Looking Forward to something New

Genesis 8:6-19

Many of my friends have unbelievable memories of events that happened in our childhood, they remember people, places, and things that have long left or been deleted from my storage area called the brain.  But there is one memory that comes from when I was four years old that is as clear as if it happened yesterday.  I was about two when we arrived at 3738 Liberty Dr. in Corpus Christi, Texas, it was the first and only house dad would buy, it set at the end of the street on a small circle; today we would call it a cul-de-sac.  It was not much by today’s standard; it was 900 sq. feet, made out of wood, with a slate roof, slate must have been cheap, it was in 1944, and we were still in WW II. 

On that circle, across from our house, was the home of Tommy Black and his mother, Tommy was my best friend in the whole world, in fact my world consisted of the circle with two mesquite trees, my yard, Tommy’s yard and the very large black dirt field that lay behind Tommy’s house.  At the age of four I do recall that my brother, Fred went to school and that was ok, my sister was still home with me, though I was really too busy with Tommy and the circle to spent much time with her.  At the age of five my sister also went to school and Tommy and his mother were talking about moving, and my little world was in crisis.  All I could think of was reaching six, going to school with my brother and sister, and then my life would be wonderful.

You may be wondering how that little recall of my childhood ties to Genesis 8:6-19?  Can you imagine the anticipation of Noah while he was building the ark?  He was looking forward to something new, something he had never experienced, and so was the little boy who lived on the circle of Liberty drive.  One of the lessons that time has taught me is that expectation may not always the utopia I had envisioned.  Is it not just like God to forget to inform Noah how long he and his family will be living in the ark?  Genesis 7:11 tells us Noah was 600 years 2 months and 17 days old when God closed the door of the ark, and Genesis 8:14, Noah is now 601 years old and it is the second month and the twenty-seventh day and God tells Noah to leave the ark.  I’m not sure how many days they were in the ark, but it was at least one year and ten days. 

I bet Noah and I had this in common; he could hardly wait for the ark to be finished and I was not sure that first grade would ever arrive.  But Noah had something going for him, he knew God had put him into the ark; he also knew God was a promise keeper.  I on the other hand got to first grade, and from the first day, I missed my freedom, school was all about rules, and homework, structure, and I was not sure I would ever escape. Noah believed God and was blessed, I fought the system and came away with great loss in my education and unfulfilled blessings that my teachers desired for me.

Form the Back Porch,

Bob Rice