outside my window

I look outside my window 

I am taken by surprise

Rush outside my doorway

Let the sunrise feel my eyes

I climb upon a rock

And I listen to the stream

Watch the sunrise come

See it shining through the trees

Look across the mountain

Watch the haze fade

Listen to the forest

With the coming of the day

The birds begin to sing

And I watch one take flight

They are also happy

At the passing of the night

 The forest it fills with sunlight 

And the colors slowly fade

Sing a song to the morning

To welcome the day

So I open my eyes and smile

And I start another day

Wipe my hands across my eyes

As the colors slowly fade

(author unknown)

promise kept

Sometimes when I pray I can't seem to put into words what I am feeling or asking for when I bow my head. So the cure for me is to write my prayers.

In January, we were going through some rough times and during those times I would write down my prayers, my thoughts and some Bible verses that seemed to speak to me. 

On one particular day while in Texas visiting our son, I wrote down this verse

I call on the Lord in my distress and he answers me. Save me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.   Psalms 120:1-2

I then wrote

Please keep Your promises Lord! 

That same day we drove to the Enchanted Rock State Park, located in south central Texas, to go hiking with our son.  Upon arriving we discovered that the park was full and the rangers had closed the gates but they were also giving out tickets instructing us to come back later in the afternoon when the park would not be so crowded. We almost decided to go home but decided to get some lunch and return.

We returned around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. The Preacher and our son headed up the rock. Since I had our dog, Porter, and he was not allowed on the rock itself, I began to hike the lower trails. 

After exploring the rock, the Preacher and our son began to follow another trail that was headed to the west when the Preacher looked up and saw this.

He didn't know what it was at first but then realized it was a rainbow around the sun. But you could only witness this when you were below these rocks. If you looked at the sun full on you could not see the rainbow.

After we had all came back together and were sitting around a table enjoying a BBQ meal at a local restaurant, the Preacher began to show me the pictures he had taken while hiking. He was very excited to show me the one of the rainbow around the sun.

As soon as I saw that rainbow I began to tear up because I had remembered my plea to the Lord –Please keep Your promises. I knew that this was a sign from the Lord. He was showing me, us, that He does not forget His promises. The Preacher didn't know what I had wrote. He didn't know my plea to the Lord, so I told him the story. We knew that whatever was going to happen He would be there for us. He was confirming to us that we are not alone in our darkest hours. 

P.S The Preacher looked it up and the phenomena that he witnessed is actually called a Sun Dog Rainbow.