Leprechaun footprints in the sand…

On Wednesday, March 13th, I decided to take the day off of ministry for my personal Sabbath day.

I planned on spending most of the day journaling at the internet café down the road eating ice cream and talking with my family…until my friend Michael, a leader from the other team (who was also taking his Sabbath) suggested that we go to the beach for the day. The beach is such a peaceful and rejuvenating place to me…and right away I knew that’s exactly how I wanted to spend my day of rest. So with no hesitation we decided to adventure to the beach…little did we know what God had in store for us that day…

When we arrived at the beach, which was pretty much deserted, we both went our separate ways to find a comfortable spot in the sand to rest and relax. I laid my towel down in the hot sand, got my music going, and I started to reflect and read through my journal. Although I know that God is always right by my side, sometimes I have a hard time feeling His presence. I had a lot on my mind and was processing through everything that I had been learning, which was A LOT…

I was feeling a little overwhelmed…so I decided to pray!

I asked God to send me a sign and to show me that he was truly there for me. I love experiencing God through nature and I believe that this is one of the beautiful ways the Lord speaks to me.

I started to drift away with the quiet breeze, so I set my journal aside and was getting situated in the sand. Before I laid down to shut my eyes, I looked up at the sun. In that moment, I experienced the most overwhelming sense of joy. My eyes were paralyzed by the sun. Not because it was so bright…but because of the most peaceful and magical picture I have ever seen in the sky.

There was the most vibrant and colorful rainbow I had ever seen shining down on me. I am not just talking about any ordinary arched rainbow. I was witnessing a rainbow in a circle that surrounded the sun!

Usually a rainbow comes after the rain, right?

Well there had not been rain for days, in fact it never really rains in Peru…and when it does, it drizzles…

Was I going crazy?

I knew I had just prayed for God to send me a sign, but I have never had a prayer answered so quickly and an answer so evident.

In that moment, I knew His presence was surrounding me from all the joy that I was experiencing. I have never felt so much peace and reassurance from God in my life.

I just sat there with the biggest grin on my face as tears were forming in my eyes…God really does hear our prayers.

“Ask and God will give to you. Search and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened.”
– Matthew 7:7

                                                    (The picture doesn't do a justice for what I really saw…but here it is!)

“God realized that man would remain sinful, so he decided never to curse the ground for man’s sake. God made a promise to never destroy the earth by a flood again.”

God said, “when the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and I will remember the agreement that continues forever between me and every living thing on the earth.”- Genesis 9:16

I believe that God sent me a rainbow as a reminder of the promises he has made. . .

Jesus was the bright shining sun.

God was reminding me of the promises he made when he sent his Son to die for my sins on the cross.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
–John 3:16

My sins were the dark sky that was between the sun and the rainbow.

God was reminding me of the darkness I have seen. The darkness represented all of my past sins and struggles in my life when I did not have Christ.

“the lights shines through the darkness.”
-John 1:5

The rainbow was a reminder of God’s promises that are never ending.

You can always depend on a rainbow after a storm..just like you can always depend on God through the hard times.

“I have come as light into the world so that whoever believes in me would not stay in darkness.”
–John 12:36

The infinite blue sky outside the rainbow represented my new life in Christ.

My life is forever changed and I will never let the darkness take away from the light that shines through me. I know times may not always be easy, but God has promised to stay by my side through it all.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."
-Romans 5:1-5

When I started to learn more about God in highschool, I accepted Jesus into my heart BUT  I did not understand what it meant to have a relationship nor did I truly live my life for him…in fact I turned away from him all the time…So at that moment, I decided to make a promise to God. I wanted to promise that I would never doubt His exsistence and never doubt His presence in my life. 

For some reason, I felt this urge to run into the ocean. I have never been truly baptized and since I felt so awakened and felt this indescribable bond between God at that moment…I thought why not rededicate my life to Christ right then and there…

I was a little hesitant at first, because I knew the water would be freezing…but something inside of me was telling me to do it…so I went for it.

I was feeling fearless.

So I got up and ran straight for the ice cold water without stopping…once I hit the water..I quickly changed my mind….brrrr…it was cold…but since I was already wet, I stayed in the water and started splashing around.  As I was contemplating submerging myself in the water and before I could blink, the next big wave ended up knocking me off my feet and I flew straight backwards. I was tumbling away with the waves. When I gained control from the waves and when I was finally able to stand on my feet, I could not stop laughing or smiling…I was so happy!

If anyone on the beach would have seen me splashing around in the water like a child that day, they probably would have thought I had lost my mind…but nothing in that moment could have taken away the joy I was feeling.

When I was praying to God that day and after he painted the most beautiful picture in the sky… I do believe that He sent me a reminder of his promises…and He was letting me know that he was right there with me…like he always has been and always will be.