getting there...

my sister lindsey asked me when i needed to finish this...my original goal was by samantha's first birthday (was this past march). so i thought about it and really i don't have to have it done until one of my sisters (or sister-in-law) gets pregnant! so you tell me lindsey...how much time do i have?! jk...

today ella is THREE by the way! happy birthday!!!

drama in genesis...

here are some stories from genesis i remember being surprised the first time i read them. these aren't the stories like adam and eve and noah's ark you hear about as a kid.

genesis 19
lot and his two daugthers escape with from sodom and gomorrah to a cave in the mountains where there were no men left for them to marry. so they take turns getting their father drunk, sleeping with him, and then get pregnant. i think that's a very good example of a place in the bible where it shows why you shouldn't get drunk!

genesis 34
dinal, leah's daughter, was raped by shechem but he also fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. jacob's sons (her brothers) were shocked to find this out. shechem begged jacob and his sons to give dinah to him for a wife and said he would do whatever they asked.

so they tell him they can't possibly approve of the marriage if he isn't circumcised. but they had a solution...if every man would be circumcised then they would give their daughters to them and be one people.

so the men in town agreed and every man was circumcised. but three days later, while their wounds were still sore, simeon and levi (2 of jacob's sons) took their swords and slaughtered every male there without opposition. they took their sister back and the other sons came in and took all the wealth from the town.

woa...those are some protective brothers!

genesis 38
tamar...she is in the line of christ but in a very unconventional way. judah (one of joseph's sons) had three sons: er, onan, and shelah. tamar was given to er for a wife, but er was wicked so the lord took his life.

then tamar was given to onan...it was customary for the brother-in-law to take the wife of his brother, but her offspring would be considered er's. onan didn't like this so he spilled his semen so that she would not get pregnant, and this was wicked, so the lord took his life as well.

judah was afraid his third son would die too, so he put off tamar by saying she could marry shelah when he was older. but judah didn't keep his promise and so tamar went to where her father-in-law was and covered herself with a veil. he thought she was a prostitute and wanted to sleep with her. tamar asked for his seal and its cord and his staff as insurance for him to bring back payment.

later it was brought to his attention that she was pregnant and he said to bring her out and have her burned to death. but tamar brought the seal and cord and staff and said she was pregnant by the man who owned those things. and judah recognized them and realized his sin for not giving tamar shelah.

her twins were perez and zerah, and christ was born through the line of abraham, isaac, jacob, judah, and perez.

pretty fascinating drama there...

more to love in genesis

i just finished reading genesis again and here are some versus i really like.

god is my protection and my treasure...
genesis 15:1
after these things the word of the LORD came unto abram in a vision saying, fear not, abram: i am thy SHIELD, and thy exceeding great REWARD.

vengeance is the lords! be patient! (jacob waiting 20+ years!)
genesis 31:12, 42
...for i have seen all that laban doeth unto thee.
...god hath seen my affliction and the labour of my hands...

foreshadowing of christ
genesis 28:12, 17
...behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of god ascending and descending on it.
...this is the gateway to heaven

(john 1:51)
...hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of god ascending and descending upon the son of man
(john 10:7,9)
...i tell you the truth, i am the gate for the sheep.
...yes, i am the gate. those who come in through me will be saved.

god is with me and will never leave me
gen 28:15
and behold, i am with thee, and i will keep thee in all places wither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for i will not leave thee, until i have done that which i have spoken to thee of.

girls have been using this one for a long time

ok i don't know all the details, but once some of my sisters were together in the car on a thanksgiving holiday and amy was stopped for speeding. she quickly warned lindsey (who was in the front seat) to look uncomfortable. lindsey was confused until amy starts to expain to the officer that her sister was on her period and needs to quickly get home. lindsey did a good job apparently and amy didn't get a ticket!

i know i could go to the bathroom whenever i needed to with a male teacher...you just had to give them that look like 'i reeeeeally need to go to the bathroom...' and they didn't want to know anything else! i'm sure every girl has used the excuse sometime....

so anyway, rachel does the same thing in genesis! jacob had left with his wives leah and rachel (sisters) and all the kids and belongings. laban catches up to them, angry that they left and also because rachel had stolen his idols. jacob says no one took the idols and he can look for them and if he finds them he can kill the person responsible. so he looks everywhere for them and doesn't find them because rachel had hidden them in her camel saddle.

gen 31:35 KJV
she said to her father, let it not displease my lord that i cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of the woman is upon me.

or as NLT translates it "i'm having my monthly period."

lol...well, it saved her life. she later dies giving birth to her second son benjamin...

adam and eve...

something i have thought about lately as i was looking at relationships with guys. i found myself holding guys to a higher standard. afterall they are they ones leading the relationships. but is my thinking biblical or is it just something i came up with?

in the garden...eve ate the fruit and then gave it to adam and he ate.
god said to the woman:
-she will have increased pain in pregnancy and birth
-she will desire to control her husband but he will rule over her
(gen 3:16)

so the way i understand it is this. women, if married, are under the protective covering of their husband, who is under god. i think the man is the leader of the home. and if a husband isn't doing leading, nagging probably isn't going to help and doing it for him isn't either (but according to the above verse is what women will want to do). women have to pray and release that control and get out of the way so god can handle it. that's how god set it up.

yes, i think women and men are equally important to god, but i do think men are held more accountable because of their role as a 'leader.' which is why i think the 'sin' is referred to as 'adam's sin and not 'eve's sin or 'adam and eve's sin.' eve sinned and was the one deceived, but adam was ultimately responsible.

romans 5:12 (death through adam, life through christ)
therefore just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all have sinned-

romans 5:14
nevertheless, death reigned from the time of adam to the time of moses, even over to those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.

1 corinthians 15:22
for as in adam all die, so in christ all will be made alive.

1 timothy 2:14
and adam was not deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

anyway, just something to think about...

houston project memories

HOUSTON PROJECT!!

every year for the past like 10 or 15 years my church (hfbc) does a city-wide mission event where we go to different underpriveldged local churches and we help them with supplies and teachers for all ages. i'm helping with the vacation bible school for the 7 year old kids this year at a small church just north of downtown. here are some of my favorite memories. i have been so blessed to be a part of this...

day 1

*we talked about creaton and what god made on every day. we were reviewing and one of the teachers asked what he made on day 5 and gave them a hint...'it starts with an "a"...and one of the little girls said "art?" precious!

*at the end when the kids were playing on the playground, one of the girls came up to me and gave me a hug goodbye (so sweet) and another girl told me 'i'm glad you are here.' i love it how god used kids to encourage me. i was so touched by that.

day 2

*at the end of the lesson we prayed and this little girl said in her prayer 'thank you god for all the new friends, the teachers, and for this place...it is a good place.' i don't know if there is a sweeter prayer than one from a child.

*there were 2 boys and 9 girls in the 7 year old group...i wondered if i should tell the girls to get used to these ratios...haha...

day 3

*today was my last day (i have to miss the last day due to a tennis match...) today i took pictures of the little sweethearts so i would remember them.

*we talked about how jesus performed miracles and specifically about bartimaeus in mark 10. when we were reviewing at the end, she asked what happened and a little girl said, 'jesus took off his blindfold!' too cute...

ps 119:33-40

teach me your DECREES, o lord;
i will keep them to the end.

give me understanding and i will obey your INSTRUCTIONS;
i will put them into practice with all my heart.

make me walk along the path of your COMMANDS,
for that is where my happiness is found.

give me an eagerness for your LAWS
rather than a love for money!

turn my eyes from worthless things,
and give me a life through your WORD.

reassure me of your PROMISE,
made to those who fear you.

help me abandon my shameful ways;
for your REGULATIONS are good.

i long to obey your COMMANDMENTS!
renew my life with your goodness

psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the bible...and i like this group of verses because each one has a different word for describing what god wants us to follow and look towards in our life...decree, instructions, commands, laws, word, promise, regulations, and commandments....and following these things will bring HAPPINESS and LIFE, for they are GOOD.

the tale of the puppy and the cole haan shoes...

one day a girl bought some adorable ballet black patent cole haan shoes for her trip to europe that was coming up. the shoes had nike air and would be perfect for the trip...they were cute and comfortable. here they are at king ludwig's castle in bavaria germany... aren't they so cute?!

despite their cuteness, they weren't worn much after this day due to all the walking causing two blisters on the poor girl's feet. :(

when she returned home from her long trip, she was extremely tired! she started to unpack her suitcase but wasn't able to really do much of anything but sleep! the next morning she woke up to her little dog chewing the heel of the right shoe! he of course got a huge lecture from her, but it's really her fault you see...she gives him her old shoes to chew on so he probably thought this was his present from her trip. the girl was so sad about her ruined cute ballet black patent shoe...and she was still so tired...

a week later, after she had recovered from the trauma of the incident, the girl took the shoes to the cole haan store to see if they could be repaired. as the the sales lady went to check with the manager, she was entertained by a lady with a little yorkie by her side, who had very short hair and was trying on cole haan scarves as headbands. alas, the news came back...the damage was too much and couldn't be repaired! the girl was sad and said she would browse a little before deciding what to do...

she looked but decided to wait on replacing the shoes or on buying new ones...hey she hadn't tried the shoe hospital yet! so she went back to get her shoes to leave and the sales lady couldn't find the shoes! where were they? it was the strangest thing that had ever happened! she said the lady with the dog must have taken the dog-chewed shoes with her on accident. the girl was assured the lady would be contacted and her shoes would be recovered.

the weekend passed and still no sign of the lady with the dog and the shoes...so the manager told the girl he would replace her dog-chewed shoes with brand new ones! could it be true?! as the girl went to pick up her new shoes, she couldn't help but have a smile on her face...not only for getting a second chance at wearing the new shoes again, but also for being part of such a funny story.



with that smile still on my face as i looked at my new shoes, god showed me how this story related to him and my life.

here's the symbolism i saw:
the shoes...represent me.
the chew marks....my sins.
the gift of the new shoes...the free gift of salvation through jesus christ!

the shoes were a complete gift, something i didn't deserve, that i didn't earn and couldn't fix on my own; no matter what i did, the damage was too much!

just like me with god. i come to him with my imperfections and sins...and he washes me clean. i am a new creation in him...just like my new shoes! thank you god for showing me more about you through this, and also for blessing me with a perfect pair of shoes. :)

therefore, if any man be in christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 corinthians 5:17

every good and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. james 1:17

summer cuts

henry's summer cut... it has been soooo hot so i even shaved his cute little legs!

and my summer cut...

i chopped off over 3" AND got bangs!! i haven't figured the cut out quite yet and so i have either worn the bangs back or worn a headband so far. with all the layers on top and the way he thinned it on the bottom, it feels a little like a mullet!...but i'm sure i'll grow into it. :)

so NOW we can both better stand this 105 degree weather!!

i won!

no, not the match but i won my first SET! (if you've been watching wimbledon you may understand the scoring system)! you have to win 2 out of 3 sets to win a match (3 out of 5 if you are a boy!), but it was also my first time to get to play a 3rd set. and it was actually close in the last set!

it was fun...and i won lots of games too! it was nice to play with someone, uh-um...more my level! i'm still having to icing my back/shoulder every time i play...maybe i'm too old for this...

my next match is this saturday at 7. i think you know when you really enjoy something when you are willing to get up early. last week i played at 6! i know...now i feel like those crazy people who enjoy working out! ;)

that's it!...maybe i'm like rudy!

you know the movie rudy?! then you can somewhat understand why i play tennis.

okay, maybe my passion isn't quite to that level, but yes i am not very good, yet i still love the playing! and watching! anyone else watching wimbledon?

so i lost my 3rd match (but i AM improving...i won a game actually!!)

...but it's the heart that matters. and i just love playing, so i'll keep on playing! even if god didn't give me an athletic body! :)

today is game 4... and i'm having fun! :)