Ark Building 101

Building our ark. That’s what getting our house ready for sale feels like. As far as we know from the story in Genesis and the movie with Steve Carell, Noah didn’t have to go out searching for two of every animal, force them to get along, or forklift them onto their new home. He just had to build the ark, and the animals came. They came because that was God’s plan, and what God wants happens.

I’m glad Kevin came up with this helpful mental picture of “building our ark"—in this case, preparing our house to the best of our ability. It’s not ever going to be perfect; it just has to “float” for the person who’s gonna buy it. I reminded myself of this for hours last week as I scrubbed every nook and cranny of my kitchen cupboards. I filled one Mr. Clean Magic Erase Sponge after another, astounded by the dirt that had previously gone unnoticed. (I don’t see dirt. Or dead people. It’s a gift.) It seemed like such trivial, meaningless work. Especially when some kid’s only hours away from spilling a cup of chocolate milk all over the good work Mr. Clean and I have done. I suppose it had to be done, but there were about 10,000 other things that seemed like more fun and fulfilling ways to use naptime.

Probably that’s how Noah felt too as he measured out all those cubits. And he had to deal with all the gawking and pointing from the neighbors. (Although he also had the benefit of grown children and thus more than one minute of clear, consistent thought. I gotta believe he wasn’t getting frequent interruptions from Shem, Ham, and Japheth crying out for assistance in the bathroom.) But think how he felt when the animals actually showed up. Think of his amazement when that first drop of rain fell. God brought it all about, just like He said He would, and Noah knew all that measuring and hammering had not been in vain.

I wouldn’t say our family’s calling to move to a new neighborhood is as strong as Noah’s to save all man- and animalkind, but we are pretty sure God is calling us to build this ark so he can take us to new land. He was faithful to Noah, and He’s faithful to us. The one who calls us is faithful. First Thessalonians 5:24. It’s become my mantra. It’s got a nice rhythm to it when you’re scrubbing cupboards.