A Bit of Heaven on Earth, Part II

Friday, March 16, 2012

Paul Schneider

Dear Friend,

INTRO

It was our privelege to go on a cruise of some of the Caribbean islands with two of our children and two grandchildren for one full week in February. We had a wonderful time together. All that we saw and experienced, reinforced our conviction of what a great God we have.

ON THE BRINY

We left St. Thomas at 5:30 p.m., and headed for Barbados, a distance of 270 miles, with a pop. of 277,000. About 10 p.m., Bob and I went out on Deck 6 and walked up to the bow of the ship. The constellation Orion was directly overhead and was absolutely brilliant. The rest of the stars also shone very brightly. We had all eaten supper together in the formal dining room, where we had the same table and waiters every night. It was elegant dining, the waiter, to begin with, would take the beautiful cloth napkin and put it across your lap. You ordered from the menu, which provided excellent choices. We got in a lot of visiting in the evenings. In the morning, breakfast was served on Deck 9. There was a great variety of food to choose from. In Heaven, we will have all kinds of food to eat and plenty of time to visit. One morning Pam and Darrell went up on the the 10th deck and walked around the deck several times -- until they had walked a mile. Bob and Karon also did their walking. We plowed through the sea all night, all the next day and all the following night to get to Barbados. I asked my son-in-law Darrell to do a quick math calculation and tell me how many gallons of water are in the ocean, it reminds me of the infiniteness of God. "Heaven is My abode and earth is my footstool." How VAST!

BARBADOS

What a beautiful isle. So much to see and do. Darrell, I and daughter-in-law Karon went for a ride in a submarine, while the rest of the group went to the Wildlife Reserve. An individual had a vision for building and deploying these 48 passenger submarines all over the world where tourists flock to. It has a row of bucket seats right down the middle where passengers sit back to back and each one has a window to look out of. Your first descent is to 55 feet, where you see an infinite variety of coral reefs of all shapes and sizes. You keep on descending to as deep as 150 feet. Beautiful little blue fish were in abundance, large yellow-jacks were in schools and other fish too, as well as one green Moray eel. We also saw a sunken ship.

BARBADOS TOUR

Six family members went to the Wildlife Reserve. "With manicured gardens, a centuries old parliament and plenty of polo games and cricket matches, charming Barbados wears its British heritage like a comfortable tweed cap." Everyone drives on the wrong side of the road. Each island has it's own beauty and charm. Delores was able to get some pictures of various kinds of animals and birds as well as crops, such as sugar cane. The Lord has adorned the macaws and parrots with such beautiful plumage. One macaw had blue and red with a tinge of green in between, another with green and gold and another with blue and gold, fabulous colours. A parrot was adorned with a beautiful red and green. The Bible says, "Every species reproduces it's own kind." Usually, when you get off the ship, there is a large building with lots of shops, offering all kinds of merchandise. Knowing how much I love flowers, Delores took pictures of many flowers. With a year around temp. of 75 to 87 degrees, flowers grow prolifically the year around. A number of Brit's retire there.

TIGHTEN THE HAWSERS

When a ship pulls into a dock, the first thing they do is fasten the bow and the stern to huge concrete abutments with hawsers, huge ropes on winches, usually about three on each end. They loop them over the piling sticking above the concrete and then the winches tighten them up so the boat won't go anywhere when the winds blow and the waves beat. Keeps the ship in place. Takes the place of an anchor. The old hymn "Will Your Anchor Hold" in the storms of life? comes to mind. "I have an anchor that keeps my soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, grounded in the ROCK (Jesus Christ) which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love." Very soon now, the worst storm this world will ever see, will be breaking and will culminate in World War III and Armageddon. If you want to be safe on Heaven's shore, instead of here in the holocaust, Pray, Lord Jesus Christ, I receive you now as my Savior. Please forgive me of all my sins and take me to Heaven when you come. Amen!"

Next week, Part III

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