From sunsets to sunrises.

“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter until the perfect day.”
~Proverbs 4:18

I am not a morning person.

(Especially after 2 hours of sleep. And only 4 hours of sleep the night before.)

Because of this, I have never seen the sun rise.

This is why I put seeing the sun rise on my list of things to experience in the coming year.

And this morning on my flight to Dominican Republic, I got to see the sun rise from my plane window. (Again, I wish I had a picture to show you.)

I continue to be amazed how quickly God is continuing to fulfill the desires of my heart in ways greater than I can imagine-- that's three of the things crossed off my list so far-- especially the timing of seeing the sun rise on this particular morning. He knew it was the exact moment I needed to see it to be reminded of His promise of new days after dark moments. And not only did I see the sun rise, I got to see it from my flight, soaring like an eagle over the beautiful land He created below, putting life worries back into perspective. As I watched the golden rays light the new day and look down below at the Floridian coastline, it reminded me of the lyrics of Carrie Underwood’s latest single, “So Small,” that I was listening to on my iPod as the flight took off:


“It’s so easy to get lost inside a problem that seems so big at the time
It’s like a river that’s so wide, it swallows you whole
While you are sitting around thinking what you can’t change and worrying about all the wrong things
Time is flying by, moving so fast
You better make it count because you can’t get it back

Sometimes that mountain you’ve been climbing is just a grain of sand.
What you’ve been out there searching for forever is in your hands.
When you figure out love is all that matters after all,
It sure makes everything else seem so small.”

The sun rise was a great reminder that God’s love is all that matters after all. It is the greatest love of all. It is enduring. It never leaves you. It is perfect and casts out fear.

Despite the moments in life when the rug is pulled out from under our feet, despite the disappointments of things not going according to our plans, despite the sadness of loss, despite the everyday worries and stresses we waste so much energy on, despite the fears of the unknown, despite the zits on our face or the 2 hours of sleep we got the night before... life is beautiful. God always gives us a new day full of His love and His golden light rising up to remind us that new days are the beginning of new blessings and new chapters waiting to be written by the Greatest Author of all.

Maybe I’ll get up early tomorrow to witness the beauty of the sun rise on the beaches of the Dominican Republic. Nevermind, who am I kidding, I know I’ll be sleeping in.

Here’s Carrie’s video to the song I talked about. May your day be full of grace and peace and love.