Psalm 8:3-4
I think about the heavens.
I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars
that you have set in place.
What is a human being that you think about him?
What is a son of man that you take care of him?
I distinctly remember the first time the thought came to me. Standing on the side of a mountain, inside a compound in 1989, on the other side of the world from my children, watching the moon.
Far from the city of Yogyakarta on the island of Java, Indonesia.
Unknown sounds rising from the valley below created an eerie feeling in me until I realized it was the call to worship for the mosque quite further down the mountain. This was the first time I had ever heard this in person.
I remember it was 4:30ish in the morning. I was alone, in awe of the fact this farm girl was standing there in that place in that moment.
Do you ever feel awed by experiences?
The moon was bigger than I ever remembered seeing it.
And there is where I came to realize that no matter where we stand on this one earth we all see the one moon and the one sun.
Created by the one God.
Returning home, I tried to explain the experience to my kids. The comfort I received knowing that even though we were so far apart, my heart was happy knowing we could look at the same moon in the same day was deeply meaningful to me.
Even today, when I prepare to leave town, I assure my grandchildren that we both need to look at the moon tonight and remember we are looking at the same moon. Somehow, it shortens the linear distance separating us.
They smile and we hug and that night, I go find the moon.
I took this picture with a borrowed camera, laying on the ground at my home in Honduras, trying my best to stabilize the camera.
It took my breath away.
God places reminders of Himself around us all day, every day. We just have to take notice. Be aware. Look for them.
Sometimes, they are obvious and other times I have been in such places I wondered if He was present. Then I discover the reminders are carried in the eyes and hearts of the people I am visiting. I learn so much in that place.
And I know – God loves us so very much. That thought has looked and felt different to me in various seasons of my life.
But this I know – God is the one God who created the heavens and the earth.
Then He created us – His children whom He loves very much.
I can’t explain why. We make such a mess of everything. But His love is relentless.
And for that – I humbly do my best to love Him back.
“Lord, please come to us and fill us with reminders all day and night of Your presence around us. Let us look in awe and wonder at the beauty of Your creation and be amazed at the passion You love us with. We praise You, Lord. Amen”
Your traveling buddy,
Janet