A smile or a fingernail?

Since I was a little girl I have always been a stargazer. I remember watching my first lunar eclipse (as much as I could stay awake for) when I was about 12 years old…amazingly it was centered right at the very end of Flatbush avenue, I felt like God did that just for me - just so I could see it.

I’m still a stargazer, to this very day and it doesn’t matter to me, whether it is during the day or late into the evening. I’m always excited when I spot something that appears new or unusual (to me) and just as I thought as a child, sometimes I feel like God is showing off…just so I can see…

Needless to say, I’ve raised my children with this same stargazing mindset….we take finding shapes in the clouds to completely new levels and we get excited, collectively, when we hear of some phenomenon going on in the sky. If I’m outside and see something interesting – I’ll run inside and call them out – if they see something interesting they do the same for me. {As matter of fact, about two years ago, they saw a bright comet in the sky one night and called me out to see it….silly me, I assumed that it was a falling star and I’d miss it any way so I didn’t go out, but apparently it wasn't and was bright in the sky for a long time! I ended up missing it! :-( ... But I digress…}

With this in mind, imagine my excitement when my eldest daughter – now, married and living out of the house – called me one night to tell me that I had to run outside and see the moon! She said that it made her “happy” because in her words: “God’s smiling at me”. So despite the cold weather, I got my slippers and wrap and quickly went outside to see “God Smiling”. Talking to myself, I asked God if He was going to smile at me too. But when I get out there I saw no moon. I continued a little further out, hoping it wasn’t lost behind the trees or a building and there; behind the house was this big ole “Cheshire cat grin” crescent moon. It‘s rare for me to see the crescent moon in that way, but it gave me reason to smile and laugh along with my baby girl because God "smiled" at me too!

The next day, I told her of my experience and asked her if she shared the Smiling moon with her husband and she said she had, but that he didn’t see a smiling moon – what he saw was a "fingernail", as if God were pointing downward…like “look at you!’’.

Now, I’m not saying my son-in-law believes God was judging him, or her for that matter, but I found the response rather odd and it made me think what about others? I just assumed that everyone would see the moon and think “smile”; a fingernail was the furthest thing from mind…

So I pose this question to you…how do you see God? Is God a "smile" or a "fingernail" to you? Do you think He’s taking every opportunity to smile at you? Or do you think He’s pressing down His finger of judgment?

Do you think He delights in you? Or do you think He's fault-finding?

Don't get me wrong, sometimes we mess up, but if our hearts are sincere and we ask forgiveness and turn away from the ways that would bring disappointment, then He smiles with us...and at us...

Here's to God "smiling" down on you!

Be Blessed