Seeing God Every Day
January 22nd, 2010 | 
Author: As I was contemplating possibly moving after my divorce, my heart always felt heavy, but I never quite knew why. All of the usual reasons came to mind – friends, work, etc. – but they didn’t seem to be the root of it.
Finally, earlier this week, I figured it out. I was walking to my car with a friend one evening and we stopped to gaze at the stars. Here in our tiny county in the center of the West Virginia, the eye can see thousands upon thousands of stars. My jaw drops every time I gaze at the sky. There are so many specks of light and tiny galaxies!
Our area has little to no light pollution making the night sky jet black. The closest city with street lights is 25 miles away – probably a little closer if you were a crow – but that little town only has 1 street lined with lights. The closest major city giving off a glow in the sky is about 60 miles away. So, our nights are really, really dark – don’t expect to see your hand two inches in front of your face unless you have a flashlight.
To give you an idea of what our sky looks like … below is an image of the constellation Orion and is considered a magnitude 6 (that’s apparently astronomer speak for how dark the sky is, and there’s only one level higher where you can see more stars). For all I know, we could be a magnitude 7 and, honestly, the picture really doesn’t do it justice. All I know is it is gorgeous.
But anyway, I’m slightly off topic. The thought that ran through my mind that evening consisted of the words to How Great Thou Art…
Oh Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made, I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder, thy power throughout the universe displayed, then sings my soul, my Savior, God to thee, how great thou art, how great thou art.
I realized that here in West Virginia I see God every day, and that deeply increases my personal faith and walk. I couldn’t live where there are huge homes with perfectly manicured lawns lining every street and shopping plazas and drug stores on almost every corner. That describes where I grew up – goodbye farmland, hello drug store.
There’s something deeply personal to me about being able to drive down the road and see a newborn calf just figuring out how to use his wobbly legs. Or standing outside on a summer afternoon listening to the thunder roll through the hills and echo for miles. Or gazing at millions of stars on a cold winter night. Or watching an ugly weed next to the ditch turn into a beautiful wildflower. Or noticing a fawn or a flock of turkeys or a hawk or a small barn owl.
I finally figured out that seeing God through nature is part of what makes me tick deep down inside. And I couldn’t possibly leave it behind.
And, as a little treat today, I’m ending with my absolute favorite version of How Great Thou Art. Every time I hear Carrie sing this song, I get goosebumps. This particular video doesn’t quite do Carrie’s performance justice, but you can catch the “live” version on either CMT or GAC on a really great show called “How Great Thou Art.”
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