I get knocked down....but I get up again - you are never gonna keep me down!

Old Testament time again. This week we studied Genesis 25-50. I had so much fun reading these chapters. So many great stories and lessons. Here is one that stuck with me throughout the week!

Joseph of Egypt - some would say he deserved a small portion of what he got. You can't be the youngest and taunt the older siblings by telling them they are going to bow down to you and you are going to rule over them. Probably not Joseph's best idea. However, he didn't deserve what his brothers did. One brother, Judah, convinced the others to not kill him. (Have you read Judah's story? I almost died laughing....check out Genesis 38!) He leaves for a bit and comes back to learn that his brothers sold Joseph into slavery.

Joseph is sold to Potiphar. You can see his work ethic and character shine bright during his time as a servant to Potiphar. He rises through the ranks and is given charge of Potiphar's household. Then, Potiphar's wife accuses Joseph of rape and he is thrown in prison. Again, Joseph begins to work and do what his character would have him do. This causes him to rise in the ranks at the prison until the keeper of the prison puts Joseph in charge. It's like everything Joseph tries to do, he succeeds.

He interprets the dreams of the Pharaoh's butler and baker. One of them dies, and one of them gets out of prison. He forgets about Joseph for 2 years until the Pharaoh has strange dreams and the butler remembers Joseph and tells Potiphar about him. In one day, Joseph goes from head prisoner to Vice Pharaoh in one day. (What do you think that looked like?)

The bottom line of Joseph is this: whatever he is, he is the best that he can be at it. Can you say the same thing? I know I have some work to do. I tend to start to feel sorry for myself. I wonder if Joseph did this. What are your thoughts?

Picture taken from the play Joseph and the Techni-Color Dream Coat that my brother-in-law was in. The camel was tired and done!

Old Testament Fun

This semester I am taking a class that covers the first 450ish pages of the Old Testament. Part of my weekly assignments is to post here an idea/thought from that weeks lesson. So, for the next 14ish weeks, I will be posting each Sunday insights and cool things from the Old Testament. If you have any questions, be sure to let me know!! I truly am learning to DELIGHT in the scriptures.

This week our block of Scripture was Genesis 4 - 11. Much of this weeks reading included the story of Noah. He is a descendant from Enoch and is one of the few who chose to follow God. Noah spent his time preaching about Jesus Christ, repentance, and baptism. He warned the people of the coming destruction. Many try to take his life because of this. His message was not received and the world is filled with corruption and violence. 

Noah and his family enter the ark and the rain starts. It rains for 40 days. Everyone living on the earth is destroyed. Then, the earth is flooded for 150 days. Can we talk about this for a minute? Noah and his family were in the boat for a minimum of 190 days. I am one that gets extremely sea sick within seconds of getting on a boat. Just thinking of being on a boat for that many days causes my anxiety level to rise. Many will say that the Lord blessed them, and I am sure that is true. One thing that I have learned on a deeper level recently is that there are some trials we just have to endure. Some of our trials cannot be taken from us. 

When we moved from Anchorage to San Diego, we decided to take the ferry from Haines, Alaska to Bellingham, Washington. It was a 2 day drive to Haines (I get car sick). We boarded our boat, The Colombia, on Monday night and got off the boat in Bellingham Friday morning. I got off the boat every possible chance, including when we stopped in Juno during the middle of the night. To say I was medicated the entire time is an understatement. I did occasionally come out of our cabin room to spend some time with the kids, but I was miserable. The kids had a great time. Playing with other friends (both that came with us and that they met on the boat), watching movies in the movie theater, playing in the game room, doing puzzles, and looking at the beauty from the deck of the boat. What did I do? Sleep! Now maybe you can understand the anxiety that I feel when I think about 190 days on a boat!! 

I wish we knew more of what happened on the boat. I guess that isn't important information for us to know, but I think it would be interesting to hear if one of them was sick the whole time, if they fought over silly things, and if they ever questioned why it was taking so long. I find myself doing that in the middle of my trials. I question the Lord and ask how long I have to keep enduring this specific trial. 

The takeaway from these chapters for me is found in 2 ideas. 1 - we need to heed the words of the Lord's prophet. He speaks what we need to know. I'm sure the people in Noah's time were wishing they would have listened when the rain started. 2 - the Lord keeps his part of the covenants we make with him. We are not perfect in our part, but he is perfect in his. He will always come through. It is His plan and His timing, and even when it is hard, we need to trust in that. He wont forget or choose not to follow through. His timing is just different than ours. One day we will be able to see the entire picture, but for now, we can only see our little puzzle piece.

Delight....

My One Little Word last year was SING. I was able to learn so much about myself and how to value my contribution to the world. I know I didn't post much, however, I was consistent and did complete monthly focus projects centered around my word. 

I am doing the class again this year. The word I chose for 2018 is DELIGHT. I am deliberately choosing to find delight in many places. I will post about it (hopefully a little more) this year and hope you can join me in finding delight in our circumstances.