God Sends Angels and Rainbows To Get You Out In The Storm

God sends Angels and rainbows to get you out in the storm to make you realize He will also help you get through whatever storm you are facing in life...

Sometimes God will send you and angel dressed as a little old lady. Walking down the street with her arms loaded in groceries. Who has to take shelter on the courthouse breezeway during a quick rain shower. To get your full attention so you can be a blessing to her. 

Just the other day, I was thinking about my Tifton trip and the homeless man encounter. Then the other homeless man I bought the food for at Jin Jin's. No matter what I am facing in my life, the situation could always be worse. 

During the summer months, we are closed at the shop on Mondays so we don't burn ourselves out working six days a week. Today was our first day being back open for the homecoming season is just around the corner. This afternoon, Mom came toting in some roses my Pa Bob picked for me out of his garden. Like I have said before, it is the simple things. 

Since we were busy at the shop, I didn't have time to call him and thank him for them. So just after we closed, I called him. We were just talking away when I happened to look outside and see the big rain drops were beginning to fall. I was planning on getting my walking schedule back on tonight. As he and I were talking about my diet plans, I got up from the counter and went to the front door. As I was looking, I happened to see a little old lady walking on the sidewalk in front of the court house. She was close to 70 years old and had Harvey's bags on her arms. And by this time, the rain was really coming down. She had gone up to the porch of the courthouse to take shelter from the rain. 

I have about 40 hours worth of website work to have done by this Friday on the shop's website.  I have been working 10-12 hours a day for pretty much the last 4 weeks. I have my brother and niece relocating back to the farm with me. The past few weeks have been a test. Then I am planning on adding an hour of walking in each night just to keep the circulation flowing right. Plus to let off a little stress. 

I knew I had to get that little lady home. I could have easily let the little old lady sit there and continue to sit and wait out the storm. But, if that was my Mama or Granny over there, I would hope someone would help them too. So, I grab my keys and head out the door in the rain (you would know my FOUR umbrellas were in the truck). My plans were to drive over to the courthouse and offer the lady a ride home. This day and time, it isn't safe to pick up strangers. So I don't do this kinda stuff often.

As I am briskly walking to the truck I happen to look up over Norris' Building and I see a rainbow. To me, this let me know I was doing the right thing and God was giving me His sign of approval. Of course, I had to snap a couple of pictures. Then as I pulled over to the courthouse and offered this sweet lady a ride, she hesitated for about a minute. You could tell she was very hesitant. I promised her I was a genuine person and she finally gave in. She grabbed her Harvey's bags back up and made her way to the truck.

While she was opening the door, she told me she didn't usually ride in a vehicle with a stranger but something told her it was okay. I helped her load the groceries in. As she was buckling herself in, I turned to look at the rainbow one more time. It was now a double rainbow and was angled like it was inside my shop. So now I have God giving me a double thumbs up!! Yes, I snapped a few more pictures. 

I asked her where she lived and we started the trip to take her home. She only lived about 8 blocks away from my shop. She introduced herself as Patricia. I found out she was raised in Fitzgerald on a farm. Then her family moved to Pearson where she graduated. She attended South Georgia College. Then she moved away in the 70's to Atlanta. She moved here a few years ago. Then moved back to Atlanta. Last Friday, she decided to call Douglas home again. We made it to her apartment. I asked if she had an umbrella for future use because I could not use all four of the ones in my truck, I was going to give her one. She assured me she had one inside. She thanked me two or three times. Said it was nice to meet me. As she began to shut the door, she smiled really big and said "May God Bless you".

Had I not had the prick in my heart to take her home, I would have missed the rainbow. She was watching the rainbow from where she stood in the storm. But it made me realize in this stressful time I am going thru..... 

Whatever storm we are facing, God promised He would help us and bring us through the storm. He will send whatever form of protection to keep us from getting all soaking wet from the rain. He will shield us. Guard us. Encamp Himself around us. Even provide the means to get us to our destination safely. But He will take care of His people.

Matthew 25:31-40

31“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Balloons and Genesis...

As everyone knows, part of my business is me being a balloon decorator (aka balloon artist). I have been renamed as the “Balloon Lady” in Coffee County. As my closest family and friends are fully aware, I am a perfectionist when is comes to my bridal & formal wear shop that also extends over to my balloon décor creations. I want everything perfect for every customer. I just feel that every customer should get the best effort I have to offer when it comes to making their day and event extra special. It goes beyond just getting the order completed and a paycheck to me. It is giving it 110% of your effort to make sure it is right. It is the trust factor of you putting your faith in me to include my work at your event.  If you are a customer of mine with the balloons, usually you get a text while I am working on your décor just to make sure it is what you had in mind. Some times the text may be sent at 10 p.m.

First and foremost God sees when you give it a “throw it together” effort. He blesses you with the talent and the abilities and He expects you to use them to the highest level possible. Just like the story of the talents in the Bible in Matthew 25:14-30. I have seen a quote before about standing before God in Heaven when I die, I don’t want to have anything left because I want to use it all I can while I am still here. It is by Erma Bombeck “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say ‘I used everything You gave me.’”

This weekend, I had the trust of two local families (that I consider friends before they are customers) who wanted me to decorate for their boys 1st birthdays. On Thursday night, I made a Mickey Mouse for Ellen & Clay Fitzgerald’s baby boy, Baby Asher. We did it in the Baby Mickey Mouse colors.  Then I delivered Baby Mickey on Friday night after I closed the shop.

As soon as I got back from the delivery, I began the décor for Jil & Jody Ridlehoover’s baby boy, Baby Joey.  For Baby Joey’s party, there was going to be a balloon entrance arch as you went thru the gates to the back yard party complete with a smiling Mickey Mouse balloon on the top to greet the party peeps! Then once you got to the party area, you were greeted by a Mickey Mouse standing outside the tent as well as a Mickey Mouse inside the tent between the cake table and the presents table.

The past three weeks of my life have been one to where I feel like I have been shackled to a 100,000 pound weight on each leg, a 50,000 pound weight on each wrist, and then the weight of the world on my shoulders. Last week was a struggle to even force myself out of the bed. Not depressed, just pure exhaustion. I have been trying to do the roles of business owner, website updater, paperwork filer, paperwork completer, customer service person, janitor, all at once. I was in overload to the point where last Tuesday night I hit the pure exhaustion overload while hitting a brick wall full force. The final straw was placed on my back that caused the camels back to break.

I went through this same feeling under different circumstances three years ago. I didn’t realize the significance of the situation until Friday night at 11:45. I have a few friends who know the details and have been my awesome support system. They have been there to encourage and to love me through it all. I have heard this in my heart when all this began and got the same text from a friend “stand still and know that I am God.” If you know me, standing still is something I can not do. I am not an idle person much. I am always going somewhere and doing something. I realized this is a test that is going to make me much stronger once the pruning process is complete. This is a faith test. Even though I felt a gazillion miles away from God, He was right there the whole time waiting on me and my stubborn self to just quit trying to do it alone. Then logging on to the Dr. Mark Chirona and Bishop T.D. Jakes ministry Facebook pages and listening to recent sermons brought everything back to perspective.

You know it is in those quiet times when you least expect it you really get a revelation from God and you hear Him…

Time to tie all of this together.

As I was working on the Mickey’s for Baby Joey, even though I have previously made six Mickey’s and Minnie’s, I still have to make sure they are in proportion. This is the perfectionist side of me kicking in. I was sitting here, just looking at the balloons and wanting to try something a little different but make sure it was the “right size” according to the height, the shoulder width, the arm length, the hands, the feet, the neck, and the head. That is when it hit me…

It took me to a place thousands of years ago… You have just spent days creating heaven and the earth… the sun and the moon and the stars...  You have created water and land... You have created every living creature, fish, fowl, and even creeping things... You have created all of this… But your greatest creation comes in the likeness of Yourself and the angels. Can you imagine being God at creation?

As I sat there staring at the balloons I had in a stack waiting to be inflated and created into a 6 ½ ft tall Mickey Mouse, yes I laughed a little. Imagine being God way up there in Heaven looking down on earth and wanting to create us humans. He wanted something perfect to enjoy the galaxy He created.

This may not be the correct way it happened, but it is my version. See I used to love to play in the mud and the dirt when I was little. Okay, I confess I still play in the dirt and those red clay roads after a good thunderstorm by my house. Only now I use a vehicle. There are things in life you will never get to old to do!

So God is up in Heaven and He comes down to earth to play in the clay and dirt a little bit to create this likeness of Him. He grabs a handful of red clay from south Georgia and begins the rolling out and the molding process begins. He rolled out fingers, toes, arms, legs, noses, ears, tongues, faces, internal organs, and spoke to that red clay ball of a creation and spoke life into Adam.

How awesome is it that God took His time to create us and make us all perfect. There is a perfect structure to every person on earth. If we are eight feet tall, our body is balanced to fit that height. If we are four feet tall, we are balanced so we don’t have the arm length of a person eight feet tall.

The perfect alignment of our shoulders to be able pull the weight. Our hands to hold on tight and get a grip so we don’t let go. Our feet to give us balance so even when we have to drag the shackles, we can still move forward. Imagine if our shoulders were two feet wider than they currently are with our body as it is. It would make life a lot more challenging. Our fingers are the right length and have all the right joints and abilities to bend to grasp hold. Our muscles. Our internal organs. Our ears for hearing. Our sense of taste.

Yes, I know we are our own worst critics and would like to change a lot about ourselves when we look in a mirror. I will be the first to admit I have a few things I wish were different. But God took the time to plan even our DNA to make us perfect in who we each are as individuals. Sure, we do things that can alter our bodies. Going back to the basics, we are all the same.

God made us tough enough to go through trials in our lives. He made us stronger than what we face. He is on our side. He created us perfectly so we could rely on Him when the battles seem too strong to face.

Here is the photo for the balloon decor that inspired this blog :)