NGU. Never Give Up.
In my time here at Central I’ve heard this phrase repeatedly. Coaches say it to athletes. Friends say it to friends. Certain professors say it to groups of students.
It has been a rough week. There has been no continuation to the Joseph story this week because I have not had the focus to be able to tell it the way I want to and there has been too much else on my mind, begging to be written. Joseph will return, fear not.
Back to the rough week. I’ve been being challenged to stretch and grow in new ways. This is not a bad thing, but it is a difficult thing. I have amazing friends though who are walking with me on this journey. Also this week there has been a lot of hurt on campus. A friend of mine decided that life was no longer worth living and we have been grieving our loss. I’ve had some difficult conversations with friends as I’ve tried to come alongside them in their hurt. Something in my dinner tonight tried to kill me. I’m on lots of drugs right now. There were days this week when it hurt too much to move.
It’s after weeks like this that you just want to curl up and sleep under nice warm blankets. But then these three little words come into mind.
Never Give Up.
Even though the going is tough, we need to keep on going. There will be better days, weeks, months, years.
But we can’t keep going alone. This has been a theme for me the last few weeks. I can’t do life alone. I need my community around me. This does not make me weak. It makes me strong. Asking for help takes guts. Telling your friends that you need a shoulder to cry on takes courage. I’m not all the way there yet. I may never be there, but I’m learning. Be patient with me, G-d’s not done with me yet.
Community alone is not enough either. I cannot and do not expect my friends to be able to carry me. It’s not their job and that is okay. I have Jesus and he will never give up on me. As I sat to write this, before I got interrupted by the fire alarm, one of my favorite songs came on itunes. It’s called “You Never Let Go” by Matt Redman. The chorus goes:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me
For rest the lyrics click here.
No matter what happens. No matter how messy life gets. No matter how broken, weak and tired I am, G-d is never going to give up on me.
NGU friends, NGU.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Post from a friend
So, my friend, Lisa R. (also referred to as mommy Lisa) wrote this really cool note and posted it on Facebook. It really spoke to me and I wanted to share it with all of you. I agree with what she is saying. So, from here out, it is Lisa's words, not mine.
To my Christian male friends:
Be MEN of G-d. Furreals. Be leaders. Put yourself out there for a girl. Let her know that she's worth it, cause chances are, if she doesn't know that you want to be with her, you're playin with her mind. If you want something to happen in the form of a relationship, don't just hint at it. Voice your feelings. Put on your man pants. And I know that rejection is a fear. I know this. But if you're going to be the spiritual head of a home someday, start NOW by being a leader. Lead her. Let her know that she's worth pursuing. Love her. Tell her that you adore her. Tell her that she's beautiful. Girls don't think you're weak if you tell her these things. And if you're around a guy who's on the phone with his girlfriend and says, "I love you, beautiful," don't tease him. You're then giving into the social "norm" that all men have to be ruff and tuff, emotionless. G-d made you with emotions too. But at the same time, be strong. When her world crashes down around her, hold her up. Pray for her. Push her closer to G-d.
To my Christian female friends:
Be WOMEN of G-d. Don't take control of relationships if you're in one; don't be the one pursuing if you're not. If you take that responsibility out of a guy's hands, you're taking away the one thing that he was created for [okay, guys, don't take that the wrong way. I know you were made for more than that.]. You crush his spirit with feminist worldviews of "Women can do everything that a man can do...AND we can do it better." Let the guy lead. Let him pursue you. If your heart has been broken before, don't go into another relationship thinking/fearing that he'll do the same. You'll end up expecting the hurt, and then becoming paranoid, and, quite honestly...what's worse than a paranoid girl? [We're fantastic at over-reacting to things.] Allow yourself to be pursued, led, and step back. Let your guy take the reins. Trust him to step up to the plate. Once he knows that you trust him...he won't want to let you down. Don't distrust guys simply because someone left you hanging. Not all men are like that. I promise.
Yeah. That's it. Pretty much.
To my Christian male friends:
Be MEN of G-d. Furreals. Be leaders. Put yourself out there for a girl. Let her know that she's worth it, cause chances are, if she doesn't know that you want to be with her, you're playin with her mind. If you want something to happen in the form of a relationship, don't just hint at it. Voice your feelings. Put on your man pants. And I know that rejection is a fear. I know this. But if you're going to be the spiritual head of a home someday, start NOW by being a leader. Lead her. Let her know that she's worth pursuing. Love her. Tell her that you adore her. Tell her that she's beautiful. Girls don't think you're weak if you tell her these things. And if you're around a guy who's on the phone with his girlfriend and says, "I love you, beautiful," don't tease him. You're then giving into the social "norm" that all men have to be ruff and tuff, emotionless. G-d made you with emotions too. But at the same time, be strong. When her world crashes down around her, hold her up. Pray for her. Push her closer to G-d.
To my Christian female friends:
Be WOMEN of G-d. Don't take control of relationships if you're in one; don't be the one pursuing if you're not. If you take that responsibility out of a guy's hands, you're taking away the one thing that he was created for [okay, guys, don't take that the wrong way. I know you were made for more than that.]. You crush his spirit with feminist worldviews of "Women can do everything that a man can do...AND we can do it better." Let the guy lead. Let him pursue you. If your heart has been broken before, don't go into another relationship thinking/fearing that he'll do the same. You'll end up expecting the hurt, and then becoming paranoid, and, quite honestly...what's worse than a paranoid girl? [We're fantastic at over-reacting to things.] Allow yourself to be pursued, led, and step back. Let your guy take the reins. Trust him to step up to the plate. Once he knows that you trust him...he won't want to let you down. Don't distrust guys simply because someone left you hanging. Not all men are like that. I promise.
Yeah. That's it. Pretty much.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Rules
I've been thinking about rules a lot lately. No real reason why, just because.
There are some rules that everyone (or almost everyone) follows. Like "don't hit" and "wear your seatbelt" and "don't punch your friends in the face because you are mad at them" and "don't pull fire alarms when there is no fire" and "if the fire alarm goes off, go outside (unless it's just cuz papa burned the toast)".
Then there are rules for certain places (These are all real rules that were/are in effect in various places). Examples:
Central College: don't drink alcohol on campus. don't smoke on campus. don't have candles in your room. no co-ed sleepovers in the dorms.
The van to and from highschool: don't bite the driver. don't throw things at the driver. warn the driver before screaming really loudly. no knee touching. don't throw your hairbrush in the car.
The table: don't throw food that Joy is allergic to. eat at least half your food. either all your plates have to be the same color or they all have to be different. make room for everyone who wants to join. give lots of hugs. tell people if you are going to miss a meal.
In class: raise your hand before talking. don't bring pets to exams. write your exam on the day it's scheduled unless your wife is in labor. hand your homework in on time. don't check your email during class. don't talk on the cell phone/text in class. participate.
There are also rules for specific situations:
When you have seizures: don't climb trees. don't swim alone. don't drive.
When you want to go for a walk: tell someone where you are going. take a buddy if it is night time. don't go if the weather is really bad. wear your coat if it is cold.
When you have no motivation: read a chapter of your textbook before watching Bones. do five problems before eating a snack. stay off facebook until your paper is done.
When you want to paint a picture: wear your painting clothes. don't paint the walls. wash your brushes when you are done.
There are also rules for specific people:
Joy has to bring her epipen with her when she goes places. Joy can't hang out with Kari at 2am (unless there is a fire alarm or some other really good reason). Oolash has to come to dinner. Isaac has to take his medicine before breakfast.
There are even rules in math like: brackets, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction (BEDMAS), 2+2=4
Rules are made for a reason. They usually stop something unpleasant from happening. Wearing a seatbelt when you're in a car keeps you from getting really hurt if there is an accident. Not throwing food that Joy is allergic to keeps Joy from getting sick. Not bringing pets to exams keeps everyone from getting distracted and staying off facebook until your homework is done keeps you from failing. Joy and Kari not hanging out at 2am makes sure that they don't get overtired. You get the idea.
Other rules (like math rules) keep things orderly. I think there are computer rules too that keep things orderly, but that's not something I know a lot about.
They keep us safe and keep society orderly. Imaging what a final exam would look like if everyone brought their pet (which they had not been keeping in their dorm room because that is against the rules). Or if 2+2 sometimes made 5. It would be chaos!
It would be so nice if we could just make a rule about the seizures. It could be: no more seizures. or: seizures can only happen once a week and only at night while I'm in bed.
Those would be nice rules, but probably wouldn't be very effective.
Here are some good rules that will always be good:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (proverbs 3:5)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cornithians 3:17)
We are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
I could keep going because there are lots of good rules, but if I do, I will break the rule that says my lights have to be out by 10:37 tonight.
There are some rules that everyone (or almost everyone) follows. Like "don't hit" and "wear your seatbelt" and "don't punch your friends in the face because you are mad at them" and "don't pull fire alarms when there is no fire" and "if the fire alarm goes off, go outside (unless it's just cuz papa burned the toast)".
Then there are rules for certain places (These are all real rules that were/are in effect in various places). Examples:
Central College: don't drink alcohol on campus. don't smoke on campus. don't have candles in your room. no co-ed sleepovers in the dorms.
The van to and from highschool: don't bite the driver. don't throw things at the driver. warn the driver before screaming really loudly. no knee touching. don't throw your hairbrush in the car.
The table: don't throw food that Joy is allergic to. eat at least half your food. either all your plates have to be the same color or they all have to be different. make room for everyone who wants to join. give lots of hugs. tell people if you are going to miss a meal.
In class: raise your hand before talking. don't bring pets to exams. write your exam on the day it's scheduled unless your wife is in labor. hand your homework in on time. don't check your email during class. don't talk on the cell phone/text in class. participate.
There are also rules for specific situations:
When you have seizures: don't climb trees. don't swim alone. don't drive.
When you want to go for a walk: tell someone where you are going. take a buddy if it is night time. don't go if the weather is really bad. wear your coat if it is cold.
When you have no motivation: read a chapter of your textbook before watching Bones. do five problems before eating a snack. stay off facebook until your paper is done.
When you want to paint a picture: wear your painting clothes. don't paint the walls. wash your brushes when you are done.
There are also rules for specific people:
Joy has to bring her epipen with her when she goes places. Joy can't hang out with Kari at 2am (unless there is a fire alarm or some other really good reason). Oolash has to come to dinner. Isaac has to take his medicine before breakfast.
There are even rules in math like: brackets, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction (BEDMAS), 2+2=4
Rules are made for a reason. They usually stop something unpleasant from happening. Wearing a seatbelt when you're in a car keeps you from getting really hurt if there is an accident. Not throwing food that Joy is allergic to keeps Joy from getting sick. Not bringing pets to exams keeps everyone from getting distracted and staying off facebook until your homework is done keeps you from failing. Joy and Kari not hanging out at 2am makes sure that they don't get overtired. You get the idea.
Other rules (like math rules) keep things orderly. I think there are computer rules too that keep things orderly, but that's not something I know a lot about.
They keep us safe and keep society orderly. Imaging what a final exam would look like if everyone brought their pet (which they had not been keeping in their dorm room because that is against the rules). Or if 2+2 sometimes made 5. It would be chaos!
It would be so nice if we could just make a rule about the seizures. It could be: no more seizures. or: seizures can only happen once a week and only at night while I'm in bed.
Those would be nice rules, but probably wouldn't be very effective.
Here are some good rules that will always be good:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (proverbs 3:5)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cornithians 3:17)
We are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Romans 8:37)
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
I could keep going because there are lots of good rules, but if I do, I will break the rule that says my lights have to be out by 10:37 tonight.
Monday, January 25, 2010
A band-aid will never fix it all the way.
So, it's Monday night and I just finished my 5th class of the day. One class was cancelled due to weather, so technically it was a "light Monday". In reality, I should be getting ready for bed, taking some tylenol and snuggling up with my heating pad to try and relax some very sore muscles (lots of muscle spasms and seizures the past few days/week). What I would love to do is put my life jacket on and get in a nice heated therapy pool and so some basic stretching, ROM, and relaxation stuff, but Pella doesn't have a heated thereapy pool, and even if they did, it would not be open at this time of night. So Arnica, Tylenol and a heating pad will have to do. But before that, I need to write.
Every week we have to write a reflection paper for my night class on the speaker and whatever reading has been assigned. This by no means will represent my final paper, but something was said tonight that I have to process and I wanted to share it with all of you. As I said, it is late and I'm post-seizure, so coherence might be lacking. Bear with me.
The speaker tonight was the local hospital chaplain so we were discussing things related to being a hospital chaplain and issues related to that. (This is the same chaplain who came to see me last fall after my first seizure when things were looking really bad. I don't know if he remembered me). Towards the end of the class, I finally asked the question that has been on my mind a lot. "What do you do with the questions: "Why me?" and "Why does G-d let bad things happen to good people?" and the like?"
I know that I asked those questions when he visited me in the hospital, but I have no memory of what he said.
He paused. And answered with a question of his own. "What is really behind that question?". As a group we generated some answers. A sampling includes: "Did I do something to cause this?" "Is G-d really good?" "If G-d is good, why is this happening?"
We sat with those questions for awhile and then he spoke again. He told us that there was no easy answer and that there was a lot of hurt behind those questions. Then he talked about the dangers of giving an easy answer. He drew an analogy that really hit home with me.
When you have a deep wound, one that goes deeper than the surface, it is important to make sure it heals from the inside out. Deep wounds are not simple bandaged, but rather, they are cleaned out and then packed full of stuff (and by stuff I mean mostly sterile dressing material). This keeps the outside from healing over before the inside has healed. In some cases, if a wound is not packed properly, the outside heals before the inside and the inside fills with fluid and infection and tons of junk. Then the doctor has to go in and cut it open (lance it) and let the healing start all over again (if it is not lanced it sometimes just bursts on its own after the pressure has built up inside). This is much more painful than giving it time to heal properly the first time.
Life is like that. Some hurts run really really deep. Sometimes you just want to put a "bandage" on the hurt and when the outside looks good, you figure it is healed. But it's not. The real hurt is just festering underneath and someday, it will burst out. And it will hurt.
Healing deep hurt is hard. It takes time. It takes work. It takes time. It's not a quick fix. And the outside is going to look messy for awhile. You could go for a bandaid solution and the outside will look neat, for awhile. Then the hurt will fester and burst out. And then you have two choices: Another bandaid or working deep and hard to heal the hurt. The hard work will be scary. It will mean being vulnerable. It will hurt. It will take a lot longer than just sticking a band-aid on it. But it will be worth in in the end. And we don't do the work of healing alone. We've got Jesus to help us. Healing is kind of his thing. He does a lot of it. And he never just settles for a band-aid.
A bandaid will never fix it all the way.
Every week we have to write a reflection paper for my night class on the speaker and whatever reading has been assigned. This by no means will represent my final paper, but something was said tonight that I have to process and I wanted to share it with all of you. As I said, it is late and I'm post-seizure, so coherence might be lacking. Bear with me.
The speaker tonight was the local hospital chaplain so we were discussing things related to being a hospital chaplain and issues related to that. (This is the same chaplain who came to see me last fall after my first seizure when things were looking really bad. I don't know if he remembered me). Towards the end of the class, I finally asked the question that has been on my mind a lot. "What do you do with the questions: "Why me?" and "Why does G-d let bad things happen to good people?" and the like?"
I know that I asked those questions when he visited me in the hospital, but I have no memory of what he said.
He paused. And answered with a question of his own. "What is really behind that question?". As a group we generated some answers. A sampling includes: "Did I do something to cause this?" "Is G-d really good?" "If G-d is good, why is this happening?"
We sat with those questions for awhile and then he spoke again. He told us that there was no easy answer and that there was a lot of hurt behind those questions. Then he talked about the dangers of giving an easy answer. He drew an analogy that really hit home with me.
When you have a deep wound, one that goes deeper than the surface, it is important to make sure it heals from the inside out. Deep wounds are not simple bandaged, but rather, they are cleaned out and then packed full of stuff (and by stuff I mean mostly sterile dressing material). This keeps the outside from healing over before the inside has healed. In some cases, if a wound is not packed properly, the outside heals before the inside and the inside fills with fluid and infection and tons of junk. Then the doctor has to go in and cut it open (lance it) and let the healing start all over again (if it is not lanced it sometimes just bursts on its own after the pressure has built up inside). This is much more painful than giving it time to heal properly the first time.
Life is like that. Some hurts run really really deep. Sometimes you just want to put a "bandage" on the hurt and when the outside looks good, you figure it is healed. But it's not. The real hurt is just festering underneath and someday, it will burst out. And it will hurt.
Healing deep hurt is hard. It takes time. It takes work. It takes time. It's not a quick fix. And the outside is going to look messy for awhile. You could go for a bandaid solution and the outside will look neat, for awhile. Then the hurt will fester and burst out. And then you have two choices: Another bandaid or working deep and hard to heal the hurt. The hard work will be scary. It will mean being vulnerable. It will hurt. It will take a lot longer than just sticking a band-aid on it. But it will be worth in in the end. And we don't do the work of healing alone. We've got Jesus to help us. Healing is kind of his thing. He does a lot of it. And he never just settles for a band-aid.
A bandaid will never fix it all the way.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Week 1 Update
I’ve been back on campus for a week now and what a week it has been. To start with, it is great to be back. Travel back was good and uneventful, which is a huge blessing considering some of the trips we’ve made across Michigan at this time of year. Mommy and Angela brought me as far as New Lenox (Chicago area), where I met up with Jess and she took me rest the way. Being back on campus is great. There have been many many opportunities for hugs and fellowship, including some crazy 3am worship and prayer.
This is my last semester at Central, Lord willing, which is bittersweet. I will be sad to leave everyone here when I graduate, but I will have accomplished something amazing, and that not by myself, but with the help and prayers of all of you. I got to worship with my family at First Baptist Church this morning and it was good.
As far as the seizures go, this week as been rough. Really rough. I have had more seizures in the past week than I did the entire month that I was home. There are no easy answers as to why I have had such an increase in seizure activity. Someone jokingly told me that there must be something in the air here. So I ask for your prayers. Pray that G-d will release me from the seizures so that I don’t spend so much of my time exhausted and hurting.
I’ve also been having a little more trouble with my vision this week, so prayers for that would also be appreciated.
Be blessed!
This is my last semester at Central, Lord willing, which is bittersweet. I will be sad to leave everyone here when I graduate, but I will have accomplished something amazing, and that not by myself, but with the help and prayers of all of you. I got to worship with my family at First Baptist Church this morning and it was good.
As far as the seizures go, this week as been rough. Really rough. I have had more seizures in the past week than I did the entire month that I was home. There are no easy answers as to why I have had such an increase in seizure activity. Someone jokingly told me that there must be something in the air here. So I ask for your prayers. Pray that G-d will release me from the seizures so that I don’t spend so much of my time exhausted and hurting.
I’ve also been having a little more trouble with my vision this week, so prayers for that would also be appreciated.
Be blessed!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Story Time: Jospeh, Part 2 - Crazy Dreams
Time for part two of my retelling of the Joseph story. When we left Joseph last time we had learned about his siblings (all 11 of them) and the conflicts that existed between Jacob’s wives. We also learned that Joseph and his brother Benjamin were Jacob’s favorite sons.
Part 2
Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. We know that Jacob played favorites with his wives, so it’s no surprise that he also played favorites with his sons. He was very obvious about his favoritism and really didn’t try to hide it. One day he gave Joseph a beautiful coat. The Bible says that it was richly ornamented. Traditionally we called it a coat of many colors. The exact specifications of this coat are unimportant. What is important is that it was a very clear indication that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. To make matters worse, Joseph was a bit of a tattletale. There is nothing like tattling to make your siblings hate you. Trust me on this one…I’ve only got half as many siblings as Joseph, but I know a thing or two about tattling and sibling rivalry. So, after Joseph tattled on his brothers shepherding skills, they were all hanging out around the “base camp”. Joseph started having dreams. Today there are a variety of views on the importance of dreams. Some people think we can actually learn stuff from the dreams others believe they are just the by-products of our imaginations. However, in Joseph’s time, dreams were mucho-important.
Joseph has this dream and decides to tell his brothers about it. Imagine this: They are all sitting out in the sheepfold, maybe around a small fire for warmth (it gets cold in the desert at night). The conversation lulls a bit as they all drift off to that land that is half way between sleeping and being awake. The time that is perfect for deep, intellectual conversation. The flames of the fire play across their faces. Joseph speaks. “Hey guys. I had this dream the other night. Wanna hear about it?” His brothers grunt noncommittally as boys are apt to do. Joseph takes the noncommittal grunts as an affirmative and begins to tell about his dream. “So, we were all out harvesting the grain one day. All 12 of us were there. We were binding the grain into sheaves (a sheath of grain is basically just a bundle of grain tied around the middle with a piece of fiber. In groups of three or more they can be made to stand upright like little tiny haystacks. Sheaves are then stacked into bigger piles to store for the off season). All of a sudden my sheath left my hands, moved away from me and stood upright. All by itself. Then, the sheaves that each of you were working on also left you and came over by mine. Instead of standing up though, they bowed down to my sheath. It was weird.”
His brothers are more awake now. Their indignation rang out. “What!??!” “You think we are going to bow down to you?” “If we bowed to anybody it would be Reuben. He’s the oldest” “You’re such a dreamer.” “Go to sleep you little twit and don’t get any grandiose ideas about yourself.” Slowly, after making snide comments to each other, silence settles back over the group and one by one they drift off to sleep.
The next night the same thing happened. They were sitting around the fire, drifting off to sleep when Joseph decided to tell them about his other dream. This time, instead of being out in the field binding grain they were up in the heavens. Joseph himself was some sort of celestial body, his brothers were stars and his parents were the sun and moon. Once again everything bowed down to Joseph. Once again his brothers ridiculed him and called him names.
The next morning he decided to tell Jacob about the dream. His father loved him very much. Surely he would not ridicule him for his dream. Wrong. Jacob flipped out. His blood pressure rose. “What are you talking about Joseph? This dream of yours? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? You are talking crazy. Stop this foolishness.”
His brothers who had overheard this exchange shot self-satisfied looks to each other. Their father agreed. This was foolish talk. His father however tucked this away into the recesses of his mind. He’d seen some pretty crazy stuff. Heck, he’d even wrestled with YHWH himself back in the day. Anything was possible.
Some time passed and Jacob sent his sons, except for Benjamin and Joseph, out to a place called Shechem to find better pasture for the sheep. This added to the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers. They had to go work and Joseph got to stay home. Such a pet.
Some time later Jacob decided to send Joseph to Shechem to check up on his brothers and the flocks. He gave him some provisions for the journey and supplies to bring to his brothers and Joseph went on his way.
That’s all for now. :) More later.
Part 2
Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. We know that Jacob played favorites with his wives, so it’s no surprise that he also played favorites with his sons. He was very obvious about his favoritism and really didn’t try to hide it. One day he gave Joseph a beautiful coat. The Bible says that it was richly ornamented. Traditionally we called it a coat of many colors. The exact specifications of this coat are unimportant. What is important is that it was a very clear indication that Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons. To make matters worse, Joseph was a bit of a tattletale. There is nothing like tattling to make your siblings hate you. Trust me on this one…I’ve only got half as many siblings as Joseph, but I know a thing or two about tattling and sibling rivalry. So, after Joseph tattled on his brothers shepherding skills, they were all hanging out around the “base camp”. Joseph started having dreams. Today there are a variety of views on the importance of dreams. Some people think we can actually learn stuff from the dreams others believe they are just the by-products of our imaginations. However, in Joseph’s time, dreams were mucho-important.
Joseph has this dream and decides to tell his brothers about it. Imagine this: They are all sitting out in the sheepfold, maybe around a small fire for warmth (it gets cold in the desert at night). The conversation lulls a bit as they all drift off to that land that is half way between sleeping and being awake. The time that is perfect for deep, intellectual conversation. The flames of the fire play across their faces. Joseph speaks. “Hey guys. I had this dream the other night. Wanna hear about it?” His brothers grunt noncommittally as boys are apt to do. Joseph takes the noncommittal grunts as an affirmative and begins to tell about his dream. “So, we were all out harvesting the grain one day. All 12 of us were there. We were binding the grain into sheaves (a sheath of grain is basically just a bundle of grain tied around the middle with a piece of fiber. In groups of three or more they can be made to stand upright like little tiny haystacks. Sheaves are then stacked into bigger piles to store for the off season). All of a sudden my sheath left my hands, moved away from me and stood upright. All by itself. Then, the sheaves that each of you were working on also left you and came over by mine. Instead of standing up though, they bowed down to my sheath. It was weird.”
His brothers are more awake now. Their indignation rang out. “What!??!” “You think we are going to bow down to you?” “If we bowed to anybody it would be Reuben. He’s the oldest” “You’re such a dreamer.” “Go to sleep you little twit and don’t get any grandiose ideas about yourself.” Slowly, after making snide comments to each other, silence settles back over the group and one by one they drift off to sleep.
The next night the same thing happened. They were sitting around the fire, drifting off to sleep when Joseph decided to tell them about his other dream. This time, instead of being out in the field binding grain they were up in the heavens. Joseph himself was some sort of celestial body, his brothers were stars and his parents were the sun and moon. Once again everything bowed down to Joseph. Once again his brothers ridiculed him and called him names.
The next morning he decided to tell Jacob about the dream. His father loved him very much. Surely he would not ridicule him for his dream. Wrong. Jacob flipped out. His blood pressure rose. “What are you talking about Joseph? This dream of yours? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? You are talking crazy. Stop this foolishness.”
His brothers who had overheard this exchange shot self-satisfied looks to each other. Their father agreed. This was foolish talk. His father however tucked this away into the recesses of his mind. He’d seen some pretty crazy stuff. Heck, he’d even wrestled with YHWH himself back in the day. Anything was possible.
Some time passed and Jacob sent his sons, except for Benjamin and Joseph, out to a place called Shechem to find better pasture for the sheep. This added to the jealousy of Joseph’s brothers. They had to go work and Joseph got to stay home. Such a pet.
Some time later Jacob decided to send Joseph to Shechem to check up on his brothers and the flocks. He gave him some provisions for the journey and supplies to bring to his brothers and Joseph went on his way.
That’s all for now. :) More later.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Story Time: Joseph, part 1
Over the last few days I’ve been reading the stories of Joseph. Those of you at Central who have been doing Bible in a Year have been reading the same stuff. Joseph is another one of my favorite stories to tell and I had so much fun doing the telling of Exodus 17:8-15 that I decided to do Joseph as well. Joseph’s story starts in Genesis 29 and goes through chapter 50, with lots of sides stories thrown in for good measure, so, in an effort not to overwhelm you or myself, I’ll tell this story in parts.
Part 1
Joseph’s story starts with his father Jacob (also known as Israel). His story actually starts before then with the story of Jacob’s father, Isaac, whose story starts with the story of his father, Abraham, whose story starts…you get the picture.
Now, for reasons we aren’t going to discuss here (it has to do with deception and trickery and a death threat), Jacob was living away from his immediate family. He was living with a relative named Laban. (Laban was Jacob’s mother’s brother…so his uncle). Jacob had been living with Laban and working for him for some time when he fell in love with his cousin, Rachel who was very beautiful. Laban offered to pay Jacob for the work he had been doing so Jacob and Laban made a deal in which Jacob would work for Laban in exchange for Rachel. This sounds rather crazy today to our Western minds – working in exchange for a wife, and that wife being your cousin – but that is the way things were done there and there was nothing wrong with it. Laban agreed to the deal and seven years later there was a wedding. Laban however was not the most honest person. Either that or his desire for honor overcame his honesty. For whatever reason he did not hold up his end of the deal. When Jacob woke up in the morning after his first night as a married man, his wife took off her veil (he hadn’t seen her yet due to Jewish custom) and instead of beautiful Rachel being there, it was her older sister Leah, who was not as beautiful in Jacob’s eyes. (In Laban’s family it went against custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one was married) Jacob was pretty upset with having been tricked, although it kind of served him right since he had tricked his twin brother out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing, but that’s another story. So Laban and Jacob struck another deal – another seven years of work and then Jacob would get Rachel, the beautiful sister he loved. This time there was no trick and he married Rachel. So after 14 years of work Jacob has married his cousins, the sisters Leah and Rachel. Being married to more than one person was not frowned upon then as much as it is now.
Leah had a servant named Zilpah and Rachel’s servant was named Bihlah. They’ll become more important in a little bit.
Now even though adults tell us they don’t play favorites, they do. Even Jacob did. It was very obvious to everyone that he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. Now YHWH knew that Jacob didn’t love Leah, so to make up for it, he decided to bless Leah with children, while not allowing Rachel to have children. One after another Leah had four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
This frustrated Rachel who had not had any children yet. I can imagine that there was a little bit of sibling rivalry going on between Rachel and Leah. So, since she wasn’t able to have children she gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob so that he could make babies with her. This is another ancient Jewish tradition. Since Bilhah belonged to Rachel, any babies that she had would belong to Rachel. So Bilhah had a son and Rachel named him Dan. Then Bilhah had another son, whom Rachel named Naphtali.
So at this point Leah has four sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah) and Rachel has two sons through Bilhah (Dan and Naphtali).
Leah wants to get in on the action so she gives her servant, Zilpah to Jacob. Just like with Bilhah, any children that Zilpah has will belong to Leah. Zilpah’s first son was named Gad and her second was named Asher.
Now things are really rolling. There’s a battle going on between Rachel and Leah to see who can bear Jacob the most children. At one point they even make a deal with each other along the lines of “if you do this for me you can sleep with Jacob”. I wonder how Jacob felt to be in the middle of all this, but I’m not a man, so I have no idea.
Leah had two more sons and a daughter – Isachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
Then Rachel got a turn again and gave birth to Joseph, the main character in our story.
A bunch of stuff happened, including Jacob leaving Laban and being reunited with his brother Esau, Rachel stealing Laban’s gods, Dinah being violated and whole bunch of people being circumcised and then killed and some pretty cool meetings with YHWH. If this was a story about Jacob, I'd tell these parts, but it's about Joseph, so these parts aren't as important for this story.
After all this Rachel finally had another son, Benjamin. Unfortunately, Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin.
So in total Jacob had 12 sons (in order): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Isachar, Zeubulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. He also had one daughter, Dinah.
Since Rachel herself had born Joseph and Benjamin, they were Jacob’s favorites, which made them the least favorite of all the others. Which, as you can imagine, caused some problems.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more later!
Part 1
Joseph’s story starts with his father Jacob (also known as Israel). His story actually starts before then with the story of Jacob’s father, Isaac, whose story starts with the story of his father, Abraham, whose story starts…you get the picture.
Now, for reasons we aren’t going to discuss here (it has to do with deception and trickery and a death threat), Jacob was living away from his immediate family. He was living with a relative named Laban. (Laban was Jacob’s mother’s brother…so his uncle). Jacob had been living with Laban and working for him for some time when he fell in love with his cousin, Rachel who was very beautiful. Laban offered to pay Jacob for the work he had been doing so Jacob and Laban made a deal in which Jacob would work for Laban in exchange for Rachel. This sounds rather crazy today to our Western minds – working in exchange for a wife, and that wife being your cousin – but that is the way things were done there and there was nothing wrong with it. Laban agreed to the deal and seven years later there was a wedding. Laban however was not the most honest person. Either that or his desire for honor overcame his honesty. For whatever reason he did not hold up his end of the deal. When Jacob woke up in the morning after his first night as a married man, his wife took off her veil (he hadn’t seen her yet due to Jewish custom) and instead of beautiful Rachel being there, it was her older sister Leah, who was not as beautiful in Jacob’s eyes. (In Laban’s family it went against custom to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one was married) Jacob was pretty upset with having been tricked, although it kind of served him right since he had tricked his twin brother out of both his birthright and his father’s blessing, but that’s another story. So Laban and Jacob struck another deal – another seven years of work and then Jacob would get Rachel, the beautiful sister he loved. This time there was no trick and he married Rachel. So after 14 years of work Jacob has married his cousins, the sisters Leah and Rachel. Being married to more than one person was not frowned upon then as much as it is now.
Leah had a servant named Zilpah and Rachel’s servant was named Bihlah. They’ll become more important in a little bit.
Now even though adults tell us they don’t play favorites, they do. Even Jacob did. It was very obvious to everyone that he loved Rachel more than he loved Leah. Now YHWH knew that Jacob didn’t love Leah, so to make up for it, he decided to bless Leah with children, while not allowing Rachel to have children. One after another Leah had four sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah.
This frustrated Rachel who had not had any children yet. I can imagine that there was a little bit of sibling rivalry going on between Rachel and Leah. So, since she wasn’t able to have children she gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob so that he could make babies with her. This is another ancient Jewish tradition. Since Bilhah belonged to Rachel, any babies that she had would belong to Rachel. So Bilhah had a son and Rachel named him Dan. Then Bilhah had another son, whom Rachel named Naphtali.
So at this point Leah has four sons (Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah) and Rachel has two sons through Bilhah (Dan and Naphtali).
Leah wants to get in on the action so she gives her servant, Zilpah to Jacob. Just like with Bilhah, any children that Zilpah has will belong to Leah. Zilpah’s first son was named Gad and her second was named Asher.
Now things are really rolling. There’s a battle going on between Rachel and Leah to see who can bear Jacob the most children. At one point they even make a deal with each other along the lines of “if you do this for me you can sleep with Jacob”. I wonder how Jacob felt to be in the middle of all this, but I’m not a man, so I have no idea.
Leah had two more sons and a daughter – Isachar, Zebulun, and Dinah.
Then Rachel got a turn again and gave birth to Joseph, the main character in our story.
A bunch of stuff happened, including Jacob leaving Laban and being reunited with his brother Esau, Rachel stealing Laban’s gods, Dinah being violated and whole bunch of people being circumcised and then killed and some pretty cool meetings with YHWH. If this was a story about Jacob, I'd tell these parts, but it's about Joseph, so these parts aren't as important for this story.
After all this Rachel finally had another son, Benjamin. Unfortunately, Rachel died while giving birth to Benjamin.
So in total Jacob had 12 sons (in order): Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Isachar, Zeubulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. He also had one daughter, Dinah.
Since Rachel herself had born Joseph and Benjamin, they were Jacob’s favorites, which made them the least favorite of all the others. Which, as you can imagine, caused some problems.
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more later!
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