Genesis 9:13

There was a rainbow on the way home from work last night, its two ends sprouting up from the ground on either side of the highway and then disappearing into the low clouds. I tried to take pictures, but my camera phone would only capture the red part, so you'll have to take my word that it looked pretty cool.

I love rainbows. They fascinate the heck out of me. I find it immensely neat that a beam of sunlight and a droplet of water can make something so beautiful. One of the coolest things I've ever seen was a double rainbow, also on the way home from work several years ago. The one on top was a mirror image of the one beneath it, and it was awesome.

Beyond that, I just find them reassuring. I was always taught that rainbows are a sign of God's promise that everything is going to be okay. Growing up, most of the rainbows I saw followed particularly scary storms. Our neighbor, whose house looked out over a cliff, would call my sister and me to come look whenever they appeared in the sky over the lake below. We'd go stare at the rainbow until it would fade, breathing in the clean, rain-scented air and feeling grateful to have made it through another storm. When you live in the middle of Tornado Alley, that's saying quite a lot. Rainbows are comforting to me. They're a cosmic reminder not to worry.

I saw a rainbow the evening I met my husband. I was rushing home from (as usual) work to get ready for our blind date. It was raining hard, I was stressed by the wet roads and the traffic, and also nervous as hell about the date. Matt and I had already exchanged a few dozen e-mails, and logged several hours of phone time, but I was still terrified to finally meet him. What if he wasn't as likeable in person as he seemed on the phone? Or what if he was, but the attraction just wasn't there? Even worse, what if it WAS there, on my part, but not on his? What if I disappointed him? What if he disappointed me?

Close to home, I rounded a curve and the rain let up, the roads cleared, and there before me, peeking out from under the clouds, was the tail of a rainbow. It wasn't the most spectacular one I've ever seen, but it was enough. At the sight of it I was overcome with a sense that everything was going to work out.

I'd say everything worked out just fine.