It’s Time to Build an Ark

Day 131 of Photo Inspirations – It’s Time to Build an Ark
#TBT — Twelve years ago, I wrote the play,  “The Red Carpet Women of the Bible Walk of Fame”, and we performed it for our Women of the Madalene and for other organizations.  The play featured well-known women from the Bible — to help us, in this modern era, to understand our journeys of faith are not so different from those women whose culture was so vastly different from ours.

I was the Broadcast Announcer, Kiane Sawyer, and provided the narrative. That’s me on the far right. From left to right are Mrs. Noah, played by Mary Jean Burns;  Theresa Taron Witcher​, played the role of Barbara Walterstein and she interviewed each character; Sarah AND Judge Deborah, both played by Becky Grossman​; Delilah, played by Shannon Rziha; Martha, played by Margaret Carlin DeWeese​, Lydia, played by Sarah Rehm​, and Widow Mite, played by Nan Sibley.  These women were amazing and hilarious actresses.

With all this rain we’ve been having here in Tulsa, and with hearing so many, jokingly, talk about building an ark, I thought it appropriate to tell you about one of the characters from the play, Mrs. Noah, and how she handled it all.

Mary Jean, totally in character as Mrs. Noah, entered the stage — swatting at flies and singing “Rain, rain go away!”  When Barbara Walterstein (Theresa) asked how she survived it all, she said, “Wow — did I ever have my hands full — the beasts, the boys, the smells and the noise.  Let’s just say, that little show they call “Survivor” was child’s play compared to the jungle in that ark!  And, talk about “clean-up”!  Whew!  It was a madhouse for a long time, but I survived.  It wasn’t easy.  I could have snapped at any time under the pressure.  But I had one assurance of knowing that it was all a part of God’s plan.  And knowing it was His plan, we came out as the world’s greatest survivors!  The key to my sanity through it all was taking it all “one day at a time!”  And she left the stage singing “Singing in the rain, I’m singing in the rain.  What a glorious feeling, I’m happy again!”

I followed her with this message and I pass it on to you, my FB friends today:  “Think of it.  Mrs. Noah didn’t have a dishwasher, a microwave, or a computer!  She couldn’t email her friends.  She had no bug spray or scented potpourri.  There was no praise music to drown out the noises, no Christian TV to occupy her mind, no mall where she could escape.  She was stuck in a smelly, non-air-conditioned, floating zoo!  And yet, she managed to keep her sanity to live “one day at a time”, knowing God was with her.  We can learn a lot from Mrs. Noah. As Moms and Grandmoms, we have days of chaos — running errands and carpools, putting up with messy rooms and noisy fights.  We run ourselves ragged cleaning the ark, straightening the ark and then, the next day, we start all over again.  But the Lord knows what every Mrs. Noah is going through at every stage of life.  And He walks the ark with us each day as we love and care for our kids.  They face incredible dangers and temptations in the world, but when a godly Mrs. Noah gets them “up the ramp and into the ark,” she trains and teaches them, loves and prays with them, and keeps them from the floods of life by placing them in His safekeeping.  If God can strengthen Mrs. Noah through it all, He will do the same for us!”

So where’s the Bible women of today?  In God’s loving care!  He loves and understands; He’s there — wherever we are.  He cares for us.  If you know who you are, whom you serve and where you’re going, you’re a woman of faith and strength in God’s eyes….and everyday we are His royal women walking HIS red carpet, walk of fame.