Hang in there, Mama. You're going to miss this.

It's Sunday which means some mama out there got up extra early this morning to get her kids all dressed up for church.  Then, she headed out the door with her family for the "perfect" day of worship . . . until it all went wrong and now she just can't wait to get everyone in bed. She wonders how many years it will be until she can breathe again.  She is a wonderful mom who adores her children, but she's exhausted.

This is for that mama.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one is worth a million. We look like we pretty much had it all together for a family with three kids all aged 5 and under.

Nope.

It was baby dedication day at our church. The dedication went well, but then there were the pictures. My youngest was the starving baby. It was her day.  She looks pretty content in the photo but she was humming and murmuring all sorts of noises as she frantically lapped her fingers. I prayed she wouldn't start squealing until after we were done with the photo session. The middle one - she was a sweet, delightful child most of the time. Not that day. She woke up with a swollen eye. I still don't know why, maybe a bug bite or maybe it was the start of a cold. It didn't matter.  She was done. She was done with babies. She was done with church. At this age, she hated getting her picture taken. I mean, she HATED it. You see how my husband's hand is spanning her entire stomach area? That was to hold her still. She was not cooperating . . . at all. If you look closely enough, you'll see that her tongue is sticking out. My son just wanted to get the picture session over with so he could go get something to eat. He was trying hard to be patient, but he was over his sisters.  Both of them.  See his gritting teeth?

You see that smile on my face. Fake. Believe me, I was not smiling on the inside. Somebody was going to "get it" and get it good when this was done.



My husband was fairly calm. His only goals were to hold the middle one still and not tell me to calm down . . . because that never works.  Men, don't tell your women to calm down.  It doesn't work.  Trust me.

I thought I would never be able to appreciate the photo because I would always remember the disaster that it was.

Wrong.

This is now one of my favorite family photos. It reminds me of days I wish I could get back. It hangs in my hallway. Every time I see it, I smile at the memory and I know that I would do it all over again, the good and the bad. I think that when we get older, there are always some things in life that we would never want to do over again.  Some things are just too painful, but I would raise my kids all over again.  The wisdom I've gained from already raising them once would require that I change some things, but I would do it all over again, all of it.  I love my adult kids. I'm so proud of all of them.  They are fine young adults.  I thank God for the gift of them every day.  They are all doing great things and they are doing them well.  I love the adult version of all of them, but I also miss the little ones in this photo.

Obviously, I can't do it all over again.  I'll continue to walk by this photo every day and remember the story behind it as I smile.  Sometimes I even laugh.  It was such a joy to raise them.  They bring me joy still, even in the memories of disastrous situations.  I survived and so will you.  You might not believe it now, but someday, you will look back and smile too.  You might even laugh.

Hang in there, Mama.

Children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from Him. - Psalm 127:3 

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We are still in the very beginning stages of reading through the Bible in chronological order.  Today, I'm reading Genesis, chapters 5-8.

From Adam to Noah

The first verse takes my breath away.  When God made mankind, he made them in the likeness of God (Genesis 5:1).  I read it over and over again, but it never loses its awe.  Of all the things God created during the 7 days of creation, of all the animals and all living things, He made us, you and me, in His own likeness.  What an honor!

He made them male and female and He blessed them.  (Genesis 5:2)

The rest of chapter 5 is a genealogy from Adam to Noah. The sons of Adam and Eve were Cain, Abel, and Seth.  We already know that Cain killed Abel.  (Genesis 4:8)

Cain's line is as follows:

Cain
Enoch
Irad
Mehujael
Methushael
Lamech

In Genesis 4:23-24, we learn that Lemech confesses to killing a man.  He wrote to his wife that if Cain had been avenged 7 times, then Lemech would be avenged seventy seven times.

From there, we move on to the third son of Adam and Eve.  Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born.  (Genesis 5:3)

Noah is born from the line of Seth as follows:

Adam
Seth
Enosh
Denan
Mahalalel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
Noah

Here's a chart to help us keep the genealogy straight.

Adam died at age 930.  His great great great great grandson, Enoch, lived 365 years.  Enoch walked faithfully with God for 365 years and then God took him away.  Enoch did not know an earthly death.(Genesis 5:23-24)

I think it's a little odd that we grow up hearing the story of Cain and Abel, but rarely heard anything about Seth.  We definitely should pay attention to the story of Cain and Abel because there are lessons to be learned from those two brothers, but little is said about Seth.  However, it was Seth's line of descendants who would be saved from the flood waters to come and repopulate the earth.

The Story of Noah

Noah was 500 years old when he became a father. (Genesis 5:32)  His sons were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

When the human population began to increase on the earth, the Lord saw how wicked humans had become.  Their thoughts were evil all the time.  (Genesis 6:1-5)

The next verse is so heartbreaking.  The sadness of it reaches to my core.

God regretted that He had ever created humans and His heart was deeply troubled.  (Genesis 6:6)

So the Lord said, "I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created - and with them the animals, the birds, and the creatures that move along the ground - for I regret that I have made them." - Genesis 6:7

There was one hope for humans, Noah.

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. - Genesis 6:8

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his day.  He walked faithfully with God.  God told Noah that He was going to wipe the earth of people because of their wickedness and violence.  He told Noah to build an ark and He told Noah exactly how to build it, even the measurements.  (Genesis 6:9-17)

God established a covenant with Noah. 

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark - you and your sons and your wife and your son's wives with you.  You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you.  Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive.  You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them. - Genesis 6:18-21

The next verse if very important and we can learn so much from it.

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. - Genesis 6:22

In the first verses of Genesis, chapter 7, God continues His instructions to Noah.

Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.  Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth.  Seven days from now, I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made. - Genesis 7:1-4

The next verse is again an important one - a repeat of Genesis 6:22.

And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. - Genesis 7:5

When the flood waters started, Noah was 600 years old.  (Genesis 7:6)

Everyone was inside the ark, so who closed the door?  God did.  The Lord shut them in the ark.  (Genesis 7:16)

Again, God shows his mercy.  After Adam and Eve had sinned, God punished them, but He made them clothes to protect them (Genesis 3:21).  Now, after the human race had become violent and evil, God spared Noah, who was a righteous man, and his family along with a number of animals.  Then, God closed the door of the ark to protect them (Genesis 7:16)

God is a righteous God who punishes disobedience, but He is also a loving God who rewards faithfulness.

God carried out His plan to flood the earth to destroy humans and animals, save only those in the ark with Noah.  Then, God stopped the rain and springs from the earth.  He caused a wind to blow and the waters steadily receded.  Finally, the ark came to rest on Mt. Ararat.  (Genesis 8:1-4)

Months after the rain had started flooding the earth and finally the waters had receded, Noah sent out a raven from the ark.  The raven kept flying back and forth until the waters had dried up from the earth.  Noah sent out a dove to see if waters had receded from the ground, but the dove couldn't find a place to perch because the waters had not receded enough so it returned to Noah.  A week later, Noah sent the dove out again.  This time it returned with an olive leaf.  Seven days later, Noah sent the dove out again, but the dove did not return.  Noah was 601 years old by the time the waters had dried up from the earth.  Noah's family spent a year on the ark.  Finally, Noah and his family, along with the animals, could exit the ark and move onto dry ground.  (Genesis 8:6-19)

What was the first thing Noah did?

He built an alter to the Lord!

He took some of the clean animals and clean birds and sacrificed a burnt offering on the alter.

The Lord smelled the aroma of Noah's offering.  He was pleased so He said in His heart:

"Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.  And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease." - Genesis 8:21-22

Reading through these 4 chapters, I marvel at God's justness and His mercy.  Looking back at Genesis 8:21, God knows human hearts are evil from childhood.  Yet, because of Noah's faithfulness and strict obedience to God, God promises to never destroy again as He did in the days of Noah.

God knows my heart as well as he knew the hearts of humans of that day - as well as He knew the heart of Noah.  Yet, He still loves me.

God knows your heart too, yet He loves you.  He desires a relationship with you through His son, Jesus Christ.  You can learn more about that here.

 Teaching the Children

Here are several more resources for learning more about Adam and the story of Noah.

 

 

This post is part of my Coloring Through Genesis Series as we read through the Bible in chronological order. I love my Beautiful Word Coloring Bible.  If you would like to add this Bible to your library, this is the one I have.

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Image Credits:
Noah's Ark (Top): jeffjacobs1990 - CCO Public Domain Image via Pixabay
Noah's Ark (Bottom of Printable Image):  thefairypath - CCO Public Domain Image via Pixabay
Noah and Animals (Top of Printable Image):  GDJ - CCO Public Domain Image via Pixabay

Beautiful Word Coloring Bible Image Credit:  Abundant Family Living (Tina Truelove) 

Read all posts in my Coloring Through Genesis Series here.