I wish I could wear Nike shoes.\u00a0 Growing up I had to wear “jeepers creepers”.\u00a0 Many of you may be too young to remember those, but I would describe them as the combat boots of athletic shoes.\u00a0 Yeah, and with a name like that, there was an awful lot of good humored teasing that occurred in elementary school.\u00a0 I can’t wear Nike shoes because they only build “D” width athletic shoes.\u00a0 I need at least “EEE”, so my choices are quite limited.\u00a0 \u00a0I usually end up with New Balance athletic shoes – which is fine with me.\u00a0 They are one of the few shoe companies who still manufacture in the U.S.\u00a0 Large and wide feet are one of the traits I inherited from both sides of my family, so wide feet are just fine with me.\u00a0 As Rando would say, “it takes a strong and wide foundation to hold up a great structure”.\u00a0 When considering footprints as the measure of a man, I am reminded of one of the great hymns I sang for years and years during worship services.\u00a0 We tend to skip verses in order to move the program along.\u00a0 But sometimes the greatest wisdom in those hymns is buried in the middle verses.\u00a0 If the author was inspired to write the verse, the message shouldn’t be ignored, should it?\u00a0 Oh yeah, also, I never understood why we add an “s” to “make” when we sing this song.\u00a0 It ain’t “makeS the pathway glow”, it is “make the pathway glow”.\u00a0 I guess we all struggle with plural nouns?\u00a0 I know I do…<\/p>\n
1 Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling,
\nCome, follow Me!
\nAnd we see where Thy footprints falling
\nLead us to Thee.<\/p>\n
Refrain:
\nFootprints of Jesus,
\nThat make the pathway glow;
\nWe will follow the steps of Jesus
\nWhere\u2019er they go.<\/p>\n
2 Though they lead o\u2019er the cold, dark mountains,
\nSeeking His sheep;
\nOr along by Siloam\u2019s fountains,
\nHelping the weak. [Refrain]<\/p>\n
3 If they lead through the temple holy,
\nPreaching the Word;
\nOr in homes of the poor and lowly,
\nServing the Lord. [Refrain]<\/p>\n
4 Though, dear Lord, in Thy pathway keeping,
\nWe follow Thee;
\nThrough the gloom of that place of weeping,
\nGethsemane! [Refrain]<\/p>\n
5 If Thy way and its sorrows bearing,
\nWe go again,
\nUp the slope of the hillside, bearing
\nOur cross of pain. [Refrain]<\/p>\n
6 By and by, through the shining portals,<\/p>\n
Turning our feet,
\nWe shall walk, with the glad immortals,
\nHeav\u2019n\u2019s golden street. [Refrain]<\/p>\n
7 Then, at last, when on high He sees us,
\nOur journey done,
\nWe will rest where the steps of Jesus
\nEnd at His throne. [Refrain]<\/p>\n
When Will was in middle school, he was a member of 4H.\u00a0 He invited me to chaperon a trip his group was taking to the 4H center at Jekyll Island.\u00a0 I am a sucker for any beach trip – even if it includes babysitting.\u00a0 LOL.\u00a0 There is something about standing where the land meets the ocean that instantly draws me nearer to our Creator.\u00a0 Ironically, I think I ended up learning more about the island and its ecology than the kids did!\u00a0 I learned about sea oats and their critical role in beach and dune preservation.\u00a0 I learned about the Georgia bight – and its role in the steep tides the barrier islands experience (see below).\u00a0 One interesting thing about the 4H center at Jekyll Island is its remoteness and separation from “civilization”.\u00a0 My favorite activity was a nightly walk along the beach after the “lights out” call and the kids were asleep.\u00a0 The difference between a dark, uninhabited stretch of coastline, and beaches overrun by tourists is striking.\u00a0 It was dark – so dark I couldn’t see my hands – yet I felt peaceful and safe.\u00a0 That is, until two nights before we returned home.\u00a0 On this walk something was different, almost fearfully different.\u00a0 That night, I noticed that my footprints (near\/at the waterline) were glowing behind me – for as far as I could see.\u00a0 I cut my walk short, fearing that a nuclear accident had happened at the Savannah River nuclear power plant, and I was walking in radioactive material.\u00a0 I noticed that even the waves were glowing – all in a fluorescent green color – the same color as my footprints.\u00a0 Needless to say, I didn’t sleep that night, and couldn’t wait to tell the camp staff what had happened.\u00a0 I figured everyone needed to be warned and the proper authorities contacted.\u00a0 Well, imagine my surprise when the camp coordinator laughed at my ignorance and fear of the negative instead of awe of the positive.\u00a0 It was then I learned about bioluminescent plankton, and was able to coordinate a trip for that night so the kids could experience it as well.\u00a0 Sadly, bioluminescent plankton can only be seen on dark nights with minimal light pollution on the beach, and only at certain times of the year.\u00a0 A new moon or cloudy night can help the plankton become visible.\u00a0 Most of our vacation beaches are too swamped with light pollution though.\u00a0 I had never seen them before because I had never walked on a dark beach.\u00a0 I am attaching a video example of bioluminescent plankton.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/brownsguides.com\/georgia-bight\/<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n