Moon Clouds

There comes a point in the life of every parent where they must face the question, "Where did my child learn that?"  Sometimes the question is in reference to a bad word they picked up on the street, other times it is in reference to a piece of information not directly taught to them, for us, it was moon clouds. 

Our first experience with moon clouds came as we were driving on a cool day in January.  The sun was shining and the sky was a glistening bright blue, rare for that time of year.  Aaron and I were on our way for dinner with family when we hear Bryton perk up from the backseat, "Moon?" 

I looked at Aaron questioningly, "Did he just say moon?"

"I think so." 

I laughed a little, impressed that he knew the word, yet a bit disappointed that what he meant to say was sun.  No harm, no foul, though.  It was an honest mistake for a two year old, and it had been a long time since we had seen our old friend the sun.  No wonder Bryton didn't know what it was!

So I spent the entire rest of the way chattering to Bryton about how what he saw was the sun, not the moon, and that the moon is out at night and the sun during the day and that the sun was actually a star.  Cool, huh?  And I promised to show him stars later, and the actual moon so he would know what it looked like, yada yada yada yada, stupid parent. 

It wasn't until we made it to the restaurant that I realized, the moon was, indeed, out, and Bryton had, indeed, saw it. 

I didn't say anything. 

Now when he shouts, "Moon," from the backseat we believe him. 

In fact, it was just the other day on our family walk that Bryton was standing in the stroller looking up at the vast expanse of baby blue sky when he exclaimed, "Moon!"  And sure enough, amongst all of the fluffy brilliance of the clouds was a tiny, white, moon.  It so perfectly blended in that I wondered how he spotted it.  What was a 2 year olds criteria or qualifications for the moon anyway?  Round? Because it isn't always.  White? Because it isn't always white either.  Small? Nope.  Big?  Nope.  The only thing that is consistent with the moon in the eyes of the two year old is that it is in the sky and it is not the sun, but apparently that's enough to qualify as the moon. 

I could go into an entire novel of theological analogy, but I'll spare you and let your mind wander as it may.  Doing so allows you to ponder on something as simple and beautiful as a two year old enjoying the moon, or to go so deep as to what sets us apart from our God, whose image we are created in, but in who we are not. 

There are no longer many days that I fail to notice a blue sky, and amongst that blue sky, I always look for the moon amongst the clouds.  It's another part of seeing the world through the eyes of a child who is seeing it for the first time... it is a constant reminder of the beauty of it all. 

-A