Some Pictures of God’s Magnificent Creation

“FINALLY!” we both exclaimed as our new camera was unboxed and marveled at, "we can take pictures again, our blogposts will be more numerous and prettier!"

We took so many pictures in the last two days because of our new camera and we want to show you some of what we did!

Pronounced Choy-ya, these things look like teddy bears, but are something you definitely do not want to touch, as evidenced in the next picture.

As Karisa was trying to take close up pictures of these cuddly plants, one tried to hug her foot!

This is a desert wood rat's nest, basically just old cholla bits and pieces scattered around so larger predators don't try to get them, snakes however aren't deterred by them.

This is what the inside of the trunk of the Cholla looks like when the "bark" has fallen off.

Another picture letting you see God's engineering side come out.

And they're hollow

These things are big too!

They have flowers as well. The natives in older times would take sticks to get the flowers off the plants, then they would steam and eat them.

They were everywhere!

Pinto Mountian off on the horizon

A very cool rock formation, known as the Arch

A 360 view of behind the Arch

The shadows were fun to play with!

Some neat bright green, something we aren't used to anymore!

The next few pictures are of these

Miniature effect on the camera is neat

On the way home we saw this fun creature crawling across the road! That is a water bottle next to it for size comparison.

 

So, these are just a few of the pictures from yesterday I hope you enjoy them.

A Different October

Usually around this time of year I would be wearing jeans, socks and jackets again. But a new place with new surroundings and a new climate have chosen otherwise, now the new normal is still putting shorts on, hanging clothes on the clothesline, and planting seeds.

Going outside still means sweating, and drinking lots of water, but it’s slightly more bearable, shorts and a t-shirt make sense still! Projects are underway at school and at home, a raised bed garden, a bookshelf, and organization for tools that were just piled into a box. The garden looks great and we already have a dozen sprouts to keep our hopes up. The bookshelf is something to make our home a little more homely and the organization in the garage is to keep me happy.

Sadly there are no pictures of any of these things because our 8 year old camera has finally called it quits. Thanks for reading this short little update.

Emil out -

Life-Giving Moisture

Earlier this week we were blessed with rain! While it made for a couple of extremely hot and humid days (especially in the gym), the precipitation presented the ground with a chance at new life. I used to think of the desert as this bland and changeless ecosystem. Now my eyes have been opened to the beauty and miracle of the rain that can, in the course of a few hours, transform the surrounding landscape. Our backyard, for instance, went from a brown and barren sand lot to, well, still a sand lot but with a fabulous faint carpet of grass. Though small, even a few clusters of small yellow flowers have sprung new life! It amazes me to realize that when it is dry and hot as it has been since we moved here, seeds remain dormant just waiting for God to bless them with enough moisture to produce incredible life.

The same can be said of my walk with Christ. There are many times when I experience drought. The drying process occurs over a long period of time and I barely take notice of the Living Water that I am lacking. Before long, I am withered and despaired, seeking answers and longing for renewal. Then God sends me a thoughtful friend, an applicable devotional, or that perfect sermon and it is like the springs of God’s love are flung open when in reality it is the floodgates of my heart that are once again opened wide, ready to seek and receive God’s will for my life.

I know that in time this new life in the desert will shrivel and burn but it makes me so grateful that Christ nourishes me with his living water. For he said: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13-14

Yay for flowers!

Desert Living: The Good the Bad and the Not So Ugly

It’s been 3 whole weeks since we moved to Yucca Valley, yay! With a week of the school routine under our belt and a few weeks since settling into our house, I thought I’d share some differences/trials/excitement that come with living in the “Hi Desert”.

a Joshua Tree in Joshua Tree National Park

1. Because of our higher elevation of 3,369 feet (that’s 1,566 feet higher in elevation than Montague township, the highest town in New Jersey) it’s very important to stay hydrated. It doesn’t matter if we’re simply running a couple of quick errands in town, we always take a water bottle with us, EVERYWHERE.

2. Our relative humidity has been between 18 and 30%, much more dry than the East Coasts’ typical humidity above 60%. Here are a few benefits of living in a low humidity climate: 

a. frizzy hair = extinct! 

b. your beverages don’t sweat (zero condensation build up) 

c. line drying your laundry in the shade of your veranda can be done in <2 hrs.

3. Always keep drinking water handy.

4. Learn how to use your swamp cooler and use it often! While our house has two window A/C units, we prefer to use our large swamp cooler. Not only is it much less expensive to run (equivalent of 2 light bulbs) but it cools our little cooker, I mean home, fast. We close up the house when we go to school in the morning and come back to an oven; however, our handy dandy swamp cooler pushes the hot air out in no time. It took a while to master the technique of using the cooler as it functions much differently than A/C. For optimal success, OPEN a couple of windows and park the cooler in front of a large opening. This allows it to draw warm air from outside, evaporate the water in the cooling pads, and blast cool and moistened air throughout your home.

5. Be sure to drink lots of water, especially if teaching PE outside on a clear blue, dry, breezy day.

6. Don’t own a black vehicle, oh, and make use of window tinting or windshield shades. With an average of 283 days of complete sunshine, let’s just say the parking lot can be a pretty brutal place for your vehicle.

7. Stay hydrated. Don’t leave your water bottle on your desk, even if you only have to teach 2 periods of PE. Your voice will not forgive you.

Outdoor movie night on our schools' football field. How about those mountains?!

8. Embrace the dust. No matter how often you clean, dust is inevitable.

9. Water, H2O, /wooder/ for you New Jersyians.

10. Embrace sweat. No matter how often you shower or apply deodorant, sweat is inevitable.

So there you go. The desert has so many new and interesting things to learn about! While it is indeed a dry heat, it is still hot. But as we look at the hills and mountains, endless blue sky and breathtakingly clear starry nights, we can’t help but be amazed by the variety and endlessness of God’s beauty as shown through His creation.

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.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

Psalm 19: 1-6 

(emphasis added)

Rockstar - JT National Park (Google image)