In a busy life full of trials and errors, smiles and tears, is it possible to slow down and look? To really look at the world around you? It’s difficult to comprehend how much you could miss cooped up in a life of schedules and deadlines. Even when your free time stops, the natural world outside doesn’t. It moves on in a steady rhythm of masterful elegance and you may be missing it. Is there a way to end this tragedy without changing everything your life is built upon? Yes. Here are just a few ways to see the world and get closer to it: 1. Go Outside Sometimes you just need to close the laptop, put down the phone, or stop cooking dinner for just a few minutes and GO OUTSIDE. Who knows what you will find. 2. Take Pictures As you may know, I love photography! It connects me with nature. Taking pictures of nature can inspire you and will bring you joy later when you look back at the photos. It also helps me get outside even on days I don’t feel like it. Photography is one of my favorite pastimes, and I’m sure you will enjoy it as well. (Good at drawing? Great! You don’t need to buy a camera.) 3. Pay Attention Sometimes the simplest, most every-day things are the most phenomenal. Next time you find yourself outside, look around. Who knows what nature will provide you with. 4. Educate Yourself I have found that the more I know about the events in nature, the more they astound me. Go online and do some reading, or go to the library and take home a field guide of your region. Flip through it. Maybe next time you’re outdoors you’ll notice something you never would before! The feeling that brings is one of a kind. 5. Find a Community Finding a community of nature lovers will remind you to look closely at nature. Sign up for a magazine or blog (hmm… maybe this blog?) or just find a friend who shares the passion. I have found this to be very helpful and inspiring. So, what now? Step outside, snap a few pictures, and most of all, look closely at the world around you. It’s waiting for you. and... Sign up to my newsletter to be notified of each new post below. (Your privacy is always respected)
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I see God every single day. I look out the window, and I see him in His creation. I see His glory. I see His masterful mind and unmatchable supremacy. It is evident in everything He created. In all of His masterpiece, His hand is there. That is why I love nature so much. That is why I have this blog. It is stunning to think that God thought out everything you see today. He knows the trees you know. He knows the flowers that grow in your yard. He even knows you. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. You are His best creation. You are His treasured masterpiece. The God who created everything you see created you, too. He knows you personally and still loves you immensely.
Next time you look out the window, look for the hand of the creator. It’s there. This morning, as I walked in the crisp morning air, I was surrounded by countless joyous melodies which all came from birds. All of them were trying to be heard above the other, which resulted in an overwhelming chorus of a busy chaos. Why is singing so important to our fine feathered friends?
One of the main reasons that birds do this is to find a female of the same species to mate with. Mating is something that every bird will do in these early months of Spring, but with so many males, how is a female to choose? By the volume and complexity of the song. God created these animals with such amazing instincts and abilities that they know what song to sing, how and when to sing it, and when they no longer need to. Once they find a mate, the singing stops, and the males move on to the more important work of taking care of his newly earned family. But birds sing for more than one reason. God also gave some birds a variety of songs to choose from, all with a special occasion. Many birds have a specific warning call which warns others that danger is near. Some have a specific call for claiming territory. There are many known (and unknown) reasons for the contents of the vast library of songs and calls that birds choose from. So, birds don’t just sing for fun? Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Although we scientifically have no evidence that birds simply sing for joy, I believe that the creator delights in His creation and delights in the joy of His masterpiece. Perhaps these birds do just sing because they are happy. The thought makes me smile. Extra credit: Interested in learning more about birdsong? I recommend the Backyard Birdsong Guide, A Guide to Listening by Donald Kroodsma. Buy it here in amazon. Well, where I live, the snow is still denying us an open slider door or any other sense of warm weather. This can be depressing, but, if you look hard enough, you can see that spring won’t hide under a blanket of ice forever. Winter must give in! Here are some signs to look for as reassurance that spring is on its way. 1. Do your trees have buds? Next time you venture outside, brush the snow off the branches of your trees. Are there any soft, fresh, green sprouts pultruding from the branches? There is a sure sign that spring is on its way! 2. Is there bird song in the air? Open the door and take a long listen. Do you hear anything? In the early hours of the morning, you have a good chance of hearing a cardinal or robin singing for a mate high in the trees. They do this because they know the warm weather is coming just around the corner. 3. What is crawling on the ground? A few nights ago, I looked down on the floor to find an energetic wolf spider sprinting across the carpet. The next day, another was entertaining my dog by being eaten. Why else would these arachnids be there if the warmth wasn’t on its way? They are preparing for spring. 4. Mammals are waking up. Driving in your car at night, I’m sure you have caught more than a whiff of the familiar scent of the skunk defense mechanism. They, along with many other mammals, are waking from their long rest to meet the coming warmth. 5. The cold is fading slowly. We all know this cold won’t last forever. The last week was a taste of how it will feel when the creator gives the OK for spring to unleash its warmth once again this 2017. This spring, I want to make the most of every day that God gives to me. I want to fill it with as many fresh experiences and perfect memories that I possibly can share with you. Don’t miss out. Sign up to my newsletter to be updated every time I take the time to see the masterpiece placed right in front of me: God’s good creation. Life can be hard. It’s true. These past three weeks have been more than hectic for me, as I have spent nearly all the time in the Mass General Hospital in Boston. I have been suffering from sporadic neurological attacks which effect my ability to think, talk, and to use the whole right side of my body. The first time this happened was about three weeks ago, and my family rushed me to the emergency room terrified and unsure of what was happening.
Eventually, the attack subsided and I again gained control of my brain. I could move and talk normally, but the doctors still couldn’t tell what was wrong with me. They were considering diseases such as MS or Lyme, but the tests kept coming back negative which was good but also worried us. What could be causing these attacks? After many days of ignorance, the doctors came back with an answer: I had mycoplasma pneumoniae which infected my central nervous system causing encephalitis. My brain was inflamed. It was good to finally know what was wrong with me, but it was also scary. After putting me on medication, I was finally sent home from the hospital after a ten day stay. I was very glad to be home, but I was still experiencing some tremors and other bad signs. This wasn’t reassuring. After two days of being home, my body gave in to another attack. This one wasn’t subsiding. We again rushed to the ER and it all started over. Why wasn’t the medication working? Would I ever recover from this attack? It took almost 48 hours for me to regain my voice and my arm remained very weak. The doctors decided to try to put me on steroids, which, thankfully, have seemed to be working. I have had no other attacks since that last one, and I don’t plan to have another anytime soon. My voice remains slow even now, and my arm is still recovering, but I believe that I will fully recover over time. Okay, so I will survive this. But sometimes I find myself asking why God let it happen in the first place. Why did he let me go through so much fear and pain? Did it do me any good? Well, yes. It did me much good. On one of my three ambulance rides, I did some thinking and recalled asking God for a trial a few days before. Something that would build my faith. Something that would draw me closer to God. Well, guess what? This certainly did that. During these past three weeks, I have felt the Holy Spirit inside me more than I ever have before. I felt his comfort during the pain, and his peace during the fear. It has been miraculous. At the hospital, I asked God for a rainbow in the sky, and the next morning there was a rainbow. God doesn’t always answer prayers this obviously, but, for whatever reason, he chose to this time. I am still in awe. Our God is a kind, loving god. Let’s put our faith in him, because life can be hard. |
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