Standing in the Badlands, I found myself asking a question.
What happened here?
What kind of cataclysmic event shaped this landscape?
A heat wave? A flood? A drought? Meteorites? Thousands of years of wind and weather?
I don’t really know.
What I do know is that something happened here, and it left an impression.
As I drove through those incredible formations, I couldn’t help but feel profoundly grateful.
To live in a place where I can, within a day’s drive, experience landscapes like this is an extraordinary gift. There are beautiful places all over the world, but I’m speaking from what I know and what I’ve been blessed to experience.
As I looked around, this became my conversation with God.
The quiet.
The solitude.
The beauty.
It all invited me to slow down.
If you’ve never visited one of our national or state parks, make yourself a promise that you will. These places have a way of changing your perspective.
They certainly changed mine.
For me, there are still places on this planet that feel like the Garden of Eden.
Maybe your Garden of Eden isn’t the Badlands.
Maybe it’s a mountain trail.
A quiet lake.
Your backyard.
Or a small garden where you can simply sit, breathe, and spend time with God.
What matters isn’t where it is.
What matters is that you find it.
When I find those places, everything else comes into perspective.
My relationships.
My work.
The projects I’m building.
The worries I’m carrying.
Out there, I find myself asking a much simpler question.
What really matters?
The answer isn’t success.
It isn’t achievement.
It’s love.
It’s faith.
It’s the people who walk beside us.
It’s the opportunity to become a better version of ourselves each day.
None of us has everything figured out.
I certainly don’t.
I’m still learning.
I’m still asking questions.
I’m still trying to make good choices one day at a time.
Nature has a way of reminding me that life isn’t about having all the answers.
Sometimes it’s enough to stand in awe, be grateful for the beauty around you, and let that gratitude reshape the way you walk back into everyday life.