Encountering God in Creation

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, friend, welcome to Perspectives into Practice, a place where life's stories meet practical wisdom. Together, we'll explore how faith filled perspectives can transform the way we live, love and grow. So grab a seat, settle in, and join us on this journey to turn inspiration into action. Let's dive in. Hey friend, welcome back to Perspectives into Practice. Today we're about to take a journey not just through nature, but into the heart of how God reveals himself through creation. I am joined again by my dear friend Tiffany, who has a deep love for outdoors, her and her family. And just like us, we have found a beautiful perspective on how adventure can draw us closer to God. What? Welcome back, Tiffany. [00:00:54] Speaker B: Thanks. Thanks for having me back. [00:00:57] Speaker A: So before we dive in, you know what time it is. It is fun fact time and this one is incredible even for us as travelers. So Tiffany and her family have visited 48 national parks and that is absolutely incredible. Tiffany, what is one of your all time favorite memories from those travels? [00:01:17] Speaker B: Oh, man, so many. We have funny little family stories about, you know, different things that have happened in, in different parks. Yeah, I would, I would say one of our, our favorite memories is probably our trip. We did a, an RV trip in Utah and we did the big five, which is Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands and Arches. And we did it with my husband's parents and that was quite the experience. I love RVing, but I love it as a traveling. I like to use it as the rental car and then you stay in alone. I have learned a lot about how much I can handle with my four kids. That was a really special trip. That was one of our first trips and it was, we were absolutely blown away in every park. So that's probably one of our top, top ones. [00:02:17] Speaker A: That is awesome. That is funny to hear you say that about RVing, because as you know, that is what we do full time with our four kids is travel in an rv. And you're right, it does, it does reveal a lot of things about you, good and bad. And you know, one of my favorite things is, you know, you're saying like this one of your favorite stories. Stories. And one of the best things about RV life for us is that we have become closer as a family. So while we, there are a lot of things that we're like, oh man, this is, this is not the best, but the closeness in our family is worth it and we get to see God's creation, which is the best. Yes. So speaking of unforgettable adventures, how does this love of exploring. How, how did that, this Begin for you. Did. Did you just, like, wake up and go, we're gonna hit every national park? Like, what. What did that look like? [00:03:14] Speaker B: Kind of. It kind of started like that. Brandon and I have always hiked a lot, even before we started having kids. I think we've probably been in to every hike in Tennessee. [00:03:26] Speaker A: We. [00:03:26] Speaker B: We got a Hiking in Tennessee book, and we just would go. Even when Braden and Ryder were small, we would just put them in these little ergo carriers. And, yeah, with us, we gotta visit these waterfalls. And Tennessee has got a bunch of beautiful hikes, a lot of really scenic waterfall hikes. And so we started doing that, and then I. It was back in 2017, Brandon was going out to Phoenix with his family, with his dad and brothers to watch the Final Four, and he. His dad had. I. I think he. I don't know. I don't even know how they got tickets. [00:04:04] Speaker A: How fun. [00:04:05] Speaker B: He decided to say, hey, why don't you and my mom and the boys, why don't y' all all come out and let's fly into Phoenix? Let's go take him to the Grand Canyon. Let's go to the Grand Canyon for a day or two and then maybe go to Sedona. We heard beautiful things about Sedona. [00:04:20] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:20] Speaker B: And just kind of make it a long weekend trip. And so we. We did that when we were in the Grand Canyon. In the visitor center there, they had a book that called Passport to the National Parks. And you have a little support, and you get them stamped and at each one that you go to. And Brandon saw that, and he said, huh? Why don't we do this? Why don't we do this with the boys? At the time, I was pregnant with our fourth boy, and I was like, okay, yeah, that. That would be awesome. Let's. Let's go. [00:04:48] Speaker A: Oh, my goodness. [00:04:49] Speaker B: When we started, there were 59, and now they've added. Now there's 63. So at some point a few years ago, like, can y' all stop adding? [00:04:57] Speaker A: You're making. [00:04:58] Speaker B: You're making our goal harder here, continuing to add. But there's. There's been a few that they've added that I'm like, I don't know if those were worth being a national park, but. Oh, yeah, maybe you should have stayed a state park or a national monument. But I'm. I'm pretty opinionated now that I've seen that many. [00:05:16] Speaker A: I'm sure that's so exciting. We bought one of those national park books, and we have not. We have tried for three years. To get to the west side. The west, you know, side of the States. Because there's a lot over there, more than there are over here. And it, you know what, one thing after another has happened and we have not made it there, but we know that we will, so we will fill up our book. Hopefully, as much as you have the. [00:05:46] Speaker B: People in the west, you have no excuse to not go to all the, you know, as many national parks as you could. You could like the people in the east like us, you know, you gotta, you gotta work for it. [00:05:56] Speaker A: Yeah. You really do. Yeah. So the fact that you guys, you with four kids have hit 48 of the now 63, that's just absolutely incredible because. Yeah, you really have to work for that. Oh my goodness. So how have these, these experiences, each of these times that you've gone, how have they shaped the way that you see God and experience him? [00:06:20] Speaker B: I think in the beginning we each park that we went to, it was very eye opening. Wow. I mean, there wasn't one park that we went to that was like, oh, okay, when you walk, when you get there, you're like, okay, well this is why it's a national park, because I've never seen anything like this and it's unbelievable. So. So just being out in nature and taking the time to look at all the different. Just God's creativity in creation and rocks in the sky and the mountains and the snow and even each park looking so different in all the seasons. We've been back to a few of our favorites and I'm just blown away every time I'm like, oh my gosh, it's just so gorgeous, so gorgeous. So I feel like I'm an ambassador. I'm like, listen, by the end of this, you need to have started planning one or I will help, I will help you because. And then I, I know that a lot of people need to go on a budget or you know, they. You want to go. You want to hit more than one to get some bang for your buck, you're going to be flying out, you know, and spending that much money with your family that you want to buy. Location, kind of hit a few. That's a great way to, great route to go to, so. [00:07:34] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. Yeah. So was there any specific park that like really brought in the Lord that awe and wonder where you just. Because I can think of some things where we have gone that just take my breath away. Was there anything specific that you've seen in the. Where you've been? [00:07:53] Speaker B: It's three that come to Mind the first one when you asked that came to mind. Theodore Roosevelt national park, it's in North Dakota. And we went on a hike. I'd have to look up what, what the hike was, but we saw petrified wood. It was really just very diverse. We went on some in some wheat fields on in the plains and the wind was blowing and I thought if this isn't heaven, I don't know what this is. It was, it was magical. And then one of another hike. Well this one was when we got to a certain part in Glacier National Park. We got up to than a hotel and it's in front of mini Glacier and over Swift Current Lake. And I got emotional. I was holding back tears. I was like this is one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. [00:08:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:08:44] Speaker B: And then there was another one. Oh Mount Rainier. The I, I am a sucker for snow capped mountains and glacier lakes. We saw the amount of wildflowers that we saw on one of the hikes. It was just stunning. I. It was, yeah. We've been to some really beautiful. Beautiful. [00:09:05] Speaker A: Yeah. And I love that you've revisited those even though you've seen them and it's. You're right. When you see them in different seasons, it's completely different because even if you've seen the same thing, it's something, it's just, it is magical. Glacier is one of our absolute favorites so far and we would love to buy land up there but there's pricey. They really, really like, they really like their postage stamps up there. [00:09:35] Speaker B: But that, yes, that's our number one park so far. We still have Alaska and Hawaii to go. So I have a feeling Alaska is going to blow everything out of the water. But glacier is unbelievable. [00:09:52] Speaker A: It is, it really is. And you know I, before we had gone there, we had seen. I'd seen so many posts and you know, just social media pictures and things and I'm like there's no way that that's real. There's no way that that's on Photoshop. And then you go there and the pictures that we have, people are like that's real. I'm like that is from an iPhone. And it does it obviously it doesn't even do it justice. The gorgeous. Yes. So I was same. I was in tears and so many places there because of the care that God took to create those things. And you know, if you think about that, if God took so much care to create this gorgeousness here on earth, how much more care did he take to create us as humans? In his likeness. And that makes me emotional thinking as well is like, we're talking about trees and rocks and mountains and how gorgeous they are. But think about how much more he spent for us, which. Ah, man, golly, I love. I love nature. I love it so much. So have you thought about. Is there anything about God's character that you've learned or that he's taught you? In seeing each of these places, is there anything that maybe your kids. Because I know that when we go to these places, some of the most incredible statements are said through my kids. And I'm like, how do you even. Where is this coming from? Right. Is there anything that that's, like, that has happened for y' all? [00:11:34] Speaker B: I think so. The. Your first question with God's character, I think his creativity. There's been so many different things that we've seen. You know, wouldn't be in our top, you know, 10, but like saguaro national park in Arizona. These just massive cacti that are just so different but so cool. There was another place that we went to, and I think it was in Joshua Tree. Oh, it was the chala cactus area, and it was like a neon green. I. I don't even know. You can't really describe it until you see it. And then there were some places in Death Valley that we went to that called Devil's Golf Course. And I just. The creativity of, like, what happens with all of the, you know, the flats and just the Death Valley was one of those ones that really surprised us. So obviously, don't go in the summer, but go. Go in the spring. And it was just a beautiful, beautiful park. We really. That. That one kind of blew us away. I think God's beauty and care and detail into creation and his creativity and just his power, too. Like, just how majestic some of these things are. When we went to Yosemite, these massive granite walls and waterfalls coming off of them, and just. Yeah, I. It's just incredible there. Yeah, there's. There's definitely plenty of things to do in the parks other than hike. But there is a hiker's high that happens. [00:13:12] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:13:13] Speaker B: And you're. You're kind of pushing through pain, and it's uncomfortable. And, you know, there was one hike that we did in. In Glacier that I remember specifically. You know, you're addicted to hiking when it's raining. It hasn't stopped raining. But you only have one more day left, and. [00:13:29] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:30] Speaker B: Well, we really wanted to do this hike. So are we gonna just bite the bullet and, you know, put on our raincoats. And yes, go do this. And so it was. It was definitely not. Like, on the way up, I thought, oh, man, this is regrettable. I had realized that I had. I actually had grabbed my windbreaker, not my waterproof rain jacket. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Oh, no, it was. [00:13:53] Speaker B: And it was getting colder as we were getting to. We went to Iceberg Lake. But it was one of those ones. I was like, I mean, when are we ever gonna be here again? Like, we've gotta do this hike. It's on our list to do. And it was a 10 mile. So we. We get, you know, we're getting near the end and there's snow on the path and you're just kind of, you know, begrudgingly, like, going through this and. And then you get there and you're like, oh, it was totally worth it. Yeah. Yeah, it was incredible. Like, I would do it again. [00:14:20] Speaker A: Yes. [00:14:21] Speaker B: Even not in the rain. Lots of hikes that, you know, with higher elevations, you're kind of regretting you know what you're doing and you're like. And kids don't have a filter. So we're not this perfect national park family who, you know, our kids have. Are like, you know, oh, this is so amazing. Like, oh, this is terrible. Like, oh, when are we gonna be there? Like, you know, when are we gonna get to. How much longer? You know, and then you get. Of course, I will say, though, on that Iceberg Lake one on the way up, one of my third son, Brooks, he's just, ah, you know, just kind of not. Not enjoying it. And then on the way back, like, that's the best hike I've ever done. Like, yes, it's so. It's so funny how kids, their perspective changes so quickly. [00:15:06] Speaker A: Oh, so quickly. Yes, yes. But it also, you know, it shows you, you know, how we, I mean, sometimes we're like that in life where we're just like, golly, man, this just really sucks. But then you get to whatever that is, right? And you're like, you know what? It actually was worth it. And would I do it again? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Soaking wet in the rain? Prob. Probably not. We could prepare. We will. We will prepare differently. But yes, that is. That is really cool to see how it reminds me of Easter when you do, like, Easter egg hunts and the kids will go 100 miles an hour and go find every single egg, but you ask them to go pick up their socks in the house and they can't. Right? And the same thing, like with these hikes is that when we go on a what the kids call a boring hike, and they are exhausted and their legs hurt, and they just can't do it. But when we go on these incredible, gorgeous hikes, which I think most all of them are incredible and gorgeous anyway, but, you know, for the kids, it's a different. It's. It is a different perspective. But when they have that, they are running full force in front of us, we can't find them. They're, you know, climbing cliffs 100ft in the air, and they're like, mom, look at me. I'm like, yeah, let's come back. But also, I thought you were. I thought your legs were gonna fall off. Like, I thought you were so tired. So it's. It is funny to see that different perspective in, you know, things that we enjoy and the times when we don't so much enjoy it. [00:16:41] Speaker B: Yeah. Our second son, we've. We've burned him out. He's, you know, and in the last few. Well, there's some parks that you just don't hike. There's just other things to do. Like. Yeah, but we did do whitewater rafting and glacier, and I mean, that was. That was their favorite thing we did on that trip. They're like the white water rafting. I will say. Our first son, he's going to a camp this summer out in Colorado, and he's getting to hike Pikes Peak. Well, you get to choose, you know, do you want water rafting or zipline or hike Pikes Peak? And he picked Hike Pikes Peak. [00:17:13] Speaker A: And I was like, no way apparent moment. Oh, my gosh. [00:17:17] Speaker B: I was so excited that he picked the challenge one because it's. It's incredible to be out there and, you know, to experience. You work for it, but you get. You get the pleasure of being at the top where not a lot of people. [00:17:30] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. Funny story about Pikes Peak. We actually were there last year, and we. Well, we didn't hike Pikes Peak, but we went and it was just like a day trip in the Rockies. It had just opened, and we're like, we are going to go and just stop whenever we want. And, you know, it was one of those. And I'm sure that you've had those, where you just drive and you stop when you want and you take it, you know, whatever. No. No plans. And so we saw. We just kept going up and elevation, and we're like, wow, we can make it to 13,000. Let's try it. So we start driving, and this is the Pikes Peak, and we start Driving. And we pull into where it says, like, this is where it's supposed to go. Okay, cool. We pull in and we start seeing the amount of money that the people that the. The clothes and the. The gear that they had were more than our truck. And we've got a really nice truck. And. And I told Jeremy, I said, babe, this is not our hike. We are not making it. We are not in the right place. And you could see like they were. Either half of them were fully dressed or they had just come down and they were full, fully halfly undressed, and they were, you know, you. Yes. And so we're like, wow. Okay, we saw it. We took a picture of the top and we turned back around. We were not prepared for that hike. [00:19:03] Speaker B: Thousand elevation. It's. I don't remember the exact. But it's 14. It's a 14er. So the people that are legit doing that, I mean, there's not a lot of oxygen up there. [00:19:13] Speaker A: No, there's not. And, you know, we have three people in our family with asthma, and I am one of them. And so coming from Tennessee, which does not have high elevation to going to. Even just driving that. So each of those hikes that we did do that, we were. We were about. At 11, about 10 or 11 was the highest that we actually got to drive to. But even just that was so exhausting. And we really had to just check back in because we weren't used to it, but we wanted to see so much and. But then we had to just pull back, and that's okay. You know what? Sometimes in life you just have to know when it's not yours. And that's when you pull out of that parking lot and go, you know what a picture is gonna be. Okay. So that. Oh, my gosh, I cannot wait to hear about his experience hiking that and how. So how old is he now? [00:20:04] Speaker B: He's 16. [00:20:05] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh. Wow. How are our kids growing up so fast? My oldest, he just got his permit. And that is. That's a lot. [00:20:17] Speaker B: It is. [00:20:17] Speaker A: That's a lot. That's a lot. So how have these adventures changed how your family lives day to day? So obviously you do all this planning and you go to these. These amazing, gorgeous places, but what does that look like when you come back home? [00:20:34] Speaker B: I feel like I'm a full time our travel agent because we go on a trip and on spring break, summer break, and fall break. So our goal is to go on five a year. We're actually trying to finish them before our oldest goes off to college. So we have. Yeah, we have five more this year. And then next year we have. So far, we have 1, 2, 3, 4. We have 5 for next year planned. So this year is a heavy year. We've already been to two. Not super exciting. But we did Cuyahoga Valley, you know, in Cleveland, Ohio, and then we did Mammoth Cave. We hadn't gone to do some of the ones that were close to us. Yeah. And then. But this summer, we're gonna do Isle Royale, which is in Lake Superior, which is up in Michigan, so it's like the Upper Peninsula. And then Voyagers, which is Minnesota, and those are both. Voyagers is on the water. And then Isle Royale is only accessible by ferry or by seaplane, so that one is a little bit harder to get to. And then this fall, we're doing Hawaii. So our family. I mean, we're. We've been excited about Hawaii for several months. That one, because there's. There's a national park, America Samoa, which is pretty much between Australia and the continental United States. So that one's going to be a beast. But we'll fly out to Honolulu and then we'll do that one and then come back, and then there's Hawaii volcanoes and Haleakala in Hawaii. So that's a big trip. That's probably one of our more expensive trips just to get six people out there and. [00:22:08] Speaker A: Oh, for sure. [00:22:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Then. Then you have to fly again to America Samoa. So that one, we've. We're like, let's go light on all the spending this year, guys. [00:22:17] Speaker A: Yeah. For real. [00:22:19] Speaker B: Like, we're gonna need to watch our expenses. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Yes. So for those that can't get to national parks, what would you say are some practical, like, simple ways that we can begin to notice and, you know, honor God's creation here at home? [00:22:35] Speaker B: I mean, there. I'm not a national park snob. As far as there's some beautiful state parks, you know, in your area that are worth going to. And. And just being outside, it's just great to be outside. I think that's one of the things that we love about the national parks, because there's not usually WI FI service in a lot of the areas we go to. And, you know, or it's very limited. And so it's really an unplugging from the busyness and, you know, just being connected to the world around you and the people. As far as just, you know, I. To me, as I've reflected more on social media, as much as I love it, it's not A real connection with anyone. And so this year I've kind of stepped back from it quite a bit and tried to be intentional about like, hey, who, who? Let's, you know, let's be intentional about actually making connections with people and spending time with people instead of kind of getting these updates on people's lives. It's not as fulfilling to me personally as spending quality time with people. We have some friends that we were close with whenever we lived in Nashville and like they came down this year and spent the weekend with us with their four kids and we had another family with six people come down and stay with us. And those were fantastic. I, I just love stepping away from some of the social just to connect with people. And we're gonna plan a trip just to go to lbl, the land between the lakes in Kentucky, and go camping for a weekend with them. There's so many things you can do. You don't have to go to a national park just to get outside and, and be in nature and stuff. So you should do it. [00:24:10] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. Well, and you know, I know in our own travels, when we before our full time travel, which was three years ago, over a little over three years ago now, we, we did some trips. It just felt so big to be able to do that. I feel like that weight was too much for us. But now being on the road full time and like this is what we do, full time is travel. We are more intentional about making space for just being outside, being, you know, on a daily walk, being in God's creation and allowing the Lord to remind us of all of those things. Creating those, those moments in ordinary daily times in creation, in his amazingness outside, getting outside of the house, getting outside of, you know, for us it's our bus. And just being in what he's created and it, it really does change your perspective. It changes how you think about things when you are out there. And you're right, it doesn't have to be a national park. It doesn't even have to be a state park. It can literally be your backyard. Go be in the grass, go lay underneath a tree. And you know, honestly, this might be a little woo woo for some people, but the, the energy that, that the earth has and whether you believe it or not, the earth has energy because God created it, right? Everything has energy. That grounding of being in nature and the grounding and the calming, I can't remember what the scientific word is, but seeing moving water actually releases and relieves anxiety. There's there, go look it up. It's a whole. There's so much science about. [00:26:04] Speaker B: I believe you. [00:26:05] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Exactly. There's so much science about being in nature, you know, being in the water, being in the grass. And then people wonder if they never go outside. They're like, why, why, why do I not feel well? Well, maybe because you're not going outside. And you know, if you notice, and I'm sure you do, those, those that, those of us that are outside, often for us, we are not sick very often because we are outside. We just seem to be happier because we know that we can always, there's always a place to go. Right. So being intentional with that time and going to connect with the Lord, whether it be in your backyard, at a state park, in a national park, in the water, whatever it is, go outside and do that. So on that note, as we wrap up, what is one perspective that you would encourage listeners to apply today? [00:27:00] Speaker B: So when you were saying that, something I was thinking about is, you know, the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. And I think we forget that God delights in that when we're enjoying him and his creation and spending time like you're saying, just being outside. Brandon and I try to walk most nights after dinner, just getting outside for 20 minutes. We're going to sit out under the oak tree and watch the sunset. We do that a lot more in the summer and fall. Yeah. [00:27:31] Speaker A: When it's warmer, you have a beautiful view there, too. [00:27:35] Speaker B: So just remembering that, you know, it doesn't have to look a certain way to glorify God. Like if you're enjoying him and his creation, he delights in that. Like, he wants you to take time to slow down. I have same issues in my house is like you're working in your house so much, sometimes you have to stop and just look outside and look at the sky and look at how beautiful the trees are in the green. And whatever season you're in, just stop and enjoy it and relish God's beauty in creation. So yeah. [00:28:06] Speaker A: Oh, this has been so good. Thank you, Tiffany, for being here, for sharing your heart and all of these amazing adventures with us and friends. If this episode has inspired you to seek God in creation, be sure to share it with one of your friends and subscribe so that you never miss an episode. And remember, even small shifts in perspective can lead to big changes. Now go put those perspectives into practice. Talk to you next time.