when He exposes the startling truth that the temporal things we've put our trust in are taken away. When people let us down, our external beauty starts to fade, or we loose our athletic or mental abilities we are left depressed or angry. But, that is when God is able to show us the selfishness within our dreams and desires, the nature within our own hearts. When we come to this realization our reaction should be to repent and ask God to forgive us and commit ourselves to Him as all-sufficient. Then He can fill up the place of people or things that fail us. I'm loving these verses today so I'm going to close my thoughts with them:

"Blessed [is] the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is."
Jeremiah 17:7

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet.
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.