During the past couple of weeks, much of the U.S. has dealt with serious weather issues, especially flooding. Last weekend, Hurricane Ida began her rampage with the Gulf Coast. As she traveled north, she lost her hurricane status but continued to drop tremendous amounts of rain all along the way.
Ten days before Ida traveled through Tennessee, regular thunderstorms flooded several towns and counties just west of Nashville. On that fateful Saturday morning of August 21, ten to fifteen inches of rain fell in less than twelve hours. Water levels rose quickly, catching everyone by surprise. Homes, businesses, churches, roads, and people were swept away. The destruction was catastrophic, but in the midst of despair, hope floated in one area church.
The Toy
Waverly’s Church of Nazarene, like so many other buildings in town, filled with water. The church building survived, but the lower floor, which included the nursey, was almost completely submerged.
When the waters receded, a girl helping with the cleanup found an unexpected sign of hope in the mud-encrusted and water-logged nursery. There, on a table, sat a child’s plush toy, the only item untouched by floodwaters. Finding the undamaged toy was unexpected and amazing. The fact the toy was Noah’s Ark and Animals, tipped the scale to awe-inspiring and miraculous.
Watermarks on the nursey’s walls show water filled the rooms almost to the ceiling. I can only assume the table floated, keeping Noah’s Ark safe and dry.
To watch WSMV’s Report on the Ark click here.
The Ark
Millennia ago, God used an ark to save Noah and his family. Last month, He used a toy ark to “save” the people of this flooded Tennessee community by providing hope and reassurance with this small reminder of who’s really in control.
If you’d like to help the people impacted by the Middle Tennessee floods, click here.