My kind of sunset

I used to love Rainbow Brite. What child of the 80's didn't? Rainbow Brite was a girl who rode a unicorn and lived in a colorless world. It was her mission to add color to the world. I liked the premise behind the show, but mostly I just thought it would be cool to ride a unicorn.  

I may have been Rainbow Brite for Halloween one year....

A few months ago I was in Cancun for vacation and I saw what I thought was thee most perfect sunset I'd ever seen.  The Caribbean blue water danced below a magnificent orange sun with a palm tree perfectly framing my view.  I remember thinking to myself, "This, right here, is the idyllic sunset in every way."  I tried to snap a photo, but no sooner had I thought to grab my camera, the clouds began to shift and the beauty of the sunset was dissipating.  As quickly as it took my breath away, it was gone. 

On our flight back home later that week, after the flight attendant finished her instructions and I had settled into the flight, I looked out my window. 

I am telling you, I have never seen a sunset the way I saw the sunset that night.  The colors were rich and vibrant and seemed to go on forever. 

I was mesmerized. 

To see a sunset of that caliber from my bird's-eye view was unreal.  I couldn't take my eyes off it.  I just knew at any moment it would go away and I didn't want to miss a second of it. 

But it didn't.  Someone who's a lot smarter than me could probably explain it with the flight pattern or something, but it didn't matter to me.  All I knew is that that sunset went on and on and on and on, and I was fascinated. 

As I sat there staring, I couldn't help but remember the sunset I'd watched only a few days before.  I didn't think a sunset could get more perfect than the palm tree adorned sunset.  But there I was, staring at a sunset like I'd never seen before.  It was perfect, and it was nothing like the sunset I'd watched over the Caribbean waters.

As I reflected on this I realized that not once as I was watching the sun set from my window seat did I think to myself, "You know what would make this sunset perfect?  A palm tree."  Or, "Yeah, this sunset has deeper, more vibrant colors, but where's the palm trees?" 

HA!  NO WAY! 

Two sunsets.  Two very different sunsets.  Both captivating for different reasons, in different ways.

I can look at those two different sunsets and feel awe and wonder and praise a God who is creative and shares my heart for beauty.  Yet so often in my life, I look at the sunset He's painted for me and wonder where my palm tree is.

I know I'm not alone here!  It's true, isn't it?  We've all developed an idea in our mind of what our idyllic sunset would look like.  Often, we're so hell bent on finding that palm tree that we miss the deep, rich, sustaining colors that continually cover our skies.  We miss the forest for the palm trees.

Do you know why the grass is greener in your neighbor's yard? Because you're not close enough to it to see all their dog poop. 

My sunset doesn't look like your sunset, and it never will.  It's not supposed to. 

You see, we need a world with palm tree littered sunsets and we need a world with sunsets vibrant in color.  

Focus on your own yard.  Your own sunset.  Stop sitting around idly complaining about how green your neighbor's yard looks compared to yours.  Do you have poop in your yard?  Then get off your high unicorn, ahem, high horse, and clean it up!  Don't like the bare spots in your grass?  Add some fertilizer. 

Then take some time this week to step back and look at your sunset from that bird's-eye view.  I pray you are able to see just how beautiful and lovely and unique your sunset really is. 

I'm thankful that I don't have to be in charge of the colors.  As much as the little girl in me wants to ride my unicorn and add color to my world at will, a greater part of me wants to fully trust the Creator of colors and sunsets and palm trees.  I'm tired of riding around on a mythical unicorn looking for that elusive palm tree to perfect my sunset.

So tonight, as the sun is going down, I'm going to rest.  I'm going to sit on my porch with a cup of hot tea and relish in the unmatched beauty of the sunset He's painting just for me.