Nature journal excerpt

...But when I am in the woods, or on a hike, I like to slow down and hear the voice of God speaking to me through the mountains, through the trees. When I stand on a mountain cliff and see the misty green valleys descending down from me, then up miles away to the pinnacle of another tree-carpeted mountain, I can hear Him assure me of His majesty, can feel His omnipresent spirit moving through me with every breath. When I stand in the core of a deep, high forest, trees rising up all around me, extending their long, stout arms over my head to weave an umbrella over me, I remember His compassion for me, and His strength in my all-consuming weakness. Yet when the delicate needles of a young cedar tree mingled with the holly's hearty, waxy leaves brush against me on the trail, I think of His beauty, and the beauty and exceptionality in all He created, even in me. Hiking, I am overcome with reverence and adoration for my wonderful Maker.