Ecosystems

The other day, my good friend Jay & I enjoyed our new favorite show, New Girl, via hulu.  Jay & I have been watching tv together since our undergraduate student teacher days.  Initially, we claimed we were getting together to grade papers, but really I think we just wanted some sanity & adult interaction during a very new and trying part of our lives.  We now live in separate states, so we watch shows online and text each other during an episode, as though we were sitting right next to each other.

Anyway, we watched the latest episode of New Girl, titled "Control."  In this particular episode, Jess (who is a teacher, yay!) tries to loosen up one of her Type-A, OCD-ish roommates, Schmidt.  The other roommates warn her not to because she will ruin the apartment ecosystem, as Schmidt is the one who does all the cooking and cleaning.  Long story short, Jess does loosen Schmidt up, to the point where he abandons all apartment responsibilities and the "ecosystem" is a hot mess.

I was thinking about this concept of ecosystems today as I went for a hike at a nearby nature preserve/trail. It has been unusually hot this March (75 degrees...are you serious???), and nature is rightly responding to the temperatures.  During my walk I saw signs of life all over--small buds on trees, tiny green shoots emerging out of brown grass, enormous squirrels coming out of hibernation.

I also took a minute to stop by the river that goes throughout the trail.  I noticed how everything works together.  The tree roots need the water, the animals need the foliage growing nearby, the water carries necessary items to and fro...and suddenly this song came to mind:

All Things Are Working -- Fred Hammond & RFC

Immediately, I turned to this song on my iPod & began to quietly worship.  Just as God works everything out in nature, surely He always has & will continue to work everything out in my life.  He is the director of my ecosystem, keeping everything in divine order.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. ~ Romans 8:28