A Trip To The Park

On Tuesday, Madelyn, Samuel, and I went to Community Park in New Albany. This is normal for the three of us really. I typically try to take the kids out together once a month and normally to the park. Community Park is really a lovely place. There are a number of trees there that are indigenous to Indiana and Madelyn particularly enjoys trying to guess which tree is which. Samuel enjoys the park because of the ducks, dogs, and a neighboring construction site. What is there is not to love? The park has diggers, dumpers, and wildlife! The park and even more so the outdoors has been especially meaningful to me in the last couple of years for a few reasons. For starters, I think that I have grown in my appreciation for how creation testifies to the beauty of God (Psalm 8). The Psalms are full of exclamations for this reason and I am starting to see why. A tree is really a marvelous thing, though for much of my life, I took them for granted. I have also come to see how much there is to learn by observing creation. For the last couple of years, I have kept a garden. Through my work in the garden, I have come to see that many good things in life come through slow, repeated acts of faithfulness. Creation really is a grand teacher (Proverbs 30:24-28). Being outdoors, particularly with the kids, provides endless opportunities to live out Deuteronomy 6:6-7, "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." I can point to the blue sky and ask Madelyn, "Who made the sky blue?" Lord willing, my children will see that all of life belongs to our Creator and meant to be lived for him (Ecc 12). So it my prayer that these trips to the park move my children to love their Creator, their father, and each other. Lord, establish the work of my hands upon me, yes, establish the work of my hands (Psalm 90:17)!