master of orchestration

God is the master of orchestration as we know full well when we consider the lives of Joseph, Esther, Moses, Daniel, and really, every person in the Bible.

If our Abba Father has chosen us to be joint heirs with Jesus Christ, it's just logical that He is actively orchestrating our lives, even now. We can be sure His elaborate advanced planning and detailed execution of every act in this ongoing play, of which we all have our parts, is for His ultimate purpose and glory, not ours.

Our natural tendency is to do everything our way, then we pray and hope for God's validation. As we skew off from God's narrow path, we quickly become blind from our intense subjectivity. As time progresses and our hearts harden, devoid of His sweet presence, we recreate God into our own image - redefining Him in our own terms  - God becomes one of our many idols.

God goes to great lengths to keep His side of the covenant we made with Him when we recognized Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Quite shamefully, I admit there were many times I turned my back on God and even tried to run from Him. Other times, like a dumb lost sheep, only following the meal in front of my nose, completely oblivious to where the rest of the flock had been led. And yet, the Lord always came after me, and got me back on the path. He will never let me back out of this relationship of 49 years, as of 2019.

Through a number of situations, God took me to Henan, China, a "nowhere" city in the poorest and most populated place in China. Originally headed for Alaska, He brought me to the Marianas Islands, the poorest of all territories belonging to the USA. It's not "where we are", but, "who we are walking with."

Like a small little boy, who so idolizes his dad's every word, every action, every look, with one small hand held by God's, it's much easier to go or do anything He wants. To walk with God, hand in hand, is the pure grace and mercy of the Lord. Enoch was 65 years old before he started walking with God. At the age of 350, the Bible says, "Enoch was not." Didn't Adam walk with the Lord in the cool of the morning? Can't help but ask the questions - "Was that a daily thing, month after month, or did he just walk with the Lord a few times before falling from grace?"

Point being, God is and continues to orchestrate everything just to get us to gladly and eagerly walk with Him hand in hand.

my garden on Rota 1

It all started with a WW2 rusted pickaxe head hanging on the back wall of this apartment on the edge of the jungle - the only tool really needed for jungle gardenining on a tropical island such as Rota.

 

Often thought how cool it would be to start a garden - no place to plant anything at the apartment. Never thought much of the three cement planters in the front - full of ugly unkemp white flowers, and two half-dead citrus trees. Then one day a kind neighbor said something like, "Hey Jerry, you can get rid of those flowers if you like. That lemon tree's dead, and there might be some hope for the tangerine tree."

Two and a half months later - what's this, a garden in the front, and a garden in the back? The main idea of these gardens is to spend no money, buy nothing from the store, except for seeds, and use anything and everything around the house or from the nearby adjacent jungle (without stealing, of course).  In the Mariana Islands, especially on this island, Rota, a person must always have permission.

After many failed attempts to germinate outdated seeds, which were purchased at an outragious discount at the local hardware store, one small lemon basil seedling popped through the surface of the soil at a place it wasn't even planted (the lemon basil seeds cost 10 cents, and were terribly outdated). That single lemon basil plant has become the point of the spear, so to speak, of all the plants in both gardens. Harvested once already, with two more weeks before reaching full maturity, it's become a true beauty.

 

So, the front main cement planter was the first to get the working end of the WW2 rusted pickaxe. Only certain things grow well on tropical islands. For that reason the first grow consists of cayenne pepper plants, Tokyo bunching green onions, and lemon basil. All of these can be grown year round. Had to get the seeds through Walmart, over the internet. The seeds themselves were not expensive, but to get them here to Rota is double the cost.

Here's the front main planter. Everything is about half way along, except that one lemon basil plant that will be fully mature in two weeks.

 

Right below the main planter, discovered a rainwater run-off spout. What tropical plant needs loads of water and is super easy to grow? You guessed it, water spinach, aka kong xin tsai. That and eggplant have to be the most yummy veggies on God's good earth.

Finally got the water spinach seeds (also very cheap). The very day of their arrival, seeds were planted for germination. Out of the 7 or 8 planted for germination, only three popped out of the soil.These water spinach seeds are something out of Jack and the Beanstalk. Their rate of growth is totally mind boggling - truly a robust and prolific species of vegetable.

There's much more, like the citrus trees, the papya trees, the back garden, as well as soil preparation, and the composting bin. Eggplant seeds will be ordered next week. 

Please feel free to post comments or ask questions. Thanks for visiting.