Finding God in My Backyard (Sue Searles)
Finding God in My Backyard and Beyond
Having lived for 26 years on 1 & 2/3 acres in an area which is still mostly natural, I have been blessed with many opportunities to enjoy and appreciate God's beautiful world. When we first moved into our country home, I determined I would learn about our little piece of Creation and developed a number of practices which greatly enriched that experience and filled my heart with gratitude for God the Creator. I will share several of those (enhanced with children's activities) for your family's use in your yard, your neighborhood, a park, or on a scenic drive; good any time, but perhaps particularly during these days of isolation.
As you begin a walk, ask yourself, "I wonder what blessings God has for me today?"
Count the shades of green in the springtime leaves. Check your crayon/paint box, pull out all the greens and create your own forest.
Pick a single wildflower, take it home and look it up in Wildflowers of Texas or a similar book. Next, walk to see how many patches of the flower you can find.
Hang bird feeders on your porch or in your trees. Sit on your porch and watch and listen. Identify the birds in a simple book, such as Birds of Texas. What are their names? Their habits? Record their songs. Take or make pictures.
Look up at the clouds as children love to do and see the wondrous pictures in the sky. Relearn the names of the clouds. Make cotton-ball pictures.
Focus on insects, ants, butterflies, spiders. Where does that ant trail go? What kind of butterfly is that? What plants can I put in my yard to attract more?
Create a butterfly dance using colorful scarf-wings. What happens after the bee collects the pollen? Enjoy the beautiful art created by the writing spider.
One of my most fun experiences was watching a dung beetle carefully move its cargo across the road!
As you pass your neighbors' homes, look at their yards. What flowers are they growing so beautifully? What is the secret of their success? Plan how you will refresh your landscape or plant a vegetable garden in the appropriate season.
As you become more aware of Creation you will find gratitude to God growing in your heart, smiles on your face, a more peaceful mind and a more relaxed body. Find a time when your family can recall the blessings found in today's natural-world experience and then thank God together.
Addendum
I walked today with the question, "What blessing does God have for me today?" foremost in my thoughts. I crossed the street from my apartment to the beautiful duck pond and immediately saw a little boy, about ten, sitting on the grass beside his bicycle, phone in hand. He heard me approach, put the phone down and, smiling, said good morning. The first blessing! As we all know, young people, especially children, rarely initiate the first greeting. We talked briefly about how he was missing school and I moved on. The further I went the more people I saw enjoying one another as family and friends on this cloudy but wonderful Spring day. All carefully social distancing, we exchanged smiles, waves or a few friendly words. Bicycles, strollers, a scooter, a skateboard and friendly dogs added to the morning's walk making it feel almost like a parade! I was not alone--all these wonderful people were walking with me, plus I was surrounded by the blessing of God's beautiful Creation! I went home feeling light-hearted and extremely grateful. Thank you, God.
Photos from Sue’s recent trips to the Smokey Mountains and her neighborhood duck pond.
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Sue Searles is leader of the First Baptist Church of Austin Green Team. Check out more of her writings on AllCreation.org. This reflection is part of our series, “Celebrating Earth Day 2020.” Each post offers recommendations for connecting religious and spiritual practices to greater relationship with Earth’s other living creatures.
