Walking in the Beauty of God

Psalm 96:12: “All the trees of the forest will sing for joy.”
Psalm 72: “Let the mountain bring peace to the people.”
Psalm 65: “Thou doest make the dawn and sunset for joy.”

Walking in the Beauty of God
By Ellen Wolff

Looking back in my life, there has been one consistency. The Lord has used His creation of nature: all its changing seasons, powerful silences, and raging storms. Whether gardening at home, being in the mountains or at the seashore, or just sitting and looking out the window, He has used Nature to touch my soul, whether I was feeling grateful and joyful or sorrowful, grieving, and questioning.

I’ve had a few very specific times I’ll never forget that I would like to share.

When I was in college, I lost my father to cancer. It happened quickly, and my family life had totally disintegrated within two years. My belief in God plunged downward.

I ended up cross-country camping with my college roommate. We were excited and looked forward to the adventure. However, as we traveled West, my grief traveled with me, so the main topic of conversation was whether God even existed. How could a good God allow what had happened to my family?

That all changed the day we spontaneously decided to walk to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. We were completely unprepared and assumed we could spend the night at a resting place at the bottom and come up the next day.

Reaching the bottom, a sign greeted us: “Hut closed because of flash flood damage.”

So up we started walking, hoping to get out before dark. We were not alone. There was a family with young children and two college guys, one with a swollen knee, hobbling the best he could.

At some point, I found myself far ahead of the group. When I stopped and looked around, I realized I was standing in absolute silence, facing an incredible, majestic view stretching out for miles. All I could think of was, “This didn’t come about by itself. There has to be a God. I don’t know who You are, but I’m going to find You.”

And a peace came on me. It felt like I was in church. A year later, I had a life-changing encounter with Jesus. He found me.

From that point to today, God has continued to speak to my heart through nature. At one point I started taking photos that sing of His beauty, majesty, and joy. God has spoken to me words of encouragement, trust, compassion, and love through the mountains, trees, birds, and lakes.

When I see incredible sunsets casting beams of orange across a lake before slipping behind the mountains, followed by storm clouds tumbling over each other in the sky, I stand in awe.

In difficult times, I have found peace and refuge at my cottage at a lake in a tiny town in Vermont. Many of my photos are from there. I watch trees play catch with gentle wind currents, passing the wind from one tree to the next. I saw a towering fir tree adorned with a skirt of snow dance in the storm like a graceful ballerina.

At the same time I was soaking in the Lord’s creative beauty, my husband, Phil, was becoming very ill, and so we moved to Wenham to be close to family. We had lived in Vermont for many years, yet because of work, he hadn’t really been able to fully enjoy the Fall Season.

So, the year before he died, we took a trip to Vermont. Knowing it was probably his last Autumn, I so wanted it to be special for him. However, the entire ride up, even as we entered Vermont, there was just a smattering of color. We were both disappointed.

As we pulled into our cottage, suddenly the trees and mountains surrounding the lake were ablaze with color. It was like a miracle! We drove all around the area, and many of my best Fall pictures were taken at that time. In all the years we lived in Vermont, I had never experienced a Fall like that one. We both knew that was a gift from God.

I have come to love the Scriptures that say:
Psalm 96:12: “All the trees of the forest will sing for joy.”

Psalm 72: “Let the mountain bring peace to the people.”

Psalm 65: “Thou doest make the dawn and sunset for joy.”

I have many more stories, but I want to end with two that have affected me the most.

The most meaningful photo I took came from a walk down by Wenham Lake several months after experiencing God’s gift of the Fall foliage. I knew at that point my husband of 52 years would soon be leaving me. I was caring for him at home, and I felt like I was rapidly losing my joy.

My early morning walks had become my quiet and my crying times. One day, I felt like I had bottomed out and cried out to God that if He didn’t hold me by His strong right arm, I couldn’t go on. I just didn’t know what to do.

When I finally looked up, I saw sunlight streaming through the trees like a cross. I was stunned. Somehow, I took a photo to share with Phil, and it became framed and hanging in our home.

Since then, I have turned many of my photos into cards, and that particular picture has become my biggest seller. But the biggest miracle for me was that it became the beginning of Him restoring His joy in my life.

When we had Phil’s Celebration of Life, we held it in Wenham at the house. We used the barn for the ceremony because it had been raining, but then had a meal outside because the sun started shining.

As the dinner was finishing up, all of a sudden the sky filled with a beautiful double rainbow that spread over the trees and the barn. It was a stunning sight. We all watched in amazement, and all I could do was lift my hands to the Lord and say, “Thank You. You are my Covenant-Keeping God!”

Isaiah tells us to: “Sing His praise from the ends of the earth; let us shout for joy from the tops of the mountains, and let us give glory to the Lord and declare His praise in the coastlands.”

And that is what I hope my cards reflect.