Judges and Ruth

The book of Judges is filled with violence. It was not an easy read. The story of Samson, beginning in chapter 13, is probably the most heroic figure from Judges. When his first wife was burned to death by the Philistines, Samson attacked them to get revenge. He was taken prisoner but through the Spirit of the Lord he was able to kill a thousand of the Philistines using a jawbone of a donkey. Later, he takes a lover named Delilah. She tricks him into telling her the secret of his great strength. After she cuts off his long hair, the Philistines are able to recapture him. They take him prisoner and gouge his eyes out. He prays to the Lord to give him strength to push down the temple pillars causing the roof to collapse on his enemies. He dies along with them.
The book of Ruth is a much more enjoyable and even eloquent story. It takes place during the same time period as the Judges. It is the story of the loving bond between a young widow and her mother-in-law. Ruth was a Moabite, a despised enemy of Israel. Yet the Lord used her to produce Israel's greatest king. Ruth's great-grandson turned out to be David.

Day 47: Second Grade

Tyrisha showed up after being out with pink eye. "IwantmysackofValentinecandy."
"Oh," this from a smart kid, "The teacher threw it away. We thought you moved."
Tyrisha, big for her age, bawled all morning.
And then this happened. During transition time (changing from one activity to the next) Daniel slipped something into my hand. It was a tag cut from inside his shirt. On it he had written with a skinny marker: Mrs. J. I love you. XOXOX

Black History Month

Okay, we spent time in the library reading about famous black Americans, now I want you to pick your favorite person and fill out this graphic organizer with all the important information you can remember. Then you can use that info to write up a short paragraph about why they deserve a special trophy. We'll go to the computer lab to type it up and you can tape what you wrote to these cute little trophies.
So pick your famous black American.
I want Hannah Montana.
You can't do Hannah Montana.
Waa, Why not?
Hannah Montana is not black.
Well, this is stupid. I don't want to do it.
Why don't you pick that girl that won the Grammy Award, Jennifer Hudson?
No, she's stupid.
How about Tyra Banks?
She's stupid.
I know, you could pick Malia or Sasha Obama.
NO, they're both stupid. Waa, I want to do Hannah Montana.

Thoughts on Joshua

I finished the book of Joshua this morning, continuing my goal to read through the Bible. In the third chapter, The Israelites followed the ark of the covenant into the Jordan River. The Jordan, being at flood stage at that time, stopped flowing so that the Israelites (including 40,000 soldiers armed for battle) were able to cross over to the opposite bank, close to the city of Jericho. Later, all these Israelite men were circumcised. They celebrated Passover and the manna stopped falling from Heaven. The Israelites were able to eat grapes, olives, the produce of the land. In chapter 10, the Israelite army, following Joshua's leadership, was involved in a great battle with the Amorites. On the day that his army claimed victory, Joshua prayed to the Lord to stop the sun from setting thus making the day twice as long. My question; I don't doubt that this happened but why was it necessary since the battle was already won? In the end, Joshua had the five kings who had opposed him in the battle killed and he took over all their lands.

The Surprise Bike

I had a deprived childhood, not necessarily poor but because I grew up in the country there were no trips to an air-conditioned movie theater, or getting together with friends at the local swimming pool. Summers were hot and tended to last a long time and I found the only way of cooling off was taking long walks in the woods behind our house. So a memory that really sticks out in my mind is the blazing summer day when my Dad came home from work with a used (second-hand he called it) bike in the back of his dusty truck. It was a surprise gift for me and it proved to me that he was not only thinking about me that day but that he also loved me; something that I can't remember him ever saying with words. That beloved blue bike became my freedom that day. I loved riding it through the alfalfa field to the gravel road behind our house. I'd pump as hard as I could up the hill, actually more of an incline and coast all the way down to where the road connected to the highway. That downhill trip was probably a quarter of a mile long and all the while I 'd feel the cool breeze surrounding me, it was the best kind of air-conditioning.