The other day as I was driving along one of the back roads on my way to get my laptop repaired, I went around a curve and there it was! A circle around the sun. It wasn't as spectacular as the one I didn't photograph, but still it was impressive.
Since there was no traffic, I stopped the car and took some pictures with my trusty phone. This is probably the best shot out of all that I took. After all, the temperature was about twenty below zero and my phone and I could only stand the cold for so long!
That other day after having skipped the chance to take a picture of the circle around the sun, I prayed for a second chance. I thought maybe if I was really blessed, sometime in the next few years I might have another opportunity. I never expected the occasion to present itself so soon. Isn't He good?
Gazing at this wonder in the sky causes my mind to go in a million different directions concerning the God I worship. He is so amazing and so incomprehensible. I look at this and I feel our complete insignificance and at the same time our ________; I can't find the right word for it but the thought is, that the God who puts rings around the sun knows the number of hairs on each head and cares about each one of us as a parent cares for the child - only even more so.
Jeanette and William are adults now and Brandon, my grandson is well on his way toward adulthood, still I can remember each one as a baby and how I felt my heart was just going to explode with the love I felt for them. Even through the stormy teen years and now into the grownup years when my usefulness has seemingly fallen by the wayside, my love for them still seems overwhelming at times. Then I think - God loves me and them even more than this! I have three in my life to love so deeply and God has billions! And yet... and yet, He cares for me and each one of His tons of children!
There will be those who have an explanation for why the circle appears around the sun and of course it's not an answer to a prayer, it's just a function of light refraction, moisture in the atmosphere, temperature and ice crystals...no big deal. Circles around the sun happen all the time, we just don't see them all the time. For me, that's the point. I don't see them that often. I was on a busy road the first time with trees in the way, traffic on both sides and no place to safely pull over and take a picture. This time I was on a back road passing a field, no traffic, no impediment to taking a picture to capture the beauty and magnificence of it. For me, it was an answer to my prayer.
Has God offered you any second chances lately?