Love notes in nature

 

I have recently returned from a beautiful holiday in Norfolk. The last year has been so busy with working, studying, caring for a child with special needs, recovering from surgery and much much more, so I was in desperate need of a rest! As we prepared to go away I clung on to two scriptures to help me focus. 

Be still and know that I am God: Psalm 46: 10 

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

One of the things I love to do on holiday is read. Over the last year I have read so many books, some of them taxing, some of them long and some of them pretty dry, so I decided that this holiday I was going to read something a little different and so I went armed with the chronicles of Narnia. I wasn’t really prepared for quite how much God would speak to me through the pages and while reading the first book, ‘The Magician’s nephew’ I was brought to tears as it told the story of Aslan, singing the world into creation: 

“The lion was pacing to and fro about that empty land and singing his new song. It was softer and more lilting than the song by which he had called up the stars and the sun; a gentle, rippling music. And as he walked and sang the valley grew green with grass. It spread out from the Lion like a pool. It ran up the sides of the little hills like a wave. In a few minutes it was creeping up the lower slopes of the distant mountains, making that young world every moment softer. The light wind could now be heard ruffling the grass. Soon there were other things besides grass. The higher slopes grew dark with heather. Patches of rougher and more bristling green appeared in the valley.”

On our first day of Holiday, while walking in the countryside, I prayed out loud to God to ask him to show himself to me and bless me in this time of rest and he certainly didn't let me down!

I have always found that God seems closer to me when I am out in nature and I was blessed to be in a place with stunning surroundings. With the words of CS Lewis still resounding in my head and knowing that:

“In one hand he (God) holds the mysteries of the earth,

And in the other he holds the highest mountain peaks.

He’s the owner of every ocean,

The engineer of Earth itself!”

Throughout the holiday I began to see love notes in nature written by God. I saw;  A love note in the deer that greeted me as I climbed a hill. A love note in the dragon fly that shared our bench as we had our picnic by a spring fed pond full of water lilies. A love note in the buzzard who took flight literally in front of our faces. A love note in the shimmering sea on the horizon. A love note in the reeds on the side of the water on the broads, a love note in the cricket making his music and an extra special love note in the heron catching his lunch as we sat and ate ours at a riverside pub! The heron was a particularly special note as I love herons and it was such a sweet moment.

There were so many more of these little love notes in nature and in each of these moments I felt a sense, not only of his presence, but his rest washing over me. 

On my final day of holiday as we walked along the river to to the place where we saw the heron to have our lunch, I was thinking about all the love notes from God and was thanking him for it. Then, and I don't know why I did it, I challenged God to send me another love note in nature and I dared him to outdo the heron. 

We arrived at the pub, that incidentally serves the nicest gluten free fish and chips that I have eaten in a long, long time, and took our seat at the edge of the water, as I looked across to where the heron had been i was slightly disappointed as there was nothing around but an old sandbag and a line of seagulls. I sat taking in the view and then I noticed it….it wasn’t a sandbag at all, but sat on the side of the river Yare was a sunbathing seal! What a delightful and unexpected love note in nature! 

I have been challenged in the days since to continue to look for the little love notes in nature, even if they are found in the most unexpected ways and in the most unexpected ways. On our way home, I was delighted to see a sunflower in bloom having grown out of the barrier in the central reservation of the motorway. Looking for the love notes in nature becomes a delightful game of hide and seek full of joy and blessing. I encourage you to give it a go and I know you will be pleasantly surprised.