Sunrise and sunset

For the first time in my life, I had an almost completely uneventful trip. Well, except for the guy in the Antigua airport that harassed me until I threatened him with an imaginary boyfriend who fights in the WWF. He actually looked at me and said "I don't believe you", but when I gave him a cold glare he walked away.
At any rate I arrived safely in Antigua and after waiting for my housemate for an hour, wandering through a huge supermarket for an hour or two getting groceries, and driving for 40 minutes on windy roads, I finally arrived at my house.
Ahhhh, paradise. I can't believe how beautiful it is. I stood on the balcony with a panoramic view of the ocean and my own personal little beach and I felt tears welling up in my eyes at the wonder of how good God has been to me. I don't deserve to live in this beautiful house with great housemates and going to medical school and being so happy. I don't deserve it, at all. When the sun went down the sky was streaked in pink and violet and the fuschia-colored hibiscus and orange bouganvillea around the house melted into the evening hues.
I didn't sleep very well last night, and I'm not sure why, but probably it was due to a combination of jet lag, the heat, the sound of waves crashing outside my window, the frogs and birds in the trees, the wind, and just thinking and praying about everything.
So much of my life is uncertain these days. I am praying about this school and not sure how it is going to work out and wondering if God is going to lead me to a new school or just tell me to keep persevering here.
I got up early (5:00) because I couldn't sleep and I took my bible and walked to the little beach and stood by the waves and watched the sun appear over the distant mountains of Montserrat; first as a tiny sliver of gold, and then a radiant ball of fire that set the entire ocean into a writhing pool of crushed glass as the waves broke on the shore. I stood there with my arms lifted and meditated on a bible verse thanking God for what he had done, as I looked at the breathtaking beauty around me.
The amazing thing is that, as beautiful and wonderful as this all is; it is not the most beautiful and wonderful thing that God has done. That description belongs to what happened 2000 years ago. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ- done by the hand of the father in his great love for us- was and is the ultimate act of beauty and wonder. It seems strange to consider something so horrific as death on a cross to be beautiful. But what the cross demonstrates to us, is the depth of God's passion for us. That's one reason why I think it is appropriate to call Jesus' death the passion of the Christ. Through his suffering he demonstrated his deep passion for us.