An Open Heaven

Last night there was an amazing moon over my house. I was walking my new puppies (yes, I adopted two more) and I looked up in the cold air and there was the moon surrounded by the most brilliant halo. It was not a narrow halo, but a wide open halo. It was as if I was looking up into heaven itself. It truly was amazing and it left me with such a feeling of grandeur and awe.

I was first awed by the affect of the moon and the presence of the break in the atmosphere making a perfect circle in the sky, just over my house. At church, we've been talking a lot about this being a year of being under an open heaven. The verse is found in Malachi... where it talks about bringing the full tithe into the house and God will open heaven over you.... among other things.

I wonder about so many things that are so far beyond my comprehension, like how the earth keeps spinning on its axis... who keeps it spinning? And who set the planets in orbit around the sun? It is so fascinating...

I walked inside and put my precious Beagle/Dachsund mix puppies back in their crate for the night and pondered as I prepared to go to bed. What would it really be like to be "under an open heaven." Does it mean then that I can ask for anything and get it as long as it is in His will for me? Does it mean then that He will bless all of my endeavors? I think I will spend much more time working on what it really means to be living under what is called an "open heaven."

Sunday morning, I was blessed too with my female cat giving birth to five "healthy" kittens. For the first time, none of them died and I didn't have to teach any of them to nurse. I found it amazing. I keep my eye on them, with a warming pad under their special box... and I feel blessed. In the Old Testament times, the people counted how many sheep they had and how many cows, and llamas... etc., well, I am sure stocking up on dogs and cats. No, I'm not a hoarder. I have always found good homes for the surplus. But while they are in my care, I feel blessed to have had the time with them.

In so many ways, although I don't bring in a lot of money each year, I have all my needs met. I have three, beautiful children. We live in a warm house with running water and we have a car to drive.... so we are blessed. We even have food to eat. I cannot complain. It is all in how I view the world. I can look at all that I have and feel blessed, or I can look at what I don't have and feel deprived. I think I prefer to consider the former.

I know there are people groups in the world who don't have a bed to sleep on and they sleep out on the ground under the stars. I know that there are people groups in the world that don't have clean running water, food to eat, or clothes to wear... and those are the people that I can do whatever I can to share the small amount of wealth that I have. It is not much. Sometimes, it's just giving the guy who has a placard on the corner $5.00, so he can eat dinner, or buy a drink.

Sometimes it is taking the time to notice that someone is down. Sometimes it is taking the time to notice that someone around me is stressed and doing something kind for that individual to make them feel brighter. Those are the times when good things happen. Those are the times when I know I am making a difference.

I think that maybe that is what it might mean to live under an "open heaven" 'cause in that place I am free to bless all who come near. A former pastor use to say that God would give to you what He could get through you... I think that is really true.

What about you? what do you think?

RamyB