The Ziplock Bag

The rain kept coming and coming that morning. When we opened the basement door and looked down the steps water rising and making its way up the steps. We knew it could mean disaster. It's possible you saw Northern OH on CNN. People were being rescued from their roof tops. Shelby is the one that made the national headlines. We are several miles from Shelby, but the rain didn't care. Water will go to the lowest level.


We lost a wall in the basement. It was a supporting wall that gave way when with the heaviness of the flood waters. In fact, the FEMA inspector looked at us and said, "The Lord is the one who is holding up this house." We had a great time talking to him about the goodness of the Lord.

I had a lot of stuff in the basement. Most of it was just stuff, but I had started to store my quilting stash in bins. Then I remembered I had put the pieces of my Grandmother's homemade quilt in one of the storage bins. I was heart sick. Even though it was remnants of the quilt, it was part of a legacy. My Great grandmother had pieced the pieces together, my grandmother had put the blocks together and made a quilt. Through the years it had started to show wear and had torn in places. I decided to do away with the torn places and keep the parts that were good.

Everything in the basement was taken outside. Most of it had to be disposed. As I was going through the ruined stuff I located the quilt remnants. I had placed them in a zip lock bag. The outside of the bag was covered with caked mud, but the bag had protected the quilt. The water had not touched the inside of the bag. I was so tickled. Using my mind I pictured the bag floating on top of the flood waters. It was then I realized that we also have the protection of the Lord. He has us in a ziplock bag. Even though everything around us is crashing and flood waters are pouring in, we are safe. There might be some caked on mud on the outside, but inside we are fine.

It was then I remembered Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my god, in who I trust."

If you make the Most High your dwelling even the Lord, who is my refuge--then no harm will befall you , no disaster will come near.