Living on the rooftop, Google SkyMap, and flying lanterns

Ready for a special edition of 3 Beautiful Things??

1. Living on the roof. 

God has blessed us with a beautiful home for two, with a spacious rooftop veranda, and an amazing view of the sky. When we’re home, we feel like we’re on top of the world, literally and figuratively. It’s our own little place away from everything. There’s not a lot of buildings around us, so when we open our door in the morning, bright blue skies and puffy white clouds greet us back. In the evenings, we would switch on the twinkle lights, and dance under the stars. I lost track of the number of parties and get-togethers we hosted since we moved in last August. Our home is not big, but I thank God that He’s filling it up with lots of happy memories.

2. Google SkyMap & Betelgeuse. 

Back when we were laptop-less, the husband and I learned to be more creative with our time. One November evening, we thought of spending the night “out”. Dinner and some stargazing was the agenda of the night, on our very spacious veranda, and the experience was made more awesome with this Google SkyMap android app that my husband downloaded on his phone. (I highly recommend it!)

The highlight of the Google SkyMap experience for me was locating where the stars Betelgeuse and Canis Majoris are, and seeing them in the sky with my bare eyes. In that note, you have to watch Louie Giglio’s How Great is Our God video! It’s 40 minutes long but you should take time to watch it, really.

Betelgeuse, Louie Giglio says, is twice the size, not of the Sun, but of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. He says, if the Earth was the size of a golf ball, Betelgeuse would stand the height of six Empire State Buildings on top of each other. It’s that huuge! Go locate yourself in a golf ball-size earth, and imagine how huge the Betelgeuse star is.

The first time we watched this video in church, I was moved in such a huge way I was crying half-way through until the end. And it’s not only because I was/am a crybaby. It’s that, when you begin to realize how huge this universe is, and how small you are in this vast space, you start to wonder why a huge God who created all of these would even look at tiny little you with so much love. I don’t know about you, but that just blows my mind away.

Now I know where Betelgeuse is in the sky. It’s a mere spec of light from where we are, I know, but everytime I look up, I become filled with so much awe at how ginormous our God is, and how much He loves us.

3. Flying lanterns.

On January 13, Friday the 13th, our dear friends, Rovy and Jeni gave us a wish lantern. These girls are the sweetest! It’s a real blessing to be surrounded by such loving and thoughtful people. Whoever said that Friday the 13th means bad luck?

We thought of flying lanterns on our wedding but we had to scratch it off the plan because of the risks. But last Friday the 13th, I finally had my little Tangled wish granted. Just one lantern, one wish. That’s all we needed for a perfect night.