July 14, 2012 Greetings My Friend, Thoughts at large: I have been writing my blog for 4 years now. That seems weird to think on. Anyway, I tend to read my blog to Junior. I read it out loud to him for a couple of reasons. The reading out loud helps me to ‘hear” what I have written. I also want to bring God into the everyday and I want to bring the God of the Bible so Junior helps me know if I am on the mark. As I read the blogs there are the ones where I discuss struggles we are facing. I want to be upfront and honest about my faith journey because that is what I am on is a journey. Again once we say the sinner’s prayer does not mean you become the “perfect” Christian right away. It has been a growing process and will continue to be a growing process. I can see where I once was and where I am now. I like the way I have changed and I feel peace even in the midst of my struggles. One of the benefits of reading my blogs to Junior especially the ones where we are struggling is that Junior “hears” and then I see changes. My blog on being a hypochondriac has turned Junior around for the most part. I am not hearing how lazy I am and I believe he finally gets my struggle to work my way out of this depression. I am getting fewer negative comments and that helps me move forward. So I read Junior the blog about me being lost with the house in dis-order. I struggle to follow his work style. He will work in the front room for a day or two and then he will build a dog kennel. Now the kennel did need to be put up because of complaints from the neighbors. That would mean he needed to stop and get that going. He wanted to put cement in and the weather turned bad so he came back in and worked in the front room. I had a hair appointment one day. Out here we tend to lump our running into a one day run. Junior went with me to get my hair cut and then we went to the hardware store where he bought some cement for the kennel. So today he is working on putting cement down and the front room is waiting. Through the years I have learned that Junior will complete what he starts. He will do an excellent job and I will love what he does. I am waiting anxiously for the finished product so to speak. The bedroom is mostly done. The closets need skin on them and an organizer put in. The bathroom needs the washer moved out, a cabinet moved in and the ceiling put up. We are close to being done in some rooms. What is close to being done does looks wonderful. As I write, I begin to understand that Junior does not see order like I see order. I remember when he retired and took over the house work. I came home and the counter tops were filled with things. I asked him to clean the counters off. He did not see the clutter I saw. So me saying I need a house in order does not register because Junior does not see dis-order. It would be hard for Junior to give me what I want because he doesn’t see with my set of eyes. The house will come together and we hopefully will live many years in it. For now though, I cope through the dis-order. I have started at the beginning of the Bible again. As I go through the chapters I find myself anticipating the upcoming events. I love reading about Adam and Eve and creation. We went to the Creation Museum one time and they had Adam and Eve in the garden. They were good looking people. For me I grew up with the Darwin theory and I was surprised that they did not look more ape like. I don’t believe that theory but it has impacted me. Now when I read about Adam and Eve, I see in my mind’s eye the Adam and Eve in the Creation Museum. As I read I hear over and over “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” For me this has been an eye opener. I have had people from another religion tell me that we worship the same God. Prior to reading the Bible I never knew the difference. Now though, to me if I want to know God then I need to read this book, not any other book. I need to read it because God says, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” To me if I want to know God, then I need to learn from the book that teaches me this fact. There is Jacob. He is the son of Rachel, Isaac’s 2nd wife’s child. Rachel was the wife Isaac loved. He got duped into marrying Rachel’s older sister and then he had two wives. Jacob was not liked by his brothers and was sold into slavery. Jacob goes from being a slave to the 2nd in command in Egypt. It is an amazing story. Through the years I have learned that these events may have happened thousands of years ago but their relevance can still have bearing on today. I used to think that the Bible was too old for us to learn any good lessons from. Nope, not true. One thing I think on often is the “wilderness experience.” The Israelites wound up wandering around in the desert for 40 years. There are times I see in my own life I have ‘wilderness” moments. The two moves in two years to me was a “wilderness” experience. I am starting over once more and reading through the Bible and I am anxiously waiting for the lessons that will be for me this year. That’s the other thing. I continue to learn, sometimes from the same lessons a new way to deal with my life. Junior tends to pick one book of the Bible and reads through it slowly. For me I need to the read through plus. I read my Sunday school lesson and hopefully this year I can begin even another study along with the reading the Bible through. My brain tends to need to jump around in order to learn so this is what I do. Junior’s brain doesn’t need it and one book read through slowly works for him. Are you reading your Bible? You know for those that prefer to “hear” there are the audio Bible’s. May God bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you. Love Janet