I know I am preaching to the choir, here, but sunsets.
Oh my goodness.
I love them.
Always have.

My favorite type of sunsets are the ones here on the West Coast that settle down over the Pacific.
I have hundreds of captures.
I am sharing some of my favorites here with you.

I turned 44 years old this past weekend.

God willing, I am at about the half way point through my life.
What an ushering in of the Second Half it was!
I really try to keep my expectation in check, and for this reason, all expectation was blown away.
Not only was I loved on, I was able to actually accept it. Fully.
It was amazing.

The realization of now being in the Second Half has thrown me for a loop.
“How did that happen?” coupled with “Only half?”
There is so much richness, beauty and heartache to the tapestry of my life.
If I am lucky enough – so much more to come.
I have a bucket list.
And I fully intend to complete it.

Not only do I absolutely love sunsets, I have been known to chase after them.

Similar to those who chase after the eye of a tornado, I feverishly chase the finale of the sunset.
There is usually a correlation – something in my mind that needs to be worked through, so I jump in my car and head toward the sunset in search of the best possible view where I can stop and watch its final and most glorious act.

Unlike tornado chasing, where it is manic and inevitably destructive, the metaphor in a sunset is one where each moment is all the more beautiful and striking than the last,  making the very most of each moment, with the most ambitious and fantastical being the very, very end.
And clouds.
Clouds make the sunset.

The sun’s very nature includes illumination and the drawing out of the very best around it.

G.K. Chesterton says this,

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.”

As I have come into my own,
as I now embark on writing more profusely and professionally,
I long to be one that illuminates.

As my mantra says,

“I simply want to pour out that which God so generously pours in.” 

All the while, I continue to chase sunsets.