A Moment With The Moon

"Do you want to come look at the moon?"

For my husband to ask this, it had to be good. I jumped up from the couch and ran to the back door.  

It was breathtaking. So clear and bright. I don’t think I'd ever seen anything like it. 

My husband went to bed, but I stayed up and looked at that moon for an hour.  A good portion of the time was spent trying to take a picture of it, but I just couldn't get the camera to focus. It's funny how something so clear was doing its best not to be captured. Finally, after about a half an hour of getting unfocused blobs, I stopped.  I was missing out on this moment. If I would just take it all in – the sight, the smell, the air, I could have more than just the beauty of a picture when I went to bed that night.

It was a perfectly full, whitish-silvery moon.  So clear and radiant, with craters illuminated in different shades of grey and white. The night was not clear, but as the clouds moved across the sky, they appeared to move behind the moon, never obscuring its view, and giving the illusion that the moon was closer to earth than the clouds. It felt like I could reach up and touch it.

A few stars sparkled in the dark blue sky, and every now and then another one would peek its head out from behind a cloud. On this night though, the star of the sky was the moon.

I looked around and breathed in the crisp April air. Although it had not rained in days, it smelled like fresh rain on a summer's night. The bare branches of the trees were drenched in moonlight, and the grass lay quiet, soaking in the beams.  A plane flew in a straight line under the moon, followed by another minutes later, leaving trails of clouds one directly above the other.  In the distance, I could hear the hum of a train moving along the steel tracks. It whistled, and then, silence.

All this from just stopping to look at the moon.  I was struck with more than just the beauty of the night. How often do I really stop and take inventory of all the blessings God provides us? How often do I stop long enough to even recognize them? 

Not nearly enough. 

Standing there, covered in moonlight and breathing in the night air, I thanked God. It was just the moon; nothing myself or so many before me hadn't seen thousands of times, but it was so profound. All the senses filled to the brim and Him at the helm of it all. 

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. -1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

In everything, give thanks. Not just the moments where you are expected to give thanks, but in the unexpected. In the moments where you are tired or weak. In the moments of everyday chaos, look for those unpredictable opportunities, and give thanks. 

It is not an accident that this world is filled with so much beauty. Everywhere we turn, there is something to be thankful for. We just need to take the time to recognize it. Put away the distractions, life is too short to spend it staring at a screen.    

And remember, never pass up an opportunity to stop and look at the moon.