Rainbows in nature have always dazzled me. I can remember their glorious colors drawing my “oohs” and “ahhs” as I drank in their sudden appearance in the skies after a storm thankfully passing by and yielding to a suddenly, beautiful blue sky. During our years in Nigeria, living on the Jos Plateau, where showers often hurried in and just as quickly passed by, rainbows seemed a plentiful and often welcome delight. Always they lifted me up with a sense of God’s smiling, loving presence reminding me that He was always, ever present and in control–and that His mysterious, miraculous way was surely, eternally good. Sometimes rainbows have come along just when  I needed them most. For instance, in the year our daughter Rachel married,  the same year God was moving us from thirty blessed years in Nigeria into a new and very different people and place in Niger; while we were living in Gnatville, and were returning there after a visit to Jacksonville to see our son, John David; behold, we looked up after a passing shower and there was a big, bright horizon-to-horizon double rainbow, breathtakingly bold and beautiful. For us that day, it was a giant, an assuring, loving smile from God as He was in the midst of redirecting us and His missions call on our lives. It was also an encouraging reminder that he continued to carry our children, Rachel, Luke, and John David in his heart, wherever He took us. I still treasure that particular rainbow in my memory and hold onto it as an act of particular love and mercy God provided just when we needed it the most. In our seven years in Niger I never, myself, saw a rainbow, but two of my friends caught one shining over the capital city, Niamey, as they were driving to school one rainy morning. That lovely photo captured on one of their phones, came as another smile from God, reminding all of us in ministry together there of His abiding, guiding, caring presence. Recently, I have been hungry for another rainbow as we settle down into retirement, life and ministry here in the United States. This time I almost missed it. We have had prodigious amounts of rain during these first two months of 2020. So, Becky and I were determined to get up to Noccalula Falls to see those rain waters as they tumbled and fell into the the creek bed below. So, we headed up there one Saturday morning, though we almost talked ourselves out of it, to find a crowded park with lots of folks enjoying the awesome display of waters powerfully pounding over the falls. The waters were so strong they raised a mist, and I was commenting on how damp and cool it felt, when Becky exclaimed, “Look!” You can see in the picture above how once again God was smiling down in love, and I could almost hear him laughing, as He spoke lovingly in my heart, “I’ve been waiting for this perfect opportunity to delight you! And I did! Enjoy! Never forget, I’m here and I love you.”

Then There Are Days

There are often days after a rain
when I go chasing
with my heart
and with my eyes
longing, chasing after
rainbows in the skies
as if am a child again
chasing after Easter eggs;
but eggs are almost always
hidden easily found
in the grass or on some
flowering dogwood branch
while rainbows seem so rare
I may go years
searching hard
yet in despair;
then there are some days
when I forget to look
caught up in awe
in nature’s glorious show
while waters roar
and plunge as showers
rain from heaven above
into a flooded gorge below
while the force of their descent
trouble the air around
with a chilling mist
until my shoulders shudder
when I suddenly
gasp and stare in wonder
as God paints before me
another rainbow smile.

M.S.
February 25, 2020

The LORD your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3: 17 (ESV)