It's been a strange sort of week.
'Found time,' here at home,
time we thought we'd be traveling -
but we're not.
So we got to extend our days with our
youngest granddaughter by a couple of weeks,
and that was sweet.
Next Wednesday, she begins pre-school.
We took time to plan vacations for next year,
always a fun thing to do.
But communication with the agent got a little dicey
and we weren't sure why.
Everything worked out in the end;
it generally does.
Yesterday, we went to see "The Odd Life of Timothy Green,"
and found it quirky and sweet.
And then the projector blew up about 2/3 of the way through.
Say what?
We got a couple of free theater tickets out of it,
but still . . .
So we had an early dinner at a nearby
cheap-o place that turned out to be pretty good,
and we shopped at Costco, to prepare
for the thundering herd (in the nicest possible way!)
that will descend on us for the holiday weekend.
It was 7:00 p.m. and the sky was unusually pretty,
so I turned the car right instead of left as we drove out of the parking lot, and headed to Isla Vista - the crazy college community that isn't quite crazy yet,
as UCSB hasn't begun their fall semester.
There was a good place to park, so I grabbed it,
reached in the back seat for my camera bag,
and headed out onto the bluffs,
just as the sun was beginning its last
sinking, saturating radiance,
and the blue moon was starting its ascendency.
And I walked.
And I looked.
And I breathed.
Every once in a while,
I stopped to take a picture
to exclaim over the beauty all around,
and to say, 'Thank you' to the One who made it all.
Come along with me, won't you?
(By the way, I have no idea what all those multi-colored small flags mean,
but they were pretty and whimsical in their own right, so I took their picture.
And I have to say that just scrolling through these pictures makes me say 'Thank You' over and over again. I cannot begin to put into words how grateful I am to live where I do.)
And these words from scripture jumped out at
me as I reflected on this experience today,
the day after all that confusion - and all that beauty.
Because someday, all that we see now as
spectacular,
glorious,
breath-taking,
and life-giving
will pale in comparison to the LIGHT
that will overwhelm and bedazzle us on the Day of the LORD.
"No longer will violence be heard in your land,
nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
and your gates Praise.
The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end."
Isaiah 60:18-20
Joining Michelle DeRusha's invitation to Summer, for the last time this year,
and with Sandy and Deidra for their ongoing weekend invitation to quietness and reflection.
