At It Again - Devotionals from MY Bible - Day 1

  

Genesis 1:1 - In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:31 - God saw all that he had made and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning - the sixth day.

Genesis 2:18 - The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."

Genesis 2:21-22 - So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of man, and he brought her to the man.

Genesis 2:24 - For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.


     So, in rereading the verses for today, I've decided they are rather simple, yet very complex.  I'd like to break down today's study by verse groupings.

     Genesis 1:1 - Simple enough.  God created the heavens and the earth.  But what did that entail?  Think about all the things we know today.  All the continents, all the oceans, all the rivers, all the lakes, all the dialects, everything.  I like this verse because it sums up most of Genesis chapter 1...He created it ALL.
     There are those who would argue that the Big Bang Theory is how it all went down.  To them I ask, "Where did all the dust particulates come from to cause the Big Bang?"  To which they've always replied, "They were always there."  Well, to them I say, "God was always there!"

      I love the imagery given in the Good Book of heaven...yeah, the streets of gold and mansions untold, etc. But that's not really real to someone who grew up poor.  My vision of heaven is a bit more simple and realistic for a country girl.  When the big thunderheads roll across the plains with black clouds gathered below, you know you're in for a storm. But atop the black (figuratively speaking, it could be compared to earth), there are typically brilliant white golden cumulus (puffy) clouds. And when the sun hits them just right, there brilliance is SO overpowering that it hurts to look upon them, but when you do, there is now shadow in the heavens where the light touches.  That is how I see heaven and think about being in God's glory...it will be so brilliant, so overpowering, we will not be able to grasp the wholeness or the full beauty of it.
     So, while the verse is very simple, think about how complex the act truly is.

     Genesis 1:31 - Again, simple. So He saw what He did. He thought it was very good.  And, oh yeah, there was morning and evening on day 6.  He saw what He did...Wow!  He just created everything as we know it today with extras!!!!  Dinosaurs, birds, fish, lions, tigers, bears, Oh my!  Yes, on day 6 He has even created Adam, the first human to live in such a lush richness of compliance and in total open relationship to God.  He saw all this; the earth - land, water, rivers, mountains, waterfalls, oceans, valleys, hills, plants galore, animals galore, and a human; the heavens, His future dwelling place in all the elaborate fancies we can conjure into our limited imaginations and then some; morning and evening.  It was ALL GOOD.  All of it. All of it good...everything down to the last little mosquito and mouse.
      By saying it was VERY GOOD, He, the creator of it all, was saying it was "perfect".  It was as it should be.  God was dwelling with man and all the beasts of the earth, and birds of the air, and fish of the waters.  It was perfectly good in all things.  Beautiful. Breathtaking. Vivid. Bold. Vibrant. Alive. Loved. It was very good.

      Morning.  It is one of my favorite times of the 24 hours given to us.  I love it because if I'm an early riser, I get to see God painting the sunrise and I know that daily it changes...what an imagination God has...so limitless and full.  And in the morning, animals are more active and the birds, and there is a peace in my heart that is so full I want to sing praises until Him for all His glorious creation!  I love mornings.
     Evening. Well, humans have given this two meanings.  1) Before the dusk falls.  When the temperatures have cooled down and the sun is nearing its setting point...thus like morning, animals and birds are active. This is the time to sit down on the porch in your Adirondack chair and have some sweet tea with ice and lemon and maybe a cookie.  It is humanly perfectly peaceful...mostly.  2) It is night.  You go to sleep because it has turned dark.  God has gently leaned in the door of our room (earth) and switched "off" the light so we may get rest for the next fulfilling day.  I like to sleep and I like it more so when it is dark.  So, hooray for evening.

     Genesis 2:18 - We get a bit more complex as we think about that "suitable helper".  I mean Adam has seen ALL of creation just like God.  He's named all the animals and plants and knows each one, but there isn't one he wants to snuggle with.  Now, some may say that God hadn't thought about woman until this point, but God is God.  He already had all this planned.  Of course, He knew she would bite the fruit and take Adam with her and the relationship He had already established would get MUCH harder.
     But, like a doting parent, He didn't want to say "No".  And thus we march into the next verses were glorious, but lost woman emerges.

     Genesis 2:21-22 - The creation of woman.  Have you ever felt on a man or a boy their ribs.  You'll notice they have 11 and there's definitely flesh where number 12 "should" be.  And on a woman or a girl, you'll find she has 12 and no extra flesh where a rib "should" be.  I like to think how man was created from dirt.  And woman, we were created from flesh and bone.  We are wholly a part of man and thus man is wholly part of us because we bear them after 9 months.
       This is like the best gift ever to Adam.  Someone like him.  Similar to him, yet different enough to be unique and attractive and deadly unfortunately.  She is his second half.  She is of him, for him, because of him, and will be with him always.
       And thus, they begin a relationship with each other that is full, open, and wholly partaking of God.  It's the most beautiful relationship we can think of other than that of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  It is a relationship of love, laughter, openness, perfection.  Something we will not be able to attain until we sleep our final sleep.  Beautiful.  Whole. Loving.  Wow!

     Genesis 2:24 - I love this picture.  You see, in biblical times, the sons would stay with their fathers and live there and work their fields and tend their animals until they married.  Once they married, they would leave their family...move out...and the man would now make his own way to be with his wife.  Now back then the woman's family typically gave a dowry which is how the man and woman would live...it was typically herds or fields or both or all that and some gold or silver.
      It is when the man decides to take a wife, that one flesh and one flesh combine to form one flesh.  It's biblical math and when the right one flesh finds another right one flesh and they work it out right, they should be one flesh.  It's how God intended relationships of the flesh to work intimately.  You think alike, you act similar, you complete the other's sentences, you know him/her inside and out.  You can make decisions based on what you know what him/her comfortably and know that it "right" and okay.

      When the two become one flesh, they take the good, the great, the awesome, the "We are truly blessed!" with the bad, the ugly, the "Why do we feel like God is punishing us?".  They take each other through the thick and the think.  They cry together, laugh together, work together, play together, go to battle together.  They are bonded like super glue...flesh to flesh.
       It's a scary thing when you think about it.  Or, maybe if your adventurous, it's exciting.  It's a journey like no other. A journey in love, life, thought, feelings...everything move you make now effects someone else.  You no longer hurt alone...for he/she hurts with you.  You no longer "win" alone...all wins are wins for the one flesh.  You celebrate together and scorn together.  It's a bond like no bond ever before.  Sure, it's similar to a familiar bond, but very different.
      Again, in this creation, we see beauty, love, elegance, determination, perfection through relationship with work.  It's a WOW thing.

      I love the creation tale.  While it is used time and time again in Sunday school and can seem to get bogged down, you have to admit, it's an awesome wonder.  If you put time to think about what it means to create something, you'll gain a new appreciation for what God did for us.  If you're having trouble wrapping your mind around this, try this: Take some clay or play dough and try to make an animal.  It has to be a 3D animal and try to make it look realistic.  It's hard, even for an artist like me.  Once you have that realistic 3D animal, imagine if it came to life.  That, is what creation must have been like...only way faster!

    Tomorrow's verses:
Genesis 5 - We'll be contemplating the ages of all the people with an actual verse 24 being thought of.
     Adam: 930 years
     Seth:  912 years
     Enosh:  905 years
     Kenan:  910 years
     Mahalalel:  895 years
     Jared:   962 years
     Enoch:  365 years
     Methusela:  969 years
     Lamech:   777 years
     24:  Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.

Enjoy!

Updates, Updates, Updates

So, it's been a while since I've updated my blog and many things have happened since then. I've loaded some little clips for you all to see what I've been up to since my last post...keep in mind that Josh and I are boring. If these little clips don't make you happy or inspire feels of excitement...that's fine. Enjoy!

First Show - GOM2010: In March we took girls from our church down to Camp Windermere in Roach, Missouri. GOM stands for Girls on Mission and it is a program that is held yearly and brings missionaries from all over the world to Roach to discuss what they do in service for God. It is also a time of fun and bonding for the girls!

Second Show - Trip to NJ: I had the chance to go to Panasonic North America Headquarters to meet with their Toughbook tech support team for some training. It was a great time as I had never been to New Jersey. I was lucky enough to get a city view room (after asking) and while we didn't have time to go anywhere but to HQ and the hotel, it was a great trip.

Third Show - The Park: The Overland Park Arboretum is a great place to go for walks. Aunt Marty, Joe, Josh and I had the chance to go out on beautiful day for a three hour walk and then some ice cream (not in any of the pictures).

Fourth Show - The Zoo: Josh and I renewed our membership at the KC Zoo. The zoo is a great place to go for walks, talks, and it's a great place to look at animals!

Fifth Show - Royals vs Twins: We received two free tickets to the Royals vs Twins game last Sunday. It was very chilly, but the Royals won!

Sixth Show - Baptisms: God is still alive and moving within our world! Two girls that I've had a chance to teach, tutor, and poke and prod were baptized today. Praise God!

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Scott Family Vacation 2009

So, this year the family vacationed at Bennett Springs. Josh and I spent 5 days with them and had a ball of interesting times...Here are some pictures with descriptions of the adventure...More pictures to come as I download them from the professional camera.

Aspen is ready to grill on Day 1!

This is the first time I've ever seen a lunar moth and he was very pretty and very big!

This is a copperhead that Aspen just walked right over without noticing...sometimes she's so spacey!

Here is a natural bridge that Josh & Melody hiked through...I was fishing.

On the hike, Aspen came back covered in thousands of ticks of all shapes, sizes, and colors. We had to take evasive action with flea/tick dip and a full bath...all in our little wash tub! After we got home, all the ticks were dead, but she wouldn't let us pick them off. Needless to say, we would come home from work and find tons of dead ticks in our bed, on the couch, on their beds, etc.

Here's a little worm snake we all dubbed Rupert.

On Josh's and my last day on the trip, we had Lambert's for lunch. Lambert's is the home of throwed rolls. Any entree you order is all you can eat and in addition to the sides it comes with, you also get extras like fried okra, black-eyed peas, macaroni & tomatoes, fried potatoes, etc. This picture was taken after Seth polished off almost 20 ribs...

This is Josh after he finished all his food...he still had room for a 4th roll!

Our last day, we had to drive through a horrible storm. What should have been a quick 2 hour drive home, turned into a 4 hour drive home. Winds reached speeds of 70 mph and the rain came down in torrents to the point that driving over 20 mph would have been risking our lives.

Human Cruelty to Animals

Scooter looking like a normal dog at our house...she got along with our dogs & cats.

There is one thing that thoroughly disgusts me and that is when a human being beats an animal or neglects an animal. This is my account of "Scooter". Some of these pictures might be "graphic" for little kids.

On Sunday, July 5, Josh and I were returning home after playing tennis. On the ramp to one of the major roads near our home. On the ramp was a Jack Russell dog. Being animal lovers (and the threat of pain if he doesn't stop), we stopped and picked up the dog.

On the way home, I inspected the dog and noticed some fleas, the dog was thin (you could see all the ribs and her haunches), she had several wounds, and was filthy. She looked as though she had been stray for 1-2 weeks in the least.

At home, we gave her a bath and discovered a nest of over 100 fleas living on her back. We washed her twice and used the flea comb to get rid of most of the fleas. We drived her off and fed her a mix of dry and moist dog food. She was not only hungry for food, but also for attention.

Needless to say, that in just a few hours, Josh and I were falling in love. Luckily for "Scooter", she had two rabies tags and that would help us find her owners. I took the task to hand on Monday.

Tag #1 from 2008 - This tag was from Prospect Animal Clinic and they had no record of the tag being listed in their register. The receptionist stated it is likely that the tag was stolen. This was my first RED flag.

Tag #1 from 2006 - This tag was from Bannister Animal Hospital and they had record of the tag, but it was registered to for a Cocker Spaniel. They had a number for the owner and called. The owner claimed that the dog missing was a Jack Russ and the receptionist gave me a number to the owner. This was my second RED flag...you can't confuse a cocker with a Jack Russ.

The Owner - According to the owner, her dog had only been missing for 1 day...24 hours...since July 4. This was my third RED flag.

After speaking with Josh, we decided it would be best to speak with Wayside Waifs to see what they suggested. According to them, they could do nothing in the case of neglect. They suggested we not take the dog back, but contact the KCMO 311 Action Center.

Monday night, we called 311 and they stated we couldn't keep the do because it would be considered stealing since we had spoken with the owner. They suggested we take Scooter to the Animal Control Center/Halfway Home Pet Adoptions so they could investigate the situation.

Tuesday we took Scooter to Halfway Home Pet Adoptions and presented them with the facts and our plea that they look into the neglect case. That was the last time we saw Scooter. We have several friends who have opted to adopt Scooter if she comes up for adoption, but we are still waiting to see how the investigation turns out...we'll have to update you once we get an update.

All of her paws were inflamed and swollen...very painful for her.

Jack Russ' should have hair all over this area & Scooter has none at all!

Several scars & oozing wounds cover her body.

Open wounds were very abundant all over her body.

Lucky Lucie Goosie

Anyone who knows me knows I love animals...all kinds. They would also know that I wanted to be a vet, but couldn't afford to go to Vet school and chose business instead. They would also know that I believe God puts individuals in certain situations to assist when He sees fit. Last night was one of those nights.

Josh and I went out with our friend Burnie and his fiance Starla for some ribs and miniture golf. During the golf game, we made teams and whoever lost had to buy Foo's Ice Cream after the game. On the way to Foo's driving a way we do not normally take, we noticed and injured goose. We were in Burnie's car and of course he would not stop. However, I declared that after Foo's when Josh and I were dropped at home, we would see if the goose was still there, and if so, bring her home for the night so he wouldn't get eaten by any animals.

Well, she was still there. We had a blanket and our large dog kennel. Josh shook his head and said it would never work, but I knew it would. I tossed the blanket over Lucie's head and carried her to the kennel (this allows them to calm down so they don't injure themselves or the human assistance.

We were tailed home by a car. Josh went to talk to them because the stopped one house short of ours. They were none too happy with us and started yelling and cussing at Josh. Josh explained that I was an animal lover and I couldn't stand leaving the goose there to become dinner for some animal so we brought it home. This calmed the older couple down and they explained people had stolen their neighbors fowl before and thought that that is what we were doing!

Anyway, it all worked out as Lucie does not belong to their neighbors and the animal control will come out to pick Lucie up and get her taken care of...I like happy endings!

Lucky Lucie Goosie - full view

Lucky Lucie Goose - Profile shot

Suspected bum left leg - keeping her grounded and at danger.

Pets Galore

So, since we got our new gadget, I can actually take good digital photos and upload them for all the world to see. Anyways, here are some photos of our pets in the order that we actually owned them. Enjoy!


Wiloe Mae (aka Lil Bit) - female - 7 year old long hair Chihuahua


Roseco Roscisimo - Male - 9 year orange short hair tabby


Aspen (aka Big Bit) - Female - 2 1/2 year old Jack Russell Terrier
Aspen was rescued from Wayside Waifs.


Peaches - Male - age unknown Betta



Goliath - Giant White Snail


Blueberry Muffin - Male - age unknown Betta


Fuzz Bucket (aka Fuzz or Fizzle) - Male - 8 month old long hair tabby
Fuzz was a stray picked up in Lamar Colorado

Flamingoing - A Family Tradition

Flamingos. Mostly pink. Long beaks. Long necks. Long legs. Short stubby body. Odd creation by God.

Well before I married my husband, I knew his family had a thing for flamingos. Oh, it is not a love so to speak, but an oddly outrageous obsession. It's not an obsession of love, but one of shear terror and horror and laughs and gags.

It all began with a very old pot. Someone in his family got the idea to hide the pot at another family member's home as a gag. This pot was passed throughout the family as a joke. Someone finally wised up and decided a pot is hard to sneak in and carefully place. This person would be Gma Mumper. She hid the flamingo as a gag and soon it became an out of control frenzy of flamingo placing, secret dancing.

The flamingo is all about pink and quirky fun. The idea is to sneak a flamingo into the person vacinity (house, yard, car, garage, garden, laptop or camera bag, or as a gift). The person whom it left for or given to is greatly loved...and the main point, you ask. Do not get caught.

Rules for flamingoing:

1. Any flamingo will do...be it big, small, bright or dull. Inside or outside, in funny clothes or none at all.


2. If you're smart, you'll label who the flamingo is going to live with. This little trick prevents you from getting him back again and gives the secret away...thus leaving the oppenent hard pressed with a permanent non-matching houseware.


3. It's best if you sneak it and let all others peek it except for the victim. A spot well chosen is best in the open and obvious, but more vicious is hidden hard.


4. You cannot flamingo someone with the flamingo they gave you until it has been to someone new.


5. Given as a gift is best for then they have to share with the rest.

These rules are simple and fun. Best of all, it doesn't have to be a flamingo (though they are rather fun). Perhaps you'd prefer a platypus or walrus or kiwi bird or hyrax or possum?

Any way you go, you're sure to have good clean fun with flamingoing family and friends alike!