Right before our world shut down in March, John and I took a quick weekend trip to Charleston to see Grace for parent’s weekend at the College of Charleston.  It was the first time John and I had gotten to travel with just the two of us since our honeymoon. I looked forward to a little time away and was so excited to get to stay ON the beach so I could drink my coffee in the morning and watch the sunrise. It was only a short trip so we didn’t have much time, but I had plans to fill it up with ALL the touristy things!!  But first, I would drink my coffee and watch the sun rise!

The very first night we got there, we picked Grace up for dinner.  She looked comfortable in her own skin with no makeup (something I rarely ever felt comfortable enough to do- even now!) and it was so very good to see her. She looked happy.

 She stayed at school the first night because she had a test the next day so we drove back to the condo on Folly Beach. The next morning, I woke up in plenty of time to get my coffee  made and tip toe outside for the big event.  I quickly tip toed BACK inside to grab blankets so that I didn’t get frostbite. The temperatures were right around freezing and with the wind coming off of the ocean, it felt even colder! Even the cold couldn’t squander my excitement.

So many thoughts were swirling around in my head as I watched the sun peek out over the waters. Here are just a few…

-Thank you, God!  Thank you for this amazing artwork You have created with mediums that can’t even be held in human hands. Thank you for the colors! Thank you for the warmth the sunshine brings. Thank you for the steadiness of it! Thank you for the rhythms of the tides and for performing this exact same feat (all very different yet still the same) every single day since You spoke our world into being! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

-How can anyone look at this view and not believe that there is a God? How anyone could think that all of this beauty was some sort of accident is beyond my comprehension. 

-How crazy is it to think that the very God who created all of this is my Father, my Friend and He loves me!  Like, HE REALLY LOVES ME! He created this masterpiece and yet, He loves ME! Unconditionally, HE LOVES ME and CARES for me! Who am I that He would be mindful of me? 

-There is so much sand!  And yet God knows exactly how many grains of sand there are! He also knows how many hairs are in my thick head of hair. He knows, because He made me and cares for me! What a wonderful thought.

-There were surprisingly more people watching the sunrise than I expected. Isn’t it funny how I take the sunrise for granted when I’m at home? Why do I do that? When watching the beauty of this sunrise, how could I ever take this for granted?

-I had to sit sideways on the chair on the balcony. When John came outside, he thought it was funny that I was sitting like that. I just wanted to face the sun.  When I looked down at the beach, we were ALL facing the exact same direction. There was just something special about that.  We were all united and looking toward the same direction in anticipation of the same event. We were all doing the same thing while so many others were still asleep in their beds and missing the entire beautiful, ordinary portion of the day. How many people were in close proximity who missed it all? Yet, there was just something special about the handful of us who were anxiously awaiting the sun to rise even through tired eyes, red, cold noses and shivering bodies.  I couldn’t help but draw a parallel in some small way to the way we as Christians are awaiting the Son to return. Through tired eyes, still swollen from sleep but with hopeful anticipation of the glory and beauty that is to come. Will we all be looking and watching in the same direction on that great day too?

-And then, I thought it funny that we were all anxiously awaiting to see something that we couldn’t even look at directly. It reminded me of Exodus 33 when Moses asked to see God’s glory.  He couldn’t see it directly. He only saw God’s back.  God had to cover Moses with His hand.  And yet after seeing Him, Moses’s face glowed.  As a matter of fact, it glowed so much so that Moses had to wear a veil when he was around the children of Israel. I believe the sun is only a small candle compared to the Glory of God! Oh what a day that will be when we get to see our Lord and Savior face to face! Will we be able to see Him or will He have to cover our eyes? Will we glow?

I hope that the next time you see the sunrise, you will just a moment to worship the God in Heaven that created that very sun.  And may we all be anxiously awaiting the great SON rise that is to come!