It was a very productive day, Father! Thank You for steering me in the right direction to accomplish so much!
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A friend of mine from Mt. Vernon (Thanks, Thom!) shared this the other day and I wanted to share it with you! He starts off by saying,
Time for a history lesson
Anytime someone uses the phrase “plain vanilla,” as if it somehow means boring or unoriginal. I kind of laugh to myself. Apparently, folks don’t know the real history of vanilla. For starters, it’s the second most expensive spice in the world (#1 is saffron) Vanilla is the only edible fruit out of 25,000 species of orchid! Frankly, it’s a statistical miracle. It requires a special tropical climate to grow, and each flower blooms for, wait for it – one day!
Historically, only kings could afford such a rare delicacy as vanilla.
Not to mention the invention of ice cream itself, which would have required sending an expedition to the mountains to bring back ice during a hot summer. And yet here I am. casually enjoying this frozen dessert flavored with one of the most miraculous spices in the world. You may call it “plain vanilla.” I call it a miracle: Modern life is pretty amazing if you have an attitude of gratitude!
(Check out National Geographic’s The History of Vanilla article for more information!)
What spoke to me in his sharing is the fact that, first, God is amazing, isn’t He? To be that specific with one of 25,000 species of orchids, and then to make man in such a way as to have the curiosity to see what something unknown tastes like! (The first people to cultivate vanilla were the Totonacs in the jungles of Mexico’s east coast, who were conquered by the Aztecs in the 15th century!) The intricacies of God are amazing!
And you and I, we are amazing creations of our Almighty God as well! You might consider yourself a “plain vanilla” kind of person, but you most certainly are not! God knows absolutely everything about you, and warts and all He loves you, far beyond what you could ever imagine!
You are a cherished creation of God Himself. We must not sell ourselves short!
Follow His leading. You may feel like you are off in some no-man’s land, but God knows…God cares… And believe you me, you are the apple of His eye!
King David, in Psalm 17, proclaimed,
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings. v8 NIV
And He surely will! For you are surely no “plain vanilla”!
Aug 24th, 2023, Thurs, 7:33 pm
