Laurie Ostby Kehler - This Outside Life: Finding God in the Heart of Nature

A heartfelt thanks to you, reader! You took your precious time to go on this adventure with me. I am deeply grateful. Please leave a review on Amazon! It makes a difference.

I thank my agent, the terrific Tawny Johnson for her passion and belief in this project. You are a delight to work with and a gas to laugh with.

Im tickled and grateful for the zeal Harvest House exhibited over this book. Your enthusiasm and excitement humbled me and spurred me to deliver more than what you expected. In this world of publishing behemoths, you are a treasurestealthy, smart, and steadfast.

Im indebted to my critique group: Pat J. Sikora, Gabriela Banks, Stephanie Shoquist, and Christie Naler. Thank you all for your editorial contributions, laughter, and prayers.

Thank you to my beta readers: Lynne Hurrell, Laura Yannazzo, Lori Holmlund, Darby Moyer, Emma Lodge, Jessica Read, Amanda Andrus, Kelly Shank, Heather Fignar, Kate Radcliffe, Denise Sultenfuss, Judith Grace, Lynne Hartke, Natalie Ogbourne, Noreen Sevret, Lindsey Hartz. Your feedback was invaluable!

Gardening Mercies Finding God in Your Garden

Wings of Mercy Spiritual Reflections from the Birds of the Air

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O ur boat rocked like a cradle in the gentle surge of the Maui cove. The captain of our whale watch expedition lowered the microphone deep into the water. Everyone on deck stopped murmuring, their eyes riveted to his hands. Sweat trickled down our necks and beaded on our upper lips in the late-morning sun as the boat rocked back and forth and water softly slapped the hull. We were hoping to hear the whales. Hoping to hear their otherworldly singsong chorus.

Every winter hundreds of humpback whales converge in the waters and bays around the Hawaiian Islandsparticularly Maui. They come to these warm, protected bays to breed and give birth. What most delights tourists are the awesome breaches. This is when the whale leaps out of the water and crashes down like a three-story building toppling over. Its incredibly thrilling to see this up close, and its not unusual to see tears in the eyes of most of the viewers on board once theyve witnessed it.

Moments later a ribbon of sound spooled through the speakers. The eerie moaning, humming, longing, and up-and-down singsong of the humpback whale. We were transfixed. What were they saying? Why do they do that? Are they actually communicating with one another? Is it a territorial thing? Or do they like to hum and whistle just like we do? We peppered our captain with questions after he brought the microphone back on deck. But he had no answersmerely guesses.

Dr. Roger Payne of the Ocean Alliance has noted that the whales come up for air in such a way that it doesnt disturb their song. He speculates that this shows the singing is a conscious activity. He has also noted that a male singing will attract another malenot in a threatening, territorial way, but as a singing accompaniment. The other whale will join him, then go off and sing with different males. Scientists can only give educated guesses as to why whales sing. But sing they do.

With other animals, we have more information about why they vocalize. Frogs, antelope squirrels, birds, cicadas, and even toadfish make noisesor singto attract mates, warn of danger, or just because its a hot August night. Other creatures, like bats and dolphins, use echolocation to bounce sound signals off objects to help direct them where to go or reveal more information about the size of an object.

What strikes me afresh when I consider the eerie song of the humpback whale or my favoritethe spiraling flute notes of the Swainsons thrush songbirdis that God didnt have to do this. Creating these creatures to sing was a conscious decision on His part. This factthat many creatures singraises the question, Why? Why did He do it? Birds could still fly and exist without songs. Whales could still swim and breach without songs. So why did He do it? Was it just to thrill us? Was it just to delight Himself or us? I do know that the Genesis account, whether poetic metaphor or scientific timetable, depending on your view, records Gods thoughts. He felt, after all that was made, that it was good. He was pleased. So, apparently, it delighted Him. How extraordinary that He likes to delight us as well, and for that I am grateful.

We need to give voice to our gratitude, or else our hearts and minds forget. Why else would we repeat the Pledge of Allegiance as children every morning at school? It creates a well-worn neural pathway in our brains. Like a slide that millions of children have slid down. Or the deep grooves in the prairies from thousands of westward pioneers in covered wagons. Its almost impossible not to follow the path. For us school kids, the daily pledge was a well-trod course that was so deeply packed down with years of repeating, we could be standing on one foot, chewing gum, and doing minor math while reciting it. But rarely do we give voice to our blessings.

Maybe we think its old school. Or redundant. After all, if God knows our heart, whats the point? Its so much more expected and hip to whine about our schedules, our workloads, the traffic ! and the myriad hardships that befall us as First World residents.

There is power in the spoken word. Perhaps thats why so many clubs, organizations, and secret societies make you recite their creeds, beliefs, and tenets so often. And maybe this is why, 30 years later, I still know the words to the doxology. We sang it almost every Sunday in church. This is the song that starts, Praise God from whom all blessings flow Have you noticed that what you sing on Sunday tends to swirl around unbidden in your memory during the week? Giving voice, in words or song, wakes up our will and intention.

When our son was a toddler, I read parenting books voraciously. Some books advocated making your child say, Yes, Mommy after hearing a request. Apparently, research shows that what we utter with our lips, our physical bodies then obediently respond to. The mouth precedes the movement. And it worked. Stunningly. It was like we suddenly had this robotic son who would immediately get up when he spoke those words. It didnt last forever, but for a while the link between spoken agreement and obedient movement was almost freaky.

I find it natural and easy to express gratitude over natures bounty. The fire-hot pink bougainvillea vine sprawling over the community center doorway always amazes me each year when it blooms. The lush, pulsating green hills after winter rains make me inhale their fertile smell with appreciation. I easily say out loud, Thank You, God! This is magnificent! When Im crunching along a carpet of blazing fall leaves, my heart swells with gratitude, and I whisper, Thank You. When I pluck a sun-warmed blackberry off the vine in the late afternoon and taste exploding summer sweetness, I close my eyes in reverence. When Im hiking along a mountain trail and hear a meadowlark or the wind rushing through the pines, Im so grateful to be alive and experiencing it that tears come to my eyes.

What is not so easy for me is to sing in heavy, anxious seasons. To be intentionally, demonstratively, verbally grateful and thankful when times are tough and confusing. When I was going through seven years of infertility, when my father was dying, when family members got divorced, I wasnt singing.