Rubber Trees and Rainbows

This past Saturday we got together with some of our friends and took a trip to the Firestone plantation out near the airport. Rubber trees are grown for their raw, white sap on the one million acres of the plantation. It took about 2 hours to get there, but it was nice to get out of the city a bit and see lots of green grass and trees.

We went to see the rubber trees and to learn about the process preparing the sap for rubber production. Most of the work of harvesting had already been done for the day, so we didn't get to see the process in action. Instead, we visited the clubhouse at the golf course on the grounds and enjoyed a can of coke. We decided to share within our family because the thought of buying 5 canned drinks at between $2 and $3 U.S. each wasn't appealing. The "greens" on the golf course, by the way, are not green, but black. They are made by adding oil to sand, so it will pack better, and smoothing the mixture down. I couldn't help wondering if Tiger Woods has ever tried his hand at playing on a west African course. I imagine that the challenges would be quite different. While sitting on the porch of the club house with our friends a storm blew in and we got to see a really nice rainbow over the golf course.
Despite seeing the rainbow, we wondered, as it was raining, if our trip might be a bit more dull than we had hoped, but the rains didn't last long. Very soon after it began to clear, the most wonderful thing happened! A lady whom we had been talking with who helped to run the club house began yelling at some folks who had begun to drive vehicles up onto the grass. A wedding party had arrived to take advantage of the scenery for photos! We all really enjoyed seeing another rainbow, this time one of colorfully decorated wedding party members meandering their way up onto the grass directly in front of us. I couldn't resist the temptation to go and ask if I could join the other photographers and get a few photos. The organizers were more than happy to let me join in with the agreement that I would mail them a few of the photos that I made.
Being able to see the wedding party in all their elaborate, traditional clothing was the real highlight of the afternoon. God blessed us with the ability to see and touch rubber trees and to see not one, but two rainbows. It turned out to be better than we had hoped it would be. Isn't it true that we often have a certain set of expectations for how we think things will be in life. I think it's true that very seldom, in the end, do things look the same as we had imagined they would. I believe that as we step out in faith, we often find that it is God's desire not to meet our expectations as we have laid them out, but often to show us something more than what we could have possibly imagined about His beauty. Thus, He often exceeds our expectations if we allow ourselves to see it.

John