Time Alone With God

The following is a journal entry from back on June 19th of 2009 that I felt led to share once again today.


Today, I took the extra time that I had available, since I wasn't wasting it in front of the TV, and decided to head out to a local park that I had heard about, but had never actually visited all the years that I've grown up in Caldwell. It's called Curtis Park. It's a very natural park. It's not one of those that's just down the street. It's not well groomed with manicured grass or a fancy playground for the children. Instead it's more.... well.... rustic?

You have to take a winding dirt road to get to it, but once you walk past the gate and a little further down another stretch of dirt road, you are able to see and sense that there is indeed such a peaceful presence there. As you enter the park, there is a swing set, but not anything fancy. Just two single, and very plain rubber swings attached by chains, to a large "T" shaped, welded structure.

Throughout the central part of the park are various, over-sized cement culverts or pipes that have been converted into bonfire pits. Near each of these bonfire pits are some old, weather beaten and rusted iron barbecue grills that have definitely seen their share of cookouts from years gone by.

As I ventured across the park and made my way to the right, I noticed a peculiar wooden sidewalk that seemed to meander away and through the trees. This intrigued me. The child inside me has always been a curious one, so I decided to go exploring. I called out to my dog Sahera, who by this time had already began to do some exploring of her own. As I stepped onto the weathered planks, you could hear the "creeeeek" of wood that had experienced many years of storms and times of sunshine, which indefinitely had brought it to it's current state of being.  Sahera ran on along ahead of me, often trying to take side trips into the bushes and wildflowers that lined various sections of this wildlife trail and wooden sidewalk of sorts.

All along the way, I stopped to take digital photographs to remind myself of the beauty that I was able to experience on this day. It seemed that with every twist and turn, something else would catch my eye, or ... my ear. If it had not been for the wind, I'm sure that all I would've been able to hear would've been the birds chirping or the insects pouncing from plant to plant. But today, the wind was blowing, so there was at times, quite a thunderous clapping coming from the leaves above. It was almost as if, the very trees were shouting God's praises.

You know, it says in the Bible, that if we fail to praise God, then even "the rocks will cry out". Today, I heard and saw God's creation echoing His much deserved praise for the great Creator that He is. May we not waste another moment to reflect back to God, at least . . . AT LEAST... a portion of the grace and love that He gives us daily.

Amen...