A place to land

One of my favorite stories in the bible recounts the story of Noah. Many days he spent with his family and a huge menagerie of diverse animal pairs, tossed to and fro in a mighty ark on an angry sea. With little to no land yet in sight, he started releasing birds week by week, hoping for a sign that life had returned to the earth. Week by week, the birds did not bring the sign he was so eagerly looking for. Finally, a dove was released and brought back a bit of olive leaf. Now, to Noah, this was a familiar and well loved leaf...a leaf that meant home. The ability to resume the life of a farmer, to harvest the olives and make the oil that was crucial to survival as he remembered it. When life gets challenging, and all that is familiar is taken away, one longs for signs of home. Sifting through fire's ashes or flood's watery waste, looking for that ring or photo or favorite toy. A bit of normal let back in to calm the frightened soul. I am that dove, flying over unknown lands, searching for a sign of home. I am Noah, longing for a life that is back to normal, where the phone doesn't ring scheduling doctor appointments and relaying news of worrisome results. We are looking for a bit of olive tree, green and alive, promising a harvest of good fruit. Guide us, Lord, in this search, and show us a place to land that is safe.