…a day at the zoo

I haven’t been up before 5 in the morning in quite awhile, but yesterday I was up and ready for the day by just about that time. The excitement in the house was mounting! I had spent the night at the school where I teach as we were leaving early for our field trip to the zoo. A part of me was so very excited, but another part of me was quite nervous. It is the hot season and I was dreading being out in the scorching heat all day long! Fortunately it rained some the day before and cooled things off a bit.
 
We arrived after a bumpy van journey and enjoyed seeing all the animals, although the girls were just as interested in taking pictures of themselves along the way as they were in the animals!
 
The morning was hot, but some lingering clouds kept the heat at bay a little. We had not received rain in almost a month, but that day as we ate lunch another rain storm moved over and brought a cool breeze with it. The Lord was so good to us! We were able to enjoy our meal and a short nap in the hammocks before heading out to see the rest of the animals.
 
Throughout the day, I watched the people who work at the zoo. At first I thought maybe people who worked at a zoo in Cambodia might just work there to have a job—any job, not necessarily because they liked animals necessarily. But as we were looking in the bear pen (to no avail as the bears were off hiding in a cool, shady corner as I would have liked to be doing!) a dear lady came over and started yelling for the bears, calling them by name. I could be reading too much into the situation, but I was amazed by the crazy connection she seemed to have with those bears. She must have a deep love for them, and they a deep trust in her.
 
It got me thinking about why we are drawn to watch or work with animals. What is it about creation that draws us in? It seems we are all amazed and perplexed and attracted to God’s creation whether or not we actually attribute creation to God or not. We are all created in His image and thus enjoy and care for the creation He has surrounded us with.
                                                                                                      
I couldn’t help but think how awesome our God is! He is so creative, clever and humorous. Just think of the huge elephants, colorful peacocks, fat pythons, silly bears, beautiful parakeets, and acrobatic monkeys He placed on this planet. The zoo isn’t the only place I see these traits of His though…the kids and people around me are living proof of our God’s creating abilities and often I take advantage of that. Thank you, Lord, for the beauty you have surrounded me with!