I am currently re-reading the Narnia series, but this time, I am reading them aloud to young child I mentor, and I’ve never more thoroughly enjoyed these stories as I have in watching the face of a child as I read aloud - his imagination is bursting with every chapter, craving the world of Narnia. As I witness his own imagination expanding, I too find myself wanting to enter into another world and discover some whimsical magical world. The best way I know how to ignite my imagination s through a good long romp int he woods. So on a sunny day recently, I pulled on my snow boots and escaped to a nearby forest. I lost track of time, took deep breaths, got lost a couple times, found some wildlife, and even did some makeshift sledding down the side of a steep hill (hills = as close as I get to mountains in Illinois). These couple hours outside were a balm for my cooped up body and sparked a joyful lightness in my heart. Much of the work of soul care is simply learning what tools and activities quiet me the most so that I can be with the Lord, and the older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve realized how critical quiet time in nature is for my soul. I feel a rightness there that I don’t tend to feel anywhere else. So even when the temperatures are a little too cold and the snow a little too slippery, I head into the wilderness and always come out with thankfulness and peace.
