Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul."  ~ John Muir

When I was about four years old, I was given a Little Golden Book about God written by Jane Werner Watson and Eloise Wilkins did the illustrations. It was my very favorite book and I still have it.

Let me give you a snippet...

"Look at the stars in the evening sky, so many millions of miles away that the light you see shining left its star long, long years before you were born. Yet beyond the farthest star, God knows the way."

And...

"Bend down to touch the smallest flower. Watch the busy ant tugging at his load. See the flash of jewels on the insect's back. This tiny would your two hands could span, like the oceans and mountains and far off stars, God planned."

 

I remember the dark skies above the mountain lit with trillions of pinpoints of light and how tiny they made me feel. I remember crackling bonfires made from dead pine knots and roasting hotdogs and marshmallows. When evening became cold and damp we would snuggle beneath one of my grandmother's quilts. Lying there we would watch the tiny sparks travel skyward as if trying to imitate the stars above. I remember long exploring walks in the woods and my excitement over each little vignette of beautiful natural things. I remember feeling that God designed them each for me. I would love a long walk on the mountain of my childhood, but it is nearly winter and so many lovely things rest beneath the snow and ice till spring's reawakening. The scripture says in Genesis 8:22 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.”

 

While some things are so small I could easily hold them in my hand, there are other things so far away I can't even wrap my mind around them. Yet God knows and He planned the way.