Sunday, June 3, 2012

Of Heaven and Rainbows

In January of 2010, after my brother died, I was blessed by the promise of the rainbow; I blogged about it here: After the Rain

Four weeks ago, after a month of ups and downs regarding our oldest daughter’s health, we were told she had, maybe, two days to live.

Once again, it was raining in Oregon; big blustery sheets of rain.
I prayed for sunshine. I wanted to send Sarah home to her Father in Heaven on a sunny spring day; I wanted to remember her in the sunshine.

Yet the rain continued.

As we sat with her, listening to her labored breathing, bathing her face with a warm cloth, I kept silently praying for sunshine.
It was not to be.

As Sarah slipped from her earthly tabernacle, the damp and bluster continued.
At one point, I was being hugged by another daughter, when I looked up and, ever so faintly, spied a rainbow. It wasn’t as grand and bright as the rainbow two years ago; just a faint, quiet reminder of the Lord’s promise.

The Lord knew I didn’t need sunshine and blue skies to make me stronger; He knew I needed to be reminded that the rain would end; that strength comes, not from what we want, but from what we gain from what we get.

The Lord’s promises are sure; He will not leave us in the rain. He gives us miracles, I believe, on a daily basis; we just have to be watching for them.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Winter's Sunset

The cold, stiff breeze blows into my face, as the purples and grays of winter’s sunset fade quietly toward twilight; the colors, swirling and streaking as the molten gold slips below the horizon, make a heady imitation of the Aurora Borealis.
The fresh cold air seems alive; generous in its capacity to chill; my jacket clearly not the right one for this outing.

As I walk along, the full moon rises, casting night shadows that, as a child, scared me as I tramped along. The grass is frosty already, a harbinger of the heavy frost that will await my early morning sojourn, and sparkles faintly in the silvery light.
I will pass out grain and a few ear scratches, locking the beasts in for the night; making all snug on the farm.

Nighttime beauty is one of my favorite winter treats these days; frost glistening at the end of my flashlight and a swollen moon lighting the path I walk; the night shadows that terrified me as a child are but a distant memory; the peace and serenity of the cold night are hard to beat in comparison to this fast paced, loud, nonstop world we live in; it’s a time of quiet reflection and contemplation; a little sanity to end the day.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Of a Winter's Morning

The frosty winter morning, bejeweled with the waning moon hanging tranquilly in the cobalt light of dayspring, began cold and white; I was up early and not exactly happily so.

Then, the glow began; soft and warm, faintly tingeing the white expanse with gold and pink; rays, seemingly of molten gold, warming my heart if not the air and I began to revel in the beauty of the approaching day.

Growing stronger, the light began to fill the cracks and crevices until the lingering shadows were dispelled from the snowy patchwork at my feet; morning had broken.

Blues, pinks and purples infused with gold, were wrapping themselves across the sky, painting vivid streaks on the clouds; the snow taking on the reflected glory. The fog, rising from the lake and the myriad crooks and crannies of the surrounding hills, glowing pink in first light; craggy peaks rearing their snowy heads, as if reaching for the proffered rays.

How many dawns like this have I missed, wrapped snug in my nocturnal harbor? How many bedazzling mornings have I forfeited, cozy but oblivious?

No matter, I was here now, basking in the beauty of creation once again. Tears sprang to my eyes unbidden as I traversed the snowy landscape; how I know God loves me as he shares with me the beauty and glory of His creations.

Every once in a while something so beautiful and unmatched crosses your path,and you know, along with Anne Shirley,that God is in His heaven and all is right with the world.