My childhood was spent outside. I’m just old enough to be from the ‘go outside and play’ era. You know, the one? T9 texting, VHS and film cameras. Lucky for me going outside was a treat, not a punishment. When I was 2 we moved into a green and red painted ranch style home with 7 scraggly misplaced trees on the property that had to come down. These seven trees made huge stump pieces creating a small mountain in the backyard. Because of the shape and size of wood pieces, you could remove three large stumps and form a hidden cave. I was truly satisfied climbing around our wood pile defending my territory against invisible enemy attacks. It was the greatest playground equipment two kids could ask for. My brother and I spent hours outside watching the cloud formations, building forts, fishing for tadpoles in the creek, and 3 wheeling with friends. I felt closest to the Creator of the Universe when I was tucked away in that secret cave gazing up at the big blue sky.
As I grew up my love for photography started to bloom. My new dream was to become a National Geographic Photographer. It combined my three loves: Nature. Travel. Photography. One sunny day, while exploring in the woods, I was putting my skills to the test. The sun peeped from behind a cloud shinning through the trees, creating rays of sunshine, the leaves gently rustled in the trees. From my perspective, the leaves covered and uncovered the sun in their movement, almost like a man winks at his sweetheart. At that moment I felt like He was winking at me. I felt like a tiny spec in the Universe, but a tiny LOVED spec. To feel the love of the Creator of the Universe AS His Creation while standing in HIS Creation was overwhelming.
Hillsong United wrote these Lyrics
“If the stars were made to worship so will I. If the mountains bow in reverence so will I. If the oceans roar your greatness so will I. For everything exists to lift you high so will I. If the wind goes where you send it so will I. If the rocks cry out in silence so will I. If the sum of all our praises still fall shy, then we’ll sing a hundred billion times. God of Creation you chased down my heart through all of my failure and pride.”
Later in the song, it says… “I can see your heart in everything you’ve done.
Old dreams have gone and new ones take their place. My first experience with heartache settles deep in my bones when someone I thought I could love announces he no longer felt the same way. I felt very lost, walking back to my dorm alone completely numb to life. I was confused about why God would let this happen. I asked Him many angry questions that night. The next morning I woke to find it raining. Perfect. It fit my mood. I went outside to stand under the overhang to watch the most gentle summer rain. Puddles formed along the sidewalk and in the grass. I started at one puddle, in particular, noticing the way the droplets splashed rhythmically across the surface. My world stopped. My mind quieted. All I could see was the miracle of rain and how it reminded me of my tears.
Scripture says,” You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”
I looked up at the gray sky and thanked God that He loves me. Plans change and heartbreak happens, but God is as close or as far as we hold Him. I grew to find comfort in other parts of nature. Seeing a bird in flight reminded me of that freedom He gives us to come to him in our own time. One specific day I was pleading with God, on my way to shoot a Wedding for a couple that wanted outdoor photos and it hadn’t stopped raining all week. Fields were flooded and creeks were high, the ground high and low still soggy. I wanted this to be the best day of their lives. I started praying for the couple and the weather, that’s when I saw them. Three blue herons glided effortlessly through the sky to my left. I felt God say, “Here you go Kim, these are for you.” It reminded me of this verse.
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your Heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
As you can tell I have a deep love of nature, but my late uncle took it to a whole new level. My uncle Merv belonged in the woods. He made it his home, his church, and his ministry. One starry evening, several buddies gathered around a campfire. One of them asked him, “How do you know there is a God?” His response was to point towards the woods and say, “Go out into the Woods, that’s how you know.” Merv stopped us in our tracks and showed us how nature is good for the soul. I learned to truly appreciate The Great Outdoors through my uncle and now my dad. Nothing compares to having church on the pond where my uncle used to fish. The calm still-as-glass water, the geese honking overhead, the splash of a bass in the reeds, the tug of the line on your pole, the quiet love of God settling around your shoulders; This place feels holy.
