We tip-toed through the woods the other day; we tip-toed because Daddy needed to hear the silence... and the birds. It's always at this time of year, when the machines rumble at the nursery and the construction bangs and the traffic whizzes by that he longs for the quiet. Sometimes we'll be driving on a secluded road and he'll pull over onto the shoulder, hush everyone (which is difficult to do in our family) and roll down the windows. "What is it, Daddy?" they chime. "Shhhh," he replies, "Listen."
They obey but they can hardly stand it. They don't hear anything. But he does. He hears quiet. And he loves it. So, as we tip-toed through the woods and the marsh--like elephants :)--we experienced bird calls, frogs croaking and trees squeaking as they rubbed against each other in the breeze.
When it was all hushed, really hushed, we found special things, like turtles. And because they wanted one, Mommy risked her life (well, dry clothes, at least) scaling the marsh railing to catch a frog.
It was sweet family time until we were about to board the van to go home. It seems that our exit is when the quiet ends and someone ends up bleeding, screaming in a flailing tantrum or both. Perhaps one day, we will drive away, each of us silently reflecting on the close-ups to creation we enjoyed. But for now, we must still encourage the tip-toes and whispers and appreciate the short period in which they last.
"Take only pictures, leave only footprints."
6 comments:
My hubby needs quiet too...I know of what you speak! I think our families would get along great. :)
Such a gorgeous spot to go to see God's creation...how wonderful!
Thanks for the tea answer...I will be sure to check it out!
Have a great day!
Love,
Camille
I was hushed right along with you during the story, lol! Beautiful pictures, as always!
Hi Heather!
I have tried to look for your e-mail address on your blog, but couldn’t find it. So I decided to just leave a comment with what I have intended to say in the e-mail.
In January I was blessed with an opportunity to teach money saving class at our church. During the week, the Lord would place devotion on my heart and I would share it with the ladies through e-mails. I was so blessed by it that I decided to start a blog. I was hoping that God can use the contents to bless someone else. If God can reach out to at least one person, it would be all worth it.
One week passed and no sign of life on my blog, two weeks pass and I started to question if what I say really matters. Several more weeks passed and I received a comment from you. A sincere comment at that! You will never know how much your kind words meant to me. During the days that I want to give up on blogging and I received a sweet comment from you, it motivates me to keep on going. Thank you so much for taking your time…it means the world to me!
What silence THAT was!
Yes, the noise can get a little out of hand at our place... but the tractor noise at night (i fall asleep to it!) seems somewhat comforting since we've heard it all our lives! So yes, i'm a litlle thankful for it!
(You might think I'm crazy or something)
Meghan
Great pictures Heather! I was laughing at the silence thing. Sometimes around the dinner table, I'll say, "shhhhh!" and the kids say, "what mom????" I'll say it again, "shhhhhh!" and they all listen really hard and I'll say, "aaaaaah, hear that? silence!". They don't appreciate it nearly as much as I do. :)
k
Oh the silence, I could just drink it in! You capture it so well.
Love the pic of you going for the frog! :)
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