Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, Florida
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” ~ Matthew 4:7 As far as I know, there is only one verse in scripture where God says it’s okay to test Him; Malachi 3:10. There, God is talking about the Israelites not trusting Him to care for them because they’re withholding their tithes and offerings. He tells them to return to that act of worship and allow Him to show them that He is faithful and will bless them when they put their trust in Him. But this is a little different. Here, Satan has blatantly called Jesus to put God to the test. Will He or won’t He protect Jesus from killing Himself when He jumps off the top of the temple? This would also be a blatant act of self-aggrandizing as everyone – thousands of people – would see this happen. This is not why Jesus came. We oftentimes put God to the test in a negative way when we ask Him for things and then make promises if He answers our selfish prayers. When we pray, we need to check our motives. Is our request selfish, or does it truly have God’s glorification in mind? Psalm 37:4 tells us, “Delight yourself in the Lord and (then) He will give you the desires of your heart.” Because if you’re delighting yourself in the Lord, His desires become your desires.
This morning, we shared our sunrise with a bevy of seagulls, many of whom were bathing in the ocean and preening. This evening, we shared our dinner with a gopher tortoise. Those things move faster than you think! Still, slower than a hare, though. 😊
Unfortunately, my phone doesn’t like to take pictures of the moon at any time, let alone when it’s foggy.
As we were wandering and soaking up God’s Love for us displayed in the sunrise, and even our enjoyment of the gulls, we made a spontaneous decision to kayak this morning. It was foggy, warm, and the air carried a soft breeze.
It was a nice paddle.
Take note of the seagull.
Hey look! Blue sky!
Who’da thunk Florida had hills??
We’re getting close!
The fog rolled back in again, which has nothing to do with seeing (or not) the lighthouse.
We reached the end of the canal, and a man was preparing for his tour group of SUP riders. That’s those surfboard-looking things people stand on and paddle like a canoe. He told us it’s good we caught the tide at the right time because it changes 1” every 10 minutes! We could’ve never paddled against that! But we knew we were in a good time slot because Blaine checked it before we made the decision to go. We just never imagined it would rise and drop that much. We hardly paddled at all on the way back except to steer.
The water is blocked here.
That’s important when you’re old and have been sitting in a kayak for a while. : )
He was in the really nice park beside the boat dock.
One of the things the tour groups boast about on this patch of water is a view of the lighthouse. Well, just wait till you see the view!
The tours charge $75/person and as I mentioned before, they include the promise of seeing the lighthouse.
Are you kidding me?!?
While we were out, we drove over to Florida’s smallest State Park – Fort San Carlos.
The movie The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, was released in the summer of 1988 and was based on the children’s classic book series about a young, adventurous girl named Pippi Longstocking. The Pippi Longstocking house and other exterior shots for the film were all shot in Northeast Florida.
Are you wondering why I’m sharing this random piece of information?
The movie was filmed here and the house in the movie is right across the street from the State Park. Blaine saw the credit online, and mentioned it when we arrived. There are no signs. The only nod to the filming is a Pippi doll hanging on the owner’s front door. 😊
Tonight’s dinner was shrimp pizza and for some reason, Blaine enjoys it so much he took pictures. And since he took pictures, I’ll share the recipe. 😊 It’s really yummy!
SHRIMP PIZZA
1# shrimp, peeled and deveined and cut in half
¼ C. small curd cottage cheese
¼ C. Miracle Whip
1 T. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. fresh basil, chopped
1 T. olive oil
1 ½ T. Cajun seasoning
3 individual pizza crust with a raised edge
1 C. feta cheese
½ C. roasted red pepper, chopped
1 C. Mozzarella cheese, shredded
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, OR grill over medium heat.
Combine cottage cheese and Miracle Whip in a small bowl. Stir in the vinegar, garlic and basil. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Sprinkle shrimp with the Cajun seasoning, then sauté just until pink. Set aside.
Spread a thin layer of cottage cheese mixture on each piece of bread, getting as close to the edge as possible. Sprinkle on the Feta and then the shrimp. Top with the pepper and cheese.
Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese melts and begins to brown, or place pizza directly on the grill until hot and crust is crispy on the bottom.
Serves 3