"Wow. This is so beautiful and amazing."
I'm on a walk one evening during the first week back at college. I have my earphones in, casually walking along to the beat of my music when I glance up to see the sky dimming, signaling the sun setting in the background. I see the rainbow array of colors and it immediately captures my attention. Knowing that I wasn't going to be out there long, I paused and took a picture of the sunset. As I continued walking, I couldn't help but think about how I didn't cherish a moment like that one before. Why hadn't I?
The truth is, I really didn't get captured by sunsets until the summer in between graduation from high school and the start of my freshman year of college. I became a part of a women's bible study at my church, geared toward young women in college and thereafter. We took a prayer hike (where we don't talk and each of us individually goes at our own walking pace, writing in journals, admiring the scenery, or saying a silent prayer) up the side of the mountain. It was the evening and as I walked up the trail, in between the trees I could see the sky getting dim. The backdrop of that with the trees was breathtaking! As we drove back and I could see the sun setting from a better viewpoint, I began to realize that it was beautiful. I even wrote a piece of poetry on the sunset during that same month!
One evening, my Dad was taking me back to campus from something I had scheduled that night. It was a Tuesday in April and as we were coming down the side of the mountain on route 78, I suddenly realized the sunset. I quickly pulled out my phone and got a beautiful picture! To this day, it is still one of my favorite pictures (which is the cover for this article). Once I received my license and had my own car to drive, I loved driving in the evening with the sun beginning to set.
Why do I love sunsets? Their beauty and the different aspects of emotions and life that I can associate it with. I associate sunsets with the drawings I used to do frequently of them at a young age. My personality, described to me from past teachers was bright, calm, collected, and they always loved the colorfulness of my projects. When I see a sunset, I feel this peace about me, as if God was laying peace over my being. He created the sun and He wants me to enjoy it in its fullness, any time of the day. I also feel like if the sunset can display its natural beauty for the whole world to see, why can't I? The sunsets also remind me to be positive, be the colors or sun of someone's day.
Cherish the sunsets when they happen. You never know how much you will come to appreciate them.
