One is Number 1

Side Note: One An was a student of mine, while teaching Junior High Social Studies on Saipan. He was the best and most focused in all my classes, and always had a great attitude. Remember often thanking God for this young man. At first I thought to myself, "One, what a strange name!" Before long I realized that One truly was number 1 in all my classes. Was also quite impressed at his respect for me, his teacher, and the respect he had for all his classmates. Truly a gentleman and a scholar.
Although I have lost touch with him and his family over the years, I thank God for him. The news article caught my attention because of his orange hair. Then I put my glasses on and looked closer - "Wow, I know him, that's One!" Maybe I'm just reading too much into everything these days, but I really, really think One was trying to get my attention here on remote  Rota, to let me know my efforts in the classroom and prayers were not in vain. Although I'm 70, maybe God wants me back in the classroom (where I often felt the presence of God) Thank you, One!

kneel down now and pray out loud with me

kneel down, pray this prayer with me out loud and believe with all your heart

start reading the Bible - start with the Gospel of John (you are a new baby in Christ, your new spirit needs food), every day, even just a little

try to connect with other people who love Jesus and are full of the Holy Spirit - they will help you

anything you need, anytime, call out to your heavenly Father - He will answer you

find a good church that loves Jesus and has His power (not just words) and go regurlarly for a few years

thank God for everything, all the time

start praying in the spirit a lot, when the Holy Spirit gives you your new prayer language

get water baptized as soon as you can

receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit

tell others how the Lord changed your life

shade, shadow, and shadows

 

shade, shadow, and shadows

 
“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” – Song of Solomon 2:3  
 

Attended Liberty Bible College in Pensacola, Florida, from 1971-1975. Took one year longer to graduate because of a 9 month missionary internship in Taiwan, Republic of China.
 

Joined the college choir one year. Bill Caffey was our director. He trained and prepared us to sing a piece by John Sebastian Bach, “I Sat Down Under His Shadow”, which we ended up performing for a local T.V. station.
Found it on You Tube, sung by the Bairstow Luther College Nordic Choir. Sounds almost exactly as Bro. Bill Caffey taught. Here’s the link:

https://youtube/tugtmKhAVc0

 
If the link doesn’t work, just go to You Tube, and at the search thingy, type, “I sat down under his shadow.”
 

Now, about 50 years later, 70 years old, and living in the Marianas Islands almost 8 years, I find myself often singing that Bible verse.
Out here it’s Pacific island tropical climate. 365 days out of the year, the temperature is 82-83 degrees F. That’s why I can grow veggies in my garden year round, even during our rainy season.
 

The first 4 years living here was quite difficult walking outside under the noonday sun – seemed to always be walking from one shady spot to the next. Didn’t need to exercise to work up a sweat, just walked out in the sun for ½ hour, and my shirt would be drenched with perspiration. Couldn’t even sleep at night without the air-con on full blast. No longer use an air conditioner, but I do use an electric  fan quite often.
 

So, here on Rota, been walking a lot, sometimes several miles at a time, in the middle of the day. Fortunately there’s more nature here than people, so there’s loads and loads of big trees of all sorts all along the sides of the road, everywhere. That tropical sun beats down, and I often take plenty of rest breaks – always under the cool shadow of a big tree, always start singing my 1st tenor part, “I sat down under his shadow with great delight!” That’s when God, touches my heart, reminding me of the cool calm rest under his shadow. And yet, he is “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning (James 1:17).”
 

Under his shadow, in the shade are one thing, while “in the shadows” is something entirely different.
 

God is light and in him is no darkness.
If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin. And, our fellowship is not just with each other, but also with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  
 

King David said, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, because God is with me.”
 

Ashamed to admit it, but I’ve veered off the path and walked in the shadows, thinking I can jump back into the light at any time (actually thinking I’m parallel to the path of light). All the while, the path in the shadows skews off, ever so slightly, into darker shadows.
 

The enemy of our souls is not limited by time as we are. So, our miniscule deviations off the path of light, which we are intended to take, go unnoticed. 10 years go by, and a person ends up in complete darkness. What happened to all that sweet fellowship?
 

Our Abba Father is with us wherever we go, whether in the light or in the darkness. Thing is, we are limited by time, and we are completely out of our element in darkness. 

 

As children of God, we are unable to thrive in spiritual darkness. Our adversary, the devil, can do anything he wants to us in the darkness, playing us any which way (on his own timeline).
 

All that to say this – let’s avoid walking in the shadows (metaphorically speaking) at all costs, and make every effort to walk in the light. With the power of the Holy Spirit, the word of God, and fellowship in the body of Christ, we can not only be a greater blessing to all, but also wage war with the kingdom of darkness more effectively.

last green bean harvest

This is the last green bean harvest (February 28, 2023), and the biggest. Thank the Lord for such a big harvest.

Lord willing, hope to plant green beans in the next garden. 

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this is the day, this is the day

This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. We will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it...

More than a month ago, one of my granddaughters mentioned to me, "Grandpa, I want to try your Crunchy Eggplant recipe with zucchini."

So, I asked the Lord to help me do zucchini right this time. Last year was my first ever attempt at growing zucchini. It looked great, grew to a huge size - all green and health looking. But, didn't get any fruit - not even one.

This time, prayed, and did my homework - found some good info on the internet. God dropped loads of ideas into my head on how to do it right on this second attempt.

Our problem here, on this small island, everywhere you want to plant - rocks, rocks, and then more rocks. Eggplant and Roma tomatoes, no problem, their roots don't go deep. They grow well in the top couple inches of the ground. Zucchini, on the other hand, need a foot or more of good soil to really flourish.

Praise the Lord! The cardboard box, zipties, and stakes, are working. One of my neighbor-friends, broke a good trail into the jungle not far from my house. Found plenty of this black-fluffy soil and put it in the zucchini grow-box. Got some cheap Black Beauty Zucchini seeds, planted 5 in the box, and only kept the first two plants which sprouted. 

Exactly one month later, to the day, went out to the garden, right before sunrise, and there's the first zucchini blossom. Really hope my granddaughter likes it.

Just had to sing that song, "This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made, I will rejoice, I will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it..."

Hope you enjoyed this blog post. God is so good. Jesus loves you. 

If we turn to him with all our hearts, he restores us - anytime, anywhere, in any circumstances. 

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in the middle of the sea

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May God bless the Mariana Islands, protect all our families, guide and give wisdom to our local governments and community leaders in Guam and the CNMI, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

eggplant 5th month harvest

Been growing these Black Beauty eggplants for 5 months, in my home garden here on Rota, in the Mariana Islands. This harvest, today, is the biggest and best yet (thank you, Jesus!).

This harvest is going to my new home church - Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ of the 4th Watch, to share with the brothers and sisters there.

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my garden on Rota: Feb 2023 update

My Garden on Rota: February 2023 Update

 1st Big Green Bean Harvest

 

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food stamps day

a walk to the food stamps office from my house

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watermelon patch completed

my garden on Rota: watermelon patch completed

last harvest of the month

Just harvested 28 black beauty eggplants from the garden - the last harvest for this month. That makes a total of about 175-200 harvested for January 2023. Thank the Lord for abundant harvests! These go to the food stamp people, tomorrow (of which i'm one).

 

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my garden on Rota: watermelon patch

baby watermelons need a soft bed

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good harvest

Thank the Lord! A really good harvest this time.

 

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pre-harvest inspection

 

Thanks for watching the video!

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very proud of my niece

Way to go, Maggie! You're the best!

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my daughter

click this link to watch video

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1st bananas of 2023

The 1st bananas of 2023 appeared on December 30, 2022. The banana plant is too big, and too heavy. In the garden, the winds are at least 15 mph almost all the time. To prevent the banana plant from falling over and losing all the bananas, I cut two pine poles, lashed them together, and used them to support the weight of the bananas. 

 

After five days, three bunches of bananas had already started developing.

 

After ten days - 8 bunches of bananas.

Without the support of the two pine poles, the banana plant would have fallen over already. The large reddish-green tail thingy, at the bottom of the banana bunches, should be cut off, the sooner the better.

Eight new bunches of bananas will be ready to eat in about one month. These are Manilla Bananas, very similar to Chiquita Bananas, but maybe a little sweeter.

Hope you enjoyed this post, and thank you for visiting my blog site.

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crunchy eggplant

Thanks for visiting my blog site. Hope you enjoyed the video.

Have found that loads of pepper in the batter is quite good, as well has sprinkling shreaded mazarella cheese on each piece, right out of the hot olive oil, is unbelievable.

If you actually tried to cook it yourself, would really like to hear from you. If you like, post a message to me. 

"He fills my mouth with good things."

"Man does not live by bread alone."

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firsts for the new year

Welcome to my blog site. This post is about the "Firsts" in my home vegetable garden, on Rota, in the Mariana Islands, CNMI, USA.

First Roma Tomato

Of the 30 Roma Tomato plants in the garden, this afternoon, was very glad to see the very first tomato. As before, pollination was a big problem, with the winds off the bay, usually blowing every day close to 10-15 mph.

To attract bees, hung bunches of sticks in the nearby tree, hoping they would live in the garden. Also praying for more bees. Without a doubt, God answers our prayers. So, if we don't ask, it's not His fault.

 First Sweet Bananas

Maybe, you're thinking, sweet bananas? Out here, in the Mariana Islands, bananas are either "for cooking" or "for eating." The ones for eating are sweet, while the others are not.

This particular one, produces Manila bananas, which are as sweet and yummy (if not sweeter) than Chiquita Bananas.

At the very start of a new bunch of bananas, a large pod thingy, grows quickly out of the main staulk of the plant, and slowly, gradually, unpacks itself, until all the bananas come out. 

Two things must be done in a timely fashion to guarantee a good harvest - 

1. Prop up the main staulk with one or two poles, to keep the banana tree from falling over (a new banana bunch is quite heavy).

2. After the new pod has unpacked all its baby bananas, the remaining purple growth, at the very bottom of the bunch, must be removed (one wack with a sharp machette).

This particular one happens to be the largest and best producer of Manila Bananas in the garden. If you want to know why, just post a comment with your question, and i'll gladly share my  observations with you.

First Swamp Spinach

Maybe you have seen a previous post where we set up new cuttings to grow Kung Xin Tsai (aka, Kongkong, or Swamp Spinach). That was about a month ago.

After doing a couple small sample harvests, decided to find two more containers to grow even more - it was so delicious quick fried on high heat, with loads of garlic, olive oil, and oyster sauce. Talk about, "Healthy and yummy!"

Looking at the Kung Xin Tsai makes my mouth water. It's Kangkong for dinner tonight (off to the back yard, with a pair of scissors)!

Hope you enjoyed the post. 

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1st big eggplant harvest: Jan 2023

 

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my garden on Rota: Jan 2023

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