“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small.” -Psalm 104:24, 25 NIV
A zookeeper once told me (along with a bunch of little kids at Vacation Bible School) that the difference between humans and the animals at her zoo is that we humans have the CHOICE to glorify God every day. We wake up in the morning and we make a decision that day to do everything to God’s glory or to do whatever we want. But animals don’t have the choice. They glorify God just by being themselves. Pretty cool when you think about it, huh? And it is evident even to us humans how glorious these animals are when we just look around. Or if we would say… I don’t know… go visit a zoo?!
Pearson and I went to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium on Saturday. This is the 8th largest zoo in the world, 4th largest in the country, and it is considered the “best” zoo in America by several different polls. And what’s the best part? We live like 10 minutes away!
Anyway, as I was saying before, this trip to the zoo truly opened my eyes. I felt like a little kid. Every new animal we saw brought “ooh’s” “ahh’s” and squeals out of me. I saw the work of our God everywhere and it was completely overwhelming. I want to share a few of the most impressive animals.
First, the tiger: Absolutely beautiful. I wish you all could see it in person. Words cannot describe.
Next, the lions: The King of the animals! I wish they would have gotten up and walked around. But just seeing their massive size and being that close to them was breathtaking.
Next, the rhino: I cannot believe God made something so powerful. This guy was very impressive. And he stood so still that he looked like a statue because it is hard to believe these things actually exist. But right as I was thinking this, he slowly moved his head as if telling me, “No, I am real. Believe it.”
They had some beautiful kangaroos. Again, I wish they had gotten up and moved around but now that I think about it that would be kind of scary. We were almost close enough to them to touch them and there was only a little rope between us. Amazing!
Here are some of the reptiles: The reptile house was Pearson’s favorite part. There are way too many to post them all but here are some of the more impressive ones.
The gorilla was amazing!! But he looked either bored or sad and made me feel bad for him. It is really cool how they actually have personalities.
They had a couple of Harding Bison(s)!
The bats were super cool!
We got to pet and feed stingrays. That was phenomenal. They came right up to us and enjoyed the attention. It was like petting a dog. I could have stayed there for the rest of the day.
And last, but not least: The Manatee. I don’t know what it was about this animal but I think it impacted me the most. I don’t know if it was the size; maybe I expected them to be smaller, or just the fact that they actually do exist and live out there in the huge ocean mostly hidden from humans. And yet, the Columbus zoo has 3 and we got to watch them swim around in their little tank. Maybe it is because it is just such a peculiar creature. Sailors used to see them and think they were mermaids. That is so cool. God made this amazing creature. And he made us. Again, I can’t put the experience into words but it was astonishing. (BTW, the manatees only come to the zoo if they are hurt or sick and cannot make it on their own in the ocean. If they are nursed back to health, they are released again. So don’t worry about their being stuck in a tank all their lives like I did at first).
I hope this post has blessed you half as much as the visit to the zoo blessed me, but I know a blog post with a few pictures doesn’t do the real thing justice. God is good, all the time. He is powerful and I just love when He finds a way to remind me of that.
What’s your favorite animal at the zoo?
Thanks for reading!
What’s your favorite animal at the zoo?
Thanks for reading!
