Surrounded and Wrapped - Derksen

God shows His love for us every day and in many ways. He created us as individuals so treats us accordingly. What sends one person to his or her knees in awe, doesn't turn the head of the next person. 

But yesterday, I looked out my window to see a dense fog. More importantly, it was what the fog left on everything in sight that caused me to stand and stare, hardly taking a breath as I enjoyed the sight. The white flakes that covered everything were so large that when I took my camera out later for some exclusive shots of this Manitoba morning, you could see individual flakes on the branches. God had done some decorating while I slept and my world couldn't have been prettier.

Trees brimmed with white flocking, trees prettier than anyone could manufacture. Chain link fences had white wire instead of the standard galvanized steel color. Everywhere you looked, nature was coated as if it had been decorated for the perfect Christmas card.

Once in a while I like to strap on some scuba tanks and take a horizontal stroll through God's underwater world, especially in the tropics. Pink sea fans wave to their own rhythm while black barracuda hang upside down watching all the funny looking humans who invade their territory. Colorful angel fish swim nearby in vibrant hues of blue, yellow, and green with tinges of red. Sting Ray wave their tails as they carry on in their hunt for food while nurse sharks squiggle by looking for their next feast.

Ocean currents bring schools of fish in a variety of sizes who look through my face mask wondering what this strange creator will do next. The water in the tropics is clear most days, unless a storm is within a five hundred mile radius, so visibility allows me to see other divers nearby, gracefully moving through this underwater kingdom.

My husband and I do some traveling every summer and it doesn't matter where we go, there is plenty of beautiful scenery to enjoy. From barren, sandy badlands in South Dakota to tropical alligator swamps in Florida, God has decorated our world for our pleasure because He loves us and wants to give us the desires of our heart.

On a recent, rather fruitless trip to capture some of Manitoba's winter landscape, God placed some graceful deer in my path. I watched as they nibbled on plants nearby and they watched to make sure all I was doing was taking photos. God knew how much I enjoy wildlife so there they were. His love for me knows no bounds. That's why I choose to seek Him before making a decision or before beginning my day.

God placed His mark on us before we existed. On a recent trip to the Creation museum in Kentucky, I listened to a lecture about the glue that holds all our cells together. It's called laminen, is microscopic, and is shaped like a cross.  Imagine! I love that we are branded, even if it's microscopic, telling all of creation that we belong to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Don't you?