The Moon

Did anyone notice the moon tonight? It was so bright and white. I asked my dad if it was a full moon and he said yes and that he had noticed a tiny star right beside it when he had gone outside earlier. I don't usually make it a habit of noticing the moon that much unless maybe my daughter is with me. She likes to point it out in the twilight sky on our way home at night. But for some reason, the white circle shown much brighter tonight and I thought it was so beautiful.

As I left my parent's driveway later and saw it's beauty again, the thought that came to mind was of last March when I drove in Atlanta traffic by myself. Even now, I'm not quite sure why that particular thought popped in my head. Do you want to know what I REALLY thought at that moment? I thought, "What kind of crack was I smokin' when I drove in Atlanta?" Now, to some, driving in a big city may not bother them, but I knew that my dad was worried sick about me back home and my mom told me later, "You don't know how many people were praying back home for you!". I've told the story and admitted that God literally carried me on that trip. I was wrapped and cared for in His hands by the shape of a Ford Tarus. All I had was my sunglasses, Mapquest directions to Rome, Georgia, and a bottle of water. But the thought about "what was I smokin'" was more in the sense of "who am I to think that I could do that in my own power" and I became completely humbled on the way home tonight. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God was with me on that trip, but tonight, I thought how in the world could I have ever done that on my own? And then I looked at the moon and realized that if God could create something so beautiful...a celestial star that could control the seasons and ebb and flow of the sea, what more could He do with me and my life? The moon looks so small from where we are, but it's role is so important. God's sovereignty is so important, too, and that's something else that I thought about. He rules. He is ruler of all creation because He is the Creator. Everything belongs to Him.

I like to refer back to that trip to Rome, Georgia, last March because it is a spiritual alter for me. I truly thought that when I left that Sunday morning on a plane to Atlanta, and with the circumstances of events that happened that day, that God was moving me and my family there. All roads pointed to Rome. To this day, I do not understand how abruptly things changed. And I was almost tempted - just now - to type "how God changed things" but yet, God doesn't change. God changed me. God changed my heart and thus began the journey....the journey of depression...the journey of finding myself again. It's ironic - I think - that I would go to the Christian bookstore the day before I left to go to Rome and buy Chonda Pierce's book, "Laughing in the Dark" which is more or less her own personal journey through depression. No special reason. I liked Chonda Pierce and so I thought I would buy her book. Little did I know that that was where it all began. I knew nothing about what God was about to do in my life.

The moon. Just a big round ball in the sky that comes out at night after the sun goes down. We've seen pictures of it. Man has walked on it. And most of the time, we don't even notice it. We don't notice it until God - in all His sovereignty - gives us a reason to notice and to remember.