Pastor Michael Martin knew two things: first, his neighborhood needed green space. Second, his church needed a way to serve the neighborhood.

The ten acres of woods nearby seemed to Martin to be the answer to both needs.

Through partnerships and untold hours of manual labor, Martin led hundreds of people in hauling out six tons of underbrush and trash, removing invasive species, and planting new trees. He recruited volunteers and urged his congregants to care for each other and their neighborhood by stewarding the woods with him through activities like gardening and keeping bees.

Now, Stillmeadow Community PeacePark and Forest offers a place where adults can take a deep breath, children can roam and explore, and teenagers can let themselves be exactly as young as they are.

“All of the sudden a 15-year-old is 7 again. He’s got all this wonder,” Martin says. “He’s not hard.”

As summer heat climbs and the days grow longer, it can feel exhausting to venture outdoors. But if Stillmeadow represents anything, it’s that even a few minutes spent in nature can calm our hearts and give us the freedom we—and our children—need, quite simply, to be.