When I, in Awesome Wonder

When I was a little girl, going to Mass with my family or at school, I loved it when we sang the hymn, Sing to the Mountains. It’s little wonder that one of my favorite places to go to as an adult is Colorado. We cherish every minute we are blessed to enjoy in our mountain cabin, but there are many other places I’ve been blessed to see, and each one of them makes me want to proclaim,

Sing to the mountains, sing to the sea.
Raise your voices, lift your hearts.
This is the day the Lord has made.
Let all the earth rejoice.

The past few days, Ken and I have marveled at the beauty of God’s creation in one of the most amazing places on earth…

When Ken asked me to accompany him on a business trip to Brazil, I wasn’t sure what to expect or even if I wanted to go. What would we do? What would see? Would I find enough to keep me busy for the ten days he planned for us to be there? Ken suggested his mother and sister go with us so that I had someone to be with on the days he was working, and we all began talking about what we should do.

“Remember the movie, Up?” Ken asked one day in the beginning stages of planning the trip. “Paradise Falls is based on Iguacú Falls in Brazil. We should go there.”

“Sure, why not,” I said.

I had no idea what we were about to encounter.

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Four times the length and twice the height of Niagara Falls, Iguacú Falls (and the Iguacú River) form the border between Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. Every step taken in the mountainous rain forest leads to a more spectacular view of the falls.

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We saw exotic birds, coatis, and enormous catfish as we wound our way through the trees to overlooks and spraying water.

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We explored the falls from both the Brazilian and the Argentinan sides of the river. With wonder and awe, we held our breath with each view. What magnificence! What splendor! What beauty! Each day the Lord gave us something more wonderful to marvel at.

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On the third day of our trip to Foz do Iguacú, Ken, Chrissy, and I went canoeing down the Iguacú River between the shores of Brazil and Argentina. It was overcast, and we thought we would end up just as wet as on our boat ride under the falls. Instead, we were blessed with perfect weather–not too hot, not too cool, cloudy but without a drop of rain. We watched birds fly overhead, waved hello to the fishermen who dotted the shoreline, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the river. We canoed to a secluded inlet that boasted a small waterfall, just a trickle down the rock face in comparison to the gigantic falls above and around it.

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With each passing minute, I became more aware of the beautiful gift of nature that we have all been given. It’s as if God, in those six days of creation, sat back each morning and thought, What can I make today that will be even more amazing than what I made yesterday?

The more I see of the world, the more I am in awe of God’s gifts to mankind. How lucky we are to live on a planet that is so rich in blessings. The thought is so overwhelming that sometimes, I scarce can take it in. May we spend all of our days recognizing the beauty around us and singing the lyrics of another classic hymn I’ve always loved to sing,

O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee
How great Thou art, how great Thou art

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What I was writing about a year ago this week: Friended By God.

Amy Schisler is an award-winning author of both children’s books and sweet, faith-filled romance novels for readers of all ages. She lives with her husband and three daughters on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. Her books, Picture Me, Whispering Vines, and Island of Miracles are all recipients of Illumination Awards, placing them among the top inspirational fiction books of 2015, 2016, and 2017. Whispering Vines was awarded the 2017 LYRA Award for the best romance of 2016. Island of Miracles has outsold all of Amy’s other books worldwide and ranked as high as 600 on Amazon. Her follow up, Island of Promise is a reader favorite. Amy’s children’s book is The Greatest Gift. The suspense novel, Summer’s Squall, and all of Amy’s books, can be found online and in stores. Her latest novel, Island of Promise, was recently awarded First Prize by the Oklahoma Romance Writer’s Association as the best Inspirational Romance of 2018 and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards 2019 for Inspirational Fiction. It is the 2019 winner for Best Inspirational Fiction in the RWA Golden Quill Contest, Best Romance in the American Book Awards, and a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award of Fiction. Amy’s 2019 work, The Devil’s Fortune, is based, in part, on her family history and is garnering many five star reviews.