DISTRACTION!!

Facebook. Can I just say? I love it! My family is all over the map... Colorado, Maryland, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It is hands down the quickest way to keep up on family STUFF! But it is NOT conducive to the deeper things that are in my heart and on my mind. I love the way I can communicate my heart here on the blog.. but FB is such a distraction to me! We are a "fast food" people! We want everything RIGHT NOW, and facebook offers information in that fashion. But to craft a blog entry takes a little more time, a little more thought, and a little more work. I want to slow myself down and take a detour from FB and get my thoughts organized HERE. The summer is rapidly slipping away from me, and soon we'll be back to the crazy, fast paced, stressful routine of school, where blogging will be more challenging, and FB will be MUCH easier! So during these last few weeks of the lazy hazy days of summer, I will be forcing myself to slow down and blog.

I have reached a breaking point that has needed reaching for many years. I finally got so upset and stressed out about my weight that I have actually put ACTION to the problem and have begun a plan for losing the weight. Walking. Water. Less soda (very minimal... just an occasional reward now and then). Better choices for food. Portion control. Did I say walking and water? Yeah. It is time to drop the pounds. Like I said, we are a "fast food" mentality people. I want to go for a one hour walk and come home to find I've dropped 5 pounds! Grrr. Going to be a LONG, SLOW process. But I must. And I will. Please pray for me not to lose momentum and not to be distracted or discouraged.

I mention this weight loss thing because tonight, my husband and I went for a LONG walk together, just the two of us. Holding hands... talking..... not talking.... just enjoying being together. It has been a very stressful week for us both, and this time together was priceless. You know you have a great relationship when you can just BE together without talking, and feel so content and happy, just to be together! My love is leaving to go to Denver for a visit with his family next week, and I am going to miss him terribly. But it will be a good break for him. He's been through a lot this week, and stress relief is just what he is needing. Besides, he will turn 40 years old while he's out there, so...... change of scenery is probably a good thing! :)

Well, time to go drink a gigantic glass of water.... AGAIN. Thanks for listening! Will be back soon, I promise!

Vacation is GOOD.

Downtime. I love it. Life always seems to be moving at breakneck speed. This break from school is MUCH needed for our family. Things slow down. There is no pressure to get homework done. My goal, by the end of this week, is to have my boys talking peaceably to one another... totally destressed. Tonight is a family game of Taboo! Looking forward to the laughs. Vacation is GOOD. :)

Question regarding Leviticus Chapter 5

Hey, it's Bible study time! I am reading my Bible while the BOYS are in the basement having male bonding time. I am reading in chapter 6 of Leviticus, where the Lord is spelling out what the acceptable sacrifices would be for a sin offering. Verse 6 says

And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, A FEMALE FROM THE FLOCK, A LAMB, OR A KID OF THE GOATS, for a sin offering

(yes, the capital letters are mine for emphasis)

Verse 7 says

And if he be not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass which he hath committed TWO TURTLEDOVES, OR TWO YOUNG PIDGEONS, unto the Lord

Verse 8

And he shall bring them unto the priest...

Verse 9

And he shall sprinkle of the BLOOD of the sin offering upon the side of the altar, and the rest of the BLOOD shall be wrung out at the bottom of the altar; it is a SIN OFFERING

Then suddenly, in Verse 11, there is this VERY confusing contradiction...

But if he be not able to bring two turtledoves or two young pidgeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering THE TENTH PART OF AN EPHAH OF FINE FLOUR for a sin offering.

Now, I have a lot of questions about that! How can this be? God requires a blood sacrifice to cover sin. He established that principle in the VERY BEGINNING in Genesis 3:21 when he killed animals to make coats of skins to clothe Adam and Eve in the garden. He went on in Leviticus 17:11 to say

For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the BLOOD that maketh an atonement for the soul.

And again in the book of Hebrews 9:22 the writer says clearly

And almost all things are by the law purged with blood: and WITHOUT SHEDDING OF BLOOD IS NO REMISSION (of sin).

And obviously... Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for sin by shedding His own blood to cover our sin.

So, how does God say a sin offering should be a lamb, a kid of the goats, two turtledoves or two pidgeons, and then contradict it all by saying OR... if you don't have that, then bring a tenth of an ephah of fine flour?? This is not a blood sacrifice offering!?!? If this is the case, then WHY was Cain's offering not accepted in Genesis 4:3-5? If a tenth of an ephah of flour is acceptable in lieu of a blood sacrifce, then why is Cain's offering of the fruit of the ground not acceptable? I am sure there is an answer... I just don't know it yet. This is going to require some thought, prayer, and study. Any ideas from you all in the gallery? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Thanks!

Christianity on the job, and awesome Bible study!

I am finding out that I am not alone on the job. When you think you are the only one trying to live for God, you are in for a surprise. Elijah, after his big showdown on Mount Carmel, complained to God that he alone was the only one living for God. God revealed to Elijah that he still had 7,000 prophets who had not bowed the knee to Baal. It is refreshing to find out there are people on the job that love the Lord and are willing to talk about God with you!!! Thank you Jesus for bringing me such people! I am so thankful!

Tonight at church, Bro. McAllister continued his teaching from Gen. 6. A little hard to explain here... very detailed and involved. But if you want to hone your Bible study skills, read Gen. 6:1-8 and then ask yourself the following questions:
1. Who were the "daughters of men"?
2. Who were the "sons of God"/
3. What did God mean when He said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever"?
4. What was the "wickedness of man" that God saw as "great in the earth"?
5. Was God going to destroy all mankind from the earth?
6. Was Noah BETTER than any of the others?
7. What does it mean to find "grace in the eyes of the Lord"?

Tough questions to answer. Our entire bible study last week focused on just the first two questions. What we came up with was... The sons of God were the men in the line of Seth. The "daughters of men" were the daughters descended from the line of Cain. Tonight's lesson focused on verse 2 which says "that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose". We studied the names of the children descended from Cain and looked at what their names meant... Enoch means "initiated", Irad means "fugitive", Mehujael means "smitten of God".... all these names show the separation of the ungodly line of Cain from the godly line of Seth... then all of a sudden, there is a son of Cain named Methusael, which means "man who is of God". This name crosses the line of separation. Could it be that with THIS descendant of Cain is where verse 2 takes place? Tough questions... EXCELLENT bible study time! I love being challenged in the Word!! Thank you Bro. McAllister!

423 days

That's right. It has been 423 days since I have posted anything on this blog. I have to admit... I have a FB account. FB is good for the moment. It keeps you connected. But really, it is brief and impersonal. My status is limited to a certain number of characters. Writing "notes" just isn't the same as this. The other day, I was at work, and needed a picture of myself for a project. The one I wanted was on FB, which of course is blocked from school computers. But my blog was accessible. So I went on to hunt for a picture of me. I ended up having to go WAAAAYYY back to find one (because most of the pictures on here are ones I have taken, so I'm not IN any of them)! But something happened as I browsed through my blog... I missed it. What a wealth of memories I found! It is literally a diary of my life. I can say what I want without people spazzing like they do on FB. I will never forget being "scolded" on FB when I was having a really rough day. I posted a vent. And someone had the nerve to tell me that no one on FB wants to hear your complaining. This is a light-hearted place. Whatever. I was hurting. I needed a friend to talk to and did not have one. I needed prayer. All I got was scolded. You cannot be yourself on FB. But on my blog, I can be who I really am. I can write whatever I want. It is MY PLACE. It is what I am choosing to come back to. I have missed you, NAM! Thank you, blogger, for giving me a place in cyberspace to call home.

I'm BAAACCCKKKK!!!!!!! :)