It all started with a rainbow...

A couple of weeks ago it seemed as if the world was about to crash down on me... hard. Within in a span of 10 days I found myself dealing with heartache on so many levels and it just didn't seem to stop. It started with one of my oldest friend's mom hearing "there's nothing more we can do" from her cancer doctors, then another friend's adopted son getting put in juvy for having a gun in his locker, the good 'ol "boys suck" drama, and then to top it all off... finding out 5 days before I'm suppose to leave on my Hawaiian (get away from all this drama) vacation... we have to postpone it. WHAT!? God... really? And in my own words... Are you freakin' kidding me?! The Hawaii bomb was pretty much the icing on the cake.

The next morning I got up... pretty drained. It was sunny to the east when I walked out the door, but when I got in the car, I noticed it was pretty dark to the west. Dang it, probably should have brought my coat. Anyway, I headed off to work, going over the St. Johns bridge as I do every morning and there was THE most beautiful rainbow in the sky! It appeared to start at the opposite end of the bridge and it arched over the top, crossed the river and ended at the river's edge. It was gorgeous! I found myself thanking Jesus, because I was pretty sure that He sent it just for me. Well, apparently some other folks on the bridge were enjoying my rainbow as well, b/c they caused a 4 car pile up and jammed up traffic! Lovely.

I got to work and dragged Sara to Starbucks to tell her about Hawaii and find out that she's thinking of leaving DM. Aaagh. Shoot me now. But atleast she's just moving a few blocks away, so I'll still have my gym and happy hour buddy... it's not like she's moving to UTAH or anything!! :-) Anyway, happy flippin' Tuesday, right? Well, Tuesday is cell night and Pickles sent an email asking us to write down 10 things that we're thankful to Jesus about. Let's just say... I wasn't feelin' too thankful at that point. I shrugged off the request and didn't think about it again until I got off work and was driving to cell, when all of a sudden it hit me...

I'm thankful for rainbows.

Hmm... I'm also thankful for sun breaks on a rainy day.

By the time I got to Pickles, I was well on my way to composing my list of 10. Which included, this lovely time of singleness (despite the boy drama) so I can travel and be free! The request that seemed so untimely... was of course, exactly what I needed... and it was God's perfect timing. Since I wasn't leaving for Hawaii in a couple of days, I decided to get out of town anyway and head up to Seattle to spend some time with my friend Jen. On the way up there I called Lily, who also decided to take Friday off and we chatted for over an hour. She listened as I hashed out all the things running around in my head. I told her about all my drama over the past couple of weeks, the beautiful rainbow, Pickle's "list" and how my attitude had turned to thankfulness by the end of the day... she started laughing and said "and it all started with a rainbow".

That's when it hit me. God created the rainbow after the storm. It was a sign that the flood (storm) was over, and it was His promise to never flood the earth again... which to me, also represents God's faithfulness. He holds true to His promises. He promises to give me the desires of my heart when I delight myself in Him (Ps 37:4), He promises to give me everything I need when I seek Him first (Matt 6:33), He encourages me to cast all my cares on Him (1 Pet 5:7) and He promises to work ALL things out for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). He's faithful and He keeps His promises.

That rainbow on Tuesday morning WAS for me!! At the time I thought it was just Him smiling down and blessing me with His gorgeous creation after a rough night... but He was reminding me of His faithfulness, it just took me awhile to get it!! He's still in control, no matter how things look through my eyes... and He loves me SO incredibly much, enough to send me a rainbow... a hug to let me know everything is going to be all right. His mercies are definitely new every morning!

Thank you Jesus!