God of Wonders

Look around you and you will see the fingerprints of God everywhere!  It's pretty exciting.  :)

On Sunday, I experienced my first solar eclipse, and it was amazing.  Thanks to a friend at RVA and some donations of leftover solar eclipse viewing glasses from the Australian eclipse in 2012, we and our neighbors were treated to an amazing view of the eclipse over the Rift Valley in the late afternoon.  We served "eclipse food" - sort of.  In Kijabe, the moon eclipsed about 90-95% of the sun...which fit right in with my off-center deviled eggs.  Why were all of the yolks at the ends of the eggs??  Must be the way the eggs are stored.  In Northern Kenya, the eclipse was total - but they unfortunately did not experience the best weather for viewing.

Not-quite-total-eclipse deviled egg

Two cool dudes ;)  They look like they are at some sort of 1960's scifi drive-in!

Um...

Our neighbors made a pinhole projector to watch the eclipse safely.

This is what it looked like through the "projector."

Emily and her friend Sallie even painted their faces for the occasion. :)

We borrowed a welder's helmet from another friend at RVA, so that we could take photos without frying our cameras.  I didn't know your camera could be damaged from photographing the sun, but it makes sense.  The protective glass made all my photos turn out green, but no matter. 

Early on

Near maximum eclipse

I love events like this that show off the majesty of God in this giant universe - to see the moon cross in front of the sun in real time like that is almost breath-taking to me.  I mean, the moon and sun are both mind-boggling enormous and so far away,  and I watched them cross in front of each other.  Wow.  Our God is a big, mind-boggling amazing God!

At the time of maximal eclipse, an eerie dusk settled over the area.  It was noticeably darker...but not a normal change in light as during a storm or evening.  And it became cold.  Our dog, Mak, who is terrified of our steep stairs (because he can't get back down them), appeared on the upstairs porch.  I don't know if he sensed something strange, or if he just wanted to join the party, but he really wasn't himself the rest of the night.  Very subdued and quiet.  This change in light only lasted about 5 or 10 minutes, and then the sun began to become stronger and warmer again as the moon moved past the sun. 

Mak watching the sun descend in the sky after the eclipse ended.

I'll share another photo of the full moon that I took while up near Mount Kenya last June.  Amazing that it turned out so well, since I know almost nothing about photography.  It doesn't do it justice, of course, but look at all the detail on the surface of the moon even so.  I wish I could photograph the night sky here in Kijabe - one of the perks of getting called into the hospital in the middle of the night is walking back and seeing a bajillion stars and the Milky Way stretched across the sky.  Truly more than my mind can comprehend!  I can identify with the words of the David in Psalm 8: 3-4 "When I look at 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, and the son of man that you care for him?"
Yet, He loves us like a father loves his child.

Sunset over Mt. Longonot on another night.  God is certainly a God of Wonders!

Lord of all creation
Of water, earth, and sky
The heavens are Your tabernacle
Glory to the Lord on High

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy

Lord of heaven and earth

Early in the morning
I will celebrate the light
And as I stumble through the darkness
I will call Your name by night

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy                           
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy

Lord of heaven and earth

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth

God of wonders, beyond our galaxy
You are holy, holy
Precious Lord, reveal Your heart to me
Father holy, holy
The universe declares Your majesty
You are holy, holy, holy, holy

Hallelujah to the Lord of heaven and earth
(Lyrics by S. Hildalong and M. Byrd)

Lots of love,
Sarah

Isaiah 40:11-13

He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms

and carries them close to his heart;

he gently leads those that have young.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,

or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?

Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,

or weighed the mountains on the scales

and the hills in a balance?

Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord,

or instruct the Lord as his counselor?