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It happened – I finally had a snow day. To those of you who did not want one, dislike snow, and/or who had the backbreaking job of shoveling, I offer my heartfelt apology. But this snow day meant much to me.

It isn’t that I love snow or enjoy skiing. This snow day came to represent more than that to me. It meant a day of rest. But I did not “rest” per se. I did plenty of cleaning which is what made me began to ask the question…

“Why was a snow day so important to me?”

A snow day came to represent a reprieve, a break from the ordinary. I looked up at the skylights, now thickly blanketed with snow and it hit me…..

I was safe and warm and cozy in my home. I was inside and everything was outside. My heart, which was feeling raw, had time to just be, not having to deal with anything or think any longer about the cares burdening me. I was closed up, in my home, fireplace roaring and I could “rest”.

My eyes were once again drawn to the skylights. Seeing them covered up with the snow brought me comfort. I found this odd as the reason we had them installed was to let the sun and light and air in. Yet yesterday it brought me comfort that nothing was being let in.

And then I thought of Noah and the ark.

“Make yourself an ark of gopher-wood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch.” (Genesis 6:14, NKJV).

The choice of wood, the covering of pitch – which acted as a tar-like substance – all emphasized that the ark was a protection and hiding place. The ark was to keep the elements out and Noah, his family, and the animals safe.

But there was more….

“By faith Noah (my one word for 2014!), being divinely warned of those things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.” (Hebrews 11:7, NKJV).

Not everything in life is going to make sense. Surely, for Noah it did not. Building an ark when he had no idea what rain even looked like. Not even a drizzle. And yet he obeyed. He followed and completed building the ark, without understanding and enduring the ridicule and the criticism of those around him.

Faith demands an obedience. An obedience to follow God when you may not know where you are going or what you are doing or what you you will do when you get where you are going.

I was beginning to understand something new …. Much the way the pitch kept the elements outside of the ark and kept Noah and company safe, Christ is my covering. He is my protection. He is my safety.

“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built …. and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also – not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God.” (1 Peter 3:18-21 NKJV).

And all this brought me back to “Faith”…..

These Old Testament followers are given to us as examples, to encourage us in our faith. To live by faith. To obey by faith. Each lived by faith in God but it was expressed in and through various, and very different, means because faith will not always make sense at the moment. Noah was being warned of things not yet known of or experienced.

My snow day has come to represent a lesson in faith. It served to build a little more faith in me.

Those days that my heart is raw, my mind burdened and I am in need of rest, He is my safety. He will close me in and provide all that I need to continue to move forward in obedience.

Do not be troubled because you must live by faith, nor grow weary because hope is deferred. Your reward is certain; it is preserved for you in him who created all things. (Peter Chrysologus)

Funny part of all this, we have this very picture hanging over our fireplace mantle, which I have loved for years ….

Noahs_Ark(a painting by the folk painter, Edward Hicks)

Today I am joining with … Thought Provoking Thurs. and Thankful Thurs. and Time Travel Thurs. and Thurs. Favorite Things and Doing You Well and Thrive At Home and Thriving Thurs. and Cozy Reading Spot and New Every Morning .