"What Is Man, That You Take Thought of Him!"

Back in 1977, at least that is when I think it was, my husband and I, our three kids, and my parents camped our way through a combination of at least eight National Parks, National Monuments, and points of interest in the wild,wild,west. My dad did the cost analysis to determine what each family would pay for food, park and campground fees, and treats such as ice cream cones. Mom was the family banker, and I planned the itinerary--no more than 300 miles a day. We drove a V.W. Rabbit and slept in a tent. My folks drove and slept in their truck with a camper top. What an adventure we had that summer.

Death Valley equaled one hot night and two hotter days. Burning alkali flats and barren, purple hills were new, yet strange, to children used to evergreen forests and dark, dense undergrowth. New were lizards and jack rabbits. Also new were rabbit brush and sage which chirred and whirred when insects within them began serenading the approaching night. "Rattlesnakes!" my nine year old daughter exclaimed, and wouldn't go anywhere near a bush the entire evening. Oh, but how we loved the star filled sky!!

There is something special about the desert. Its smell, its sounds, and its sights all take one's breath away.

After the glamour and glitz of Las Vegas with its amazing neon lights and night life followed by Hoover Dam, an engineering wonder, we gazed, awestruck, once again, into the beauty and grandeur of the Grand Canyon. Each day that followed filled us with awe and wonder. The colors and shapes of rock formations in Bryce National Park, and massive stone canyons in Zion National Park, the amazing cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde, standing in four states at once at Four Corners, playing in sand at Sand Dunes National Monument, driving up Pikes Peak, watching erupting geysers, bubbling hot pools, and majestic bison in Yellowstone National Park were each special in their own unique way. As with Death Valley, their smells, their sounds, and their sights all took my breath away.

Over and over again, as I stood dwarfed by the enormity of cliffs, rocks, and sand dunes; as I tried to make sense of the colors and shapes of canons and mesas; as I thrilled at not only the brilliance, but also the vastness of the Milky Way; and I as felt blessed by the presence of family, I thought of this scripture:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!…Psalm 8:3-5

Compared to all that God created, what am I? A mere speck, is what it seems, but I'm not. I am more than that. I am created and thought of by the creator himself, yes I am. But I am more than that. I am loved by him. I am loved so much that he humbled himself and took on flesh to live as I do. That is how much I am loved. But even more than that, he became my sin, your sin, and everyone else's sin when hanging on the cross. He wanted us restored, redeemed, and reunited with Him. That is love.

What are we that God takes thought of us? We are his beloved children, and he has a plan for us.

Gave a God day,
Jan