Double Rainbow

I love a good summer rainstorm. Everything seems cleaner and cooler.  The smell of wet pavement and damp grass is refreshing.  The air is humid, the clouds lingering, but the sun starts to make its way out, enlightening the earth once more.

And then there are...RAINBOWS.

They are fascinating.   As the sunlight behind you passes through the curtain of raindrops, each raindrop acts like a tiny prism, separating the white light into its seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.   Each color is reflected to our eye at a different angle, so we see individual bands of color.  Red is on the outside of the rainbow and the violet is on the inside because the raindrop prisms bend the violet light more than the red.   Sometimes, if you are lucky, you can see a second bow by the first...a double rainbow.  The colors are usually pale and their color order is reversed.  This secondary rainbow occurs when there are two reflections within the raindrops.

More than the science behind each rainbow is it's beauty.  They are a very intriguing gift of nature.  But, why do we always get so excited when we see one?  I know for me, as a Mom/Teacher, it is a fun way to connect with my children as we gaze together and talk about each of the colors.

Perhaps it's because, deep down, we all feel the HOPE that each rainbow symbolizes. 

In biblical times, the rainbow became a symbol of the promise made by God to Noah.  God covenanted with Noah after the Great Flood that cleansed the earth from sin, that there would never be such a flood ever again.  This promise had to have been quite a relief to Noah and his family (and his animals) who had just spent 40 days and 40 nights tossed over the waves in a stinky, smelly ark.   He sent Noah a "bow in the clouds" as a token of that promise made to him that day.  Genesis 9:8-17

We all need HOPE.  As we are tossed on our own arks, to and fro, throughout our lives we often wonder if our storms will ever end.  We need to remember that God, in HIS time, will resolve the waves, calm the winds, and deliver us a rainbow.  Now, we can't expect to be safe from tribulation from that point on.  Different "floods" will keep coming.  But we can be sure that our Heavenly Father knows us and will always help us to find dry ground.  These trials are meant to prove us and make us better.    After the rains of the flood the first rainbow was seen and it symbolized a new beginning and a promise by God.

Here's to new beginnings...