I Worship a Creative God

Sea of Galilee Sunrise, May 2010



I have always loved being out in God's creation, probably partly due to the fact that I grew up in Northern Ontario where the autumn colours are truly magnificent and partly due to our family camping trips for one month every summer when we would be away from the city and appreciating the serenity of the woods and the delight of wildlife. My family would testify to my dislike for bugs, snakes, and outhouses, but I really do love the trees, the stars, the water, the clouds, and most of the other amazing things God has placed in nature.

Living in Southern Ontario for the past five years for school, I have really missed living so close to the water and the woods. After twenty-two years on this earth, I have come to the conclusion that being on the water is where I feel most at peace. Sitting on a dock and having the gentle waves splash up against my legs or paddling a canoe with my Dad or swimming in the cold but beautiful Lake Superior is just so relaxing and tranquil. I hope that wherever I settle down in the future, I will have the blessing of living close to water, as I've realized how much it means to me. It also means a lot to me to be able to escape the city lights every so often and sit at a beach where I can focus on the stars. They shine so much brighter and more and more stars appear the longer you watch them. This reminds me of a time at Galilean Bible Camp when a few of us went down to the beach at night and sat on the rocks and looked up at the gorgeous night sky. All I could do was sing God of Wonders by Chris Tomlin: "Lord of all creation, of water, earth, and sky. The heavens are your tabernacle. Glory to the Lord on high. God of wonders, beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy. The universe declares your majesty. You are holy, holy."

This past year has been an incredible year of growth for me. As I've learned more about God in school each day, I have come to appreciate his creation far more than I ever have before. I am more in awe of my Maker. I see his handiwork in the little things, such as inspecting the intricacy of a single flower blossom. I see his creativity in the variety of trees he has made. When I felt the sun and the warm breeze on my face this spring, I felt him near. I consider myself a creative person, so I love to marvel at the immense creativity God has displayed in designing his world. It makes me love him all the more. He could have made one type of tree, one season, one kind of flower...or no birds, no colour, no variation. Instead, God exercised his creative powers in making an incredible, complex, and beautiful world that would both delight us and bring glory to himself.



Shades Mills Conservation Area, May 2011

Yesterday a friend and I got up early and drove to a conservation area to go kayaking. She went first and I waited on the shoreline. I brought textbooks to read, but I just couldn't read them. I borrowed her Bible because as I sat there soaking up the sun and listening to the hundreds of different bird songs, it was all I could do. I needed to hear from my Creator when I was out enjoying his creation - enjoying God's Revelation while out in his creation. As I read from the Psalms (the best place to dwell on his majesty and creativity), I tried to single out some of the bird songs. And I thought, these birds aren't singing for their own sake. They're singing because that's what they were designed to do! They are singing to their Maker. How else could they be making such a lovely sound or why else would they do so?

Bird Conservation Area, Morrisburg, January 2011

They are singing sweet songs just like he created them to do, and this brings glory to God. Psalm 19 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." They surely do! Whether it's bird songs in the morning, shifting cloud shapes in the afternoon, or glowing constellations at night, everything in the earth is doing what it was designed to do so that God will be magnified. The last Psalm in the whole book, Psalm 150, ends with, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord." That is what creation lives and breathes for everyday. Are we doing the same? Do you stand in awe of the Lord of all Creation when you are out enjoying the world he designed so creatively and sustains so mightily?

Lessons in Chemistry

 Yesterday afternoon I had the honour of attending a chemistry talk at the University of Western Ontario. My sister, a chemistry PhD student (I know, it sounds so smart), invited me to go with her, as she had thoroughly enjoyed the session from the previous day. UWO had brought in a very distinguished chemist with a list of awards that seemed to go on forever. When we arrived at the session, there was a long line of people who I thought were waiting to get inside the room, but my sister clarified that they were actually in line for the free food: drinks, cookies, and fruit and veggie trays. I suppose that's how they entice attendees!

Academic chemistry is a whole new world to me. While my sister and I are both graduate students, I spend my days writing papers about theology. She spends her hours in a crisp clean laboratory, complete with machines worth thousands (and I think perhaps even millions) of dollars. My sister, the chemist, wears a white lab coat and goggles, which I find humorous because she looks like a scientist in a movie. When I was visiting before, I loudly noted how much she looked like a "real scientist" in her get-up. Everyone else in the room just stared at me because, of course, she is a real scientist and so are they.

Before the chemistry talk, she showed me some of the experiments she is conducting at the moment. Although my sister is excellent at explaining things - the mark of a good teacher - it was still way over my head. Smile and nod. But really, it is fascinating and I am thankful that there are people in the world who can do this kind of work. If I had to be a chemist, I would get fired within the first five minutes. I almost walked into the lab with my lunch which apparently is a huge no-no. It would contaminate their samples, I suppose. The projects she is working on are so complicated I could not even begin to explain them here. My sister is a genious. She works so hard and she's so intelligent. Christina has been in the newspaper and on television, not to mention the journals in which she has had her reports published. I am so proud of her. I asked her yesterday why she chose a career in chemistry and she said it's because she loves problem solving. From the time she was young, you could often find her hunched over a new puzzle on our bedroom floor.

Christina and Bethany, Winter 2011

This is the first lesson of two that I learned yesterday. I am so thankful to God that he creates each of us to be unique! I mentioned to my sister that it's so strange how different our areas of academic interest are, considering we grew up in the same home and had similar life experiences when we were young. But God gave her a different brain than me - different abilities, skills, passions, and goals. Imagine if we all wanted to have the same profession or if we all had the exact same skills. Obviously society wouldn't run smoothly if that were the case. God is good and God is sovereign. He knows the plans he has for us. While Christina spent plenty of time playing the piano and figuring out dolphin jigsaw puzzles, God was shaping her into the chemist he wanted her to be. Of course, she is so much more than that! She is a disciple of Christ, a loving wife, an incredible mom, the world's best sister (to me...hopefully not to our brother, as I'd like to share that title), a cherished daughter, a beloved friend, and on and on it goes. I look up to her like no other.

The second lesson I learned yesterday occurred during the professor's lecture. Unfortunately, I can't even tell you what the topic was. A few words stand out: photosynthesis, respiration, hopping, proteins - along with lots of intense equations and graphs. But at a couple of points throughout his hour-long presentation in which I forced myself to stay awake (probably thanks to the yummy Starbucks hot chocolate Christina treated me to earlier), this man noted that this process in the body is life-and-death. From what I understood, respiration hardly makes sense, as our bodies should be overheating considering everything that's going on inside us. Cars overheat, appliances overheat, so why don't we? I don't have to be a scientist to tell you that! God is the omnipotent, omniscient, magnificent Creator! I absolutely love that God is so creative. I consider myself to be a creative person, so when I see his creation out in nature, I want to praise him, sing to him, love him, and worship him. And when I learn new, complicated concepts in a chemistry talk I also want to thank him for making us so wonderfully. He could have made us simple beings, but instead he uses his creative powers to form us into intricate persons and gives us the minds to study his marvelous works as well.