I had the grand privilege to spend a week at the feet of experts in all sorts of -ologies, learning all sorts of wonderful Neature facts. Now I find myself driving the countryside looking for hummocky topography, black spruce bogs and their charming (and carnivorous) pitcher plants, genets of goldenrod, pollen-laden bumblebees, and glacial erratics. While I learned a whole lot about what I don’t know, I learned best from my fellow apprentices in the Wisconsin Master Naturalist course — like-minded acquaintances turned friends.

Dr. Phil inspired me to be #betternotperfect .

JB reminded me that “It is what it is; they are who they are; what happens happens.”

The group as a whole reminded me that we can make little changes in our small spheres of influence to make a difference on a grander scale.

But I was struck most of all by a comment from our phenomenal ecology instructor: “Every living thing has one goal: to make copies of itself, to reproduce.” Though there were a few concepts in the week’s coursework that this Creationist had a hard time reconciling (e.g. the Earth is 4.567 billion years old…), this phrase sounded uncannily similar to Genesis: “Be fruitful and multiply” (1:22).

God sure makes neat things! You’re one of them – I’m sure of it. And God doesn’t make junk. ❤️