From Tadpoles to Frogs

We went on a field trip to Shelby Bottoms Nature Center to learn about frogs. Thanks to Mombo, Elijah even had a special t-shirt to wear which showed the life cycle of a frog. (It's cool to wear stuff like that, right? Because Elijah and I love to talk about that shirt.) We had the good company of our friends, the Sadlers & the Jacksons. The Sadler girls wore butterfly wings, because that is how cool their Mom is. We walked to one of the ponds to look for tadpoles.
Elijah and Matney held hands~:-)
They RAN and Ran and ran!
We headed back to the Nature Center for a puppet show.
Haven was fascinated with the puppets.

Can you spot her? She slowly worked her way right up to the puppeteer, probably in hopes of grabbing the frog.

In an attempt to counteract the absence of God in the program, Elijah and I spent the morning talking about how God made frogs. It was stark and shocking to me how the Creator was never mentioned, particularly when the children were being shown a chart of all the various types of frogs. The Ranger was explaining all the different types of camouflage the frogs have. When the children asked, "Why are the frogs different?", she averted the question by saying "The frogs have to blend in with their surrounding." I took the opportunity to tell Elijah that God had made the frogs with their own special colors so that they could live in the place God put them. Our little trip made me realize how empty and short-sighted education is when you force God out of every conversation. It keeps you from answering the real "why" questions.
This huge park is great. We often go there to walk some of the eight mile paved greenway along the Cumberland River. During these walks I have opportunity to remind myself what a blessing it is to be able to train up these children!
4.13.2010