Catherine Campbell - Under the Rainbow: A mothers experiences of the promises of God

UNDER THE
RAINBOW

A mothers experiences of
the promises of God

Catherine Campbell

Text copyright 2008, 2013 Catherine Campbell
This edition copyright 2013 Lion Hudson

The right of Catherine Campbell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Monarch Books
an imprint of
Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
Email: monarch@lionhudson.com
www.lionhudson.com/monarch

ISBN 978 0 85721 445 4
e-ISBN 978 0 85721 463 8

This edition 2013

Acknowledgments

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotation marked NIV taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised. Copyright 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. NIV is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Extract pages quoted from We are the reason by David Meece. Copyright 1980 Meece Music. Admin by WORD Music and Song Solutions. Used with permission.

Every effort has been made to trace the original copyright holders where required. In some cases this has proved impossible. We shall be happy to correct any such omissions in future editions.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image: Atlantide Phototravel/Corbis

Gut-wrenchingly honest, crammed with hope, warm and never preachy, this book is quite wonderful. Grace seeps through every page. Catherine offers vital help for all who navigate their way through pain that means all of us. If you buy just one book this year, choose this one.

Jeff Lucas , author, speaker, broadcaster

Catherine Campbell is a living example of the old idea of an Irish saint and scholar. Her words drip like honey from the comb. This book wont just encourage you, it will nurture you and sweeten your spirit. Dont just read the words, eat them and let them change your heart.

Malcolm Duncan , speaker, pastor of Gold Hill Baptist Church, and author of Risk Takers

By the same author

God Knows Your Name
Broken Works Best
Rainbows for Rainy Days

Dedicated to

the memory of Cheryl and Joy, who continue
to bless my life every day.
Also to my husband Philip and son Paul,
whose love and support are my constant strength;
and to Susie, who is teaching me once more
the delights of daughters.

With special thanks to

Mrs Lillian Hill and the staff of Hillcroft School, Dr E. Hicks, and the staff of Paul Ward and other departments of the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, for your care of Cheryl and Joy over many years.

Always remember that you made a difference.

I am leading my child to the heavenly land

I am guiding her day by day

And I ask her now, as I take her hand

To come home by a rugged way.

Its not the way she herself would choose

For its beauty she cannot see,

But she knows not what her soul would lose

If she trod not that path with me!

Author unknown

Contents

Authors Note

W hen I wrote the original version of Under the Rainbow back in 2008 I had no idea of the impact it would have on so many lives. To say it has been humbling would be an understatement. Sharing the years I had with our profoundly disabled daughters in an open and frank manner was not easy to do. Once the affairs of my heart, both emotional and spiritual, were seen in print, I could not take them back. I didnt realize then how vulnerable it would make me feel when I recognized that thousands of people would hold my heart in their hands.

However, the other side of exposing my inner wounds to all and sundry was the freedom it gave me to share how God worked in my pain, and also through the lives of our two remarkable little girls. In turn, that gave many readers the opportunity to share their own difficult situations with others and sometimes with me. Communications of all types have come my way over the years, explaining how this little book has touched lives, and confirming the step of faith I took in writing it.

Unfortunately, there was little opportunity for the book to be seen beyond Northern Ireland, and when the original publishers went out of business in 2010 it was no longer available anywhere. Saddened, I found it hard to accept that it had accomplished all that God had for it to do, but my hands were tied. It was simply out of print until now.

My current publisher, Monarch, has given me the amazing privilege of revisiting, revising and expanding Under the Rainbow . If you have come to it again, the story is the same but with some new material that was not included in the first edition. If you have read Broken Works Best (Monarch, 2012) you may recognize some of the events that I used there to illustrate the teaching on how God turns our pain into gain. However, Under the Rainbow is a different book. It is simply the story of one young mother who discovered that in the storms of life God allows us to stand under the rainbow of His promises: promises that He always keeps.

What is especially exciting for me is that the message of Under the Rainbow will now be given the opportunity to reach far beyond the shores of the Emerald Isle. My prayer is that wherever it goes it will bring Gods grace into the lives of those who have been rocked by difficulty and disappointment.

My heartfelt thanks go to Tony Collins and the team at Monarch for making this possible. Thanks also go to my ever-patient proofreaders, my friend Liz Young and my husband Philip, my greatest encourager.

So whether you have launched into Under the Rainbow for the first time or the second time, I place my heart in your hands, remembering what God frequently whispers in my ear: the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel (Philippians 1:12). For that I bring Him praise.

Prologue

T he changing room was unusually quiet that Sunday afternoon when I arrived for my shift. A quick glance at my watch confirmed that I wasnt late. Missing lunch may have made my tummy grumble but it ensured that I had plenty of time to change into my uniform. The absence of fellow nurses meant one of two things: either the hospital wasnt too busy or it was very short-staffed. I hoped the former was true as I headed down to the end of the main corridor where the Sick Baby Unit was housed.

Working with the babies was a delight, especially as the unit cared for babies of normal gestation, who usually needed only a few days of extra care before they were reunited with their mothers. It was the kind of work that set the old maternal instinct in motion. How different and much less stressful it was than working with the very tiny babies of the Premature Baby Unit, whose treatment was critical and life saving.

There was a lift in my step and a song in my heart as I pushed open the huge old oak door into the unit. Church had been particularly uplifting that morning, and everything in the world was good.