What better thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon than take a walk through a nature preserve.
Come join hubby, our daughter, and me as we take a walk through our local nature preserve …
We hadn’t gone 100 paces when … Lo and behold! … what a cool looking fungus!
I’ve never seen a fungus like this before. I wonder what it is?
Hubby and our daughter stopped and waited on me while I paused to consult my Seek nature app concerning this strange new fungi species …
Ghost Pipe (aka: “Monotropa uniflora”)
Whoa! That’s the coolest thing ever!
Thank you God for the exciting new discovery of Ghost Pipe!
“Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” – Psalm 103:1
Yes! I am praising the Lord over the exciting new discovery of Ghost Pipe!
We head off down the trail again …
Check out all these little beauties lining the path! I see these little plants all the time whenever we take nature walks, but I’ve never actually checked to see what they are.
Once more hubby and our daughter stop and wait … while I’m down in the bushes with my Seek nature app …
Threeleaf Foamflower
Whoa! That’s the coolest thing ever!
“Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. … Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.” – Psalm 96:8-9
Absolutely I’m worshiping as I delight over the amazing plants and flowers God has made for us to enjoy!
Thank you God for Threeleaf Foamflower! Thank you God for all the amazing plants and flower you have created for us to enjoy!
We head off down the path again …
Check it out! It’s logging notches!
These large rectangular notches in this huge tree stump were made by loggers years ago. The loggers would make these notches, then insert board planks into the notches upon which they could stand. Standing up off the ground on the planks (or springboards), the loggers would then work together as a team of two to saw the tree down.
Here below, you can see two logging notches. One logger would stand on a springboard extending from the notch on the left, and another logger would stand on a springboard extending from the notch on the right. Between the two of them they would pull a double handed saw back and forth to saw the tree down.
That’s the coolest thing ever! Just look how high above the springboard notches the saw was held to saw the tree off. That’s amazing! That had to have been exhausting work to saw that tree down!
There is an old stump with springboard notches down in the ravine behind mine and hubby’s house. It was so exciting to see these stumps with these springboard notches! Evidence of the long-gone logging era of the Pacific Northwest.
“Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; … praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.” – Psalm 150:1-2
God, I praise you for your greatness displayed in the giant trees you created which once dominated the Pacific Northwest. The Douglas Fir giants and Western Hemlock giants and Western Redcedar giants are all gone now. But the forests you have created, God, are a tiny little glimpse of how great and awesome and powerful you are!
After admiring the springboard notches, hubby, our daughter, and I continue on down the path …
Hubby and our daughter were engrossed in conversation and completely missed the fact that I was once again dilly-dallying behind … down in the bushes … taking photos of Selfheal …
Selfheal. What a fascinating name for a plant.
There’s a lot of information available about self-help.
But self-heal? How do we self-heal?
The verse which popped into my mind when I thought about this plant – Selfheal – was this:
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14
How do we self-heal?
We humble ourselves. Humility is our Selfheal.
We pray. Prayer to God is our Selfheal.
We seek God. Seeking God is our Selfheal.
We turn from our wicked ways and repent of our sin. Turning from wickedness and repenting is our Selfheal.
Thank you God for this Bible lesson down in the dirt as I’m delighting over this common little weed of Selfheal.
Once more we continue on our Sunday afternoon walk through the nature preserve …
Eventually the path led us to this picturesque little pond.
It was peaceful at the pond. Dragonflies darted and skimmed this way and that.
A “resting bench” beckoned … so hubby, our daughter, and I sat and relaxed on the “resting bench.”
A bird sang a cheerful melody perched atop a nearby snag.
All was at peace.
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.” – Isaiah 30:15
“Blessed are those whose strength is in you.” – Psalm 84:5
“I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will continually be in my mouth.” – Psalm 34:1
“Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise.” – Psalm 145:3
Oh look! There’s a plant I’ve never seen before! How pretty! I wonder what it is?
Bittersweet Nightshade.
Ooooo … that sounds rather ominous.
A strange ominous name for such a pretty little plant. I guess it must be poisonous in some way.
Thank you God for a Sunday afternoon walk through a nature preserve!
Thank you God for fungi – such as Ghost Pipe.
Thank you God for little plants like Threeleaf Foamflower which line the path with joy!
Thank you God for your greatness displayed through the great forests you created.
Thank you God for telling us very clearly how we can Self-Heal: Humility, Prayer, Seeking you, and turning from our wicked ways.
Thank you God for the peace of a quiet pond.
Thank you God for dragonflies which dart and skim. Thank you God for little birds which sing songs of praise.
“Sing to the LORD, all the earth … for great is the LORD and most worthy of praise.” – 1 Chronicles 16:23, 25
“Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place.” – 1 Chronicles 16:27
Thank you God for a “resting bench” where we can relax and ponder how great and awesome you are! We love you God!
