God's Creativity...

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Psalm 19:1

Nature is one of the finest displays of God's ingenuity and creativity. The opportunities to learn about who He is and about His world, literally fall from the sky and leap from the ground. Yesterday, as we were getting into our pool, we discovered some "friends" who's time on this planet had come to an end in our chilly waters. Instead of flinging them into the yard to decompose, we decided to let the kids get an up-close look at them. It was fun to hear all the comments about "furry bubble bees" and how they thought yellow fur was so cool. Sweet girl asked if we could let the cicada dry out so we could use it for our nature journals today. So that's just what we did.

This afternoon we inspected the cicada bug, drew him and then headed indoors to see what we could find on this giant, flyin' insect. Here's a fun fact we found in our hunt for what they ate, where they sleep, and who makes all that racket:

In many cultures, the Cicada insect is regarded as a symbol of long life, happiness and eternal youth due to its intrinsic properties of being the longest living insect with a life span of up to 18 years! Cicada insects are also regarded as a symbol of good fortune because of their ability to sing throughout the day and night.

I never saw myself as one eager to inspect a giant, dead bug...until today. God never passes up an opportunity to teach us more about Him. This bug is beautiful... truly an awesome work of artistic design and engineering. So I'll end today in giving the Father hugest praise. I stand, once again, in awe of brilliant majesty so uniquely displayed in the intricate detailing of a cicada bug.

By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth. Psalm 33:6