Storm Scrabble

 

"The name of the LORD is a fortified tower;
the righteous run into it and are safe."
Proverbs 18:10

Not sure our bunkie entirely qualifies as a 'fortified tower' but it comes close.

When we traveled to North Carolina for the weekend workshop-sales pitch with Deltec who prefabs these babies, one of the biggest selling points they emphasized was the design's resilience to catastrophic storms.

I won't go into all the physics of it, even if I could remember it all, but the bottom line was that, when a hurricane or tornado swept away all surrounding buildings, their structures remained intact.

To be honest, we didn't think we'd need all that. We were just more intrigued by the unique shape and look, and the cool things you can do inside with the walls and such.

But yesterday around supper, when all the weather apps were warning about tornados, and when a friend and even our children contacted us to make sure we knew about it, and since the cottage we actually sleep in has no basement, we remembered all the stories they told us about storm resilience and decided it might be prudent to take our Scrabble board and ride things out over there.

We battened down all the hatches, lowered the boat's canopy, reinforced the moorings, put away all the lighter deck furniture, even brought in my deck plants. And then we headed over.

It was only gently rumbling by the time we got our board set up. But then the sky became more threatening. As things progressed we even got those blaring alarm alerts on our phones warning of an actual tornado and telling us to take cover safely indoors.

But since we already had, we played on.

At one point of the game/storm, during which I really should have taken a quick video, the rain was truly coming at the sliding doors in sheets. We couldn't see the other side of the shore. It was as if someone had a fire hose pointed at us.

And we played on.

And it occurred to me that this is the what the 'fortified tower' of Proverbs 18:10 looks like.

Actually, back in ancient cities, there was usually a tower positioned at least one corner of the city wall. When the city was in danger, most often from attackers, the citizens would literally run into the fortified tower and be safe there.

And then I thought of people who, even while facing wicked life-storms, don't freak out. Oh, they feel it. They cry and lament and get angry and are afraid. But in a way more resembling battening down the hatches and moving into the safety of their trust in God's name. They may even play Scrabble.

God's Name, by the way, is His reputation. Who He is as God.
And here I will again quote one of my favourite Steve Bell lines, from his song "Remember Me."

"It's Your reputation that makes us outrageously brave."

So we played Scrabble. Ken won. And the storm abated, the rain stopped, and we came back to go to bed.

It was a pretty cool storm, though.

Did I mention Ken won?