The Wilderness: Teeming with Life - Natalie Ogbourne
Our mindset matters. What we believe about the wilderness wields a weighty influence. The wildernesses of our lives are not barren places.
5 min read
Natalie Ogbourne
Natalie Ogbourne
5 Kid-Friendly Yellowstone Hikes - Natalie Ogbourne
If you're heading to Yellowstone and hoping to hike with kids, these 5 trails are a good place to start.
3 min read
What is the Wilderness? - Natalie Ogbourne
In the literal sense, wilderness is often defined more by what it is not than what it is. Uninhabited. Inhospitable. Uncultivated. Figuratively, we often refer to it as a representation of times of difficulty or disorientation. Whether literal or figurative, wilderness is sometimes hard for us to recognize.
4 min read
Yellowstone's Explosion & the Landscape of Everyday Life - Natalie Ogbourne
This summer one of Yellowstone’s thermal features had an explosion. Because what’s true on the trail is true in life, I was curious. Here's what I've learned.
5 min read
Life Transitions and Trail Restoration - Natalie Ogbourne
We’re always making our way from one thing, age or stage to the next. Big, little, or in-between, It’s important to pay attention to these transitions.
3 min read
It's a Sign: Yellowstone - Natalie Ogbourne
Hiking Yellowstone’s trails teaches me how to navigate life’s trials by faith. IT's a sign and one good reason to care about wild places.
4 min read
How to Plan a Winter Trip to Yellowstone - Natalie Ogbourne
Yellowstone in winter is both more majestic and less crowded with fewer places to go and two places to stay. Still, there's plenty to do to plan.
7 min read
One Surprising Reason to Visit Yellowstone - Natalie Ogbourne
Yellowstone is a sign. We know more about God, His world, and walking by faith after a visit to Yellowstone. That’s what it’s there for.
4 min read
Yellowstone and the Waiting World - Natalie Ogbourne
Yellowstone is quiet--waiting for the season’s slow buildup of snow to transform the roads from what they’ve been to what they will be.
2 min read
There's No Guarantee of Your Safety in Bear Country - Natalie Ogbourne
All signs had been saying the same thing: There is no guarantee of your safety in bear country. This one told me what to do about it. And I was grateful.
4 min read
Where to Stay in Yellowstone - Natalie Ogbourne
Yellowstone rooms book up months in advance. Where to stay in Yellowstone is a question best settled long before you get to the park.
3 min read
How to Be Prepared: Do Not Run - Natalie Ogbourne
When Peter says to prepare, he knows what he’s talking about. He knows the dangers of a mind not prepared to look for the presence of Jesus in the situation.
3 min read
How to Prepare for Your Yellowstone Vacation - Natalie Ogbourne
To prepare, in the form of managing expectations and establishing your mindset, can go a long way toward a satisfying Yellowstone experience.
4 min read
When to Make Reservations for Yellowstone - Natalie Ogbourne
When is the best time to makeYellowstone lodging reservations? Thirteen months before you’re hoping to go–or as soon as you know within a 13 month window.
2 min read
How to Be Prepared: Don't Leave it Behind - Natalie Ogbourne
The principle applies. We learned to be prepared. We treat our bear spray differently these days. We don’t just take it out on the trail. We keep it close.
4 min read
Gifts and Graces | Spring 2023 - Natalie Ogbourne
Awareness leads me to notice life’s gifts and graces, which leads to gratitude, a hopeful mindset, and awareness, which starts the cycle again.
2 min read
How to be Prepared: Make Noise - Natalie Ogbourne
To avoid a bear or a prowling lion, we need to make some noise–and in the case of the lion, the nature of the noise matters.
5 min read
Hiking with Kids: What You Need to Know - Natalie Ogbourne
Our kids all went to Yellowstone by the time they were toddlers. Here are some tips for hiking with littles and a few of our favorite kid-friendly hikes.
3 min read
Where to Picnic in Yellowstone: 5 Favorites - Natalie Ogbourne
Picnicking is the best way to deal with the inevitable need for food. Here are a few of our favorite picnic areas. Each is near water.
3 min read
How to Be Prepared: Be Alert - Natalie Ogbourne
In Yellowstone, bears can be anywhere, anytime. It’s the same in life. To navigate life’s ups and downs by faith, we need to walk with our eyes open–alert.
4 min read
Remember Winter's Saving Graces - Natalie Ogbourne
Look at the landscape of your life. What gifts and saving graces are about you this winter season?
2 min readHow We Prepare Him Room - Natalie Ogbourne
We’re invited to an every day life with Jesus because that’s how he sustains us. To prepare him room means we hold that space throughout the year.
4 min readNavigating by Faith When We're Disoriented by Life - Natalie Ogbourne
While there’s no list of steps for walking by faith, there are practices. A foundational one is to check the compass so we know what we’re navigating by.
4 min readGifts & Graces | Summer 2022 - Natalie Ogbourne
One simple practice I use to keep me grounded in the truth of time is to list the graces of the season’s landscape.
2 min readOne Way We Find Our Way - Natalie Ogbourne
Sometimes the landscape life becomes unfamiliar and we need to find our way, which is more than knowing how to get where we want to be next.
6 min read
Winter Gifts and Graces - Natalie Ogbourne
This season’s gathering of gifts and graces is one tall, skinny bell, but here it is, this winter’s list of simple things I’m grateful for. catshot teacrockpotsgame nightscoffee shops4-wheel drivevisits with familysunrise & sunsetfleece-lined tightsbirds at the feedera good snowstormthe book of ProverbsJanuary skies. Every day.kids home for Christmasfresh starts and new merciesmiddle and high school actorspirate-themed costume partieshard conversations & encouraging wordssons, daughters, and their significant othersflannel shirts—red or pink ones, in particularwildlife footprints in the snow across the pondsun streaming relentlessly in through the windowunexpected white space due to weather cancelations If you’d like to keep a record of your season’s gifts and graces, I’ve made a simple, no-strings-attached printable just for that purpose.
2 min read
Gifts and Graces | Fall 2021 - Natalie Ogbourne
A tool I use to combat my tendency to believe how things are today is how they will always be is to stop and take stock of the season’s gifts and graces.
2 min read
How to Guard Your Heart - Natalie Ogbourne
To foster a heart environment where the right things grow calls on our awareness. It calls for us to extend grace. It calls us to the work of forgiveness.
4 min read
One Easy Way to Miss Your Life - Natalie Ogbourne
Have you been traveling the terrain of your life on autopilot? Retaking navigational control is a challenge–a challenge worth taking.
3 min read
The Real Risk of Rushing - Natalie Ogbourne
God’s always doing new things. The question he asks is this: Do you not see it? No. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we’re barreling around willy-nilly.
3 min read
Why Do We Keep Going? - Natalie Ogbourne
My husband and I set off into the woods at a brisker than usual clip. Sooner than I hoped, the trail made good on its short-but-steep reputation. After a short lag, my steps slowed because there was no way I could keep that pace at that grade all the way to the top. We’d tried […]
2 min read