Promises

It is the middle of winter here, and it has been.....unpredictable. I could probably count on my two hands how many days have been a winter's day - freezing in the morning, clear blue sky and pounding sun, then freezing night. I found, when moving to the ocean, that we get more rain here in winter time than where I grew up - farther south. But due to a storm that has covered the whole country this last week, not all of us have had any true winter days, just rain.....and more unpredictability. With this storm, it can be sunshine with blue sky, then rain and black sky, then gusty wind, with a slight chance of blue sky and so it continues.

Today I woke up and it was very cold, the moon was big and full and round, the stars were out, I thought it was going to be a beauty. I was wrong, the sun came and went, rain came and went, wind came and went. When I was driving home from work this afternoon, I hit rain. Stretching right across the sky - from the sea to my left to the mountains on my right - was a rainbow. Then I noticed, that I could see parts of a rainbow right in front of me while I was driving. Not in the distance, but in-between my car and the one right in-front of me.

My drive home is about a half hour drive, for approximately 15 to 20 of those minutes I was following this rainbow. The one right in-front of me. I got to thinking about what they represent. Promises have not been a big thing in my life. I do not have a memory of any promises made, or any promises broken. Either that or a 'PROMISE' did not hold the same powerful meaning to me as the word holds.

The only promise I can pull from my memory box, is a recent one. Two years ago, my sister's middle daughter was turning 5 years old. Months before her birthday she asked me if I was going to be there for her birthday, I'm not sure if I said a straight yes, or whether she actually said I had to be there. I remember I told her that I 'promised' I would be there.

Her birthday fell on a Friday, which meant that I could only just make it. At the same time, I wondered if it was really important that I was there. She was going to have her cousins there in the afternoon, would she even realize that I wasn't there? Did she even remember that I said I was going to be there? Did it actually matter to her if I was there? After all she was only 4, it wouldn't do any harm if I didn't show.

But I 'Promised'. Whether she cared, or remembered, I knew what I had told her. I knew that there were things that happened when I was 4 years old, that still have an affect on my life to this day. I was going.

Friday, her birthday, came. I finished work around lunch time. I hoped in my car, and I drove six hours down the country. I arrived at 6 or 7pm, but I was there. For her 5th birthday.

Driving home today, seeing a rainbow, it made me think about what they represented. I wondered what promises meant. Wondering what was so important about them. Wondering what is so important about God's promise to me.

After writing down the one recollection of a 'promise' I have, I wonder if what I did is the meaning of promises.

Saying I will do something, even if I do not know if that something is possible. Doing anything I can, to make that something possible. No matter if it is not remembered. No matter if it does not make a difference. No matter if it is not noticed. I remembered. It made a difference to me. I noticed.

That is important to me, because I know that I am a better Aunty to my kids, because I kept that one promise. When they continue to come in the future, I will hold onto my word. I will remember the importance of keeping a promise.

No matter if it is not remembered. Not matter if it does not make a difference. No matter if it is not noticed.

Maybe one day it might.