Take a walk to the wood pile with me.

It’s time for a “wonder” walk. We’ll practice together first. Then I want you to take your kids on a wonder walk. No kids? Take yourself…adults need wonder…daily.

There are two kinds of wonder…Why/question and Wow/wonder. Both are important to those of us who call earth home. The first leads us to the second. Why questions create the environment to foster awe wonder.

Your kids are filled with wonder-awe wonder. We adults have little. Adult life-the rush of responsibility, a job, taxes, a mortgage, bills, you know the duties of an adult take the wonder out of us.

Why? Because we are too busy. Too busy means stress. Stress means our health suffers. Too busy means relationships suffer.

It’s wonder time. For you, for me. We are not speaking of “I wonder” questions. Since questions foster wonder, do not discourage the questions your children ask-or yours. Let questions take you to awe. Awe is the kind of wonder we seek. Awe wonder is the kind of wonder which takes your breath away. Awe wonder stops you in your tracks. Sometimes it drops your jaw. Sometimes it creates exclamation.

 Awe wonder settles your soul. It leads your heart to truth. Awe wonder points us to God…

“He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted.” Job 9:10

Awe wonder was not a foreign concept to Job. A shepherd is witness to the wonder found in creation. Were there nights when Job gasped in awe at the beauty of the heavens? There is no doubt. For millennia, the human heart has responded to the awe of creation. God’s wonders found in the natural world, never cease, always stun, always amaze. They draw us to God.

Teach your child to wonder. Rachel Carson, internationally famous for her book Silent Spring, wrote a book she considered more important. Published posthumously, The Sense of Wonder is Carson’s contribution to the idea that all of us need awe wonder in our daily life. In this book Carson wrote,

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

Mom, dad, teach your child to wonder. Your children already have a sense of wonder. God put it in their souls. Parents you have a sense of wonder as well. We have already established what happened to it. Being an adult does not mean you have to sink your sense of wonder into the complexities of living.

 Rediscover wonder (awe) with your children. Adults and children who use their God given sense of wonder gain a magnificent benefit…

the ability to see the hand of God in creation.

Think about what C.S. Lewis, author of the Chronicles of Narnia wrote about what awe wonder does to our hearts…

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world. C. S. Lewis

Truth, seeking the awe wonder found in creation leads us to the realization that nothing in this world will satisfy, that in fact we were created for another world.

Parents, you want your kids to realize this. Put wonder back in your life. And in the lives of your children. Begin with the wonders found in nature. But don’t stop there. Use the wonders, the awe of nature to show them their Creator, God. Finding wonder in nature leads the heart to recognize we were “made for another world.”

 All the words above are for you.

The words below, are for you to understand you may do this with your children.

Take a walk to the wood pile with me-in pictures. (I took the pictures on a walk to our wood pile.) You do not need to be an expert in nature. You don’t need a national park either. All that is necessary is to take your children outside. To your children you are the most important adult in the world. You are the best person to do what Rachel Carson said… “rediscovering with them the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in.”

Will you find what you see in these photos? Likely not, even if you have a wood pile. Instead keep Rachel Carson’s words in mind to guide you: look for discoveries, beauty, something exciting, something mysterious. If you are brave, do it with your kids-on your knees. Crawl along looking for awe…its there, even in your backyard.

Picture 1…look at little things. A seed in the snow. You start, your children will take over. Soon as they do, let them…follow them.

Picture 2…look at what the sun has done. Radiant energy has caused these leaves to melt into the snow. If they stop because of beauty even better.

 Picture 3…the designs created when water freezes always fascinates me. Point it out…see what happens. Beauty fosters awe.

Picture 4…Still on your knees? Be prepared to look for small things. Kids like small things. Bring out your hand lens for this walk. The closer you look the more awe will come. The photos were taken with a macro lens.

Picture 5…when the sun melts snow and leave the lace like patterns of ice, they are worthy of close up examination. Did I mention you should let your kids eat this yet? If you dare. It won’t hurt.

Picture 6…You likely will find scat on the ground. This is rabbit scat. While it looks like a coco puff…these you do not eat! Ask what they think it is? What does it mean that there is rabbit scat here? This is mystery.

Picture 7…Encourage them to look at something with the sky in the background…

 Picture 8…I just picked a leaf, melted into the snow. After you show them your awe…let them show you. They will find awe you don’t see.

Now…take a Wonder Walk with your kids…remember, all of the photos above were taken on my walk to our backyard woodpile.