Wow!  It's been almost a year since my last post.  There has been a dry spell here.  Things seem to be turning around.

For the last 40 days (give or take a day) I've been watching the Southwest Florida Eagle Cam.  Then Monday (six days ago), as I was driving in town, an eagle appeared in front of me and flew ahead of me down almost the entire length of one of our side streets before veering off to my left and flying across a neighborhood.  

Immediately, I came home and looked at all my favorite sites to find out what the symbolism is.  What lessons did that eagle have for me?  I won't bore you with them here.  You can google eagle symbolism and discover them on your own.  They are powerful, and appropriately speak to where I am in my journey at present.

Then a few days later, using my Bible app (yes, I've crossed over to the other side, and actually have a Kindle Fire now, I love the Bible and camera more than any other aspect of it) and noticed a Plan on Crazy Love.  Was it a coincidence that just days before, I'd begun reading it on my Kindle, where at some point in the past, I'd downloaded it for free to my Kindle Cloud?  What does this have to do with eagles?  I'm so glad you asked.  The first day of this plan suggested that we not pray, but simply stand in awe of God.  I didn't get it at first.  Then the verses....Romans 1:20 and Psalm 19:1.  Those were the verses God gave me when I started Creationg Exploration.  Those were the verses that backed up the message that not introducing children to nature was like not introducing them to the Bible.  God clearly reveals himself in both, and the enemy doesn't want us to see that.

So......what does that mean for Creation Exploration?  I don't know.  I've definitely had a season or two of dormancy.  I thought that maybe God was moving me to something else.  This week, however, that eagles wings fanned the flames of passion for this endeavor.  I think God has something new and amazing ahead for us, I just don't know what it is or how it is going to look.  I am very excited to see where it will all lead.

This is our sixth spring on this property and there is always something new happening!

This year there seems to be an abundance of common mullein.  I'm so excited!  From the first year I spotted it, and touched the velvety leaves, I've ached to find more than one plant, which usually ends up mowed down or dying at the hand of my efforts to relocate it to a safe place.  This year .... well, I lost count honestly of all the small rosettes along the ledge.  I suspect this has to do, largely, with last years, mass mowing and overturning of the ground in that area.  I dislike what seems like random destruction.  However, God is showing me He has a purpose in all things and that nothing happens that does not first pass through His hands.

The pond was dredged again this year.  I knew it was coming.  It still hit me hard a week ago, when the deed was done.  All week the water has been thick with muck, desolate looking.  This morning, out my kitchen window, I noticed I could see the reflection of trees on the top of the pond.  Things are settingling.

The boys next door brought me a birds nest they'd found.  It was empty and quite abandoned.  They told me they could hear the frogs at the pond and that they'd seen the ducks.

I knew the mallards were there, they come every spring for a visit.  I'd seen them a few weeks ago.

I felt quite content this afternoon as I walked along the ledge and out to the pond.  I will miss the opportunity to sit surrounded by the tall bushes at the ponds edge this summer.  I shall simply find a new Sit Spot down the pond futher and into the wooded area.

I was over joyed to see a few yearling bullfrog tadpoles swimming around today.  Some of them did survive the dredging!  I'm so grateful for God's protective hand.

The colts foot that had been in bloom was disrupted in the dredge, but as I walked along the camp road, I noticed several bright spots of yellow where there had been none last week.  Again, God showing me that he's got this.

I've wanted to give up Creation Exploration so many times over the fall and into the spring of this year.  Maybe I always feel a little bit this way, but this year many things demanded my time and with no groups to keep me focused, passing the torch on to others and letting them carry the work seemed the best idea.  Until today.  Today, I was shown there is still much to study, something new every year.  And so our homeschool group will begin again in three weeks.  

We need to implement some safety features around the pond and I need to regroup and figure out a few things with my own schedule, but we will be back again, exploring and encouraging families to get out in their area and do the same.  

Right out side your front door there is more than you can imagaine.  And while it may seem endlessly the same, I can assure you, it is ever changing. 

I had a bit of an epiphany this morning.

I don't watch horror movies.  They seem to stick in my brain and then I walk around for days looking over my shoulder.

I don't watch crime shows, normally, for the same reason.

That said, I recently started watching the program Psych with my son.  We seem to have met on a common ground.  It makes me laugh and they are solving crimes which he likes.

Until last night.

 If you're familiar with the show, I jumped in at season three.  The episode Tuesday the 17th was the one we watched last night.  Once I realized what was going on, it felt to far in to walk away.  

In the end, I had that gross feeling.  I was thinking, now every time I'm out in the woods at a camp, I'm gonna wonder, "Who is the psycho that wants to kill us all?"

And this is why I don't watch those shows.

This morning, I was prayerful.  And I had this thought.  These type of movies create, in many folks, fear.  Fear of the outdoors.  This is just one thing that does it, but it is one.

What about all the movies that show the beauty of nature.  Idyllic scenes.  Happy scenes.  Do we get hung up and focus on those?  Do we think, I can't wait to get outside and run through a meadow of wild flowers?

I told someone recently, and I've long held this belief, when we put a child "safely" in front of a screen, with FDA approved "food" to protect them, it's just like taking away their Bible to protect them from religion.

Disconnecting children, disconnecting ourselves from nature is disconnecting ourselves from our creator.  It's disconnecting us from peace.  It is disconnecting us from healing.

What we feed our brain and focus on grows.  Isn't it time, to put down the screen and help the children (and parents) face their fears and take a step outside their front door?  And then another step and another.

Just something to think about this morning!

I just confessed to a few close colleagues that I was feeling like a bit of a fraud.  It's been weeks since I've been to the pond.  The pond that is seriously, just outside my back door.

As I type this my fingers are cold and stiff, because they've just returned from exploring the frigid December pond water.  My sweater cuffs smell a bit like boggy pond water, (this happens when you plunge your hand unthinking, into uncertain depths to grab something before it swims away), my jeans are damp, my dress boots muddy (don't ask - I wore my dress boots because I went from town doing errands directly to the pond without stopping to change boots.  It's December, I "knew" there would be nothing to see and I'd be back in short order.)

Interesting thing.  It wasn't until the end of my little traipse when I stopped at the end of the pond, by the dam that I was gifted with a treasure, several actually.

I sat thinking about how the oak leaves have collected by the dam, after a recent rain that  has water levels quite high at the pond and running through the property.

I watched a number of fat tadpoles darting in and out of the leaves, dancing with shadows, playing hide and seek.  Then I noticed the back swimmers and oarman beetles (I still have a hard time telling them apart.)  I noticed that a number of the leaves have small conical shaped snails on them.  And I do mean small, slightly bigger than a grain of sand, but smaller than a pebble.  

But the best treasure was saved for last, and confirmed something I read this week (at which point, I'm starting to feel alive again) there are caddisfly larvae in the pond all year round.  I know, I saw at least a half dozen of them.  Yes, I"m sure they were all different ones, because by nature there are no two caddisfly larvae alike, as they build their shell from debris around them.  They were each unique, and beautiful.

If you are interested in the two articles I stumbled upon this week, here are links below.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2014/07/hubert-duprat-caddisflies/

http://www.ecouterre.com/artists-enlist-caddisfly-larvae-to-build-jewelry-from-precious-metals/

My hands still ache, my jeans are still soggy, my sweater cuffs still smell of boggy pond water, but I just couldn't pass by the computer on my way to change without stopping and sharing, before I became distracted with the many household tasks that are begging for my attention.

It's been a long time since I felt inspired to do any creative writing.  I think I found a muse this weekend, because today, while I sat grounding and trying to refocus after a much too corporate feeling morning, this came to me while I was sitting there!

In the warm, high sun of the day,

dragonflies, dip and twirl

glidding along

accompanied by a croaking chorus

as they danced on the summer breeze.

It was the most splendid thing to watch the dragonflies and there will never be words to replace the actual experience of just sitting there and watching them, but this was a start.

Last night, as I lay in bed reading, I was listening to the boys (young men actually) outside my window, chasing and catching (and unfortunately, squishing a few) fireflies.  

Summer is here!

Fireflies are relatively uninspiring critters by day.  But by night, they are a different story!

This morning I looked up the lessons of the firefly from several different online sources.  They are symbolic of things like:

hope

energy

guidance

illumination

just to list a few.

I haven't had time this morning to research the more scientific side of the firefly (though I think it's amazing that their butt's look like the new lightbulbs we get).  

The thing is, that the hours of amusement they bring, the way they brought out the kid in these young men, the way they were given as gifts ... even the discovery that they are kinda like glow-sticks and the once broken the goo still shines for awhile ... makes them a source of inspiration!  The best part is, that they are just outside your door!!

The first year I did serious nature study where we are now, I focused on learning ALL the wildflowers we could find.  There were so many, from the common to the not so much.... Buttercups, daisy, creeping charlie, celandine, violets (in three colors) wild oats, wild strawberry, wild blueberry, wild ginseng, Indian cucumber, blue-eyed grass, bunch berry, lady slipper, common mullein, thistle, goat's beard, dandelion, hawkweed, sow thistle, speedwell, vetch, Jerusalem artichokes, pineapple weed, clover (in two varieties) and the list goes on.  That was four years ago.  FOUR.

Today, I was sitting by the pond in the same spot I always sit and beside me was a small white flower I hadn't seen before.  I picked it and it's leaves.  I had a moment of remorse, a "what if...." moment, too late.

Inside I grabbed both my Peterson's Guide to Wild Flowers and my Necomb's Wildflower Guide (I have a love hate relationship with that book!)  I was suprised how quickly the process for using Newcomb's returned.  There is a process by which you locate your plant by the details of the flower, the leaf placement and type.  It took me FOREVER to learn to use the book.  I have digressed.

This wildflower was easily identified as Star of Bethlehem, a small, white petalled, flower with basal leaves that are linear and complete.  The petals have green stripes on the backside.  Some websites sell it as a garden flowers, others taut it as a noxious weed.  (No more guilt over picking it.)  It comes from a winter bulb and apparently, spreads like crazy.

The flower symbolically brings a message of hope and purity.  It can also be symbolic for atonement and reconciliation.  

If you want to take it a step further and really get all the lessons you can out of this little flower, I found it's used in one of the Bach Flower Remedies - I haven't read about which one yet!  It has a short story written about it and a rather long poem (this coming from the woman who thought "Purple Cow" was long enough and anything that filled an entire book (Hiawatha) should not be called a poem.  Then there is the life of each writer .... literature, history, health, science ... and let's not forget the passage from Matthew where the star that guided the wise men is mentioned (Matthew 2:1-12).  All from one little white flower, just outside my door.

Take a moment and sit outside your door, what's there?  What can you learn about that one little thing that you've taken for granted for so long?

Well, it's a beautiful, spring Sunday afternoon.  I spent the morning just sitting by the frog pond wondering what on earth God is doing in my life.  Nothing makes sense to me right now.  I was waiting, watching, listening, hoping .....when I noticed an earthworm by my feet. 

Where did he come from?  He hadn't been there the minute before.

And then there were two!  I wondered if they'd meet.  If they'd be drawn to each other by some primal force.  If they were what would they do?  I sat and watched, and anticipated, and didn't dare to hope and then when they finally did meet ..... nothing!  Seriously, just two worms wiggling around.  They didn't even sort of tangle themselves up together, which I was pretty sure would happen.

Earthworms.  Really?  My grand Job 12:7-8 look and listen and learn from the earth moment is earthworms!?!?!  

It's ironic really, considering the animosity, I once held toward these critters.  It's taken me years to get past it and to actually enjoy finding them, to the point where sometimes I obsessively "hunt" them to put them into my gardens.  

So what was the lesson?  Some radom googling - what did we do before Google - turned up the following about the symbolism of earthworms presenting themselves to you.  It seems that it is time for me to work over all I've been experiencing lately, to digest what has occurred in my life, to cast off those things not beneficial or necessary.  It's time to clean house emotionally and allow for new growth.  The earth worm is also a reminder that small efforts can have big impacts.  They are also symbolic of self-healing, probably due to the fact that when they are severed below the 37th segment/clitellum they continue to live - or at least 1/2 of them does.  There was a lot more, but I won't bore you with ALL the lessons the earthworm can have for us.

Additionally, there are some great science lessons here, for the more curious of minds...decomposition, hermaphroditic procreation, soil aeration ... the list just goes on and on.  You can build a wormery, start your own compost, or just sit and watch them wiggle.  

And all I did was step, just outside my door.  There are so many lessons waiting for us.

Just a quick post this morning.  Yesterday, to celebrate Mother's Day and the glorious weather, we made our first trip of the season to our camp and I worked.  It's what I wanted to do.  It's what makes me happy.  I love being there.  It's not much to speak of.  A small building on a postage sized piece of water frontage.  

But it's everything to me.  My families feet have touched that ground for 70+ years, six generations!  My great-grandmother and grandfather bought the property, back in the early 40's.  My great-great grandmother visited there.  Today my children spend time there.  With any luck, I may have grandchildren one day who will also.

I have, however, digressed.  Yesterday, Dad raked the winters accumulation of pine needles off the roof.  I raked them from the side of the camp.  In the process, a garter snake slithered across my path.  

I confess, I shrieked, like a girl, because I am.  I'm not scared of garter snakes.  I was, however, startled by it's sudden appearance.

I stood still and just watched it for a minute.  It stood still and just watched me.  When we both seemed to come to some peacable moment, it simply went on it's way and slithered underneath the building.

This made me wonder, what can we learn from the snake.  As Christians, we have so many negative thoughts connected to snakes.  They can't be all bad, right?  Job 12:7- 8 tells us to listen and learn from creation.  Snakes are pretty amazing creatures, really.  

Today, I'm adding the garter snake to my journal.  

So, have you taken a look around your yard?  What is there in nature, right outside your door?

When I talk to moms about doing nature study, about using it as the foundation of their homeschooling, I often encounter that "deer in the headlight" look.  It is one of both awe and terror.  I hear things like, "I don't know enough."  "I don't have time to add anything." "I don't have your experience."  

Let me share a little secret with you.  I didn't either when I started.  I knew very little.  There was a certain animosity between myself and most all six legged creatures.   It's been many years in the making.  I started out exactly where most of you are, not sure where to start.  

So this morning, I'm going to take you on a bit of an adventure, through the last couple of days at my house.  I no longer have littles who are interested, but I still go and do my own thing, so that I continue to gain knowledge and experience to share with all of you.  

This past week has been a very difficult one for me.  Personal relationships have been strained.  There have been major life event changes in my extended family.  Most difficult though, was the human impact on one of my favorite wild spaces.  It was the place where I would go to escape and get alone with God.  It is now being manicured for human enjoyment. 

On Monday, I began to seek out a new wild space.  I picked a spot high above the pond in our field, just beyond the house.  First, I just sat, bare feet pressed to the ground, connecting.  Then I noticed a scurry of activity to my left on the ground and trees.  

Ants!  Everywhere, hustling and bustling, up and down the tree and along the ground.  Hundreds of ants!  

Interestingly, they seemed to have very little interest in me.  They were focused!  They were intent.  

This immediately brought a memory to the surface.  When I was young - under 10 - there was a large pine tree in our yard in front of the house on The Avenue.  I use to sit and watch the ants, mesmerized by them.  Interesting in this is the fact that at that point, my relationship with all creatures of the six legged variety was tense at best.

A I watched the ants I began to wonder, "What is it with ants and pine trees?"  

And thus began my nature study.  Curiosity was piqued.  

When I was done sitting, when I felt recharged, I came inside.  I grabbed a bunch of children's books and field guides on ants and insects (some left over from our early homeschool days, some I've collected since).  i grabbed my journal and my pencil bag and I began to search the internet.

I looked up ants, their symbolism, the lessons they have to teach us.  I remembered Bible verses about the ant and looked those up and wrote them in my journal.  

Wait, library/research skills, language arts (reading/writing), and religion all just happened in a very short span.  Did you see that?

Then I got distracted by grown-up responsibilities.  I left my stuff, sitting in a pile on the floor by my spot on the couch.  (Yes, homeschooling is a messy business.)

On Tuesday afternoon, when I was able to return to my pile and my new spot, I grabbed my journal and my brown Crayola crayon (next time I'll use black) and headed for the tree.  I did a rubbing of the bark in my journal.  

Art, just happened.  Did you see that?

Inside, I identified the tree as a Pinus strobus.  It's sometimes called Eastern White Pine, or just White Pine or Northern Pine.  It all depends on where you are.  Think about it, it's kind of like you.  Sometimes you're called "sweetheart" or "Mommy" or "Mrs. X".  It all depends on where you are. You are still you and the Pinus strobus is still the Pinus strobus.

Latin and science just happened.  Older children might look at classifications further.  For me, the Latin name was enough for the day.

I also sat and read something I'd printed off from the internet about the mutualism of ants and trees.  Did you know that earthworms are not native to most of North America?  Prior to that it was the ants who were the decomposers and the ones who airated the soil and nourished it.  (I sense another rabbit trail of a study happening here ....worms?)

Today, I am writing a blog post, culminating my nature study, or at least two days worth of it, which by the way, entailed a grand total of 20 minutes outside.

Please stop and notice that during this whole process, I was not instructing anyone.  If children had been here, I would have done exactly the same thing that I did.  Only they would have been doing it along side me.  They would have gleaned what was most interesting to them.  There was no expensive curriculum, no fancy tools and I didn't go anywhere special.  I was literally, just outside my front door.

You can do this!  If you have questions or need help getting started, please email me at maggieraye@gmail.com.

Psalm 92:4, "For thou Lord hast made me glad through thy work; I will triumph the work of thy hands."

It seems like a good time, to take the opportunity to look back over where we've been in the last year.

But let me start with the last week.  I haven't written or posted about my most recent experience, because I didn't want to seem disrespectful to people I appreciate and am grateful for.  At the same time, I am sad, frustrated and even a bit discouraged.  I feel a bit, I imagine, like Dr. Seuss's character, The Lorax.  I feel like I need to speak for the trees, but alas, really it is too late for that.  The trees are gone.  There were three huge cedar trees just outside my windows.  I could set at my kitchen table, or on my livingroom couch, or on the porch itself, and watch a menagerie of birds, playing, eating, sitting in the trees.  Nuthatches, chickadees, downies, blue jays, and hairy woodpeckers were the most common visitors.  The trees are gone.  All three of them.  Living trees.  Yes, there are advantages.  Now a huge amount of sunlight streams in my livingroom window.  Somehow, I was willing to happily live without the sunlight to be able to watch the birds.  Part of me aches for that place where the trees are "mine".  I'm trying to find a balance, to understand the perceived necessity to remove all three trees, but still everytime I walk out the porch all I see is a big open hole, where my birds use to be.

Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purposes."

That is how the year is ending.  I'm trusting God has better things in store for the year ahead.  I've just been looking back over all that has happened.  And really, it's been a pretty impressive year, though there were many moments along the way, where I did not feel this way.

Through the early spring, it was a core of about 5 families that participated in our weekly homeschool group.  We averaged about 12 children weekly. 

In March, I was able to present a workshop at the Homeschoolers of Maine's annual convention on integrating nature study across the curriculum.

In April, I read about religious orders who stepped out of faith, buying property when they had no money, to house and feed those in need.  I felt that CEM needed to step out on faith a little more and begin praying and looking for a bus and property.  The bus was to take our programs on the road and the property was to have a home base.  At the same time, conflictedly, I felt that we should start where we were, and until we'd taken care in the little things God would not give us more.  These are the kinds of struggles the year has presented.  A road trip to Fort Williams caused me to fall in love with the diversity and possibilities for doing regular nature study there.  

We added two online groups in the spring as well.  Maine-ly Monarch's, following the plight of the iconic symbol of summer and childhood.  This group has 20 member families from 4 states participating.  It continues, even during the cold weather, with sharing of information about Monarchs, growing milkweed and how to help in the coming season.  The other group was Let's Explore Creation Week.  We had 14 member families from 5 states for this group.  

In May, I asked several folks to join me in prayer for God's provision as we stepped out on faith, for a van/bus to take CEM on the road and for property to operate from.  That group currently has 19 members, and continues to pray with and for us.

In June we held a nature exploration at Fort Williams, with about 12 families and close to 40 children.  I decided that is just way too large a group for me alone, or even with one helper.  I came away wondering if I'd even come close to accomplishing what I believed God wanted me to do.  I felt as if I'd had little to no time with individual families due to the size of the group.  And yet, several families in attendance have become regular active families in other CEM events.  Something must have been accomplished.

In June we also took part in Homeschoolers of Maine's Family Adventure Weekend, hosting a day long camp for the children of parents attending a Leadership Training seminar.  Again, the crowd size spoke to me as being too big for me to be effective.  Again, there were about 12 families present.  And again, several families joined in being regular participants.  One mom even ended up becoming a nature study group leader.

Somewhere in between we did an exploration with a group of homeschoolers in Livermore.  I learned that I don't like going into a site cold.  It was, however, quite successful, with parts of a rodent skull being found.  There were about six families.  This number is far more managable for me, in terms of comfort levels.

I felt we should just claim the small field and pond adjacent to our house, to use for CEM until we were able to procure some place else.  Thus, I began to feel like we had space to work.  And what a great space.  The old farm pond has provided a constant source of study for us.  Just when I think the children will grow bored with the pond, seasons change or some new discovery is made, reviving any waning interest.

I spent a lot of time during the summer walking with an older neighbor, through the woods and then sitting on the dock on the lake.  I felt like in a lot of ways, this was part of the ministry, too.  Though, it certainly wasn't a part I'd ever planned on doing.

In August I held my first day long nature coaching class with two families.

Additionally, God seemed to answer prayer with start where you are, and after talking with our landlord, the use of an out building became available to us, to house CEM and some of our activities!  

In September we added two new classes a monthly Forts and Fires for boys to explore, relatively unsupervised, the building of natural shelters and fires and Pond Ecology, exploring the local watershed.  The numbers in these classes started strong, but have shrunk to the usual core 2 or 3 families.  We've taken the holidays off and will be starting them again in the January.

In October, I added Monthly Meet Up, once a month, usually on a Monday,  for families who've been interested, but live too far away to come regularly.  It's a chance to meet families and talk nature exploration one on one.

The year is ending/beginning with (and I can't share too many details yet) the opportunity to write a proposal to work with another program.  This is where the prayers and energy are focused presently.  The proposal needs to be ready for submission on Jan. 24.  It's drafted and I need to make a couple of revisions.  I'm more than a little nervous as this pushes me way outside my comfort zone, in spite of the fact that it is something I think I would love to do.

I'm sure I've missed a few things along the way.  But this is really a lot, considering a year ago, we really were only doing our weekly homeschool group and nothing more.

And so we now put 2014 to rest, and prepare to move forward and see what God has in store for me and for CEM in 2015.  

A little over a year ago, I anticipated a life change that would have my family relocating.  It would be a big move.  We'd be moving to a different region of the country, a different life style.  I didn't want to give up on CEM at the time so I prayed for a solution. It became evident, that chldren in urban areas needed to be outside as much as those who lived out in the suburbs or in the country.

We have a mentality that inside, eating packaged foods, in front of screens is a safe place for children.  Safer than being outside.

I love what I do.  I love the homeschoolers I work with.  The last few days, however, I've felt this stirring again.  These are children who are outside.  Their parents think it's important.  Their parents aren't afraid to get outside.  At least for the most part.  The question came up again.  How can I reach children and really make a difference?  

I want to take that child that never walks barefooted on uneven ground and get their shoes off them.  I want to take the child who spends hours inside, out into a field, in the rain.  I want to take the child who only swims in chlorine and dunk them in a fresh water pond.

Am I making enough of a difference?  Or is there more I could do?  How would I begin?  Where would I begin?  

My motto since I began my homeschooling journey, has been, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."  Theodore Roosevelt.

So may be this is enough.  Maybe God is planting seeds for the future.  I certainly am at a point where I want to keep myself open.

Some folks like numbers.  We use them as a standard to measure how something is going.  So I decided I should share our numbers from this fall, so far.

Since August we have grown.  We have grown from 1 homeschool a group a week.  This year, we have our weekly group, plus a monthly Pond Ecology Class, a monthly Forts & Fires class, an online Nature Study class, and I have done one Nature Coaching class and am planning a second one.  We have served 18 families with an average of five families per group.

Then I remembered we did a one time Exploration at Homeschooler of Maine's annual Back to Homeschool Day in the Park, that had nine families present, bringing our total up to 27 families this fall.  Some of them are old friends, some new.  

Exciting times!

A Draft of the Symbolic Meaning of CEM’s Logo

When I asked a long time family friend to design our CEM logo, I asked her to use the painted turtle.  I liked the things that I read about its symbolism (more on that in a minute).  I asked her to design letters that looked like birch bark.  When we discovered that would be too labor intensive, we decided on the turtle on a birch bark background.  Then I asked her to put in a dragonfly.  I ‘d had so many dragonfly encounters during the summer, I felt certain there was a message for us in there as well.  Finally, I asked her to do the whole thing in sepia, because I like the rustic look of it.  If you visualize what I asked for, you’ll see that it isn’t much like our logo. 

I am not disappointed.  As the matter of fact, I feel like God’s hand guided her and her husband and co-designer.  While I chose the turtle and the dragonfly, the rest was all providential.  The circle, the colors.

As you read about what each of the parts represents symbolically (my research comes for a mix of various websites) you’ll see how perfect our logo fits what CEM is supposed to be.  May it ever remind us of why we began, and what we’re here to do.

Before I go into the specifics, I’d like to share one more thing.  In the early days of CEM I was introduced to the verses in Job 12:7-8 where we are instructed to learn from creation.  There are lessons for us in each part of God’s creation.  When I first read it, to me, it resonated ancient Native wisdom.  And in reality, that is exactly what it is.  So a year ago (June 2013) when I began nature journaling, I started researching the symbolism behind the different things I encountered in creation, to see what I might glean from them. 

 Turtle

The turtle is the symbol of ancient wisdom, earth, longevity, creation, fertility, patience, stability, endurance, staying grounded, determination, slowing down and even, coming out of your shell.  I read that the turtle can only move forward when it sticks it’s neck out.  For me, CEM was a leap of faith, sticking my neck out.

When I think about the turtle, I think about James 1:5; Job 12:7-8; 1 Corinthians 9:24 and Hebrews 21:1

Dragonfly

This summer just past (2014) has been my dragonfly summer, without a doubt.  I’ve had dragonflies land on me and just sit.  The dragonfly signifies ancient traditions.  They are symbolic of transformation.  You should see the empty shell from the larvae stage that they hatch out of.  It’s hard to believe they are the same creature – well, in actuality, they aren’t.   Dragonflies also symbolize, adaptability, lightness of being, maturity, power, prosperity, strength and peace.

When I see the dragonfly symbolism, I think of 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Philippians 4:7

Circle

Our logo animals are in the center of a circle.  Circles are symbolic of eternity, inclusion, wholeness, focus, unity, completion and protection. 

I think of Psalm 133:1, Ecclesiastes 3:17 and Philippians 1;6 when considering these things.

Green

Green is symbolic of nature, fertility, life, balance, growth, prosperity and abundance as well as resurrection and rebirth.  For those familiar with The Wordless Book the green page is the page where we grow in the grace of our salvation. 

Brown

Brown is symbolic of security, stability, foundations, peace, warmth, approachability.  All things that we need to be.

Brown and green together are prominent colors on the planet. 

All of our pieces are indicators of what I want CEM to be, a place of peace, that is welcoming, where growth and change can happen.

It will be rare that you hear me evangelize anyone.  I believe that our words fall on deaf ears in these times.  I believe that our actions are so loud that they drown out our words.  So, I invite people to come, to explore, to discover.  We work to be accepting and to show love and compassion.  I trust that God is capable of showing Himself in His creation as well as in the written Word.  Folks who’ve been turned off by religion, will unlikely be turned off by nature.  We plant seeds, subtly.  And we leave the rest to God.  You cannot look at the transformation of the dragonfly and doubt that God created or that Christ can change us.  And if someone’s heart is that hard, it is unlikely my words will have impact anyway. 

The more I think about the things each piece of our logo symbolize, the more I look at the logo as a symbol of what we do, the more I’m convinced that God guided the hands of its designers to make it represent what CEM is suppose to be.

I walked down to the lake behind our apartment today.  It's about a 1/2 mile walk, according to Google Map distance measuring.  I've been walking it several times a week now, for the last month and a half.  I go with my neighbor and we sit on the dock for a spell.  As we were getting ready to head back today, I took the binoculars and scanned the lake one time to see if there were any loons along the opposite shore line, hoping for just a glimpse before we left.

There were none to be seen.  While I was packing up my binoculars, one lone loon, did that call, that only a loon can, as if to say, "Hello!  I am here!"  I watched for a few minutes before it dove under.  Where it resurfaced is anyones guess.

I love the loon.  Some lessons, we can learn from the loon include loyalty (they mate for life), communication (what great orators they are), tranquility, serenity.  They are said to be symbolic of awakened imagination, hopes and dreams.

I also saw another (or maybe the same one again) phantom cranefly while sitting in my one butt spot by the pond.  The pond should not be confused with the lake just for clarification.  The pond is literally that, just a small, old farm/frog pond gone wild.  There are a couple of little foot paths in around it that we've worn this year with our nature study, and the one spot we use weekly, literally seats one, me, normally.  There is a lot of activity around the pond.  Dragonflies and hummingbirds both frequent it, as well as the frogs, and salamanders and baby fish that inhabit it.

Finally, this afternoon, while out mowing the lawn, a frog crossed my sons path.  He spared it from the mower and brought it in to me.  "Look Mom, I got you a frog."  Awe!!  The best part was, it wasn't our run of the mill green frog.  Though I'd have been equally as happy with one of those.  This was a rather large (full grown probably) pickerel frog.  I haven't seen one this size here or at camp.  Camp is not to be confused with the pond or the lake, but is on a larger pond, about 10 miles from home.  Are you beginning to see my affinity to water?  Should I mention that I also live about 4 miles from the Atlantic Ocean?

Back to the frog.  I think that of all the frogs, the Pickerel frog is asthetically my favorite.  And of course, there are lessons to be learned from our hopping friend as well.  Frogs inhabit mud, a combination of earth and water.  Think about all those fancy, expensive spas where people go for detoxifying mud treatments.  Frogs get it for free.  They remind us to detoxify.  They are symbolic of transformation (think about the process from egg to frog).  The are considered to be a sign of purity, fertility, healing transition and opportunity.  And of course for the Believer, we often use the acronym FROG, to remind us to Fully Rely On God.

And if you're like one of the little girls in one of my groups, you may even kiss a frog (or three) in an attempt to find true love.  It's so precious to see her in her innocence, kiss each and every frog we find.  

So there it is, my lessons, my visits, for today.  What did you see?  Do you have any idea what lessons it has for you?  

Back to the pond, we saw a school of baby fish (I have no idea how they got there) today.  Probably some sort of shiner.

Tonight I was sitting out there, praying, struggling with some things and a dragon fly came and landed on my knee and sat there.  You almost don't dare to breathe when this happens, and you certainly can't move or they will fly away.  It's a good way for God to drive home the message Be still.

There are so many amazing lessons from the dragonfly.  They bring with them some incredible symbolism - transformation, letting go of the old for the new.  They are a fantastic lesson in how God can change us.  Have you ever seen a dragonfly larvae?  They are scary, ugly!  And yet, in maturity, they are light, beautiful and awe inspiring.

I needed a dragonfly today!

I settled myself into a small clearing by the frog pond.  A "one butt" sized space worn by the children during our Explorations.  

I just sat there, with my feet on the warm packed mud of the bank.  I watched as a dragonfly darted around the cattails and fragrant lily pads.  The afternoon sun was warm.

Words like halcyon and idyllic come to mind.  It was something from a nature show or a movie.  Hardly something one expects to find in their own backyard.