one of our favorite books came to life this weekend.
Elijah, little man, {our adorable nephew} this is a shout-out post for you.
pretend like we're there reading this to you.
and totally in awe.
{because after seeing these guys in person, we really are.}
the Word of the Lord came to Jonah, "Go to the great city of Ninevah and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah ran away from the Lord and sailed for Tarshish. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship was threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god.
they asked Jonah, "tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? what do you do? where do you come from? from what people are you?"
he answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
this terrified them and they asked, "what have you done?" (they knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
the sea was getting rougher and rougher. so they asked him, "what should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
"pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. i know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."
...then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.
but the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah,
and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
from inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. "in my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. from the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry..those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Salvation comes from the Lord."
and the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

then the Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: Go to the great city of Ninevah and proclaim to it the message I give you."
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Ninevah. The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.
then the King issued a proclamation in Ninevah: "Let man and beast be covered in sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence."
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.
amen.
...
Do you know whale sharks can get up to 40 ft long and weigh 21 tons?
and that they live in our front yard?
it's true.
people from all over the world come here to dive with whale sharks.. in a spot located directly out in front of our house.
number one on our list after we get scuba certified :)