While we were staying at the lake house, we were not very far from the coast, so one afternoon we drove to the beach and spent some time breathing in that salty ocean air.
I never tire of watching my girls enjoy the ocean. Perhaps it's because Jocelyn was such a timid soul, it took her a long time to finally warm to it, and now that they have I don't want to take it for granted for a single moment. Charlotte, on the other hand, seemed to form a bond with the beach immediately, and rarely hesitates to get her hands dirty and her feet wet. She cries when we have to leave, begging for more sand and waves. I can already tell she will be my little sandy-blonde beach babe.
Long before I ever knew anything about it, someone was filming a documentary called "Project Wild Thing" that while very interesting, failed to teach me anything I didn't already know.
Kids need to be outdoors.
Everyone needs to go outdoors more.
In our world of technology at every fingertip, we are missing something.
We are sicker, sadder, lonelier, and more depressed when we don't venture out.
And while I feel like I knew all that it had to say already, it was still so stirring to watch. To really see, process and FEEL the need anew to get children (and adults) outside again and back to nature. I am passionate about it for sure, but I am even more passionate that all of the exploration and discovery and adventure points to Something, or rather, Someone.
The documentary left me feeling a bit empty because it was all about Mother Nature and how being outside is calming and relaxing and recharging for.....well....no particular reason. It was all a bit of a mystery.
When really, I think it's all rather simple. Being outdoors is rejuvenating because we are taking in the glory and the beauty of the Creator God. We are being reminded, constantly, that there is something bigger than us.
Bigger than our stress.
Bigger than our fears.
Bigger than our problems.
And we feel smaller and higher and deeper and lighter all at once, and the clouds part and the sun shines down and we feel ourselves smiling way down to our toes.
But that is not the power of "nature".
That is the power, of the CREATOR.
