Thinking Thursdays: This is the account of Noah

"... the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground... But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.  Noah was a righteous man..."

"... make yourself an ark of cypress wood... You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female to keep them alive with you... You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them."

"Pairs of clean and unclean animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.  And after the seven days the floodwaters came on the earth."

"Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth.  Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark."

 "The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.  But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded... the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat."

"And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.  Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.  Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life."

- Excerpts from Genesis 6-9 (NIV)

Disclaimer: This is just a "role-play" we did at home using the boy's lego, and by no means is a good/accurate representation of the story (please refer to the Bible for the proper version!)... this version has been edited to omit other irrelevant events that happened during our role play, like the giraffes running away to hide in the sofa, and the elephant going for a swim during the flood.  The boy had fun, and herded the animals into the "ark" every night saying "OH NO!  Its raining!  HURRY HURRY!".

Some thoughts:

We also read the version from his Bible storybook... and also "read" "Noah's Ark" by Peter Spier.  It actually is more like a picture book since there was only text (a poem) on one page, the rest were filled with gorgeous pictures covering the account of the flood, and we had a fruitful time pouring over the illustrations.  What I liked were the beautiful illustrations that brought the story to life: The difficulties Noah might have faced in keeping all those animals in the ark during the flood, as well as the seriousness of the flood (animals that were left behind, cities drowned, something you hardly see in most storybooks, which allow for more discussion for older kids).

While reading through the account in the Bible and working through the story with the little boy, I must say that I too have learnt.  I am reminded of God's faithfulness and care for His people.  And when the day gets tough, Noah's trust and obedience encourages me.  After all, one cranky post flu jab toddler is nothing compared to building a huge ark, or clearing a floating zoo's worth of poop. :)