Chasing Rainbows

Every time since I had a miscarriage in 2002, when I am discouraged or stressed or upset, the Lord always gives me rainbows as a sign of hope and His promise that He will never leave me or forsake me. In Genesis, after the flood that destroyed the earth, the Lord gave Noah that same sign.

God's covenant with everyone:

Genesis 9:12-17 states, "12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Ezekiel's vision of the Lord:
 
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.
 
And another vision of the Lord:
 
Revelation 4:2-3 2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was[a] like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
 
Today, on the way to work, I saw the MOST BEAUTIFUL rainbow...it was tall in the sky, but I only saw one of the posts of it. It had swirly stuff around it...I saw it all the way from Starbucks on Tyndall Parkway until I drove into the parking lot at work (off Thomas Drive). I got to look at it for about 30 minutes.
 
I have been struggling with anxiety and been under some serious spiritual warfare lately. I know the Lord gives me these visual signs to remimd me to keep focused on Him, not my circumstances. I will continue to chase rainbows with all my heart!

This Is How We Christmas....Decorations Edition!

Lisa at The Preacher's Wife blog has asked us to blog about our decorations this week. This December has been so crazy and hectic that I have had to do decorating a little at a time. We got our Christmas tree last Saturday. Like Lisa, I got several tree branches to use for decorations... I got up early Tuesday morning before work to put the lights on it, and I placed the box of ornaments on the floor beside the tree and told Dave (hubby) and Shane (19) to put ornaments on the tree as you walk by it. So yesterday, the tree was half decorated. I took breaks between writing a paper for my course (due Wed) and finished decorating the tree...then we had to go to get a tree topper, because I could not find the angel topper :)  Dave and Shane got the lights up yesterday, and so we are pretty well set...

Nativity Set

I bought this set at Kirklands in 2001...it has actually survived intact, with no broken pieces, for the last 8 years!

Decorations

Like Lisa was saying in her blog, my husband gives me grief when I get extra tree branches...this year, my hubby and son teased me, saying that I got enough extra branches to make another tree :/  Yeah, they THINK they're funny!

Our Tree

Finally got it decorated yesterday...it has an ensemble of old ornaments, some Shane made in school when he was younger, and new ornaments. We recently got rid of a massive entertainment center, but still have not moved the speakers out of the living room...as you can see behind the tree on the right :)   Martha Stewart, I am not...

My Favorite Ornament

This is my most favorite ornament in the whole world...I have been hanging this ornament on the tree for as long as I can remember. My Mom was going to throw it out about 10 years ago...and it is not worth anything, but I saved it from impending doom and destruction! :) 

Snow Globes

My collection of snow globes...mostly given to me by my mother in law...

Outdoor Decorating

Last, but not least, the outdoors....

My new wreath I bought during Black Friday at Hobby Lobby (yes, I was crazy enough to brave the crowds that day)

Now that I have procrastinated enough, I am going to post this blog, and work on my research paper.

This Is How We Christmas....Dailey Style!

Ah....its that time again! Cold air, hot coffee, fires in the fire place, and snow on the ground! Well, no snow here in sunny Florida, but girl can always hope, right? :) 

Lisa at www.apreacherswife.com is having asking us to blog about a variety of Christmas traditions throughout December. Each Thursday, she is going to post a new set of questions. This week she asked us about 1) The Santa Thing, 2) Christmas Eve Day, and 3) The Food and Parties and Games.

Dave and I have never had Christmas JUST at our house...ever...as long as we have been married (19 years). We have always had family living close to us, until 2007. How we do Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are dependant on which side of the family we are Christmasing with. So anyway, here goes!

1) The Santa Thing. For the first several years of our marriage, we were not following Christ, so we had no problems doing the "santa thing." We had pictures taken, presents from Santa, left cookies out, etc. Shane was about 9-10 when my husband became a Christian and so he was growing out of the Santa thing anyway. If I had to do it over, we would definitely celebrate Santa in the light of Christ...

2) Christmas Eve Day. As I stated above, we have never had Christmas JUST at our house. For the first 6 years Dave and I were married, BOTH sets of family lived here, too. Dave was working as a Chef at the time, so he usually had to work early Christmas Day. We split the day between HIS and HERs parents house...which meant two sets of presents and two Christmas dinners. Yeah, we were stuffed!

Christmas Now: We alternate between families. My in-laws live in Northern Alabama and my parents live in South Virginia...so there is NO way we can do Christmas each year with both families.

If we are at Dave's parents, Christmas Eve Day is usually spent finishing up wrapping Christmas presents, puttting up and decorating the Christmas tree, attending their church's Christmas eve service, and then (while eating a variety of junk food...chips/dip, cookies, candy for dinner) we listen while my Father-in-law reads the Christmas Story from the Bible. We then go around the room and pray.

If we are at My parents, Christmas Eve Day is usually spent finishing up shopping and then we go to a nice restaurant for dinner. We then go to late Christmas Mass (my parents are Catholic) and then to bed.

OH YEAH, every year we have gotten Shane a gift to open on Christmas Eve...every year its pajamas...and even though Shane is now 19, he still wants his Christmas Eve gift...and he always knows it pajamas...yet, he still expects it!

3) The Food & Parties & Games. Honestly, we don't get invited to too many parties or play too many games...but not because we don't want to :) 

Christmas day food at Dave's parents: Prime Rib, baked potatoes, salad, and dessert.

Christmas day food at My parents: Turkey, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes/gravy, cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, deviled eggs, salad, dessert

I can't find any pics now, but I'll post some later if I can find them