Year of the Rainbow

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- By Lynnda Ell

The last day of the 2004 . how can that be? It seems like yesterday that we began the year. God has blessed me in so many ways, this year.

I want to share with you one of those ways. He gave me a gift of beauty so incredible that it's difficult to put into words.

On one of our trips to Texarkana, Arkansas to see my daughter and her family, we were driving though some thunderstorms. The direction in which we were driving and the angle of the sun gave us the most beautiful double rainbow set that I've ever seen. We were crossing over the Mississippi River Bridge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so as we topped the bridge we could see right to the ends of both rainbows. As we drove off the bridge, it appeared as if we would drive right through the middle of one of them, but both rainbows kept popping back away from us as we approached them.

The road curved and we began to drive toward the end of the closest one. I expected the rainbow to move again - but it didn't! As we drove towards it, the bands of color began to change. The red, green and blue bands began to fade and thin until they were completely gone. As we approached the end of the rainbow the remaining band of yellow broadened until it was several feet wide and the color changed to a beautiful gold. Then wonder of wonders, we drove right through the golden band of color!

I cannot explain the feeling that Mother and I had at that moment except to say that it was a holy time. We were humbled by the graciousness of God to give us such a unique experience. We felt transported to the very gates of Heaven.

As I've thought over what happened, I think I can see the origins of the legend about the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I believe it may have begun as someone else was having had an experience similar to ours and their description of "band of gold" was changed over time to "the pot of gold."

The eighth chapter of Romans says that God will "graciously give us all things." It is out of His boundless storehouse of surprises that we are given the most unexpected gifts. And 2004 will always be the Year of the Rainbow for me.


About the Author:

Lynnda Ell is a born again mother, grandmother and electrical engineer. She lives in New Orleans, LA. where she works for a Fortune 500 gas and electric utility company. She serves in her church as one of the worship team by operating the sound system. If you enjoyed her story or can offer her words of encouragement, contact her at lynnda4lamour@wmconnect.com