Ghia- What it means to celebrate and the God I know.

Canyon Wren Song and Call - American Bird Conservancy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uuiNfUxqOM

Hello, my friends Ghia here.

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I'm so glad you have chosen to tune in to

the creative, spiritual journey podcast.

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I want to start off today

talking about celebrations.

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One of my deliberate goals is to

celebrate Christ in every season.

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Let me explain why.

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Two years ago while

studying the old Testament.

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I learned that the Jewish people

celebrate their God, the Messiah with

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festivals and holy days throughout

the whole year and in every season.

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Their lives literally revolve

around those celebrations.

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That's awesome.

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What a good idea.

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I want to celebrate God in every season.

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What better thing to celebrate?

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So in my quest for seasonal

celebrations, of course, I had to

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look up the definition of celebrate.

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The older I get, the more fascinated

I become with the meaning of words.

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I love to look up definitions as

well as synonyms antonyms, etymology.

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And even archaic definitions.

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So for a moment, let's take

a deep dive into the word.

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Celebrate.

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First.

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Have you noticed when you

look up definitions on Google,

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the most common currently use

definition pops up at the top.

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Turns out that definition is often

created by the Oxford dictionary.

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And it's interesting to note that they

update their dictionary four times a year.

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I generally take a cursory, look at

this definition, then scroll down

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to the Merriam Webster's dictionary,

where I generally find a definition.

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I prefer.

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Interesting to note that the

Merriam Webster's dictionary is

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only updated every 10 to 12 years.

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I find the difference between

these two dictionaries.

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Interesting.

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Despite having a written language.

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Despite having dictionaries.

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Listen to how much this word has changed.

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Here's the Miriam Webster's

number one definition.

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To perform a sacrament or solemn ceremony

publicly and with appropriate rights.

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Wow.

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Isn't that a significant difference?

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From a happy day to a solemn ceremony.

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Let me read a couple more

Merriam-Webster definitions.

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To to honor an occasion such as a

holiday, especially by solemn ceremony

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or by refraining from ordinary business.

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I like that part refraining

from ordinary business.

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Number three.

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To hold up or play up for public notice.

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I like this definition because of

the example they used, her poetry

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celebrates the glory of nature.

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That's beautiful.

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I love the idea of celebrating nature.

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Now I want to jump down to

the synonyms for celebrate.

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I was surprised by this list.

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Bless extol, glorify magnify, exalt

emblazon LOD resound, Carol, and him.

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That's cool that we can

celebrate with song.

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Here are a couple more.

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Keep observe commemorate.

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I want to read the example they

used for keep, because I love it.

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Keep the Sabbath day by

refraining from work.

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Did you ever think about keep

being a synonym for celebrate?

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What if we said celebrate the

Sabbath day by refraining from work.

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Does that kind of make your eyes light up?

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Let's celebrate the Sabbath day.

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Hooray.

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I love it.

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Okay, back to this idea of

celebrating Christ in every season.

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I want to have a special holy day,

each season where I celebrate,

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bless exalt and glorify Christ.

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I want to do this in a big way.

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Not big.

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Like we celebrate Christmas, that's

gotten a little bit out of hand,

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but with forethought, with planning,

I want to do it deliberately.

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So here we are in spring and

the obvious choice for a spring

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celebration would be Easter.

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I've celebrated at my whole life.

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But now I want to do it more deliberately.

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Dare I digress here and tell you a

little bit about the word Easter.

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I'm going to do it because I can't resist.

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Easter is a super old word.

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No one really knows for

sure where it came from.

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One theory is that it's from

the Anglo-Saxon goddess.

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Eastern.

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Or Oostra depending on

how you want to say it.

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Which might make sense because we know

that a lot of our Christmas traditions

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come from a similar background.

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But the theory I like better

is the idea of Easter comes from

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the old German meaning east Or an

older Latin meaning Dawn, both of

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which tie perfectly into spring.

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The Dawn light from

the east is our Christ.

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He is our light.

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There is one more definition

for Easter that I want to share.

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This is an adjective describing

things toward or near the east.

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Listen to the sentence

written by the Italian poet.

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Ludovico Ari stro.

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The dawning broke and all the

Easter parts were full of light.

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I think that sentence has forever more

changed how I will think of the sunrise.

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I already thought they were

glorious and beautiful.

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And I know they are a

gift from a loving God.

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But now.

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Now a sunrise will always

remind me of Easter.

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The resurrection of Christ,

the return of light.

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Which brings me back to

my Easter celebration.

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I'm not big on candy or

cutesy chicks and bunny stuff.

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Not that I don't like animals.

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I do.

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I'm just not cutesy.

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So here's how I've decided to

deliberately celebrate Christ

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in the season of dawning light.

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We call spring.

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To explain.

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I want to use a talk by Emily

Bell Freeman entitled walking in

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covenant relationship with Christ.

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At one point in the talk, she is

addressing someone who might not

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have a developed faith in Christ.

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And she says, Ask someone you trust who

was on the covenant path to introduce

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you to the savior they have come to know.

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Am I, the only one that chokes

at those words, I mean, I

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really have to stop and think.

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Could I introduce someone to God,

to the Jesus Christ that I know.

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This set me to work.

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I opened a word document on my

computer, titled the Christ.

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I know.

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With the intention of writing

things from the scriptures

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about the character of Christ.

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I hadn't gotten very far

when I recalled a talk.

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I recently heard a church.

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The speaker suggested, adding the

little word because to our prayers.

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To make them more of a

living discussion with God.

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For example.

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Dear heavenly father.

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I'm grateful for my family because.

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They helped me feel loved.

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I cared for and like, I belong somewhere.

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Or dear heavenly father, I'm

grateful for this free country.

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Because I can make my own choices.

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I can live wherever I want and

I can worship whoever I want.

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I've learned to love this little,

because it genuinely enriches my prayers.

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One day while praying.

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I said, I'm grateful for the

sunrise I saw this morning because.

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Because it helps me see

that Jesus is an artist.

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That he loves this world and

that he wants me to love it too.

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I stopped after saying those

words, they surprised me so much.

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Of course, Jesus is an artist.

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I just never exactly

articulated it before.

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So this idea of seeing Christ

character in a sunrise evolved.

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The God I know project from the scriptures

into the God I know from the natural

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world, I get to see around me every day.

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I have created a list of eight

special things I know about God.

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As part of my Easter celebration, I'm

going to text one thing on my list to my

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family each day of the week before Easter.

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And one thing on Easter

itself, which makes eight.

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I'm also going to share my list with you.

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Here we go.

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Number one.

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I already said the sunrise teaches

me that Jesus Christ is an artist.

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Isn't that a wonderful

thing to know about him.

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The God I know is an artist.

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Two.

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This one came from my husband.

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Jesus is a mathematician because

Fibonacci sequences can be found

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all over nature, including seashells

artichokes, pine cones, flower

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pedals, even hurricanes and galaxies.

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Just quickly.

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A Fibonacci sequence is a series

of numbers where each number is the

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sum of the two proceeding numbers.

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It starts off small, think the center

spiral of a seashell and gets bigger.

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The numbers go.

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Zero.

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1 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 34 55.

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Now it starts getting bigger, faster

eighty nine, a hundred and forty four.

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And so on.

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Those numbers are all over in nature.

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I think that's cool.

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The God I know is a mathematician.

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Number three.

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I believe Jesus loves mysteries.

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I recently walked what is

called the trail of time.

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It had plaques along the way that

explained petrified river bottoms.

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Rocks with wind and water erosion.

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And mystery of mysteries, some

strange white strata in the rocks.

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I have no idea how anyone ever figured

this out, but some scientists took

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the challenge and discovered that

the white stuff was dinosaur bones.

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Mystery solved.

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The God I know, likes a good mystery.

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Four.

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I was outside sleeping in

the 10th the other morning.

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You have to know that I prefer

sleeping outside all seasons of

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the year, except believe it or

not summer, which is too hot.

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And as I lay there, it

was completely silent.

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There wasn't even a whisper of wind.

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Then what did I hear?

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The descending crescendo of a canyon Wren.

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It was magical.

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Let me play one for you.

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I love it.

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Right down to the croak at the end.

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The God I know.

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Is a musician.

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Number five.

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There is a herd of deer that come down

out of the mountains during the winter

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and hang out around our property.

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We have a bird bath out, but found

the deer were drinking it dry.

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So now we have a bucket of

water to keep them happy.

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I love this because it means I

get to watch the deer up close.

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The only deer that I can recognize onsite

is a DOE whose face is grizzled and gray.

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It's obvious that she is

the matron of the herd.

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The lone survivor from past seasons.

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It's amusing to watch her.

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She is very calm.

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If I'm walking by all the

other deer are on high alert.

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But she just keeps grazing.

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When the other deer are freaking

out, trying to decide which

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side of the road to run to.

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She is content staying where she is.

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I even had to laugh one day when

I saw her kick a younger deer

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that was hugging the bucket.

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I call her grandma.

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To me, she represents the wisdom of age.

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The God I know honors elders.

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Onto number six.

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I chose bread.

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You might say Ghia bread.

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Isn't anything you find in nature.

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But bread.

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Good bread.

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Is full of nature.

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Wild yeast and bacteria

is what makes bread magic.

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The Jesus I know is a microbiologist.

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I will talk about food and other podcasts.

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So I'm not going to lay

this on very thick here.

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But I believe bread is a wonderful,

fabulous gift from a God who knows

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how to nourish the mortal body.

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In my little valley as a

seventh day Adventist farm.

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And I've had the great pleasure

of volunteering in their

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bakery for the last two years.

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It's been a wonderful experience.

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The God I know is a microbiologist.

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Number seven.

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I got home from a trip

to town the other day.

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And my husband walked up to the

truck before I got out and said,

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You know how life doesn't always

turn out the way it was planned.

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I instantly started wondering

what was going wrong.

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And then he said there is a

skunk in the chipmunk trap.

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Oh, no way.

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What do you do?

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Of course, we looked it up on the internet

and solved the problem, but oh my gosh.

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Do you think there was a little mischief

in his eye when Jesus created the skunk?

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Of all the defensive measures an

animal could have, who thought it

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would be fun to create an animal that

defends itself with a giant fart.

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Okay.

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I know it's a scent planned, but still.

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The God I know has a sense of humor.

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Number eight.

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Last, but not least.

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The Jesus I know is a long, cold

thirst quenching drink of water.

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He is the pounding waves of the ocean.

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The still reflective surface of

a lake and my personal favorite,

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the ever flowing water of a river.

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Let me end with a scripture.

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This is from the ESV

translation of the Bible.

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But I changed the pronoun.

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Whoever believes in me as the

scripture has said, Out of her heart

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will flow rivers of living water.

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John 7 38.

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The God I know can quench my thirst

as well as the longings of my heart.

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I hope all of you will find your

own way of deliberately celebrating

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glorifying and exalting our savior.

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Jesus Christ.

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The season.

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If you like texting or posting anywhere

on social media, you're welcome to share

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my list or better still make up your own.

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And if you enjoy the creative,

spiritual journey podcast,

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please share it with a friend.

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And if you are so inclined,

leave us a five star review.

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That's the only way

this podcast will grow.

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And as the dawning breaks, may all

your Easter parts be full of light.

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Nama stay.