The full moon was breath-taking last night when I saw it playing hide and seek behind some leafless trees.
It took my breath away because it was
so low,
so gigantic,
so faithful,
so unassuming.
Then, this morning it was low in the sky as I took my daughter to school. We embraced the moments we had with it and we kept looking for it as we made our way through the stoplights.
“There it is, again!”
“It’s like a sticker, it’s so perfect!”
And then it was quiet.
I am sitting at a traffic light.
Looking at the moon, trying not to feel.
I want to be present and not lean into
I am tired. I have questions. I am overwhelmed.
My girl doesn’t know all of these things.
And she doesn’t know how her shared excitement about the moon encouraged me to take a deep breath.
I am brought back to the present when I hear her sweet voice coming from the back of the car.
(She’s a singer, like her mama.)
She’s singing:
Away in a manger, no crib for his bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head;
The stars in the heavens looked down where he lay,
The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay.
The cattle are lowing; the poor baby wakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes.
I love thee, Lord Jesus; look down from the sky
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.
Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with thee there.
And I look at the moon.
And I hear her song…
It’s the same moon.
The moon before me is the same moon that was in the sky at the birth of Jesus.
The same light was in the sky when he came so that we could stay close forever.
The tired, overwhelmed feelings I have are in part, a result of the pain that comes with stretching, with growth, and then partly due to being here on this earth with the wrongs that run rampant.
He’s fitting me for heaven – challenging the parts of me that need to change and he’s also placed within me a longing for his kingdom here on earth – I am reminded that he invites me to be a part of that work.
And again, I feel loved, seen, heard.
It’s the same moon
so low,
so gigantic,
so faithful,
so unassuming.
#PermissionGranted
