Day 8 of 90: Rules, Rules, and more Rules

Leviticus is all about rules. Rules that seem quite ridiculous in our "modern time".  But they were quite necessary back then to help prevent the spread of disease.

We have rules now too, different rules. They are important rules. And we still need to obey them.

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Back on track?

So one of my topics this last week for Bible in 90 Days was Excuses. Well, I've had too many excuses for the last couple of months. I am supposed to guide ~L and ~C in their Pathfinder work, as well as doing my own. But what have a REALLY been doing? Being lazy and finding excuses. Let's follow the excuses I have used, whether just in my head or said out loud.

-They aren't putting in any effort, so why should I?
-I haven't got the time, with all the extra work I am doing.
-I just started this new job, I need to concentrate on it.
-I'm tired from this new job.
-I just switched to graveyards, I am so mixed up now, I can't worry about Pathfinders.
-I feel no support from the club.

Okay, there is always a grain of truth to an excuse. But I let the excuses get in the way. Now it's February and we are all so far behind.

I sat down with the books yesterday and some Post-It tabbies. I did this last year too. Instead of giving them specific assignments to complete at a specific time, I give them the entire book, with the things that need to be done tabbed. As they finish the assignments, the move the tabs from the side of the book to the top so I can look over the assignment and sign off on it. To help us all complete this task in the time frame it needs to be done, BFF has told them they must complete at least an hour of Pathfinder work every day. I am hoping we can get this all done!

These kids are awesome though!! ~L got all his work done last year in just a matter of weeks. And the newer curriculum is really great for allowing more creative methods of completing the work.

Now, to get my own work done!

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Day 7 of 90: A society of instant gratification

Exodus 32:1

¹ When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods[a] who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”

He took too long, in their opinion. They didn't want to wait, it would require patience, and they wanted instant results. They wanted it now, not in a few hours, days, weeks, months, or even years. NOW. Why should they have to wait???

Oh, I meant Moses and the Israelites. Though the description does seem to model what our current society has become. I'm guilty of it too. When I decide I want something it IS hard to wait. I am trying to teach myself to be more patient. I want a new car, it can wait. It'd be nice to have a new car NOW. My car is almost 8 years old. But ya know what, it's in fairly good condition right now. It needs a couple minor repairs, and given that it's paid off, there are days when I WANT to just trade it in and have something new and shiny. But I do not NEED it. I really enjoy NOT having a car payment, and I NEED to save up and have a down payment, it will keep my monthly payment lower.

The "instant gratification society" is NOT new, it's been around for a VERY long time. We are simply repeating history.

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Day 6 of 90: Remember...

Exodus 20:8

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

This is always one of the most important verses to me. All the other commandments begin with "you shall" or "you shalt not." The fourth commandment though is different. God sets it apart by starting it differently, just as he set apart the Sabbath itself. God meant for Sabbath to be special.

It bothers me when people say the Sabbath isn't important or was done away with when Jesus died. So if that is the case, did the other commandments? Do you believe it's okay to kill? To steal? No? Then why do people believe the Sabbath was done away with? It wasn't.

And it's not "just a day." God is quite clear at NUMEROUS places in the Bible that the Sabbath is the seventh day. We need to respect ALL of God's commandments. Not pick and choose. This means the Sabbath too.

Remember...

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Day 5 of 90: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

Exodus 4:10

¹⁰ Moses said to the LORD, “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”


Moses seemed to be full of excuses. I can't because... I'm not able to because...
Even while God is telling him, I will work through you, I will give you the abilities.

I frequently, unfortunately, find myself with excuses for not doing something. I realize that when I do that, I am no different than Moses was. I look for excuses, instead of trusting God to lead me.

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Day 4 of 90: Don't Be Afraid, God Knew What He Was Doing.

Genesis 50:19-21

¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.


God caused Joseph's brothers to sell him to those who would send him to Egypt. But through that, God enabled Joseph to save his own family. They were afraid once they knew who he was. But they didn't need to be, God knew exactly what he was doing.

When I am afraid, I try to remember not to be, God knows what he is doing. :)

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Day 3 of 90: Am I Expendable?

Genesis 37:26-28

²⁶ Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? ²⁷ Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.

²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[a] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.



Am I expendable to the people around me, like Joseph was to his brother? Am I putting off a personality and attitude that makes people want to have me out of their lives?

Or am I a person people want around them? The personality, and attitude people WANT. I strive to be THIS person. Then again who doesn't? Who wants to be disliked?

Sometimes we have to choose to uphold our values, and that may make me disliked. But we should never compromise our values just to be liked.

I hope I am NOT expendable, but I will not compromise my values.

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Day 2 of 90: Is Anything too hard for the Lord?

Genesis 18:14

It's easy to doubt the Lord when you feel like the world is kicking you down. I've had those days, where I was falling apart, and it was hard to believe that anything was going to go right. But then I remember this verse. Where God himself is asking basically why did they doubt Him. He is the Creator. Of COURSE he can give Abraham and Sarah a child after all this time. And of course he can lift me up from my little pity party of despair. I just have to listen to him, and TRUST in him.

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Day 1 of 90: The Greatest Fairytale

Genesis 1:1 "In the Beginning..."

All great fairytales begin with something akin to "Once Upon a Time." But The Greatest Fairytale of all time begins with "In the Beginning." And how fitting. After all, nothing existed prior to that. Gods word just doesn't seem to fit with "Once Upon a Time."

And the Bible IS a great Fairytale. Think about it. Kings, Queens, wars, overcoming great odds... It's all there. And we all get the prince in the end. The love that Jesus sacrifice gave us, eternal life.

Sometimes it's easy to get caught up, or bogged down, in the minutiae of the Bible. We need to keep in mind that it is God's words, God's wisdom, and God's STORY. A story for us to enjoy, learn from, and live.

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Update on me

K, I've been a way for a while. Life. So here's quick update on me.

July-moved here

August-tried to get a job, interviewed and made it final 3 for a great job. Did NOT get the job. Took a phlebotomy course (thanks mom) to help me find a good job.

September-finally sucked it up and got a retail job. Some money is better than no money. Found another source of income, totally legal. :D Just email if you want info. Offered to be the Earliteen/Youth Sabbath School teacher at church. Pathfinders got going.

October-Continued working retail but putting in applications for better jobs. Started teaching my Sabbath school class, felt to be at a bit of a loss, low attendance, low participation.

November-continued working retail, gave up applying for jobs. But got an email from phlebotomy school about possible opportunity. I submitted a resume. I was called the next day to interview. Turned out to be an opportunity through a temp agency, but ya know what, the company I'd be working at is an AWESOME company and the likelihood was I'd be hired in the long run. Began the training near Thanksgiving. Suddenly having a full time job was a bit of a shock.

December-Ended up quitting retail job altogether (had been only working one day a week, but even that proved to be too much). Trained at new job until the week of Christmas. Passed practical and both written tests. I began my shift, on graveyards, the week after Christmas.

January-Still working hard. Was told last week that I will be hired in another 2-3 weeks!!!! Can't wait to have the other benefits that employees of the company have. :D Insurance, quarterly bonuses, tuition reimbursment, etc. :D Found a groove in Sabbath school, and my attendance at class is now steadily between 6-9 kids!!!! :D

February-stay tuned!! Now that I am settling into my schedule at work, I should have more time to blog again!

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It's that time again!!

Bible in 90 Days!!! WOOO!!!

Starting tomorrow I will be embarking on reading the Bible in 90 days. I'm doing WHAT?? I'm sure you are asking. Don't worry, when I first heard of the idea, I thought it was nuts too! LOL But then I set myself the challenge of doing it!

My first attempt, "Spring" of 2010, I started strong, then life got in my way. MANY people encouraged me to keep going. I let stress get to me, I feel INSANELY behind, but never fully gave up. I'm too darn stubborn for that. :) Now, why did I get so far behind? In a nutshell, I didn't keep God first. Yes, I found out in this time frame that my daughter needed major brain surgery. Yes, during this time she HAD the surgery. And I let my Bible, essentially, not literally, sit on a shelf. I will say, even despite that, I did keep trying to read. By the time the group finished, I was half way through. By sometime in April, I started hearing rumors of the group going again. By the start of May, I KNEW another group was starting in July, and I decided to stop all together, give myself a break from all the hard core reading I was doing, and be ready for July. I felt a little bad about quitting, but overall, I felt better about giving this another stronger start, versus a tired worn out start and finish.

July rolled around, and this time, I felt ready. And I had few stumbling blocks. I am human though. I fell as far behind as 2 full weeks at one point. But this time I pushed through and caught up. I FINISHED this time. It took me a total of 99 days from "In the beginning" to "Amen." I blogged my way through most of it. You can go back and read them. :)

Sometime in the spring of 2011, I approached my pastor about doing a B90 group at the church. He seemed VERY interested. I advertised for it, we started, we were trying to have the weekly meetings. And it ended up basically falling apart. I started with 17 people, our first meeting the first week of the readings, only 3 people came. :( I kept trying, had brief follow up meetings at church for people who couldn't attend. Gradually though, the group just fell apart. There were activities being held on the same nights as my meetings, and people had to choose. I know 2-3 people actually FINISHED the reading however. An incredible accomplishment for not having the same support.

Lesson I learned from that? I am NOT yet ready to run the group.

HOWEVER, I am ready to read! So starting tomorrow, Monday, January 30th, I am beginning again. My nephew is joining me. At 12 years old, he can read circles around me! And he understands the Bible in a way that is downright crazy!

Right now, my heart is bursting with joy for this kid! Yesterday we sat down to start doing the same Bible chain marking I am doing with my Sabbath school class (13-17 year olds. He is able to join my class in another 6 months, this way he will have already completed the same work as them, I know, maybe a little unfair, but that's the benefit of living with the teacher!). We were looking for a place to put the "Table of Contents" and I discovered the binding of his Bible was falling apart. Yeah, he has read his Bible so much that it is falling apart. So we told him to get his other Bible, and he told us it's missing the entire book of 2 Peter, and some of 1 Peter, because he's worn that one out too. BFF and I ran out quick to get him a new Bible. :D I spoiled him a little though. We didn't just get the Bible. I got him a Bible bag, a new ruler with the books of the Bible on it, and a couple of gel highlighters to use in his Bible. :D

So anyway, he is joining me in reading. And at least one, if not 2 of my Sabbath school girls is joining me. :D

I'm going to try to blog this one too. But I am not in the mood to use the SOAP method that I used last time. I am looking at some other methods.

So maybe, just maybe, you've read this far and you too are interested in reading too. Where do you go??? How do I get started???

Well here's the website I am reading through this time: Oh That Mom Again. What do you need? An NIV Bible and an hour or so a day. You do not NEED to blog or journal or anything. A lot of us do simply to solidify our ready. DO NOT study it, DO NOT look up footnotes, or references. JUST READ. At Oh That Mom Again, she has listed the daily readings for the first week, as well as a link to the full list. So just follow along there, the only thing she is asking from us is a weekly check in on Monday's.

Will you join me? If not this time, maybe next time!

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Gee Whiz it's been a while!

Okay, So it has been a while

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