The Beauty of the Earth

 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened.  God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.  Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.  Genesis 1:9-12 (NLT)
I hope that title has you humming a hymnal in your head.  It does me anyway, For the Beauty of the Earth...one of the classics.

I love early morning walks.  I am always so excited when Spring hits and the time changes.  One main reason:  I can wake up at the crack of dawn and get a good walk in before getting ready for work.  It is so peaceful (minus the dogs that join me, sometimes four or five, depending on who's living at the time) and I can get my exercise in for the day and have a good long talk with God.  I have just a few months where I can take my walk before work, which really fits into my day better, so I try to take advantage of it.

As I walk down the road and back, because in the country that's what you have to do, up, down, back, forth...I see the same landscape over and over.  I have lived on this road all but about five years of my life so it's a very familiar scene. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing.  It always causes me to stop and praise God for where I live and for the beauty of the earth, the one that He created. 

I love smelling the fresh earth after the farmers have tended the fields preparing for their planting season.  I delight when I see the first sprouts of growth coming from the carefully planted rows.  And when the combine comes barreling through in the fall and the corn dust is driving everyone nuts, I am thankful.  Yeah, it can get a little messy and it does tend to cause some allergy troubles, but it is a reminder of how God has a hand in everything.  I'm amazed, to this day, that a seed can go in the ground, be covered with dirt, soak up some water (sometimes, sometimes not) grow AND produce it's 'fruit'.  I'm amazed that year after year, farmers continue to make that leap of faith.  They put their trust and everything they've got into their land, their seeds, their toil, knowing that only God can control the outcome.  I've never understood how a farmer can be an unbeliever.  I don't follow how he could possibly believe that there's not a little extra power involved in the growth process from a simple seedling in the ground.
We are now switching from Summer to Fall.  With that our plants are withering up, the grass is dying and the trees will soon change color until their leaves are gone.  It is a beautiful time of year.  Probably my favorite season, which is kinda weird, everything is dying and I love it.  Hhmm.  I love harvest time, cook-outs, hayrides, tee-peeing, the change in temperature, the kids go back to school (ha), shorter days and that the holidays are fast approaching.  For some reason it just seems like a good transition after the hustle and bustle of Summer. 

God knows what he is doing.  He gives us long days in the summer to enjoy and then replenishes us with the shorter days in the Winter.  We get our opportunity to rest and the ground gets a chance to prepare for the Spring planting.  I'm thankful for the four seasons in the Midwest.  I am thankful for the beauty of the earth and I am thankful that I know full well where it comes from.