One of the things I love most about Iowa is all of our farmland and the beauty that it displays no matter the time of the year. While I grew up in Kansas City (very different than Orange City), all of my grandparents and much of my extended family lived in Northern Iowa and lived on farms. Several times a year, we would leave on a Friday afternoon after school and drive the 5 hours from Kansas City to Sheffield, IA, up I-35. Often times, it was dark for at least an hour while we drove. I loved to look out my window and gaze up at the enormous sky, stars everywhere I could see. It brought great comfort to me that the God who loved me, who knew me, created that vast sky with millions of stars. That a God that BIG saw me.

That same vastness of the sky was what I saw today - a clear, sunny and crisp November day that was beautiful no matter where you looked. And that bright blue sky? It brought me back to those car trips and how big the sky is. I'm reminded that no matter how small I may feel, the God who created the sky that stretches as far as the eye can see also created me. And that God created you. We were both created on purpose and for a purpose. No matter where we are, God has a plan for us and wants to use us.

The next time you step outside, take a glance upwards and be reminded that God is vast and so is His love for us. To Him be the Glory.

Photo credit: Kate Aberson