Sacred Story Time: Moments in Nature

I’ve been using Slow Down: 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by Rachel Williams as a kind of devotional. It’s written for children, but the invitation to slow down alongside the natural world was too good to pass up. Each spread highlights a simple truth: so much of life in nature happens slowly. Seeds wait underground. Animals pause to listen. Trees grow ring by ring, year by year.

As I read, I find myself moving at the book’s pace, lingering over illustrations and marveling at God’s good creation. With every page, I ask myself a quiet question: What is God inviting me to notice here? Not notice in a hurry or over-analyze, but notice in the way children do, with curiosity and care.

This book offers a beautiful on-ramp into sacred story time, whether you’re reading with kids, using it in a classroom or church setting, or sitting alone with a cup of tea. Below are a few playful, open-ended prompts to help turn story time with this book into a sacred practice.

Noticing prompt:

As you read a page, pause and look closely at the illustration. What small details do you notice first? What do you notice second, once you’ve slowed down a bit more?
I wonder: What in my own life is growing quietly, slowly, without much attention right now?

Play prompt:

After reading, step outside or look out a window and choose one small part of nature to observe for one full minute. A leaf. An ant. The clouds. A patch of grass.
Set a timer if that helps. See how still you can be. See what moves when you don’t.

Imaginative prompt:

Imagine you are part of the scene in the book: a tree, a bird, a stream, or a seed beneath the soil.
What would it feel like to live at that pace?
What would you want to say to God from that place?

Prayer:

Generous God, thank you for creating this world for us to nurture, enjoy, study, and learn from. Help me to see you here, even in this tiny part of your beautiful world. Give me eyes to see even as I put this book down, so that I might continue to notice your peaceful nature in every creature. Amen.