It was early spring when my husband came up with a fantastic idea: “Let’s go for a walk at five in the morning; we’re bound to come across the most beautiful animals!”
I can hear you thinking, “Fantastic? What do you mean by fantastic?” Well, that was my initial thought too. We were in a very busy period of our lives where we had very little free time and, consequently, very little sleep.
We could have chosen to start off slowly on that rare Sunday morning when we didn’t have to get up early… but no!
Taking it easy isn’t in our vocabulary, LOL. We actually always have to slow each other down; otherwise, we go overboard with the constant rushing, and flying.
Anyway, that Sunday morning, at 5 o’clock, I was standing next to my hyper-enthusiastic husband in a deserted meadow, LOL 😊.
He with his camera and I with my shutters (read: my eyes) still half closed. We live in a beautiful, remote nature reserve; we walk out the door and are immediately in the middle of nature, so a walk here is wonderful!
At first, my husband realized he thought he had brought the wrong lens. It was still just a bit too dark at that time, meaning the lens couldn’t capture the photos properly. For a moment, he wondered if he should go back to get the other lens, and I wondered if I should go back to bed, LOL😊.
But no, we chose to continue anyway; the sun would rise not much later, and then it would soon get a lot lighter.
The air was fresh, and it was wonderfully quiet; only the waking of the birds could be heard, and the wild cows were still lying comfortably stretched out in the grass, sleeping soundly. They barely looked up or around when we passed by.
We walked and walked, but in the end, we didn’t encounter many animals—at least not more or different than we would have encountered during the day if we had walked the same route. But anyway, we enjoyed it just the same.
My husband has mentioned before that he heard there are supposed to be a number of beavers living somewhere in the area, but since it is a nature reserve of about 360 hectares, the chance of running into them wouldn’t be very likely………….at least, not without Jesus, LOL😊.
The Gendtse Waard is the nature reserve where we live. In this nature reserve of over 360 hectares, our tiny house pales in comparison, LOL.
It is an area with varied river nature where high and low tides create dynamics. Part of the Waard consists of a mix of riparian forest, sand and clay extraction lakes, grasslands, arable fields, and buildings on the elongated riverbank. The entire area is grazed year-round by cattle and horses.
It is a large area with tall grasses and sections that are difficult to reach without standing up to your ears in the tall grass, LOL😊.
We have walked there a lot over the past year, but so far, we have never seen a beaver.
How God blessed us this morning!
This morning, too, my husband told me, once again, that it was kind of a dream for him to encounter a beaver like that, to which I said, “Then we must ask God for help!” And like a little child, I asked God to let a beaver cross our path.
What the creep is swimming there!?
After we had already been walking for two hours and my husband had mentioned once again that it would be amazing to him to spot a beaver sometime, we came to a path. We decided to turn onto it. Eventually the path ended, but we, stubborn as we are, just kept walking.
The grass grew higher and higher; that happened a bit faster for me than for my husband since he is almost two meters tall and I am only one meter sixty, LOL😊.
We arrived at a lake and walked around it for a bit when I suddenly saw something swimming in the water… at first it looked like a big fish, and for a moment I thought of a chubby turtle (although I have no idea if large wild turtles exist in the Netherlands, LOL😊).
I shouted to my husband, “What the creep is swimming there!” He could see it better through the lens of the camera, and it turned out to be a BEAVER!!
Wow!
I was instantly ecstatic, although it was more my husband’s desire than mine to see a beaver.
The beaver swam around happily and then dove underwater. This went on and on and on, and I thought, if he surfaces somewhere now, he must be a long way from our neighborhood, or we won’t see him at all anymore. And so I decided to ask God for help once more: “Lord, will You let him surface again?”
I hadn’t even finished speaking softly when his little head popped up above the water again! And right near the edge of the bank where we were walking, too!
Whoohoo!!
Immediately afterward I prayed, “Oh Lord, would You perhaps let him come out of the water too, so that my husband can get a perfect look at him?” and the amazing thing happened… the beaver swam towards the bank, climbed out, and walked towards the tall grass; there he disappeared!!
Oh, how happy we were!!
My husband had to take it all in at first.
He needed a moment to process it all first: the fact that he had just expressed his desire to see a beaver, to see one immediately afterward, and then to see the other prayers answered. He was so impressed that for a moment it seemed to me as if it didn’t affect him at all, LOL😊.
But no, he was just processing it all. Giving thanks and praising God, we walked on.
God is a Good Father (And Here is the Proof!)
God is a good Father, TRULY a good and loving Father. He knows you like no other; He has formed and molded you. And He enjoys it when you enjoy life and have fun.
God wants us to rejoice in Him, and when we rejoice in Him, in that personal relationship with Him, He will place new desires in our hearts. Desires that are inspired by Him.
Desires that are blessed and that God Himself possesses as well. Just as He enjoys His creation, so too did we enjoy His creation and all the beauty we saw around us.
Therefore, you may express ALL your desires; as long as it is in line with His Word and He dwells on the throne of your heart, He desires nothing more than to give you what makes you happy.
I want to challenge you to ask God the following question: “Will You show me how much You love me?” and you will be amazed at the surprises He can bring. He wants to overwhelm us with His goodness, favor, and love, and He cannot wait to pour out all blessings upon you.
Bring everything to Him and see how He gives you the desires of your heart.
"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." - Psalm 37: 4
Are you walking proudly with Him? Show the world that He changed your life, or playfully remind them that “y’all need Jesus” – grab your favorite cap now in the webshop!
