God is an artist

I am not a huge blogger/writer but I wanted to create this blog for my family and friends to read and have an insight as to what I am doing. In 8 short days I will be traveling to Limpopo, South Africa. I hear I will be in the middle of nowhere and it really is God's country. While there I will be staying on a game farm, surrounded my wildlife! woot! woot! I look forward to what the Lord has in store! I am really, really excited about the night sky. Any one who knows me, knows I LOVE the stars and enjoy star gazing. I hear the sky is beautiful and different than ours. Living in the city there are a pollution of trees,smog, buildings, unfortunately we cannot see and appreciate the night sky because our view is blocked.

Don Miller (one of my favorite authors) writes about the night sky in his book, Through Painted Deserts. Don and his friend Paul take a road trip to the Grand Canyon. Toward the end of their trip they stop and end up relocating to Oregon. While in Oregon they camp out at Black Butte Ranch (I want to go!) and Don begins to see God in a different light:

"I start realizing that this is the first time I have encountered beauty in nature. I've read poems that have made my heart race. I've read scenes in novels that have caused me to close the book, set my head in my hands, and wonder how a human could so brilliantly orchestrate words. But nature has never inspired me until now. God is an artist, I think to myself. I have known this for a long time, seeing His brushwork in the sunrise and sunset, and His sculpting in the mountains and the rivers. But the night sky is His greatest work."

I love how Don puts it. We serve an articulate, creative, beautiful God! There is none like Him. Thank you Lord for giving me sight to see your master piece in nature. Thank you Lord for giving me the opportunity to travel to South Africa. I love you and will serve you all the days of my life.