I’m Ba-ack! Oh, You Didn’t Realize I Was Gone?

Ok, I guess I didn’t really go anywhere, but I’ve pushed this blog aside, while paying more attention to www.adjustingyourfocus.wordpress.com, and not doing anything with this one, so…

I’ve decided to return to a book we were studying earlier.  It was either between Reaching Your True Potential and The Bible.  I’ve chosen to finish RTP first, because I started it before the Bible study.

So, without further ado, last we spoke re RTP, it was Day 4, which is titled Grow Your Own Belief Tree, posted June 15, 2011.  Today, we begin again where we left off.

Day 5, Chapter 2 – Self Defeating Attitudes

“Becoming familiar with the ways you self-sabotage is the first step toward stopping those behaviors.  …  If you can identify the negative thoughts and poor choices as self-defeating before you engage in them, you can learn to break the chain and avoid self-defeating behaviors.”

The author, Sheri Zampelli, is absolutely right, isn’t she?  Easier said than done, though, right?  When you are raised with parents who self-sabotage, who are negative, who come from negative parents themselves, how in the world are you to break free from the chains of ‘I’m not good enough’, ‘I’ll never be good enough’, etc.  I’d love to break the chain, but breaking up is hard to do, no?  😉  I try to be nothing but encouraging and supportive of Hallie, but how do I do that for myself?

“You’re not a victim.   You make your choices, and if you don’t like them, you can make different ones in the future.  While identifying your self-defeating attitudes, try not to beat yourself up, or feel guilty or overwhelmed by what you discover.  Think of this chapter as simply a tool to heighten your awareness.  You can’t make permanent change unless you acknowledge your part in the problem.  Upcoming chapters will show you how to change your self-defeating attitudes and behaviors, but you must identify as honestly as possible what needs to be changed in order for the upcoming chapters to be of any benefit.”

It’s probably the hardest thing in the world for me to do – stop self-sabotaging behavior.  I’ve lived my life sabotaging myself.  I don’t need anyone else to beat me down.  I do a pretty good job of it all on my own.  Ok, I’m aware of how I self-defeat.  Well aware.  I’m working on it.  How ’bout you?   Bring on those next chapters, ’cause I’m ready to learn how to change those attitudes and behaviors.

Notice I quit reading this book months ago.  Another self-defeat.  It’s almost like I enjoy self-sabotage.  It’s my happy place.  Ok, maybe not happy, but safe – it’s what I know.  It’s cold and dark and I’m comfortable here.

Uniqueness–“I’m different.  No one else is like me.”

“Yes, But” Thinking – When someone offers you up a solution to your problem, do you, without hesitation, throw that wall of defense up of “Yes, but that won’t work for someone like me, because…”, or “Yes, but, you don’t understand, my problem is different”?  Instead of shutting down their idea, why not actually listen to what they have to say, and brainstorm with their suggestion, or at least part of it.  “One aspect of effective, creative brainstorming or problem solving is to explore all ideas, even the ones that seem illogical.”

Comparing Yourself to Others – There’s always gonna be someone that’s better or worse than you at something.  “Comparing ourselves to others only sets us up to be disappointed.  I like the saying, “Measure yourself by your own yardstick.”  You may not be as successful as you want to be, but you’re probably more successful than you used to be or at least much better off than you could be.”

“Do you compare yourself to others and always seem to measure up unfavorably?”  Do you try something new and you want to be good at it practically overnight?  Then, once you actually get started, you realize how much work it is and that it’s actually hard – more so than you expected?  It requires daily practice?  Rather than do the hard work, you start making excuses as to why it’s not for you or that you’ll never be any good at it?  We explain things away in order to make it go away and make it ok for ourselves to say, “Nah, I don’t need the stress”, “It’s too expensive”, “I don’t have the time”, “I don’t understand it”, “It doesn’t come easy enough for me, so it’s obviously not meant to be”, “I have too much to do”, “I’ll never get the hang of it”.  I know them all.  I’ve said them all.  When we think these things and believe these things, we find excuses and this is how we fail.  We didn’t even really try.  We just gave up.  So, in truth, we don’t truly know if we ever would have ever been really great at that.  Thing is, we probably would have been fantastic, if we’d given it a chance, and we might have found something we truly loved.  “Oh, I’ll never be as good as him.”  “Oh, she’s awesome and she’s been playing guitar since she was 8.  I can’t be as good as her.  Besides, I’m 43, and too old to start now.”  Right.  Whatever you gotta tell yourself.  You’re lying to yourself.  I’m talking to me here.

Making Excuses for Lack of Success – “Making excuses for lack of success can lead to failure.  Are you making excuses for your lack of success?  Are these excuses really valid?”

Having an Inferiority or Superiority Complex – Do you ever feel this way?:  You either feel like everyone is smarter than you and you fear being “found out,” or you find yourself judging and criticizing others and wondering how the “idiots” ever got their jobs.

“If you tend to see yourself as better than everyone, or worse than everyone, you are separating yourself from humanity and saying in essence, “I am not the same.”  This sets you up to make excuses and avoid reaching out for help.”

Tomorrow, hopefully, more of Chapter 2.  G’night!  *hug*

-Carol

Photo courtesy of www.fotosearch.com

Another blog? Good grief!

Just in case you want to check it out, I started another blog.  No, not the timeforchow one.  I’ll probably only post to that one once or twice a month, since I can’t really afford to eat out more than that right now.    😦

This one is more photography based.  It’s www.adjustingyourfocus.wordpress.com.  Please check it out and let me know what you think.  I LOVE taking pictures and always have and I’m sure I’ll be posting to that one more often than the other two, and I haven’t completely given up on this one.  I just need a little more time and I’ll start up again where I left off with the bible thing, and I’ll also get back to the self-sabotage book, too.  Hang in there.

I do hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and I trust you will have a prosperous, healthy and happy New Year.

Oh, and if you wouldn’t mind, could you please say a prayer that I get this job?  I was called for a second interview on Jan. 12.  I NEED this job.  Thanks.

*hug*  😉

Carol

Check out my newest blog

I’m on holiday from becomemoreme, but I will return.  However, while you wait, check out www.timeforchow.wordpress.com and let me know what you think.

The End of a City

The End of a City and all it’s people, and the city next door and all over the plains, and all its vegetation, and more.  Much more in these chapters than just the end of a city or two.

Much of what we read today was very disturbing.

Today is all about Genesis Chapters 18-20.  Welcome to Day 5 of Reading the Bible in 365 Days.

So, the Lord came to visit with Abraham and brought 2 angels with him.  Abraham ran out to meet them, bowed down, offered them rest, to wash their feet, and eat.  Sarah and a servant prepared the meal, and while the men/angels ate, they asked where Sarah was.  Abraham told them she was there in the tent.  The Lord said he’d return this time next year and she’d have a son.  Sarah overheard the Lord and laughing to herself and thought, “I’m as old as dirt and so is my hubby, now I’ll have a child?”  God questioned Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and question ‘Will I really have a kid now that I’m old?’  Is anything too hard for the Lord?”  Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”  God said, “Oh, yes you did.”

Abraham saw the men/angels on their way and the Lord told him that he was going to Sodom and Gomorrah to see if what they have done is as bad as he’d heard and if it was, he’d destroy the cities.  Abraham pleaded with God and asked if he could find 50 righteous people, would he please spare the city, and God agreed.  45?  Sure.  40?  Yep.  30?  Uh-huh.  20?  Yup.  10?  Even 10, yes.  So, they finished their talk, God left and Abraham went home.

The 2 angels arrived in Sodom in the evening and Lot convinced them to come to his house, eat, wash their feet and spend the night.  They agreed, even though they’d wanted to stay in the square.  Before they went to bed, all the men of the city surrounded the house and demanded Lot bring out the two men so that they could have sex with them.  Lot asked them to leave the men alone, and then he offered up his two virgin daughters, telling them they could do what they wanted with his girls.  (Great dad, huh?  He should have just said, ‘No, you can’t have the men.  You can’t have anyone in my house.  Go away!’).  But the wicked men said, “No, get out of the way.  We will hurt you worse than them.”  They tried to force their way into the house, but the angels grabbed Lot, pulled him inside and shut the door, then blinded the men trying to get in, so they could not find the door.  They told Lot to gather all his family and leave.

Lot tried to get his sons-in-law, pledged to marry his daughters, to go with, explaining why, but they thought he was joking.  (Losers!)  The angels continued to urge Lot to take his family and go, that the city was to be destroyed.  When he hesitated, the men/angels grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand and his daughter’s hands and led them safely out of the city.  One told them to flee, hurry up, don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain.  Lot negotiated going to a nearby small town, so they agreed but to hurry up because they couldn’t do anything till he got there.  That’s why the town was called Zoar (small city).  Lot reached Zoar and God rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, but Lot’s wife looked back and she became a pillar of salt.  (She should’ve listened, eh?  Ah, temptation.  It’ll get ya.)

Lot and his daughters left Zoar to live in the mountains.  The older daughter told the younger one, “Our father is old and there are no men around to marry, so we should get our father to drink wine and have sex with him and preserve our family line through him. So, that night, the older daughter did.  The next night, the younger sister did.  They both got preggers and both had sons.  Lot had no idea they’d done that with him.  (He must’ve had a LOT of wine.  Sorry…).  The older one named her son Moab, the father of the Moabites, and the younger named her son Ben-Ammi, father of the Ammonites.

Abraham moved and lived in Gerer and asked Sarah again to say she was his sister.  Abimelech king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.  God visited Abimelech in a dream, telling him, “You’re as good as dead because of the woman you’ve taken.  She’s married.”  Abimelech didn’t go near her and being innocent, God spared him, saying return her to her husband, he’s a prophet, he’ll pray for you and you’ll live.  If you don’t return her, you and all your peeps will die.  Abimelech questioned Abraham, “Why have you done this wrong thing to me?”  Abraham explained himself and Abimelech gave sheep, cattle and slaves to Abraham and returned Sarah to him and told him to live anywhere in his land he wanted.  To Sarah, he told her he was giving her “brother” Abraham a thousand shekels of silver.  This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.  Then, Abraham prayed to God and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave girls so they could have kids again, for the Lord had closed up every womb in Abimelech’s househould because of Abraham’s wife Sarah. 

I don’t quite get that, either.  Why was he punished for what Sarah did?  I get she did it because Abraham told her to.  Could she not speak up and say ‘no, I’m not going to pretend to be your sister and marry this other man?’  Did women never have a voice of their own in these days?  They did what they were told without question?  And I think it’s unfair to punish an innocent man when he didn’t know he did wrong.  She made herself look available.  He and his household should not have been punished.  I think Abraham and Sarah should have been punished.  Just my opinion.  I’m not questioning God’s judgment.  I’m only voicing my confusion over people being wrongly punished.  And I don’t get why not only the one person would be punished, but curse the whole entire household, too?  I guess I just don’t get why.  Seems unjust to me, that’s all.  I’m sure God had his reasons.

Another lovely evening brought to an end.  Sleep well.  *hug*  Oh, and thank the Good Lord for the long, soaking rain!!!!!  😉

C ya tomorrow with Genesis 21 through 23.

Carol & Hallie

Pregnant at Ninety?!

How can this be?!  Say it ain’t so!  Grammaw’s been busy, huh?  

(Look, I gotta make some of this entertaining.  Some of it is so dry, especially the who begat who parts, and who moved where and owned what lands.  The names of some of these guys and cities, alone, are making my eyes cross.  Ugh!) 

Okay, yeah, maybe I’m referring to Sarah in Genesis, since this is Day 4 of Reading the bible in 365 days.  I realize that’s just one part of Chapters 13 thru 17, but MADE YA LOOK!  😉 

Thanks for stopping by.  Glad to see ya!  Sit a spell.  Let us talk awhile.  Pitch in.  Lend your voice.  We all have our own views and opinions about things, especially the bible and all its confusion, so let me hear from you.  K?

I’d like to start off by saying I realize my nostrils were flared during yesterday’s reading and blog and it’s not good when I become tempered, but at least Hallie and I were being honest.  We weren’t meaning to be disrespectful to God nor the bible.  If anything, we try to be authentic with God.  He knows how we truly feel about everything, so why hide it, right?  And on that note…

Genesis Chapters 13 thru 17 – Lot had been moving about with Abram (“A”), and Lot (“L”) had many flocks, herds and tents, as well. 

Quarreling broke out among the herdsmen of A and L, so A told L (roughly), “Hey man, we’re family.  Let us and our herdsmen not argue but let’s go our separate ways.  We both have a lot of stuff, many people and animals and things are too stressful traveling together, so you go in the direction of your choice, and I’ll go in the other.”  

So L went east.  A lived in Canaan, while L lived near Sodom.  Now, Sodom was filled with wicked men, sinning greatly against God.  After A and L parted ways, God told A that all the land he sees will be given to him and his offspring forever.  He would make his offspring too many to be counted.  God told A to go walk thru all the land he was being given.  So, A moved to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron.

Kedorlaomer (“K”) king of Elam and 3 other kings from other lands went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah and 3 other kings from other lands.  For 12 years, the latter kings had been subject to K, but in the 13th year, they rebelled.  In the 14th year, K and his 3 allies defeated 6 territories.  Then, kings of Sodom, Gomorrah & their 3 other guys marched up, drew their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim, which was full of tar pits.  When kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into the pits and the rest fled to the hills.  K and his 3 seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah kings, including all their food, and left, but not before taking Lot and all his possessions with them.  One of Lot’s people escaped and reported to A.  A and 318 trained men born in his house went and rescued Lot, all his goods, possessions, women and people.

After A returned from defeating K and the other 3 kings, king of Sodom came out to meet with A in the Valley of Shaveh.

Melchizedek (our tongues are tying in knots trying to pronounce most of these names and cities), king of Salem brought out bread and wine.  He was the priest of God Most High and he blessed A.  Then A gave him a 10th of everything.

The king of Sodom said to A, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.”  But A told Sodom that he’d promised God he’d accept nothing belonging to king of Sodom, so that Sodom would never be able to say ‘I made A rich.’

The word of the Lord came to A in a vision.  A asked him what could he be given since he remains childless.  My servant in my house will be my heir.  The word of the Lord said (roughly) “Nope, your servant will not be your heir.  You’ll have a son and also, your offspring will be countless as the stars.”  A asked, “How can I know I’ll gain possession of this land?”  The word of God said, “Bring me a heifer, goat and ram, each 3 years old and a dove and young pigeon.

A did this, cut them in halves and arranged the halves opposite each other.  He didn’t cut the birds.  As the sun was setting, A fell into a deep sleep.  A thick, dreadful darkness came over him.  God told him that A’s descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, will be enslaved and mistreated 400 years, but he’d punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward, they’ll come out with great possessions, but you will die in peace at a ripe old age. 

Once darkness fell, a smoking firepot with blazing torch appeared, passed between the pieces that A had laid out and God made a covenant with A, saying, “To your descendants I give this land . . .” (and he named the length of the lands).

Sarai, A’s wife, told A that since God had kept her from having children, she offered up her Egyptian maidservant (Hagar), that he should lay with her and perhaps start a family that way.  A agreed, made Hagar his wife, laid with her and she became pregnant.  Once Hagar was pregnant, she despised Sarai.  Sarai blamed A for this, saying it was all his fault but A did not take the blame, saying she was Sarai’s servant and she needed to deal with it as she saw fit, so Sarai mistreated Hagar, and Hagar ran away.  The angel of God came to Hagar and told her to go back and submit to Sarai, that her descendants would be increased and be too many to count.  The angel told her that she’d soon have a son, name him Ishmael because the Lord has heard of her misery.  Ishmael will be a wild man and he’ll live in hostility toward his brothers.

When A was 99, God told him he’d increase his numbers, he’d be a father of many nations and his name would be changed to Abraham.  Kings would come from him.  God wanted every male among A circumcised, including A, and it would be a sign of the covenant between God and A.  Every male 8 days old will be circumcised, including those born in his house or bought with money from a foreigner – those not his offspring.  Any uncircumcised male will be cut off from his people, he has broken God’s covenant.  (I’m so happy to be a woman!  ;))

God said, “Sarai shall be named Sarah and she will give you a son, she’ll be the mother of nations and kings of peoples will come from her.”  A laughed and said (roughly), “I’m 100 and Sarah is 90.  Seriously?  If you could please bless Ishmael, that would be great.”  God said, “The new son will be named Isaac, and, yes, I will bless Ishmael and he’ll father 12 rulers, but my covenant will be with Isaac whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 

On that day, A (99) took Ishmael (13), all the males born in the house and bought with his own money and circumcised them all as God told him, all on the same day.

That’s all folks!  For tonight, anyway.  C ya hear tomorrow with Genesis Chapters 18-20.

Later taters!  😉

Carol & Hallie

Most Confusing Book I’ve Ever Read In My Life

Ok, we are meeting for Day 3 of reading the bible in 365 days.  Let me just say that I am completely and utterly confused and my brain hurts and I’m angry, feeling (at least within these first 12 chapters of Genesis) that God is extremely sexist, preferring men to women.  At least it seems that way with the first 12 chapters.  I’m angry because my bible is different than Hallie’s.  Names of people are different.  Amounts of time, months, etc. are different, which makes me want to go take up Hebrew and Aramaic, just so that I can get a little closer to the truth of what the bible was intended to say.  You would think with all the confusion in the world, that with this book that God had man write, the book would at least be easier to understand to everyone.  Why else write the book?  Seems as though much of it is written to only confuse and frustrate.  That being said and off my chest, I’ll get to today’s reading and discussion.

Genesis Chapters 9 thru 12:

God told Noah and his sons to go out, be fruitful, increase in number, and told them all that lives and moves on the ground would be food for them.  As he gave all the green plants, he now gives them everything. 

So, no more vegetarians?  Meat eaters!  Hey, I like my bacon cheeseburgers, too and my slow roasted crockpot chicken.  Mmmmm.  Although, I was a vegetarian for a couple of years many moons ago.

God said to not eat what still has its lifeblood in it, and “for your lifeblood, I will surely demand an accounting.  I will demand an accounting from every animal and from each man, too and the life of his fellow man.  Whoever sheds man’s blood, his blood will also be shed.”  He promised no floods will ever come again to destroy all of mankind and earth.  He sent the Rainbow as a sign of the covenant between God and the earth.

Noah’s 3 sons, Shem, Ham & Japheth – from them came the people who scattered over the earth.

Now, one question I have, among the many (and if you want to take a crack at answering, please do so), is where did all the other people come from?  I’m talking about in the days of Cain and Abel.  Who did Cain marry?  Where did she come from?  Or is it just understood that God created all these other people but didn’t feel the need to mention?

Anyway, Noah planted a vineyard, drank its wine, became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.  Ham (one of his sons) saw his nakedness and went out and told his brothers.  Shem and Japheth took a garment, and covered their father with their faces turned away so as not to see his nakedness. 

When Noah found out what Ham did, Noah cursed Canaan (Ham’s son).  That’s another thing I do not get.  Why not curse Ham?  Why curse his innocent grandson?  Canaan didn’t do this thing.  Ham did.  Another thing I’m angry about.  And why did God not correct Noah for doing this?  Canaan was cursed and made to be a slave to Shem, and Noah said, “May Japheth live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave.”  So, Canaan was a slave to both Shem and Japheth?

One of the sons of Japheth was Javan.  The sons of Javan – from these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.

Tower of Babel – At this point, the world had one language.  As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.  They decided to build a city with a tower that would reach the heavens.  They figured they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered all over the face of the earth.  God came down to see the city, saw the tower and realizing there’s nothing impossible for these people, he decided to confuse their language so they couldn’t understand each other.  So, God scattered them about the earth and they stopped building the city.  That’s why it’s called Babel.  The Lord confused the language of the entire earth and scattered them.

Abram – God told him to leave his country, his people, his family and go to the land God would show him.  God promised him blessings, saying he’d make his name great and he’d be a blessing to others, blessing those who blessed Abram, cursing those who cursed him.  Lot left with Abram for Haran.  Abram’s wife, Sarai, and his nephew, Lot, their possessions and people acquired in Haran – they all set out for the land of Canaan. 

Due to their being a famine in the land, Abram went to Egypt to live, but before entering Egypt, he asked his wife to say she was his sister so that his life would be spared for fear of being killed, because she was a hottie and everyone would want to marry her.  So, they went into Egypt and he was treated well.  The Egyptians praised her for her hotness and she was taken to Pharoah into the palace.  For her sake, Abram acquired sheep, cattle, donkeys, men/maidservants and camels.  The Lord inflicted diseases on Pharaoh and the household because of Abram’s wife, Sarai.  Pharaoh summoned Abram, asked him why he lied and allowed him to take her as a wife.  He sent Abram, his wife and all their belongings away.  He told them to go and they went.

Now, another thing that chaps my hide is why the heck did Abram do that in the first place?  Asking his wife to lie for him?  Letting her be taken as a wife when she was already married?  Just to acquire things?  To be treated well?  God should have cursed Abram for asking her to do all that.  I feel Abram was very wrong and did not deserve greatness. 

Your thoughts?  Your views?

Tomorrow – Genesis 13-17.

God speed! 

Carol & Hallie

Bible 101

Welcome to Day 2 of reading the Bible in a year.  Today, we read and discussed Genesis Chapters 5-8, with great confusion, I might add.  There were several discrepancies between my bible and Hallie’s.  The timing was off regarding how long Noah was on the ark, how long it was before the water receded and such, so that makes me question how close (or rather how far) our bibles are to the hebrew text.

Chapter 5 only covered the lineage from Adam to Noah.  Adam was 130 when his son, Seth, was born.  Adam lived 800 years after that, had many other sons and daughters, so Cain, Abel and Seth were not the only children of Adam and Eve.  Adam lived to be 930.  And it went on through the lineage until Noah.  I didn’t feel the need to cover all the names and ages.  Suffice to say folks lived a heck of a long time in those days, the oldest, being Methuselah living to be 969.  That’s a long stinkin’ time!  Think about all the stories that man had!  He wasn’t just passin’ ’em down to the grandkids.  He was passin’ ’em down to the great-great-great-great…

Chapter 6 covered the flood, mainly.  God changed the life of man to be a shorter time span of not more than 120 years.  This chapter spoke of Nephilim being on the earth in those days and also afterward, which are the offspring of “sons of God” and “daughters of men”.

Now, aren’t “sons of God” actually angels, or I’m supposing that since they had offspring with human females, they were fallen angels?  Any thoughts?

God saw man’s wickedness and seeing that man’s thoughts were only of evil, he was grieved that he made man and his heart was filled with pain, so he decided to wipe man from the face of the earth, along with animals, birds and all creatures that move along the ground.

So, I get the part of wiping out humankind.  I don’t know if I understand why he wanted to destroy the animals, too.  Was it only because it was the only way to destroy man – was to destroy all the animals along with man?  What’s your view?

However, God saw favor with Noah, so he told Noah to build an ark, gave him the measurements, told him he could bring his wife, his sons and his sons’ wives along with him, as well as 2 of every living creature, male and female, 2 of every bird, 2 of every animal and 2 of every creature that moved along the ground.  As well, to bring every kind of food that was to be eaten by Noah, his family, and the creatures.  God explained he was going to bring floodwaters to destroy all of life under the heavens; everything on the earth.

Then, in chapter 7, God tells Noah to take 7 of every kind of clean animal (male and female), 2 of every unclean animal (male and female), 7 of every kind of bird, and in 7 days, God would send rain for 40 days and 40 nights.

So, at this point, I’m wondering why 7 of unclean animals and 7 of every kind of bird.  I always understood it was 2 of everything.  Granted, I was not raised in church and have not read the bible cover to cover, nor studied the entire thing.  In church, when we do go, the preacher tends to jump around from here to there, so I’ve never heard of the 7 and 7.  This was new to me.

Noah was 600 when the floodwaters came.  The Bible says pairs of clean and unclean animals came, birds and all the creatures that move on the ground came to Noah and entered the ark.  Then (my bible says) on the 17th day of the 2nd month, all the springs of the great deep burst forth and the floodgates of the heavens opened. 

See, I always thought that the great flood of Noah’s day was all rain.  I did not know it started with springs from the earth.  See what you can learn when you sit down and read the bible yourself?

All the highest mountains were covered with waters rising to a depth of more than 20 feet.  Every living thing that moved on the earth perished – birds, livestock, wild animals and creatures that swarm over the earth, and mankind.  Everything on dry land.  Waters flooded the earth for 150 days.

In chapter 8, God sent a wind over the earth and waters receded.  The springs of the deep and the rain stopped after 40 days and 40 nights.  At the end of the 150 days, waters receded, and on the 17th day of the 7th month, the ark came to rest on mountains of Ararat.

Now, Hallie’s bible says it happened after 5 months.  Many of her timeframes are different than mine.

Anywho, eventually, at the first of the 10th month, tops of the mountains became visible.  (Hallie’s bible says 7 months).  After the 40 days, Noah opened the window he’d made in the ark and sent out a raven and it flew back and forth till the water had dried from the earth.  Then, he sent a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground, but the dove returned.  Noah waited another week, and sent the dove out again.  The dove returned that evening with a freshly plucked olive leaf in its beak.  7 more days, he sent the dove again and this time, the dove did not return.  So, the first day of the 1st month of Noah’s 601st year, water dried from the earth.  By the 27th day of the 2nd month, the surface was completely dry.  Then, God okayed them all to come out.

Noah built an altar to God, taking some of the clean animals and clean birds and sacrificed burnt offerings on it (I’m supposing that’s why Noah took 7 of every kind of clean animal, as well as 7 of every kind of bird).  God smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart he would never again curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood.  And never again would he destroy all living creatures, as he did.  “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Why do you think God was pleased with animal sacrifices?  Why was the aroma pleasing to him?  Any thoughts?  This is disturbing to me and to Hallie.

Tomorrow, Genesis Chapters 9-12.  And yes, I realize this is reeeeally drawn out and a bit dry.  I’ll try to make more reader-friendly tomorrow.  At least it’s a little shorter compared to yesterday.  😉

Make it an awesome Friday tomorrow!  God speed.

Love y’all!

Carol & Hallie

Bible – 365 Days

Day 1:  Genesis 1-4

So, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  It also says the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the deep waters, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the water’s surface. 

I take that to mean the planet was there, but there was no land, only water, and no light, only darkness.  If you have water, then was there no bottom to it at this point?  All water, I’m supposing?  What do you think?  Hallie figures it was all ocean and nothing else at this point.

Then, He created light.  So there was darkness, light, “day” and “night,” and then morning and the first day.

God then decided to make an expanse between the waters, to separate the water from water, below and above, allowing there to be water upon the earth and the water in the “sky.”  This was the second day.

On the third day, He created dry ground, calling it “land,” and calling the gathered waters “seas.”  He then created vegetation to sprout from the ground, seed bearing plants and trees to bear fruit and seed.

Day four, He created lights in the sky to separate night from day, and let them be signs to mark seasons, days and years.  He created the sun to light earth during the day, and the moon to light it at night, and created the stars.

The fifth day, He filled the water with living creatures, and filled the sky with birds, and allowed them to be fruitful and multiply.

Day six, God created livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals.  Then, he made man in His own likeness and let him rule over the creatures of the sea, the air, and the land.  He made man, then woman, then instructed them to increase in number, fill the earth, subdue it, rule over fish of the sea, birds of the air, and all animals that scurry upon the ground.  He then gave man and woman every seed-bearing plant and every fruit tree with seed in it, and said these will be your food.  He then gave to all the animals, fish and birds, every green plant for food.

I take that to mean we, at this point, were not allowed to eat the fish, the birds, nor the animals.  We were to eat our greens, our veggies, our fruit.  All other living things were to eat green plants.  They were all vegetarian?  Interesting.  Hallie asks, “So I take it we are not allowed to eat animals to this day?” 

Day seven, God rested and he looked at all his work and saw that it was good. 

Hallie said, “So I guess, day seven, people think it is a Sunday?  Because people go to church on Sunday and most people do their shopping and yard work on Saturday and they rest on Sunday.”

I do not believe that God necessarily rested on a Sunday.  He rested on the seventh day, which means we have seven days in a week, we work the first six days, and rest on the seventh day, which is holy.  It doesn’t matter what day your rest falls on, as long as you claim one and make it holy.

Back on day six, when he created man, he formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into him for the first time.

God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and that’s where he put the man.  God made all kinds of trees that were good for food.  In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 

A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters.  The first river was Pishon that wound through Havilah, where there’s gold, aromatic resin and onyx.  The second river was Gihon, which wound through the land of Cush.  The third river is Tigris, which runs along the east side of Asshur.  The fourth river is Euphrates.

God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.  He told the man to eat from any tree, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or you will die. 

Hallie said, “So, basically, God is saying you can eat from any tree but that one.”

God felt it wasn’t good for the man to be alone.  He wanted to make a helper suitable for him.  He allowed man to name every living creature.  Still, no helper was found, so God caused the man to go into a deep sleep, God took one of the man’s ribs, closed up that place with flesh, and with the rib, created woman.  She would be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.

The serpent tricked the woman into eating the fruit that God had instructed not to do.  The woman then suggested to the man to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  Then their eyes were opened, they saw they were naked and sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

God was walking through the garden and Adam and Eve hid from him.  God called to the man, “Where are you?”  Adam admitted to hiding because he was naked.  God is questioning who told Adam he was naked, and Adam confessed to Eve taking the fruit they were instructed not to take and giving some to Adam. 

Ok, he’s telling the truth, yes.  But when I read the Bible, I feel Adam is passing the buck.  Yes, Eve did it first, and she did indeed give some to Adam, but he could have said, “No.  God told us to not eat of that tree.  I will not eat from it.”  Did Eve force Adam to eat the fruit?  Did she trick him?

Ok, same thing with Eve.  She’s passing the buck to the serpent.  No one wanted to claim responsibility for their own actions.  Wow.  That’s certainly still going on today, and it started in the garden with Adam and Eve.  Passing the buck.

God sentenced the serpent to crawl on his belly and eat dust the rest of his days, and every serpent thereafter.  I’m guessing the sneaky snake had legs to begin with.  He sentenced Eve and all the women that followed (mean ole Eve!  Because of you, all us women have to suffer?) increased pain with childbearing, our desire will be for our husband and he will rule over us.  He commanded Adam to never eat of that tree again, and to work his butt off, through painful toil, he will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of his brow, he will eat his food, until he dies.

God made garments of skin to clothe them. 

Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden to work the ground.

Adam and Eve had their first child, Cain.  Then, another son, Abel.  Abel kept flocks and Cain worked the soil.  Cain brought God some fruit as an offering.  Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock.  The Lord liked Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s, so Cain became very angry.  God asked Cain why he was angry and explained to him how sin was crouching at his door and to get it under control.

First of all, why did God not like Cain’s offering?  To test Cain?  Did he know that Cain would get angry?  Was he trying to teach him a lesson about Cain’s sinful nature?

Now, Cain tricked Abel to go into the field and then killed him.  Cain was cast out from God’s presence and driven from the land, to live in the land of Nod, east of Eden.  Cain married and his wife birthed a son.  Cain built a city, naming it Enoch, after his son.

Adam and Eve had a third son, Seth.  Seth had a son and named him Enosh.

Tomorrow, Genesis Chapters 5-8.

Thanks for hanging with us today.  I’ll try to not be as wordy tomorrow.  Let me know if you have any comments or thoughts about these chapters and questions above.

G’ night.  God speed.  Sleep tight.  Sweet dreams.

Love y’all.  *hug*

-Carol & Hallie

New Adventure

Ok, so I’ve been away for a little while.  I realize I haven’t updated my Rear In Gear page, nor continued with the latest book, Reach Your True Potential.  I apologize.  I do intend to update on both in the very near future. 

I would like to tell you about something new Hallie and I are doing. 

Have you ever read the Bible all the way through from beginning to end?  Did you know Adam and Eve had a third son?

Hallie and I are starting a Bible reading challenge.  We will read our Bible from beginning to end within 365 days.

We will read together, openly discuss, and then have little written quizzes (open book) over what we’ve read.  We will also be blogging about this Bible reading/studying journey.  Won’t you join us?

We will begin TONIGHT!  Hope to see you here.  😉

Tonight = Genesis (Chapters 1-4)

Love ya!

Carol

Update on Plexus Slim Worldwide

Just droppin’ y’all a few lines regarding my involvement with Plexus Slim and it has finally come to an end.

Remember the unwanted, unordered package I received from their company?  I called the company, as well as emailed several times.  A lady in Customer Service told me to write “Return to Sender” on the package, drop it in the mail and I’d get a reimbursement, which I eventually did.

Before that, remember the 30-day supply that I ordered that made me sick?  Customer Service mailed me an addressed, padded envelope to return the unused portion of the products I wanted credit for, and to write “Refused” on the envelope next to the label.

I had used one or two days worth of products (the Slim and the Accelerator), which made me sick.  This was after I’d been using the products for 8 or 9 days (you can read more on my Rear in Gear page). 

Well, they did credit the unused portion, I’m happy to say.

Bottom line?  Just because a product claims to be “all natural” does not mean it’s safe to ingest.  Even herbs can cause allergic reactions.  If a product is not regulated by the FDA, that in itself could be cause for alarm.  When you are charged and receive a package you did not order, this should prove as to how organized a company is, or is not.  If for any reason, you decide Plexus Slim is not right for you and you’d like your money back, call and email Customer Service, return the product(s), and chances are pretty high that you’ll receive reimbursement for your unused portion.

The product may indeed improve the health of some of you out there and may aid in the weight loss process.  However, from my own experience, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend these products, for the sake of your health.  

The most important lessons I have learned from all this is (1) do not take diet supplements; ‘all-natural’, herbal, or otherwise (my family made me promise); and (2) the best way to lose weight is by the oldest, best known method = (a) exercise hard enough to work up at least a little sweat every day, which is at least for 15 minutes; (b) cut back on the junk food.  I did not say cut it out altogether, but cutting back considerably will be beneficial to your weight loss and your health; (c) introduce healthier foods to your daily diet, which consist of fresh, raw brightly colored produce (fruits and veggies), 100% whole grains, and lean protein. 

As far as veggies go, the darker the green, the better – more nutrients your body needs.  As far as fruits go, berries are the best for you, as well as apples.  Apples, strawberries, blueberries . . .

Your meat serving should be about the size of a deck of cards.  If you serve your meal on a saucer opposed to a dinner-sized plate, you will be eating to lose weight, and I don’t mean go back for seconds or stacking the food vertically.  If you want to lose weight, less is more.  Less food = more better. 😉  Don’t overdo or you’ll be overweight.

The fruit and veggies should fit on 50% of your saucer.  Lean proteins should be 25% of your saucer and the whole grains should also be 25% of your saucer.

If you’d like more information on what foods and beverages are best for you, as far as nutrients go and to help aid in the weight loss process, comment me and I’ll run a list of the best foods out there.  Also, comment me if you’d like to know the amount of calories you should be consuming each day, based on your gender, age, height and weight.

It’s not just about being slim, trim and looking better.  It’s about living a healthier lifestyle, feeling better, having more energy, improving your quality of life and living a longer, healthier life.  If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your kids, your family.  They want you around awhile.  Good luck to you on becoming a healthier you. 

-Carol