I grew up hearing everyone tell me ‘God loves you’. I would say big deal, God loves everybody. That don’t make me special! That just proves that God ain’t got no taste.

- Rich Mullins

My friend Sarah has graciously given me permission to copy something from her blog. Consider this a guest post of sorts.¹  At the end, I’ll tell you why I chose to focus on this post.  In the meantime, here is what she had to say:

In the book, Captivating, Stasi Eldredge tells a story of how God had given both her and her husband little gifts to show His love. First her husband, alone on a beach, sees a whale surface, and feels that this is for him and him alone, at a time when he really needed to know God loved him. Stasi feels a little jealous of his experience and the next time she’s alone on a beach asks God for a whale too. After a few minutes with no whale she walks away from the water, only to come across a beautiful star fish. Taking in the beauty and perfection of the little creation, she knows that God is speaking to her, showing His love. Then, exceeding her expectations she comes to a place where hundreds of starfish are scattered across the sand as far as she can see, and she is overwhelmed by the extravagance of His love.

Since reading that I’ve both asked God for special gifts like that and tried to recognize and give thanks when He surprises me with an amazing sunset or a shooting star. One could argue that thousands of people may have seen the same things, but they usually seem to come at times when I need to hear or feel something from God and they affirm that He’s with me and caring for me.

Most recently God’s been giving me rainbows. A month or two ago I was driving south towards MA, as I do several times a week, heading to church or to hang out with friends. It was a misty, sprinkly, sunny kind or day—perfect rainbow conditions. I’m conviced that New Englad has the best rainbows as I’ve seen several full, giant rainbows while living here. As I approached a spot that overlooks a bit of a valley, where I’ve seen rainbows before, I said, “Lord it would be awesome if you could show me a rainbow today.” Just as I finished that prayer the car ahead of me kicked up some water and the light caught it, producing a rainbow. I laughed. It was not at all what I had expected, but it was a rainbow and it was just for me. A few minutes later I also got the big rainbow in the sky out my driver’s side window.

Just this evening as I drove down to church for the 6PM service I was thinking about that day and how once again I was driving in “rainbow conditions.” I wondered if I’d see more little rainbows…and then I started seeing them everywhere! Cars all around me were picking up water and flinging it into the air, creating rainbows in their wake. This went on for a mile or two; it was beautiful and so much more that I could have imagined. To top it all off, when I got to church one of the greeters opened the door and welcomed me and said, “did you see the big rainbow?” I turned back towards the parking lot and sure enough there was a huge rainbow in the sky.

A similar story is conveyed in the book I recently reviewed by Leigh McLeroy. Leigh was feeling pretty down on Valentine’s Day and asked God for a symbol of His love for her. Not long afterward, she picked up a leaf in the shape of a heart on the sidewalk.

* * *

I’ve been doing my best to deal with a series of crushing disappointments which has left me with the perpetual feeling of having been kicked in the gut by a horse.  I had Sarah’s post and Leigh’s story in mind as I asked God to do something for me that would hold special meaning.  I was in need of a reminder that I am uniquely loved.

As I was wrapping up my quote at the end of a recent post about how much inscriptions mean to me, I accidentally lost my place.  The page flipped to the one in the picture below.  I purchased the book used and never realized that it had been signed.

The inscription said this:

For Becca,

“Who doth cause the candles to burn bright.” With best love and boundless admiration.

- Fred

If you’ve spent any time on this blog, you could easily guess that Frederick Buechner is far and away my favorite author.  I’m sure that on June 24, 2004, he had no idea what these few words would do for somebody else.  God’s hand was once again on Fred. This time, though, his thoughts were on me.

… for your father knows what you need before you ask him.  - Matthew 6:8