In His Image

As I finished reading chapter 1 in Genesis yesterday I had not had time to mention in my blog about God creating man. (Gen 1:27) "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. " Actually, now as I just type those words a thought has come to my mind. God had not yet created Eve, but it mentions how females are also created in the image of God. When God created Adam, He must have known there would be a counterpart such as a woman, since I'm sure all the animals had the opposite sex. He would have had to place the XY chromosomes in the male. I have to go work out right now before classs and finish homework.. but if anyone has any insight to that, tell me please. I will be back later with more.

Alright I am back. I only have a few moments till I have to get ready to go to Jake's soccer game! I hope he is feeling well enough to play. I just got back from class and taught a lesson as if i were teaching piano lessons. The lesson I created was with a younger child in mind. I introduced intervals and Clark, guy in my class, interrupted my lesson and said, "I want you as piano teacher!" everyone loved my lesson and those few words made a big impact on my confidence in becoming a piano teacher. I think i really want to take this seriously and teach piano as much as possible in the near future.

OK, to get back on track I am looking at the end of Genesis Chapter 1. I know it seems like I am taking a really long time to read the Bible, but I suppose that is okay. I just want to take it slow and think upon what God is saying to me at this particular time in my life.

So after the 6th day on which God created man...wait a second. As I am reading chapter 2 I suddenly realize that it seems as though the second chapter is backtracking. I am unsure of this, but that's how I read it. The second chapter I believe goes back to the sixth day. Saying that Adam and Eve were created on the same day. I think this makes sense...but perhaps I am reading it wrong. I am not sure.

Anyways, after God created everything, he took a rest on the seventh day.

This is HUGE! The Almighty Powerful God of the Universe rested after 6 days of work. I doubt God NEEDED a rest, but perhaps he took a rest to set an example for us. We are only human and I don't believe we are supposed to work work work non stop without a day to refocus and rest not only our bodies, but our minds.

I must now leave. Soccer time babay! It's such a beautiful day for soccer too!

In the Beginning.

Sitting here drinking my coffee out of my Jake the soccer player mug, I had the thought that I should post my readings from the Bible as a sort of journaling/devotion/keeping me accountable type thing.

So without further ado...

Genesis 1, The Beginning.

As I begin to read how God began to create the world, I am suddenly aware how clear God is about things we debate about such as the age of the Earth. I am not one for debate, but I will give my thought and opinion on this. Perhaps no one will agree with me on this one, but nonetheless, we are all entitled to our own opinion.

I am not a Biblical scholar without a doubt, and this is honestly the first time that I am going to read the Bible straight through. I have attempted this a number of times, but have never succeeded.

Anyways, if I were to take God's word as is, I would plainly see the evidence that the World which we live in was created not billions or even millions of years ago, but only thousands of years. First of all, there is no evidence in the Bible that the Earth is billions of years old. There is no evidence that there was life before Adam on Earth. There could not have been sin before the fall of man. How could the earth have existed millions or billions of years before God decided to make Adam? I mean, I'm sure it could have, but that is not what the Bible says to me.

In my Old Testament class, our professor believed in an old earth. He studied Hebrew, or Aramaic...which ever the OT was written in.. and interpreted the "THE" in the verse.."in THE beginning as "a". His reasoning was something to do with the fact the word in the original language can mean EITHER the or a. I thought on this idea for a while and have recently decided against it. Our professor was saying that the significance of the Bible being translated as A beginning is that it implies it was just ONE beginning. As if to say, it was now a NEW beginning on earth where God was starting fresh with a new idea based upon an already created earth. I find this hard to swallow when looking at scripture. It plainly describes the process and order of the earth being created, from scratch no less. I also do not believe that there could have been death before there had been sin.

I know people may argue that science says the earth is old. Looking at rock formations, soil deposits and fossils, based on our interpretation and carbon 14 dating, we may see results that show us the earth is quite old. I don't know how accurate the dating is, and really do not have any experience in dating things, but from what I have learned in Geology class, Carbon-14 is not used to date rocks. Only things that were once living. From a scientific view, there are a lot of dating methods which 90% of them give far younger dates than what evolutionists choose to believe. I personally believe that dating methods are fallible and the word of God is infallible. When a scientists' evidence doesn't match up with what is clearly stated in the Bible, this does not entitle us to change the meaning of the text. Many have reinterpreted the word "day" saying that perhaps a day was much longer, maybe years? I do not see how anyone could interpret this that way. To reaffirm that a day is a 24hour period, God has even added, "There was evenin, and there was morning- the first day."

I could get into how the flood would have a significant impact on carbon-14 dating, but I have already gone on long enough about this. Far more than I had intended.

This chapter on creation has got my imagination going. What would have been like to SEE the creation of the world..in just six days. How miraculous! I hope God kept a video of this spectacle. Wow! those are the words that come to my mind when I take a moment to visualize what this would have all looked like.

I want to write more, but alas, it is time to get on with my day. Jake is coming to pick me up very shortly to go to town, perhaps I will write more about what I get out of this chapter later tonight..but then again, I probably won't. I have a ton of homework to do! well until tomorrow!

Baby Suprise!

Wow! Everywhere I go it seems like women are awaiting the arrival of their precious lil ones any day now. I am writing about babies because on this particular day, I am struck by the amazing gift God has given not only to us in the form of babies, but the gift of motherhood. I have heard that today Rachel Hunt is going to pick up her adopted baby at the airport! He is the same age as Drew and he is adorable from the pictures I have seen. I know they have been praying for his arrival for a long time now and am sure they are experiencing something they never have before.

Somewhere else in the world, but actually not far off another little woman has welcomed her precious FOUR newborn babies into the world. Jennie has given birth to quadruplets and I am sure Brittney has the 411 on that one. I can't imagine having four babies at one time! I would imagine Jennie must be feeling an overwhelming sense of Love, and with that, I am sure she wonders how she will care for these tiny babes. How awesome it is though that we know God loves them more than anyone and will give Jennie and Nich the strength they need.

Another mother who I get to hang out with most is Angie! She is such a great mommy! She loves Drew sooo much and Drew loves her. Angie told me that as soon as she had a baby her whole perspective changed. She was more concerned with Drew than herself. Putting her babies needs before herself. I do admire Angie a lot for her strength and maturity she has shown as a mother.

As for me, I won't be have any such babies in the near future.

In the future, I do hope and pray so. I think I would like 2-3 children.

I am excited for the day when I do become a mother but I am content with my life at the moment. I mean, I am not even married yet and I am way more excited about that than babies at this particular point. I am just writing this post to imagine how it must feel for rachel, jennie and angie, who are new mothers at different stages and different circumstances, yet they all share one common thing. A gift of love from God in the form of a baby.

Joy! Joy! JOY!

Phillipians 4:6-7 " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

I am awake and ready for the first day of school. Class doesn't start till 930, yet I was awake at 545, partly due to Gus licking an icecream bowl Jake had left on the coffee table. The reason I couldn't fall back asleep was mostly due to my anxiety that comes with the first day of classes. Will my prof like me? Will the class be challenging enough that I will keep interested or will it be too much of a challenge and I will give up? Will I be able to handle everything this semester? Thoughts like these consumed my sleepy mind, and before long I had to get up and eat some breakfast. I took the time to have a moment to pray about the day, and no longer did I fell anxious. God has it all under control and even when trials and hard days come, God is always there with me. That in it self gives me great Joy. Knowing God has already has a plan and that He will follow through with it. I have decided to keep a prayer journal and today I am going to share with you some of the Blessings in my life right now!

here are just a few;

I am healthy, I have food and a place to live, I am back in school, My grandma is doing great, I enjoy going to Cascades Baptist church and plan on getting involved somehow. My family is doing great, making new friends on campus, Mandy got a new job, Jake is getting healed up and getting lots of playing time. Jake and I have been dating almost 10 months and its so wonderful. Abbey and I are becoming good friends, I am able to work out and eat healthy and seeing results slowly but surely, I have time before classes to spend time with God and blog a bit. God's faithfulness and love. 

I have a lot to praise God for and have realized that I really do need to praise Him everyday, and be in constant prayer with Him.