God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.
Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The day breaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.
That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.
Psalm 19:1-6 [The Message]

On a glorious morning back in May, I trekked out to our local Kroger at 10am – after realizing we had but 3 full squares of toilet paper left in this entire hour – and was immediately captured by God’s presence in full bloom through His creation. Between the cool morning breeze, the birds that literally couldn’t stop singing and the sunshine that delivered just enough heat to warm my soul but not enough to make me sweat, my heart couldn’t stop smiling. I rolled down the windows of my SUV and breathed in deeply. The overwhelming heaviness of last week’s all-consuming humidity had lifted and was replaced by the fragrance of fresh cut grass. This was the definition of a perfect spring day.

With toilet paper shopping completed, I took a quick detour down Central to my nearest Starbucks. Somehow, for me, Starbucks and Sunshine make such sweet companions. Well, if I’m being honest, Starbucks and just about anything are a perfect match. After ordering my Iced Grande Americano – all ice, no water please – and adding a packet of Splenda and a splash of Half & Half, I was back in my car hoping that in the time it took for me to fulfill my Starbucks and Sunshine quest, no one at home had needed to visit the bathroom.

With coffee in hand and Bethany Dillon serenading me through my speakers, I found myself overwhelmed to tears by the beauty of the day. Anyone who knows me understands that the words ‘tears’ and ‘Babs’ don’t really go together. I’m a pretty practical person and have never been one known to wear my heart on my sleeve. Not that I have anything against heart-sleeves, it’s just not how God made me. Something has to really move my soul [or catch me off guard] to bring me to tears. I guess that morning God did both. He not only consumed my soul with the absolute perfection of His creation, He caught me off guard with a capacity for my heart to recognize Him from the moment my garage door opened and His creation met me face-to-face.

Reaching my destination of home, I went straight to my children and told them to pack up their books and binders because we were home schooling “al fresco” style at the park. I then found my husband in his office so I could share with him my excitement over God’s creation. As I looked out his windows into our backyard, I saw a beautiful blue bird perched on the top of our fence. The day before, I had discovered this same bird settled on our birdbath, looking into it and thinking [as I imagined it would], “Isn’t there supposed to be water in this thing?”

Realizing that this blue bird was a repeat visitor to our yard, I kicked myself for letting him down by teasing him with an empty birdbath. That’s like sending your kids out to the backyard with their swimsuits and sunscreen on only to discover that the pool that was drained during the winter was never refilled for the summer. I determined that later that day I was going to give that bird what he wanted… a birdbath with actual water in it.

My thoughts immediately digressed to a few days before when I was driving my son, Alec, home from his baseball game and was stopped at a traffic light. I watched a small, black bird crazily flutter about in a generous puddle left by the rainfall from the previous day. I giggled as I observed it dipping its head into this miniature pond over and over again and shaking its tail feathers enthusiastically as the water rolled down its back. It reminded me of years ago when I would watch my young kids hurl themselves onto their yellow Slip ‘N’ Slide. Remember those? They would laugh as the water from the mat would dowse them, and then they’d get up, shake themselves off and do it all over again.

God has given us creation in order for us to see Him in it; whether it’s robin’s egg blue skies, cotton ball clouds, a birdbath or playing children. He created it all so that He could share it with us… so that we would be reminded of Him. God reached out and touched me through His creation, and I was changed because of it.

How has He shown Himself in the world around you lately? Stop, as they say, and smell the roses [or the fresh cut grass]. You never know what God may be waiting to show you in what’s found right outside your front door.

Babs Coppedge