In Transit - Day 1
So, I have to say, flying by myself - not really that big of a deal. I was sitting in the airplane flying to Houston last night, and I was like, "Honestly? This is not a big deal. I don't even really care that I'm flying by myself. It's like, 'whatever.'" I had no trouble getting my own bags (makes you feel really independent when you're a girl and you can just lift your two fifty pound suitcases off the conveyer belt without the help of any man, thank you very much) or finding my way around or anything. No big deal. It's like going to the movies by myself. Whatever. Geez, I must have some sort of independent streak if I'm this okay with being on my own, haha. No, actually the flight gave me some great alone time with God. It was an evening flight so we were flying through the sunset. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. I closed my book (Terry Pratchet's Soul Music btw), put my iPod on some worship music (Jason Upton, Hillsong, and Misty Edwards), and literally just stared out the window for an hour and one minute (supposedly that's how long the flight was, I'm not sure I buy the accuracy of the one minute. really? we can time these things that close? whatev, whatev). I kept thinking to myself about how the book Captivating describes God as a God of beauty, and He truly is. I have never been so in awe of the work that my God's hand has done until that flight. I gate checked my backpack and I could have kicked myself for not grabbing my camera. The most amazing sight was when we flew over what I can only describe as a fan of light. I could see where these different rays and colors of light came together in a point, but they fanned out from there into this amazing spread of colors from pink to yellow to purple and blue to pink and yellow again. Absolutely incredible. Nowhere else have I seen such a testament to the wonders of God's creation, His complex design, and His love for pure, unadulterated beauty as I saw in the sky last night. And when I was looking at all of these things, I realized that man is meant to fly -- we could only see this aspect of God's beauty from mid-air. There's so much of a sunset that we miss on the ground! The city of Houston was literally sparkling when we arrived. The lights flashing in and out between trees and buildings gave it all a sort of magical effect. An incredible sight. I could fall in love with flying, simply for views like that.