“In all things of nature, there is something of the marvelous” – Aristotle

Hi everyone!! I wanted to take a moment and share a little piece of my heart with you in honor of earth day ~

For all that know me, know how much I love the earth- walking through the forest, climbing up mountains, soaking in the sun, jumping through the waves. I feel most alive, and most myself, when I’m outside.

 

But my love for the earth goes farther beyond simple enjoyment. I believe it to be my job, even more so, my honor and privilege, to love & care for the earth, as it is the good and beautiful creation of my God, my King.

I fully believe the LORD placed this heart in me to care for his creation. And one of the things he has called me to be is a bridge builder between the environmentalist community and the Church- to show that the gospel and care for the earth not only can go together, but should!!

With that being said, I am praying for opportunities to do just that – to befriend people in that community, to come alongside them in caring for this beautiful earth, and to point them to the ONE who created it all!

I ask that you join me in this prayer ~ pray for opportunities as such, both in my time on the race, and in life in general! Thank you ~

& to go along with this, I want to reshare a blog post I wrote last Earth Day on loving God, loving earth – two of my four core values!! Please let me know your thoughts!

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Hi friends! Happy Earth Day!

As we take a day to celebrate our home, planet Earth, and all the beauty contained within, I want to take a moment and point it  back to the Creator of it all. I want to celebrate all he has made, cherishing the wildflowers and the singing birds, the vasts oceans and mighty mountains. To him be the glory, forever and ever! And in an effort of celebration and shining his light, I want to share with you why I love the earth and why I strive to care for it as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ. As you continue to read, I challenge you to ask yourself, ‘How does this apply to me? Why should I care?’ At the end, I’ll share some easy ways you can begin practicing intentional care for the earth 🙂

Everything I do is rooted in a love for the Father. I love and care for myself because I know he created me and loves me. I love and care for others because I know he created them and loves them. I love and care for the earth because I know he created it and loves it.

 

Let me tell you a little story,

Think about a time when you were a child and you created something -maybe a painting, maybe a craft. You were so proud of the thing you had made. You ran around the house, wanting to proclaim your creation to anyone you could find.

Then imagine, you come to your mother, proudly showing off  your artwork, and as she proclaims, ‘Oh sweetheart, it’s beautiful!’ she also rips off a corner. But you, still excited as ever, run to find dad and show him. Dad exclames how great of a job you did, but at the same time, pours some of his coffee all over it. The trend continues. Little brother gives you a high-5 while also taking his crayons and adding his own mark. Older sister says it’s beautiful and  wants to put a picture of it on her Instagram, but still wraps her gum in the corner. Every viewer giving compliments, yet leaving their mark.

You come to the end of the day, take a look at your creation and you’re sad because you begin to see the fingerprints of others more than your original work. You’re also a little confused at how everyone could exclame compliments of your work, while also slowly destroying it.

Now, you’re probably thinking, ‘Wow, what a sad little story. Why would anybody destroy the little kid’s artwork? He was so proud of it!’ Yet, it’s almost exactly what we do on a daily basis. We climb mountains, proclaim how beautiful the view is, yet we leave our trash behind. We love walks on the beach, yet use limitless amounts of plastic that all end up in the ocean (By 2050, studies show that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish). In the past 50 years, we have lost over 20% of the Amazon rainforest and over 50% of the coral reefs in the world. Our fingerprints are showing. And just like the little kid in the story, this breaks the Lord’s heart. He created all things and loves everything he made. He’s proud of it, saying it’s very good!

 

“And God saw everything he had made and behold, it was very good” – Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

And as children of God, we are called to love and care for it too. In Genesis we see that the very first responsibility given to mankind is to care for the garden. This instruction from God came even before he told them not to eat of the tree of good and evil.

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. “ -Genesis 2:15 (ESV)

Other translations say ‘to work it and care for it’ (NIV) or ‘to tend and watch over it’ (NLT). As I studied the Hebrew behind these words, the deeper meaning of this verse continued to show:

“To work” – hebrew word ‘ABAD” also denotes ‘preparing, tending and serving’. It is the same word used in Joshua 24:15, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.

“To keep” – hebrew word ‘SHAMAR’, also translated ‘to care for’. It is the same word used in Numbers 6: 24-26, ‘The Lord bless you and keep you’.

These two words are also used together in Numbers 3:7-8 to describe the work of the Priests in the Tabernacle: “to minister or serve” Hb. ‘abad’; “to guard” Hb. ‘shamar’.

The instruction and purpose given to mankind here is one of deep love and care. We were not simply put in the garden to take from it. Our clear instruction is to tend to it in the same way the Lord tends to us and to keep it in a way that reflects his image- not just his power, but his unselfishness, love, and mercy.  God did not give us authority to manipulate and exploit the earth for our own selfishness and greed, but to serve it and enable its flourishing. And as creation thrives, we are able to thrive as well. 

A few earth care practices 🙂

To finish, I want to leave you with some practical ways you can begin living more consciously! These are all things I have implemented in my life. I am nowhere near perfect. I still have a lot of room to grow, but I am loving the journey of learning to be more intentional.

• Use reusable shopping bags! The ones I use are from Simple Ecology! I love them! I bring the small ones to put my produce in instead of the plastic ones grocery stores give and then the big bags to carry home all my goodies!

• Check out A Rocha!!! An incredible Christian environmentalist organization!! They have things going on all over the world! See how you can get involved!!

• Buy things in bulk and store them in mason jars when you get home. The average American accumulates 4.4 lbs of trash per day, but so much of this could be avoided by stepping away from packaged food!
  

 

• Fill your plate with more plants! I’ve been vegan for a few years now & it’s one of the best decisions I have ever made. The difference in vitality & energy is incredible! Plus, I know I’m doing better things for the earth because of what the meat and dairy industry have become.
   
• LADIES : a period cup!! I will scream these little guys from the rooftops for the rest of my life. They are incredible, saving so much money, time, and effort (seriously, traveling & camping is a million times easier now). Plus reducing waste!! The average woman uses 240 tampons a year, but you can use the same period cup for up to 10 years!
• Bring a reusable coffee mug with you or ask for a mug instead of a cup at your favorite cafe!
• Get a reusable coffee filter !! I got mine from CoffeeSock! I LOVE IT! I make coffee almost everyday with it. I just dump the grinds, rinse out the sock, hang it to dry and it’s ready to be used the next morning (or later in the day if we’re really honest)
• Check out thrift stores before buying something new
• Opt away from plastic silverware and plates!!! We could wrap the equator 300 + times with the amount of plastic dinnerware in landfills! eeep!!!
• Get a reusable water bottle! In America alone, we throw away 22 billion plastic water bottles per year; think about the accumulation of that in landfills each year!! ahh! My Nalgene is with me always! I love always having water & staying hydrated! Plus with your own water bottle you can add fun stickers & make it your own!
• Shop at farmers markets & buy local when possible! These guys work hard to provide quality produce to their community. Small-scale farming is an art we are slowly losing! Support it when you can!
• Pick up trash when you see it – a little at a time makes a big difference 

I want to end with a quote I find incredibly powerful, quite challenging but also encouraging. It is by Gus Speth, Dean of Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies,

I used to think that the top global problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address these problems, but I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed, and apathy, and to deal with these we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. And we scientists don’t know how to do that.

Earth Care begins with a change in the heart. As christians, we should be the ones pioneering this!! I believe this is one of the biggest opportunities we are throwing away to proclaim the gospel. If we truly believe in a creator, if we proclaim to know and love the Creator, it should be so visible in the way we love and care for creation. Ask yourself, 

How do I proclaim love for the Creator and the never-ending love he has shown me in the way I love creation? How do I worship God in my relationship with plants, animals and the world around me?

Through all of this, I simply challenge you to be intentional –

love yourself

love others

love the world

all because you love the Lord

& know he created 

and loves it all too

“The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship”

~ Psalm 19:1