For our 25th wedding anniversary, our son and his wife initiated a fund drive to send us on a vacation. Our other children became involved and collected money from all of our friends and family.   It was a well-kept secret. They did eventually tell their dad, since we were talking about cancelling his planned vacation time.

They collected a large sum of money and want us to spend it on a vacation - no camping and no visiting friends. Just the two of us.  We never did get a honeymoon, and our last family vacation was in 1990. I have enjoyed the dreaming and idea-kicking stage of the planning, but we really need to make plans soon. I have a wonderful husband who will do whatever makes me happy. He did say "nowhere HOT", but later that was qualified. We can go somewhere hot if it is a beach location. No Arizona or Grand Canyon trip. (That wasn't on my list, anyhow.)

I am still taking suggestions. When someone posts a link, I check it out and bookmark it to show Pat. We can't go out of the United States, because I don't have a passport. I'm not about to use any of our vacation money to get one right now, and there are plenty of places to visit in our own country.

I am very frugal by nature. I would rather have two weeks of a frugal vacation (I like camping!) than five days of a more posh vacation. I am not into expensive restaurants, either. I just want to go away for ten days or two weeks.

And yet... I would prefer a mildly adventurous vacation - hiking, caving, parasailing, snorkeling, or something else energetic that we don't normally have the opportunity to do. As I wrote in my last post, I don't find "laying around" to be relaxing or fun.

So at this point I am still taking suggestions! In fact, I want suggestions. I have a lot of phone calls and notes to make, thanking people for their gift, but I would like to have a plan to share with them when I do it. I am so overwhelmed and excited that I haven't been able to pin down a plan.

I was looking for references to "Earth" in the Bible this morning, and even there, in the "updated" versions, we can find environmental propaganda. I hope it's not sacrilegious to be entertained and amused by that.

I started in the beginning, of course, with Genesis 1.

The Message, Eugene Peterson's free rendering of  Scripture, was written in the 1990's. He changes the concept of dominion to responsibility:

   God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
      reflecting our nature
   So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
      the birds in the air, the cattle,
   And, yes, Earth itself,
      and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
   God created human beings;
      he created them godlike,
   Reflecting God's nature.
      He created them male and female.
   God blessed them:
      "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
   Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
      for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

The Amplified version, which isn't exactly "readable" but does endeavor to achieve accurate rendering of every word, uses the words "complete authority over all", "subdue", "using all its vast resources", and "dominion." 

²⁶God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.

    ²⁷So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them.

   ²⁸And God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it [using all its vast resources in the service of God and man]; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves upon the earth.

The Contemporary English Version just cracks me up, with its exortation to "Have a lot of children!" So much for population control.

  ²⁶God said, "Now we will make humans, and they will be like us. We will let them rule the fish, the birds, and all other living creatures."

    ²⁷So God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. ²⁸God gave them his blessing and said:

   Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.

The NASB, the most literal of the "readable" versions:

 ²⁶Then God said, "Let  Us make  man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them  rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

 ²⁷God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him;  male and female He created them.

 ²⁸God blessed them; and God said to them,  "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

 Then we get to Noah after the flood, in chapter 9. The Message is still pushing the responsibility POV:

^1-4 God blessed Noah and his sons: He said, "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill the Earth! Every living creature—birds, animals, fish—will fall under your spell and be afraid of you. You're responsible for them... v.7  You're here to bear fruit, reproduce, lavish life on the Earth, live bountifully!

The Amplified Bible is more exciting. Here, the beasts, birds, reptiles and fish are delivered into our hands and everything that moves is food. He was obviously thinking of teenaged boys here:

¹AND GOD pronounced a blessing upon Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.

    ²And the fear of you and the dread and terror of you shall be upon every beast of the land, every bird of the air, all that creeps upon the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are delivered into your hand.

    ³Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and as I gave you the green vegetables and plants, I give you everything.

The CEV is still talking about having babies and even grandbabies -

¹God said to Noah and his sons:

   I am giving you my blessing. Have a lot of children and grandchildren, so people will live everywhere on this earth. ²All animals, birds, reptiles, and fish will be afraid of you. I have placed them under your control, ³and I have given them to you for food. From now on, you may eat them, as well as the green plants that you have always eaten...

 ⁷I want you and your descendants to have many children, so people will live everywhere on earth.

Verse 7 from the NASB -

  ⁷"As for you, be fruitful and multiply;
         Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Talking to Job about his blessings in Chapter 7 of the book of Job, from the NIV:

 ²⁴ You will know that your tent is secure;
       you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.

 ²⁵ You will know that your children will be many,
       and your descendants like the grass of the earth.

I am starting to like the CEV -

²⁴Your home will be secure,

   and your sheep will be safe.

    ²⁵You will have more descendants

   than there are blades of grass

   on the face of the earth.

    ²⁶You will live a long life,

   and your body will be strong

   until the day you die.

OH PLEASE - Eugene Peterson's Message translates it thus:

You'll know that your place on earth is safe,
   you'll look over your goods and find nothing amiss.
You'll see your children grow up,
   your family lovely and lissome as orchard grass.

That guy had better watch out for lightning bolts.

I could do a whole series on the study of "earth" in Scripture. I love this Psalm about God's perfect sovereignty over the earth.

Psalm 104

 ¹ Praise the LORD, O my soul.
       O LORD my God, you are very great;
       you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

 ² He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
       he stretches out the heavens like a tent

 ³ and lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters.
       He makes the clouds his chariot
       and rides on the wings of the wind.

 ⁴ He makes winds his messengers,  
       flames of fire his servants.

 ⁵ He set the earth on its foundations;
       it can never be moved.

 ⁶ You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
       the waters stood above the mountains.

 ⁷ But at your rebuke the waters fled,
       at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;

 ⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
       they went down into the valleys,
       to the place you assigned for them.

 ⁹ You set a boundary they cannot cross;
       never again will they cover the earth.

 ¹⁰ He makes springs pour water into the ravines;
       it flows between the mountains.

 ¹¹ They give water to all the beasts of the field;
       the wild donkeys quench their thirst.

 ¹² The birds of the air nest by the waters;
       they sing among the branches.

 ¹³ He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
       the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.

 ¹⁴ He makes grass grow for the cattle,
       and plants for man to cultivate—
       bringing forth food from the earth:

 ¹⁵ wine that gladdens the heart of man,
       oil to make his face shine,
       and bread that sustains his heart.

 ¹⁶ The trees of the LORD are well watered,
       the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.

 ¹⁷ There the birds make their nests;
       the stork has its home in the pine trees.

 ¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;
       the crags are a refuge for the coneys.

 ¹⁹ The moon marks off the seasons,
       and the sun knows when to go down.

 ²⁰ You bring darkness, it becomes night,
       and all the beasts of the forest prowl.

 ²¹ The lions roar for their prey
       and seek their food from God.

 ²² The sun rises, and they steal away;
       they return and lie down in their dens.

 ²³ Then man goes out to his work,
       to his labor until evening.

 ²⁴ How many are your works, O LORD!
       In wisdom you made them all;
       the earth is full of your creatures.

 ²⁵ There is the sea, vast and spacious,
       teeming with creatures beyond number—
       living things both large and small.

 ²⁶ There the ships go to and fro,
       and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.

(The Message: Leviathan, your pet dragon, romps in them.)

 ²⁷ These all look to you
       to give them their food at the proper time.

 ²⁸ When you give it to them,
       they gather it up;
       when you open your hand,
       they are satisfied with good things.

 ²⁹ When you hide your face,
       they are terrified;
       when you take away their breath,
       they die and return to the dust.

 ³⁰ When you send your Spirit,
       they are created,
       and you renew the face of the earth.

 ³¹ May the glory of the LORD endure forever;
       may the LORD rejoice in his works-

 ³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,
       who touches the mountains, and they smoke.

 ³³ I will sing to the LORD all my life;
       I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

 ³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
       as I rejoice in the LORD.

 ³⁵ But may sinners vanish from the earth
       and the wicked be no more.
       Praise the LORD, O my soul.
       Praise the LORD.

Good stewardship of God's gifts is very important. Required of us! But Man is awfully puny, and the idea that we have the power to thwart God's plan for the earth is pretty silly (and prideful and arrogant). He has promised the ultimate act of Global Warming, when He is done with this created and temporary Earth.

Happy Earth Day! Have a lot of babies!