Looking At Life Through Different Eyes

Rainbows on Saturday and Sunday

It has been raining a lot here lately and on my way home from work this weekend at eight o’clock at night I saw rainbows both on Saturday and on Sunday. On each day, at exactly the same time, I saw rainbows. This gave me the sense that  perhaps, someone was trying to tell me something.
I reread the story of Noah. (Genesis chapters 6-9).because the promise of the rainbow was significant to the story.  I reread the story of Noah and the trial that he faced that God led him through. In the end, God put the rainbow in the clouds to remind Noah and future generations of God’s covenant with all of the earth. He promised never again to destroy all of the earth by water. Eventually there is coming a judgement not by water, but by fire.
As I think about those two consecutive days of rainbows, I thought about the covenant that God has with the believer. Our first covenant with God is through water baptism. A second is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The first is by water, the second is by fire. I didn’t really  understand the connection, but a friend on another site explained it to me. He said that the only way a person can witness a rainbow is that the individual has to be in the right place at the right time. In addition, we have to be looking up..

It  was a reminder to me that God loves me and that he is protecting me. I felt gratitude as I drove home both days.

Restoration

Another way that we can have rainbows in our lives is when we look for the ways that we see God at work doing other things.

On Saturday,  I I answered a call at work. To my surprise, it was the guy who had stolen my debit card at work over a month and a half earlier. He called to tell me that he was sorry that he had taken it and that he was glad that I pressed charges, because he had been really messed up and now he was going to be getting the help that he needed.
I told him that I appreciated that he had called me and talked to me. I said that he indeed did need help and that I hoped that he got it.
He told me that he would pay me back the money that he stole. I basically told him that was out of my hands because the bank had covered what he had taken and they would demand that he give the money back. I told him that I had forgiven him and that I was glad that he was getting the help that he needed to overcome his addictions. I pray that this has been a turning point in his life. He has a wife and two little boys who really need a father who will step up and be a the husband and father that they need.
I do not believe that he is likely to spend any time in jail. His mother paid for a good lawyer for him. Just months ago, I would have been upset because it looks as if the young man is getting off easy. However, now, I just pray that this has been a lesson that he will never forget. I pray that he goes into drug rehab (he took the money to buy drugs) and really does change. I know that overcoming addiction is difficult, and I pray that the incident is a wake-up call for him, that he becomes a better husband and father to his family.
I realize that although most of what happened was about him, it was also my test. I did what I had to do when I turned him in to the sheriff’s office. However, in personally forgiving him, I also did what I had to do. It was all about doing the right thing and I know that is exactly what I did. The right thing now it to forgive him and become a different part of the solution.

Am I Now A Fiction Writing Coach?

I thought that one of the guys that I worked with knew that I was a published author, but he did not.  He asked me what I wrote so I told him what books I had written.
He then found it strange that I mentioned being an author because he too used to write, but over the past several months he was not able to put words to paper. I asked him what he wrote and he told me that he wrote science fiction fantasy. However, he said that he had not written for 4-5 months. He had been thinking just the night before that perhaps he should quit thinking about writing all together. I told him that I didn’t think that was such a good idea. I suggested that he try again.
The next day when I saw him, I asked him how much he had written and he confessed that he was not able to write a single word. I told him what he had was writer’s block and that his problem was that he was afraid to make a mistake. He agreed that was exactly what the problem was.
I told him to give his internal editor a rest, and let his muse play a little.

Suggestions For Entertaining The Muse

I told him:

1. Forget the rules and just write Have fun with the words.
2. Don’t worry about the order of what was writing and to just write what you knew now. Computers were made to move words around so he should take advantage of that capability.
3. Write an outline to help give your story parameters.
4. Interview his characters so that you could separate the characters from your own personality.
5. To steal from Niki, don’t think about it, just do it, write it down. Make every moment at the computer count. Don’t let your internal editor out until you have something to edit

The Results

Later that day, he texted me and told me that he had written one scene that was 404 words long. He said it felt good to be writing again. He said that he was looking forward to doing more. The following day he said that he had a number of new ideas for his book. His dry spell is over. His words are now flowing like a fountain.

These are just two more of the rainbows that I have witnessed over the past several days. How about you? Are there things in your life that you might not otherwise see if you had not been in the right place at the right time?

Donna Brown is an ordained minister. As Author Cygnet Brown, she  has recently published her first nonfiction book: Simply Vegetable Gardening: Simple Organic Gardening Tips for the Beginning Gardener

She is also the author of historical fiction series The Locket Saga. which includes When God Turned His Head and Soldiers Don’t Cry, the Locket Saga Continues. Her upcoming book A Coward’s Solace will be available soon. Click here for more information about Cygnet Brown and her books.