Bringing the Story to Life
Dear Momma,
It was about two summers ago when we visited the Ark Encounter as a family in Williamstown, Kentucky. If you’ve never been, I’m telling you now, it’s a must see! Since our girls were little, we’ve spent countless hours sitting in the stories of the greatest Book of all time, the Bible. If you have never read the Bible, let me tell you, it’s quite a book (or series of books). There are stories that will leave you speechless, break your heart, and fill you up with more hope and excitement than you can imagine. You’ll see yourself, and patterns of people, history, and our God. You will leave a story with your mouth left wide opened to the ground because you might not believe that kind of story is really in the Good Word. You might be shocked and shed a tear.
If you’re like me, you may grapple with the text and ask questions because sometimes you just flat out won’t understand what it means. You’ll study history and science, while studying the most beautiful language. When I learn something new from a study or a mentor and come back to the text with fresh eyes, it’s amazing to me how I can read something I’ve read before and see something completely different. Our girls will also experience these things, too. And when I discovered that there are places all over the world that bring stories from Scripture to life, I had to go!
It is the living, breathing, Word.
John (1) states that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.” In the past few months I’ve been reminded that if I’m not hearing from Him, I’m probably not making time to sit in the Words He made for me to hear from. He’s telling me, and you, so much within each page, each phrase, each theme, and each word. He’s the greatest Author of all time and His words are just as real and illuminated today than they were when they were written thousands of years ago.
Our girls, and yours too, are growing up in a world where we, overall as a society, don’t really take His Word seriously it seems. Heck, we don’t know what it says. It’s not studied by many folks it looks like, nor is it the foundation of our public schools any longer. We have opinions about faith, God, religion and humanity, without ever breaking open the Book. Humans are determining what is ‘good’ and ‘bad’. That’s terrifying, and has never ended well for humans.
Reminder: The Holy Bible is the most reliable and accurate book ever written in the history of the world. Ever.
I believe it’s imperative your daughters and my daughters know this.
When I’m talking with folks about God, faith, or things going on in the world, it’s interesting to me how we decide important things, without considering what God has to say about it. How easy it is to formulate opinions of Him, even though many haven’t really met Him. Isn’t that what we do with each other, too? How blessed we are that our Heavenly Father left His mark in countless ways, all over the world to continue to share The Story.
So, when it comes to a world that hasn’t prioritized Him or His Word, how powerful it is for our girls to see the evidence and miracles He’s left for us everywhere! I know there’s evidence all around me right where I’m at: the wind blowing between the leaves of the trees around me, my girls splashing around healthy and happy at the pool with friends, the blessing of food on the table, and a roof over our heads. The blessing of new beginnings and fresh starts, answered prayers and the unanswered prayers, too. The list goes on, y’all. I want my daughters to see evidence He’s chosen to leave everywhere they go in big ways and the quieter, smaller ways too.
Is it ever really small, I wonder?
The Ark Encounter brought a story to life that can sometimes be difficult to grasp: The Flood Story with Noah. Bringing a story from the Word to LIFE for our girls is transformative. It brings a different picture and perspective to build on, and memories we will all carry with us. We were able to dive into the history, geography, and science within the story of the Great Flood. We were able to learn about the people and civilization during this time, how they lived, what they ate, where they were located, and got to see a picture of what life was like. We were able to get to know the story of Noah, his family, how folks responded to him, and see how the animals lived. We were able to walk the Ark and see the actual size it would have been, based on the measurements given in the Word.
We were reminded that Noah’s story isn’t woven with perfection, but with faith. His story wasn’t riddled with ease, but with obedience throughout His life. We learned that finishing strong is important, but even the greatest folks in Scriptures didn’t always do so themselves. We were reminded that these amazing stories continue to point us back, not to the imperfect people we learn about, but to our unchanging God who was and continues to be faithful to an imperfect people.
We learned how the Grand Canyon was formed and what archeologists dug up to provide the evidence for this story. We saw the evidence found by humans years later and is still being found, was always in the Bible from the beginning. My girls still remember the massive door to the Ark and that it stayed open for seven days. Seven days. Seven days people had the opportunity to join Noah and his family to be saved. The evidence from all of the world the Lord has on display for us is astounding! What a story coming to life! What a gift from God for us to see!
A few years earlier, my mom took my daughter, nieces and I to the Flood Museum, which is right along the Mississippi River separating Illinois and Missouri, in Nauvoo, Illinois. We studied, listened, watched and learned. We heard stories from folks who had a vision of sharing the story of the Flood and sharing the evidence of the effects from the Flood today. They were also reminding us that although we have the Promise of not having the earth flooded again, the same reminders given through Noah to folks during his days aren’t too different than what we are given today. We all still have a chance to accept the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ while we have the chance, before the door closes, before He returns. This experience felt like I was listening to grandparents sitting and sharing history to the next generation with passion, excitement and hope. At the same time this time was filled with archaeological finds, historical documents, genealogies, and additional scientific information that connects to everything the Word of God has said. This experience was one that simply builds belief for everyone. We spent a day here, brought our homemade lunches and found a park bench along the river. I think one of the cooler takeaways for me was that this couple believed the Lord placed this vision on their heart to reach as many people to return to Him. It was beautiful, and nestled in a small, beautiful town along the Mississippi River. Our girls still remember this experience to this day.
I’m still learning about places that bring the stories of Scripture to life. Why? Well, because these experiences are just so cool y’all! I love that folks carry out these visions the Lord has placed on their hearts. Their obedience has blessed my family’s understanding of just one amazing story in the Bible. These are two places, with two different sets of folks listening in obedience, in two different states, pouring into one story, a really important story woven throughout Scripture. There are more places uncovering more stories all over the world. This is just scratching the surface.
If you get the chance to visit either of these amazing museums, take the opportunity and go. It’s a faith builder for you and your family. It is such a gift for a story to be brought to life. It’s a great way for the childlike questions our girls have, and if we’re honest, we have, to be dug into a little bit more. Take the trip. And if you find pretty cool places like these, would you please send my way?
Let’s turn our Eyes to Jesus because it’s all for His Glory.
In love,
Kassie Leigh