All Creatures

Do you remember the old hymn that starts, ‘All creatures of our God and King, Lift up your voice and with us sing Alleluia, alleluia?’ It is said to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi and paraphrased by William Draper. It continues to admonish the sun, moon, wind, clouds, morning, and lights of evening to praise God. ‘All ye saints of tender heart’ are told to forgive others, take part in singing praises, and cast their cares on God. The last stanza says, ‘Let all things their Creator bless and worship Him in humbleness.’

U-Turn

Ronald and I are enjoying our little creatures around the place. I have two swallow nests on the front porch. I wish the birds wouldn’t run away when we go out. I try to tell them how pretty they are.

Yes, I am a crazy old lady. But they are very useful considering they eat from 850 to over 2000 mosquitoes per day. Living on the lake like we do, I am thankful God is providing non-toxic pest control!

And they are so graceful and beautifully colored. As I am not graceful in any way, I especially admire their soaring maneuvers.

According to Antonio Cruz in the Evangelical Focus, they predict weather with their flight patterns, and are able to navigate thousands of miles, sometimes over 620 miles a day! In Psalms 84, Mr. Cruz says swallows ‘are an example of the love of God, who allows even such small and insignificant creatures to build their nests next to the sanctuary.’

I pray mine are left alone, though I will be providing a craft of hanging discs for those who want to discourage their presence. I will feel guilty, but that will be more ‘stuff’ I am getting out of my garage. My picture of the little lady sitting on her nest was horrible, and I don’t want to disturb her, so I swiped an image from LycoBirds website. You can see how creative God was with the coloring.

Today, I saw the cutest little guy by the mailbox. I would have picked up the snail and brought him home, but I was afraid my swallows would have had him for lunch. You can’t really tell from the picture how cute he was. The tans adorning the little shell contrasted beautifully with the reddish-brown little head poking out.

I have yet to see my alligators in the lake. Can you imagine how people would freak out if the creatures actually lived here instead of just in my imagination? Mercy!

Sometimes, we take for granted the things God has created. Talk about imagination! His is over the top! And I love it! I love thinking about it. I love being able to enjoy what He has provided.

So –

I will sing and worship because of God’s creativity. Join me in singing, Alleluia! Alleluia!

Psalm 150:6   ‘Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!’

Blessings

Kara Beth