Somewhere, over the rainbow, bluebirds fly....

"there's no place home, there's no place like home, there's no place like home...."

I've got rainbows on my mind lately... it not a wonder considering I covered Noah's Ark last week in Chapel at school! I have been teaching God 101 this month, and well.. "In the beginning..." God creates this system of promises, accompanied by signs, that manifest into covenants that fulfill a lifetime relationship between us and our Creator! (If we listen!!!!!)

It's been an awkward year for me. I have not been able to receive my usual "signs" that are delivered with frequency by God.. as I haven't had a preaching audience, in any fashion. I had to go back to ancient times and live in darkness for a bit.. Wait for my Manna to fall from the sky. See the bird with the leaf in her mouth, and and just wait for all the colors to come out.

My kids are my 1st wonder from the Almighty. He speaks to me through them. He tested me this year however, and I need to open my heart and head to other paths in order to find my direction. My GPS had been on auto pilot for too long, or perhaps it just needed new batteries!

I struggled preaching about Adam and Eve the week before last. I have mixed feelings about the temptation toward Eve.. why Adam is so easy going, and why God allowed bad into the Garden to begin with. I question why Jesus' death on the Cross wipes away Original Sin... and why we continue to believe in such a myth so strongly. I do understand now, however, what the pieces represent and why we speak of them. And perhaps that is all I need to understand! As I told the children, that the sign we receive in not listening to God, (our GPS... God's Positive Sign), is a sick tummy and a feeling of shame! We do know however, that one bad apple does spoil the whole bunch! (Lesson learned!)

I did not struggle so much about teaching the Creation Story the week before that... as even my near 5 yr old friends sense there is something to be suspect in God creating everything in 6 days! However, I did tell them that the sign for that is represented in how tired God was that he needed a full day of doing nothing to be the sign of how hard we work all week.

God's signs and wonders continue to present themselves stronger and stronger as we walk through the Old Testament. This week we learn the hilarity of Abraham and Sarah conceiving a child when they were clearly,"beyond". God informs Abrahm, (his name at the time), that he would become the father of many! To rival all of the stars dazzling in the sky! "How could that be???? I am an old man", thought Abrahm. But as Abraham, follows God, changes his course and name, he soon discovers not only is he a father to a nation, but also to the long awaited son, Issac. Sarah, (Sarai), laughed with astonishment of the thought until he materialized and the wonder and sign was born unto them! Proving that nothing is impossible in God's world, time, or infinite love!

Noah had quite a few signs... birds of peace/Holy Spirit, life from an olive tree that came to mean peace, and a bow of color set in the sky to show Noah that God had made a promise and a covenant to the Earth to never flood it completely again. I oft wonder about the shape of the rainbow if you fit over the ark it forms a perfect circle again... a sign to me that God's Love is eternal. There is no beginning , nor end, in His time. The circle is forever.

I often think about the day after 9/11 when it rained so hard and people went to be with their families and friends... their was a rainbow cast so big in the sky that evening... I nearly wept as a sign from God that those who lost that day, had really won. God was telling us all it would be okay.

As the signs come "flooding" toward me these past weeks of school... I am reminded of a few myself. That the winds do die. The storms do cease, dry land will be found when you launch the bird of peace to find it for you, and the bow will be set in the sky! When God strikes a covenant with you be sure you realize that He will be there to own His part of it.

I have a few signs that God and I worked out in past hours of prayer to indicate that I am at least being heard. (I do think it goes beyond that... but my small-minded sense of faith at times wants to know somebody has heard my request! ) Years ago, God and I chose 2 symbols to know that He was around. They have come to mean different things for me. And for that I choose to keep within my covenant with God. However, I don't mind sharing that my totems are the ladybug and white feathers. These things come to me during the oddest times and hours. I have learned that they really find me when my weakness in hearing or seeing my God is present. God loves me so much that he humbles Himself and send me ridiculous totems to show His concern and care. To say the least, I've seen many of these 2 in these last weeks of teaching! I am aware, that I am exactly where I should be.

I think back to the Wizard of Oz, and to a time that the rainbow's colors were bleeding or not visible at all to me. I realized that after teaching Noah's story to my friends last week... God in fact, made my rainbow as shiny as he could. My covenant is strong, and the colors vibrant. I also realized that somewhere over that rainbow my bluebirds still fly, The Emerald City is a myth, The Wizard is present, the yellow brick road a choice, witches die, you know who your friends are, and you can always go home!

Some things, (covenants), that never change.... The show must go on, Christmas is coming, and
bluebirds do fly!

And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Luke 2:12

DG...(Dawn Grinnell/ Dorothy Gale)