joy to the world

we often tease that life is not all puppies, kittens and rainbows (esp. at snarky mbcc).

but sometimes, life is rainbows.

this week's advent theme is joy. the sermon, the candle lighting, and indeed the whole service on sunday focused on how joy is amidst struggle. as i was pondering this yesterday, i was driving through a winter "storm" in oakland. for those of you outside the bay area, when we say winter storm, we do no mean what the rest of the means. this is not blizzard condition, lake effect or otherwise, snow-falling-two-inches-an-hour-can't-see-past-my-headlights weather at all. we are talking heavy rain for part of the day, temperatures in the 40s, occasional hail and snow above 1000-1500 ft. not what i call a winter storm, but when in rome....

as i was rushing from one meeting to another, frustrated at drivers who don't know what to do in rain and furiously texting about my lateness, i was metaphorically stopped in my tracks by the most glorious rainbow i have ever seen. it arched completely across the sky. at its base, you could see through it to the hills behind, making it seem deceptively close. it was a complete spectrum, with the most brilliant purple i have ever seen in a rainbow. a faint second rainbow arced above it.

i am a sap. but that morning i was swimming in the post-charter emotions and excitement about the possibilities for my future ministries. i have had a fall full of both the best and worst of ministry that i have experienced so far, and many challenges. i have learned and i have grown, but there have been days i wanted to quit, days i wanted to cry and days i definitely didn't want to leave my bed--ever again. but with all of that, even in full awareness of the difficulty, the possibilities seemed endless and exciting.

and then the rainbow. being a seminarian and an increasingly dorky reader of scripture, i was taken to the story of noah. i am sure on that silly ark, he didn't always believe God would come through. he probably got bogged down by the weather, cabin fever, internal struggles, family drama... blah blah blah. but, God came through. God kept his promise.

i often don't think i would have fond mbcc without God. i know that i wouldn't have chosen ministry as a vocation without God. but those are not easy choices or easy places to be. but God keeps promises and covenants. God brings joy among the hard work, just enough to sustain me to keep on keepin' on.

so yesterday, life was all rainbows and i experienced the joy of a vocation of ministry.