Many of you have now realized that the strange whirring sound outside is coming from the 13 year Cicadas. In talking with the staff here, this strange re-emergence has caused us to review life a bit. Larry said he remembers hearing the strange sound not long after he started working here. We did the math and sure enough, 1998 was early in his tenure.
I recalled hearing the sound as a kid living in Northern Virginia. Re-winding two more thirteen’s brings 1985 and then 1972. I was in Texas in ’85, so I missed that one, but 1972 is consistent with my recollection as I would have been 9 years old.
Why did God design these strange creatures to live underground for 13 years, emerge and mate during a short 5 weeks of activity, and then repeat that cycle? There are, no doubt, reasons of ecological balance that we can only begin to fathom, and I think some of the birds out there are “fat and happy” after feasting on this bumper crop of insects, but I’m intrigued about the way it has caused us to reflect.
As I look back over my life in 13 year chunks, I can see God’s abundant provision over the years. In 1972, I understood only a little of God’s grace. It wasn’t until 1980 that the “gospel light-bulb” came on for me, and I put my faith in Christ. In 1985, while I was living in Texas andattending U T, two of my summers were spent as a counselor and backpacking trail guide at Eagle Lake Camp in the Colorado Rockies. This was my first of three Christian camp jobs. In 1998, 13 years later, I was working full-time for Camp Redcloud in Lake City, CO where the Lord had provided a wonderful job, a wonderful wife, and a wonderful daughter named Robin. We were just beginning to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to live out East, closer to our families.” Of course, in 2000, we moved here to be part of the wonderful staff of WCRC in Virginia where both my family and my wife’s family now reside.
Here in 2011, 39 years after first hearing the Cicadas, I can say with certainty and assurance, God is good! I have an amazing family and I work with a fantastic group of people providing a place where young and old alike can begin a relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in him. God’s provision is so awesome!
Hannah Whitehall Smith once wrote, “The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life, God is enough!”
Isn’t it great that God can use Cicadas to help us learn that!
I recalled hearing the sound as a kid living in Northern Virginia. Re-winding two more thirteen’s brings 1985 and then 1972. I was in Texas in ’85, so I missed that one, but 1972 is consistent with my recollection as I would have been 9 years old.
Why did God design these strange creatures to live underground for 13 years, emerge and mate during a short 5 weeks of activity, and then repeat that cycle? There are, no doubt, reasons of ecological balance that we can only begin to fathom, and I think some of the birds out there are “fat and happy” after feasting on this bumper crop of insects, but I’m intrigued about the way it has caused us to reflect.
As I look back over my life in 13 year chunks, I can see God’s abundant provision over the years. In 1972, I understood only a little of God’s grace. It wasn’t until 1980 that the “gospel light-bulb” came on for me, and I put my faith in Christ. In 1985, while I was living in Texas andattending U T, two of my summers were spent as a counselor and backpacking trail guide at Eagle Lake Camp in the Colorado Rockies. This was my first of three Christian camp jobs. In 1998, 13 years later, I was working full-time for Camp Redcloud in Lake City, CO where the Lord had provided a wonderful job, a wonderful wife, and a wonderful daughter named Robin. We were just beginning to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to live out East, closer to our families.” Of course, in 2000, we moved here to be part of the wonderful staff of WCRC in Virginia where both my family and my wife’s family now reside.
Here in 2011, 39 years after first hearing the Cicadas, I can say with certainty and assurance, God is good! I have an amazing family and I work with a fantastic group of people providing a place where young and old alike can begin a relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in him. God’s provision is so awesome!
Hannah Whitehall Smith once wrote, “The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs. This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life, God is enough!”
Isn’t it great that God can use Cicadas to help us learn that!
