Come, Be Still: November 2022

Friday, November 25, 2022

Thanksgiving Week 2022

Thanksgiving week was an exciting one as carpenters returned for the first time since mid-September. Dad has continued on many parts of the project in the meantime, including getting old siding off the garage and resetting the front brick patio.

Now we are grateful for a new front door to replace the 46-year-old original that leaked and grew ice indoors in winter.

And the siding project has begun!

Everyone got a break for Thanksgiving Day.

Even though it was only the four of us at home for the day, we had a feast complete with two versions of sweet potatoes and dressing to accommodate various food sensitivities. Elsa even managed to nearly replicate the pumpkin pie we grew up with for the first time since losing gluten and dairy options. But now that we can both handle eggs again, this was delicious!

Friday Dad is back to work sealing around new doors.

And we are enjoying pulling out Christmas music and CDs again while getting ready for family coming tonight!

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Shut In – Day 281: Giving Thanks for Signs of Hope

Happy Thanksgiving Day! Today it is just the four of us at home, but we hope to enjoy some extended family time tomorrow. And we still plan to find ways to make today a celebration.

But rather than focus on the amazing history of the American Thanksgiving celebrations in this post (see past years for that), today marks another key point in much more ancient history.

I am still tracking with Noah on the ark.

The last time we checked in, he was sending out scout-birds to get an idea of the state of the flood-ravaged earth. That began two weeks ago. Since the birds did not find anywhere to live other than the ark, Noah set himself to wait another week.

Imaging his joy and thanksgiving when the dove came back with “a freshly plucked olive leaf” in her beak! There was finally a sign of life off of the ark!

We really cannot picture the impact of this one leaf after all those months of death, destruction and isolation. But try to imagine a winter stretching for 11 months with no sign of green… not even a spruce tree or hardy vine to add color to an empty prairie where sky and land are all the color of old snow. You have been kept indoors by the weather the entire 11 months. Even if you had neighbors, you would not have been able to get out to visit them. (Read Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “The Long Winter” for just a partial, but powerful, example of this.)

Then after eleven months unlike anything experienced before or since in the history of the world… you finally see an olive leaf! Praise God!!!

Now, remember that God had shut Noah and his family into the ark, and Noah was still waiting on God’s timing to exit. So we come to today…

“Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore.” – Genesis 8:12

This was a day to celebrate! There were clear signs of life and hope in the world!

Even when we are living through dark and lonely days, God eventually sends those signs of hope. What are yours today?

A few of mine after nearly 10 years since my health completely crashed include:
- I find myself trotting up the stairs some days!
- Piano practice has become a joy again since I resumed several days a week in October.
- My mind can have more capacity for language study than for years past.
- Chemical exposures have less effect on my body and brain.

And yes, this has all changed since getting the mold out of our house. It was, and still is, so much work and expense… but so worth it for my mom, sister, and me. We are grateful to God!

See previous posts in series here:

Part I: The Lord Shut Him In
Part II: Day 10: The Animals
Part III: Day 20: The Man Noah
Part IV: Day 30: The Walls
Part V: Day 40: What God Says... He Does
Part VI: Day 70: After the Crisis
Part VII: Day 100: When Waiting Turns to Years
Part VIII: Day 150: Touch Down!
Part IX: Day 181: Survival Mode while Shut In
Part X: Day 227: Land, Ho!
Part XI: Day 267: Testing the Waters

Next post:
Part XIII: Day 319: A Birthday with a View

olive leaf photo by Chris Barbalis on Unsplash

Thursday, November 10, 2022

11.10.22 Shut In – Day 267: Testing the Waters

“At the end of forty days…”

That is where we are in Noah’s season of being “shut in” by God.

Forty days ago, Noah and family and menagerie in their mighty ship were already perched on the mountains of Ararat, and the tops of the mountains were finally visible! And yet there has been no change in daily life since then (unless possibly the earth and waters have calmed down some more from the violent upheaval geological records show were still happening as the flood receded.)

40 more days of waiting.
40 more days of feeding and cleaning up after animals.
40 more days of wondering how they were going to possibly start life again in an empty world.
40 more days of waiting for God to show the next step.

And still there was no sign. So, Noah decided to check things out for himself.

“At the end of forty days, Noah opened the window of the ark… and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.” Genesis 8:6-9

As far as we know there was no disobedience or rebellion in Noah’s heart or actions. There is no record of God being displeased at His child’s experiments. It may show a little impatience, or simply a desire to plan ahead.

But as we will see in the weeks to come, Noah was still committed to waiting on God for clear direction.

See previous posts in series here:

Next Post:
Part XII: Day 281: Giving Thanks for Signs of Hope