Lisbon Beach and Campground, Ogdensburg, New York
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. ~ Proverbs 3:3-4
It’s Sunday morning.
We were all dressed up, with no place to go. Well, technically we went. But when we arrived at First Baptist, there was a new sign out front that said the services in July had been moved to another church – a half hour earlier! We had just driven by there on Friday afternoon. The sign clearly stated worship at 10am. In this location.
So now what?
We checked around, all other services were Catholic or Anglican, with the exception of another small Baptist church just up the road that had a totally empty parking lot and no website. We went home and listen to an excellent message by Pastor Mike – after we changed clothes. 😊
He’s been working on a new series. This one on the book of John. And once again, I encourage you to listen to it at thechapel.life/green.
Today’s message was centered on the event when Jesus turned water into wine at a wedding. As usual, Pastor Mike was able to draw out things we’d never considered in this familiar story of Jesus’ first miracle.
In a nutshell – – Jesus, His mother Mary and at least some of His disciples were invited to a wedding in Cana. At some point, the host family ran out of wine. This is when Mary stepped in and commented to Jesus, “They have no more wine.” To which Jesus replied, “Dear woman, why do you involve Me? My time has not yet come.” And Mom said to the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Jesus then proceeds to tell them to fill six enormous stone jars (20-30 gallons each) with water and then take a dipperful to the guy in charge. At some point along the way, the water in the dipper (and the jars) turned into the finest wine. And the guy in charge credits the groom with saving the best for last.
So where’s the lesson here? There are soooo many questions I could get into, like Why here? What was Mary expecting? Why alcohol? Why not let people know? And so on, and so on.
A bit of background first. The Gospel writers record 34 of Jesus’ miracles, but no one except John records this one. Then again, John was the only Gospel writer who was there. It would’ve been his first and probably most astonishing because it was the first. Cana was a no-nothing town. Smaller and less important than even Nazareth. In fact, John’s Gospel is the only place it’s mentioned in the Bible. So once again, God proves His awareness and love for those no one on earth cares about. You see, throughout Scripture, you see stories of God using the ‘unimportant’ – this ‘nothing’ wedding, the virgin with the poor betrothed, the boy with the fish and loaves, the infirm . . .
Pastor Mike didn’t get into the why’s so much and neither will I. Those are rabbit trails I don’t have time for. What we learned today was about the symbolism in this event.
1. The jars used were ceremonial jars used for cleansing. The Jews were big on being ceremonially clean. The purpose of the jars was to fill them with clean water so the people could use it. The Jews became unclean during the course of daily circumstances and were cleansed by pouring water over their hands. In this case, with all the people, a lot of water would’ve been needed. Hence the large jars. This symbolizes the Old Testament Covenant. Becoming clean before God by animal sacrifices and cleansing with water.
2. Changing the water to wine – and the very best at that – symbolizes the beginning of the New Covenant. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ and being cleansed by belief in Him. Saving the best until now.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ~ John 1:17
Performing this miracle wasn’t about ‘saving the day’. It wasn’t about being obedient to his mother’s wishes. It was about revealing Himself – His glory – to His new-found followers. “. . . and His disciples put their faith in Him.” ~ John 2:11
It seemed today was just not our day. At least that’s how it began.
Besides finding church “closed”, there were other things. We headed out to visit a power dam in the area. Blaine knew gas in the Jeep was running low, but he believed he could get some at the town we were visiting. There was not a gas station anywhere! We had to turn around and return to an IGA grocery store to get it.
And then one of the roads we needed was closed, and we had to take a detour.
And later, we had to do battle with mosquitos and horseflies.
Other than that, it was a great day! 😊
Our first stop unexpectedly took us to the Eisenhower lock. Remember our time at Sault Ste Marie last year when we watched the giant freighters go through the locks? The Eisenhower lock is another one of the 16 locks that make up the Great Lakes Seaway System.
Sad to say, this one is not really presentable as a tourist attraction. It looked like it hadn’t been touched since it’s completion in 1958. ☹ It would’ve been interesting to see the Paul R. Tregurtha (the longest one in the fleet) come in here because the lock just didn’t look large enough to hold it, but yet it must because this is the only way to get to the Great Lakes.
This one looked the most interesting. : )
Looks like a spice rack,
but it’s samples of all the main cargo that travels up and down this waterway.
It says it’s high enough for our motorhome,
but I didn’t like traveling in the Jeep through it, let alone my home!
After this short stop, we moved on to one of the New York Power Authority hydroelectric power dams, which generates power for – well, I don’t know for how many. I couldn’t find the information. But it’s a lot! Blaine said he’s never seen so many high voltage towers in his life, and that’s saying something coming from a commercial electrician.
and resting on the railings outside the Visitor Center!
Our eyes could pick it up better than our phones.
he used to work on these sub stations – usually on July 4th weekend.
It was always hot and very dirty work.
They had to polish them until they were shiny.
And lastly, we visited the Robert Moses State Park for a hike. This is where we encountered the unrelenting bugs. Swinging my arms as I walked briskly, I felt them hit my palm and fingers with every swing. Ugh!
But the Nature Center was really nice.
The sign said not to. . . . : )
And dinner was scrumptious – Cajun Shrimp Fettucine Alfredo. Recipe below.
We were too hungry to get a picture from the plates. : )
CAJUN SHRIMP FETTUCCINE ALFREDO
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
8oz. uncooked fettuccine
1 T. butter
1 T. Cajun seasoning
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ C. dry white wine or chicken broth
1 C. heavy cream
1 C. parmesan cheese
¼ C. green onion (optional for garnish)
Start pasta. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Toss the shrimp in 1 T. Cajun seasoning. Add to pan and cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside.
Add garlic to the pan and sauté about 30 seconds. Deglaze the pan with the wine.
Add the heavy cream, Parmesan. Cook until it thickens a bit – about 3-5 minutes.
Drain the pasta, then add to the alfredo sauce, along with the shrimp. Serve garnished with green onions if desired.
I didn’t have any wine or broth, so I used water and bouillon. 😊