In 1998 I had the privilege of making a trip to Israel with a tour group. A few nights before we were to make our way back to the States, we shared a meal together under a pavilion. I left the table, the music, talk, and laughter, and I walked out to sit alone on the bank of the Mediterranean. My heart was with my husband 6,000 miles away. I looked up at the moon and thought of him. Perhaps when the moon came up over our home in Maryland, he would look up, see the moon, and think of me.
The moon is my connection, now cooped up, to the people I love. This morning at 4:04 a.m., I stood at my bedroom window with the light flooding in and thought about the moon shining on them, too -- maybe not at 4:04 a.m. Eastern Standard time, but at some point, when darkness envelopes their world and moonlight peeks in their window. I thought of pastors in India, their families and the people they serve, their open hearts and open hands, their love for God and their dedication. I thought of cousins in Texas and Iowa and North Carolina I haven’t seen in years, and friends in Texas and Oklahoma and upper state Delaware. I thought of friends across town. I thought of family. There is no distance with God or with love or with prayer. By moonlight or sunlight, and with all of His creation, God sends His love.
When our youngest granddaughter was probably three, her mother told me about walking out on the deck with her one evening, and this girl, this precious brilliant talented beautiful girl, looked up at the oranges and purples spread across the sky, and said, “Good job, God!”
Let us give credit where credit is due. Please. That’s all God wants -- that, and our trust and obedience. God has given us so much, and in our haste and perhaps our arrogance, we have tended to take His gifts for granted, or perhaps we have taken credit. He wants us to acknowledge Him. He wants us to be grateful. He has been so gracious to us. He wants us to love Him back! That’s really not too much to ask from His children.
We have time now to reflect on God's goodness. “God sees the moon and the moon sees me. God bless the moon, and God bless me." And God bless all the people.
A simple prayer: This is Your world, God. This is Your creation, and we come to You with gratitude to thank You. Now, that wasn’t too hard, was it?
Photo by vicente jesús diaz from Pexels
What a beautiful way to start my morning, reading “A Little Bit of Light!”
Thank you Jean. As God touches each one of us, your writings also touches our hearts!