Rainy days can mean rainbows...

As I sit here listening to the birds twittering and appreciating the sunshine after such a long rainy period I started to wonder if there is anything we can learn from the seasons. I came to the conclusion that on rainy days you need to start looking out for rainbows. I mean this literally (I feel blessed to live in a valley which provides ample amounts of rainbows, sometimes just on cloudy days) and, of course, metaphorically. 

Towards the end of August I heard people complaining that they miss the sun and that they didn't feel to have had a summer. I was very surprised to hear this as I felt so hot from May - August that I thought I would dissolve into a puddle of my own sweat - think of the end of Terminator 2 and you'll get the idea. I remember helping the CNI Network Chair and Trustee on his sponsored bike ride: http://www.cninetwork.org/north-east-cycle-ride.html which was wet at times depending on where we were but also red hot. One of the stops was in Redcar and I got the news that the cyclists were on their way. I thought it might be a great idea to buy them a lemon top each. Well by the time I returned to the Redcar Beacon from Pacitto's Ice Cream Parlour the lovely lemon tops looked like two gigantic puddles of seagull diarrhoea. It kept me fit running back for more. My first example of looking out for rainbows. 

We simply need to change our attitudes which I realise isn't always simple. Life can sometimes be a sticky, tricky quagmire which can make it difficult to find the glittery multicoloured arc. Life can throw illness, confusion, disappointment, guilt, sadness and the big one death. My husband and I have had to tackle all of these in 2017 but our faith has corrected us when we got off track and kept us looking for the stripy bridge to a better mind set. To me that is the pot of gold at the other side. 

Over the summer I had to help Paul man a stall for CNI Network at the Big Church Day Out North (tickets for next year are on sale already and is extremely good value for money https://bigchurchdayout.com/or contact paul@cninetwork.org to find out about volunteering) the only thing is I am not a fan of loud and conflicting noise, you can sense the storm clouds forming in my mind. Well my rainbow for the event was the faith element as it is a Christian event, so helping people and praising together was good fun but also being able to play rectangular hoopla with the CNI Network selfie frame. Paul and I managed to bag Tim Vine and John Archer a real buzz for me even though I didn't get a proper chance to chat. Look at those clouds - I found this day to be positively balmy. 

​So as Jack's frosty fingers slowly turns down the oil lamp of summer make a pledge not to complain about the colder months or focus on your problems but instead plan to make warm memories and focus on finding a solution. Keep looking out for the rainbow and find your way to a more peaceful mind set. 

God bless.

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