The summer has been short, a little disappointing and definitely over! It seemed to end with a fairly violent storm last week. Today is a beautiful autumnal day - the sky is clear and bright and it's quite calm but last Tuesday was wild - I think we were catching the edge of a hurricane and it was really windy. John had to be in London and was catching a very early train so he'd tiptoed around the bedroom (quite loudly!) getting dressed and then brought me a cup of tea - kind but with an ulterior motive - he wanted me to tell him whether the tie he had chosen matched his shirt! That meant he opened the bedroom curtains to let in the natural light (our bedroom light is a bit yellow) and after I'd sat up in bed to have a look he said 'you could go back to sleep for a little while!'

Anyway - I didn't and about half an hour after he'd left I looked out of the window - the trees were blowing about wildly and the wind was making lots of leaves and debris fly around just above them (including what looked like a black bin bag) - the rain was battering the house but arching above it all was the most beautiful rainbow.

Things have felt a bit stormy in the circuit recently with our deep sadness at Neville’s untimely return to South Africa and the ensuing conversations as to how we cover the work with the added realization that that will mean we are looking for three new ministers to start next August. That also means that I will very soon enter the stationing matching process and will soon be asked to visit a prospective circuit and that makes life seem just a little uncertain!

The stormy day with the beautiful rainbow reminded me that through the stormy times, through the times of change and uncertainty, through the times when we feel battered and buffeted by all that life throws at us – we can be sure of God’s overarching love with the promise of hope. The other thing about rainbows is that they only appear when the sun and the rain come together and, I don’t know about you but, even though I know exactly why and how they occur, they are still a beautiful miracle.