For the past week I have had the blessing of being able to travel with my boyfriends family through the southwestern states. For some, car rides are exceptionally boring but between the scenery and searching for "Q's" while playing the alphabet game, the journey was quite enjoyable. It was even more delightful to be around people I love who love me too. While we were on our adventure, we made a few stops that took my breathe and boggled my mind.

The first stop was the planetarium in Flagstaff, Arizona. The first thing we did when we arrived was watch a galactic film. It was a film showing how stars are made and galaxies beyond our own and how black holes work. After that we looked into a telescope that magnified stars that are 26 thousand light years away. As if that wasn't powerful enough, we saw the rings of Saturn. I was completely taken back by the glory that I was seeing. My human mind just could not contain the thought that that's just a tiny part of it. God's art work continually takes form in the sky farther than our eyes will ever see! And when I think of how big and how glorious the heavens are, I find myself asking the same question that David did when he wrote Psalm 8.

"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"

I feel as though the stars and the planets and the mystery of it all proves the greatness of our God. I also believe that what He has created is a love song that sings straight to the hearts of those who love Him. God has created all of the beauty of the earth and all of the glory of the sky. I don't think it's selfish to believe that He created it for each of us. As humans, when we see something so mysterious and wonderful it causes us to marvel at who God is and how HUGE He is. As He sings this love song to us through His art all around us, we sing love songs back to Him for all He has created.

The next day, we went to the Grand Canyon. Now, my biggest fear is heights. I had no idea what to expect when I realized I'd be standing on a cliff looking straight down. But the first glimpse of it put my mind at ease. It was beautiful. There wasn't room for fear when I was too busy thinking about how God created that with the brush of His hand. As we hiked down into part of the Canyon and walked around admiring all of the viewpoints, a song was stuck in my head.

"How wide, how deep, how great, is Your love for me. Lord, I'm amazed by You. Lord, I'm amazed by You. Lord, I'm amazed by You. How You love me."

God's creation was a love song straight to my heart. The song lead me to the Scripture it was inspired by....

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Ephesians 3:14-21

These verses have always spoken to my heart, but through this vacation God has given me examples of how wide, how long, how high and how deep His love is and as Paul did, I pray that all of Gods people understand that same love.

-ash.