Many of you may already know this, but I am a military brat; my father was in the Air Force. I moved a lot as a child; we usually didn't stay in any one place for more than about two years. I was blessed to live in California, Utah, Ohio, Israel, Idaho, and then Alaska where I attended high school. I have learned many things from interacting with diverse people and cultures.
One thing I love and miss about Alaska is the Northern Lights. There is something so awe-inspiring about them; it makes me think about all the things I cannot see with my mortal eyes. I found this picture on the internet, but it reminds me of what they looked like, just with my eyes, no camera in hand, when I saw them several times living up there. (This is where I found the photo How to photograph the northern lights - Lonely Planet)
When I married my husband, we decided to settle in Utah instead of Alaska. As much as I love many things about Alaska, the long winters are very hard, and I wasn't sure that's where I always wanted to be. We talked about both possibilities, but in the end, we decided to live in the lower 48. I figured I wouldn't really get the opportunity to see the Northern Lights again, unless we took a winter trip up there, which is unlikely. Usually if we travel to Alaska, we go in the summertime.
Enter some stellar geomagnetic storms in the past few years. In May 2024, I saw in my news feed that the chances that Northern Lights might be viewable as far south as Utah, and so I stayed up late reading, and checking on the sky to the north every 20 minutes or so, realizing that if you miss it, you miss it, and knowing that sometimes the best viewing really only lasts for minutes, rather than hours. At nearly 1 AM, they came out. I woke up my husband and children and brought them out to show them, and we were all amazed. It was a really wonderful experience that I will never forget, running outside in our pajamas with our cameras and phones and marveling at how beautiful it was, sharing this beauty that I loved so much with my family. I could barely tell they were there with my eye, just a little bit of a faint glow on the north, almost like the clouds were backlit a little bit; but I knew what I was looking for, and I knew where to look. Once I pulled out my phone to try and take pictures, it was able to take in more light and I could see far more color and light through the lens than I could with just my eye. I pointed them out, and everyone was able to see the amazing beauty that I have missed seeing for the past 25 years or so. This was taken in the middle of the night in May of 2024. The colors are much more spread out, and the ribbons of light are far less defined this far south, but it is incredible nonetheless.
Why am I even sharing this at all? Since I was a teenager, I have felt closer to God when I see the Northern Lights. Ribbons of light with bright spots that flowed and moved appeared to me like Heavenly corridors with beings that we caught a glimpse of, as if Heaven accidentally drew too close to Earth and we couldn't help but detect it.
Jesus Christ called himself the "light and the life of the world" and light is often used as a metaphor for truth and goodness, besides being a metaphor for Christ himself. When he came to Earth, one glorious sign of his birth was a new bright star in the sky, once again tying the idea of light with Jesus. So the Northern Lights always feel like a slice of Heaven to me.
Experiencing light feels so good, we want to have those experiences over and over again. We want to share them with those we care about because they're impactful and awesome. When I look back at the times I've seen the Northern Lights, the light and the way it felt sometimes almost seems surreal, but the experience was real and beautiful. This feels like my experiences with Jesus' light as well. There have been some tremendously impactful experiences in my life, where I have felt His love, His power, His grace, and His help, and where ideas and inspiration hit me, and it didn't feel like it came from me at all; it came from Him. I am so grateful for those experiences, and I want to give others the chance to experience that light so they can feel it too.
Because I knew where to look, I was able to share the Northern Lights with others. Sometimes, finding light or finding answers is all a matter of knowing where to look. This concept can apply to spiritual answers, but it can also be applied to many other situations. It hit home particularly hard on the night I woke my family to show them the Northern Lights in May 2024. I remember my oldest son telling me he was glad I knew where to look, and that I had stayed up watching for the Northern Lights, because this was something he had always wanted to see and experience, but he never would have seen it if I hadn't pointed it out, and if I hadn't stayed up to watch for them. At this time of year with Christmas approaching, I am reminded that there were some wise men from the East who knew what they were looking for. "we have seen his star in the east and are come to worship him. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." (Matthew 2:2, 10) They had been watching for signs of the Messiah's birth, and once the signs appeared, they felt joy and began a long journey so that they could have the opportunity to meet Him. I don't know how they knew what to look for, whether they had prophets in their country, or scriptures that had been passed down for generations, but somehow they knew where to look and what they were looking for, and it made all the difference for them.
I was also deeply impressed by the idea that there is so much more going on than I can see, and that with the right lenses, there was FAR more going on than I could comprehend with my body alone. My eyes could barely detect the Northern Lights in both October 2025 and May 2024. I'm too far away (unlike when I lived in Alaska and had a much more up-close view). When Gideon passed away, I was very overwhelmed with sadness, but also very overwhelmed by the "why?" Scott and I love our family, we try so hard to be good parents and losing him felt so unfair. Scott's faith inspired mine during that time, even though we both struggled through the loss. Even as we cried together, he said to me "I believe that if I could understand Gideon's part in God's plan for us, I would shout for joy." Neither of us is there yet; we're not ready to shout for joy over that loss. It still hurts immensely, especially at the holidays. But we're closer. And I also believe that God knows what he is doing, and that I will be able to thank Him one day for the experiences He gave me, and what they did to help our family learn and grow. Scott's health struggles have led us to feel similarly. It has been really hard, and I can see that these experiences have helped us to grow, and I'm almost thankful for them, but maybe not quite yet. Like the Northern Lights, there's a glimpse of that gratitude there as I begin to see the influence these experiences have had on my life, but I can't see very much with my mortal lenses, it's barely there on the horizon. I believe there is far more going on than I can understand. If I had a "camera lens" to capture more of what I can't see, I'd discern more of the magnificence God is setting in motion in my life. I absolutely believe that God is doing amazing things that I can't fully understand or recognize because I only have mortal eyes to see with. As I look with spiritual eyes and try to comprehend more, I can see glimpses of amazing things, but I am sure there is even more going on that I still can't see.
So...I guess this is my way of celebrating the birth of Christ by talking about celebrating the light. I want to acknowledge the light I do see and that light I don't, knowing that it is there and that I need to keep looking in the right places at the right times with the right lenses to help me see more of God's hand in my life.
"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6) Merry Christmas friends and family!!
