Tag Archives: nature

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I See Where To Go….. I Just Can’t Get There.

This butterfly knows where to go. He can actually see where he needs to go. He can see through this problem stopping his journey. But in no way can he himself actually “go” through his problem and be rid of it. He’s going to have to have help. This butterfly is “trapped”, “confined”, “stuck”. There’s no way out! Ever been there?

I’m putting up new screening on the porch at the log cabin in Mississippi. I’m halfway completed with the project, when this butterfly flies in. He comes in where there is no screening yet and flies to the inside of the section of screening that I’ve just installed. You can see that the situation has made him totally confused.

Now, I don’t know how big a brain a butterfly has, but it’s running on overload at this moment in his journey. He can see the flowers in the yard. He can see where he needs to go. But he can’t “see” how to get out of where he’s trapped. That poor little butterfly brain is thinking, “all I gotta do is fly from this side to the other side”. It’s not going to work little butterfly. You can’t fly through the screen. You can see through it all day long. But, you need help.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

I’ll save you little butterfly. He is so fragile,…… but so beautiful. What I do is this. I gently cup my hands around this delicate creature. He’s now inside my grasp. I’ve got him. I feel like I’m saving this butterfly from his own torture. He now won’t have to constantly fly into the screen over and over and over,……. thinking that somehow he’s going to fly free.

Carrying him outside for his release into freedom, I’m thinking. We need orchestra music playing in the background. This is a tremendous moment in this butterfly’s life. He will be ceremoniously lifted into the skies. I’ll open my hands and raise them into the blue sky and he will victoriously fly into the open air. “Freedom !” I yell. Wow! This has really become theatrical and there will probably be a whole movie made from this one scene of freeing the butterfly. 😉 Emotions are running high as I open my hands, the butterfly sees he can leave, and now it’s up to him.

He flaps those beautiful wings of his and he’s up and away. I’m yelling like it’s a football game and he’s breaking away for the touchdown. “Go butterfly Go!” (Hey, nobody’s around to see or hear me.) And he does! He flies away making a big circle (making a victory lap I suppose). He continues flying and flies…………well, flies right back inside the porch to the inside of the screening where he was in the very beginning. Once again he’s stuck.

Sometime you are the butterfly. You get “stuck” in life. Oh, you can see where you should be. Just like that screening, you can even see through your problem. But your problem is hiding an even bigger problem. You are not able to do it on your own. That’s, yep, that’s your real problem. It’s tough for a butterfly to admit that they need help. Your problem is not just a “screen”, but in realizing that you need help along the way.

The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18

God will help you and wants to help you. Focus on God’s will, not on the screen. He’ll free you time and time again if that’s what you need. God will wrap His loving hands gently around you. How? There are so many ways God works in our lives. It may be from a song you are hearing. A sunset, a scripture, an interaction with another person. Or maybe a story about a butterfly.

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher 601-832-8567

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Does God Actually Paint Sunsets?

Everybody enjoys seeing a beautiful sunset. But for me, personally, they have been painted by God just for me (and you). Here’s why.

I dabble in painting myself. Nothing outstanding, but hey, it’s pretty good. 😉 A few months ago, I painted a picture of a sunset for my mother. I used epoxy paints on a plain piece of plyboard. Nothing fancy,…….. but,………

My Mother and I have a living, loving, relationship. Because we are connected in such a way, she just loved the painting. Here’s the “kicker”. When she looks at the picture, she doesn’t see a sunset, she sees a picture that I painted for her. I was there one day when she was talking about “the picture”. People were commenting that it was a beautiful picture of a sunset. She kept commenting that it was a picture that I painted for her. I’m pretty sure if it wasn’t so heavy, it would be hanging on her refrigerator door!

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

That’s it! Case closed!

I have a living ,loving, relationship with God Almighty through Jesus Christ His Son. Because I believe in Him, I get to experience Him in EVERYTHING each and every day! Lots of people will comment on beautiful sunsets. I comment on what God painted for me (and you).

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. God’s painting is in the eyes of the believer! (personal question……….Do you see what He’s painting for you?)

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher, giving Glory to God through His paintings!!!!!!

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Being Restored

See the water? All this was just rocks, dry gravel, and dry dust. Dry,dry,dry. Now there is water running from out of the ground. Green grass is growing from out of nowhere. Flowers have popped up. The deer, (and probably the bear 😉 ) drink from this restored spring. What happened? It went from dry, dry, dry,…… to my, my, my!

I heard an educated weatherman say that the part of Colorado where we live is always either just coming out of a drought, or just going into one. Well, duh………. Water is scarce around here…….. But not this year. The tops of the mountains in our view every morning had upwards of 18 feet of snow this year. It has snowed and rain lots at our house and on the property itself. But here’s the question. Where did the water that is running from this restored spring come from?

Logically thinking, the snow has melted on my property, seeped down through the cracks and crevices of the rocks and boulders, and is now flowing above ground from this restored spring. All this water activity from a couple hundred acres.

Scientifically speaking, the snow from those mountaintops fifteen miles away is melting. The water from that snow trickles down through rocks and boulders, forms an underground river that flows for miles. Part of that water could be seeping and draining from that underground channel of water to the restored spring at my place. That’s hard to picture, but that’s how it could be happening.

Wrap your brain around this one. The property I have in Mississippi has a free flowing spring of water on it. It’s estimated that 700 gallons of water flows from this one spring every MINUTE! This property is located at the highest elevation in the county. So, where is all this water coming from? I’ve been told it’s connected to the same aquifer (underground river) that goes to Florida and all those famous springs down there. The water? It’s coming from rain that landed in Tennessee and surrounding areas. Go figure…………

Psalms 51:12 RESTORE unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with thy free spirit.

I freely admit I don’t know how all this restoring of these springs of water takes place. I’m just excited and glad to see it. An amazing thing to see how something so dry has now come to life again. All because it’s been restored.

Spiritually speaking, there are many times when we need to be restored. Just by us living in this everyday world, our spiritual journey may begin to feel dry, dry, dry. Seeking to have our inner joy restored may come from praying, a song, a quiet time, so many ways. But it simply involves you asking God for a time of restoration. Then spiritually speaking, you can go from a time of dry, dry, dry to MY, MY, My! Thank You Lord!

Lord, could you be with each of us in such a way that we feel Your presence. In times of dry, dry, dry,……. like sickness, or hard times, or life’s pressures. I’m asking that you provide us with a restored heart, to feel that inner peace and joy. Restore to us so that out of all the “dry” happening in our lives, your living water will bring new life and closer relationships to you. We give you the Glory. Thanks for all that water! Love You! Amen

See Ya! Dan Ainsworth wilderness preacher and being restored