May the retelling of this encounter encourage you as you venture into all that 2015 holds for you, your family, and your legacy.

From art to nature, I have been contemplating how the facets of an object ultimately point to it’s creator.  I usually recognize these details when I slow down to explore the simpler things in life.

Events of this nature usually end up in my journal, shared with a few close friends, and left it at that.

But this encounter was VERY interesting and far too significant to keep that quiet….

(Journal entry: January 1, 2014)

Pulling onto the driveway from an almost 7-hour round trip commute, I was quite eager to exit my little Honda Fit and stretch my legs.  As my eyes rose past the horizon, my mind shifted gears.   “Look at all those stars!”, I thought as I gawked overhead.  Then the thought hits me, “How could the clear night sky point someone to God?”  (Even now, I don’t know if this was my original thought, if I was thinking God’s thoughts after Him, or if I simply pit way too much sugar in my coffee.)

Next, I look down at the dark ground to reset the experience then look up with fresh eyes of purposeful wonder, as if looking for God in the stars. Instead of seeing a splatter of random specs, with vivid clarity, I begin to notice details: varying intensities, individual placements, the unique identities of each heavenly body.  I start to realize how the magnitude of the night sky is moving me on a much deeper level.  Just then, a shooting star darts from upper left to lower right, then an immediate second…upper right crossing to lower left… as if God made an X in the night sky with his finger…as I was searching for the creator!

I was overwhelmed.  I just experienced: 2-shooting stars, in rapid succession, In the context of fresh eyes searching for God.  As if that wasn’t enough, I was then reminded of the historic symbolism of the “X”.

As I walked towards the house my mind raced with questions:

• Is this what it was like being an astrologer looking for the Christ child?
• Bright lights in the sky, Looking for Emmanuel?
• Did God communicate with them this way too?
• Were they freshly filled with courage?
• With a fresh pep in their step?

At a hair past 11PM and I entered the house and shared the story with my sleepy wife, Kristen, and my wide-eyed son, Grant.  I explain that I’m bundling up to go lay in the field to see what else there is to see.  Grant was eager to join me.

10-minutes later we’re laying in the field.  I reminded Grant about broad gazing to look for shooting stars compared to narrowly focusing on a single section of the sky. I then pointed out to him that the “X” I experienced 20-minutes earlier was between Jupiter & Betelgeuse.

“Grant, do you remember ever seeing a shooting star before?”, I whispereed. “Not that I can remember”, Grant replied. I then said, ”God, please show us a shooting star so Grant can remember it as his first shooting star and that he will know that you made it just for him”… 3-seconds later…. a streak of fire across the sky!

Instantly we were both 10-years old: gasping for air, screaming, laughing, and hitting each other’s triple layers out of a euphoric excitement! A memory we will simply never forget!

For those who believe in a loving God who wants a relationship with those who seek him, this was quite an encouraging evening! For those who may not believe, this was all just a coincidence. For 25 anxious minutes we continued to lay on the cold ground.  Only to see no more fire in the sky. For me, the absence of additional shooting stars simply authenticated the three that I did see.

I walk freshly into the coming year encouraged to talk with God as a child who’s Daddy yearns to pour out love & life.  Not to a Father who craves a stilted prayer, but as a highly favored child of a Daddy who is eager to engage in a meaningful conversation with each of his children.

So I ask you now…
What “silly” thing will you ask God for?
Are you ready for an answer?
Go ahead & ask!
He loves you!
Really!
Ask!!!