weak sauce

stardate 08102011

i just read the pentateuch through. (as in, Genesis through Deutoronomy.) then Joshua. very good stuff. i thoroughly enjoyed it.

then i read Judges.

sick. shocking. and super disturbing.
dis-turb-ing.
i will not meditate or even think about some of the stories in that book. at one point, i had to have psalms read to me to wash the imagery out of my head.
(my new least favorite character in the old testament is Jephthath. after reading the account of his life i pretty much hate his guts. the who's who of who not to invite if you want me at your party.)
i get it though. Israel was entrusted with the very words of God. and then messed up. big time.
don't we all? over and over and over...

dirty, dirty Judges. it shows the sheer filth of life without the fear of God. times ten spajillion since it was most the nation of Israel. let me just try, having just read it once through, to stab, in no particular order, at some themes here:

• doing whatever you want doesn't work out so great
• God uses some seriously crooked and confused people to accomplish His purposes
• a group of people need leadership
• it is helpful if leaders aren't of moral weak sauce
• being left-handed can be quite a tactical advantage
• women can be vicious and awful 4:21; 14:16-17; 16:15-16;
• men can be stupid and violent 8:27; 11:35,39; 19:25-27
• God intervenes in the gnarliest of times
• He really means what He says so you better do so

then i remembered a verse that sums it up real nice-like:

"All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people,

who walk in ways not good,

pursuing their own imaginations—

a people who continually provoke me to my very face..."

Isaiah 65:2-3a

by His grace, i hope i may never be counted among those. who provoke.

yikes.

special forces on a special day

yep. that would be the two year-old wearing her new special forces cap. suits her.

this girl loves her hats. and bracelets. and barettes. and bags. that's my accessorizing girl. and she didn't learn it from me.

it was truly hilarious to go through the Costco with her in a bright-white ankle-length lace-trimmed April Cornell cotton dress and a black cap that says,

"SPECIAL FORCES:

Mess with the best,

Die like the rest."

it's pretty neat the things they peddle at the Nob Hill/Raley's.

"two two, two two." and now you know how to count to five.

the world is ours to rejoice in. for we know its Creator.
thus comes our haikus of wonderment:

lizards across toes
the crows whom are all our pets
soft donkey muzzles

bright blue plastic ball
mister potatohead hat
sinking pink balloons

nuggets with Page then
shaun the sheep, cousins, grandma,
grandpa on the couch

hearing the news

when i was small—and i mean before 1987 small—a little boy i used to play with in my grandparents' neighborhood died after being struck by a car. (that is one of my least favorite phrases, by the way. "struck by a vehicle" and variants thereof are very ugly words.)
it was unexpected. when i heard of it i was sitting behind our brown recliner with the brass-looking rivets. a friend was over. and i blew it off.
"did you know that kid?"
"yeah," shrugging my shoulders.
what else was i supposed to do? i'd never see him again. was he in hell? did he trust Jesus? i didn't know how to react.
but i was heartbroken.
his name was Paul.
and sometimes i think about his family.
this month is my grandpa's memorial service. he died in his sleep a few weeks ago. a thing we knew would come. expected even. i read it in a text one morning. i didn't know how i'd react to his death. i knew i would see him again by and by.
turns out i smiled. i rejoiced. all i could think of was the wonders he was beholding. seeing clearly. hearing.
Jesus.
but i'm heartbroken.
his name is Roger.
i always think about his family.
and how they just welcomed him home.

just say no...

...to taking pseudo-ephedra pseudaphedrine pseudi... whatever it's called. don't take it at night. even if the very fear of a head cold yields insomnia. this would be more adventageous. it's 00:50 hours and my resting pulse is 96. is that high? it feels awful poundy.

...to starting new projects. i've officially declared this the "summer of completion." i just gave my friends a quilt i began last spring a full 364 days after their wedding—certainly was very Emily Post of me... barely.

...to clearing bush that looks like poison oak.

...to throwing away crochet patterns from the 1940's.

...to wearing anything but sandals in July.

...to putting the ponies with the other barnyard animals.