Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson

something to help you laugh and think about life with Christ

Tag: dessert

mohican miracles — August 26, 2026

mohican miracles

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I like to plan.  Sometimes I even plan to plan.  But my plans have their limits especially when they bump up against the sovereign strategies of God. 

Solomon wrote in Proverbs 16:1, “The intentions of the heart belong to a man,

but the answer of the tongue comes from the Lord” (NETBible®).  What?   Euguene Petersen’s paraphrase makes this easier to grasp.  He wrote in The Message, “Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word.”

A case in point: I began planning 16 months in advance for a family gathering to celebrate the 50-year anniversary of my wife and I.   Along the way I watched as God confirmed my plans at times and confounded them at others.  

I decided to book 4 cabins at the extremely popular Mohican State Park in Ohio.  But I had to wait until exactly one year prior to the date to book them.  When the clock struck 8:00 am, I locked in the only 4 cabins available, better known as The Last of the Mohicans. 

I also booked a trip to an Amish Farm that featured a horse-drawn wagon ride through an exotic animal park (Would the horses be dressed in black too?)  Finally, I made a banquet reservation at an excellent Amish restaurant.

Our cabins were next to a tubing river, and our daughter was able to snag 21 tubes on clearance.  All four of our families were excited about the trip and we found a date we could agree on, (And that’s a miracle).  It truly felt like the Lord went before me and streamlined the process. 

BUT, when the time finally came, the forecast could not have been worse.  There was a high probability of storms – every single day.   These storms would wash away most of my best laid plans and I was deeply concerned. 

God took over the planning process, without asking me, and after some wrestling, I determined to trust Him with the outcome.

On Day 1 it was most definitely storming.  We had our eyes on the weather radar the whole day, and what we saw was a ring of fierce storms very near to and all around us. Hourly my wife would check her weather app, and hourly that ring surrounded us but the weather at the park stayed peaceful and dry.  I thanked God for the miracle!

Day 2 it was overcast but no storm – perfect for a 4-hour float on the river. 

While on the river, Sharie, my wife, injured her knee.  Definitely not a part of my plan. 

On Day 3 she was really hurting so we decided that the Amish Farm would just be too much for her.  (You know how crazy those Amish can be) so we all opted to stay near the cabins for the day, but I worried that the kids would be disappointed.    

Our cabin was situated right next to the shallow river.  There was easy access and a good view.  So, all 11 kids, from ages 2 to 17, were in the river playing, fishing, swimming, and floating all day long, while their parents happily rested and watched.  God provided just the perfect plan for us. 

Then I discovered that I had booked the dinner reservation at the wrong restaurant.  It was an hour-long drive from the campground.  We grudgingly loaded up but ended up being surprised by a beautiful and interesting ride through Holmes County Ohio, where we dodged many an Amish buggy.

This was topped off with a fabulous banquet, where laughter abounded, tributes were given, vows were renewed and dinner was served family style.  Tina, our full-service waitress even snapped some great family photos.   

It is good to make plans.  Proverbs 21:5 says, “The plans of the diligent lead only to plenty”- NETBible®.  And yet my Mohican memories remind me that we need to loosely hold onto the plans that we make. 

If God is to work all things in our lives together for good, then He should be free to redirect us when needed.  I am so glad that He did! 

A PRAYER: Lord, when my plans are shattered, remind me that your plans for me are not.

a lemon without the law — September 3, 2025

a lemon without the law

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A man bought a new car, got it home and checked the trunk.  He was shocked to find that the tire-jack had been replaced by the Jaws of Life.

I wonder if that’s how Israel felt when they arrived at Canaan land.  The Lord promised them a bountiful land flowing with milk and honey (Leviticus 20:24) but that was not exactly what they found.  It was actually a really tough place to live. 

The western boundary was seacoast.  This could be a plus for international trade. But the waters of the sea carried sand from North Africa and left it on their shores so that they lacked deep water ports.

There were lots of worthless rocks but few valuable minerals.  They even had to import wood for building.

It was tough to travel – a land of random hills, valleys, swamps, and desert and smaller than New Jersey.

It is earthquake prone.  There is evidence of several cities that were leveled by quakes.   2/3 of the land was arid waste. The coastal areas were swampy.  3/4 of the land was mountainous.  Farming was a challenge.

Caanan was 100% dependent on the rain.  Every bit of the water in the Jordan River came from rain that had fallen in the land.  If it didn’t rain, they didn’t eat.

Because of the thickets and mountains the land was haunted by lions, bears, jackals, hyenas, leopards and wolves – challenges when trying to work the fields or tend the flocks.

Canaan is the primary intercontinental bridge that connects Africa with Asia and Europe.   Therefore, it was and still is the most strategic point of real estate in the Middle east.   In those days Egypt would march through Canaan to assault Mesopotamia and visa versa.   Canaan land would be assaulted and sacked when they did.  

So, God asked Moses and the Israelites to leave the rich bountiful Nile Delta region to move to a place that was poor for shipping, trading, mining, traveling, logging and especially farming.  The place was rocky, swampy, rain dependent, overrun with wild beasts and frequently ravaged by war.

So why would God provide that kind of home for the people He treasured?  He tells us in Leviticus 26:3-10.  

“‘If you walk in my statutes and are sure to obey my commandments, 4 I will give you your rains in their time so that the land will give its yield and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. 5 Threshing season will extend for you until the season for harvesting grapes, and the season for harvesting grapes will extend until sowing season, so you will eat your bread until you are satisfied…”

God described an extremely prosperous and bountiful place – plenty of rain, fruitful trees, ripened fields, and luscious grapes – each year every year (26:10).  But, He prefaced His promise with an if, “If you walk in my statutes and are sure to obey my commandments…”

He went on to say, “and you will live securely in your land. 6 I will grant peace in the land so that you will lie down to sleep without anyone terrifying you. I will remove harmful animals from the land, and no sword of war will pass through your land” (26:5b-6)

If they were to walk in His statutes, He also guaranteed that they would sleep in peace.  He would manage the wild beasts and stop the marauding nations at the border. 

God wanted them to live in a healthy state of tension.  If they were to obey it would be a fantastic home.  If they deserted Him, it would become a lemon of a land.  They had to live by their faith or languish without it. 

We too would like a milk and honey experience in life, but sometimes we taste vinegar instead.  This may be God’s gentle way of correcting us.  He disciplines the child that He loves (Hebrews 12:6-11).  It may be time to turn back to Him. 

A PRAYER: Teach us the Lord the way in which we should go.

This has been Jim Johnson and pickleheavenpress.com

May the grace of our Lord be with you Scripture passages are from the NETBible