Sara J. Mikkelson
“What’s that?!” I asked when I saw the creature disappearing into the woods. “It’s a woodchuck” my friends explained. I was thrilled – I didn’t remember ever having seen a real woodchuck just running around by the side of the road like that before! I forget how much I love summer and all the incredible “little” natural things throughout creation that make this season so beautiful. Then again, I thought the same thing earlier in the spring, and probably will later this year when autumn comes . . . by the time winter gets here maybe I’ll have forgotten the things I don’t like about winter and will be ready for the change. The changes in seasons and changes in scenery when we travel are good reminders to notice and enjoy the ‘”little” beautiful things that are easy to miss in our hurry of every day life.
Recently, I enjoyed getting to go on a dig in Glen Rose, Texas, working on some fossil dinosaur footprints on the Paluxy River banks (more about that here). Although the footprints were my focus and I was thrilled just to see them in person, I was also enamored by all the little beautiful things in the river area. One butterfly was quite fascinated with my shoe when I sat down once for a break, continuing to fly a lap around me and land on my shoe several times. A curious lizard that came to investigate the dig site from the shadow of a plant. There were a number of interesting spiders that liked to hide under my gear. A colorful bird briefly graced the area to drink from one of the many picturesque puddles left by the recent flooding. I never did quite catch up to any of the speedy, graceful dragonflies rushing past.
The thing that struck me most about all these creatures and some of the other things I’ve seen in recent travels is that they are all just living the life they were made to live. The dragonfly is just enjoying life flying around like dragonflies are meant to do. The herd of deer I drove by yesterday morning were just grazing and running away like deer do. There’s a catchy song, by Buddy Davis, that they remind me of that says “it’s designed to do what it does do; what it does do it does do well”. It really is beautiful to see creatures that are just comfortable doing what they’re designed to do and fulfilling their purpose.
It’s even more beautiful when we do the things we were designed to do. While God has a unique plan for each person’s life, there are some things that He intended for every one of us, because all humans are created in His image. He created each one of us to be with Him and love Him. He also designed us so that we function best when we following His instructions – the laws He has given to protect us. When we do things His way (the way we were designed to do) we are fulfilling our purpose. However, when we try to do things our own way, we bring destruction to ourselves and others. Choose to do what you are designed to do – following God’s way and His perfect design for your life. It truly is beautiful and fulfilling!
Watch Buddy Davis’ song “It’s Designed to Do” here
