Mazatlán-Minnesota "Land of the Deer"

Mazatlán is a Nahuatl word meaning "Land of the Deer".

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God." Psalm 42:1

"Cual ciervo jadeante en busca del agua, así Te busca, oh Dios, todo mi ser. Tengo sed de Dios, del Dios de la vida." SALMO 42: 1-2a

Perhaps that's why I feel so at home here in Mazatlán. Perhaps that's why God put Mazatlán and its people in my heart! People in Mazatlán are warm and wonderful but really need the Lord Jesus Christ! People in Mazatlán come from all over México and settle here, some just pass through or come for vacations. So the deer have moved to the outskirts and the smaller towns [más allá] towards the hills and mountainsides, it'd be rare to have them feeding near my home here. The photo is from my home in Minnesota, which has become a beautiful refuge for some deer and their young ones from the hunters.

The photo from Crosswalk (dot)com was my original blog header (pictured above) and looks like the small lake across the dirt road from my home in MN, that has an island out in the middle. Each year, I thought about how I'd love to get out to that island. I had to wait until winter, when the water froze, so that I could fulfill that desire to cross the water and explore this island.

Mazatlán has 3 islands and a favorite place for tourists called Stone Island (which is really a peninsula - it just takes a longer time to travel around the land route, so people cross in small boats daily). The 3 islands are: Deer Island, Wolf Island and Bird Island. I renamed them years ago: Father, Son, and Holy Ghost on my prayer walks along the Malecón(the sidewalk by the waterfont and coastline). You can only see the Island of the Deer in this photo in the fog!

As you can see there are beautiful similarities between Mazatlán and Minnesota. Yet the drawing for me, to be here, is the beauty of the water. Much as the water draws the deer. I reflected on why the water draws me here. The simplest reason ~ the water symbolizes:

PEACE for me. 

The small lake, by my home in Minnesota, brings PEACE also!

Now I realize, that this same water has the power to bring mighty storms, hurricanes here in Mazatlán or floods back home in Minnesota and all along the Mississippi and its tributaries or even small lakes and streams, which leaves paths of destruction and crushed spirits from utter desolation and despair. So why does such PEACEFUL tranquility surrender to the STORMS?

Why do the deer gather in the pines by my home in Minnesota, near this small body of water?

TO QUENCH THEIR THIRST!

LORD, Draw me into your Living Water today! Quench my insatiable thirst for more of You!

Lead me by the paths of everlasting water, joy and peace that only Your Spirit brings.

Protect us through the storms of life, to BE STILL and know that YOU are God.

In these storms, hear the cry of the heart saying, "Lord save me". You alone calm the waters and reach out Your hand saying, "Come." " Follow me." "Trust me." "Obey my Word".

Let me soak in Your Presence today! Let me hear Your voice! Let my soul be filled anew!

With each new day, draw me closer to Your Living Water and You! Quench my thirst!