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Job

Job was not that bad. I was expecting a lot more dismal of a book, but instead it reminded me of how awesome and powerful and mighty is God. Despite all the sufferings of Job, even though he did nothing to deserve them, God is still God. Job basically understood the concept, although at times he was terribly discouraged, as any human being would be. He "got it", for the most part that God is big and we are small. One of my favorite verses in the book is when Job said, "But he stands alone and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases?" (Job 23:13) The three friends were not that much of a help to Job, and I didn't really understand at all the fourth friend.  I liked toward the end when God speaks. He asked Job,"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" It's a good question!

But my favorite verse of the whole book is when Job quotes God in verse 28:28: "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."

Good stuff!

Esther

Esther was a very interesting book to read. It was like a short story that you could have read in 8th grade Literature! Is Esther the only book in the Bible with no direct mention of God? Even so, the hand of God definitely plays a major role! Imagine: a Persian king chooses a Jewish queen; and a Jewish queen is able to thwart the plot of Haman by throwing a couple of banquets to expose his evil.

What did I pick up from the book? I liked the respectful way that Esther spoke to her husband. It definitely worked! I liked Mordecai's steadfastness and conviction; his classic question to Esther is the best: "And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?" - Esther 4:14... And last, and probably least, Haman being hanged on a 75-foot gallows is quite a visual!

My mother's glasses

Sunday, as I was opening the glove compartment, it fell off its hinges and dropped to the floorboard! Amongst the driving manual and some expired insurance cards lay my mother's old pair of glasses. Who knows why I put them there!

They are the prettiest little pair of glasses... a rosy color that looked really good on Mama. Holding them brings back so many memories! The major memory is that Mama always wore glasses. She said she was blind as a bat, almost as if it were a feat that only few in life could achieve. I remember when Mama upgraded to trifocals! She's one of the few people I've ever known to wear trifocals. When we played solitaire, Mama would often say "Let's stop, children, and let me readjust my glasses!" When I got glasses in fifth grade, it felt special to be joining a club that Mama already belonged to.

When Mama had cataract surgery, she exclaimed how wonderful it was to see again! She still wore glasses to read, but at least they weren't trifocals! What's strange is that we (her children) thought she looked better with glasses on! I guess we were so used to them.

There's no need for Mama to wear glasses now; they'd just get in her way, and she can see well enough to get by. But, I'll probably keep these rose-colored glasses forever!

My mother's hands

It doesn't take much for me to get teary eyed these days regarding my mother, who has slipped a notch or two on the Alzheimer's scale this past month. Sitting with Mama yesterday, I took her hands and gave her a love squeeze hoping she would return the gesture. She didn't, but I have to believe that she was squeezing my hands in her heart. What's ironic is while tears are streaming down my face as I'm holding her hand, my mother, who used to be so compassionate just stares as me. I wonder if she's thinking anything. Does she remember all the things she used to do for us with those hands?

Here are some concrete memories of Mama's hands:

• Peanut butter smile - Whenever Mama opened up a new jar of peanut butter, she would draw a smile with the knife on the smooth surface of the peanut butter before digging in and making us our beloved pb & j sandwiches.
• This little Piggy Went to Market - We used to ask Mama to say this nursery rhyme to us with her hands holding ours and going through the motions.
• Cutting my fingernails with her fingernail scissors - I loved to ask Mama to cut my fingernails. She was so careful.
• Washing our hair in the kitchen sink - Mama laid us on the kitchen counter supporting our heads in the sink and gently washing our hair.
• Gently squeezing our cheeks and giving us a kiss
• Checking to see if we had a fever
• Blowing us a kiss when saying goodbye
• Coming our hair and getting the tangles out, very careful not to hurt us

And then there are the countless other activities that I associate with Mama's hands:

• Sewing our clothes
• Washing dishes
• Hanging out clothes to dry
• Folding our clothes
• Ironing our clothes
• Driving us wherever we needed to go
• "Pasting up pages" at The Daily Herald so that our family had enough money to have a few extras in life
  
• Helping us type our research papers
• Picking vegetables from the garden
• Cooking breakfast every morning (biscuits on Sunday!)
• Filling out college financial aid forms

I wonder if Mama ever had any fun?

What's funny is that my hands are shaped like my mother's hands, and sometimes when I look at them I see Mama, and the tears start flooding and there's nothing I can do about it. This has happened at work before! One small difference, however: my hands don't have half the stories to tell that Mama's hands have.

Ezra and Nehemiah

Ezra and Nehemiah were good books to read. Ezra was a priest who returned after the exile, whereas Nehemiah was a governor-type figure. Nehemiah was instrumental in rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem; Ezra focused on reading the book of Law to the people. Both were extremely devoted to God and humbled themselves before Him and wanted to do what was right. They both urged their followers to get straight with God. Both books have lots of prayers to God.

My favorite story in the two books is from Nehemiah chapter 6. The mean people who are trying to thwart Nehemiah and company from rebuilding the wall asked Nehemiah to come see them. Nehemiah knew it wasn't a good idea, and he was bold enough to say, "I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down." That's what I call bold and full of conviction! And, a bit later, when the wall was completed, Nehemiah noticed that these same cohorts had lost their self-confidence because they realized that the wall had been done with the help of God. With God on our side, we can be bold and confident and full of conviction!

Propel vs Aquafina

I like to drink flavored water after a run. My two favorites are Kiwi-Strawberry Propel and Peach-Mango Aquafina. I actually prefer the taste of Peach-Mango a bit more than I do the Kiwi-Strawberry, but Propel's bottle of water is easier to open. The mouth is bigger and I can get a better grip on it. (There's probably a law of physics related to this.) Anyway, after a run when my muscles are a little fatigued, ease of opening is a big deal. As as result, I buy Propel, unless Aquafina is way on sale!

Isn't it funny how we make decisions?

Organic raisins

I bought organic raisins a few weeks ago because they were out of regular ones. Organic raisins are almost twice the price, so I was a little hesitant at first, but, hey, I like raisins on my cereal! Once I tasted them, however, there will be no going back to basic, dry tastes-like-chemicals raisins! The particular brand I got was Kroger brand, as an FYI.  You should splurge, too, the next time you're picking out raisins!

Work!

My level of busy-ness at work today peaked! I'm not kidding. It was multi-task city... and I thought I would scream if I got one more email! The good news is that tomorrow I'm teleworking, so at least I'll be going crazy in the privacy of my own home!

2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles was a little easier to read than the parts of 1 and 2 Kings that it  parallels: for one, the writer just recounts the history of the kings of Judah with little mention of the kings of Israel (except for when they argue or battle with one another!)

The first half of the book is about Solomon's reign, particularly the building of the temple. There's the famous promise of God to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7 after the dedication of the temple: "If my people will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." There's a Michael Card song about that promise, the words almost ver batim, and until now, I never knew the context of it. (Lord, forgive me for not getting into your word until so late in life!)

After that, the writer jumps right into the kings of Judah! History is a little kinder to them; after 70 years, they don't seem as evil. Over and over the Lord stresses to the kings that if they seek him (the Lord), he will be found. The lesson over and over is one of consequences: if you don't obey God and if you worship idols, you will pay dearly! You get the feeling that the book's purpose is to pump up the Israelites who have just returned from exile. It's as if the writer is gently prodding them to avoid a similar fate!

Unfortunately, I still couldn't tell you all the kings' names even after reading about them twice by now. Maybe the more I read these books, the more familiar everyone will become. (At least there is a lot of repetition in the Bible!)

Tally Ho! On to Ezra! I'm hoping to finish the Bible by my birthday.

This is darling!

Watch this little puppy load up the balls and go fetch 'em!

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/2261988/7121109

The background music which sounds like Mozart is peppy; there's a cute little boy who joins in the fun; and the cameraman pans to another little puppy towards the end who clearly isn't as smart as his fetching buddy!