Unauthorized Arks?

What a wacky weather day! South Jersey generally has your traditional seasonal weather patterns, but yesterday it felt as if we were living the weather chart that I used to show at "circle time" when I taught pre-school!

Throughout the course of our Sunday we had thunder&ligntning , sheets of rain, hail, rainbows, and even a genuine TORNADO WARNING...virtually unheard of in these parts! When the hail began to fall, we treated it like a science project. Occasionally, we'll have a day around here that I am 100% sure that our kids will remember in years to come, and I think this is one of them. Love that.

We oohed and aahed at the gorgeous dark cloud with the baby blue area in the center which hovered ominously just a short distance away. A little disconcerting to notice that it was spinning counter-clockwise. I thought of my Kansas friend, Carri, who must take such events in stride.

Sadie, the yellow lab, watched nervously from inside the house.

Sunshine and storm clouds alternated all afternoon, and finally we descended into the basement in a not-so-orderly fashion when we could no longer see the road from our den window, just 35 feet away. All 9 of us: 7 humans, 1 chicken-hearted dog, and 1 bearded dragon. I could have predicted that some of us became giddy with the excitement of it all while others fell into anxious silence. Daddy, of course, was steady, as always.

We emerged after about 10 minutes and shortly afterwards a most glorious sunset broke out, and we even spotted a rainbow.

All of this put me in mind of a phrase which I think I coined recently, which is "Unauthorized Arks". Imagine if Noah had foreknowledge of the impending flood and had commenced the building of an ark without his Creator's direction and specifications. The Lord's idea of his spending a century of his life on such a venture was already a radical one. Thinking of doing so by his own ingenuity would have been futile and absurd. What a waste of cypress and pitch.

How often do I take it upon myself to evaluate a perceived problem and even execute a solution without so much as a thought to consulting my Creator? I can easily do seemingly good things for seemingly good reasons , but it's so much better to submit my visionary nature to His leading and direction.

Not to get too personal, but are you building any unauthorized arks? That might be worth pondering, and it could save you a lot of pooper-scooping in the future.

Zechariah 4:6...out of context, but still a good reminder: "'Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty."

Proverbs 3:5,6(of course)..."Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight."

Enough preaching. Let the Lord float your boat.