Every single morning of the gift that this week on Captiva Island is, I sit on the lanai porch of the condo with my tumbler of coffee and spend time in the quiet, just like I do at home.

Except that here, there are dolphins.

For pretty much the entire time I’ve been staying here, at least one dolphin — and sometimes two, three, or even four — are moseying around in the marina right outside our porch lanai. Back and forth they go, enjoying the swim, usually casting back and forth for fish to eat.

And the amazing thing I’ve discovered is this:

Every single person responds the same exact way to a dolphin sighting.

There’s the initial screech of discovery. “Oh my gosh, look! A dolphin! A dolphin! Come here, come here, come here — hurry! You have to see it — the dolphin!” And then they stop and linger for sometimes up to an hour, offering their complete focus to the water, watching the movement of the dolphin, seeing where he’ll pop up next.

This morning, I saw one of the dolphins swat a live fish up out of the water with his back fin and then jump up and capture it. The splash he made upon landing back in the water caused quite a ruckus, given his weight and size, and it was such an image to me of his total abandonment to the moment and his strength.

I shook my head and smiled, totally overcome with wonder. God’s creatures are amazing.

Here’s a similar thing I noticed this week.

Around the corner from our condo, there’s a small manatee lagoon. A tiny wooden dock juts into the midst of it, and yesterday about ten people crowded on it — three adults and the rest small children ranging from three to seven years old — scouting out the manatees.

“Do you see him? He’s blowing!” I heard one dad crow to his youngsters. They were totally preoccupied with the moment, intently focused on this wonder of life and beauty.

And I sat here on the porch lanai this morning, taking all of this in and thinking:

You are beautiful, just like all this.

Do you know that?

As much wonder and delight as we take in the sighting of a dolphin or manatee or other creature in its natural habitat in this world, Jesus takes the same delight in you. He made you just as wondrously beautiful and delightful.

Do you believe this?