Love for Nature

"O Lord , what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures."
Psalms 104:24 NLT

The more we come close to nature, the more we experience how great our God is.

We were blessed to have a family trip in Tagaytay.

Our first view of God's creation is the Taal Volcano. Though Kyle studied volcanoes before, this one is different. A volcano in a lake and a lake in a volcano. We also rekindled the time when we had our horse back riding going up the volcano few years back. The lake ride was challenging. On our way up, we can see smoke coming out of the ground. But once you reached the top of the volcano, the view was spectacular. It was a basked of a pristine landscape.

Seeing this would reveal how all powerful our God is.

The following day we went on with our Nature walk we were accompanied by a cool breeze and God's loving heart. God is so close. Each view and the breath of the wind was His, we looked up the sky and felt His presence. A fruitful time to spend with our children.

We are studying Flowers and we were amazed on how God designed each bee, moth, and butterflies to do this. When we studied about the creation confirmation with flowers we were also amazed on how God had planned and thought about everything. Even flowers obey their design to make seeds. It is their God given purpose in life.

We dissected a flower and doing it in reality made my son Kyle understand it better.

This study allowed my children to be curious and appreciative of God's creation.

Finding something extraordinary out of the ordinary.

It is the first time for us to see a Passion Fruit. The farm keeper Kuya Alex was kind enough to give us a piece which we opened and tasted. We also researched more about this fruit. We loved the aroma that came out when we cut it. It tasted like guava and juice can be made using the seeds. Kyle liked the sweet and sour taste.

I used a printable from Pinterest to record our observations

We saw a gumamela plant and we looked at the pollens and the stamen. Kyle remembered the parts of a flower which made us easier to examine the plant. But more than this we appreciated the beauty of it.

The santan flower was one of the things Kyle was looking forward to. His Dad and I have been sharing stories how we sipped the nectar from this flower when we were kids. When we saw one he tried it and loved the sweet taste. He understood it better why bees are attracted to these. How animals are connected to the plants and thru this we get to enjoy God's wonderful creation.

For this trip we chose a place where we can learn at the same time. An interesting place from Hotel Kimberly was their Edible farm. It was explained and demonstrated to us how hydroponics works. It was a different kind of planting since they use electricity to maintain the supply of water. Thus, no soil was needed. They used pebbles or coconut husk for the seedling then transfer it once it grows. The blue pipe is where the water flows.

We are studying Botany since we are following the book of Genesis (Bible based) and the study of God's creation has so much to reveal of the characteristics and the sovereignity of our Lord.

One of the most unforgettable time was their close encounter with the animals. This is what we love about Hotel Kimberly, with no extra fee we can feed the animals and be with them.

The kids are animal lovers. Most of their interest with books are about animals. They like to learn more about their habitat and how they live. While in the hotel we made sure that they spent time here feeding the animals, touching and even talking to them. We want our children to grow with a love for nature and God's creation, to be good stewards of what was entrusted to us. In their young years, experiencing a close encounter with the animals is one of the best way to learn better.

Kyle learned more about the sheep. How to identify if it is a male or a female by simply checking if there is a horn. He tried to touch it and at the same time showed care. Like us, we also need a Heavenly Father who would always take care of us. He is our shepherd and we are His sheep.

We also learned that rabbits sleep for 8.5 hours with their eyes open. The kids enjoyed feeding these little animals.

The Farm head was gracious enough to allow us to see the iguana up close. We touched it and the feeling of the skin was cooler, rough and scaly. We watched the iguana as Kyle tried to feed it.

They also observed the horses while they were eating.

Since we started this, the kids became observant of what they see around them. While we were eating outside they hurriedly called on us to see their discovery...a monarch butterfly. It was colorful and beautiful and they appreciated the beauty of its existence.

Through Nature Study, our toddlers Sean and Simone understands that we were created by the Lord. In their age, it is our goal that they would know God as our Creator, that everything is from Him and for Him.

It was a blessing to have this experience together. We praise God for allowing us to enjoy this through the hospitality and the kindness of Hotel Kimberly. We learned with the free tutorial of Kuya Alex from the farm. We experienced his kindness and how he can manage to smile at us and help us despite of the all day heat and taking care of the farm. You would not feel that he was tired. This taught us that working faithfully is a blessing that you could give to others.

We are looking forward on our next journey. How homeschooling our children transformed each one of us is a calling from God that we are in awe of. We experience moments, successes and struggles together. We hug each time we succeed and we hug and cry together each time we stumble. It is a perfect gift from the Lord.

We love Nature Study, it reminds us that we have an omnipotent God. Through nature, God speaks and teaches us. He is always in control of all things and He is working diligently on every single detail that happens on this earth, though He created it long time ago. He is never gone and He is never diminished. It is about God's goodness and His revelation of how mighty He is in His creations.

"Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." - John 1:3

All Praise and Glory to God!