The heavens proclaim the glory of God.
The skies display his craftsmanship (the work of His hands).
(Psalm 19:1, NLT)

Deep plum gives way to soft pink etched in gold, moments before the sun makes her grand appearance…

Ribbons of white weave across the azure blue as she marches across the sky…

Fiery red and burnt orange pull a blanket of velvet black over the quiet earth as the sun dips out of sight…

The appearance of first one, then another and another and another until an array of stars spreads majestically from horizon to horizon…

The heavens do indeed declare the glory of God.

Ever since I was a child, I loved the promise of a sunrise, the peace of a sunset and the presence of a sky filled with heavenly lights.

It was no surprise, then, when my husband first stole my heart by setting up a slide show for me of his beautiful sunrise to sunset photos, all set to piano music.
I knew I could spend my life with a man who enjoyed and appreciated the glory of God’s creation.

Although those photos have been lost in our military moves, we have filled our hearts with a lifetime of such moments.

Everywhere we have lived in our travels, we have always found a sunset watching place. We raised our kids watching sunsets, taking time out of our busy schedules to pause at day’s end and wonder at God’s glory displayed across the heavens.
In Japan, we hiked through the neighborhood to a place we called Rocky Beach.
On Guam, we would walk an old, unused runway to get a view of the clouds turning brilliant red.
In San Diego, we found Sunset Beach.
In Mississippi we took the kayaks out on the water to get the best view.
Here in Texas, we drive up to Canyon Lake and watch the sunset from the top of the dam.

We have enjoyed not only sunsets, but the majesty of the starry heavens as well. When there’s an eclipse, or a comet, or a meteor shower, my sweet husband makes plans for us to watch.

When we were on Guam, the comet Hale Bopp made it’s appearance.  Our flat roofed house, along with a ladder and a couple of chairs, provided the perfect viewing location for our family.  We enjoyed many evenings sitting up there and watching this rare event.

Each year, on my husband’s birthday, the earth moves into the perfect viewing location for the Perseids meteor shower.  If the moon phase is right and the weather cooperates, he will plan a late night, early morning date for the meteor show.  A well loved piece of land, west of San Antonio, out in the middle of nowhere off Interstate 10, has often provided the perfect location.

Another meteor shower, the Leonid, occurs in November.  One cold November night in Mississippi we loaded the kids in the truck, along with sleeping bags and hot cocoa, and drove out away from the lights of town, hoping for the best view we could get with all the tall pines.  We snuggled down in the back of the pick up and were enjoying the show when a blaze of headlights ruined our night vision.  We became a bit concerned when the offending car pulled over and someone got out.  Moments later, a flash light shone in our faces.   A county cop had stopped to check out what was going on.  I’m sure he did not expect to find a family bedded down in the the pickup with the crazy story of watching the meteor shower. Unfortunately, he shut down our star gazing when he cautioned us against the location we chose due to some of the unsavory folks and activities that went on in the vicinity.  Sigh.

I am thankful for the Lord’s safety in all of our adventures.

As I pause, as the Psalmist did
“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers–the moon and the stars you set in place…” (Psalm 8:3, NLT)

I can, as the Psalmist, compare the Lord’s love with the skies,
“Your unfailing love, O lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.”  (Psalm 36:5, NLT)

and truly have a glimpse of what it means when Scripture says
“to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.” (Ephesians 3:18)

Prayer
Father, You are Creator of the sun, the moon, the stars, and all the heavenly hosts. They proclaim your glory and also proclaim your great love for us.  May we also, in all we do, glorify you, love you and praise you.  

Grace & Peace