Last Child in the Woods

So, my mom gave me this book ages ago: "Last Child in the Woods" by Richard Louv.I just started reading it about a week ago, and it is amazing. I figured it would be based on it's subject: Kids and the Great Outdoors, but have been surprised at just how much it touches my heart.

I grew up outside.

Trees were my friends, Nettles my enemies. Dirt was something to be treasured, not shied away from. The creek was an infinite source of pleasure. I spent many a summer hour just sitting on the roof of one of our sheds, or up in our treefort. I built numerous forts and hide-aways and "houses". I explored the boundaries and imagined and played and learned...

Even now, as an adult, the outside beacons..... the whisper of the trees still excites and surprises me. The smell of sweet summer grass fills me with glee. The woods and creek at my parents house still speak to me of a change-less time where peace and happiness are. I get into nature and I feel myself relax. Unwind. I take a subconscious deep breath. I belong, I am free.

I want this for my children. I want them to feel and experience the outside world the way I was able to. I don't want their experiences to be as limited as they have to be in the place we live, surrounded more by concrete and man-made objects than by trees and grass and dirt. I want them to be able to roam and run and breathe the sweet air that can only be found in the woods, near a creek, in a field. I want them to be able to create, build and yes, even destroy.

I do what I can. I bring the boys to the forest, I bring them to my parents house and watch with quiet pleasure as Liam asks to go outside...as he wanders through the paths and places I once did. I am sure David will join him in the years to come, and together they will find what I found: that nature is one of God's most beautiful gifts to us, a treasure to be most completely and profoundly thankful for.