One of our favorite places to visit is the Cheyanne Bottoms Wetlands in Kansas.  My husband and I have been there at least half a dozen times.  The first time we visited, it was on an anniversary trip where we decided to explore the state of Kansas.  We set out to stop and take pictures of all the little churches and steeples you can see from on I-70.  We also made plans to see a few of the 8 Wonders of Kansas, one being the Cheyanne Bottoms Wetlands.

It is one of those places that if you didn’t know it was there, you’d drive on by.  The visitors center is located on the side of long stretch of highway in the middle of Kansas.  I imagine people use that road to primarily to get from a cluster of medium sized towns to the major highway. 

The visitor center has your typical wildlife displays and gift shop.  Each time we’ve stopped in, primarily to use the restroom (there isn’t anything else in the area for at least 20 miles), we are the only people in the place.  I sort of think other than the workers and people who must go by there due to necessity, we are some of their top visitors.

So why do we continue to go back?  First its fun for us to drive down the gravel roads into the Wetlands and look for the birds that come to the area for refuge.  We’ve seen a variety of different birds and depending on the time of year, there have been thousands flying around, swimming, nesting and hunting.  

The area is a protected refuge for birds migrating north to south and south to north, it’s a stop on their journey.  There have been times when the water is nearly up to the road and other times when the earth is dry and parched.  The engineers regulate the area and it is all a scientific system based on the time of year, how much precipitation we get and protecting the natural resource so it can continue to provide refuge for the birds.  They are protecting the land as much as they are protecting the animals who live there and visit. 

I think one of the most interesting things I learned when going through the visitor’s center is that the title Wetlands gives you the idea that there would be water.  However, instead of a lake or pond, what makes it a wetland is the natural water resources such as the plants and the areas of land that look dry and cracked.  The parched land later becomes saturated with water and the areas where there is water, is allowed to dry out and naturally regenerate so it can provide a natural cycle for living organisms to thrive and survive.

Neither myself or my husband are big into science or ecosystems, nor are we bird watchers.  So it’s a bit strange that this has been a desired destination for us when we take a trip to the area.  I think for my husband, he is interested in water, how it works to provide resources and how it affects the earth.  For me, I think I enjoy it for the time to contemplate this whole existence and system that is bigger than me.  I like to imagine the journey of one bird might be to get to that particular place or to watch a bird set out to find nourishment, pecking in the sand or another might dive underwater or swoop down to skim the tip of the water.  It’s relaxing and fascinating.

I think about the dry, parched, cracked earth and at first sight might question what value there is in it.  However, underneath is where the bugs, worms, grubs and other things the birds eat are thriving.  What we see on the outside as worthless, is really a necessary part of the circle of life. 

This is the same in our lives.  We can find ourselves in a dry spot from time to time, when we allow our schedules to consume our lives and don’t make time to connect to God, our life source.  We can look at our lives and think, what value is there here? 

I think of the time when churches were closed during COVID and people were cut off from their life-giving water, whether was the community of people whom they gathered with to worship or the message of faith they received or the Body of Christ.  It was a time when people could easily let go of their regular routines of prayer and allow their relationship with God to go dormant.

However, underneath and behind the scene there were opportunities for growth and life.  Perhaps through Christian Radio or TV stations.  Perhaps in more faith-based content on social media.  And maybe, it is deeper conversations and connections with family and friends because our regular way of spending time together was taken away.

Then like in the wetlands, when the dry areas are ready, the addition to water brings a feast of food for the birds.  Our dry times can open up new opportunities, insights or habits which fill us too.  Maybe through the COVID closure you formed a new relationship or picked up a new hobby and as regular activities start to open up, you have a new sense of purpose due to this time of drought.

I believe we all encounter dry times in our lives.  Times when we can’t see or feel God or aren’t able to connect the way we once had.  These times are necessary to stir up in us a stronger desire, a better understanding and the fuel we need to sustain us through another season.  Just like the dry, parched earth still has water, in our dry times, we still have faith.  The water source, God never leaves.  It is there doing the work to keep us nourished.

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/quivira/