Raising Arizona

Before my Little Man was old enough for us to have to pay for an extra airline ticket, my husband and I decided it would be fun to visit one of the world's greatest wonders: the Grand Canyon.

We flew into Las Vegas first to visit relatives who we hadn't seen in years and then drove over the Hoover Dam and across the hilly landscape down to Arizona.  

Needless to say, the hilliness of the landscape did not sit well with a Bright Girl's tummy. She proceeded to empty her stomach and of all its contents across the Nevada border and all the way to Arizona.  

Once we were in Arizona, Little Man decided to join in on the fun, and made his mark in our rented SUV. By the time we got lost trying to find our hotel, it was dark, smelly, and loud with two sick children crying. 

Thankfully, we stopped at a little motel with a neon sign blinking bright and a kind manager who offered us some paper towels and directions to the hotel we had paid for.

That night was sleepless in Arizona. Bright Girl would not stop with the emptying of her stomach, and we were getting near ready to take her to the emergency room.

After a heated discussion (okay, an argument), we made up and prayed over her. 

We came all this way to see the Grand Canyon, and we are out of money, out of time, and out of our minds.  Could we please just get a glimpse of your glory, God?  

Bright Girl started to perk up. She drank some water. It stayed down. Hope began to well up inside of me. 

We're gonna see the Grand Canyon! What grace! Thank you, Lord!

We drove past a few hotels and then a short distance away there it was. An endless, cavernous rock, cut out in vibrant hues of reds, oranges, and browns.

This ancient canyon had many stories to tell. 

One came to mind of cataclysmic proportions...  

Cracking and convulsing, the water burst over and under and through the rock. Higher and higher it rose, covering the plains, hills, the highest mountain tops. Deluging all creation, except on the far side of the world, around the area that contained the fertile crescent, the cradle of civilization.  Above it all, one boat floated, keeping the last of humankind and animals safe.

This boat is remembered by all the earliest civilizations and has been kept preserved in the record passed on to Moses in Genesis 6-10. It held one family and two of every kind of animal plus seven pairs of each livestock and plenty of food to last many, many months.

The fact they survived was nothing short of a miracle.



And, here I was, a spectator of this Grand Remembrance of the event that the Lord used to rock the world and make it new again.

It will happen again. But, because of the bow in the sky and an ancient Promise, it will happen a different way. The earth will be made new again. There will be survivors. They are the chosen ones. And, like Noah, they have found grace in the eyes of the Lord (Genesis 6:8, 1 Peter 2:1-12).

"By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith (Hebrews 11:7)."