Poetry: Rainbow

Rainbow by Sarah M. White

                 in  a 

       works        long

 God                        arc. 

I'm reading through an old journal I kept during a trip to the Dominican Republic in college, when I was 20. My twenty-year-old self is hilarious, dramatic, and super impatient. About ten days into the six-week trip, she starts asking about the "So what?" of the trip. She already wants to know everything about why she is there and how it's going to be used in her life-- AT DAY TEN. She calls someone to talk about this, and the person wisely says, "Sometimes God works in a long arc. We don't always know how things are going to be used, and we may never know." 

Luckily for me, I found out so many "so what's" for my trip pretty soon after I got back-- it shaped my entire life. I worked with kids, became a Spanish teacher, married a Brazilian MK, had many Spanish-speaking friends, and many other things. On this same trip, I saw a double rainbow and wrote about it, "It's a sign that God is with us."

What about now? Has anyone else noticed that there have been more rainbows this spring and summer than ever before? There's a rainbow basically every other day-- maybe a halo around the sun, a rainbow-streaked cloud, or a double rainbow stretching across the entire sky. 

When I see rainbow after rainbow, I can't help but think that there's a message being sent. Here's what I think it is. First, God is with us. Just like daily bread, he's giving us almost daily reminders of hope. "Here I am today, just like yesterday, just like every single day. One day at a time. You can rely on me." Second, sometimes God's plan is played out in a long arc and we do not see the end from our current position. But we can still trust him. 

And now for a look at some gorgeous rainbows. 

our street- 6/24/20

near a friend's in Verona- 7/15/20

backyard- 7/20/20