By Brad Campbell –

Just a thought to help start your week.

What do you see in this picture?  White snow-capped mountains after a blizzard?  Ice bergs floating in the frozen Arctic Ocean?

This is actually a picture I took from an airplane window a couple of weeks ago.  You are seeing the tops of clouds and some of the strange formations in them.  Ever since I was a small boy, I’ve appreciated the beauty of God’s creation.  You see, I had parents and grandparents who made an effort to point out these things to us – to show us the flowers, the rock formations, the beauty in the clouds, and the majesty of it all.  And it still amazes me.

That’s funny, isn’t it, that even after all these years I’m still amazed by the beauty of it all? But that’s the point.  God’s grace to me is amazing every day because I don’t deserve it. Always amazing, never diminishing, and new for every morning!

Look up, look around you, look beside you, look within you this week to see the true beauty of God’s creation, and then acknowledge it for what it is!  “Mountains” in the clouds don’t make much sense to me, because I don’t know how that works.  Well, God’s grace to me – an unfinished sinner – doesn’t make much sense either.  I’m just grateful for it!

Instead of getting so caught up looking down at that calendar, cell phone, or to-do list this week, take a look around you and thank God for the mountains in the clouds and for the clouds on the mountains.  He made it all.

Just a thought.