Autumn Walk Along the Poudre River Trail I go down by the river in autumn breeze that quakes gold leaves on craggy trees and skitters dry ones at my feet. The chill breeze hints of snowy peaks, lifts cricket songs, soars hawks on high, sails wispy clouds across clear-blue sky. I see Kingfisher, Yellow-legs, bright…
It seems God created this world with the capacity for healing built into it. I remember Kiki, my pediatrician friend, saying that she almost enjoyed it when she got a cut or other minor injury on a finger, because watching it heal was such a wonder. I took this statement from Kiki with a…
What stories these creeks could—and do—tell: of community…of clashing and contrasting worldviews, lifestyles, and civilizations…of promises and lies, of seeking and finding, of celebrating and mourning. A tale of two creeks, two stories of the land, the people, the times—reminding us that God is with us, working in seen and unseen ways to bring good out of rocks and ruins. Even though the Waters of Life seem at times to flow only in a trickle, or hidden underground, they will never stop until the day finally comes when all things are made new.
We look down on Agate Beach before descending the steep, winding trail at Patrick’s Point in Northern California. On the pebbly-sand beach as the fog clears and tide ebbs. Larry searches for agates in the sand. One of my happy places, finding semi-precious, polished-by-the-waves agates glowing in the sand. See any agates among these pebbles?…
What a gift I brought home with me from the grassland, that vast, abundant solitude. The sense of attunement and restoration has stayed with me.
May Day Baskets Not as many May first flowers here— Not as many kind words and smiles— as times and places I lived as a child. Then, roses burst, clambered, and climbed already, enough garden posies to revel in—make chains for garlands and necklaces, plenty to fill baskets to take and surprise the neighbors. Now…
I want to see the rainbow clouds when they appear so briefly in the sky. I want to see and wonder at a little bird that surprisingly shows up in cold Colorado in February to forage along a tiny, protected, flowing stream full of watercress and fallen cottonwood leaves before flying on to its faraway spring destination.
GUEST POST by Dr. Mike Parker On Kitten Creek: Searching for the Sacred by Nancy Swihart is a remarkable, modern day adventure story about how one family, grounded in Christian love and guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit, developed a Christ-honoring community. The power of these verses is fulfilled in her book and life:…
Because I find solace and renewal in nature, I drive down to the river trail. There my senses are immediately overwhelmed and filled with the sights and sounds and smells and textures of that lush spot where grassy farmland meets the river that flows down from the Rocky Mountains. Nature is burgeoning with life.
One thing my husband and I are learning, living with constant change, is to “seize” the moment.
Don’t settle into dormancy. Are you lacking the life-giving water necessary to initiate the germination process? Do you long for an abundant, seed-coat-busting life? Abandon your dry and routine life to him. Risk heat. Risk exposure. Risk growth. And take heart.