Today and tomorrow will be our last days together. I’ll miss you, but I
hope you’ll continue to pray with me here every Wednesday. Meanwhile, read the
satisfying ending God prepared for the people and animals on the ark. It’s hard
to understand how the world could end, yet the story end happily, isn’t it? But
it does. That’s God’s way. He knows how to rescue and heal his children and his
stories always end happily for those who follow him and choose righteousness –
even when they struggle. He’ll be there for you in the midst of disaster and
betrayal. You can count on it. You can count on him.
Chapter 189
The Epilogue
©
Jeannie St. John Taylor
“When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after
the flood. And Shem lived after he had Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons
and daughters.” Genesis 11:10,11
Atarah
shaded her eyes with the flat of her hand and peered into the bright sunlight
streaming through the open window overhead, waiting with bated breath. Not even
Shem’s fingers intertwined with those of her free hand could draw her attention
away from Noah who had his face to the window at the top of the ladder.
The
quality of life on the ark vastly improved once the rains stopped and Noah was
able to open that window — which ran all the way around the top of their
shelter. In accordance with God’s plan, the window occupied the perfect
position for welcoming warmth and light during the day. And all that natural
light was wonderful! They no longer needed artificial lights.
She sometimes wished she had time
to drink in the azure blue view during the day, but that rarely happened
because she spent every moment feeding animals and mucking out cages and
stalls. Yet she didn’t mind. The work infused her with a sense of purpose she’d
never felt before. The tiredness brought on by a hard day’s work helped her
savor treasured times of cuddling with her husband beneath the portion of the
window over their bed. They’d gaze at the glittering night sky and whisper
about the future and their someday-babies and what the world would be like
washed clean of evil.
However, the first forty days and
nights on the ark had been anything but idyllic. Rain pounded ceaselessly
against the watertight closed-up structure while unidentified explosions
crashed in the distance and animals bellowed a cacophony of distress from the
decks below. In rhythm with the perpetual noises of rain and thunder, the ark
rose to great heights then plummeted downward. Constant nausea plagued Atarah.
For an entire week the sharp odor of vomit permeated the family living quarters
while Shem, bless his heart, cleaned up everyone’s messes.
Atarah momentarily looked away from
Noah to smile gratefully at her husband but, squinting up at his father, he
failed to catch the look. Her smile broadened and she rested her head
contentedly on his shoulder.
“I see mountain tops,” Shem’s
father exclaimed at length. “Several of them! The water is receding just as God
said.”
Shem wrapped Atarah in a hug and
swung her in a circle. “Ten months exactly!” Two and a half months after the
ark had grated to a stop on the mountain his father named Ararat.
“Precisely as God told me,” Noah
said as he descended. He nodded at Atarah, his eyes dancing. “Go ahead. Take a
peek at the first mountains to lift their rocky peaks from the Flood.”
“Really? Me?” She’d been up the
ladder before, but the only things visible then were gently undulating waves
with sunlight filtering green through the tops. Breathtaking, but she longed
for more.
Shem stepped forward to steady the ladder for her. Without
hesitating, she placed one sandaled foot on the rough tread and climbed upward.
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About Jeannie St. John Taylor
Jeannie St. John Taylor, best selling author and two-time Gold Medallion finalist, is the author of five non-fiction books as well as fifteen books for children. She writes and illustrates in the office-studio her husband built on their beef farm ten minutes from the skyscrapers in downtown Portland, Oregon. She and Ray have three grown children. Her books include: Culture-proof Kids, Building Character in Your Children, AMG Publishers, Am I Praying, Kregel and How to Be a Praying Mom, Hendrickson Publishers
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