On The Fourth Day Of Christmas: Prizing Creation

Sheer amazement can happen anywhere.

This is the fourth in a series of posts for each of  the twelve days of Christmas, adapted from some emails I've sent to our three adult children:

One of the things I'm always delighted to see in our grandchildren is a strong respect and love for the God-created out-of-doors. I well remember our first grandchild, for example, at five, telling me, while digging around in the soil behind our house, that she might not go to college, but wanted to be a "nature helper", sharing with others her love of all things growing, living and breathing around her. 

Children are born with this kind of wonder and curiosity, but also learn from their parents and other role models to delight in all of creation--from the breathtaking vastness of space to the intricate design of the smallest visible creature or plant in their backyard. In the interest of this kind of exploration, what if each family member could be assigned a couple of square yards of space outdoors to explore as though it were the size of a vast expanse of earth being discovered by human beings for the first time, and then have each report to the rest of the family the soil, the minerals and plants, animals and insects that live and thrive there? Amazement can be found everywhere, a gift far better than mere amusement.

One ingredient missing in some children's lives is the lack of access to natural places, but that is not the real problem in most of our homes and neighborhoods. Another missing piece may be the lack of sufficient boredom, if you will, the kind that helps motivate children to find "something to do" when they are surrounded by far too many screen-based options for their entertainment. Maybe a bit of boredom, with the burden of remedying it being more on the child than on the adult, isn't at all a bad thing!

Much love, many blessings.

Two other favorite posts on this topic:

http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2011/03/million-thousand-million-earthworms.html

http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2012/03/out-and-about.html