My husband and I spent the past week camping in northern Minnesota. We enjoyed the beauty of lakes and woods, wildlife and birdsong, warm sunny days and chilly rainy nights. When we were on one of our hikes, the details of the nature around really had my attention. So many kinds of trees. Some beautiful, majestic and tall. Others small, some struggling and some dead and decaying. Such a variety of plants, moss, wildflowers. As we moved along it was easy to almost forget about the grand forest in which we were engulfed. It was hard to see the forest for the trees.

The attached photo is just a memory now. Once in a while during my full time teaching days, I would need to leave that classroom for a moment--perhaps to grab something from the printer in the next room or check in with a colleague. If the students were highly engaged in the task at hand, they often never knew I stepped out. But sometimes it only took a couple of observant kiddos to recognize my absence and the whole place would fall apart.

A year or so ago we purchased a power washer. It's been life-changing. We've used power nozzles on our hoses and other "wanna be" options but now that we can connect to a more effective power source, we can really accomplish some things! I wonder how many of us as Christians are living our lives in our own feeble power and failing to connect to the source that is at our fingertips--or, rather, in our very souls.