Captivated

I am at home sick. For the third time this week.

I just can't seem to kick this sinus infection. Since

Iiving overseas I've had sinus infection after sinus infection. It's the worst. You know the pressure in your head and face, shooting headache, yellow banana slugs out your nose kind of sinus infection?

Thankfully I've been spared the banana slugs this time.

Speaking of banana slugs, do you guys know what they are? A few awesome summers ago I lived in Santa Cruz, California, where banana slugs are rocking the scene. So much so, the University of California at Santa Cruz's mascot is a banana slug. Hows a huge yellow slug for a mascot? That's about as bad as a human being being your mascot. Community, anyone??

So, the infamous banana slug. I naturally was pretty eager to see one. Of course to see if they really look like bananas. And then on a nice walk, while exploring the Red Wood forest, with my brother and cousin, who came to visit me, we saw one. And then another. And then another. And they were awesome. Big, slimy yellow bananas clinging to tree trunks.

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Go see some banana slugs. More importantly see the Red wood forest. Have any of you been there? I  would just hug the trees and listen. It's pretty amazing to be hugging something that was living and growing while Jesus walked the earth in flesh. These trees are resilient and have stood the test of time. And magnificent. I heard one time it's like they're a natural outdoor cathedral. Walking through a forest that big and that old, you can't help but praise and glorify Their Maker.

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Have any of you ever heard of the song Captivated by Shawn McDonald?

If you haven't download it real fast. As well as, every single one of his songs. He's my favorite artist by far. Theres just something about his music that takes me back to the days in late high school, when I first started following Jesus, that makes me feel alive and connected to the Lord.

I can remember sitting on the beach one night in Santa Cruz, in a sweatshirt, because northern California has the best weather in summer, with my head phones in, listening to his song, and feeling captivated.

I felt the sea breeze, and watched the waves crashing against the shore, and thought about the seals that lay on the wood planks of the pier, next to the starfish the size of your face, barking all day.

If you don't know how awe striking it is to see seals lounging and seemingly howling to the moon, or a starfish the size of your face, take a vacation because clearly wonders have become norms to you or you've forgotten to stop and  notice them.

And I totally get it if barking seals aren't your thing. We're obsessed with monkeys in the West, aren't we? To see or hold a mokey is just one of those things you must do. But a friend of ours, from Zimbabwe, likes to tell stories of greedy monkeys stealing crops in his homeland and quickly reminds us that the adorable things we see on TV, are the equivalent of locusts. Locusts with faces. Stealing food from children. So I get it. Maybe seals are your monkeys. I get how seals could be viewed as greedy beggars barking down there all day for someone to throw them part of their hot dog.

But monkeys, seals, banana slugs, whatever your thing is, open your eyes to it, and be captivated.

Be captivated. 

Be captivated by your maker.

When I look into the mountainsI see Your faceWhen I look in to the night's skyIt sparkles Your name

The wind and the clouds and the blue in the skyThe sun and the moon and the stars so highThat's what draws me to You

I am, I'm captivated by YouIn all that You doI am, I'm captivated

When I wake unto the morningIt gives me Your sightWhen I look across the oceanIt echoes Your might

The sand on the shore and the waves in the seaThe air in my lungs and the way You made meThat's what draws me to You

I am, I'm captivated by YouIn all that You doI am, I'm captivated

'Cause I am, I'm captivated by YouIn all that You doI am, I'm captivated

The wind and the clouds and the blue in the skyThe sun and the moon and the stars so highThe sand on the shore and the waves in the seaThe air in my lungs and the way You made me

The blood in my veins and my heart You invadeThe plants how they grow and the trees and their shadeThe way that I feel and the love in my soulI thank You my God for letting me, letting me know

I am, I'm captivated by YouIn all that You doI am, I'm captivated

'Cause I am, I'm captivated by YouIn all that You doI am captivated by you
Captivated by Shawn McDonald

Lip stitches, cold and all, I'm going to praise Him and 

stand captivated by all the beauty around me today.

What has captivated you lately?