Green Medicine

Lori Harrington

Description

A relationship between a father and daughter teaches her to love nature and creation opening her heart to the gift of God's Green Medicine.

Growing up in the Midwest, Lori Harrington's father taught her to enjoy the great outdoors. Walks along the Illinois River and drives in the countryside as well as vacations all across this country, she learned to appreciate the beauty of nature from her dad. At one point in her early adult years, her father told her she needed to go for a hike and get some of God's Green Medicine to clear her mind and refresh her perspective. This term became a running theme in their relationship and they often referenced getting a 'daily dose of God’s Green Medicine.'

After the passing of Lori’s father, she pulled out boxes of letters from him to revisit memories and realized how the relationship she had with her father affected her life. Having tossed the idea around of making their reference of God’s Green Medicine into something more tangible, she decided it was time to share it with others.

The basis of Green Medicine is God created the earth and nature. We are surrounded by God in His Creation. Through good and bad times, struggles in life and relationships, God is all around us. But this book is also about the impact a parent can have in their child’s life. Lori weaves together excerpts from her father’s letters with incidents of family and friends and her photography. You are invited to journey through Lori’s experiences with life, relationships, and nature and, if you like, journal your own Green Medicine encounters.

Sujets

• Vie de famille
• Parentalité et Éducation des Enfants
• Habitats
• Ecosystems
• Sciences et techniques
• Creation
• Green
• Nature
• Alaska

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 07 février 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664287464
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 7 Mo

Extrait

Green MEDICINE

A GIFT FROM MY FATHER







LORI HARRINGTON



Copyright © 2023 Lori Harrington.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.



WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Lori Harrington

Scripture marked (NKJV) taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (ASV) taken from the American Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8745-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-8746-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022923642



WestBow Press rev. date: 1/30/2023





CONTENTS
Green Medicine
Green Medicine
Tiger Lily Festival
Friendly Connections
In The Beginning
Driving To Alaska
Salt Of The Earth
Still Waters
Quiet Confidence
Experience Of Light
Do Not Worry
Greater From Sorrow
God’s Pocket
Focused For The Journey
He Touches The Mountains
Silhouettes Of Love
God And The Speed Of Light
Hess’s Farm
Reflection Pond
Stand In A Different Place
Careful Guidance
A Day At Mendenhall
Sunsets With Joraz
The Clear View
Close To God
Making Good Out Of Bad
What Lasts Forever
3:00 A.m. Calm
Forks In The Road
Thunderstorms
Eagle Festival
Illinois River With Dad
Well, What About Me? The Choice Is Mine
Things We Say
May The Lord Bless You And Keep You
Love Of Flowers
Fresh Beginnings
A Thousand Springs
Rainbows
Music And Joy
The Sun Knows Its Setting
Significant In Vastness
The Choices We Make
Carrying God’s Water
Being Thankful
Strength
Compassion
God’s Purpose
Light To See The Darkness
A Perfect Day
Stretch Out The Heavens
Rivers Flow Between Mountains
Denali
The Last Letter
Tiger Lily
The Sinner’s Prayer







Graphic clips from Art Stepansky’s letters to his daughter, Lori Harrington, appear with most written entries throughout the book. All photography by Lori Harrington
GREEN MEDICINE

Romans 1:19–20
Because what may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. (NKJV)
Yes, this book is about the beauty of God’s creation and the effect it can have on your daily life, but it is also about the relationship between a father and a daughter and the impact of a parent on a child’s life. This is dedicated to the memory of my father.
God is all around us … let Him in.




Footbridge on Porter’s Creek Trail—Greenbrier area of the Smoky Mountain National Park
GREEN MEDICINE

Psalm 92:1–2, 4
It is good to give thanks to the Lord, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your loving kindness in the morning, and Your faithfulness every night … For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands. (NKJV)
A week after my eighteenth birthday, I moved out on my own and into the years of adulthood. The stresses of everyday life entered the picture for me, as they do for everyone. During my time living in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, I worked hard at my various jobs, but my time off was spent hiking and exploring the Great Smoky Mountains. Getting out in nature and seeing the amazing beauty of the area was a good release of stress. It gave me time to think, refocus, and get grounded in what really matters.
My dad and I stayed in touch, and whether by letter or telephone, I would share my adventures of life. On one of those telephone occasions, I was dealing with an unpleasant situation at work and shared it with my father. His response was to encourage me to go for a hike—to get out and enjoy nature where I was living and all that God created. Let it clear my mind. He said nature was God’s Green Medicine for the soul, the cure for everything.
The term stuck. And from then on, there was always an undertone to our conversations regarding any aspect of life being tied to the perspective that God is all around us every day in His creation. Communication from my father almost always included the statement of making sure I was taking my Green Medicine .
As my photography skills developed and I broadened my travel adventures to other parts of the world, I was able to share my Green Medicine experiences all the better with my dad and others.
I now live in Alaska, but you don’t need exposure to the grandeur of such a state to get your Green Medicine . Daily doses can be taken by enjoying flowers in your home or yard, noticing a beautiful sunset wherever you are, listening to a thunderstorm, or witnessing the many other ways in which nature presents itself. Whether driving, hiking, walking around the neighborhood, or just sitting on your deck, no matter where you are, you can get your Green Medicine everywhere and every day. The nature around you is a reminder that God is here in His creation that surrounds us, and He is in control.
I don’t pretend to believe that all your troubles will melt away when you look at a pretty flower or a colorful sunset. Someone enduring the pain of the evil and cruelty in this world from some kind of abuse to the tragic loss of a loved one is not going to feel better by simply taking a walk in the woods. But the nature God created is a reminder that no matter what is going on, He is there with you. There is much to be thankful for in our lives regardless of the circumstances.
So take time to get into nature and the outdoors. Let God restore your soul, reset your perspective, and rejuvenate your thinking by reflecting on life as you spend time with Him in the world He created.





Daylily/tiger lily—Waiheke Island, New Zealand
TIGER LILY FESTIVAL

Matthew 6:28
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not … (ASV)
I think of this orange lily as a tiger lily, but I believe that in New Zealand, where this photo was taken, it is actually called a daylily or Hemerocallis . I was fortunate enough to go to New Zealand and Australia on a business trip, and I added on a few extra days of personal time. I was able to spend a night on Waiheke Island at a B&B.
A walkway down to the beach was lined with beautiful flowers and vegetation. I broke all the photography rules for this low-light situation and did not use a tripod. It still turned out wonderfully and is one of my all-time favorites. Orange lilies bring back some of the best of memories of my Dad.
As a child, when the lazy days of summer were just beginning and school was out, I had a daily agenda of going to the pool, riding my bike, and playing with friends. My neighborhood in Chillicothe, Illinois, was my world. I was always traveling to the boundary edges, wondering what was beyond. What would it feel like to be past the permissible limits that had been set for me? I wanted to go farther down the road or follow a trail to see where it went. As I pondered what the view would be like from where my curiosity could not be fulfilled at the time, I would make my way home, where my adventurous mind refocused on the rest of my day.
Often on summer evenings or weekends, my dad would take the family for a drive in the countryside in and around Chillicothe. We traveled the scenic routes to and from Peoria. In early summer, we were all instructed to keep an eye out for the orange tiger lilies. My dad loved these flowers, which grew wild in the roadside ditches each June. To him, seeing this flower meant summer had arrived, and it was time to celebrate.
From this, he derived our annual Tiger Lily Festival. When the first tiger lily was finally spotted, the festivities began in the form