Nature Walk
This is an old bunch of pictures that I made into a collage. I love this bunch of pictures because it reminds me of two things: our family’s habit to be outdoors and how we enjoyed ourselves in the midst of a painful situation. We had moved to Wheeling that year, leaving family and friends behind. Audrey started her freshman year at W.V.U.. We were having a difficult time fitting into the new homeschool co-op. The churches we tried didn’t have homeschoolers or had strange doctrine.So, we struck out on our own, as a family. This particular weekend, Audrey was home. We decided to take a nature hike on the backside of Oglebay Park. Everyone had a blast. We came across a fawn sleeping on the trail. We found turkey eggs. Hunter captured a snake and a crawdad. God’s creation is amazing and it is therapeutic. As we tromped around the woods and in the creek, we forgot about our troubles and focused on what was right in front of us.
Richard Louv states in his book, Last Child in the Woods:
” Nonetheless, a growing body of evidence indicates that direct exposure to nature is essential for physical and emotional health. For example, new studies suggest that exposure to nature may reduce the symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that it can improve children’s cognitive abilities and resistance to negative stresses and depression.”
Amazing! Being out in nature can do all that! God must have know that. He put Adam and Eve in a GARDEN! He didn’t put His first children in front of a TV or computer game. He didn’t give them a car or cell phone. WOW!
Yesterday, a friend of mine came over and we took a nature walk up the Criver (bigger than a creek, smaller than a river). Suddenly, we were pontytailed little girls, stopping and looking at granddaddy crawdads and multi-colored fish. We stopped to take pictures of everything including an old tar pit. Of course, we had to throw something in it. We completely lost track of time. When we finally arrived at our point of origin, two of our kids were busy catching crawdads, oblivious to the time themselves.
I am so thankful that my children have learned the habit of enjoying nature. I know that it has benefited them and me!
26-28 God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.”Genesis 1:26-28
The Message