My wife’s cousin invited me on a week-long fishing trip in the upper peninsula of Michigan.

We loaded the boat with supplies and headed north. I rode in the back of the pickup from the lower part of Michigan all the way to the Upper Peninsula.

We went to Grand Island. The second day there, while everyone else went out on Echo Lake and fished, I decided to go for a walk.

I ambled, listening to the birds, taking my time watching the squirrels and a beaver quickly at work building its kingdom.

I realized the beaver actually enabled the lake to become larger, giving the fish more room. Thinning the trees enhanced the ecological systems around the lake.

Farther down the dirt road, I saw an old log cabin. The roof had fallen in, but I could somehow envision someone of the old times living there, using nothing but the beauty of God’s creation that surrounded them.

We too can see the beauty of God’s creation from looking out our living room window. I can see the birds in the trees, and squirrels busy up and down the trees, even in the small city I live in. Nature sings and shouts to God for joy. We just need to slow down long enough to experience it.