The Sustainer of Life

I've posted the short video below not because it's a good example of cinematography, nor because it conveys professionalism, but because of the simple words that are spoken. The thoughts that are conveyed. The little reminders that are given.

How blessed we are to be created. To be given life. 

To wake up in the morning, and see. 

Hear. Smell. Feel. Breathe. 

We as humans, often in our finite minds tend to so very easily lose our awe for God. The very One who created us. The very One who places each breath in our mouths. The very One who daily pumps our hearts. 

You. Me. We are sustained. 

Therefore... let us glory in our Sustainer. 

God's Creation from Southeast TV on Vimeo.

Think Tall

The giraffe is the tallest living land animal in the world, with males reaching upwards of 18 feet in height.

While the giraffe does possess an obvious advantage in length of reach, some difficulties do arise at such a height. However, the Creator of all has an incredible way of designing special characteristics in order to meet the needs of an animal's various difficulties. Let's take a quick look at just a few of the characteristics that can be observed in the giraffe.

First of all, a giraffe's heart has an incredibly long, vertical distance to pump blood to the brain.
How is this properly achieved? Well, it just so happens that this creature was given a little bit bigger of a heart than your average critter. How big? Try 25 pounds big. Yikes.
Along with it's tremendous size, a giraffe's heart possesses a special series of one-way valves that force blood toward the head.

Oh and if your wondering how a giraffe gets enough oxygen into that massive amount of blood in their veins, it just so happens that a giraffe's lungs possess the same trait as their heart. As in...their massive. A giraffe's lungs can hold up to 55 liters of air.

Not bad.

Next lets take a look at this big guy's legs. For whatever reason, the skin covering the legs is extremely tight. Why you ask? Believe it or not, it is a necessity for the giraffe to live. The legs of a giraffe reach to six feet below it's heart. Without extremely tight skin around it's legs, the giraffe's blood would pool at it's hooves. Slightly important detail.

There's many more characteristics that could be mentioned, but I'll end with one that might at first seem rather insignificant.

The giraffes tongue. One cool thing is that they're approximately 20 inches long. Giraffes actually clean their ears with their tongue! That's just cool to me.

And... a little gross.

What amazes me most however, is that the tongue is colored a bluish-black. So right now you might be thinking okay...what's the big deal about that?

Get this. Their tongue is given that color to protect it from being sunburned. I'm sorry, but it's little details like this that firmly prove in my mind this creature was not made this way by accident. No big bang could ever account for insignificant little details such as this. It had to be fashioned that way, for a purpose, by a loving, caring God.

Take time today to praise your Maker for His incredible attention to detail.

Underwater Beauty

Marine animals such as coral and sponges are often viewed as undersea algae that do nothing but sit there and take up space on the bottom of the ocean floor. However, many various coral and sponges are quite active, and mobile.

Also, when observing these amazing creations we find that they are indeed incredibly beautiful creatures! 

Included below is a short video by Daniel Stoupin which will provide you with an up-close look at the movements of these creatures, and the plethora of vibrant colors God has painted them with.
Make sure to notice the incredible detail that God has placed in even these often unseen creatures! 

Slow Life from Daniel Stoupin on Vimeo.