Endings

The semester is quickly rolling to a full end. Classes are over, Bowl Game is selected, only finals await. In this class, I've learned a lot about ways of viewing the early Old Testament and about how to understand it in culture. Reading the Global Bible Commentary opened my eyes to a world of understanding from many perspectives. It helped me see how things we often take for granted develop in other countries in ways we can't even comprehend. How women's rights and respect for children are often overlooked and then how reading through the Old Testament can help these women and children find strength and hope. How developing countries can look towards the development of Israel in order to find out how to place YHWH first. I hope to take away from this class a new perspective on reading God's word rather than taking away specific facts or figures. I pray for myself to be able to bring the Old Testament alive in a vivid way rather than simply being able to tell students about the factual happenings.

The Places We Lived

I wanted to title this 'the end of an era', but I don't have a song titled that. Really, what prompted this is sitting in my next to last midnight showing of Harry potter. I've been reading/watching these since I was 11. So much has changed. But Harry has not.

It made me think of how Israel must have felt as they split. At the end of movie 5, hermione says to Harry and Ron "everything is going to be different now, isn't it?". How much more must israel have felt that ring true as they became a divided nation, conquered again and again?

Kids

Poor Eli. He was such a man of God and tried to instill that in his children, I would assume. Yet, his children were awful. 1 Samuel 2:12 says "Now the sons of Eli were scoundrels; they had no regard for the Lord". God replaces these sons with Samuel as the heir to the religious throne, if you will. God tells Eli that his sons are not faithful and will not be the next in his line, but will instead be killed and God will raise up a replacement who is more suitable. Eli seems to simply accept this and move on. In fact, when his sons do die, he is more shocked and appalled by the loss of the ark than the loss of his family.
This made me think of how often parents are blamed for the actions of their children, even well into the adulthood of that child. I think that is a much more delicate balance there than can be determined by judgmental outsiders. Today I overheard a conversation about a man of power over young adult men (18+) who would refuse to meet the parents of men he didn't like. He made the assumption that because the child was ill mannered, the parents would be awful as well. How much of this mindset is actually based on a deep-set Freudian mindset we have without even realizing or acknowledging it?
God doesn't seem to do this very often thus far. We all know some of the proverbs that get quoted in support of this idea- "spare the rod, spoil the child", etc. But God does not seem to hold Eli responsible for his children's transgressions, just as Adam and Eve are not held responsible for the sins of their children. Sometimes parents get a bad rap for children that they loved and punished properly but who continued to act out and misbehave. This just seems like us judging situations we don't understand completely and misappropriating behavior onto an older generation.

Brick

This makes me laugh, so I'm sharing it here for Dr. Reid to discover and enjoy!
http://www.thebricktestament.com/index.html

Go here. Laugh. Enjoy.

For Good

1 Samuel 9 made me think of how sometimes God puts people in our lives that make small differences, yet it changes everything. In this chapter, Saul is out searching for his father's escaped donkeys with a servant boy. Saul get ready to return, unsuccessful, but the boy suggests they go speak to the town prophet and see if he can direct them to the animals. Nowhere in the text does it say that God has anything to do with the boy's suggestion, but tells us the facts of how the event occurred. It does tell us that God had spoken to Samuel about Saul's arrival and told him that Saul was to be the anointed king.
It made me wonder how many of the biggest events in our lives are caused by something so small as the servant boy's suggestion to speak to the seer. God can, and will, use anything and everything in our lives to work out His plans.

Samson

Last year, my church in England asked me to preach the Sunday on Samson. In the midst of preparing, I learned much about him. Most church goers only remember Samson as the dude who let Delilah trick him and cut off his hair. However, Samson screwed up well before Delilah showed up on the scene. As an Israelite, Samson had covenant. As a nazirite, Samson had vows. Unfortunately, he apparently didn't really care about these. Samson first asks his parents to get him a pretty Philistine woman as his bride. Since they were Israelites, Samson should have found himself a good Israelite girl and settled with her, as his parents reminded him. However, he was determined and they gave in. There goes his respect for the covenant of Israel. Then, he kills a lion in the vineyards of Timnah when going to visit the woman and doesn't tell anyone or go through the ritual cleansing. There goes his nazirite vow (part 1). Obviously, Samson needs to turn himself around or wind up well beyond the good graces of God. The story just keeps getting worse- he breaks his vow multiple other times. Finally, God gives up. After he finally tells Delilah the truth about his strength and his nazirite vow, it says "he did not know that the Lord had left him" (Judges 16:20). Samson refused to be committed to his God, instead choosing the evil things of this world to be his place.
The song for this post is indeed titled Samson and is by Regina Spektor. The opening and closing lines for the song are "You are my sweetest downfall. I loved you first, I loved you first." What do we depend on instead of God? What is the thing we have trouble putting God before? Our husband, wife, children? Samson had his desires, and of course his women. If we can say I loved you first to anything, or anyone, other than God then we too will fall. And then our sweetest downfall will have gotten the best of us as well.

Death by Numbers

So today was the most frightening Halloween ever for Geoff and I. We were driving back from the Baylor UT game (yay bears!) this afternoon during the massive accident on 35 involving an oil drill semi-truck. We watched the entire thing happen, from the semi barreling down the road behind us to it sideswiping my side of the car to it taking out a lamppost and flipping over the median. Had it been just a few inches further over, I would certainly not be sitting here typing this right now. And it's highly possible I wouldn't be typing anything ever again. Miraculously, no one was killed or even very seriously injured in the whole thing. The news says there were 6 cars and the semi involved, but I for sure counted more like 8 cars.
It still seems unreal. I see the truck coming at me in my head, then expect to hear a big crash and be done for, but here I am. We were certainly able to see God at work today. There is no way every one of us there should have walked away, yet we did. Even the semi driver came out alright.
I wish I could think of a clean tie to what I've been reading in Judges this weekend, but I honestly can not put my thought together quite that much right yet.

Pick Flowers Not Fights

Joshua seems to be all about Israel winning the fight. They are constantly in battle with another group, winning land and conquering others. For whatever reason, I don't like this Israel as much as I liked the lost in the wilderness Israel. They're still dependent on God, but they seem almost greedy. I know God promised them the land and gave them clear instructions on how to win it and how to fight for it, but they seem not very nice. I don't have time now to elaborate- it's time to go discuss Ecclesiastes with 18 year old girls!

Faith and Compromise

This past week at work I had an interesting conversation with one of the guys. He was telling me how he wondered how anyone stayed a Christian at seminary. After all, all the history of the Bible and the Christian faith is totally torn apart in seminary, isn't it? My response was that it didn't seem to matter- if God can do anything, why can't he use a bunch of different people to put together the Bible? The chapter in the Matthews book made me think of this conversation. He seems to disprove much of what many church goers believe. The exodus may not have happened and even if it all did,  the histories we have of it are changed and formed by the culture of those documenting it. But I don't really see the problem with it. Our own thoughts are formed by the culture we live in. All of our stories are impacted by our analysis. Look at news sources- people only listen to those that they know follow their own political leanings. We emphasis according to what we believe. So what if the biblical writers did the same thing- emphasized the parts that are most relevant to their culture at the time? Does that change what we can learn from the Bible? Can't we still see what God is like  and how He wants to interact with us even with cultural emphasis or even embellishment?

Remembering You

Deuteronomy is Moses' goodbye to his people. He's giving them helpful reminders and rehashing the story of their past. The people preparing to go into the Promised land didn't actually live through the Exodus and the many years of wandering, they were born in the midst of it and grew up never knowing the oppression of Egypt. Moses gives them the run-down. It's a reminder to not screw it up. God has finally allowed them the gift that the country has been waiting for for such a long time. But will this new generation remember the importance of why the land means so much and everything their ancestors went through to get to it? Moses is doing his best to make sure that they do remember and can not deny it.

Currently, I'm (very slowly) reading "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan in moments of rest (hence the very slowly...). One of the most striking parts of it is one of the grandmothers saying she hopes her granddaughter will remember her, but comes to the realization that "later, she will forget her promise. She will forget she had a grandmother." It's not just Israel, Judaism, Christianity that worries about remembering the past. It's humans. We all want to make our mark on the world we live in- to somehow get famous and be known, to have children to carry on our name, to have friends to take pictures with. Yet we forget the past that came before us. How many of us can tell the full story of our great-grandparents' lives? Or even our grandparents? I know for me, I know the story of Israel better than my own. I guess Moses got it right- remind them, and often.

40 Day Dream

I find God and Moses' conversation in Numbers 14 to be intriguing. God is all ready to forsake the entirety of Israel, but Moses reminds him that the Egyptians will hear of it and that would not honor Him. After all, they told the Egyptians about how the Lord of Israel is slow to anger and forgiving, but killing off an entire race is just the opposite of that. It seems like a last ditch argument at first- "Hey, maybe God will buy this one and I can convince the people to be good!" Yet, God accepts it. He still punishes the people, as they deserve, but doesn't kill everyone. Moses managed to save them once again. On Thursday, Dr. Reid brought up the idea that Moses couldn't have been allowed into the promised land because the people may have run into the deification of him. After all, Israel does seem to really like its physical gods and leaders.Since he had saved their bums so many times in the past, it seems likely that Israel as a whole would find it hard to resist worshipping the physical man who got them to the Promised land.

Freedom Hangs Like Heaven

So the seder is over. Yesterday in class we were able to do a shortened version of the Passover remembrance meal. When I was planning it, I called one of my best friend's grandparents. Grandpa Selekman is a retired Rabbi, so he and Grandma are one of the best resources I could have hoped for. I spoke to Grandma when I called, and her big emphasis was on how this is a day to celebrate the freedom the Israelites finally had. She suggested we each share what freedom means to us (but we ran out of time...) A number of the Haggadahs I looked at in preparation also mention something of this sort. Many begin to ask the question "What is our Egypt today?"
You see, each of us has something that holds us back from being completely free. Sometimes it's a hectic schedule, sometimes a need to watch the football, sometimes a real addiction. Whatever it is, we may see it as good. After all, when things got tough didn't the Israelites ask Moses why he brought them out of Egypt? There were good enough graves there and the wandering was harder. We view what holds us back as something we want, something that is a good part of our lives, even a God-honoring part sometimes. Watching football together is fellowship, right? But when does it become our Egpyt? Cause it certainly can- something that holds us back from God, that we put ahead of Him in our lives. THAT is one way it means to not be free in a country where freedom is everything.  Unless God is first and we listen to His calling for us, how can we happily claim freedom?

A Sunday Smile

In Exodus, God lays out the rules for Israel. In fact, after chapter 11, the majority of the entire book is lists of rules. When I was reading it while doing homework with my friend Jessie this past weekend, I commented on how I found reading the rule lists to be tedious and somewhat annoying. She made the observation that she wishes God would still work that way- tell us exactly what we need to do in order to please Him and follow his desire for us and our life. The Israelites got that in every aspect of their life, from the number of loops on the curtains to how to offer sacrifice.
God works much more mysteriously in our lives today- He is still fully active, but gives us more freedom to choose. Which also means we have more freedom to screw up, to only wear a Sunday Smile instead of being true to our God.

Belief

In Exodus 14, the Israelites pass through the Sea of Reeds. At the beginning of the chapter, God claims that Pharaoh is going to pursue the Israelites once again because "the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD"(v. 4). However, one could claim that the Israelites are the ones who really needed it and the ones who really found belief. Verse 31 says "Israel saw the great work that the LORD did against the Egyptians. So the people feared the LORD and believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses". The Israelites needed the signs, too. They were not fully for the benefit of the Egyptians,  there were proof for even the people of God themselves. Today is busy, so short post.

Trust Me

Moses had to learn how to trust God. He questions God's call on him over and over, to the point that "the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses" (Exodus 4:14). He has a hard time trusting that he can do what God is asking him to. God gives him help in the form of Aaron as his speaker and still he questions. He doesn't think Israel will listen to him with his poor speaking skills, that Pharaoh will respect him, that God will follow through.
Yet, he does it. God gives him helps- Aaron, signs, strength. He steps up and does what he's told...eventually. As things progress to the Passover, he stops whining to God about going to Pharaoh. He finally trusts that God will complete his promises. And He does. Things still aren't easy for the Israelites, but they are free to worship their God.
Moses in this part of Exodus is a good encouragement to us. We often whine and complain when God gives us hard things to do- stuff that we find ever challenging, that feeds on our weaknesses. Yet we too must persevere and trust that God will pull us through it. Today I decided that part of my learning contract would be to host a sedar. I'm nervous about the technicalities of it, but feel like it will such a wonderful experience for us as a class and such a good learning tool that I have to do it. Here's to trusting.

Laughing Out Loud

Sarah. Probably my favorite part of Genesis. I have really enjoyed reading her story. I kept meaning to write about her more in depth than the surprise post, but got distracted by other thoughts. So tonight is her time. First, she has one of my favorite quotes so far- "God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me" (Gen 21:6). I love this view of a child as laughter. I know it relates back to 18, when she laughed at God's promise of a child for her, but it also works on it's own. In Peter Pan, Peter tells Wendy "You see...when the first baby laughed for the first time, it's laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies". Babies bring laughter. And that laughter leads to good things (like fairies...because yes, they are real). Sarah knew this. Her story is ridiculous. A woman her age should not get pregnant. Yet there she was, with a newborn to bring her joy, to act silly, to learn crazy things and learn to speak. Babies supply entertainment to no end. My best friend while living in England was a 2 year old named Aiden. 

This is Aiden

He made me laugh constantly. In the picture he's trying to take my sunglasses so he can wear them. They're periwinkle with gems on them. Not exactly boy glasses. But as a baby, he doesn't care. They make you laugh. Sarah knew what she was talking about.
The other side of Sarah is not so nice, however. She had a petty side, as we all do. She got Abraham to cast out Hagar and Ishmael because she wanted Isaac to have the full inheritance. It was her idea to get Hagar to have Abraham's son so that there would be a child in the first place. It seems unfair for her to also be the cause of casting out that child.   It's petty, it's silly, it's awfully mean. But it's real. Sarah wasn't perfect. She was kind of a jerk. But aren't we all? At least sometimes?

SMS (Shine)

This long weekend was very fun, not least because of a David Crowder Band project we got to help with at UBC. The next music video involves a ridiculous number of lite brite shots. Since these each take far more time than one would think, the church has been enlisted for this week to help whenever possible. It's made my life so happy- it's mind-numbing work, but its also a lot of fun and it feels like you can really see the progress that's happening. We get to see the video up to the point we've finished every now and then, and seeing how cool it all is together makes the difficulties well worth it. The simple community of it is also amazing- being able to just sit around together putting in popping out little lite brite pegs leaves a ton of time for talking and joking and just getting to know one another.
I feel like this is much how the Jews must have felt a lot of the time. Life got hard for them, time after time. Often it seemed tedious and would break their spirits, but God shone through and made the Light worth following. They came together a community chosen by their God who would come to honor Him once again.

You'd Be Surprised

In Genesis, Sarai is certainly surprised by God. After becoming Abraham and Sarah, God promises the couple a child. At separate times, they both laugh at God when he tells them they will have a child. They are too old, too far beyond child raising to even consider it possible. But in the end, God gets the real laugh. He gives them Isaac and the nations.

In my Mi Casa group at church, we are talking about doing the 30 day surprise me challenge. Terry Esau wrote a book about his experience with this and encourages churches to try it. UBC had planned to before the death of Kyle Lake, but got a little waylaid by the aftermath of that situation. So now we are going to actually try it within our house groups. I actually read Terry's book and did the challenge back when I was a Baylor freshman, but did a bad job documenting it and don't actually remember how it worked out. I just remember doing it and reading the book! This time, I'm faithful in God's ability to surprise us in big ways if we only ask daily. Sarah and Abraham learned this and I'm hoping that we can too.

Brand New Sidewalk

This blog now has a new use- Commentary on life at Truett and such. My personal goal (besides relating in Scriptures 1 so I can get credit for keeping a blog- shout out to Dr. Reid!) is to make each entry titled a song from my iTunes and somehow relate it. Get excited, this could be interesting.
This one seems appropriate- I'm in my new school, with a new roommate, new classes, new friends. Yet everywhere I have hints of the old- same town, same campus, some of the same friends. It's a lovely combination. A brand new sidewalk is the same way- something new that you can make an indelible mark on in the midst of a place you already know. I'm hoping to be able to make a mark on Waco in the time I'm here again. I want to be involved in the life of Truett, of UBC, of the larger city. I'm hoping to have time in the midst of needing to make money to pay for Truett!
One of my current reading assignments is Genesis and it admittedly gives me hope in this. While I don't believe at all that Genesis is a blow-by-blow account of God's creation of the world(we'll talk more about that later, I'm sure...) , I do trust in the strength and power it shows He has. While now the world has it's problems and whatnot, I still love it- the sun, the land, the water, the plants, the wildlife, the people- it all has it's good. The Creation is still THERE, it's just been distorted by our presumptuousness. That's how I know that this will all turn out well- God has seen that it good.

Don't cry for me Argentina

That was the only title I could think of involving Argentina. Tomorrow and Wednesday I'm hosting 2 Argentinian girls here. It should be an adventure, to say the least. I'm being very adventurous in my cooking for them- I haven't been much of a cook since moving over here. Tomorrow I'm attempting Spaghetti Bolognese not from a jar or a bag, and I already made Pomegranate Ice Cream tonight for tomorrow's dessert. Which- by the way- is quite difficult. At least when it involves juicing pomegranates with a quite small lemon juicer. But hey, I have now juiced Pomegranates. Bolognese can't be harder than that, right? I'm also going to make burgers and mac cheese on Wednesday night-- all from fresh ingredients. Let's see how this goes...

Unfortunately, I also happened to mention to the teacher organizing this whole thing that I have a decent background in Spanish, so trying to talk to the girls would be fun. He took that to mean that I'm fluent and able to translate. So guess who's the team translator! Oh, yeah, me. ugh. I haven't had Spanish since freshman year at Baylor!

So be praying all of this goes well and that the team doesn't particularly need translating. And that I don't freeze to death sleeping on my sofa.

Accomplishment

Today I feel very accomplished. Since last night at about 1:30, I have managed to complete my taxes, my FAFSA and my DE state taxes. That includes sleeping and working time. Ah, concentration. And making very little money. It makes filing so much simpler.

I have found my love...

...and it is a tumble dryer. Be thankful for how common they are in the US. Today is washing day 2. Every load I do I have to wait forever for it to dry before I can hang the next one. How I miss the ease and speed of drying clothes quickly.

I am sorry for how long it has taken me to update. With Christmas, New Year, and YFC conference being back-to-back, time just seemed to disappear.

Things are incredibly better here. Ben's been moved in for quite awhile and it makes life much nicer to not be consistently alone. The fact of a wii and lots of DVDs also helps. Soon, Ben will get shelves for the DVDs and then we have quite a project to do--cataloging the insaneness.

The Friday night group we've begun is going really well. We did our first more serious group meeting last week and we got a lot of conversation out of them- talking about image and how we need to not judge others based on their appearance. Next week, we're either going to the cinema or bowling! I'm voting for bowling.

I've also begun going to an older group at the Methodist church in the next town over. I love the kids in the group and it's been really fun getting to know them. Unfortunately, it comes with lots of church politics and YFC grudges. I'm doing my best to remain neutral and not get anyone into trouble being stuck in the middle of it all. I just wanna be able to get to know the kids!

I'm still really liking the GCSE classes in the school, as well. The RE department recently got a student teacher- sadly, who is an older retired Anglican priest. Also sadly, it means he'll be taking over primary teaching of our classes. I'm hoping we'll still get to be in them, but I'm not even sure of that.

I promise to be better about the updates!