Wild and Free Catholic Living: Creation with Our Children

Wild and free Catholic living is simple, embrace creation with your children. God gave you these wonderful people that are drawn towards God’s canvas. His grand design calls out to experience his beautiful design. We can really embrace God’s design through wonder, experiencing extremes and foraging.

Wild and Free Catholic living: wonder at creation with our children

Children need the opportunity to be in awe at what God has created. They need to know that nature points us towards something bigger and grander than anything they can comprehend. Grand nature points to an even grander God. Wondering at God’s majesty and creativity is not only discussed amongst my children and I, but thoroughly dissected by my four-year-old, Madeleine, pictured above.

Wild and Free Catholic Living: experiencing extremes with our children

All children need to understand the value of life by experiencing the extremes that nature has to offer. We can appreciate our smallness and our need for God when we are in nature. Living the human experience needs to be done where life happens in real time as the lighting, terrain and climate change. Outside, we experience suffering and difficulty in an organic way. Not only does this prepare us for other suffering in life, experiencing nature helps us stay grounded. Keeping children from this experience is not good.

Wild and Free Catholic Living: foraging with our children

My mom and dad taught me to appreciate the mountains and all that the trees and bushes have to offer. Years spent picking elderberries, and choke cherries, passed from me to my husband and kids. Picking fruit has become part of our family culture. We love going to the mountains, and also, pick backyard fruit like Nan King Cherries and apples. My husband looks forward to the antibodies of elderberry syrup, and my children love the cherry cordial I make from our friend’s Nan King Cherry Trees. The time we get to spend as a family is beautiful, and it feels good making use of the fruit God provided. My heart spills with gratitude for our Lord who provides so much goodness!