A Christmas Memory With My Friend Toby

      I posted this story a few years ago here on the blog. I wanted to post it again so those who might have missed it can see it this Christmas season.

 I have had a great love for astronomy for many years. When I was in college, one of my very favorite classes was the astronomy class that I had the good fortune to take. The course had a great professor, and he made the class both fun and informative. One of the activities that we did during the course of the class was observing sessions. The professor set up three or four large telescopes on the roof of the science building, and we were able to see the moons of Jupiter, sunspots, nearby galaxies, and close up views of the moon. 

     I wanted to have a reflecting telescope for many years, and one year, my Mom bought me a Newtonian reflector for Christmas. I still have that telescope all these years later. The telescope had to be assembled, and my friend Toby was always a willing assembly partner. Whether it came to setting up the Christmas tree or setting up my new computer in my office when I started writing, Toby was always there. 

     After Toby finished pushing around the pieces with his nose and sitting on the directions, I was able to finish setting up the telescope. It was time to take the telescope outside and view the stars in the heavens. My folks were going to a Christmas Eve party, so it was just me and Toby out underneath the clear night sky. 

     Even though it was a smaller telescope, I was able to see a lot with it. As I was out there with Toby looking at the stars, the thought came to me of how small the two of us were among the vastness of the universe. Even though the universe is so vast, and God is so powerful that He created all things by the world of His power, He stills cared about a man living in the middle of nowhere in Kansas along with the small dog that was the man's best and truest friend. 

     That night, with my friend by my side, I thanked the Lord that He loved me and cared about me. I thanked Him that in the vastness of the world, He allowed Toby and myself to find each other and become friends. I still thank God and praise Him for His power. I thank Him for all the wonderful things that He has done. 

     This Christmas season, remember to thank God for caring about us enough to send His Son to be with us so that we might be with Him in His eternal Kingdom that is to come.