A Camping Sky

  

 

We couldn't figure out exactly what direction the sun was going to set behind the mountains and trees we were camping among, so we decided to simply head down to the lake and see what views we might catch of the setting sun. I was not disappointed with the beauty being displayed as the clouds and sky changed from a brilliant blue to dusty rose, soft orange and buttery yellow.

Soon the sun dipped out of sight and the sky became blanketed with a thousand tiny, twinkling stars.  There is nothing quite like the stars when camping. Their light isn't obscured by city lights, allowing them to brilliantly illuminate the dark canvas of night. I look up and I am left amazed and aware of my own smallness.

You might have noticed that I may just be wildly in love with and mildly obsessed with the sky. However, in my defense, my draw to it lies in the fact that when I stand there and take in the grandeur, I am always left in awe. Every time I see a sky splashed with the colors of a sun setting or rising, or a thousand stars dancing across the night sky, I recognize that the creator of all of these things loves me. He who is big enough to set the stars in motion and put mountains in place; He loves me in my weaknesses, in my strengths, in the moments I get it right and in the moments I get it wrong.

When I consider your heavens,

    the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

    which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

    human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8: 3-4

 

The day to day of life can be difficult, busy or mundane, and it can be easy to get caught up in the routine and lose sight of the joy and love offered in our Creator. But when I can stop and notice something like this great expanse we call the sky turn a hundred different shades - a sight more beautiful than any painting - I am reminded of how much more there is to this life.