“Mommy, guess what? Today’s the day we’re gonna’ climb Mount Rainbow,” Jeremy said excitedly between bites of Cheerios. “Mommy, why is it called Mount Rainbow?”
“Good question. When the sun shines bright in the sky, the stones on each side of the cliff look the color of a rainbow. You can see the yellows, oranges and even some blues in the stone. Thus the name Mount Rainbow.”
“Cool. It’s sunny today. Maybe I’ll get to see the colors,” replied Jeremy.
“Could be. Now finish your breakfast and get your shoes on. We want to leave soon.”
“Okay, mommy.” With that Jeremy jumped down from his chair and scurried to his bedroom for his shoes.
“Grab your backpack and put these snacks and water into it,” instructed mom.
“Got it.” Forty minutes later they were at Mount Rainbow. The trail to the top was not hard, but hard enough for a little five-year-old boy to keep up.
“Come on, mommy. Let’s go,” Jeremy said as he took off running for the trail.
“Be careful. The trail can be slippery.”
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” Thirty minutes later they were at the top. “Oh wow!!” Exclaimed Jeremy. Look at those cliffs. Just like you said mommy. Looks like a rainbow.” Jeremy stood in awe of what he was witnessing.
“Don’t get too close to the edge. You don’t want to fall over,” ordered mom.
Setting down his backpack, Jeremy carefully crept near the edge of the cliff. He wanted to get a better look all around. At that moment Jayne heard a snapping noise behind her. She turned around to see what it was, only to notice a furry raccoon scamper into the woods. In her distraction she heard a blood-curdling scream.
“MOOOOOOOM!” “JEREMY!” cried Jayne. She ran to the edge of the cliff, looked down, and there lay her son on a ledge, six feet down.
“Jeremy, are you okay?” Cried Jayne. “JER-E-MY, talk to me!”
After a few minutes Jeremy opened his eyes, “Mom, my leg hurts bad and I can’t move it. Mom, help…..”
“Jeremy, don’t move. I’m going to call for help.”
Jayne pulled her phone out of her pocket and was relieved to see she had two bars. She dialed 9-1-1.
“Hello, what is your emergency?”
“I’m at Mount Rainbow and my son f-f-fell over the c-c-liff and is lying on a ledge. I t-t-think he has a broken leg,” cried Jayne.
“Hang on lady, I have an ambulance on the way. Keep talking to me.”
“It’s a-a-ll my f-fault,” Jayne sobbed.
“I hear a siren, I think help is here,” Jayne said as she hung up the phone.
She heard them before she saw them - the EMT’s. “OVER HERE,” yelled Jayne.
They rushed to the edge, looked down, and saw Jeremy. One EMT repelled down to Jeremy. Fifteen minutes later Jeremy was lifted to the surface with the EMT close behind. After stabilizing him, they carried him to the ambulance and took off for the hospital, Jayne following behind.
The doctors were waiting for him, saw his mangled leg, and took him to surgery. Five hours later he was in his room, repaired but groggy.
When Jeremy opened his eyes dad said, “How you doin' little buddy?”
“Hi dad. This was the best day ever,” Jeremy smiled weakly.
“How so,” inquired dad.
“When I was on that ledge an angel sat with me. He held my hand and said “Don’t be afraid. I’ll stay with you. Isn’t that cool dad?”
Jayne quirked her eyebrow and dad smiled. “Yeah son, pretty cool.”
With those words, Jeremy lay quietly. “You know Fred, the Bible does say ‘For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go’. I think he actually did see an angel. He kept saying “Thank you, I love you” after he was rescued. I thought he was talking about the EMT but I think he meant the angel.”
Jeremy learned a hard lesson that day on Mount Rainbow. A beautiful cliff is meant to be enjoyed from a distance, and when mom says ‘don’t get too close to the edge’ she means it.
“Dad?” “What?” “When my leg heals can we go back to Mount Rainbow. I really didn’t get a chance to see all the neat cliffs. Mom said there’s a cave there and I want to see that too.”
“You bet. It’s a date,” smiled dad.
Scripture: Psalm 91:11 - ESV