Left. Me. Speechless.

One of my more recent facebook status updates read this:

 

I hear so often the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words," and although that may be true, a thousand words is sometimes not adequate to describe the places and experiences one has been. This past Thursday and Friday I spent traveling to some of the prettiest places I have ever been...while taking pictures and reviewing them I realized, none of these pictures are satisfactory. None of them ...capture the true beauty of what I am seeing. Experiences, my friends, are worth no words, for experiences like this week leave me speechless. In a place so beautiful and majestic, it is best to meditate on the all-powerful and perfect Creator. It was in the moments and experiences like these past two days my passion for sustainable agriculture was revived, my sense of purpose and calling evident. As I sit here writing this, a tear trickles down my face. Although spiritually I am ready to go Home, I can stand in confidence that I live in a world so full of wonders amidst the bad, and that my every action has the chance to benefit what surrounds me. What a wonderful gift it is to live this life, on this earth, with these people, serving my God.

 

 

Let me elaborate just a bit:

 

"What did I see?" you ask? My answer: I saw two pods of orcas twice in one day when no pods had been seen in a week; I saw two eagles clasp talons and plummet to the ocean below, only to break their bond and fly up high again; there were seals galore; golden eagles flying above my head; old growth forest with trees 5x larger than anything we have here in PA;  I saw friends tear up at VESPERS; hands raised high in worship; I saw sunsets that left me speechless.

 

I took pictures of EVERYTHING! Ok, minus friends crying and raising hands...and unfortunately not a picture of the eagles clasping talons. But what hit me while on my camping trip in the Olympic Mountains was that no picture could adequately portray the sounds, smells, and colors of what we all experienced in Washington. A video would have gotten sound...and a picture some of the colors, but nothing to equal the actual experience.

 

Looking back through my pictures on my camera, as I scroll from one to the next, I sigh because i'll never experience those things again just the way they were. Sometimes I would get so bogged down in taking pictures I wouldn't actually take the time and soak up my surroundings. Although I think I have some great pictures of my time at Au Sable, I regret not taking more time to spend in nature and simply gazing upon Creation or worshiping my Creator.

 

My goal from now on is to first: focus more on nature, less on taking pictures. Second: thank God for each and every plant and animal I see...even the ones I don't like! Third: Worship. However that may look for that particular situation. Fourth: maybe take some pictures. Fifth: come away from that place loving the experiences of smelling, hearing and seeing while being thankful for the very few (if any) pictures I took. I think God has given me the talent of photography and is glad I am using it...but I also think He'd love if I spent more time praising what He has made instead of absently photographing it then looking at pictures later.

 

But to end this all, I want to share some of my favorite pictures from the trip and am praying that you take the time to praise God for each, for creating such a spectacular earth, and for giving us humans the job of caring for it.