All Creatures Great and Small

Today I took a trip to Hogle Zoo with my best friend, Sarah, and what a great time we had! From the giraffes, to the birds, to the elephants and the new polar bear (who was LOVING all the attention), it was fun all around.

We watched the Wild Bird show, which was awesome, especially when the birds-hawks, owls, doves, eagles, you name it- were released from cages and swooped down low over the audience. In the middle of trying to take pictures, we were startled by two parrots that swooped over our heads, lightly touching the tops of them.  See what I mean? Awesome! We kept asking each other, "How do they train them to do that?!?"

Such cute giraffes-one of my personal favorites!

Momma and Baby Elephant

As we walked through the zoo, we commented to each other how amazing these animals are, and how they were each given specific traits by The Master to fulfill even the most basic activities, like eating or swimming. For example, there is a vulture that doesn't have any feathers on it's head. Why? The bird trainer said that, like other vultures, it eats anything dead, and that can get pretty messy. The lack of feathers keeps them from getting in the way while they gorge down on their lovely road kill.

And otters, they have an oily underfur and flat head that help them glide smoothly and quickly through the water. This comes in handy when chasing food and when being chased themselves.

We can see the glory and beauty of God's creations, all great and small, in places like zoos, aviary's, the mountains or just in your own backyard. I love to wake up in the morning to the sound of birds chirping out my window or go to the mountains and catch a glimpse of a doe and her fawn. Even the insects are fascinating-yes, even the creepy, freaky ones.

Heavenly Father's hand is in everything and everyone. Just as with our warm and cold-blooded friends, He made each and every one of us and gave us traits, strengths and qualities He knew we would need to survive and grow in this life and the life to come. The works of His hands are everywhere, and sometimes we just need to look out our window and see them.

Sarah and I after our fantastic adventure!