Nope, Galápagos tortoise shells don't work for hide-and-seek! (see more photos)

 

There aren't many empty tortoise shells laying around.  (The  Galápagos giants can live over 150 years.)  But a normal-sized person can sort of fit inside them, they are that big!  My granddaughters gave it a try: Liliana (13) in this picture, and Miriam (12) in the next one. 

Of course,  the shells weren't created to accommodate young ladies. They were custom-built to provide the creatures with a hard structure that protects them,  armor that encloses the vital organs and allows the legs and head to retreat into their own personal "bunker".

          I asked the guide which animals prey on                        tortoises.  His answer?                                                "People".                                                                                 *********************

As we walked around the grassy (and muddy!) fields where tortoises ambled slowly, unfazed by the drizzle, the 80-year-old guide shared fascinating information about these enormous creatures, and told me he had worked with some of the early conservation programs for the tortoises on the various islands of the archipelago, starting decades ago.  No wonder he knew so much about them! 

Each island has its own species of tortoise...which makes sense, considering they have no way to travel from island to island and socialize! 

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These tortoises had their own spa!  (Next photo.)

            

Protection. Refuge.  They can withdraw to a place of safety.

 

We need protection, too. Where is OUR refuge?  OUR place of safety? We aren't born with built-in "shells" into which we can retreat! 

It can be looked for in many places....other people or philosophies, "religions"...but what emotional and spiritual safety might be found there doesn't last.  

True lasting protection is not in a "where", but in a "Who",  the one Person to whom we can run for refuge, strength and healing and who will never let us down.  

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                                                                                                                                            The giant to the right has its head, neck and legs splayed out on the ground, a position taken when resting, totally relaxed.  It knows itself safe.

We, too, can know ourselves safe when we accept the offer of protection God our Father tenders.  Millennia-old words are just as relevant today.

"Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings."  (Psalm 17:8)

"You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance."  (Psalm 32:7)

"The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." (Proverbs 18:10)

By the way, here's another thing the tortoises are protected from...the rain! Their "umbrellas" go with them wherever they roam! 

 We didn't mind the drizzle, but - like my husband Germán - we all had to wear gum boots.  

The tortoises also have a continuous buffet.  They are surrounded by their food sources.  

The tortoises eat mainly grasses and leaves. They also take advantage of fallen fruits - like the big guy at the right, who is munching on a...hmm, WE call it a "guayaba", but in the U.S. and other countries, for some reason it is called a "guava". (Here, guava is another fruit completely!)

When the guide told us they also eat cactus, I asked him what they do about the big, spiky spines? They actually knock the "paddles" to the ground and then paw at them over and over, causing the spines to fall off.  Pretty cool!

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God provides abundantly for the tortoises.  How much more for his children?

"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness."    (II Peter 1:3)

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                      "The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;                                                          my God is my rock, in Whom I take refuge,                                                                     my shield and the horn of my salvation,                                                                                           my stronghold."     (Psalm 18:2)

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