Merry Christmas

At the close of another year, we pause to wish you a blessed and happy Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.   We also pray that in 2013 you will receive God's abundant blessings.

The Sign of a Rainbow: 
A Prayer for a Rainy Day (inspired by Genesis 9: 8-17)   
O God, sometimes I hate it when the rain comes pouring down, with black clouds piled up high and the roof gutters overflowing. 

But when the rain stops, and through the window I see a rainbow stretched across the sky, my spirits lighten and I am cheered. I remember that when Noah and his family stepped out of the ark to find a ruined earth you placed a rainbow in their sky, as a sign that you had not forsaken them and would never break your covenant with the world.
Lord, I needed that rainbow. At times I find it hard to hold on to my hopes for myself, for members of my family, or for the world where bad things can and do happen. Help me when I am depressed and hopeless to see the rainbow as your sign of hope. Raise my spirits within me, help me to do my part, and when I have done it leave the future with you.
I do not expect a trouble-free life any more than I expect a rainless winter or a cloudless summer. But in my heart of hearts I know you are faithful and will never abandon me, those I love, or the world around and beyond me.
Give me the patience and courage to carry on. Daily replenish my stores of faith and love and hope, so that no new trial or challenge may overwhelm me. May my life be a rainbow sign to others around me who might also be tempted to lose hope.