Seeing The Forest For The Trees
2023 Youth Sunday
by Bella Coughlin
Every year since I can remember, my family and I would go to our friends cabin for the fourth of July. This cabin is literally in the middle of nowhere in North Carolina. One year my mom locked her keys in the car and we couldn’t tell TripleA where to come because the property we were at physically didn’t have an address. The cabin is beautiful– handcrafted and old and well made, but we always slept outside in tents. We were outside 24 hours a day for about a week every year.
If you climb behind the cabin and scale up the mountain, through trees, rocks, probably snakes, and other people’s backyards, you get to a Christmas tree farm. This was my favorite place ever. Because it was a whole place filled with Christmas trees in the middle of the summer! We got to adventure through the trees and make a secret path that only we knew about.
I’ve always loved being outside and being in nature. From hiking with my mom to just sitting outside in the sun. From being a place where I can be with people and bond, to being a place for me to be alone and feel relaxed. I immediately feel better surrounded by nature.
It is the place I feel God’s presence with me, and I feel like I best glimpse who God is as creator of all that is.
When I read our scripture for this morning, this is what I think the author of the Psalm is trying to express. That when we look at the beauty of nature, we are seeing evidence of God’s handiwork. We can know without a doubt that there is something bigger than we are at work in the universe because the complexity and diversity of the natural world are beyond what we could ever create on our own. It points to a Creator who is both powerful and artistic.
There is also so much we can learn about our own selves from nature. Nature teaches us so much about patience, endurance, and resilience. For example, a tree that has weathered many storms may appear beaten down, but it continues to grow and thrive. This can teach us about perseverance in the face of adversity.
This has been an important image for me over the past few years.
One of my favorite ways to be outside is when I am running. It makes me feel free and strong and happy. I used to run 5k’s sometimes when I was little with “girls on the run” or “go far” at school. I had amazing role models in my cousin, Gabi, and some of her teammates when she ran cross-country for Grimlsey. I always looked up to them and someday wanted to be a part of that myself.
The summer before my freshman year at Grimsley, I was really excited to join the cross country team. It feels like so long ago now. I went to a few practices and I found that I could keep up with the faster girls. I felt like I had a place on the team and that I had earned it.
But then one day we were doing drills on that little flat-ish patch of grass near lake Euphemia. Notice I said flat-ish. There’s actually a ton of tree roots and rocks sticking up in that grass, and during the final exercises, that’s exactly what I stepped on. Next thing I knew I was on the ground and my foot hurt really bad.
Turns out I had broken my ankle and I couldn’t walk, much less run, for weeks. I was stuck in bed or on a couch. I also always had to keep my leg elevated which was a little inconvenient for public outings. But that meant that everyone came over to see me! I remember one day I swear the entire youth group showed up at my house with snacks and gifts and get well soon cards.
It took months before I could begin jogging, and then running – but once I was cleared to really start running, I seemed more vulnerable to injuries. I kept getting shoved down with more injuries. First I got tendonitis, then a peroneal strain, then a stress reaction, then shin splints.
This year, I went to see the athletic trainer at Grimsley and she was incredibly impressed with my knowledge of lower leg anatomy, because of all of the hours I spent researching ways to treat everything. Every few months since my broken ankle freshman year, I can run fora while, and then just as I think I’ve turned a corner, something new comes up and I have to stop again.
While incredibly frustrating, I’ve tried to learn things from this experience. First and foremost being how to appreciate good moments when they are here. Some of my favorite memories in the past few years are of running through trails with my dog Koda, the leaves crunching under us and the sun high in the sky. The feeling of joy and happiness not needing to worry about anything at all. But I recognize that since these types of moments aren’t always guaranteed, I can’t take them for granted. I have to live in the moment and appreciate everything that I have.
While I don’t think God makes things happen to us, I think maybe God helps us to walk theough the bad in ways that allow us to better appreciate and take care of the good things in life
Due to the recurring injuries, I haven’t been able to participate on even a single season of cross country and track. I was technically on the teams freshman and sophomore years, but I always had to sit out or not even come to practice. I never regained that feeling of really being part of the team like I had for those first few weeks freshman year.
Sophomore year, I joined the field hockey team. I heard they weren’t doing cuts and. I thought it would be fun to be on a team with my sister. The field hockey coach had left the year before, so the girls soccer coach filled in. Once he chose the team, he gave jerseys to everyone but three people. The two freshmen that tried out and me. We were still allowed to practice with the team, just not participate in games. In usual circumstances, I wouldn’t have cared that much. But, one of the main reasons I had tried Field Hockey in the first place was to find that sense of community and camaraderie, but I instead felt that I was being left out. It’s the same I felt while sitting on the track in a boot while other people ran circles around me.
A quote that I love and often think about is “The greatest gift anyone can give is that of belonging”. I have no clue where I got this, whether I read it somewhere or if I made it up at some point, but I think that it is really powerful. It reminds me not only of how important it is to feel loved and appreciated, but also how you can help other people feel that way, and those experiences have shaped how I try to treat others.
I think perhaps I can believe that so strongly because of the way I have witnessed belonging here at College Park. Not only for me, but for others, too. For me, our youth group is a place where we can all be exactly who we are. And I’ve seen how people are welcomed into this community here and I know how important it is for everyone to know that they have a place where they are loved. A place they belong!
Because of my injuries, I have also spent as much time hiking outdoors as I have running now. I often hike with my family and friends, and nature transforms itself into a place where I can be comfortable and bond with others. This spring I created a list of some of my favorite hikes and what they mean to me. Here are my top 3:
Number One: Lake Brandt. All of the trails that surround Lake Brandt can connect and if you do a circle around the lake it comes out to about 10 miles. I’m not entirely sure how, but I convinced three of my friends to do this with me over thanksgiving break this year. If you’ve ever hiked long distances, it’s somewhat similar to a long car trip. You run out of things to talk about very quickly. So instead, you can talk about the weirdest and most fun topics that you normally wouldn’t even think of. On this hike, we planned a friends-giving, I told them all about the plot of the latest true-crime podcast I listened to, and we made plans to have the best summer ever.
Number 2: My parents and I tried to summit Smith Mountain, which doesn’t have a trail on it. We boated up to the base of the mountain, tied it up, and started walking. We got about half-way up before getting extremely concerned about coyotes, and then we walked down. But it felt so cool to have made our own path up the mountain.
Number 3: I went to Argentina on an exchange program last year, which was just an amazing experience all around. My host dad brought me on a hike, which I was super excited for. Then there I was, with this random 50-year old dude, in the middle of the Andes mountains. But I was able to get to know him and bond with him over our love for the outdoors and hiking.
Thinking back, so many of my favorite memories are set outdoors. I do experience God in other things and people, but I’ve always felt most connected to my faith when I am in nature.
Every moment is an opportunity to grow, to appreciate God’s creation, and to learn more about life. Only now, after I have endured so many challenges, can I appreciate what I’m able to do and not take it for granted. And as I’m coming up on a lot of changes in my life, going to college and leaving friends and family that I love, I find peace and sanctuary in the open air. I am reminded that God is always with me, even when I am going through difficult times. God doesn’t leave me when I’m struggling, but continues to nurture and care for me, even in the midst of difficulties.
I believe this because I have experienced it here with this community, and I believe it because I have felt it myself as I’ve cried in frustration to my parents who are always there ready to comfort me, and I have seen it in the outdoors where all of nature echoes God’s presence.
