Come With Me to Jamaica, Mon…(Why We Should Rejoice with God Over His Creation) Another Glimpse of Love in February

“Ladies and Gentleman, this is your Captain from the flight deck. We’ve just been cleared for landing in Montego Bay. Current weather reports sunny skies, a light breeze, and a temperature of eighty-three degrees.”

Oohs and aahhs erupted from the airplane. Views of the Caribbean blue sea, in multiple, heavenly hues-of-blue were spectacular.

Dearest Hubster and I ran away recently for a romantic week-long respite from winter. Come with me and I’ll take you there….

This week I pray you’ll be blessed by our Lord’s creation with scenes from the lovely island of Jamaica! Overlooking Montego Bay is one of the finest views of the Caribbean I can remember.

Even the view from our room was spectacular:

Not only were the flowers, plants, and palm trees lush and beautiful…

Peacocks were everywhere!!!

The guys kept showing off….posing for pictures:

And when was the last time you could walk behind one? Can you see all the down from his feathers? Fascinating.

Smart too, as they knew which street they lived on:

Two brightly colored parrots, otherwise known as Bob and Rita, lived in a cage near the restaurant where we had breakfast every day.

One of their handlers often let them out and treated any brave soul with a few moments of “parrot perching” on one’s shoulder. (Notice who the brave one was of us…)

The handler reported that Bob was much friendlier than Rita. Go figure. Bob is munching on an almond seed.

A favorite activity of ours during any vacation is reading. John dove into a novel and quickly couldn’t put it down. He’s a big fan of author Robert Whitlow’s. He read his latest: The Confession and loved it.

I took three books with me and a novel (or two or ten) on my Kindle. (!!!) You can bet I’ll be sharing tidbits from them soon:

Mastering Life Before It’s Too Late: 10 Biblical Strategies for a Lifetime of Purpose by Robert J. Morgan. You will be hearing from Rob in person sometime this year on this blog. I’m currently highlighting and earmarking this book like a crazy person.

Finding Spiritual Whitespace: Awakening Your Soul to Rest by Bonnie Gray. I figured where else but a vacation does one have spiritual whitespace?

Spiritual Rhythm: Being with Jesus Every Season of Your Soul by Mark Buchanan. I’ll be speaking on “Savoring Your Season” in April–speaking of prayer requests! (Info to follow soon on the event.) Mark is an amazingly insightful writer.

The week flew while we parked in chairs by the pool, or under a tiki hut on the beach, books in tow.

Boasting eight restaurants, our favorites in the hotel were the Italian, French, Mexican and Asian ones. Their cuisine kept us more than full, most nights under a starlit sky–purely paradise. To enhance our meals, we discovered a hidden soft-serve ice cream machine with cones-a-plenty. Hey, we’re on vacation, right???

While there was a fitness center, I only darkened its’ door once. John was a regular there, while I chose to hoof it outside. There was a one-mile path, largely by the water, which kept me going…My soul must’ve enlarged as the Grinch’s heart did purely from breathing in the salty air and soaking in the view.

One of five principles about joy, from Rob Morgan’s book Mastering Life suggests “we should pay attention to the JOY God has woven into all His creation.” He continues, “According to Job 38:7, the angels sang together and shouted for JOY as God created the world.

Psalm 19:5 pictures the sun as rising each day like a champion REJOICING to run his course through the sky.”

Shortly after our arrival, new friends from England snapped this sunset picture. What a way to begin our vacation!!!

While we all cannot hang around a Caribbean island forever, (oh, that we could!!!) we can ask the Lord to open our eyes to His creation that’s all around us, wherever we are. The view from my office today is mostly leafless trees spread out among some really brown grass (!!!), however the sky is blue and the sun is shining. Ahhhh, spring time’s a comin’….

I Chronicles 16:33 says, “Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for JOY before the Lord.” May we all savor our surroundings, daily, and praise God for His awesome Creation. This glimpse of love in February honors God’s Creation.

‘Til next time!

(Stay tuned as next week includes a not-so-romantic snaffoo on our return trip.)

Happy Valentine’s Day Weekend!!!