Life Lessons from the Beaver

     We took another trip to our local state park this week which was especially enjoyable because my husband was able to join us.  That was a special treat!  Almost everywhere we turned we saw the work of a beaver.  It was amazing to see how much work they do to get a dam made.  What perseverance and determination they have - a concept many of us, even adults, don't completely get nowadays!  The bashful beaver or beavers, who remained hidden, must have worked long and hard on this dam.  Their hard work is proof of their tenacity.

  
Further proof of their resolve can be seen in the photos of these trees.

And these are only a couple of examples of the trees that the beaver(s) had worked on.  Here is another example.

     The tree on the right was lodged against limbs of another tree but was only hanging on by a thread at the point of destruction.  At any rate, we can learn much from the beaver and his work ethics.  God must have had much for me to learn over this past year about perseverance.
     What we really went to the park for was a refreshing hike in the woods and to see if we could spot a few more wildflowers.  We saw very few but here are some photos of what we did see.

This is Fire Pink.

These are pictures of the flower of a Tulip Tree (Yellow Poplar).  It is a member of the Magnolia family.  It was quite colorful.

This looked like a miniature iris bloom, possibly Southern Blue Flag.

An Eastern Tent Caterpillar (moth).

Here's my family racing ahead to see what else they could discover and Rae-Rae balancing on one of the beaver's trees.  Our experience in nature, God's beautiful creation, over the past few weeks has been so much more enjoyable than I had expected.  If we look for things to enjoy that God gave us, we can certainly find them!

Enjoying little kisses from God,

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  Romans 5:3-5