A once-in-a-lifetime event occurred on Monday, August 21, 2017: a total solar eclipse all the way across the United States of America. The line of 100% totality was only 50 miles north of Collegedale.

In a total solar eclipse there are four points of contact:

1. When the moon first starts going in front of the sun
2. When there is total coverage of the sun by the moon
3. When the moon just starts to move back out of the sun’s way
4. When the last bit of the moon stops covering the sun

At third contact there is a special effect that can be seen: the diamond ring effect.

Because the moon has just started to shift back off the sun, the sun gets extremely bright in one section therefore making it look like a diamond ring.

All around us the Lord shows us how much He loves us. The diamond ring factor in the solar eclipse reminded me of the verse Isaiah 54:6, “‘The LORD will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,’ says your God.”