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They’re not sisters. But they could be. They look enough alike to be sisters. They are two of my friends who used to be part of a bunco group that we had. Then, we all kept having babies, these two moved away and we sort of just quit.

I miss them.

When we played bunco together we laughed till our sides hurt about Whitney’s latest cooking mishap. (Remember the “soft ball stage” and the Diet Coke cake?)

I miss laughing like that.

When Kerri (the one on the left) called to ask if I’d take more pictures of her new baby, I called (well actually I sent her a message on facebook) Whitney (the one on the right) to see if she could come too. It was a quick, unplanned get-together. I didn’t even feed them.

I was telling Whitney how I had wanted to plan something for all our old bunco group. I was actually thinking it all over in my head while in the shower one day. What would be a good time? What would I cook? When could we possibly fit it in to everyone’s schedule?

Then I exhausted myself from all the mental planning and gave up.

While they were here, we talked and took pictures and our kids played. Oh how they played. Between us we have 10 kids.

My two big girls are outnumbered by all the little people.

I can see some future friends here already.

And this little one is Kerri’s newest baby. Whitney is holding her. Trying to remember when hers was this small.

Later that evening I had Bible study with a wonderful group of women from our church. We have the best people at our church.

We were meeting at my mom’s next door, which is why I didn’t see the need to dress up. Or apply make-up. If you don’t actually have to drive somewhere it doesn’t count as leaving home, does it?

Then someone suggested we take a picture and so that’s why I look like I’ve been cleaning my house all day. Because I was.

I really should have cropped myself out.

But the thing is, they love me anyway.

I’ll it admit this isn’t always easy for me. I’m a hermit. I avoid the telephone. I prefer to stay at home. That’s why I always make friends and family come to me. I have no problem hosting events as long as I don’t have to plan them or leave home to participate. All this combined makes it easy for me to avoid people, to isolate myself from friends. But when I make the time to get together with them, I’m always uplifted. Always cheered.

How do you make time for your friends? Are you the party thrower or the party goer? Do you meet somewhere without the kids or plan a big old event for the whole family?

I don’t like to watch the news. It makes me scared. It makes me sad. Sometimes it even makes me angry. So I don’t watch. I listen to conservative talk radio so I do know what’s going on in our nation.

I’ve been reading in Genesis this week. Old stories, right? Most of us know them by heart. But with each reading I find something new to think about. And lately, as a homeschooling mom teaching history, I’m learning it all over again myself and seeing the relevance of our past.

Nations rise. Nations fall. Nations who turn from God always fall.

When I read again the story of Noah I was struck by God’s decision to destroy the entire world. His creation. Destroy. Even the animals. The world was so evil the only solution was destruction of the entire earth.

It makes me wonder how He feels about our world today.

But one man. Noah and his family, “found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8).

He saved one family because of their faithfulness.

Would you have been that family?

And later, only a few chapters over is another story of sin and destruction. Sodom and Gomorrah. This city frightens me because it is so familiar. I can find so many Sodom and Gomorrahs in the world today.

Abraham, another righteous man, was concerned. He asked the Lord, “Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?” (Genesis 18:23) And then he goes on to bargain with the Lord.

Will you destroy it if there are 50 righteous men? What about 45? Well, how about just 30? Abraham knows that city. He knows how many righteous will be found. And the number drops to only 10.

10 righteous men. Do you know 10 righteous families in your city?

What would it take today for God to decide our nation needs to be destroyed? Will he allow us to fall? How far have we sunk into depravity?

The only hope I can find, the only thing that keeps me from wanting to give up is that God saves a remnant. He saved Noah’s family. He even brought Lot and two of his daughters out of Sodom.

So even when a majority of our nation is consumed with wickedness there is still a reason for me to try to live in a way that pleases God. There is still a need for me to raise Godly children. There is still a need for me tell a lost and dying world about Jesus and the change He can make in our life.

If I am found faithful maybe he will send me and my family out of the city before he rains fire and brimstone down on it. And that is where my hope lies.