Unexpected Beauty

So three separate flights were canceled and at 10:45 last night we decided that we would have to drive through the night. Dallas to Denver.

There was a chance our flight would avoid the butcher block this morning but it was a 50/50 chance. So at 11:30 p.m. we headed to the airport, rented a minivan, and drove 13 hours through the night to make sure we got to Denver for our conference this weekend. Yuck.

I try to be the night watch girl. I am good at talking and I pretend that I am good at staying awake, though I can conk out in mere seconds, and then you basically have a catatonic co-pilot. I stayed up with Ryan the first few hours until three or so, slept for a little while, and then tried to stay awake with the other Ryan for the 5-7:am shift. That one is the hardest.
But what a beautiful drive. All the way up through the Texas panhandle, through the top of New Mexico, and into Colorado. It is about 30 degrees up here and has been snowing from Amarillo on. None of us thought to bring jackets, seriously, it's April! But we loved driving through snow and mountains all morning.
Last night I watched the sun set over a lake, we were on a date. Then I saw a million stars come out. The stars that you can only see when you are driving through the plains of Texas or Kansas. Then the bright yellow moon came out and threw a blanket of soft yellow light over all the mountains. And then before I knew it, the light blue and soft pink clouds started to move and break and the sky split down the middle. Dark dark blue on the left, New Mexico morning sky on the right. It felt like heaven.
I found myself talking to God quite a bit. How could the world be so beautiful? And why does it take a 13 hour road trip to be able to actually see it and take it in? I sang to God. Which was so different for me. When I am not leading worship on stage, I rarely worship God in song. But the words to a certain song about being in awe of God's creation kept coming to my mind. I looked out the window, counted stars, snowflakes, mountains, rabbits, and gave each cloud it's own name, and I fell a bit more in love with the creator of the universe.
Then we stopped to get gas and it ruined it all because the bathrooms were dirty, the men behind the counter were terrifying, ex-cons for sure, and worst, I left smelling like a gas station hot dog mixed with the extra greasy fried chicken and dingy cigarette smoke. And it's hard to admire stars and worship when you smell like a piece of fried chicken.
Nothing too grand to tell you. No climax here. Just had some quiet, gentle moments in the most beautiful crevasses of God's beauty and it has made my soul quietly peaceful today and ready to lead people into worshiping the Lord of Heaven and Earth. Who made the mountains and the beautiful sunrise and knows me by name.