Looking Out the Pondview Window

By John Calsin

"But God." The hope that can spring up in a heart, any heart, when a man or woman, girl or boy, hears these words. This seasonal devotional will help that hope to spring up.

Share with other readers the joy of the seasons, the wildlife, and all of God's natural and biblical wonders as they were revealed to the author, and

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: May 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9798887383545

John Calsin

When asked about his occupation, it's not typical. John will say he's worn suits to meetings on Capitol Hill and Bermuda shorts while selling sailboats. In addition, for many years, he was a professional freelance writer, writing for trade journals, magazines, and newspapers on widely varied topics. These devotions reveal his life and travels from the East Coast to beyond Hawaii and from Texas to Alaska. He is now officially retired.

Book preview

Acknowledgments

To the many friends and readers who encouraged me and prayed for me along the way. I especially want to thank Carol, my wife, who has put up with my writing not only for this devotional book but also for the many years I learned this craft. And I want to thank my good friend Dana Acker for his contributions; close friend Dave Small, and especially his wife, Barb, for the initial reading and then reading to edit; Malcolm and Cathy Brubaker for their contributions; our daughters—Elizabeth, Sarah, and Rebecca—for their research and computer help; my friend Reverend Scott Stevenson for helping me through my Job period; and our pastor, Chris Swanson, who is an excellent teacher and a true pastor after the model of the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm. And I especially want to thank Marlene Bagnull, author of numerous books, including Write His Answer, and founder and director of the Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference and the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Marlene has personally helped more fledgling, experienced, and professional writers to grow in their craft, me included, to write His answer and share what God has laid on their hearts.

And a special thanks to Jody Patton, Project Manager, and the WorldMissionMedia editing team for all their help.

Table of Contents

Preface 9

Introduction 11

Part 1: Spring 15

No. 1: Refuge—Under His Wings 17

No. 2: Pond—Windy and Rippled 21

No. 3: The Frog and the Heron 25

No. 4: Is That Some Weird Part of Your Religion? 29

No. 5: The Ballerina’s Note 35

No. 6: Snow Poles and Psalm 119:105 39

No. 7: Sister Loftus Prayed All Night—or Suicide 43

No. 8: A Balm Better than Chapstick—Jeremiah 8:22 49

No. 9: The Lone Goose 53

No. 10: What Is God’s Will for Me? 57

No. 11: Grains of Sand—Paul’s Scouring 63

No. 12: Rescue the Perishing—More than a Hymn 69

Part 2: Dana Acker 75

Dana’s Introduction 77

No. 1: Dana and the Whirlwind—Job 1, 2 and 42 79

No. 2: The Grapevines Are Awake!—or The Vinedresser 85

No. 3: Deep Rootedness—Part 1 93

No. 4: Deep Rootedness—Part 2 99

Part 3: Summer 107

No. 1: God’s Timing—or Who Is Suzanne? 109

No. 2: Grains of Sand—God’s Thoughts to Me 113

No. 3: Hosea—Lies and Love 119

No. 4: Jonah—Paying the Fare 123

No. 5: Where Have All the Flags Gone? 129

No. 6: Pollen Count 135

No. 7: Fishers of Men—and Cod Fish Cakes 139

No. 8: Freedom Isn’t Free—the Fourth of July 147

No. 9: Pinpricks of Light—Fireflies 151

No. 10: The Thermometer and Missions—Isaiah 6:8 155

No. 11: Tropical Storm Fay—and a Shelter 159

No. 12: Giant in the Clouds—and David 165

No. 13: It’s (Not) Impossible—Ezekiel 36:36 169

No. 14: Lower than Pond Scum—or Ending Low Self-Esteem 173

Part 4: Autumn 179

No. 1: Malachi and the Spider 181

No. 2: It’s Not Just a Hole in the Ground 185

No. 3: Erosion and God’s Word 191

No. 4: Better or Bitter—the Consequence of Suffering 195

No. 5: The Belted Kingfisher and Flint 201

No. 6: Possession or Oppression? 205

No. 7: Fishbowl—or Great Cloud of Witnesses 211

No. 8: The Accuser and God 217

No. 9: Little Green (Greedy) Herons 221

No. 10: Stuff—and Matthew 6:25–34 (MSG) 227

No. 11: Fog—Faith Hoped For, Not Seen 233

No. 12: Did He Even Sleep? (Genesis 22) 239

No. 13: Sanctification—like Frost Melting on the Grass 245

Part 5: Winter 249

No. 1: The Cold North Wind of Worry—Matthew 6:25–34 251

No. 2: Arlington Cemetery—Ministry of Presence 255

No. 3: Dark Night of the Soul—How Long, Lord? 261

No. 4: Are We Any Different than Noah? 265

No. 5: They Were Not Drunk—Acts 2 269

No. 6: There Is Water Flowing under the Ice 275

No. 7: Revenge—Esther and Romans 12:19 281

No. 8: Proverbs—A Bridge to the World 285

No. 9: The Asthmatic Wind—Mark 4:35–41 291

No. 10: A Living Eulogy to Carol, My Wife 295

No. 11: The Sea and Safe Harbor 301

No. 12: Time and a New Year’s Prayer 305

Epilogue 309

Endnotes 311

Preface

While not written in stone, generally, there are several common formats for the traditional Christian devotional book. Looking Out the Pondview Window is different. For example, there are not 365, one for each day of the year. Nor are there thirty-one, one for each day of the month. Since the Pondview Devotions were written over an almost two-year period of time, a question arose as to the order in which they should appear: as written or by the season. But just as with the natural flow of time—spring, summer, fall, and winter—the seasonal progression was chosen.

This book is written more in the flavor of two of my favorite books, When the Water Smokes: Tides and Seasons on a Wooden Boat by Bob Simpson and The Outermost House, A Year of Life on the Great Beach of Cape Cod by Henry Beston; with perhaps a nod to Beautiful Swimmers (a book about the watermen, crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay) by William W. Warner, or On Good Land (about a California urban farm) by Michael Ableman.

Looking Out the Pondview Window is an accumulation of devotions I wrote when COVID-19 caused me to lose my job.

In the past, when asked about my occupation, I would frequently respond with, I’ve been everything, from a banker to what some consider to be a bum. I’ve worn suits to meetings on Capitol Hill to Bermuda shorts while selling boats. In addition, for many years, I was a professional freelance writer/journalist. I wrote mostly for secular trade journals, magazines, and newspapers on topics as varied as banking, aviation, environmentally related industries, personal columns, art reviews, and some Christian publications. Now I am officially retired.

***

Introduction

But God. Oh, how I love these two words. But God. The hope that can spring up in a heart, any heart, when a man or woman, girl or boy, hears these words.

***

Our house is in a development that used to be an Amish farm. The development is mostly surrounded by farmlands planted with corn and soybeans. It is bordered on the north by a small hill whose spine runs east and west along Highway 23 and on the south by the noise of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The sunroom of our home has a large picture window that looks out over a paddock—or pasture—and down to a retention basin, which the neighbors call a pond. It is surrounded by neighborhood homes and by a white post and rail fence. It’s a lovely pond.

Each morning, Carol, my wife, and I begin our day together. We sit on the sunporch during the four seasons, at least when the room’s temperature is not freezing, according to our old-fashioned red-line thermometer. We drink coffee, read our Bibles, catch up with each other, and look out the picture window to the pond below. From my seat on the rattan couch, I have a perfect view of the pond, the neighborhood, and the hillside beyond. God’s creation comes alive as I watch newly hatched baby geese frolic in the water for the first time; or kingfishers dive, focused, into the pond for a meal; or see the autumn tree colors on the distant hillside; or subconsciously shiver while I glance at the winter snows shrouding the ice-covered pond.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, I had extra time on my hands. After Carol would get up to go to work, I would continue sitting in the sunroom, reading my Bible while periodically looking out the window. The God of creation would then often give me parallel ideas based on a verse or the chapter I was reading and from what I was seeing out the pondview window. Or some scene would trigger a memory. In time, I began to write down those thoughts, ideas, feelings, and memories and email them to a few friends. I titled them Pondview Devotions. From that has grown this book.

Throughout the four seasons on our sunporch and while reading the biblical chapters and books, God revealed Himself to me. With the passing seasons, during inclement or fair weather, the kaleidoscope of life began to slowly unfold—birth and death, war and peace, good health or illness, success or failure. But we humans need more, a constant. That constant is God’s love for mankind and His willingness to intervene in our circumstances and lives. But God. Oh, how I love those two words. But God. We inhabitants of this world often face overwhelming situations. In spite of those situations, there is hope that can spring up in a heart, any heart, when a man or woman, girl or boy, hears those words. My prayer for all who read these Pondview Devotions is that hope will spring up in your heart, and in spite of the often complicated circumstances and seasons of your life, these two words, But God, will rule and overrule. May you know God’s love and provision, help, and peace.

So now, share with me and enjoy the seasons, the herons, the fog and rain, the snow and ice, the sunshine and white puffy clouds, and all the other wonders—His wonders—as they were revealed to me.

***

Part 1:

Spring

No. 1: Refuge—

Under His Wings

May 6, 2020

Hello Everyone,

But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay (Psalm 40:17, NIV).

Recently, I’ve been reading through the Psalms. We have a lot in common with the Psalms writers, illnesses, plagues, deceitful friends or even family members, crying out to God for help, abandonment, and financial crisis. Just plain being overwhelmed. It’s easy to forget Who is in charge.

Yesterday morning while sitting on my sunporch, reading my Bible, and looking out the picture window down onto the pond below, I was reminded of Who is in charge. Each year we have at least one pair of geese nest and raise their young on our pond. The seven fuzzy, little yellow goslings were busy eating the fresh green grass that ringed the pond. For some reason (whether it was one of the hawks that frequently soar over our neighborhood or one of the barn cats on the prowl), the goslings headed for the mother, and she lifted her wings so they could scurry under them. Suddenly, they were not visible while safely hiding under their mother’s wings. And off to the side, but nearby, the father goose was alert, watchful, and on guard for any trouble.

For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy (Psalm 63:7, NASB).

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings (Psalm 17:8, NIV).

How exquisite your love, O God! How eager we are to run under your wings, to eat our fill at the banquet you spread (Psalm 36:7, 8, MSG).

And finally…

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow [or whatever Satan or life tries to throw at you] that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

Psalm 91:1–6 (NIV)

I started this note echoing the cry of the psalmist, imploring God not to delay. Unfortunately (or perhaps I should say, fortunately), He does not work on my timetable. I’ve heard a number of sermons that include reasons for why He takes His time, but when the chips are down, I often ask God, again, to please not delay. And then I am reminded of Jeremiah’s enlightened lament:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly.

Lamentations 3:21–26 (NIV)

I pray for you all that during this time of severe shaking of all that we have ever known, you will remember with me the mother goose protecting her young under her wings and have hope in our Deliverer, our Shield, our Provider, our Shepherd. Even though we may have to wait…

God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill? (Numbers 23:19, NIV).

***

No. 2: Pond—Windy and Rippled

The pond view from the sunporch today is one of near perfection. The rainstorm last night blew away the haze, so the hillside in the distance is crisp and clear. It is highlighted against the blue sky. The sky is accented with a few wispy, white clouds rapidly skittering across the picture-framed type view out the window. Even the blades of grass stand out individually (I see with the help of binoculars since these aging eyes don’t make things quite as clear as they did when younger).

Although the rain is gone and the sun is shining, there is a strong, cold, northerly wind contradicting the calendar. It’s May. Some spring flowers and the remains of flowering trees are bending to the wind, but the temperature is thirty-six degrees. American flags—bright red, white, and blue—contrast with the greens and are whipping in the stiff breeze, while the surface of the pond looks like crepey skin on an elderly person’s arm (mine).

But in spite of the windblown ripples on the pond’s surface and the muddy appearance of the water due to the recent rains, there are areas of calm at various places on its surface. While we’re told the rain falls on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), sometimes, don’t we wish the rain in our lives would only fall on the unjust? However, in spite of the winds of turmoil (Will there be enough money to pay the next grocery bill? Will the new normal be normal, or will things go back to being normal? Will my children be able to safely go back to school? Will my company be able to survive this shutdown?) swirling around us, God has calm for us if we turn to Him, look to His Word, and, when necessary, do our part.

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love…

Psalm 107:28–31 (NIV)

He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm" (Matthew 8:26, NIV).

Sometimes we have to act and not just wait on the Lord to act.

But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother…I am content (Psalm 131:2, NIV).

Say to him, ‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid. Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood… (Isaiah 7:4, NIV) [the virus and all the potential problems it brings with it].

I remember several times while I was in the Coast Guard (long before I knew Jesus as my Savior and Lord), the ships that I was stationed on sailed into terrible storms. I can think of one time in particular. We were in the Western Central Pacific Ocean, steaming from Honolulu, Hawaii, to Kwajalein Atoll, which is part of the Marshall Islands. We sailed into the end of a typhoon. Giant green-colored waves, taller than a three-story house, completely rolled over the top of my ship. At times we were actually underwater. Oh, how I longed for calm water. But I was not as fortunate as the disciples when they had Jesus in their boat in a storm.

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat…A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don’t you care if we drown? He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, Quiet! Be still! Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Mark 4:35–39 (NIV)

It’s later in the day now. Looking out the sunporch window toward the pond, I see the skies are darkening, and the wind is still blowing, but there are still calm patches of water on the pond. Today, let Jesus come into your life and let Him calm the storms of your life.

Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8, NIV).

For God does not show favoritism (Romans 2:11, NIV).

***

Hopefully, today’s view out the pondview window will be an encouragement to some who want to throw in the towel. I’d like to tell you a story of a bullfrog and a great blue heron and how they never gave up. This happened while Carol and I watched their life-and-death drama play out down in the pond below.

***

No. 3: The Frog and the Heron

I was looking out our sunroom window at the pond yesterday morning and remembered a real-life drama that took place there several years ago.

It was a Sunday morning, and we were ready to leave for church when Carol called me to come out to the sunporch. We looked out the window and down to the pond. In the shallows at