Perspectives Part 3: Awe and Wonder

He makes our hearts sing!

This post has been brewing in my mind for a long time!

The students at Virunga Valley Academy discuss various “habits of mind” throughout the year. (We may have mentioned these a few times in previous posts, as they guide many of our own thoughts and perspectives.) About two weeks ago, we wrapped up what is now one of my favorites of the year: “Responding with wonderment and awe.”

Wonder and Awe: This is the only response to the amazing creation of God. One amazing song that kept coming to the forefront, and one that I showed my secondary students a few weeks ago, was So Will I by Hillsong United. Here is a lyric video that I recommend:

In my house (Muhabura), we taught the kindergarten through 5th grade these lyrics to sing aloud to the school:

And as You speak
A hundred billion galaxies are born
In the vapour of Your breath the planets form
If the stars were made to worship, so will I
I can see Your heart in everything You've made
Every burning star
A signal fire of grace
If creation sings Your praises, so will I

We experienced wonder and awe at the VVA Talent Show, as well, that occurred about 3 weeks ago. Thom, Steve, Amanda, and others were heavily involved in planning and coordinating an amazing night of singing, dancing, and dramatic performances. Even John Valor was on stage with his friends singing how “God made me!” Almost all students in the school were participants. Mary Hope and Hannah did an amazing job at their performance, as well, with Mary Hope singing and Hannah playing piano to the song “Great are you Lord”. (Hannah and Mary Hope also danced with their classes!). The winners of the show were the Rwandan traditional dancers, comprised of many of the secondary students at VVA.

It’s amazing how so many things throughout these past weeks have connected to the wonder of the universe that God created. I think when we are called to look for it and think about it, we can see God everywhere. Especially in His most precious creation - us, his people. In Grade 8 science, our current unit is on space. We have been learning about the phases of the moon, how solar and lunar eclipses happen, why we see so many colors at sunset and sunrise, how rainbows are formed, etc. I have been amazed to learn these things again. The Earth is tilted just enough to cause seasons and the moon rotates around the Earth (as the Earth moves around the sun) just perfectly to give us various moon shapes and colors. We see beautiful sunrises thanks to God’s blessing of light moving through more atmosphere and bending into red and purple and orange. I’ve been amazed over and over, and I have loved teaching this unit! Here is an example of a video from our curriculum that impacted me a lot:

For the Awe and Wonder habit of mind, each house was tasked with finding photos and images of things that made them feel wonder or amazement. There were 5 categories within which to find such pictures, and some had to be original photos. Thom’s house (Gahinga) sat all the kids down and asked for ideas, while they searched online for images and put them into a slide show. Each child had an image that they chose in the slides, and the kids made comments about why each thing was so amazing. Here is the presentation if you want to watch it - by the children of Gahinga at VVA:

It’s so important to remember to be in awe of what God has done in and around us. The first time we came to visit Rwanda, Matt took us up onto the side of a large hill just before sunrise. We carried chairs with us and supplies to make coffee. The plan was to see the sun come up over this “land of 1000 hills” - Rwanda. What happened was so much more amazing than I expected. Sunrises are so special to me, and this one, in the midst of prayer and time with other believers, was especially amazing:

But even more amazing are my own children. Tonight, I sat on Hannah’s bed as Mary Hope read aloud the first part of the Jesus Storybook Bible:

“The Heavens are singing about how great God is; and the skies are shouting it out, “See what God has made!” Day after day … night after night… They are speaking to us. - Psalm 19: 1-2 (paraphrased).

God wrote, “I love you.” He wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere! Because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror - to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing.

We love you all,
Bekah