Friday, April 14, 2023
Hello. My name is Stewie and I live at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga. I am a rescue turtle, a green sea turtle who lives off seagrass and algae. I occupy my time each day swimming among the other sea creatures, sleeping and eating, and ignoring all the visitors to the aquarium. It’s a hard life. Not really.
Yesterday something happened that made me take notice of one of the visitors. Swimming close to one of the many observing windows in the tank, I caught the glimpse of this lady who appeared to stop in her tracks as she saw me. Nothing unusual about that. But when I swam out of sight of that window, she ran back in the direction she had just come and caught me in her view in the third window. Since she had gone to all that trouble, I decided to get a closer view. Much closer. She sat down, almost touching the window so I got right up to the window as well and hung onto the ledge. It wasn’t easy as I had to reposition myself from time to time. There was a long rod sticking out of the ledge which made it difficult to be comfortable but she interested me.
Oh look, not only could I see she was fascinated with me, but she was wearing a turtle T-shirt. Then up close, something caught my eye which made me more curious about this visitor. She had a Birthday button on and guess what? It had a sea turtle on it! Now I know those buttons are handed out by the Aquarium staff, and there are all different types of animals one can choose from, but she chose me!
Then she put her hand on the glass as if she were wishing to communicate with me. So, I tried to do the same with my flipper. It wasn’t easy. The ledge wasn’t very big and that metal rod was so in the way. I kept slipping. It didn’t work with the one flipper so I tried it with the other. The glass was in the way. So, I just looked at her, as she was looking at me. Another girl came and kneeled beside her, trying to get my attention, but she wasn’t the one who interested me.
It must have been around ten minutes that I stayed on that ledge but I was slipping again and knew it was too tiring to hold on much longer. So, I slowly slipped off the ledge, disappearing below, all the while keeping my eyes on her till I was out of sight. I hope those ten minutes gave her a very special birthday present. Normally I don’t pay attention, but as I waved goodbye to my new friend with my flipper, I’m glad I did.
We don’t know what turtles actually think, but I am told they are very intelligent creatures. No matter what he thought, what he did was unusual, giving me a present that went far beyond what I expected on that day!
Genesis 1:21-23 says, “So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, … And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas…” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” God created these amazing sea creatures. Furthermore, He created them to praise Him! Psalm 69:34 says, “Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.”
I don’t know about you, but God’s creation continually stirs my heart and fills me with wonder and praise. That gift yesterday was an added bonus. I lost count of how many times I thanked and praised Him for that gift.
What about you? Does God’s creation stir your heart and fill you with an attitude of praise and adoration? If not, why not?
Blessings, Mari
