A Moment

Well, yesterday I had one of those parenting moments of which that my wife often accuses me. I was working on my computer and deep in thought when one of my boys came and asked if he and his brother could go and do something. I remember thinking that it sounded fine and so I said "sure." Soon after, however, I was back to work, deep in thought and absolutely forgot about what and where the boys had asked about. What I had also forgotten is that I had an early afternoon appointment and so needed the boys to be home at a certain time for lunch before I left. So as the lunch hour approached I took my youngest daughter with me and I headed to the creek just down the street, which is most often where the boys go, hoping to be able to see them and call them for lunch. As I walked down the path beside the creek in the heat of the afternoon with my youngest daughter skipping just ahead of me I had a moment (a different moment then the one earlier mentioned...a better moment.) It was a moment of awe and inspiration, of praise and worship. I looked toward this tiny creek, right in the middle of suburbia with streets and houses encroaching on either side and I was amazed at the nature that I saw. Even in this small fragment of wilderness there was an amazing amount of diversity. There was a lush, thick density to the vegetation that I could not even see through, a collage made of a vast array of green tones highlighted by numerous splashes of vibrant colours. The sounds and sightings of birds were beyond numbering and the life within that little swatch of land was astounding. It was dense, vibrant and untamed. And although untamed, it was not chaotic. There is an interconnectedness and an interdependency in creation that is just incredible. And that was my moment. A moment of wonder as I encountered this unexpected experience of the untamed power and beauty of creation. What an amazingly complex and creative God we worship!
And yes, I found the boys eventually. They had headed to the creek but then were following the great blue heron from pond to pond. We connected at the street corner, both on our way back home.