We spent last weekend camping with some dear friends of ours. Our boys have grown up together (my, have they grown!). They are the sweetest people you could ever meet. We had such a good time – kayaking, swimming, relaxing, shopping, talking, fellowshipping. Precious times.

Anyway, more on that later. I hope to have pictures to post in a day or two.

This week’s Wonderful Word is pastoral.

Not as in relating to things a pastor does.

Pastoral – of or relating to the countryside : not urban and
pleasingly peaceful and innocent : idyllic

As we drove home yesterday, I peered out the window at the Wisconsin countryside. It’s beautiful right now – green, lush, crops sprouting, cows in the fields. The rolling hills are covered with trees. You top a rise and can see for miles. The sky was blue, the temperatures perfect.

Comparing the beauty of Wisconsin to the beauty of Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon is difficult because they are all such different places. Out west, you find majestic beauty. Awe-inspiring. Breath-taking.

Then the word pastoral popped into my head. That describes the beauty of Wisconsin the best. It’s peaceful, serene, restful. Pastoral. Deer grazing at the side of the road. Turkeys strutting around the fields. Cardinals calling to each other from the trees.

Pastoral. A river wending it’s way through the marsh.
A waveless calm lake at sunset.

Waves lapping at a sandy beach.

God created a beautiful world for us to live in, with unimaginable diversity. As for me, give me a pastoral scene any day. Right now, my window frames green grass, swaying trees, and a colorful garden. Sigh.

What about where you live?