First Solar Eclipse Experience

Brady and I moved to Ontario, OR a year ago, having no idea at the time that our new dwelling place would fall directly in the path of a Solar Eclipse.

If anyone knows me, I have always had a great fascination with nature. And one of the things which falls under that catagory is "sky phenomenons". (Ask me sometime  about the UFO, my brother and I saw in 2014, falling out of the Spokane sky! Great story). Anyhow, as a kid, I stared up at the night sky, as often as I could, just waiting for a glimpse of a shooting star. None what so ever. In fact, I didn't get to see my first falling star, until 11th grade. I still remember how ecstatic I was! Jae, my hostel brother and I had skipped late shift that night and were "star gazing" out in front of Dorelo. And there it was, a glorious shining streak across the contrasting charcoal black sky. It only lasted for a split second but it was absolutely wonderful!

I desire to see God in nature. I want to leave this earth, remembered as that crazy lady who could not go outside without marveling at the design of the flowers or the way God painted the sunset. One New Years, as a community in Ukarumpa, we watched this Louie Giglio video (https://youtu.be/atUGBua2AzE). In it he shows off God's creation of the stars, and by the end of his presentation, I was left feeling SO SO SO incredibly small. I ran out the meeting house doors and just looked up at the twinkling stars, comprehending (but barely), for the first time, just how big our God was!

Fast forward to all these years later, summer 2017. It seems everyone was on board about this Eclipse, thanks to social media. Leading up to it, I couldn't help but think, if only we all lived with this same kind of anticipation about Christ's return!

Brady and I spent the night with some good friends, the night before the Eclipse. Everyone I knew was taking off work to enjoy this special occasion. After a morning walk, where we could just feel an excited buzz in the air, we enjoyed an excellent breakfast of huckleberry pancakes and coffee. I was marveling at how amazing it is that God created the sun and the moon and the earth the perfect distance apart, so that they can cover eachother up and allow awe striking events like Eclipses to occur! I mean, come on - what a God! We set up lawn chairs on the roof and boom - we were ready.

At exactly 10:10 AM, we all saw the tiny sliver of the moon begin to cover up the sun. It took a while for things to start getting weird. I don't know when we first noticed it, but the wind took on a slight chill. When the moon was about half-way in front of the sun, there was still no change in the brightness (that we could tell). However, a weird sepia filter was casting it's hue on the earth. As the hour ticketed by, my husband noticed that the shadows around us were becoming sharper. And then, in the last minutes leading up to the "total eclipse" everything became unreal. The light was becoming less and less bright, and the birds were beginning to roost down for the night. All around us were sunset colors on the horizon. And it was eerily cold for a late summer's day. When the moon passed directly in front of the sun, there was a flash! And then darkness! It was crazy! A diamond ring around the sun and then all we could see was the sun's corona, like huge wisps flowing out in a beautiful dance. For a whole minute and a half, the normal Monday morning hustle and bustle was non-existent, everything had fallen silent. Except for excited human chatter. All were staring up into the sky, towards the sun. I've never seen something so awestriking! Complete darkness in the middle of the day, because our moon was covering up our source of light. And then just like that, the moon showed a sliver of the sun, and it was as if someone had turned earth's light back on.

Reflections on the eclipse: I marvelled at the comparison of how even the slightest bit of God's radiance gives light to all mankind, and even when covered up, He is still too glorious for us to fathom; the moon had barely to uncover the sun when all of its radiance shown forth again, and anyone who witnessed the full eclipse is still marveling at how glorious it appeared before our eyes!