For the Beauty of the Earth

A friend of mine has decided to go to Europe for an undetermined amount of time. When I heard this news I thought to myself, "I would love to spend an unlimited amount of time in Europe, seeing all the gorgeous views." 

I then realized that we often take for granted the beauty we have right here in the United States-more specifically, Iowa. 

As the daughter of a city maintenance man who has to plow all of it, I was raised to dislike snow. I'm still not a huge fan of it, but pictures like this make me realize that it's just another one of God's great treasures He gives us. 

With the beautiful fall weather we had this year, it was easy to slow down on my walk to class and capture simple beauty like this: 

Now if we travel back to the place I call home, Calhoun County, Iowa, we find treasures like these: 

And the best place of all: Twin Lakes, Iowa

With our chaotic lives, it's important to stop and take in the beauty of the Earth, for God is the world's greatest artist.