Choose five things from the natural world that inspire you or make you smile—thank God for these.
This was the application step in my daily devotion today. When I read it, I started thinking about it, and found that writing the five things down would allow me to really take action as directed, rather than just sort of following through on thanking God for the things that popped into my head slightly. As I started to write the five items out, all these ideas and the things the memories that went along with them started flooding my mind and I thought, why not blog about it. So here goes.
1. The wind rustling through the trees
Last night we were walking into the store with our boys and the wind started to blow, and Oliver asked why the trees were moving. He’s so curious about how the world works these days, the wind, the moon, why it’s day and night. It’s fun, yet challenging to explain these things to him in a way that is understandable to a three year old. I also find that it challenges me to really ponder why things in the world work the way they do sometimes. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat in a science class and studied these things, so the explanations aren’t always fresh in my mind. Luckily my husband teaches science daily, so the answers are ready to go for him, when prompted.
I am diverging from my thought here. I love when the wind blows. It’s not often that I really stop to observe and watch the physical ways God reveals himself to us in nature. But when the wind blows, silly as it might seem, I feel like God is waving at me, saying “hi, I’m here, don’t forget. Oh and I love you”.
2. The Narrows in Utah
One of the most amazing experiences I have had with my family is hiking the narrows in Utah. We went last summer with our friends; Oliver was about 2 ½ and Henry was about 4 months old. I strapped Henry onto my chest with the moby and we headed up the river, not knowing really where we were going. But thankfully our friends had done this before, and the river only goes one way, so it would be hard to get lost. The narrows, if you have never heard of them before, are two mountain sides, facing opposite each other, with a river that runs through the middle of them. As you hike further up the narrows, the water gets deeper and the mountain sides get closer and closer together.
It was so hot the day we had come to Zion National Park, but between those two walls of mountain, the air was cool and the water was refreshing on our legs and feet. It was quiet, except for the sounds of families enjoying the same experience, and the sound of rushing water. It was so beautiful, and in that moment, God felt so real. How wonderful to be experiencing this magnificent creation of His with my family and friends.
3. Bugs
I hate bugs. When I see them, I want to run away, usually squealing, if not screaming. I think they are ugly and gross. I know some people look at them and see the beauty, but I just think they are plain nasty. But I do understand that they serve a purpose and whether I like it or not, they are a creation of the Lord’s. And so about bugs I think, how incredible that God’s design for this world was so intricate, that even these stinky, little gross creatures play a part in this big universe that God has created. Despite my urge to smash them out of disgust, unless they are the sort that could cause harm to my children, I try to let them pass or remove them from my home with care, realizing they are little living citizens of our planet too.
4. The stars on a dark, clear night
I’ve only been to Montana once when I was a teenager, and I remember when my dad said we were going there, I thought, who goes to Montana for vacation?! I don’t remember everything about that trip, but I do recall it being so much more fun than I anticipated. I am a sucker for ghost towns and Montana is packed full of them. But one thing that stood out to me was the starry sky during the dark evenings. Montana’s nickname is Big Sky County, and that it is. Looking out, all you see is darkness and twinkly, shining stars.
Living in Temecula, there isn’t as much light pollution as there is in bigger cities. On a nice clear night, especially after a rain, we sometimes get an evening where you can clearly see the lights way out in the universe, shining back at us. It’s no night time in Montana, but it’s still lovely. It’s very cool to think that all over this giant world, people I’ll never know have gazed at these same stars at some point, and maybe pondered the same thoughts. We don’t know each other, but we probably share a lot of the same struggles, in different forms of course, but looking up at the stars, we forget about our troubles for a moment, realizing how small we are, and how big God really is.
5. The Great Oak
This tree on the Pechanga Indian Reservation is one of the most amazing natural things I have ever seen in my life. The Great Oak is the largest natural-growing, indigenous coast live oak in the United States and is estimated to be between 800 – 1500 years old (Thank you Pechanga website for those facts and figures). I have been working for Pechanga for about three years, and I have wanted so much to experience this tree, but had never had the time or opportunity to do so. Well a couple months ago I finally made it there, with some of the girls I work with, and the tree was everything I had imagined and more.
I had made mention in my talk about the wind earlier, that I don’t always notice God revealing himself in a physical way. Well standing under the branches of this very old oak tree, there is now way to deny God’s presence. The branches of this tree grow out from its trunk, down into the ground, and back out again. The shade and the covering provided by its leaves is a shelter from the world outside of this massive tree. Placing a hand on the trunk, there is an energy radiating from it. Perhaps it is just my imagination, but I like to think that considering the history that this tree carries within itself encourages life and energy for the people standing around it to this day.
This tree is much like the God we know and love. Strong, enduring, peaceful, offering rest and reprieve, continually present.
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