By Corrine Lund —
Sometimes I think that awe and wonder are similar in the eyes and mind of a seven year old as they must have been with our Creator God when our home planet began to take shape. Awe and Wonder. For the amazing mind of my seven year old grandson, they two words occupy much of his observing and thinking time.
Early in his young life he named me “Da”, for no reason other than that was to be my name. He once told me that he will always call me by that name. So, a conversation might go something like this:
Da, if you hurry we can get to that open space where we can see the crazy colors in the sunset. It is so beautiful!
Da, look at the colors on the wings of this little bug. It’s like a rainbow!
Da, this worm is huge. Does God tell it how far down to burrow so it lives through the winter?
Da, I wonder how we could live on another planet…we need trees and water. And how long would it take to get there. If we got there, I wonder if we could ever get back to earth?
My world has become filled with the awe and wonder seen through the eyes of a young child. A child who loves the creatures and the dirt and the night sky….and is filled with the awesome world in which he lives but has so many questions about ‘I wonder” or “Why?’
“Da!” he will say as though I need to see something spectacular right now or that he has a question to share so that we can ‘wonder’ together. Both usually begin with “Da” and I know I must listen.
My favorite Psalm…139:
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
God shares some awesome stuff with us. And do you know what else God tells me? I even know you by your name. And God continues to share some awesome things with me and then…I wonder – how could that be?
And adventure will soon provide our family with an overload of Awe and Wonder as we travel to Yellowstone National Park. Again my thoughts are pulled back to Creation. Volcanoes, geysers, pools of boiling mud, mountains and wild animals How much more awe and wonder can a person manage!
But through the eyes of a little boy, earth worms, sunsets and bugs carry just as much weight in the awesomeness department. What an amazing God to provide for us such a world. “Da, come look at this bug. Right now before it gets away!”
He always calls my name.
God always calls me by my name.
Awesome
Totally filled with wonder.
CORRINE LUND: I am a mixture of so many things…a wife, mother, grandmother – an art educator for students of all ages and abilities, from very young to college classes. My husband and I have been married for 53 years and are enjoying retirement immensely. He was a clergyperson who was Director of Chaplaincy Services in southern Ohio which provided opportunities to meet so many and varied individuals. We are blessed in our retirement to be living close to our family…and that means close to our grandson who fills our hearts to overflowing.
I began to understand the importance of my creative interests when I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age fifty. I began to write and make art…all kinds of art. There is no question in my mind that both experiences made the journey with significant cancer a journey of learning and growing…and surviving.
Because of that experience I reviewed all my writing and put the words together into a book entitled “God Blessed Them for the Journey” After it was published it became my gift to others traveling through their own challenging journeys. It was recently republished with new visual images that add to my story.
I have been a most ordinary person all my life with some extraordinary experiences…blessed in so many ways. My creative passion right now is working with wood and batik. And watercolor and drawing. It’s difficult to get the laundry done. We love to travel and so enjoy the outdoors. Our home is nestled in the woods near a lake which also fills my soul. My faith is sometimes filled with questions but then I ponder the simple things of just one ordinary day and I know that my journey has been in the company of an amazing Creator God, a God who have been patient with me. Life is good. God is good.
1 comment
For Corrine Lund:
What a joy to read your post!
Just yesterday I had three of my greats out taking photos of flowers so they could draw them as part of a home school assignment. I worry that an addiction to screens will cripple their ability to relate to others and to experience the awe and wonder of everyday life.
We have a few things in common. My grands and greats call me Moog (a tradition begun by my oldest granddaughter). I am a two`time lung cancer survivor.
I truly enjoy my retirement and the time I have for creative things and nature photography. I live with my granddaughter and five greats from 12 to 2…which helps to keep me young and active.
I did not see a website or blog listed for you…I’d love to read more of your writing. I’ve got your book on my wishlist.