It's a Big, Beautiful World

Shalom!

I hope you have all been enjoying the Easter season as much as we have. Last night was our annual Passover Seder. Hosting that ceremonial meal certainly is a lot of work, but it is one of my favorite family traditions. It was also a great way to end the Eating for Africa month. No more beans & rice for this family! Last night was all about brisket & kugel...yum!

For those of you not familiar with what Passover is, it is the Jewish remembrance of God freeing the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The Seder meal is what we like to call "Jewish Thanksgiving", but it is a time of sharing the story of God's rescue through the use of scripture, story-telling and traditional/symbolic foods. The cool thing is that Jesus' last meal with his disciples was a Passover meal and he used that ceremony to say to his disciples, "Here, you see this symbol? This is ME!" Jesus also said, "Do this in remembrance of me." So while I love partaking of the Lord's supper at church, experiencing the fullness of that meal & its symbolism once a year is the perfect way to start celebrating Easter. If you get a chance to attend a Seder sometime I hope you'll go.

All that to say that today I was very tired, but David took the day off work so we could enjoy some family time at one of our favorite places, Enchanted Rock.

Enchanted Rock is the 2nd largest outcropping of granite in the United States. That means it is a really big rock that requires energy to climb! Energy that I was lacking today, but what's a mom to do? I had promised the kids we would go (in fact, it might have been my idea) so I kept my complaints to myself. I'll admit that inside my head I was pleading with God for some rain that would land us in a movie theatre instead, but no such luck. I had a rock to climb.

As I saw 2 year olds and old men with canes scaling this rock my pleading became more along the lines of "Oh God, please help me make it. Please help me to be stronger than that guy with a cane!" I'm happy to report that my prayers were answered.

Not only did I make it to the top, but God sent me an angel that kept me from having to crawl through the caves. I had the opportunity to sit with a scared little girl outside the cave entrance until she was reunited with her father. Once they were together again, I climbed to a vantage point and sat down to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

Wow.

We've all seen them; beautiful vistas that take your breath away. I've been privileged to see many such vistas in my life from the Great Rift Valley of Kenya to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and all points in between. Today it was Texas that stole my heart and left me in awe. No, let me re-state that. It was Texas that stole my heart, but it was God that left me in awe.

As I sat in the sunshine watching hawks surf the thermals, I started thinking rather deep thoughts. It occurred to me that God was the creator of all I could see, for as far as I could see and that the world was a beautiful place, yet as beautiful and majestic as it is, He loves us, his children, more than the world he created for us to dwell in. Scripture tells us that as he created each segment of the world he would survey his craftsmanship and say, "It is good," yet after creating mankind he said, "That is very good." On top of that, we are told that we were created in God's image.

I sat there, taking in the beauty around me and thought, "What part of God's image could I possibly possess - this Almighty-Creative-Force-of-a-God that I worship?" It was a humbling moment, yet in that place I felt close to him.

Then He reminded me that we who trust in him will "rise on wings like eagles." Now I was sitting pretty high up in the air, so the wind-surfing hawks were practically at eye level with me. I realized that they saw the beautiful vistas of the world all the time. I imagined that I was looking at the world from their on-high position. What I saw was the majesty of God demonstrated through His creation. From a bird's-eye view I didn't have to face the depravity of man or the consequences for their bad choices. There was no pain, no striving, no conflict, no destruction. All I could see, for as far as I could see, was the world crying out, "God is good!"

I wondered if this was a way to be in the world, but not of the world. That is, when the hardships of life become too overwhelming, my vision too narrow and self-focused, perhaps if I rose on His wings I could get a better perspective of this world He loves so much.

Like that guy with the cane who finally made it to the top - God loves him more than the vista. Or that little girl too scared to go in the cave - God loves her more than the thermal-surfing hawks. Or how about the 43 year old woman who mentally complained all the way up the rock? He loves me too.

Suddenly, I heard Ben's voice on the wind (which meant they were almost back from the caves) and I knew it was time for me to come back down to earth, because you know what? This is where God has me. I'm here in the world and sometimes it's all a big mess, but at the same time it is an extremely beautiful place to be.

- Julie

P.S. I forgot my camera today so I found a picture of the Enchanted Rock view on-line to share with you today. Today was just as stunning as this photograph.