The rainbow with all the colors...........

My Saturday with the kids was a bit different than usual since it rained for most of the day!  Usually the kids spend many hours outside.  Instead, we watched a couple of movies - something that we rarely do.  Finally in the late afternoon, I prompted the kids to go outside with their umbrellas (just to burn off a bit of energy).    I took a quick picture of their umbrella "cuteness" since this grandma just had to capture this moment...

I left the kids watching another round of rain clouds forming in the sky, and went inside!  Suddenly the door flew open and Ellie announced, "Grandma, come quick!  There is a double rainbow!"  

And there it was! Standing on their front porch and looking at the sky, a perfect full arch, double rainbow!

I got several pictures of the rainbows, but I especially love this one with the kids looking at the sky.

It was such an awe inspiring and simply beautiful sight.  We all just stood  and stared for the longest time.  Then Ellie noticed something even more special.....

As the rainbow started to fade away, one portion became very visible and you could clearly make out ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW - even the violet (that is so often hard to see)!  My picture really does not do it justice, but you could clearly see.... (as the song says)

RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, AND BLUE, INDIGO AND VIOLET, TOO!

What an amazing thing it was to stand under that very bright and very clear rainbow with ALL the colors!  It was indeed, a bright spot in a very grey and dreary day.  And every though it wasn't the end of the rain that day, I know that as I reflected on the day, it was that beautiful "rainbow with all the colors" that stood out to me.  

Sometimes you just need that one bright colorful thing to change a bad day into a really good day, don't you?  I love the symbol of the rainbow and the Biblical promise to Noah that God would never again flood the entire earth.  It is the also a symbol of hope and light after times of loss and darkness.  Our family has been blessed by Grace,  a "Rainbow baby". Bonus picture of Grace - just because!

I found this description of a rainbow baby and I love it!  The time after Lucas died has felt like a storm with lots of darkness.  Even in that time of dealing with the ravages of that storm, there was hope.  We were able to hold onto the promises of the Bible, knowing that we would see Lucas again one day, and knowing that there would be a rainbow!  When the sun shines through the clouds, the rainbow appears.  Knowing that Jesus is always with us - even in those really dark and hard times - gives us hope!  

As I was thinking about this, I decided that really the rainbow is all about HOPE!  Before the storm, during the storm, after the storm, dealing with the effects of the storm...... when you think about that bright rainbow..... you have hope.  Yes, I am so thankful for that very special rainbow with all the colors.  

Jesus, thank you for always being with us.  Holy Spirit, remind us when it is especially dark, or when storms are all around us, that the light Jesus will break through those clouds.  Help us to hold onto the hope found in you.  Thank you for letting me see through the eyes of the children around me.  Amen

A rainbow kind of a day....

Ken and I had a very busy day today.  It was raining and not really very nice outside, so we decided to continue on with the painting project in the camera room.  Since there is not much room in there, we have to move everything into another not very big room.  Ken had painted the walls earlier, but now the ceiling was getting painted!  (I know, you are supposed to paint the ceiling first, but that just didn't happen....didn't make any difference since everything is white!).  I mostly helped move stuff and position the ladder so Ken could paint the ceiling.  I was also his "eyes" to be able to see exactly where he needed to paint.  And then he decided to paint the closet.  Wow, what a job.  This entailed taking everything out of the closet and then I began to go through storage tubs......

Yes, this was long, long process.  I found some pretty amazing things.  I managed to get rid of one trash bag full of junk and consolidate three tubs into two.  I have two tubs of stuff to take to Gwen's and a big stack of pictures to scan.  And Ken did get the entire closet painted!

We had a couple of things to return to the store and needed to get some dinner, so we set off in the rain.  On the way home there was an amazing rainbow.  The picture above is actually NOT from today (I confess in honesty...its actually from 2008).  But by the time we got to a place to get a picture, the rainbow had faded and you could hardly see it in the pictures I took.  But, trust me, it was there and it was amazing.  It was one of those very thick rainbows were you could actually see the violet line clearly.

This morning I saw this incredible video.......Perfect circle rainbow that was shot over Niagara Falls.  It is just amazing!  I had no idea that I would see a pretty neat rainbow myself today!

Yes, that freshly painted white room is certainly a pick-me-up.  The smell of paint is lingering in the house.  And it is a good feeling to have purged some things and found new homes for some things.  And it is good look back at old black and white pictures and even a newspaper from 1945 VJ Day!
Top that off with a rainbow!  Yes it was a good day in our house.

To me a rainbow reminds me that HOPE is alive!  It is the promise of sunshine on a rainy and stormy day.  It is the reminder that we have a God who keeps his promises.  A covenant keeping God.  There is so much joy in the colors that take your eye off of the dark clouds behind it.  I know that I need a bit of a reminder that there is more going on than those dark clouds and rain storms.  It is so easy to take your eyes off of that promise when the darkness closes in around you.  So I am thankful tonight for a productive day that ended with a rainbow reminder!

Jesus, thank you for rest after work and a rainbow after a storm.  Thank you for reminders of days long gone and also the hope for the future.  You are an amazing God that cares so much for us.  You know exactly what we need.  Holy Spirit, remind everyone reading this blog that there is hope in the storm.  Renew our faith and trust in our covenant keeping God!  Thank you Jesus!  Amen

End of a good day.....

Today we had a really wonderful time at Doug and Susie's house with Gwen, Tim and the kids.  Doug made a great ham and we had a nice meal.  To start the day, we played a DVD game about comedy movies in teams that were possibly less than fairly divided.  Susie and Gwen managed to beat out all the rest of us!  You can tell who watches the most movies!  However, the rest of us didn't do all that badly.  I even managed to answer one or two questions.  (Susie and Gwen would argue that somehow we got all the very easy movies that everyone should know..... which might actually be true!)  At any rate it was so good to be together and to just have time to share and talk.

One of the best things we did today was look at a very old scrapbook of mine.  Susie and Doug had this album at their house since before they got married.  They used some of the photo's in their wedding slide show.  We all got quite a kick out the pictures in this album.  This photo on the bottom was taken on Doug's 21st birthday.  It was actually the first time that Susie was at any family function.  They had only been dating for a bit more than a month.  Look at all those very young faces!  Yes, our family has grown and changed much in the last 11 (almost 12) years.  Looking at this album certainly makes me glad that I have spent all those hours scrapbooking.  It is times like today that remind me exactly why I have done all that work.  It was very satisfying to go through that book and remember each event.  Susie pointed out that all of 2003, 2004 and  2005 were contained in one small 8X11 album.  Gwen reminded us that this was before we were using digital cameras!  The number of photos was dramatically less than now.  In the last couple of years I have used four 12 x 12 albums for each year!  

Certainly, every time we are together, we are reminded of our loss in a very real way.  Lucas is always on our hearts and often in our conversation.  When it feels so very raw and hard, I remind myself that it has only been a very short time and also, there is no time table for grief.  I know that I have said it more than one time, but our family sure needs 2015 to bring us many, many fulfilled promises.

This showed up on my facebook wall this morning.  I am holding very tightly to all of the promises that I have been given for 2015.  And I am going to be spending plenty of time in the Word so that my heart and mind is filled with God's promises.  Right now I have plenty of hopes and desires for 2015.  And I will be expecting even more!  One of the many words that I have been receiving for 2015 (over and over and in many different ways) is that there will be rainbows for our family.  Rainbows that will bring exactly what this picture says.....more than we can expect.  Yes, we have walked through the end of 2014 in the grace and presence of Jesus.  It has not been easy but we have walked on.  As the days were so hard and the grief seemed so overwhelming, I found myself surrounded by the love of Jesus.  The only way I can describe this is, I have felt as if I have been sinking into the very heart of Jesus. That is a wonderful place to be.  It is from that place that I have been able to go on.  And thanks to that place of rescue, I have also been able to hear a number of great promises to hold on to!  

Jesus, thank you for bringing me into that place of your love.  Thank you for your promises and for the grace to hold on to them!  Holy Spirit, thank you for bringing our family together for this special day today.  Jesus, bless Doug and Susie with your love and your presence.  Give them reminders of your promises each time they see a rainbow.  Thank you for giving me the ability to hold on tightly to you!  Amen

Looking back.....to help me look ahead

I spent some time in the last couple of days, looking at my journals and working to assemble all of the words that I have journaled for 2015.  One of the most interesting things that I found was the paper that is in the front in the picture above.  I am really glad that this paper is actually dated (5/13/07).  It was yet another "rainbow" word.  Yes, there have been many, many rainbows showing up for us.  This revelation has all "R" words that describe the colors of the rainbow...

RED -   Redeemer  (also had PINK - Romance)
ORANGE - Radiance
YELLOW - Reflection
GREEN - Restoration
BLUE - Reward
PURPLE - Royalty

I also saw a particular gifting associated with each color's "R" description.

Redeemer ....Evangelism
Radiance .....Hospitality
Reflection....Prophecy
Restoration...Healing
Reward........Serving
Royalty....... Giving

Most of these make really good sense, on lots of levels.  Red, another symbol for blood, is also often used for Jesus, our redeemer.  And Jesus is the heart of all evangelism.  I love that green is restoration and usually you think of eternal life.  And healing is certainly a big part of the restoration that happens for each of us as we grow in our relationship with Jesus.  I think you can go through each of these "R" words and see the connection to the color and then also understand the tie to the gifting.  I remember that this came to me very suddenly, at night, and I grabbed whatever was on my nightstand to jot these down.  I am so surprised that I didn't rewrite these into a journal.  Or if I DID rewrite this, I am surprised that I kept this paper!  I know that this "Rainbow" word will be on my heart and in my spirit a lot in the next months.  And there is much, much more that I have to share about what is ahead in 2015.  Watch for future blogs!

Today I did a very normal thing....I took down the Christmas decorations.  I had not put up very much so the putting away was really simple.  I have to admit, usually this is one of my least favorite activities.  I love the holidays (usually) and I hate to see the time end.  This year, not so much.  All I can say is that our family walked through this season.  We counted off the days.  There were some really sad times, but there were also some very joyful times.  Today I sighed a big sigh of relief when I moved the last box to the garage.  I am looking forward to moving ahead into January.

Another interesting thing happened today.  I actually got a one day a week nanny job that begins in January!  So it will be good for me to be back in the work force, as well as some extra income.  It was such a blessing that I have been off of work in the last months.  I know that it would have been very difficult for me to keep up with a work schedule.  But I am now looking forward to getting back into a work routine.  And I am so thankful for three days off each week.  Yes, this is a blessing.

Jesus, thank you for revelation.  Mostly, thank you for revelation about rainbows!  Holy Spirit, I love how you work in all things.  Thank you for provision of work and income.  Thank you for helping our family walk through the holidays.  Continue to give us grace and courage to walk on into 2015.  Amen

Dreams and Visions restored

On Sunday evening, I was at a meeting with wonderful worship.  During the worship set, there was a point when the leader stopped the worship. He said that he had the sense that there were people in the room who had given up on their dream.  They might have had a dream or vision or prophetic word prayed for them, but it had been a hard season and the dream seemed just impossible.  And then he asked for anyone who felt this speaking to them, to raise their hands.  Others gathered around them to pray for the release and restoration of all these old dreams and visions. 

I had my hand raised, and boy were there some powerful prayers prayed over me!  One women spoke as if she knew my entire life (isn't the Holy Spirit just awesome to bring revelation like this)!  I certainly felt the power and presence of Jesus during this remarkable prayer time.  I confess that this has been a season of wondering what the dream even was!  So much so, that I don't think I even know exactly what the dream is anymore!

During that prayer, this women prayed that more than an "old dream restored" that I would receive "a brand new vision" that would propel me into the new and higher and different season of my life.  She said that she sensed that everything had changed for me and I had been turned in a new direction.  And even more than turned, I had gone up higher, like a circular staircase. 

As I have been thinking about this prayer time, I confess that I didn't have an immediate "Ah Ha!" moment when I knew exactly what this new dream was!  I remembered the time I saw this amazing double rainbow in the picture above.  It was much clearer and brighter than you see in this picture.  And both rainbows were full arc.  And I heard that there was a double blessing on the path that Jesus had for me.  I have not really seen a "double" blessing since I saw these rainbows back in 2005!  And the fact that the Holy Spirit brought this back to my mind, tells me that this is for now!  So now I am expecting!  I can't wait to realize exactly what the new dream is, as well as knowing that there will be an extra anointing on this new thing.  I love that even though the women praying for me said that it was something totally new, the Holy Spirit reminded me that, in fact, it was a restoration of this older word about a double blessing. 

Please pray that I will have clear direction and revelation of this new dream!  You can be sure that it will be shared here on this blog as soon as I have something to share! 

Jesus, thank you for powerful worship and leaders that are sensitive to the moving of your Holy Spirit.  Bless all those who were bold enough to ask for prayer during this service.  Thank you for those who stood with me and prayed for me.  Holy Spirit, would you please guide and direct me towards this new dream.  Help me to continue to walk in the correct path towards this new thing.  Thank you for your great love!  Amen

Sun Dogs.......again and a reminder of the covenant!

So this morning on my way to work, I was treated to another amazing display of "Sun Dogs".   If you don't know what a "Sun Dog" is.....

A sun dog (or sundog), mock sun^[1] or phantom sun,^[2] scientific name parhelion (plural parhelia), is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky, often on a luminous ring or halo on either side of the sun.^[3]

Sundogs may appear as a colored patch of light to the left or right of the sun, 22° distant and at the same distance above the horizon as the sun, and in ice halos. They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season, but they are not always obvious or bright. Sundogs are best seen and are most conspicuous when the sun is low.

 

 

The first time I saw sundog's was on December 19, 2005.  That day, I was able to get some amazing pictures.  Here is one from that day.

Today I was not able to get to a place to take a great picture.  But as I made a turn around a corner almost to my work, I saw the full arc rainbow around the sun.  And it was stunning.  When you see these you really think that there are 3 suns rising! And this morning they were that bright.  At first I couldn't really see the full arc rainbow.  But as the sun got slightly higher in the sky, the rainbow appeared.  It took my breath away.  Yes, it was a good way to start the day.

All that to say, this was a severe weather emergency day.  The temperature was -8 and the wind chill temp was -35.  Yes, it was cold.  And all the schools were closed.  And tomorrow looks even worse.  It is predicted that when I leave for work it will be -13 and wind chill of -40.    I still had to go to work.  And it was an extra busy day since there were extra children at the center (all those kids who were off of school). And all the schools will be closed tomorrow also.  And I have to go work tomorrow!

But the appearance of that rainbow really lifted my spirits.  It is a lot like seeing a rainbow after a really bad rain storm.  It is that assurance that the worst is over.  And it is a reminder of our covenant keeping God.  A rainbow always causes me to breath a littler deeper and relax and rest.  The feeling is the same when I remember that I am under God's covenants.  What a blessing it is to know that I can rest in the promises of God.  Yes, it is a good day to be thankful that I am a child of the King! And I am so thankful for this amazing atmospheric phenomenon and the full arc rainbow that shined down on me this morning!

Jesus, thank you for all the blessing you pour down on us every day.  Thank you for bringing bright spots into the coldest and darkest time of the year.  Holy Spirit, what an amazing way to remind me that I am safe and secure as a child of the King - and under the covenant.  Keep us all warm and peaceful during the dark and uncertain times.  Thank you for spectacular shows in the sky!  Amen


Thank heavens for Grandchildren

So my work ended and then I got to spend a wonderful day with my grandkids.  Oh my, how I love those kids!  Seriously, there is nothing better than being a grandparent.  Although we just spent the day "doing nothing", it was so enjoyable.  

Over the last 7 years I have collected some insightful and heartwarming thoughts that I call "Lia-isms" or "Ellie-isms".(Quotes from Lia - now age 7 and Ellie, now age 4)  These choice nuggets represent some of the best application of Biblical ideas and prophetic truths. 

Here is this weeks "Ellie-ism".   Ellie asked me to have a "sleep-over" at her house. She is very anxious to have a real sleepover. Lia (the older sister) has already experienced this and Ellie can't wait.  Ellie told me that there was  plenty of room in her "other bed" for both Jesus and me!   If you ask Ellie, she will tell you in great detail about Jesus being in her room with her at night.  (He sleeps in her other bed.)   Now some might say that she just has a good imagination, but this is much more than that.  These nighttime visits started when Ellie was between 2 and 3 years old.  She can tell you exactly what Jesus looks like - He has a "mush-tache"! Which for Ellie, means a beard.  And he has "all the colors" around him and also "has a fire".  I asked Ellie if Jesus talked to her.  She told me that he called her "Ellie".  And held her hand.

Wow!   She certainly hasn't heard passages from Revelation, but there is a rainbow of colors surrounding Jesus and fire!  And she also wouldn't know that Yahweh knows every one's name.   Jesus called Ellie by name.

Several years ago I wrote a small booklet called "Gods Plan and Purpose for Children". 
That booklet was born out of the idea that adults needed to have a better understanding of the destiny that Yahweh has for us that begins before we are born.  Yahweh intends to use children when they are children - not just after they have grown up.While there are many good concepts in that booklet, I had really only scratched the surface.  Now, thanks to Lia and Ellie, I am seeing first hand how much more is available through our kids.  Ellie and Lia know Jesus.  They don't just know stories about Jesus, they have encountered him, talked with him and even held his hand.

I love how much I am learning from these little ones.  

Here is the address to read my booklet -  God's Plan and Purpose for Children