Tuesday's Mistaken Ones

My Lake Michigan Rock Picker's Guide was a big help today.  It showed me that a couple of my treasures were mistakes.  I thought the quirky-looking rock that was covered in holes was a stink stone.  To test this, all I needed to do was put it in a bag and whack it with a hammer.  If it smelled like rotten eggs, then it contained hydrogen sulfide and would, indeed, be a stink stone.  Needless to say, once broken, there was no odor of any kind.  So much for that!

Next, I had thought the tiny orange stone might be jasper, but it ended up not matching the example photo.  Oh, well.  I like it anyway.  Same goes for the not-so-stinky one.  I like them every bit as much as the Petoskey stone, pipe organ coral, lightning stone, crinoids, and beach glass.

Today's Inspirational Verses  from Psalm 25:8 and Ephesians 2:10a
The Lord is good and does what is right; He shows the proper path to those who go astray.
For we are God's masterpiece.

Monday's Shards

With fewer treasures today, I wasn't sure what to say, so I decided to ask God to find the scripture that will fit.  As I opened my Bible, I felt as though I should go to Isaiah, and there it was!  The verse doesn't have anything to do with the honeycomb coral, pottery shards, or crinoids.  It's not about the heart-shaped rock or beach glass, but I'm pretty sure someone out their needs it.

Today's Inspirational Reading
Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  I will help you.  I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.  
Isaiah 41:10 (NLT)

2016 Today's Catch, April 15

It was my first time to the beach since my spine surgery.  Hoping that my tailbone would be able to handle the repetitious bending and standing pattern, I was both excited and a little leary.  Thankfully, all was well.  No pain, and I found more treasures than I had anticipated.  I was especially excited about the seven crinoids! (The oldest record of crinoid fossils stands at 350 million years, but there are some types of crinoids still living, so I have no idea how old these are!)

Scripture for the Day
For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down---when we die and leave these bodies---we will have a home in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.  We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.  For we will not be spirits without bodies, but we will put on new heavenly bodies.  Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh, but it's not that we want to die and have no bodies at all.  We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life.  God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 5:1-10 (NLT)

American Idol Tears

Saying that I cried during the "American Idol" finale is an understatement.  If I were to count how many times the tears flowed, there were at least half a dozen, but my emotional floodgates opened mostly at the end of the show after Trent Harmon finished singing, fell to his knees, and said, "Thank You, God!".  To see an outpouring of his soul like that, on live television, was incredible in so many ways. You could tell how exhausted Trent was.  He had mentioned several times how hard he had worked, but in the end, he gave God the glory.  It was evident that this gifted singer knew where his gifts had come from.  He knew who had given him the strength to use those gifts.  He knew that God has plans for him (Jeremiah 29:11).

Just before the winner had been announced, Carrie Underwood made me cry with her country/Christian hit, "Something in the Water".  Clearly, it was about how being babtized has changed her.  All I could think was, "Lord, she's singing about You in front of millions of people!".  This was a song that could only be sung by someone who literally meant every word of it, and she sang it with power, emotion, and gratitude.  She knows who her maker is, and she wasn't afraid to show it.  

Witnessing such courage by Trent and Carrie, the network, and producers of "American Idol", was so refreshing.  Their testimony may not be popular with everyone, but it felt good to shed tears of pride in a country where we are free to love our god without fear.

I chose to pair my "Stacked" beach glass photo today because of the teary look it gets from the wave filter.