Funerals...Cemeteries...EightYearOldBoys

Have you ever had an eight year old boy in a cemetery for THREE hours?

Neither had I...until today. Thankfully, I didn't have to brave it alone...hubby was there to maintain order.

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We headed out this afternoon for a short road trip to go to a funeral of a woman who was murdered...we knew her casually, but her daughter has been a long time friend and we wanted to be there to support her.

When we arrived 20 minutes early, we found out the church was already full and people were in line outside to get in. Even with the overflow...there just wasn't nearly enough seating. Apparently everyone in town (small farming community) turned out along with 200 relatives...you got it...200!

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When we couldn't get in, we decided to go ahead to the cemetery thinking it might be about an hour's wait. We found one of the only shade trees and camped out. However, instead of an hour plus, it turned into a three hour wait.

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So, for three hours we endeavored to keep our sanity while a freckled face eight year old folded the seats down for cargo in the van...played "I spy" and hangman until finally we let him out to roam through a country cemetery.

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I told him he shouldn't stand on the graves or climb on the tombstones, but for the life of me, I really don't know what difference it would make. So, we roamed through the graves and had math drills, figuring out how old the people were when they died. He got pretty good at it and was sometimes quicker than I was at the math.

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When that got old, he climbed back into the van and played gum wrapper football, flicking a wadded up piece of foil across the car. Then we went on to "spider". Now for those of you who don't know what "spider" is, I'll tell you. You take your hand and make it crawl like a spider. The object (yeah right...like there really is an object) is to move your spider (hand) before the other person smashes it with his hand or fist. It can be a rather painful game when played with the little man...so we quit it after he squished my hand several times.

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We then moved on to the game most parents detest when they are miles from civilization...in a cemetery...the game of "I am hungry". Of course, we left the big city right about lunch time and grabbed a few snacks from home to hold us over for a couple of hours. With the snacks exhausted and the bottled water running at about 80 degrees in the shade, the whining started.

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Thankfully, the funeral party arrived and as we were walking up to the tent where the ceremony was to take place, our little man said he wanted to see the body. With hand over mouth and a tight grip on his shoulder, we pulled him aside to warn him about using the word "body" at this moment. He basically got his speaking rights revoked.

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We had a few minutes to speak to our friend. Her attitude was of one who knew where her mother was residing and was at peace with that knowledge. There was not an air of sorrow, but of joy in knowing that even though the circumstances were bizarre, her mother was with the Lord. The family was together enjoying each other's company and you could hear laughter in the crowd. Children were running around and, you guessed it...climbing on the tombstones.

Zoe

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Zoe,Zoe,Zoe

Zoe...life

Last night on the local news, we heard the horrible news that a woman in our area of the country was murdered. She was in her 70's and was apparently killed by a young man in his 20's who had recently moved into this sleepy little farming town. The shock was that we knew her daughter and had from time to time been around this little lady as well.

Our little son lay in my lap sound asleep and I found myself weeping as I prayed to live...live to see him grown...live to see grandchildren...and live actively and purposefully all the days were are here.

The reality of this last year was that death had been all around us. Death of dreams and hopes...the fear of death...fear that the man who has been bothering my Dad might harm him...fear of loosing my husband or our kids...fear of loss...yet something remarkable happened this week especially this morning.

When I awoke, the Lord reminded me of a verse...John 10:10.

The thief cometh not,

but for to steal,

and to kill,

and to destroy:

I am come that they might have life,

and that they might have [it] more abundantly.

We have lived this verse this past year, but didn't recognize it. We had the thief come to steal and kill and to destroy, but I had failed to see beyond the death of it all.

Jesus said that He came to bring us abundant life. The word in the Greek for life is zoe and here is a sampling of it's meaning...

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"of the absolute fullness of life, both essential and ethical, which belongs to God, and through him both to the hypostatic "logos" and to Christ in whom the "logos" put on human nature, life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, in the portion even in this world of those who put their trust in Christ, but after the resurrection to be consummated by new accessions (among them a more perfect body), and to last for ever, to enjoy real life, to have true life and worthy of the name, active, blessed, endless in the kingdom of God" (blueletterbible.org)

As I got out of bed and turned on my email...there was a message that another friend of our is being induced this morning...a new life is on the way. I cried to think of how God brings life when death seems to be all around us. Then I read on to another email...our son-in-law's Aunt who was brought into the hospital dead from a motorcycle accident is now beginning to respond and that through this miracle one of the family members has come to Christ. More life... more tears.

The realization...I must remember today and every day to live a ZOE life because even in the midst of ashes, He brings beauty. He not only gives us life, but abundant zoe, (over and above, more than is necessary, superadded). It kind of makes ya want to shout...excuse me if you will...I have some life to give and life to live...

Blessings (Shalom) and PERISSOS ZOE to all of you...

ForLackOfASubject

Ever have one of those duh moments where you feel like Patrick on Sponge Bob Square Pants...drool coming out of one corner of your mouth because you are not sure what to say next? Thusly (not a word, but I like it), for lack of a subject for this post, here goes...

Last evening, the hubby and I went to a local cafeteria style restaurant. Little man was in V.B.S., and teen daughter was involved in rehearsals for a musical. A rare moment of actually being alone for about an hour...so we decided to get a bite to eat. It seems we were looking rather haggard at the end of a busy day as we were handed the bill at the end of the serving line by a spunky young woman probably in her late 20's.

We found a quiet booth where we could talk and unloaded our trays. We were noticing the people around us...I'd say most...but not all...were about 60's and up. As we were getting ready to leave, Hubby looked at the bill and slid it over to me asking...

"Notice anything unusual about this bill?"

I started laughing as I read where it should have said "adult buffet"...it said "senior buffet".

Welp dearies, it looks like it is time to order some "Frownies" for the lines in the face...perhaps a new bra or a gallon size jar of cover up. By the way...have any of you actually used "Frownies"?

HelpingHeadaches

For the last three days, I have had a headache...nothing like the migraines so many suffer from, but nevertheless a very annoying disturbance to my day.

Well, sometime ago in Dr. Balch's book, I read to put your feet in warm water while icing down your neck...so I took it one step further. I took my pain reliever which hasn't helped for days, put my feet in warm water and then iced down my neck.

After I got my feet nice and warmed up, I headed to the bed for an afternoon rest with the ice bag still on my neck. Several hours later, I arose to find my headache gone and my body rested. So, if any of you suffer from headaches, you might want to take Dr. Balch's advice.

From me to you

Signed,

ALWAYS LOOKING FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO GOING TO THE DOCTOR.

Smiles...

TheFaceoff

For those of you with teenage drivers in the house, you understand what it is like to buckle up shotgun as you let that "TEEN" show you their driving skills. I've learned that this is a good time to clean out my purse or forage in the back seat...from the front seat...for some unknown lost item. Also, I try to act interested in the C&W music blaring from the radio even though in actuality, I am trying to divert my attention from what my daughter calls "good driving" to looking at a CD jacket in which I am not the least interested.

I try to use the excuse..."I'll drive my car to save you on your gas"...whenever we are going somewhere together. Sometimes, that is truly the case, but other times it is because my nerves can't stand much excitement that day.

Another fact about driving with a teenage daughter is the continuous "driver hacking" that goes on. This is not a clearing your throat kind of thing, but rather a verbal hacking at any driver that does not get out of the way fast enough or sits one nanosecond later after the light turns green to gun it into the intersection. My sweet daughter (eldest daughter did the same thing) declares through her frustration at other's mistakes that older citizens should not be allowed to drive.

Well, today as I was browsing the stories on FOX, I came across this piece of information which I instantly sent on to my daughters...A recent study by RAND Corp. showed that in 2001, drivers who were 65 years or older made up around 15% of all licensed drivers in the U.S. These senior drivers caused around 7% of all the accidents while those between the ages of 18 to 25 who accounted for 13% of all licensed drivers caused 43% of all accidents.

Now as some of you know, my Dad will be turning 90 next month, and we will be having an informal celebration here, then he will jettison off to be with my other siblings to celebrate the big day. I would like to have a face off between this nearly 90 year old man and his 17 year old granddaughter on this issue of driving. Somehow I think it might be a stalemate.

Man&WomanDisciplined

In Women's Bible Study we have been discussing "Women Issues" directly from the Bible. This has not been a bash men kind of study because I believe that to be counterproductive. The reason we started the Study was to show women who they are in Christ...to give them an understanding of God's intent for them so that they can move ahead and do what God has commanded them.

We have been meeting every other week on Tuesdays at a local restaurant in the evenings. We have the place to ourselves, so even though I try to end on schedule, we have the liberty to discuss further if they so desire. This study is to challenge these women to dig for themselves because the Holy Spirit is the teacher. Anyway...

Last night we were discussing this very subject...the discipline of man and woman and here is the short of it.

Principle: Man and Woman were created to have God rule over them. When they rejected God's ruler ship by disobedience, they, being beings who had to have someone or something rule over them...became slaves to a different master...let me explain.

Woman and man were standing together when the serpent was weaving his lies...check it out (Genesis 3:6). They had been warned about eating from this tree. Woman began to lust after this tree thinking she was missing out...it looked good to eat, she coveted or lusted after it and she coveted wisdom. Now let's think about this for a moment...she already had the maker of the universe as her teacher right there in the garden...she had access to his wisdom and His life through the Tree of Life. What was she missing...nothing.

Remember, man and woman were ONE, and God's intent was that they operate in that manner, but woman decided she was going to be making the decisions and reached out, grabbed and ate of the very tree just seconds before she had told the serpent would create death. Adam, standing quietly by accepted the fruit and ate of it also.

Man was sure that the woman who was "God's Help" to him was making the right choice. In Genesis 3:17, God tells man that he is being punished because he listened to his wife. The Hebrew for "listened" means "obeyed the voice". Man made woman's voice supreme over God's voice. Oops. Wow...the power of a woman's influence.

So why the punishment? Woman was trying to rule over man, so God turned the tables and had man rule over her. She elevated herself above God's Rule, thus rejecting the One who formed her.

Man assumed the help the Lord had sent his way was right. He too knew what God had said, but without a second thought became a partaker in the rebellion. He accepted her word above God's, so he was forced to "serve" the earth from which he came.

Once again, I am very thankful for Christ's work of restoring us.

Remember, they were made to rule over God's creation together. God made mankind two, for increased results. God's discipline was for a period of time until Christ came to restore us. In the spiritual sense, we have already been restored...both man and woman. Paul says that in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek...male nor female...we are all of one body. He even goes on to say that one part cannot dishonor another part, but all are important.

Even with all of the test tube reproductive work, it still takes a man and a woman to create a human. All of the seed in the entire world cannot produce apart from a suitable environment for growth...All of the wombs in the entire world cannot produce without seed.

We ended by talking about the need for honoring each other while remembering that Jehovah God is ruler over all of His creation including us.

In two weeks, we will be discussing in Bible Study what the New Testament says...especially Paul's writings. Comments?

SoWhatDidYaThink

Here were the two questions posed

1. Why did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden if He didn't want them to eat of it?

2. Why did God discipline man and woman in the way He did? (For next post)

Here's a little more information which might help. The scene is the garden planted for mankind. It had everything necessary for this new couple. God put two trees in the garden which were different from all the rest. One was the Tree of Life. This tree was given freely to them to eat of any time they wanted. Of course...God is life so it is not surprising that He wanted them to eat freely of life. You might think of this tree as the Tree of Life for Eternal Life.

His intent was for man and woman to live eternally from the very beginning.

The second tree specifically identified was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This tree was the death tree, or the Tree of Death for Eternal Death. God made it abundantly clear that this tree would cause death. He told them the penalty for eating from this tree. There was nothing hidden from them. He put before them a choice...death or life.

This reminds me of conversations I've had with our children. When I offered them a choice and they found out what they picked was yucky, then they wanted the other "thing" you originally put before them. Sometimes I even told them which would be the right choice, and they didn't listen. But as a good parent (although sometimes I relented), I told them they had made their choice and would have to live with it.

God, through Moses offered the same choice to the Israelites.... Deut 30...

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you,

[that] I have set before you life and death,

blessing and cursing: therefore choose life,

that both thou and thy seed may live:"

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So, because of the choice they made in the garden, God had to remove access to the Tree of Life from them. God did not want them to live forever...they and their children in a state of eternal disobedience and death. Removing the Tree of Life was an act of love. Thank goodness for Jesus!

God knew they were going to be faced with a choice, so He gave them a "visual" and then gave them the answer to the question. They had the answer to the test!

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When the test came through a submitted beast who had willingly allowed Lucifer to enter and use it's beauty to beguile the pair, they had in their possession the answer to the question.

More later...but here is something interesting. The word "serpent" means "to hiss or whisper like the whispering of a soothsayer"...the root word means "to practice divination, observe signs, learn by experience". It is interesting that "learning from experience or learning the hard way" is associated with satan. "Learning from obedience" is God's way.

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Adam and Eve learned through experience and suffered the consequences. Perhaps that should be a question all of us should ask ourselves...Is experience the best teacher?

MoreQuestions

More questions for those who are doing the challenge.

These are out of Genesis as well, here goes...

1. Why did God put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the garden if He didn't want them to eat of it? (Hint: This tree is absent in the account in Revelation 22, in fact this tree is mentioned only twice...Genesis)

2. Why did God discipline man and woman in the way He did? (Hint: take a look at what happened in the scenario between the serpent, man and woman.)

Okay, these are the questions for today. I'd love to read your thoughts.

AboutTheTwoQuestions

Saturday's post offered a challenge to answer two questions. The first about Adam's Rib, and the second about woman being a help meet.

In an intimate Bible study last week, I asked these women of God to respond to five statements and choose whether they were true or false. The first statement was this..."Woman was created from Adam's rib" and the second was "Men have one less rib than women". On both statements they answered "yes, that is true". I too had assumed these statements to be true for a long time.

However, as I began to study Genesis, I found out something just plain old wonderful about how God formed us. Rena's comment covered a lot of ground in answering the two questions posed in Saturday's post. I do want to add a few comments and references if you so choose to check this out yourself.

Genesis 1:27 says God created adam or mankind (BTW adam is the Hebrew word for man or mankind) in His likeness both male and female. Both sexes are in God's likeness.

Genesis 2:21 says God caused a very deep sleep to come over adam or mankind and he "seized, lay hold of, acquired" one tsela (Heb). That one tsela was a side. Not like we think of a side as grabbing where the ribs are, but a side when you look into the mirror and say "this is my left side and this is my right side" meaning one half of the body. It is interesting that the root word for tsela means "to be lame" which gives the hint that it was more than a rib...a rib does not make you lame.

After taking one side from adam, God closed up "the flesh". This word "basar" in the Hebrew is usually translated "body". God closed up the body. (P.S. Another little tidbit of info about the usage of the word "rib"...in a preponderance of O.T. scripture, this is translated side as in the sides of the tabernacle...)

From the side, God made woman which means "opposite of man...from mankind".

In Genesis 2:23, Adam the male speaks and says this..."This one (talking about woman) this one time bone bone body body...This one called woman...opposite of man". I am taking out the filler words to help you get a picture. Here is Adam standing in front of one just like him except different. I can see him looking at woman and pointing back and forth between man and woman as he understands the concept...bone bone, body body. Adam calls her woman because she was seized, fetched from man (this word for man is not adam, but is iysh coming from the same root word ishsah which means woman...more identification that they were from the same beginning).

The next verse...Genesis 2:24 speaks of a man...iysh leaving his parents and cleaving to his ishshah...woman. It is for this reason...what reason???...a man leaves to join to his woman or wife? This reason is the need for completeness. When Paul quotes this verse in Ephesians 5:31, the Greek word for cleave is glue...for the advantage of.

There is an advantage having your other side...at least there should be. If woman were inferior, then she would not be an adequate help mate for man...which I'll talk about in a minute.

Genesis 5:1-2 mentions again the creation of mankind...here is the Hebrew without fillers, "...day God shaped, formed, created mankind likeness God male female shaped, bless, to call, to name or appoint mankind (adam) day created". In other words, male and female were called adam or mankind and God blessed them, called them, named or appointed them as a unit.

To not belabor the point and to move on to the question about help meet, Rena once again had a wonderful feel for the word ezer which is translated "help meet"...a suitable helper. It is interesting once again, when you look at the bulk of other O.T. scriptures which uses this word ezer, it is referring to God's help.

God made woman to be a suitable helper. A suitable helper takes on a different flavor when it is understood that woman was not made from one rib, but rather one side. It is a military feel where two are better than one...to quote scripture. They were alike, but different and when for "this reason" they are glued back together...they become mighty because they suit each other. In war, I would not want to have a "helper" whom I had to drag around, because that "helper" would be inferior to me. I would have to exert twice the effort to get anything done. God honored man by creating woman . Whenever a man dishonors a woman, he is ignorant, and whenever a woman dishonors a man, she is ignorant.

We talk so much about unity in the Body of Christ, but the first unity needs to come in the hearts of men and women and how they view each other. With each "side" expressing themselves after God's likeness, unity is just part of the flow.

This will make even more sense if you are taking the Genesis challenge as we move to another head scratching question tomorrow. I would love to hear your thoughts. Eventually we will tackle the N.T. questions as well, but for now...We will stay at the beginning...

LoveThemRibs

Okay...for those of you who are taking the Genesis challenge, here are the first set of questions.

#1 Was woman created from Adam's rib? This may seem obvious, but here are some links to concordances you can check out. http://www.blueletterbible.org and http://www.biblegateway.org .

Hints: Adam, adam is used for man and for mankind, "he made him male and female", the Hebrew word tsela' can also mean side which comes from a root word meaning to be lame, Why do you say when your husband leaves on a trip..."I feel like half of me is missing"?

#2 What exactly is a help meet? This one...you are on your own.

Comments?

AreYaReadyForAChallenge?

Wrinkle cream aside, are you ready for a challenge?

This challenge stems from a Women's Bible Study about God's Intent for Women. What's cool is that neither men or women get crushed or malled in the study...in fact just the opposite.

So, here's the challenge...Answer a few questions from the Bible...mostly out of Genesis...you can use your Bible and your concordance or other reliable helps. I need your input for another Bible study in two weeks. If you are up to it, email me at cherylgo53@yahoo.com... and put as the subject..."Yeah...I'll take your challenge". Gloves are off...no soft soap selling.

Yes, I'm asking before I throw out the questions. I'll give you a hint...they are about the creation of mankind. With each question...one a day...I'll be throwing out scripture hints...links to Bible concordances, etc. If you don't want to email me...then just respond "yep".

Not only that...I want to tag you to round up some answers from your readers as well and ship me your results.

What we talked about Tuesday night kind of caused a rethinking of the entire subject...rather exciting. If you are ready to roll up your sleeves, then let me know. I want to stay on base with truths from God's Word, and this is an opportunity to challenge me as well. First question will come after I hear from you...

P.S....I don't think this wrinkle cream is working and it smells "interesting"...not good...not bad...just interesting...any suggestions?

BeforeYouReadThisPostOnTheChiro...

This was absolutely hilarious...I was reading http://prayingforaprodigal.blogspot.com/ and found out she is rated PG-13...I went to the site she suggests and found I was rated PG for the use of the term "fart".

Wow...I've seen PG movies which should have been rated PG-13 for giving out pornographic nudie magazines at an old folks home! (This is funny...you know when you do spell check all of these "suggestions" pop up...well here are the suggestions for nudie...nu die, nude, nudder and Nettie...how very helpful!)

...and praying is rated PG-13? Okay...so be it...

Now for the response to my chiropractor.

ResponseAboutTheChiro

Okay...apparently HIS comment hit a nerve...well, you would just have to know him. He's a very good chiro and also a straight shooter, so no offense taken.

To add to the comments...little man keeps reminding me "You don't need to eat that, Mom!" every time I go for any food he deems to be a hip bloater. I just tell him..."I know where you live so you better watch it". All in all, those type of comments don't bother me much. The chiropractor tells me everything he thinks I need to do to stay young and active, from nutrition to wrinkle cream. He also knows I am a 54 year older mother with an 8 year old. Little man doesn't need to spend any vocal air time explaining to his friends why his mother looks just like their grandmother. It might be a point of vanity, but for now, the hair dye will remain and the fight to keep the pounds off will stay on course.

I often quote that verse about how God renews our strength...our youth...'cause I have to have both. Psalm 103:5 says he satisfies our mouth with good so that our youth is renewed. It is the idea of repairing our youth...like wrinkle cream. Then in Isaiah 40:31...God says that those who wait or look eagerly for the Lord, He will renew their strength. It is the idea of new growth on a tree. The story I cleave to...being an older mother...is the Abraham/Sarah one...if you remember she was quite "youthful" even in her old age causing some of the kings to "want" her. It cannot visualize what she must have looked like, but she still had the zing about her!

Hey, I'm not looking to line my lips up to my nostrils or make my cheeks look like I have a round ice cube beneath my skin, but my desire is to see my children grown...and married if they so choose, and, to hold my future grandchildren. I want to play with them. I don't want them having a memory of G'ma as someone who was half dead when they were born.

As to the comments? Some I take as good counsel...then others I trash them as I walk out the door...no one is perfect.