I drove home last night from a lesson. It was 6:30 PM, and I remarked to myself how light it still was. The first few miles my primary focus was my GPS, guiding me around small streets to find the highway. When I hit the highway I could breathe and relax — straight shot from here. And then I noticed the sunset. In my rear view mirror streaks of pink and orange lit up the road as I passed over it, and brought the trees out in stark contrast. I wanted to be facing the other way, I wanted to indulge in the beauty, which wasn’t an option. I passed a sudden opening in the trees — a window on to a small lake. The color seemed to come from within the water itself, ripples of gold and pink and yellow that merged the sky and the water together.  

 

I think I may have even said out loud “I wish I could stop.”  And the thought came to me — sometimes we have to leave beauty behind. Sometimes it’s just there for us to catch on the way to something else — a sudden splash of glory that inspires a smile and a deep breath and the knowledge that God is All Beautiful. How silly of me to think I’m going to catch it all, and save it in a frame. Within 15 minutes, the colors were gone, but not my reminder of what God is always doing whether I notice or not, and my gratitude that I was there for this one.