God's Promise.

Genesis 9: 13-16 : "I have placed my rainbow in the clouds, It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the flood waters destroy all life. When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth."

I have always loved rainbows. As far as I am concerned they are one of the most amazing sights in all of nature that can been seen in every corner of the earth. You don't have to go anywhere special to see one. Just spray some water between yourself and the sun. Of course natural rainbows are even better. There is something so magical about the sun shining through rain or the mist of a waterfall causing a rainbow.

At a very young age my parents taught me that rainbows are a sign from God of his promise to never again destroy the entire earth in flood. Which is good, cause I hear that drowning is a pretty crappy way to go.

Of course when I was in Jr High and High School I got alot of questions from people whenever I wore a rainbow. Questions like "Are you gay? Is that why you like to wear rainbows so much?" This really used to upset me. Of course I am not gay! (I was also less tolerant back then, and took the question very personally, like an attack.)

So I stopped wearing rainbows. Then the rainbow came back into style again for little girls. So I started to wear them here and there... maybe a pin, maybe a sticker that people would assume was placed by one of my children.

Then Alexander got old enough to ask questions like "Where do rainbows come from?" and my immediate response was exactly what my parents had told me. The rainbow was a sign from God to remind everyone of his promise to never destroy the whole earth in a great flood again.

This got me thinking about my negative response to all the people had questioned me about my love for the rainbow. How many opportunities to spread God's word had I passed up because I was so afraid of what others might think? How many people had I given a defensive answer to "protect" my image? I was sad just thinking about it.

The other day we had several rainbows over the course of the day. I am sure that they happen quite frequently here in Washington. On Monday we had a particularly beautiful one, which if you look closely at the above picture. actually landed on the driveway of a house a block away from us. Owen went outside to take some pictures of the rainbow. ( I took the above picture. I wanted more than just the 3 shots Owen had taken) Alexander went with him. When they were done taking pictures, Alexander looked up at Owen and said "The rainbow is God's promise to us, right Daddy?" Owen of course said that he was right and they continued to walk into the house.

Just as Alexander was about to cross into the threshold of the house he looked back at the rainbow for one last look. Then he quietly said "Thank you for the promise, I love you God." and walked into the house.

Such a powerful statement from one so young.