No, not when “nature calls,” but when Nature speaks to you – what does it sound like? I love sunsets, water of all kinds, mountains, valleys, trees, rocks… you name it. This time, however, I capitalized Nature because I am thinking of the wondrous Creation of the world for us by a loving God. You may have a different definition and that is fine, we can all feel the impact of nature. Though I always enjoy it, there are the very powerful moments when Nature seems to speak directly to me.

What I have been really been considering lately are the miracles I have seen that involve nature. There are three that come to mind. One for our community, one for our family, and on for me.

For our community – We moved to Utah a few years ago and there was a bit of a water shortage. This is, after all, a desert. During that year wildfires were springing up in the area and one canyon near us was burning. Our ecclesiastical leaders asked that, as a community, we hold a special fast and pray for moisture. It was July. Our desert was hot. We were able to stand on our back porch and see the canyon burning… until after our fast when we stood on our back porch and saw a SNOWSTORM in the canyon! Snow in July!? The fire was extinguished and we were speechless. It was a miracle.

For our family – In May of 2011 we wanted to host a BBQ to thank our friends and neighbors for all of the love and support they had shown to us during our eight months of chemotherapy, etc. So much of our time had been spent living at the hospital that this was the only dark, cloudy winter to which I was truly grateful. I knew that if the sun had been shining I would have longed to be outside and it would have been more difficult to be positive about the hospital. However, for our Memorial Day BBQ we really hoped and prayed that we could have a break in the rain. This was one of the springs where we didn’t get even a sun break. However, as our guests arrived the sun came with them. Several of them took me aside and told me they had been praying for our family to be able to host this event outdoors without rain. Everyone was in awe – and even more so as we all realized that we could see the edge of the clouds in a wide ring all around us. We had sunshine at our home while our community did not. I was speechless. It was a miracle.

For me – Just two days after Mark’s passing we had some family friends provide dinner for us at the park. We were joined by some out-of-state friends and it was good to be together. After dinner we all went to look at our new home. I was a bit of a wreck. Obviously. We were in the yard and enjoying the summer evening when we all commented on the beauty of the “golden hour” and sunset. As often happens, the beauty just seemed to increase and we all decided to go inside the house and upstairs to enjoy the sunset on the deck. We were afraid it would be gone by the time we got there but no, it was even more beautiful. And it continued to be beautiful for much longer than we could ever have anticipated. It just lasted and lasted. We realized we had time for photos… and still it lasted.

This time I wasn’t speechless. I recognized the beauty and even more I recognized the wonder of it lasting for so long – but I was a bit of a sorrow-zombie and didn’t see the miracle. My friend Sarah saw it – and she helped me to see it as well with her Facebook post: My wonderful, strong friend Corinne lost her husband to a long, hard battle with cancer and I feel so blessed to have been able to go and give her a hug. The evening sunset was a testimony to me that God wanted her to know that Mark is with Him and to still find beauty in the world.

God was speaking to me through nature but I was unable to hear. Sarah heard the message and shared it with me. I believe that the Spirit is heard by different people in different ways – nature, music, animals, etc. I love this!!

I am learning to love the way that God speaks to me through my friends who then share with me. During the past weeks I have heard just what I needed to hear, sometimes out of the blue, from so many of you (and you probably don’t even know). Thank you for being so in tune with the Spirit, particularly now when I am sometimes too distracted. Moments ago I saw a comment from my friend Lori in Texas- she said, “I love the way [Mark] loved you.” This comment will carry me through the day.

I am now thinking that God’s greatest creations are His children. I hadn’t thought of this when I began to write but I see it now. So when we speak kind words to one another – isn’t that nature speaking in its highest form? Who could use a kind word from you today? Do not hesitate to reach out and share. Most likely, it will carry them through the day!