Where is the summer going?!?!

My end-of-summer-angst is setting in. It’s almost August, and it feels like the fading summer. The days are a little shorter. The sun’s a little longer. The cicadas are buzzing. The grass is drying up. There are even some changing leaves in my favorite spots.

Time is just always moving along, isn’t it?

I have needed time recently –  to reflect on some traveling I was blessed to do in July. It was a memorable – epic even – adventure, with my parents and sister. It was celebratory for various family reasons. And for myself, it signified SO much. Such as a milestone victory from just the prior July going through a (minor) back surgery, after 8 months of severe, debilitating pain…traveling and hiking takes on a whole new meaning when you are grateful for every single step!

We ventured out west, to visit a few national parks, most notably, Yellowstone National Park – the first, the oldest, and the most unique (I’d say!) park in the U.S.A. I was blown away!

It’s been a few weeks now – it’s taken time to let it all sink in, to sift through my pictures, to think through my thoughts. My most simple summary is this: it was refreshing; it was beautiful and incredibly awe-inspiring; and it grew my gratitude for home.

To try and pick a favorite feature from the trip is challenging. I tend to be drawn to themes, which is what I am gravitating towards to make sense of what I saw out west.

Here’s how I’d group my favorite aspects:

• Water
• Wildflowers
• Wide-open spaces

Working on blog posts to elaborate on each of these, so stay tuned for more words and pics!

The incredible water features, wildflowers, and wide-open spaces were stunning, and signified some meaningful messages. Everything is just so much bigger, and bolder out west, it seems to me. And yet – by the end of trip when some anxiety got stirred – I found myself going to peaceful places in my mind to calm myself – my nature spots back home. Perhaps not quite as grand, not quite as wide-open, but familiar, safe, and beautiful to me.

Nature can’t just be a sightseeing, thrill-seeking adventure. Nature is needed, day in and day out, or at least, week in and week out! The mountaintop experiences (literally for me on this trip) are incredible! But the daily nurturing of our need for creation takes cultivation. And as I have found through years of trials, it’s life-changing. In small, simple ways that take effect over time.

Yellowstone is absolutely amazing. The incredible beauty and uniqueness of it will grow your love for nature and the outdoors. Plus, the grandness of it, will make you feel small – a healthy perspective for all of us – yet will simultaneously remind you of your place in the world, being known and loved by the Creator of all of Yellowstone’s majesty. So go to Yellowstone – soak up every square inch of it (as we attempted in 3 jam-packed days!). AND, go to your park, your place, your little square foot of yard or backyard garden, and soak up the peace of Creation, and the love and signs of God, that flow through it every day.

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