August 1, 2011

In the Beginning...


Tonight for our weekly Family Home Evening,
we went to the Rose Garden up the street.

Jacob rides past it on his bike-route home, so he got to stop half-way up the big killer hill to enjoy a nice little picnic and a bit of relaxing in a gorgeous setting (with his favorite peeps, no less!).

We ate our picnic and walked (well, let's be real, with two lively little ones there was lots of RUNNING going on as well!) around the garden, admiring the flowers.

And then, we talked about The Creation.


I asked Sawyer: "Do you know who made this garden?"

He answered (looking around) "Was it those guys, over there?" (a couple enjoying a stroll through the garden)

Gotta love kids. Since we have a garden and have worked in it, he was probably thinking about who planted and nurtured this particular garden, so I guess it wasn't a bad guess? His answer was a perfect opening for our conversation about our topic, nonetheless. We are, after all, the stewards of God's Creations.



We enjoyed talking a bit as we walked around the gardens, and then we decided to walk to one of our favorite nearby parks to let the kids burn off some energy.

I just looove long summer days. And I don't mind that we stayed out until the sun went down, that the kids got into the bathtub at 9:15pm and in bed at close to 10pm. I loved scrubbing their dirty feet - dirty from running around in the glorious dirt that God gave us. Sweaty little faces from enjoying running in the beautiful garden, and playing hard at the park. I let Aspen wear her new shoes to bed (upon her insisting) and I smiled when I peeked in at her a few minutes later and she had her little bum in the air - with her pink crocs under her. I love the smell of roses. I love my little family. I love that Jacob is always game for all of my ideas and for many many many summer picnics.

I love all of this. I am so grateful for the gifts God has given me - for all of his Creations, big and small.

If you haven't done so lately, I encourage you to take just a bit of time to stop and "smell the roses", as we did this evening.
It's wonderful for the soul!

next week's lesson: a continuation of talking about The Creation by visiting some more of God's creations - salmon - at the Ballard Locks. If anyone would like to join in, please let me know ;)




4 comments:

Dena said...

OH MY GOODNESS! The picture of miss Aspen Jane with her face in the rose is just to DIE for!!! I can't even put it into words--the cuteness is just beyond words! Can we PLEASE get together soon!!??

Anonymous said...

"Those people over there?" Aunt Tia is giggling!!!

allegra said...

What a fun family home evening!! Our family home evenings are getting pretty monotonous around here. ha ha. They often include us going to watch Dan play softball (b/c those are every monday nights without fail.) The kids just love it and look forward to it. (Really, I think they just like running around with the other kids in the grass rather than watching the actual game. ha ha.) But... I would like more variety.:) Maybe we should switch family night to Tuesday night... Hmmmmm..

Is this the rose garden by the zoo? Aaah, speaking of which . I haven't gone to the zoo forever. Need to renew my membership asap!

LOL on Sawyer's response. Love that kid.

capturingtheride said...

@Allegra - yes, the Rose Garden by the Zoo. I just renewed our membership (thank you, Costco! They had them on sale there - Shoreline!) I was thinking of going next week ;)