"Then God commanded, 'Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life; domestic and wild, large and small, and it was done. So God made them all, and He was pleased with what He saw." (Genesis 1:24, 25)

Nanci and I returned recently from a wonderful vacation, where we stayed at our friends’ place in Maui.

As I mentioned in a previous blog, one of my favorite activities in the world is snorkeling. It’s a profoundly spiritual experience for me to enjoy the wonders and beauties of God’s underwater world. I spend many hours in the water, searching the reef, taking photos, and losing all sense of time (Nanci will vouch for that).  Even when far from the ocean, I often find underwater images working their way into my mind.

In three blogs, I plan to share with you some of my discoveries. I’ll show you photos and a few videos each day.

Today I’ll focus on reef fish (with a few eels thrown in), tomorrow turtles, and the following day a surprise, something I experienced my final day of vacation, when I asked the Lord to show me something I’d never seen before. He did, it was wonderful and I’m deeply grateful.

Here are four videos of reef fish. This first one, 13 seconds, isn’t spectacular of the fish, but listen to the whale sounds. I’ve never heard them as much as I did on this trip:

I shot this 68 seconds in the surge zone, on the far northern tip of the reef at Kapalua Bay, going with the flow of the water just as the fish did (at the end you’ll see the amazing clarity of the water when the camera points down to the 50 foot depth over the ledge):

A giant puffer fish at Kapalua Bay, 56 seconds (once saw a puffer expand to a perfect sphere like a basketball; amazing):

Finally, 21 seconds of reef fish on the back side of Black Rock, by the Sheraton Hotel, one of the best snorkel spots on Maui. Again, listen to the whales!

Thank you, Lord, for the wonders of your creation and how they testify to your glory. And thank you for refreshing and renewing my heart.

Tomorrow we look at turtles!