Rainbow’s reflection gives hope

By CARLA HINTON Comments 0
Published: October 17, 2009

No matter how much rain has fallen, a rainbow seems to engender hope.

That was the case as the school day ended Sept. 30 at Sky Ranch Elementary School, 9501 S Western.

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The grandmother of a Sky Ranch student told me that only a few raindrops fell as students got on their buses or waited for their parents to pick them up.

But a huge rainbow appeared, towering above the Moore district school in brilliant color, she said.

Parents, teachers and students later learned that was the day the school’s principal, Janice Carol West, lost her battle with cancer.

"It just seemed interesting that it happened like that,” the grandmother said.

West, 44, was a faith-filled woman who loved the Lord, said the Rev. Gary Bohanon, her pastor. Bohanon, senior pastor at Crossroads Church, said she served on the praise and worship team and played violin in the church’s orchestra.

Even when weakened by chemotherapy treatments, West faithfully sang songs of her trust and hope in the Lord, encouraging everyone in the pews, he said.

He said she became legally blind because of her illness, but she had someone lead her to her place Sunday mornings.

"She would barely be able to walk and couldn’t see. She had lost her hair, and she wore a wrap around her head, and she would sing,” Bohanon said. "She was a one-of-a-kind lady. It was hard to lose her as a friend.”

He said West touched many lives. He said he has been at Crossroads for 26 years, and West’s was probably the largest funeral the church ever had.

A rainbow appearing at the principal’s beloved school the day she died started much comment. It made many who knew West think about her and their belief that rainbows can be a reminder of God’s love and mercy when storms rock our world.

In Genesis 9:12-18, God said the rainbow was a token of His covenant with mankind, a visual reminder that a flood would not destroy the Earth again.

Noah surely saw it as a sign of hope. Some at Sky Ranch felt the same way, despite the loss of West.

That is how she would have wanted it, they said, for they remain hopeful after the storm.