The Perfect Gift

The dark clouds smiled at me from a distance. They beckoned me to come closer. I gathered my children and we all loaded-up in the van, to chase what looked like the perfect gift on Mother's day: A thunderstorm. 

It just so happened that I prayed for such a gift. I am not a sign-seeker, by any means. But every now-and-again, I ask for a "Smile from Heaven" -- a little something -- so that I can feel the love of God, and the love of Charles, too. Sometimes, the gap of space between us, can be closed for just a moment, and I can feel the power of eternal love. I know that God must grant permission for such moments to occur, but somehow, I really feel that Charles has some power over these moments, too. 

When someone you love is on the other side of the veil, the world is viewed with a different lens. Sometimes the veil is made thin because of a need, and sometimes it can be made thin by a request. (Not always, but sometimes!) All I know is I do not see or feel the world, the way I once did. And my children can feel that connection to the Spirit World, too. 

Knowing there is a Spirit World connected to our earth, makes me wonder what else we cannot see, that is right there in front of us. I will not delve into the Cosmos today... but I sure love to look beyond what I can see with my eyes. There is so much we do not know, but there is so much we can know, through study and prayer, and searching. 

Often these, "Smiles from Heaven," come in the form of a rainbow, for me. Last night was one of the most beautiful heavenly smiles I have ever seen in my life! But of course, to have a rainbow, there must also be rain... 

First we headed in the direction of the dark clouds, and we parked and waited as the darkness began to creep slowly towards us. The black clouds enveloped the blue sky. We watched as the rain began dripping on the windshield, and the wind began to blow. It was exhilarating! 

After enjoying some pouring rain, and some occasional flashes of lightning, we drove back towards our home, because another "force of nature" called. We quickly ran in the house to use the bathroom, and then back out into the storm we went. 

We drove around and watched as the rain poured down SO hard, and the thunder and lighting were right above us. There was a bolt that hit the ground right next to us, as we were driving in our area. It was amazing to watch it strike and hear the thunder crash at the same time. It shook our car. The kids were freaking out in a good way, because it was so amazing! I feel so alive when I am in the middle of a storm. It invigorates me in a way that few things in this world can. I asked Henry if he was scared of the lightning and he said, "No, I love it!" We could really feel the electricity in the air at some points.

We drove around our neighborhoods, and went up to some higher ground to check out the bigger picture. At one point I had parked in a parking lot, and Daniel told me I should move, he just felt that I should move the car. I did not ask questions, I just moved. I don't know why he felt I should move, but you never know.

Just check out the flooding in the streets!

We went down to check out some neighborhoods by the river, but I was not about to drive through that mess to see how it looked further down. I am actually really careful, and I am not interested in stalling out my van. All that rain poured down in a fairly short amount of time.

After the storm let up a bit, we then started to chase the sun.

The sun was shining so brightly after so much rain. It was really beautiful. The whole storm was amazingly beautiful.

 And sure enough... we found my Mother's Day gift! My, "Smile from Heaven!"

 The "Pot of Gold" at the end of the rainbow.

It was the most vibrantly bright rainbow, and it lasted for a very long time! You should have seen how giddy and excited we all were. I just LOVE rainbows, and storms! And I loved the fact that the rainbow was right over the church. It was the church building where we had Charles' Life Celebration.


I love this building.


It became a double rainbow. I felt double-loved. :)

After all of the excitement, we headed to the top of the foothills, to catch the heavenly sunset. It was truly the perfect gift on Mother's day. It was so fun to share the gift with my family, as we soaked in the glory of God, and His majestic world. I have been sick with the flu for more than a week, and I'm finally starting to feel better. I was not able to make it to church on Mother's day, because of my hard-coughing. So, it was especially nice to still feel connected to God on the Sabbath in such a way.

One of my most favorite moments of the night, was when we were all running from our house back into the van, after a potty break, and a pitstop home to close up all our windows. The kids were just so excited, and they WANTED to get back in the van to chase the storm with me, and I loved that! We were getting soaked by the rain, but we were all full of super-charged excitement by the power of nature, and the joy of being together, having fun. It almost felt like being at Disneyland. It was the best feeling... a little piece of Heaven with my family.

Motherhood is made up of beautiful moments. Not all motherhood moments are beautiful, but last night was one of those moments that will stay in my heart, forever. I am grateful to my Heavenly Father, and Charles, for such a perfect gift on Mother's day.