Tag: CREATION

Christian, women

God’s Fascinating Creation

Cindy Dawson

The sun doesn’t look that big because it’s so far away (93 million miles away!) But, did you know that the sun is huge compared to the Earth? If the sun were the size of a basketball, the Earth would be the size of a small dot 2.2 millimeters across! The photo below puts it in perspective. (The blue sphere represents the Earth. The orange ball represents the sun.)

I Love the Universe

If an airplane could survive near the 5,800 K photosphere of the sun, its trip around the sun at 600 mph would take 4,522.33 hours … or 6.25 months. Compare that to the 5 1/2 hours it takes to fly from New York to California.

Space.com

When you add to that knowledge the fact that the sun is a star and many of the the stars we observe in the night sky are even larger than the sun, we can begin to appreciate the magnificence of God’s creation. The stars look like tiny points of light only because they are so far, far away. Did you know that God has named each and every star? Wow!

“He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name.” Psalm 147:4 NIV

I usually take my dog, Henry, for a short walk before we go to bed. I love to look up at the stars and reflect on the greatness of God and His magnificent creation.

I like to think about how huge those stars are and how far away they are. Do you know what you are really looking at when you gaze at the stars?

What appears to be a tiny little star is really a huge celestial ball (some larger than the sun) 4 light years away. That means when you see that star, you are seeing what it looked like 4 years ago because that’s how long it takes the light to travel to where you are standing. That’s far away! Yet we can see it with the naked eye!

(A light-year is the distance a beam of light travels in a single Earth year, or 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).)

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1 NIV

The more I learn about the universe, the more I stand in awe of God’s awesome power and grand design.

“When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4 NIV

Related: The Amazing Night Sky

With Love, Cindy

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Featured Image Photo by David Monje on Unsplash

Night sky Photo by Sleep Music on Unsplash

realchristianwomen.blog  

Christian

Tuesday’s Verse, 4/13/21

Cindy Dawson

“When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,
 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4 NIV

With Love, Cindy

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Juri Noga on Unsplash

realchristianwomen.blog  

Christian

Monday’s Verse, 3/22/21

Cindy Dawson

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 NIV

With Love, Cindy

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Photo by Pascal Müller on Unsplash

realchristianwomen.blog  

Christian

Be Still and Know That I Am God

Cindy Dawson

I’m a To-Do List,  planner, scheduled-day kind of person. I didn’t realize how much until recently.

It was early in the morning, about 6:00, when I let my dog, Bella, out the back door. Sunny skies, a gentle breeze, and the sweet sound of birds singing greeted me. I sat down on my little black bench to enjoy it for a minute.

I already had coffee in hand, so I drank it outside instead of hurrying into my office. Suddenly, a hummingbird darted past and paused to drink from the bright pink Hibiscus bloom peaking out from my neighbor’s balcony.

A baby bunny hopped out of the cornfield and looked around. A striking red cardinal flew to my bird feeder and looked me right in the eye. “Are you going to put any seed in this feeder or what?” he seemed to say.

A bright yellow Monarch fluttered by. It was like God had orchestrated his creation to entertain me. I couldn’t leave my seat.

After a while, this Scripture came to me, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

I sat peacefully, obediently, enjoying the beauty right outside my door. My brain stopped buzzing around like it was on fire.

Then, God reminded me that His plan is never what a person thinks it will be. Abraham didn’t know that Sarah would give him a son in her old age. Jacob didn’t know he would have to work twenty years for Laban before he could leave with Rachel. And Joseph could never imagined that God’s plan would land him in prison. But all these things were part of God’s plan!

If these men of God were like me, they would have been thinking that it was all their fault that things were working out so badly. But God’s will was being accomplished through ordinary, imperfect men – in spite of their flaws.

I learned something important that day. Sometimes I just need to slow down, quiet my brain, and observe God’s creation. It reminds me that He is God. And I might hear that still, small voice.

“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12

With Love, 

Cindy

This Is My Journey Unscripted.

(Re-posted from July, 2018)

Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog  

reblogged from archives

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Christian

Be Still and Know That I Am God

Cindy Dawson

I’m a To-Do List,  planner, scheduled-day kind of person. I didn’t realize how much until recently.

It was early in the morning, about 6:00, when I let my dog, Bella, out the back door. Sunny skies, a gentle breeze, and the sweet sound of birds singing greeted me. I sat down on my little black bench to enjoy it for a minute.

I already had coffee in hand, so I drank it outside instead of hurrying into my office. Suddenly, a hummingbird darted past and paused to drink from the bright pink Hibiscus bloom peaking out from my neighbor’s balcony.

A baby bunny hopped out of the cornfield and looked around. A striking red cardinal flew to my bird feeder and looked me right in the eye. “Are you going to put any seed in this feeder or what?” he seemed to say.

A bright yellow Monarch fluttered by. It was like God had orchestrated his creation to entertain me. I couldn’t leave my seat.

After a while, this Scripture came to me, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

I sat peacefully, obediently, enjoying the beauty right outside my door. My brain stopped buzzing around like it was on fire.

Then, God reminded me that His plan is never what a person thinks it will be. Abraham didn’t know that Sarah would give him a son in her old age. Jacob didn’t know he would have to work twenty years for Laban before he could leave with Rachel. And Joseph could never imagined that God’s plan would land him in prison. But all these things were part of God’s plan!

If these men of God were like me, they would have been thinking that it was all their fault that things were working out so badly. But God’s will was being accomplished through ordinary, imperfect men – in spite of their flaws.

I learned something important that day. Sometimes I just need to slow down, quiet my brain, and observe God’s creation. It reminds me that He is God. And I might hear that still, small voice.

“And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:11-12

With Love, 

Cindy

This Is My Journey Unscripted.

(Re-posted from July, 2018)

Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog  

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

A Verse For Today

A Verse For Today, 9/12/19

Cindy Dawson

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:1-3 NIV


With Love, 

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This Is My Journey Unscripted.

Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog  

Many thanks to Jan Trabue for Photos!

prayer

My Morning Prayer of Thanks

Cindy Dawson

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you . . . Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?” Job 12:7-9

Watching the birds from my porch always brings me closer to God. I wrote a poem this morning based on what I saw.

Lord, Thank you for my birds so sweet. Thank you for the food they eat.

Thank you that she has a mate. A lovely male to share her plate.

Thank you for the songs they sing – praises to our Lord and King.

Doves pick up the seed below. Your plan, O God, that all will grow.

The Crows, they are so very smart. They make a tool to get all parts.

Purple Martins dart about. Eating insects – without a doubt.

I say, my birds – but they are yours. Shared with me, all doubts to cure.

Did You Know?

  1. When Bluebirds have an early brood, chicks of the first brood may stay back and help raise the young of the second brood.*
  2. New Caledonian crows can make and use hook tools – the only species other than humans to do so!**
  3. Mockingbirds can precisely imitate the complex songs of hundreds of other species.* When I was a little girl, my dad passed by a mockingbird every morning on his walk to work. He started whistling to the bird, and then one day the bird whistled the exact same song back to him!

With Love, 

AA55AA1F-EA36-49A9-92BE-41FD67348618

This Is My Journey Unscripted.

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

Photos from Unsplash

*Birds of Kentucky Field Guide by Stan Tekiela

**The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman

realchristianwomen.blog  

Christian

Be Still and Know That I Am God

Cindy Dawson

(Although it didn’t make my Top Ten, this is one of my favorite blogs from last year. I hope you like it, too!)

I’m a To-Do List,  planner, scheduled-day kind of person. I didn’t realize how much until recently.

It was early in the morning, about 6:00, when I let my dog, Bella, out the back door. Sunny skies, a gentle breeze, and the sweet sound of birds singing greeted me. I sat down on my little black bench to enjoy it for a minute.

I already had coffee in hand, so I drank it outside instead of hurrying into my office. Suddenly, a hummingbird darted past and paused to drink from the bright pink Hibiscus bloom peaking out from my neighbor’s balcony.

A baby bunny hopped out of the cornfield and looked around. A striking red cardinal flew to my bird feeder and looked me right in the eye. “Are you going to put any seed in this feeder or what?” he seemed to say.

A bright yellow Monarch fluttered by. It was like God had orchestrated his creation to entertain me. I couldn’t leave my seat.

After a while, this Scripture came to me, “Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

I sat peacefully, obediently, enjoying the beauty right outside my door. My brain stopped buzzing around like it was on fire.

Then, God reminded me that His plan is never what a person thinks it will be. Abraham didn’t know that Sarah would give him a son in her old age. Jacob didn’t know he would have to work twenty years for Laban before he could leave with Rachel. And Joseph could never imagined that God’s plan would land him in prison. But all these things were part of God’s plan!

If these men of God were like me, they would have been thinking that it was all their fault that things were working out so badly. But God’s will was being accomplished through ordinary, imperfect men – in spite of their flaws.

I learned something important that day. Sometimes I just need to slow down, quiet my brain, and observe God’s creation. It reminds me that He is God. And I might hear that still, small voice.

“And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19: 11-12 KJV

With Love, 

Cindy

This is My Journey Unscripted.

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog 

Photo by dfkt on Unsplash

Christian

The Amazing Night Sky!

Cindy Dawson

Did you know that every star you see in the night sky is bigger and brighter than the Sun? The Sun is a dwarf star, but it’s much closer to us than the stars we see at night. In fact, the bright star Deneb, which is prominent in the evening skies of Fall and Winter, is 19 quadrillion miles away.¹

If we will take the time to contemplate God’s creation – watch it and think about it, His majesty and power will astound us.

You will see things you never noticed before. And that, will bring you closer to the heart of God. So let’s all slow down and take a closer look at what God has made. It’s pretty amazing.

God spoke: “Lights! Come out!
Shine in Heaven’s sky!”²

BOOM!

To see what happened next, watch this dramatic time-lapse video of the night sky.

CAUTION: WATCHING THIS VIDEO CAN MAKE YOU WANT TO QUIT YOUR JOB AND BECOME AN ASTRONOMER!

The Incredible Night Sky

SCRIPTURE REFERENCES

“I sing for joy at the works of your hands.” Psalm 92:4 NIV

“Lord, our Lord,
    how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory
    in the heavens…

3 When I consider your heavens,
    the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
    which you have set in place,

4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:1,3,4 NIV

What did you think of the video? Are you ready to quit your job?

With Love, Cindy

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog 

¹http://earthsky.org/space/ten-things-you-may-not-know-about-stars

²Genesis 1:14 MSG

Photo Credit: Ryan Hutton, Unsplash

Christian

Quieting Our Minds to Listen

Cindy Dawson

In a busy, loud, and stressful world, where we live by notes and to-do lists, phone messages and electronic calendars, and where racing thoughts are accepted as normal, God wants us to stop and take time to listen to His voice.

For me, that has meant quieting my mind, and that’s not easy to do. I am learning to do this by observing nature (especially birds) and listening to the sounds from my porch (pictured above).

God is teaching me to listen to Him. He is doing this by taking me outside to watch the display of His creation. He is speaking to me there as I focus on the wonder of what I see.

It was hard at first because, you know, I had so much to do. But it is getting easier as I realize the rewards.

Something special happened this morning. The Purple Martins darted about excitedly, swooping and turning on a dime. I wrote a thank-you for the “bird show” in my prayer notebook.

I got up and moved the small bird bath I had set out. The birds refuse to drink out of it, so sometimes I move it, hoping they will accept it in a different location. But after two years, I haven’t seen a bird drink out of it one time.

At my previous home I had so many birds drinking from my bird bath that I didn’t even need to put out seed. I considered praying for the birds to drink from the little bird bath here. I picked by my prayer notebook to write this down,  but I didn’t. I thought, “This isn’t important enough to write in my prayer notebook.”

A few minutes later, a tiny wren flew to the bird bath and drank! I couldn’t believe it! God spoke to my heart, “Even when you don’t ask, I know what you desire.”

Am I special to God? Yes! Are you special to God? Yes, you are! He will speak to us if we will listen.

It will still be difficult for me to take time out of my morning to sit and listen, but God has shown me that He will meet me there. In fact, I’m already looking forward to what I will see and hear as fall and winter approaches!

I’m not going to lie. When school starts back on August 6, it will be much harder to start the day like this. I’ll let you know how it goes.

“Be still, and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;” 
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.

Psalm 139:1-4

How have you learned to hear God? Have you found it difficult, like I have, to stop and be still? Any suggestions? Please share. I would love to hear from you.

With Love, 

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This is My Journey Unscripted.

Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?

realchristianwomen.blog