The Noah factor is when everyone tells you that what you are doing is crazy and insensible, but you go ahead and do it anyway. If you follow God long enough, you will probably have to employ the Noah factor at some point.

Jesus used the Noah factor when he went to the cross. Noah used it when he built his ark on dry ground and in a land that had never seen rain. Ultimately, Jesus and Noah knew something in the depths of their hearts that eluded all others. Like the couple Karie and I had coffee with this morning. They adopted a son from the Ukraine. No big deal, lots of people do that—but how many go through with it when seven days before they are set to get their son, the wife is diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and given months to live?

Karie and I sat amazed as we heard the story. It's now five years after the fact and with the cancer in remission and a 9-year-old adopted son part of their family. At the time everything and everyone told them not to go through with it. Both sets of their parents were adamant and a best friend angry. To do this would be unwise and going against the counsel of their trusted inner-circle. But like Noah, who was the only one that saw a flood coming coming, our friends saw and heard something in the quiet of their souls that said, “Go, go get your boy, the cancer can wait.”

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One Door Opens & Another One Closes – Maybe

 

I have often heard that God directs our paths by opening and closing doors.  I am not so sure.

 

Late last night I was at the post office with my little man Brendan and this photo happened before my eyes.  There was nobody else there and I was rummaging through my mail.  When I turned to look at him he was standing in front of the large wall of box doors – opening and closing them just to see what was inside.  He liked the bigger ones the best, but the problem was that he couldn’t remember which he had opened and closed – so he just kept running around in madness and glee.

 

After a few minutes he turned, looked at me, and said, “Look at all these doors!  Why are there so many doors?  What do you think is inside?  Woo – this is a lot of work.”  He then returned to his “work” of exploration.

 

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Did you hear about the two pilots who missed their landing destination by 150 miles because they were distracted? And guess what were the culprits of their distraction: laptops.

According to the two pilots, they were simply checking flight schedules on their laptops, but it reminded me about my own distractions, most of which aren’t harmful. Whether it’s the can’t-miss comedies on Thursday night or sports or Facebook or whatever else it might be for you and me, it’s usually subtle.

It is the small and subtle things that make us miss the mark or changes the course of where we’re going. I wanted to write longer, but I’m kind of hoping I didn’t distract you more than you already were.

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