There is a Cost to Feeding Self

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Lynn

IMG_1304Since we began our “Great Adventure”, one thing my husband and I have not lacked is FOOD.  Oh my!  We will have to go on an immediate diet when we get back to our Albertan Abode.  In every restaurant we have eaten in here in the States, I’m convinced the portion sizes for one would feed a family of four!  I generally take at least one half to two-thirds of my meal home and feast on the leftovers the next day with my husband.  Not to mention the meals I prepare in our little home-away-from home when camping; we have taken to eating only two meals a day: a mid-morning brunch and a late supper.  Eating more than that would definitely cost us in excessive poundage that would take months of work to get rid of once we got home.  There is definitely a negative cost to feeding self!

A few days ago we walked along the famous Las Vegas Strip and I couldn’t help but say the same thing there: there is a cost to feeding self.  In a town famous for indulging the whims and wants of people, “Sin City” lives up to its name.  Although absolutely grandiose in its architectural facades from the Statue of Liberty replica at the New York, New York Hotel, to the two-story guitar at the entrance to the Hard Rock Café, everything is meant to lure and captivate, and from the crowds there on the Strip it obviously works!

My husband and I walked up and down the street and felt intimidated by all the sights and sounds.  There is a dark side to Vegas and it was impossible not to notice the scantily dressed men and women on billboards and the neon flash of lights promising instant winners at gaming tables.  The saying that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” might be a catchy slogan for any city or town that caters to satisfying the selfish desires of people who want to participate in selfish and sinful pursuits but it is not necessarily a true statement because “what happens in Vegas (or any other City), does not stay in Vegas”.  There are always negative results that follow a person, sometimes for a lifetime, when they indulge in sin.  Unfortunately a better way to encapsulate what we found on the Strip was, “every man for himself and if it feels good do it, no matter the consequences”!  With that kind of attitude it’s easy to conclude that there is always going to be a negative cost to feeding self!

We walked past many street people who held up signs asking for hand-outs.  Even in a town dominated by money and opulence there are the working poor and the very destitute.  Although we know from our experience with panhandling in Calgary that many of those street people are just looking for money to feed addictions, others are panhandlers who entertain to attract attention.  Here in Vegas we passed one man who held up a sign reading:

Need money!  Wife got a sex change operation and ran off with my girlfriend!

What does one say to that??

On the drive back to our campsite in Boulder City, about twenty minutes outside of Las Vegas, we pondered upon what we had experienced there on the Strip.  Certainly the sights are spectacular but I had to admit I was more impressed by what we saw off the Strip than on it.

We passed several large and what appeared to be thriving churches with parking lots full of cars.  It is obvious that people recognize that their city, like any other, need Jesus Christ.

We stopped for gas at a self-serve station and a young man ran up to our truck and asked if he could wash our windows.  He didn’t ask for a tip, but he did such an excellent job of it that my husband said he was glad to pay him for his effort.  In every store we’ve been in here the customer service has been exceptional…you can’t help but be impressed!  In our campsite, our T.V. was not picking up the cable channels and two park attendants came to help us discover why.  When we still could not connect due to the analog technology not being compatible with our T.V., one of the men said we could borrow his T.V. for the duration of our stay here.  That’s selflessness and THAT impression will stay with us forever.

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”  Philippians 2:3-4

And so our Great Adventure continues…

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Breathtaking Worship

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Lynn

My husband and I have spent several days in California on our “Great Adventure”.  We spent some time7463_10151546991563773_88616891_n near Monterey and even did some whale watching off the coast near a small town called Moss Landing where we were camped.  I had the privilege of seeing a great humpback whale breach beside the boat.  I didn’t capture the breach on film, only the splash after but it was still breathtaking!

At the end of that experience, I praised God for allowing me the privilege of seeing such an amazing sight!

Camped in Soledad Canyon later that week, my husband and I took our usual nightly stroll around the campsite and heard music.  Curious, we came across twenty tents or so lined up in a neat horseshoe design and a group of Hispanic women singing.  We couldn’t understand a word they were singing, but it was obvious by their raised arms and the familiarity of one chorus, they were worshipping the Lord there.  My husband and I respectfully silent spectators, listened to their songs and to their speaker read from Scripture.  We worshipped with them from a distance and felt God’s presence close to us.  I didn’t understand any of the Spanish spoken but it was still breathtaking!   We went back to our campsite and praised God for allowing us the privilege to see these group of women worship and be a part of that experience.

I am far away from my church family and I miss them, however I was struck by the fact that night in Soledad Canyon that the Lord is with us wherever we go and we may worship Him anywhere and at anytime.  Note: I am NOT saying that people do not need to go to church to worship God.  It is important to come together regularly and worship as believers so that we may build one another up.  (1 Corinthians 14:26)

I AM saying that in my opinion, worship is not merely confined to Sunday morning church services.  It is constant and ongoing!  We have been praising God from the Rocky Mountains to the Desert Flats and all the vistas in between and it’s been amazing!

Psalm 150:6 reads, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.”

Wherever we are, whatever we do, we remember to worship and praise the Lord and it’s always…

Breathtaking!

“…speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Ephesians 5:19-20

 

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Avenue of Giants

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Lynn

IMG_1129Two weeks into our “Great Adventure” as we have come to call our fall holiday south into the U.S., we walked among Giants today…Redwood Giants that is.  We are in a campground near Redcrest, California on the Avenue of Giants.  On this, the Lord’s Day, we walked in the shadow of those magnificent trees that are hundreds of years old.  I tried to take pictures, but I realized that these Giants must be experienced first hand, I could not capture their awesomeness in a simple picture.

As I stood in a grove surrounded by the Redwoods, there was a silence I had not experienced before.  The trees’ branches intertwined overhead blocking out sunlight as well as all noise from the road.  All I could think about as I stood in my smallness under their canopy was that I was walking on hallowed ground.

I whispered to my husband, “If only these trees could talk.”  What have they seen and experienced these hundreds of years?  The “Immortal Tree”, as locals have named it is close to 1000 years old and has survived a forest fire, a lightening strike, a logger’s axe and a flood and that is only its recorded history during THIS century.  What tales could it tell from a thousand years ago?

Greatness must be experienced.  I learned that today from these Redwood Giants.  Pictures, even words, do not do these trees justice.  There is a majestic quality to these sentinels.  They speak of the past, present and they will continue to speak through the ages.

A scripture came to mind, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.   Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4

The Redwoods spoke and I experienced His greatness today.

 

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