Wider, Higher, Longer, Deeper

STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: Picture Praise, 9/17/12

We recently took a break from ministry in Tokyo, Japan to visit our family and friends back home in Australia. While we were there we hired a motor home and drove into the centre of Australia to see Uluru (Ayers Rock). The distances we travelled were immense (8,000km). Even though my husband and I had known (and seen photos) of this part of our home country, it still amazed us to see it. As we drove hour after hour through places where there was little evidence of human habitation, we couldn't deny how tiny we were compared to the huge land of Australia. 

When we came back to Japan I had coffee with my best Japanese friend. She'd travelled in outback Australia as a young woman and remembered the same impression. She said, "We get the feeling in the city that we are pretty big and strong, but out there you realize that we really aren't large at all." 

In Tokyo we can't see the horizon unless we climb a tall building. In outback Australia it is so flat that we could almost always see the horizon. This photo was taken while driving in outback Queensland. We only saw this type of sky once in our trip, my husband called it a "mackerel sky". Whenever I look at it, I'm reminded of these verses in Ephesians that describe our God and his love which is so large that it is beyond our ability to understand or even describe. These clouds, though so high, pressed us down and made us feel small. Yet our creator's love presses down and surrounds us with love that is far wider, longer, higher, and deeper than we could ever see.

We'd love to see your corner of the world and the people who live there...so please consider submitting your photo (jpeg, at least 600px x 400px) and verse (not on the photo) to: info@womenoftheharvest.com.

photographer: Wendy Marshall, Japan