Finding Unexpected Beauty

The silver moon moved through the cloudless sky, sinking until it disappeared behind the mountains. It glowed brightly against a lilac-colored sky, a soft yet vibrant purple hinting at the sun hiding beneath the horizon. The moon’s descent in the west felt rapid yet controlled as it sank lower and lower. Just one day off from its fullness, it appeared a perfect circle, and I watched the silhouette of Pike’s Peak appear in front of the round shape. It was odd to see the celestial movement so clearly. Unlike the sun, no shooting rays were bouncing in the clouds, and no blinding corona forced me to divert my eyes. The setting only took a few minutes; the moon completed its descent, dipping below the mountains until it was out of sight.

I know the basic science behind this process, the orbiting moon reflecting the sun and influencing our tides, the revolving earth and the rising sun, and the intricately beautiful way the earth, sun, and moon all work in tandem, impacting my day-to-day life. This rising/setting process happens every day, and each one looks different than the next, a miracle and delight of nature. The moon that morning grabbed my attention. It offered me the chance to stop and watch and appreciate a shimmering moon setting in a purple sky– an event only offered with those particular shades and timing once. It was stunning.

That I was up before the sun and able to witness such a majestic sight is a fact almost equally as stunning. You might remember that I am not a morning person. It is self-professed, but there’s a lifetime of grumpiness and tardiness to back up the assertion. However, recently, I made a significant change to my schedule and began attending my gym’s 5:30 am class. While the sky is still black, I get up and drink my first cup of coffee. Then I dress and brush my teeth before running out the door, driving the 2 1/2 minutes to my gym through darkened streets and past quiet houses. While I exercise, I get to watch, through the doors of my gym, as the moon sets behind the mountains and my drive home offers views of the sunrise. And it turns out, this schedule works well for my family, and surprisingly for me too.

Until recently, mornings have been something I avoided. I didn’t want to experience that muddled brain feeling or force my body to move before it’s ready. I slept as late as my children would allow because mornings were/are hard and uncomfortable, and I prefer to sleep through them. But I needed to change my schedule to meet my family’s needs, so I embraced early mornings, hard feelings and all. And there, in the darkness of the predawn sky, under the glow of a silver moon, I found unexpected beauty, something I would have missed if I had stayed away from what’s hard for me.

That unexpected beauty was a reminder of how God meets me in the difficult parts of my life. I’ve got a list of things I’ve experienced that were hard, things I didn’t want to go through, things I’d avoid if given the choice. Yet, in each one, I can remember the beauty that I experienced in their midst. I think of our daughter and how difficult parts of raising her and meeting her needs have been. But then she gives me a crooked smile when I kiss her, and it’s as stunning as a sunrise. I watch my children’s love for each other, beautifully unconditional, and it shines bright like stars in the darkest night. I think of the hard parts of military life, leaving friends and home behind, and I’m reminded of the beautiful friendships I have with people around the world– their influence on me is undeniable like tides and the moon no matter the distance. Even in the hardest parts of my life, God has brought about immense beauty. I don’t want to miss the beauty God has in store for me because I’m sleeping, hiding under the covers of avoidance. I want to keep my eyes open for beauty, wherever God creates it.

Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Psalms 50:2