It was the longest my husband, Daniel, and I had been apart since we got married—approximately 61 hours (not that I was keeping track). I’d been out of town for work, and although the conference was well worth my while, by the time my coworker dropped me off at my car, I was ready to be heading home.
As I pulled out of the parking lot, I looked to my right and saw a guy on a bicycle. Wow, I thought, that looks a lot like Daniel’s bike. I checked to see if the light had changed, then glanced at the cyclist again. Hmm, he’s built a lot like Daniel too. I did a double take. Wait…that IS Daniel!
Sure enough, he had ridden the 20 miles from our home just so he could see me at the soonest possible moment. On a pragmatic level, it didn’t make much sense. All that time and energy could have been poured into something more productive, more practical. Something that would have offered a more tangible payoff than merely the look of shock and wonder on my face.
Once we got Daniel’s bicycle loaded in the back of my car and the decibel level of my squealing came to a decrescendo, we headed home together. The sun was just starting to set, and we were driving straight toward it. It was one of those skies you’d be hard pressed to describe with definable colors, even with the help of one of those 150-crayon Crayola boxes. The clouds out the passenger window were on fire with iridescent oranges and yellows. Straight ahead, rays of light were bursting through a curtain of purply clouds.
And in that moment I was reminded that, like Daniel, our Creator is a romantic. Sure, he made this world operational and scientifically coherent, but I appreciate that he also made it beautiful. Impractically so. He could have made a perfectly functional black-and-white world…one without sunsets and 20,000 varieties of daisies and 339 species of hummingbirds.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
—Psalm 8:3-4
I have to wonder if God, too, delights in surprising us. He must figure it’s worth all the effort to create something so breathtaking that we are jolted out of our routine, forced to double-take, compelled to look at him with fresh eyes.
That night as our car rolled westward, I found myself amazed that the Creator-God, who could have been doing anything at all in our great big universe, would choose, in that moment, to be with “mere mortals” like us.
In the presence of such majesty, we can only join with David in his psalm of praise:
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
—Psalm 8:9
***
What part of God’s creation causes you to do a double-take?
I’ve taken the challenge of reading the Bible chronologically this year and tracing the thread of grace through it. These musings are prompted by my reading. I’d love to have you join me: One Year Bible reading plan.
Sigh – I love true romance – and you are living it with Daniel. How great God is to give us reflections of himself in our most treasured human relationships!
Thanks, Maggie! What a great way to say it: “reflections of himself.”
I love the clouds. Each time I look at them I am fascinating how the Creator has this gigantic color tablet to paints on. I’m always stunned at how no two clouds are the same. Today the 3-d effect along with the rippling patterns set my heart ablaze to know the Almighty is my Abba Father too. Those clouds also represent a feeling in my heart right now. I am on cloud nine as the Ultimate Artist/Dream Weaver is using you and now a copy-editor has just joined the book team. Maybe in the fall I’ll give birth to a dream-my memoir.
Alice, it’s been quite a year for you! Glad to be part of the cloud nine team. 🙂