"Give thanks to the Lord every morning and your
faithfulness every night." ~ Psalm 92: 1-2
Sandra and Max were both in
transition. She, in her newly single
mother status, had returned to work and he, in his dual house living
arrangement, probably felt much like taffy, pulled in opposite directions and
in danger of splitting in two.
Leaving the house for school had become a battle. Max would delay the pending separation by
absorbing himself in everything but dressing. And Sandra would race around like a drill
sergeant barking orders and hollow punitive warnings. By the time they packed themselves into the
car they were emotionally exhausted.
Today was no different.
As they approached their destination, Sandra’s inner critic listed the countless
ways she was failing her son. Late for soccer practice again; two days of
dirty dishes stacked in the sink; too tired to read one more bedtime story.
Fail, fail fail!
Through desperate tears Sandra squinted through the bug
splattered windshield.
It started very subtle, as it was afraid to rise. Bit by bit, it covered the morning haze with a
breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright
streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcame dark hues of the twilight sky.
All the colors blended perfectly into
each other.
It was truly showing off, like it wanted her to know that
God brushed the earth alive, coloring it with proof that He is infinitely
loving and faithful.
Her inner critic went silent now, replaced by the voice of
an unwavering Lord: “You are loved,
Sandra. You have nothing to fear today;
I’m with You. Feel this . . . feel the
sun on your face, child. That’s Me,
reaching down to touch you.”
The past few months seemed to
disappear; all the bitterness and the agony she'd been through washed away once
the daisy sun finally arrived. Sandra
glanced at her son in the rearview mirror staring out the window apparently willing
himself to be anywhere but in his car seat.
“Hey Maxie,” she yelled
back. “How ‘bout we play hooky
today. Maybe we could go to the zoo and
see the new penguin chicks. Or would you
rather go to the movie?”
A suddenly animated Max
responded quickly. “If you mean it Mom,
it wouldn’t matter where we go as long as we go together.”
“It’s a date then!’ Sandra
replied making an illegal u-turn and driving away from all today’s
obligations.
That orb reminds us how small we
are, and how vividly gorgeous the world is.
You have to pay attention or you’ll miss some of His more stunning moments
tucked into each day. God is dependable
and consistent. He designed our world to
reflect those qualities and wants us to know by observing the consistency of
sunrises that we can trust Him unconditionally.
Lord, there’s no such thing as just another
sunrise, just another breath, just another maple leaf, just another wisp of
cloud, just another snowflake. Our world’s
a miracle, every glorious inch of it, because You are not “just” another God. Thank You!
