I’ve been sitting in the sun and the shade. 

Feeling the wind pull at my jacket as it brings the rain to pelt my skin.

I then stand to check for what the sky will bring next, and I see that the clouds are full again. 

It’s as if they say, ‘This is when it is time to be a rainbow for someone’.

The ever-changing times have been this way for me as it seems like life goes from sun to shade to winds going from seeing what comes next. 

Think about being a rainbow for another.

Thinking about others who have been through these times is what makes me also think about being a rainbow for another. 

It is Dr. Maya Angelou who also says 

Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud. 

When I’m thinking of those who have been with me before, I think of what they have taught me by being my blessing at certain times. 

There have been sunny times with people who showed me how to look up as the light of day came back to me.

When the gathering was beginning, I wore my light blue jacket with brown cotton pants. 

The sun was shining after the clouds cleared and others knew how to be a rainbow for me. 

Later came time to sit in the shade as I shared and watched as others shone with their own knowledge.  

My smiles increased as I kicked up my feet to watch the colors increase in the rainbow. 

Was it possible to have joy come even more so during this phase of helping others grow their strengths? 

It seemed to be the case for me at that time as I watched the clouds part for the people I knew at this time. 

Think about what can come next. 

This is when I talk about waiting for the shoe to drop or wondering what can come. 

Something always comes next, my friends. 

The winds of change do just that at times and it did for me. 

Folks who came at this time were the ones who showed me how to climb mountains, jump into lakes and hold onto my base incredibly. 

Climbing came quietly and slowly as I picked a careful path up rocks and rugged trails with ones who had been there before me. 

I learned how to pack packs, roll sleeping bags and flip pancakes that then became scrambled breakfast bites. 

It was here that I learned to walk through blisters, fatigue and laughter. 

Can you see all three happening together to get ready for the storm? 

Winds are how I saw how to be a rainbow.

Winds are how I saw how to be a rainbow for somebody else. 

All times of life have shown me how to prepare and be this for myself, then for someone. 

That became the reason to be in the sun, shade and the wind. 

In light blue and as the clouds parted. 

Now I can withstand the rain as I have also learned that everything is hard before it is easy.

Even when it pelts down my face, neck and streams down my cheeks. 

The rain is what brings the rainbows and the choice to look up to see what can come next. 

Let’s do this together.