Solace in the Woods

I spent a few days with my parents this past week in southern Indiana. They live up on a hill surrounded with trees, lots of trees. Up above the house and behind is an actual woods. As you can see from the pictures, they will have a lot of leaves to rake this fall. LOL!

They recently had a porch built onto the back of the house that wraps around to the front. The three of us enjoyed sitting outside, except for the few wasps that kept flying around. Pesky little buggers!

Living in the country reminds one of our glorious Creator. The beauty of the fields that are full and about ready for harvest, the stillness filled with the chirps of birds, the comfort in the rustling wind, the buzz of the insects, the wonderful smell of nature all around. It was a few days of much needed solace - away from the normal hustle and bustle of life.

Last week, they had their driveway paved. It is quite a long way up the hill, and I was happy that Dad will once again be able to walk down and get his mail. Since his stroke, he had been advised not to try to walk down because of the unevenness of the gravel. What may seem like a trivial thing to us is a great blessing to him - the ability to take a little walk down the hill once again.

I read a blog of a friend of mine today. She fell and fractured her femur in several places. She had surgery and is in the hospital recovering. It reminded me of all the little things that we take for granted in life. Until we don't have them or can't do them any longer, we don't really realize what we have until we lose them.

God wants us to take time to smell the roses. He wants us to come aside and rest a spell. Even Christ became weary in ministry and drew aside to rest. It pleases him when we spend time contemplating his will. I remember reading an illustration by Corrie ten Boom. She said she would get up in the morning and make a to-do list and then she would bow before the Lord and ask him to bless her as she worked her way down the list that day. But, one day, the Lord spoke to Corrie and told her that he wanted her to bring a blank sheet of paper to her prayer time. As she prayed, the Lord impressed upon her things that he wanted her to do that day, and she was more blessed than ever before in her endeavors for God. How about joining me in presenting the Lord with a blank sheet in the morning? I can't wait to see what activities he will have me do, and who he will have me meet.

A time of solace in the woods has helped me to get my mind more fully on my Creator and on pleasing him in what I do.

Hasseled, frustrated, weary, worn? Take to the woods! He will meet you there.