Wonders and a Lesson from the Zoo

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Ray and I enjoyed a grand day out yesterday. We weren’t the only ones who decided to enjoy the Nashville Zoo on a sunny, 73-degree day in Tennessee.

We enjoyed the day with our older daughter and her family. It was a joy to see many other families enjoying God’s Creation together.

One fun activity was walking single-file across a long rope bridge. The line of people going across the narrow rope bridge was slow-moving and stopped often. Ray quipped that the bridge was dedicated to Nashville traffic. Our daughter, who has kept us laughing since she was a little girl, shot back with a phone navigation quote: “You are still on the fastest route.”

Soon after we crossed the bridge, a little boy about five years old looked up at me. This wide-eyed little guy was cute as a button. Brimming with personality, this little fellow, who must be an active little guy if the blue sling on his left arm was any indication, asked me: “How did you get here?”

“My husband drove me in a car,” I said. “How did you get here?”

“We drove eight hours in a car to come to the zoo,” he said emphatically. “We came from Arkansas.”

I hope that he and his family thought their eight-hour trip was worth it. We certainly thought our two-hour trip was. It was a joy to see parts of God’s Creation that we don’t see every day and fun to watch animal behavior with wonder.

Our first encounter was with this hyacinth macaw, a species that lives in South America.

We  laughed at the adorable meerkats who were striking some very human-like poses.

The zoo allows close-up encounters with kangaroos. There was no fence between us and them. We wondered why these three females suddenly arose from their resting positions and faced the same direction.

The lone male kept resting in the grass.

The variety of creatures was delightful to see: the tapir with his short, trunk-like proboscis . . .

The Cape porcupine with his long quills . . .

the sting ray with its white spots . . .

the brilliant green iguana . . .

the graceful trumpeter swans . . .

the multi-colored koi . . .

and the adorable red panda.

When we passed by the meerkat area once again on our way out of the zoo, a peacock was strutting beside the meerkats’ burrows. It was hard to tell who was more afraid of whom. The peacock kept on strutting, but sometimes he seemed to back away from the meerkats, while the meerkats decided the time was just right for heading down under.

You know, since God created all that variety in nature, variety in our children must be okay, too. Because you homeschool, you can cherish, nurture, and celebrate that variety and not be so tempted to try to make your children be like everyone else’s children.

For You created my innermost parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You,
because I am awesomely and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-14

 

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