By Carol Round, Special to ASSIST News Service
GROVE, OK (ANS – January 22, 2018) — “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well” — Psalm 139:14 (NKJV).
Sharing the Good News and encouraging others in their faith walk is my passion. My other passion is my grandchildren. In May, we will welcome grandchild number seven, a girl.
For Christmas, I received a journal from my future granddaughter, courtesy of her mother. Inscribed in ink on the inside cover is the following: “Nana, Please use this journal to write your favorite scriptures, recipes and stories just for me!”
Her parents have chosen the name Ruby for granddaughter number three. When my daughter-in-law mentioned the name to my son, she wasn’t aware that Ruby was my mother’s name.
As Ruby’s grandmother, I want to impart how “fearfully and wonderfully made” she is by a loving Heavenly Father. Her older siblings and her cousins will be a wonderful example. I continually remind them of the importance of “living for Jesus” because He is what matters most in life.
In today’s noisy world, it’s often difficult to stay focused on Jesus. For today’s generation, the opportunities to become distracted are more prevalent than ever before.
When I grew up in the 50s and 60s, we didn’t have the myriad options available today. Nature was our playground, where God’s creation spoke to us of His marvelous works.
In an article by newspaper editor Kaylea Hutson, she offers the following ways to experience God in nature. Hutson calls it “Practicing ‘Five Things.’”
To escape the confines of her computer, she spends time outside “to relax, to tune out the noise and to listen to God who often speaks to me through nature.”
Her process is simple. She starts by identifying five things she can see around her. Then, she listens for five things she can hear. Finally, she focuses on five things she can feel.
“Stepping outside,” she says, “I might immediately see rocks, grass, a path, trees, and birds. I might hear birds chirping, water rippling over rocks, or grass blowing in the wind. The last is the hardest, but I may feel anything from a gentle breeze on my face to cool water running over my fingertips.”
Hutson completes the process and then repeats it “by counting backward, identifying four additional things in each step, then three, then two, and finally one. The entire process takes time and energy, and I don’t always find all the things; but often I’ve seen, felt, or listened to small things in nature that I might otherwise have overlooked.”
How often do we overlook God’s creation, including the people around us who were formed in their mother’s womb by a loving Heavenly Father?
Pastor and author Max Lucado says, “You weren’t an accident. You weren’t mass produced. You aren’t an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the Earth by the Master Craftsman.”
Let our passion be in sharing the marvelous works of the Creator God. Let us praise Him for we each are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Photo captions: 1) You are fearfully and wonderfully made. (https://www.pexels.com). 2) Max Lucado. 3) Carol Round.
Note from the writer: I always love hearing from my readers. Please feel free to e-mail me at carol@carolaround.com with your thoughts, or visit my blog for more inspiration at www.carolaround.com. If you need a speaker or workshop leader, you can contact me at the above e-mail or website. I’d be delighted to hear from you.
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