What a WONDER-full world: A conversation with Eryn Lynum

In this episode, Heather sits down with author, podcaster, Master Naturalist, and homeschooling mom Eryn Lynum for a rich conversation about wonder, rest, intentional family life, and the ways God reveals himself through creation.

Eryn reflects on how her work has evolved from writing about intentional parenting to exploring the deep connections between Scripture and the natural world. Together, Heather and Eryn talk about the idea of vital activities — those core rhythms and practices that keep our hearts, minds, bodies, and relationships well — and how those priorities can shift and deepen across different seasons of life.

They also explore the beauty of natural theology, the role of curiosity in both children and adults, and the invitation to slow down and notice the world around us. 

Resources:

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold

Listen to Nat Theo wherever you stream!

Follow along on IG @erynlynumauthor

Check out all the resources that Eryn has on her site!

Don't miss the free resources mentioned!

Catch more of the story @thanks.for.doing.that.podcast! 

Transcript

Heather Winchell  0:10  
hey, there you are listening to Thanks for doing that, a podcast celebrating people and ideas that make this world a better place.

I am Heather Winchell, your host and chief enthusiast, and I'm on a mission to bring you conversations that encourage, inspire and delight. So stay tuned for another episode where we explore the things we do, the reasons we do them, and why it matters. You

Hey there. Welcome back today. I am joined by Erin Lynam. She is a Master Naturalist, an author, podcaster, and a homeschooling mom, and my first memory of Erin was actually when I heard her speak about her first book. It was called 936 pennies, the joy of discovering intentional parenting. I remember, as I sat around a table full of moms in all stages of life that I was both sobered and intrigued by Erin's reminder that the 936 pennies represent the weeks we have in raising our children before they graduate. I loved her earnest desire to invest the time well. So fast forward a decade, and I had the privilege of previewing one of her books before it was released in the spring of 2025 that book was called the nature of rest, and it explores what the Bible and creation teach us about Sabbath living. It was a timely read for me in the midst of one of the most difficult seasons, and the lessons truly sustained me through the coming year. In my review of the book, I actually remarked that it was like daily Manna for the soul. Though Erin has held firmly to her ideas of intentional parenting and rest, she has also stepped boldly into some new adventures as well, and it is my joy to welcome her to the podcast today to hear about the journey and where she is headed. So, Erin, thank you so much for being here.

Eryn Lynum  2:05  
Thank you, Heather, thanks for having me.

Heather Winchell  2:08  
I would love to start with just a flyover of what this season of life looks like for you.

Eryn Lynum  2:14  
Oh, goodness, this is such a new season. So my husband and I have homeschooled our children since they were school ready, and our oldest is turning 15 this summer, and so we're always in this season of flux and change and growth and what's working and what's not working. And we've been business owners for years now, and so a lot of it is the same, but growing with a whole lot of new thrown in. My dad passed away suddenly three months ago, and my mom moved in with us, and so we're in a new season of just having her with us, which has been a joy, just getting to be close with my mom and her being around my kids as they're growing up. But you know, as you can imagine, just a lot of change in that as well. And so we're coming out of like we're in this season of loss, but also seeing God do so many new things, new things in our family, new things in our ministry and organization, new things to our marriage. And so I think it's a sweet season of seeing you can hold both joy and sorrow together, and that's been a theme of what God's been teaching me.

Heather Winchell  3:21  
I love that, and I'm so sorry about your father. Thank you. Yeah, I would love to hear how your contribution has evolved over time. Like I said, you've authored a few books. You have a podcast. Tell me about what happened in life between that first book and now, and how has your vocational direction clarified or been confirmed.

Eryn Lynum  3:45  
You know, it's been this beautiful thing. I think a lot of times, we don't see what God is doing until retrospect that we can, in a season, have no idea what he's doing, and then look back and be like, Oh, okay, that's what God was doing. And I feel like that has been my writing journey. And so you mentioned my first book, 936 pennies, and that was this biblical perspective on intentional parenting. Because, you know, I think over the past decade, intentional parenting has been this huge keyword, like, we all want to be intentional with our kids, right? But what does the Bible say about that? And so it's really a book about time and having a biblical perspective on time. And it's based on Psalm 9012 Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. And when I was writing that book in that season, I was becoming more and more enamored with being outdoors with my kids. And so while that wasn't a theme of the book, there was a chapter called nature's classroom, and it was all about really expanding time, making more of it by taking your kids outside. And it was really sweet that after that, it was a few years after that, there was kind of this desert season. After that book, it did well, and I was so excited to have a book out in the world. But after it, I was like, what now am I supposed to write another book? What do I write on? But that chapter nature's classroom became a seed.

In both in my my career as a writer, and just in my heart and in my parenting, that God just watered and watered more and watered more until I became so enamored with his outdoor world that I began to see, you know, there's something more here. And I began to see the power of we can teach our kids biblical truth through nature. And so that's where my second book, rooted in wonder, came in. And then very quickly after that, I went into the writing of the nature of rest. And that one being also focused on teaching biblical truth through nature. But more, it wasn't a parenting book. It was bringing in these themes of Sabbath and rest, because that was that had become such a critical part of our family's rhythm in life by necessity.

Heather Winchell  5:45  
I love that, and then I think we'll talk about it more. But you, even you have a book that's going to be coming out, right?

Eryn Lynum  5:51  
Yeah, coming out in the fall, yeah, yeah, again, in that, that realm of faith and science, but a children's book, a children's chapter book and illustrated Family Devotional, yeah.

Heather Winchell  6:01  
So one of the books that you mentioned to the nature of rest, one of the ideas that was most helpful for me from that book was that of vital activities. And I'd love to hear you expand on that for the listener, and then perhaps speak to how you have determined your own vital activities in such a busy and dynamic season of life.

Eryn Lynum  6:21  
So vital activities think about that idea of vital and we often think about vital signs when we go into a doctor's office and the nurse first thing she's going to do is check our vitals, our heart rate, our respiration, our temperature, and those are the first red flags that something is off. And so vital activities in our lives are those things. They almost act as meters, like if they're not doing well, we're not doing well. And so it's the most important activities that tend to our faith, our families, our marriage, if we're married, our relationships, our friendships, our physical health, spiritual health, mental health. It is the things that are not fluff, that are not distractions, that are not extra, those things that are truly critical for how we want to live. And so in the book, I use this analogy. And some of your listeners have probably heard or seen this analogy before, where you have a large glass jar and that represents one week of your time, and then you have these rocks, and the rocks are your values, your core values, or in in this sense, we would call them our vital activities. Those might be the should be your faith, your family. For some people, it would be their work, if their work is truly purposeful and what God has called them to. And so it's these most important things. And then we have sand. And the grains of sand are like all the extra stuff, the fluff, some of it's important. Laundry needs to get folded, dishes need to be washed, meals need to be cooked. But also some of it could just be done away with checking social media, Doom, scrolling things like that. So picture your jar of time. If you start with your values, those vital activities, if you place those in first, they're going to fit in the jar, and then the sand kind of fits in around it, and it naturally filters out some of that sand, maybe those things that don't need to be a part of your week. But think about, if you start with the sand, that jar is going to fill up, and there will be no room for your rocks, your values, and so our vital activities is prioritizing what is most important. And so that can even change season to season. Some things will definitely stay the same season to season. But for me right now, my vitals, my vital activities, are beginning the day in the word, beginning with silence and solitude, time in prayer, time in the scriptures, it is being out in creation every day, whether that is a five mile hike through the wilderness or a 10 minute walk down my street, like I did this morning, to chatting with neighbors along the way. Other vital activities are being active every day and enjoying time with my family every day. Again, that might be a big outing. It also might be reading with my kids for 20 minutes on the couch. If those things are being tended to, those vital activities, then I know that my heart, my mind, my body, my soul, my family, my faith, are well,

Heather Winchell  9:16  
I love that. And I'm curious, you know, because you do have a teenager, and you talked about a dynamic, changing season for your family now, and just you know, over over the past several years, I'm sure there's been a lot of life has looked different year to year. But would you say that for you, those vital activities, the rocks that are in that jar, have remained pretty consistent? Or would you say actually, it's changed more than I thought it would

Eryn Lynum  9:41  
that is such a good question. For the most part, they've remained the same, like some of those things are just biblical, like they should always be our values, but they have also changed a little bit from season to season. And I think about when Our family moved from the Midwest, where we're from, to Colorado 10 years ago. Yeah, we a big part of that move. Was we so desired community, and we were praying during that move. Lord root us into a church, root us into a community. And he was so faithful to do so and so in that season, and since then, community has been become one of those vital activities for us to prioritize, these core relationships, these core friendships for our children and for us in our church and in our homeschool community. And so that's become a new focus. And then also, it was about four years ago now, when our family we just came up against this wall realizing we had been hurt like just hurrying and hustling our life away. And that's where this book, the nature of rest, came out of. Was this new, this It wasn't even new, like, it's biblical, it's timeless idea of Sabbath and rest, but for us, it was God saying, Okay, it's time. You can't put this off any longer, and I have something great for you in this. And so that's when Sabbath and rest became a vital activity for our family.

Heather Winchell  11:02  
Yeah, I love that. I was actually just listening to another podcast about another book that I'm like, very excited to buy. It's called How Beauty will save the world. And one of the things he talks about in that is just how Sabbath and rest slows you enough to really see the delight and the wonder and the beauty that is all around and just how essential that really is, and how how much we miss, how much delight and how much invitation we miss by by not slowing down, by not saboting, by not resting. And so I think there's probably many reasons that we were called to be a people of of resting, of creating and then resting. But I think certainly one of those is just, you just miss a lot when you don't you know, something else that I really appreciated from this idea of vital activities in the book, the nature of rest was just, I really appreciated that in your book, you embraced the nuance that actually there are going to be seasons that are more full, and you can steward that well and still rest. And there are other seasons where it will be more simplified and time will be more expansive, and that's okay too. But I love that you didn't just try to give a formula for what that could look like, because it leaves room for the very real seasons where actually there is a little too much on my plate, but that's okay. I can sustain it. I just can't sustain it indefinitely. You know what I mean?

Eryn Lynum  12:27  
Yeah, I think that is so key. And my husband and I have often when we're in a really busy season, this is especially true because I'm like, the Go, go, go, do, do, do, and he's more okay, we need to stop and rest. And so he will often ask me, he'll say, like, this is okay, this pace is okay, but when does it stop? Right? So always having that that end date, and in the midst of that busyness, having these rhythms of rest, whether it's daily, rhythms of rest, weekly, seasonal or ideally, all of those, exactly like you said, it can be busy. Busy is good. God created us for meaningful work, which means that at times we're going to be busy. And so how do we sustain that, through this beautiful harmony of work and rest together, right?

Heather Winchell  13:13  
Yeah. Okay, another element that I really loved about the book was just learning all of the interesting and profound facts about the physical world around us in the the themes you draw on in nature in your podcast net, Theo also centers on what we can see in creation and how that's a natural springboard for understanding God and his story. What prompted you to start your podcast and teach in this way?

Eryn Lynum  13:39  
I think it's the most fun way to teach. Like you said, it was fun to read those nature analogies. I just feel like all the time God is like, Hey, let me wow you. Hey, let me wow you. Whether I'm outside with my kids, exploring or researching for my books and podcasts. And you know what really led to it was when I began spending more time in creation with my family. What really drew me to it was God began to open my eyes to the power of teaching theology and biblical truth through nature. And it dawned on me, this is how Jesus taught in the gospels with sparrows and wild flowers and sheep and seeds and Colossians. Tells us that Jesus was present with God at creation. And so when he was on earth during the Gospels, he was calling upon all these materials that he and the Father had fashioned together to teach biblical truths in a way that his audience could connect with and relate to and remember. So why would we not teach the same way? Why would we not learn the same way for I think this is so powerful for adults and for children. And so that's when I began digging into, you know, I wanted to understand more of nature. That's when I certified as a Master Naturalist to really understand all of our local plants and creatures and the ecosystems that they thrive in. And then when we were studying these two. Things together, Nature and Science and Scripture. God begins making these connections. And I believe he meant it to be this way, because the natural theologians, who were the original scientists, where science really came out of they, many of them, talked about these two books from God. First and foremost, of course, is scripture, the inspired Word of God, and that's where we get the gospel that's primary. But then this second book nature, that's called natural revelation, or sometimes called general revelation. And so this whole concept that we have these two revelations, God is so generous in revealing Himself to us, why would we not read them together? And Romans tells us, in Romans 120 that God's invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world through what has been made. And so we can see God's invisible qualities in what he has made, just like when you stare at a great painting. The longer you stand staring at it, the more you understand of that artist, or can glean of maybe their artistic style and their motivation. And so this whole idea of cat, let's, let's bring back natural theology, and let's use all of these beautiful, wonderful, memorable images and visuals and analogies in creation so we can better understand our Creator.

Heather Winchell  16:17  
Yeah, I love that, and it's, it's fun because my kids and I have listened to the podcast and learned so many fun things. And, you know, they they take an interest in what I'm up to when I'm recording. And I was telling them today that I was recording with you, and they were pretty excited about that. So, oh, that's so fun. Yeah, I'm wondering if there has been a discovery in nature or a connection to Scripture that has been personally impactful, and I'm sure there's been many, but I wonder if there's one that really stands out, and if you would be willing to share that with us.

Eryn Lynum  16:48  
Absolutely, there are so many. There's so many all the time. But I I want to share one that is very recent. And so recently, I was studying inchworms, and again, like God is like, let me Wow, you. Let me out you. And I was like, What can we learn about God from an inchworm? And I was researching it for an upcoming podcast lesson. But it also brought back all of these childhood memories of inchworms. Like, picture as a child playing out in the yard, and you feel like this tickle on your skin, and you can, like, picture this little inchworm inching up your arm. And I could, like, feel it from my childhood as I was thinking about inchworms. And then even last summer, we were back in Wisconsin, where I'm from, and I was at the beach with my kids, and I felt that tickle on my leg, and I looked down, and there is this crazy creature I've never seen before in my life, crawling up my leg. And at once I was like, is that an itch worm? Because it was doing that inching motion. But this thing had four they looked like tentacles extending off of its back, two pointing forward, two backwards. So it's like this inch worm with tentacles. And I'm like, is this thing? Is it growing fungus? Like, what is going on, and later I found out it's called a horned span worm, and it is indeed a type of inchworm. So inchworms, right? Like, despite their name, they're not worms, they're caterpillars, and they're moth caterpillars. They turn into geometer moths, and their name, their original name, their scientific name, means earth measurer, because they look like measuring tape as they're going along. They look like they're measuring the earth inch by inch. And of course, they can't actually measure the earth like it's a caterpillar. It's not even going to stay a caterpillar very long, like it can maybe measure flower stem and a branch. But we know from scripture that God does measure the Earth, the same God who designed this incredible inchworm, he measures the earth. And we read in Isaiah 4012 who has measured the oceans in the palm of his hand, who has used his hand to measure the sky, who has used a bowl to measure all the dust of the earth, and scales to weigh the mountains and hills. And so as I was thinking about inchworms, and thinking about the God who created them, who measures the earth, you know, he knows every corner of the earth, the solar system of the Milky Way, galaxy of the universe. And he knows us. He knows the number of hairs on our head. And think about all these numbers and measurements and that there's around 8.3 billion people on Earth, and yet, God knows you like. You are not a number. You are a name. You are a person. You are His child. And so something as simple as this, that when our kids are playing outside, or when we're sitting in the grass and find a little inch worm, and think about that tiny, little insect, and the God who created it also created the cosmos and knows you by name.

Heather Winchell  19:53  
It's really beautiful. Erin. Are you able to, like, go for a walk without having I mean, I. Can just imagine that with all you've learned, going for a walk is just this consistent reminder all the time of God's intentionality and goodness and love and beauty, because that's pretty normal. Would you say that that's just always happening to you when you're outside? Or would you say that to some extent, because it's always happening, you almost have to remind yourself to pay attention to it. Does that make sense?

Eryn Lynum  20:26  
Yeah, I think so. And I think it's a practiced muscle, and it's that childlike curiosity that I've not always had. I had it as a child, and then I hate to say like I kind of grew out of it. It tarnished over time, and it was this connection with God in creation that really reawakened it inside of me. And so I think it is a practice muscle that we're not naturally going to see those things. Now, I think every time we step outside, we have the opportunity to commune with our Creator, and so you don't need all that pressure of, oh, I'm not seeing these connections. What does this mean? What does this mean? Like, just go out and listen to the birds, right? Just go out and feel the grass, you know, just go enjoy it and see what God does. And then, as you begin learning about those things, like, follow that curiosity. And so a few years ago, when my family got very into bird watching, like, probably too into bird watching. Two our kids were competing every year in this statewide Birding Competition, and we spent most of our weekends out bird watching. You know, I began to learn about these different species and be intrigued. And when you have a little question come into your mind, like, Oh, why does the tau he scratched the leaves on the ground? Why does the robin turn its head when it's looking for worms? You know, follow those questions. Yeah, see where God leads you to always be looking for his fingerprints, his likeness in creation. And the more you do it, the more you see,

Heather Winchell  21:46  
yeah, yeah. That's great. I guess, going back to just the idea of vital activities and the many opportunities that you've had, and the growing opportunities as you step more into this calling and wonder, what is your why in the things that you choose to give your yes to like, Are there commitments that you hold in your writing and speaking that helps clarify for you what feels like a yes? I think

Eryn Lynum  22:11  
it's really important for all of us to have those guiding principles. And so for for me, when an opportunity comes, I line it up against our family values and our organizational values, so not Theos values. And so it's been really important for our own family to have core values, like those vital activities that I talked about, and some for us are sharing the gospel in our home so together as a family, and having people in our home and then spending time out in creation. And so these different values that guide every opportunity that we say yes or no, to whether that's sports for our kids or whether that's a speaking engagement for me, and then also lining them up, particularly in relation to work opportunities with Nat Theos values, which are sharing the gospel clearly and often rightly handling scripture and science, listener care, inspiring curiosity and producing quality content. And so bringing them all back to that, and I'll give you a recent example. I was recently invited to go to this retreat that I thought like sounded really amazing. I never even heard of this organization before, and it sounded amazing, and I'm sure they're doing incredible work, but as I started to dig into it, I saw that their values did not align with that Theo's values. And so right away, that was a clear, you know what? This is, probably a pass, and then ended up being a pass. And so always coming like viewing every opportunity prayerfully and then lining them up with those values has been it takes away so much of the mental work, you know, and so much of the mental energy, because it makes it clearer. And so I think first and foremost, getting clear on those values for yourself, for your family, and if you run any kind of organization, ministry nonprofit, having really clear values that help you sift every opportunity. Yeah.

Heather Winchell  24:04  
Would you say that those values for your family are something that really came out of discussion with you and your husband, like early on, when you were starting your family? Or would you say that that's something that you've brought your kids into shaping as they're getting older? How has that looked for you guys?

Eryn Lynum  24:22  
Yeah, I think it was definitely a discussion between me and my husband. And I think for people who are unmarried, can do this with a mentor or a close friend or a pastor or a parent. And so for us, it was, it was not early on in our parenting, really. I was pregnant with our third son, and we went on a baby moon, and so we were living in Kansas City at the time, and we drove to where my parents were in Arkansas, and our two boys stayed with them, and my husband and I got a cabin for a couple nights, and then one of the mornings of our trip, we went on a drive, and we had no agenda. We had no plan to do this, but I unwound my journal and I wrote at the top of the page, family value. Use, and we just brain dumped as we drove, we wrote down everything we wanted to be important to us and our family. And it was like I said, a brain dump. There was no like organization to it at that point, but it was a start, and over time, we refined that list until we had our core values. And again, those can change season to season. The biggest thing it did for us was as we were refining that list, we looked up at our life and realized it didn't look like what we wanted it to it wasn't matching up with those values. And that's what ultimately led to us leaving Kansas City and moving to Colorado, because it was so much more conducive with the life that we felt God leading us to build. And so I do think it's really important. And I do have a free resource on my website that my husband and I developed and have done some speaking on, and it's the family values guide, and it's just at my website. Aaron lineham.com/free, I think that's where it is.

Heather Winchell  26:00  
Okay, great. And I'll find that and put it into the show notes as well. I really love that Aaron and and I am also just, you know, thinking back early in our conversation where you were talking about a season where you kind of got to a point where you realized, wow, something needs to change. We really need to slow down. And then the Lord invited you into exploring Sabbath and and from that regaining that rest, and as you're talking about the family values, I'm thinking of a conversation my husband and I had also on a baby Moon early, you know, I think maybe we had two kids at the time where we also talked about all of these ideas, all of these core values we wanted to have. We even made printables of them and hung them in our home, and then just recently, realizing, over the past year, and seeing those thinking, I think, I think there's been a little bit of drift, or it's like there's just an invitation to, we want to return to that. And the Lord is so kind that when we're starting to kind of drift, I really do believe he, he invites us back to the vision that he's given to the rest that he's offering. And so for anybody listening, I don't know that might feel like, wow, that's really great, but I feel like we failed, or we haven't done that. Well, I just there's always, there's always room to go back to it and to reestablish values and to really see the fruit of that grow and so good.

Eryn Lynum  27:20  
We've seen the same process, and you're exactly right. And he's so gracious in that, because you can get to the place where you're like, man, it doesn't look like it used to, and we're not valuing what we used to. But you're right. He's so gracious to just nudge us back, or maybe he has a new vision, yeah, and just bringing us to that and saying it's okay, just come back. I'll help you.

Heather Winchell  27:43  
Yeah, and also how he throughout the seasons, clarifies and brings, brings growth. Because, you know, another thing, we several years ago, wrote a family creed, just kind of a vision for how we wanted our family to live and engage with the community and with God. And then a couple of years after, we again, had a printed hanging in our home, because that the visual is helpful, we realized that in all of the language about how we were, we were created to know God and make him known. The word love was nowhere in the Creed and Aaron that felt like the biggest miss because, because there was a lot of worship, like we talked about knowing him, making him known, living lives of worship. But it just felt like it just felt like a big aha and an invitation that the word love wasn't in there. Because ultimately, that's what it comes down to, is his great love for us that has invited us into knowing him and making him known in that love, you know, yeah, that's so good. So, yeah. So that was updated as well, kind of going back to the work that you're doing in that Theo and with your books, I know that one of your values is not just to educate, but to equip. And many of your resources do empower families to explore and to make connections for themselves, which I really love. What would you say is a good starting place for people and for a family that are just ready to dive in?

Eryn Lynum  29:10  
Yeah, if I can give a couple, if parents are looking for a resource that will really be like, we want practical like, Tell us. Tell us how to get outside and make these connections. My Book rooted in wonder, is a great place to start, because it goes through the methodology and everything we've talked about the power of teaching the Bible through nature. But also every chapter ends with very practical like a mini Bible study you can do with your child to help them see those connections in Scripture and creation. And then also an activity to go outside and start doing that. But then, if families are wanting to dive in and just start seeing like like the inchworm that we talked about earlier, and just learning about creatures and plants in a way that is rooted in Scripture and nurtures faith, definitely go listen to Nat Theo. We release a new lesson every week, and then we have bonus episodes with guest scientists and people. People that just really love learning and teaching about God's creation, and that's free to listen everywhere. Apple podcast, Spotify, we do video on YouTube, video lessons, or write on my website. Aaron lynam.com/player and again, that's free to listen everywhere. We also have a free email newsletter that every Friday, we send out of Friday field notes, and it's written. They're written by me and our biologist, Jill Smith, and they are like personal story, what we're seeing out in creation and what God is showing us. And so those are really fun, two to three minute devotions you can read as a family. You get a new one every Friday, and you can sign up on our website for our newsletter to get those. And then we also have a full curriculum available with Nat Theo for families that want to turn it into their Science or Nature curriculum, or use it as an extracurricular in their home to dive into Scripture and science together, where with every podcast lesson, you get a full activity guide with four pages of science, a devotional tons of activities for the kids, science projects, arts and crafts, nature journaling, prompts, all sorts of things that dig into that topic, along with bonus footage and all of that can be found on my website. E, R, Y n, l, y n, u m.com,

Heather Winchell  31:13  
awesome, awesome. Thank you, Erin. And as we mentioned earlier, you do have two more books coming out this year, I'd love to give you an opportunity to cast vision for what we can anticipate with those

Eryn Lynum  31:26  
thank you so much. These projects have been a blast. So my illustrated children's chapter book is called where wonder leads an adventure in God's wild and wonderful world. It was an adventure for me into fiction writing. And so it's along these concepts, this little girl, Willow, she is following in her grandmother's footsteps and becoming a naturalist. And as she goes along, learning about all these creatures and plants, she's meeting all these scientists along the way, and all these hobbyists, and they are always pointing her to the wonders of God's creation and what those creatures and plants teach us about the Creator. And so that's been we're in the illustration process right now, and just seeing it come to life visually has been a joy. And then also coming out in the fall is made to marvel. And it's 52 family devotions exploring the wild wonders of God's creation with revel books. The first one is with new growth, new growth press, and then so this one made to Marvel is, again, it's 52 family devotions, but each one starts with this beautiful illustration of the creature or plant, and they're like almost natural history Style field guide sketches. They're so fun. I'm not doing them. Visual Arts is not my gifting. And so it's been fun to work with these illustrators and get the details just right. Like, hey, I think the toe on that salamander is a little too long or fun spot up here. And so both of those will be available in the fall.

Heather Winchell  32:52  
Well, thank you for sharing. Erin. I am really excited for those resources to come out, and now I would like to transition to just kind of some fun get to know you questions as we close out the episode, and the first question I have for you is, what is the last thing in nature that delighted you?

Eryn Lynum  33:09  
I love this question because, I mean, I had to answer like right away, and it's may fly nymphs. So baby mayflies, and this is actually our field notes devotion that went out to our email list this morning, I used this story because it was just so wonderful. So my kids and I were out exploring a nearby river last week, and like, I put on my rubber boots, and I'm walking down the river, and we start flipping over rocks, and there's these little creatures, I don't even know how to explain them, and they're clinging to the rocks. Some are like smaller than my pinky fingernails. Some are quite large, like an inch long, maybe. And I'd seen them before, so I knew that they were nymphs. And you can count there. They're not actually tails, but they look like tails, and they had three. So they're may fly nymphs, baby mayflies, instead of stone fly nymphs, which only have two tail looking things, and as we're flipping them over and we're watching these things crawling all over, it just piqued my curiosity, and I wanted to learn more about them, which is what became our devotional this week. But just to to watch my kids like they were, they were journaling in their nature journalism. I remember my son, who's 10, he made like this. This big sketch of this may find nymph that probably like no one would ever notice these little creatures on the underside of river rocks, but they're incredible because they will spend, that's their their young juvenile stage as a nymph. They'll spend one to three years in the freshwater living that way, and they go through these different molts, and they get bigger, and so one to three years in the water, and then one day, they kind of float up to the surface, and they go through another molt, and they suddenly have a set of wings. Then they can kind of like flutter. These are like practice wings, and they'll flutter over to some nearby. Vegetation, and then they go through a final molt where they get their true wings. They're only going to live for a few hours to two days more. And in that time, they find a mate, so that more eggs can be laid and more nymphs can hatch under the water, and the whole process starts again. And so as I was learning about these and seeing them in the river, and it just made me think about and this was the focus of our devotional you know, those little may find nymphs on the underside of river rocks. They're not thinking about the future. They can't. They can't think forward like us humans do. But imagine spending three years in the water, and then one day you're in the sky with wings, and they're following God's design engineered into their DNA and in a similar way, like we humans, we can think toward the future, and we can have dreams and aspirations and have vision, still kind of like that may find them growing wings like God wants to do so much more in our lives than we can ask or think or Imagine, which is what we read in Ephesians, 320, and so believing him for that, that no, of course, we're not going to grow wings like a mayfly. That's not in our DNA, but in a similar way, God wants to do more than we can even fathom. I think that's just beautiful. That is

Heather Winchell  36:17  
really cool. I will have to look up what those look like so that I can try to find them on walks that I'm out on. Okay, so my second question for you is, if you could heighten any of your five senses, what would it be? And I'm thinking like super power height, and not just, you know, improving them.

Eryn Lynum  36:35  
I have never been asked that question before, and there's so many things to consider, but I think I would heighten my sense of hearing if it wasn't super overwhelming. You know, because throughout creation, there's so many creatures that can make infrasonic sounds that are too low frequency for humans to hear, and ultrasonic sounds that are too high in frequency. So think about like bats in their echolocation. That's gonna be ultrasound. That if we could hear them like we couldn't handle it, it would, we would go deaf. Yeah, and so that would have to come into consideration, that I wouldn't go deaf if I could hear a bat. But then, like elephants make infrasonic sounds like this rumbling, and it's how they communicate with each other, and humans can't hear it. And so I believe, you know, we think about creation, giving glory to the Creator. I There's these melodies, all these sounds going on around us that we can't even fathom. I had a guest on that, Theo once, who's a music teacher, and he talked about all these choruses and these melodies and this great orchestra happening all around us all the time that is giving glory to God, but we can't even, we can't even hear it, and so even just for a day, I'd like to hear it. That is really cool.

Heather Winchell  37:52  
What is a book you could reread every year?

Eryn Lynum  37:58  
Again? There's so many, if I had time to reread them. I really love A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold. It's a classic in the nature study realm, and it was written by this naturalist, Aldo Leopold, and it just beautifully talks about the seasonality of nature. And I'm pretty sure he was a believer, and so he talks about these different aspects of nature that make you pause and consider things more deeply. And it's just this beautiful walk through the seasons, and he talks about the forest and wolves and flowers and birds dancing. And it's just one of those books that you read and you feel like you're transported to that scene. And it's

Heather Winchell  38:44  
just, it's classic. I have never heard of that book, but it sounds wonderful, so I will definitely have to link that in the show notes as well. Well. Erin, now I would really love to invite you to give your own shout out. Who would you want to say? Thanks for doing that and why?

Eryn Lynum  39:00  
Thanks for doing that. Jill Smith, she's our biologist at NAT Theo, and we met in such a fun way. It was totally God. She lives in Tennessee. I live in Colorado, and I was walking through barnes and noble one day and just scanning the shelves, and there was one copy of this little book called Nature unveiled. And I was like, Oh, I usually don't see nature books in the faith section. And so I picked it up and started reading. Bought it on the spot, went home, read it in two days, and it's 40 reflections for seeing God in creation. And after I read it, I was so amazed by this woman's ability to connect scripture and science and just her her insights as a biologist. And so I emailed her to thank her, and I was also like, Hey, I'm working on this new book, and it has a lot of science. I was working on the nature of rest, not knowing this woman at all. I was like, Would you read it and science edit it for me? And we hopped on a call. She ended up science editing that book. And my. Two books coming out this fall, joining the natheo team as our, one of our curriculum writers, and she signs that it's all of our curriculum. And so she does incredible work as a biologist, but also she has become a dear, dear friend. And the first time we got to meet in person after working together for, I think it was over a year, was in Alaska, and both of our first time in Alaska, working at conference together, and like, getting to go on a jet boat ride down river, and like checking beaver traps, and like all of these bizarre things that were like, Why are we here watching this black bear climb a tree together? This is amazing. And so it just says, God brings those people to your life that you can totally see. Like, Oh, God knew I needed that person, and, oh, I love that.

Heather Winchell  40:42  
And I love that. It all started from just like taking a walk in Barnes and Noble and happening to see her book. And then I love when I find a book, and then just can't help but read it in two days, you know, like when it's that good. And honestly, the nature of rest was kind of like that for me, but I disciplined myself to read it in a cadence that you wrote it which was really good, but awesome. Well, yes, thank you. Jill Smith, that's That's wonderful. And I love those connections, those meaningful connections that are made, and then where they lead when you're both just stepping forward with your obedient Yes, you know, so cool. Well, Erin, I end every episode with a personal haiku that I've written for you, just like a little way to capture why I wanted to have you on the podcast and as as a way to to close us out in my thanks. So I'm going to read that for you now. You train us to find the wonder all around us. Thanks for doing that.

Eryn Lynum  41:40  
That's so lovely. Thank you.

Heather Winchell  41:43  
You're so welcome, and thank you so much for joining me today.

Thanks for doing that. Is presented to you by the aviary, a place for beholding and becoming and thank you for joining us for today's episode. Before you go, I have a couple of invitations. If you found it meaningful, could I invite you to take two minutes to rate and review the show? I also invite you to help me create an upcoming episode of thanks for doing that by nominating someone or suggesting a topic, let's link arms to call out the good and the beautiful that we see around us, because I really believe that finding delight in our divided and difficult world could make all the difference. You you.