Is a rainbow worth it?

Ok, so you read the title and you think, "What kind of question is that?  What is this crazy broad talking about?"  Well, give me a minute, and I'll tell you.

Let me back up by first saying that while I may not be the most religious person, I am deeply spiritual and full of the faith of God.  With that being said, I have told my sweet Tots, maybe once or twice, that only God loves her more than Daddy and Mommy do.  At 2.5 years old (and that .5 years is very important to a person her age) I have believed that if she were actually paying attention to me when I said this, that she didn't really get it.  And that's cool....she's got the rest of her life to get it, right?  Right.

Well, yesterday morning, Tots was doing her typical last minute dwadle in getting out of the door to go to school.  This particular morning was different.  I had to drop Tots off at her Amie's house so that I could get Toots to a doctor's appointment by 9A.  I had packed a breakfast bento box for Tots, got her lunch together, had an extra-extra set of clothes packed in her backpack and had given her the "please behave like a civilized person" talk.  The, "please-for-the-love-of-all-that-is-holy-behave-for-like-a-perfect-angel-for-Amie-so-that-she-will-look-after-you-again-when-Mommy-is-in-a-bind-because-I-trust-her-so-completely-with-you-and-she-is-my-right-hand-woman" talk.  You know the one.  I'm sure that some of you, out there in cyberland, have given that speech to your kids.

So, anyway, it's getting late.  Later than I want it to be, and we need to get going.  For anyone who knows me, you know that I absolutely HATE being late for anything.  Shoot, I even have my babies early!  That's how much I hate being late.

But, it's getting late.  And Tots is doing her thing..  And I'm wanting her to hurry up, because we have to go from Clear Lake to down past the Astrodome by 9A.  That's quite a drive in morning traffic, and it could take upwards of an hour to get there....and we're late.

I finally wrangle Toots into her carseat, and get both girls into the car.  I pull out of the garage and we're off to Amie's house.  As I round the corner from our house, I look up and see an absolutely beautiful rainbow, arced against a sky so perfectly gray, it looked like smooth slate.  The colors were so very vivid, like nothing I had ever seen before.  And I wanted Tots to see it.  Yes, we were running late, but for some reason, I was compelled to pull the car over, take her out of her car seat, hoist her up into the air, and point out this perfect rainbow.  Upon closer inspection, we saw that it was not only a beautiful rainbow, it was a beautiful, PERFECT DOUBLE rainbow!!!  O.  M. G!!!  It was amazing.  It was an unbroken arc across this sky.  It was like all of the color had been removed from the sky so that these rainbows could dance.

I know, I know.....refraction and reflection of light throug a prisim, rhodopsin synthesis and deactivation, visual transduction pathways, blah, blah, blah.....But....

This looked like it had been painted on the sky, at exactly that particular moment in time, to see what decision I would make.  It was a test.  Would I take the time to see the beauty AND show my daughter?  Or, would I rush through it and hope that I would see something like that again?

I took the time.  It wasn't much time, but I took it.  We got out and looked at those rainbows.

As I was putting Tots back in her seat, I said to her, "You see Honey-Bunny?  Those rainbows are God saying, 'I love you.'"

And, with the sincerity that only a two-and-a-half year old can have, she put her hands on my cheeks and said to me, "Mommy, only God loves you more than I do."

To.  My.  Knees.

So, I think that I passed that test.

You see, by the time that we got to Amie's house (less than 5 minutes away) and I told her about it...it was gone.  I mean, it was still hanging in the sky when we pulled into her driveway and walked up to the door. Not two minutes later, it was gone.

We may, or may not see such a beautiful set of rainbows ever again....but Tots and I got to share a rare, special moment, all because I took a breath and chose to show her this.  As if God, Himself, orchestrated these rainbows....to remind me to stop worrying about the clock all of the time?  To remember my blessings?  To know that Tots is a deeply loving, caring, beautiful, and observant person who really "gets it" and that if I just stop for one minute, I could learn so much from her.....?

I don't know, but I do know the value of a rainbow.

So, ask me if a rainbow is worth it...

I'll tell you, "Oh yes.  It's worth more than you know."