Cotton candy clouds sky

Last night I looked up and saw this in the sky.

Immediately I thought of cotton candy and a song we sang at camp about cotton candy clouds.

The colors were calming and beautiful.  I posted the picture on Instagram and Facebook and a florist friend posted that those colors were the 2016 pantone colors.

I didn't know what that meant, so I had to look it up.

I found a cool website on the Pantone colors of the year: Rose Quartz and Serenity.  I learned some neat things about these colors: "As consumers seek mindfulness and well-being as an antidote to modern day stresses, welcoming colors that psychologically fulfill our yearning for reassurance and security are becoming more prominent. Joined together, Rose Quartz and Serenity demonstrate an inherent balance between a warmer embracing rose tone and the cooler tranquil blue, reflecting connection and wellness as well as a soothing sense of order and peace".  Click here to go to the webpage. 

No wonder I find myself drawn to them.  I do have a sense of peace when I see the cotton candy colors.  They are soothing.

The song with the lyrics "cotton candy clouds" is "Master Designer" by Kurt Kaiser.  I have written about it before.  It's a song I learned at camp.  Sometimes I think of it when I see big, puffy white clouds and at other times it comes to mind when I see the cotton candy colors, like last night.

"Master Designer" lyrics:

“Cotton candy clouds, so fluffy and white,
Who put you there in a sky of deep blue?
Or do you just happen to float along,
Pretty and white in a sky so blue, so blue, sky so blue?

Tall mountain, deep valley, fast river, cool stream,
Show grandeur and majesty in some grand scheme
All of these wonders that we behold,
Are only a part – it cannot be told, be told, cannot be told.

Master Designer, Whoever You are,
All of this beauty both near and afar
Can’t just have happened, the odds are too great,
There must be a plan, we’re not left to fate, to fate, not left to fate.

All of this beauty is far too convincing
Master Designer, Your word must be true,
Of all Your creations man is the dearest
Help me to simply believe now in You, in you,
Believe in You.”

Here is a blog post written about Master Designer and clouds in 2010: My Southern Mints Julep

Lyrics with instrumental

 The King's Heralds singing "Master Designer"

"Master Designer" is one of my favorite camp songs.  Quite possibly because it mentions clouds, mountains, valleys, creation, rivers, streams, etc.  Also because Polly Cameron sang it all those years.  

So last night when I looked up and just happened to catch a glimpse of the sky in a moment of cotton candy brilliance, I had no idea that the peaceful moment in the moment would take me to a place of learning about Pantone colors.  Though I had the brief wisp of the camp song in my head last night, I didn't know I would go back there today.

Creation-- it allows us to be present in the moment, to learn something in the future, and to reflect upon the past.

It may not be the clouds in the sky that speak peace or truth to you in your journey.  It may be other aspects of Creation.  For me, it varies too.  I am grateful, however, for a Creator who continues to speak gently to me through creation, reminding me of many things, including who I am and whose I am.

Speaking of being reminded of who I am and whose I am.  Check out this posting by Shalem Institute.  I am grateful to my cousin, David, for tagging me yesterday.  Otherwise I would have missed it.   Here is the quote that was on Shalem's Facebook page:

""Know that you are the beloved of God. Say it aloud, keep it in your heart and on your lips. I am made in the image and likeness of God; I am made in the image and likeness of God. I am the beloved of God. Let this take root in your being. Ponder and rest in that. Let it flow through you. You are a unique gift to the world and have a particular contribution that only you can be and give. So, be attentive—aware—listening for what that is. Live the questions: Who am I called to be for the world? What is the unique way I can serve? What is the piece that is mine to offer to the whole?"  by Patience Robbins 

Click here for the entire blog post by Patience Robbins on the Shalem Institute website.

Blessings on your journey, 

Debra