Just How Tiny I Really Am... In This Marvelous and Unique World

See those two awesome mountain climbing people? Nah... Actually, we are pretty new to it. But give me another chance and I might just leap right into another adventure.

Every day, the beauty of creation is astounding. But there is just one problem- when you are so exposed to so much beauty and unique creation, you sometimes forget that it is yet another testament of God's incredible and awesome power! This week I had a couple reminders which left me peering into the awe of this beautiful world we live in.

On Thursday, Daddy, Mama, my little brother and I all packed up to go a few hours away to a small town in the middle of the mountains to be ready to climb a mountain the next morning. Some of our more ambitious friends and my older brother joined us the next morning after an early start from back home at around 3 AM.

I must say... Climbing this mountain was perhaps one of the most beautiful experiences I have ever had the privilege to see up close and personal. The hilly part of the mountain was covered in beautiful flowers. It was truly gorgeous. After living in the mountains for eight years, I can say that I had not seen half of those kinds of wild flowers- they ranged from giant golden flowers, to purple clovers, to red Indian Paintbrush. I was too busy hiking to stop to take pictures but luckily Mama had the camera out. Therefore, I can truly not claim almost all of the pictures which were taken -but I just have to share them. They give off just a little of the beauty which was so much more awesome in person.

 

This is looking down off the slopes of the mountain. It reminds me of a place where you would see a moose. 

Some of the flowers. 

Mama and big brother selfie :D

 Daddy and Mama

Almost to the top. There was a good amount of boulders before you could reach the very top of the mountain.

Resting on the top. It was a bit chilly up there so we took advantage of some of the sun on the rocks.

Up at the top on the mountain

The view from the summit.
 

The mountain was gorgeous but almost just as incredible was an experience which I had in a country neighborhood as I stayed the night with a friend and track team mate. 

We walked out the dimly lit house, turning off the light to the family room and slipped out the sliding glass doors. With a few bumps as our eyes took their time to adjust to the darkness, we ventured into the back yard and stared up into the sky...

If there is one thing which is mystical, magical and gorgeous it has to be the night sky. I love to sleep with the moon on my face, to wake up and see the stars, but the one thing about living in our neighborhood is that you cannot see even half the stars which you can in the mountains or the country... That is one thing which I miss. So looking up into the night sky on a perfectly clear July night out in the country, I was once more taken back by the beauty of it. Up above you could see the cloudyish outline of the Milky Way...The Big Dipper looked huge and bright. I tried to name a few other constellations but I am afraid I am pretty good at getting them wrong or calling one a name of the other. 

Yet there, in just the action of looking up into the sky and taking a few minutes to just drink in the night and all its wonders... there is once again the remembrance that this world was created. It was no mistake. The great dome which appears to surround us filled with stars and inky black is another reminder of the unique and incredible design of the world. 

As a finale to my noticing the big beauty of the world, I can but conclude that sometimes it is the simplest little things which can be noticed and bring to mind the awesomeness in creation. 

Today, I walked into the chicken coop and looked into one of the nest. There, buried down in the hay was a perfect, tiny little egg...most likely laid by one of the new hens. Isn't it absolutely incredible that chickens are designed to function in such a way? To be able to lay that egg?

Wow. There really is so much to look at and be amazed by. But we must always remember. The God who created this incredible universe is so much more powerful, so much more incredible, and is also in control. Isn't that something to just marvel at? It is a lesson I want to learn and to learn well. God is in control. He made the world, He made the stars, the moon, He made the chickens, and He made...me. 

"Trust in the LORD (YHWH) with all your heart

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your path."

-Proverbs 3:5-6

When You Don't Feel Like Living Like That

Its early in the evening and the thunder is still rolling. There is a kind of magic in thunder. A sort of peacefulness in a storm. Living at the base of a long range of mountains does have an advantage...One of those are the frequent thunderstorms in the summer.

However, this one feels a bit more rare. Its been 6 hours since the first wave of the storm blew in and since there there has been a continual cycle of rain and thunder. Not that I mind. As I mentioned before, I find a sort of peace in the rough blowing of the wind, the bright flash of a bolt of lightning, the deep, rolling artillery fire of thunder. Yes. In a way, these incredible storms are yet another testament to the unique and awesome creation of Earth.

Sometimes I wish the feeling of peace, happiness and absolute awe would go on and on. However, as it happens to be, I am a human. And sometimes "Life seems perfect, other days it just ain't worth it..." My own selfish feelings often get in the way. I don't feel a certain way... I don't feel like working. I don't feel like taking a large dose of humility and not issuing a quarrel with others.In these situations I need to remember all the little qualities of love.

      "Love suffers long and is kind..." Long suffering is one of those difficult ones. In the easy moments you feel compliant, but when it really gets down to it, it can be very hard to not respond or even initiate a quarrel, disagreement or provoke a bad attitude. 

        "Does not behave rudely, does not seek its own..." A common theme with love seems to be that it is not selfish. Often times I tend to only want my comfort  but sometimes the best way to show love is to step out of your own comfort and look to help someone else in their walk. 

This is how I want to live my life. Serving others and not seeking my own. Its incredibly hard and often I have a battle between what I want and what I want to want. The latter being living a love that shows Jesus is in my heart... The good news is that while this is close to impossible for us to do on our own, God will work to finish the work which He began... "but with God all things are possible."

So on those days when things are rough, when you find it difficult to look beyond your own ambitions, look to the words which He has left us-

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8.a