house cleaning

That is what I did most of the day.
I danced a little this morning. Haha, I was going to work out for 2 hours today-I probably danced a total of 40 minutes.
Then I did all the laundry, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned the kitchen. And...not much else that I can think of. I feel like I didn't do much at all. While I didn't move like a whirlwind, I wasn't goofing off, either.

Will Larry even notice?

But at least I will feel ok for being gone a lot tomorrow. I had planned to use the local dance studio for an hour, then I found out that my friend is teaching her first ever yoga class in Leesburg 15 minutes after I should be finished with the studio. I don't want the stress of getting there on time, and I know that I will be N A S T Y hot and sweaty when I am finished. So I will go to Walmart (need a new mop head, among other things) and to Joann's (for doodahs to decorate my shamadan) first.

Blah blah. My life is SO exciting...

The thing about seeing family, is that you realize all the things you give up when you move away.

It is better, however, than actually going home, because when you go home, those things all hit you at once, as if you were speeding down the highway with no windshield.

There is always the anticipation beforehand. It never comes out the same, though. Sometimes it explodes out all at once, sometimes it just slowly and shyly emerges. On the flip side, there is the let down afterwards. Sometimes it is a slap in the face, instant pain like ripping a bandaid off. Usually it is days of intermittant tears that sit on your eyelids only to pour out when you think that you are over it.

Genesis 43-44-not proofread yet.

The Testing of Joseph’s Brothers

Genesis 43-44

Pray

The lesson this week is the stuff Block Buster movies are made of. There’s drama, guilt, fear of death, lots of money, perceived crimes, intrigue, and suspense. Joseph’s brothers are full of tension and anxiety. What will happen to them? What will happen to Benjamin? And is it all their fault?

It has now been over 20 years since Joseph was so casually sold into slavery by his brothers. At the time, the brothers ignored Joseph’s pleas for help and they cruelly and heartlessly caused Jacob to believe Joseph was killed by a wild animal. But a lot has happened to all the men in those twenty years. We know that Joseph is now 2^nd in command in Egypt and that he is in charge of the food that is feeding the world. Benjamin was probably the right age to be in my class and is now 20 years older-a full grown man. It appears that since Joseph left, Benjamin has become Jacob’s favorite son. But instead of hating him for it, the other brothers are not jealous, but protective of him.

The mysterious man in Egypt who sold the brothers their food insisted that they come back and bring Benjamin with them. Jacob was not going to let this happen. He refused to send Benjamin to Egypt. First he lost Joseph, then he lost Simeon (when he was put in Egyptian prison until the brothers returned) and he was not about to lose Benjamin. Reuben even said that Jacob could kill Reuben’s sons if Benjamin doesn’t return with them. Still, Jacob refused. But an empty stomach can make people change their minds, and he eventually did. Judah told Jacob that they were almost out of food and that they had to go. Judah promises to watch out over Benjamin. Jacob decides that the brothers should also take many gifts, hoping that the Man in Egypt would be pleased and would show favor to them. Jacob finally put his trust in God and sent them on their way.

The brothers complete their 300 mile journey and arrive in Egypt to find an unsettling surprise. They are instructed to go to the home of Egypt’s 2^nd in command. What could that mean? Why would such an important man want weary, dirty travelers-Hebrews, even! - in his house? This must mean that he will accuse them of stealing the silver that they found in their grain sacks after their previous journey. Maybe he will sell them as slaves and even sell their donkeys! They are so fearful that they talk to the steward of the house, sort of like a butler. They tell him that they are innocent, and that they have returned the money. The steward tells them that everything is ok, that he had received the money and that the money found in their bags must have been gifts from their God. Then he brought Simeon out to them. Do you think Simeon wanted to know what took them so long?

When Joseph comes home, the brothers bow down to him-they bowed really low, all the way to the ground. Somewhat reminiscent of a dream, isn’t it? Well, Joseph proceeded to ask how their father was, and then asks if the young man before him is their youngest brother. He was told that it indeed was their youngest brother. Benjamin was his only full brother. As the youngest in the family, they probably had some special bonds. Also, Joseph could not see that the brothers had mistreated Benjamin in anyway. Joseph was so overjoyed to see his brother that he had to leave the room and he cried.

Joseph composed himself and returned to the dining room. He sat separate from his brothers, because an Egyptian would not eat next to a Hebrew. He did something very curious, however. He sat the brothers in their birth order. Now, if I had all the Goldbranson kids in front on me, I think I could place them in order by their age. But could you do that with Mrs. Weiss, Mrs. Eager, and me? I couldn’t. Grown ups all look the same. Joseph then proceeds to share his own food with the brothers, and he gives Benjamin so much extra food that everyone had to have noticed it. But no one complained. They ate in peace.

I wonder about Joseph’s steward. He probably really enjoyed playing a part in Joseph’s investigation of his brothers. Joseph had him secretly put a special silver cup in Benjamin’s bag and then send them on their way. After a while, the steward was sent to catch the brothers and accuse them of theft. The brother’s emphatically denied any wrongdoing, calling attention to their honesty of returning the original silver. They told the steward and his men to search their belongings. If any stolen property was found, the thief would be killed and the rest of them would go into slavery. Well, weren’t they all surprised to see that silver cup in Benjamin’s sack. This was a really interesting time. They could have turned their back on Benjamin; told the steward, ok, he is the thief, the rest of us will go. But they didn’t. They got back on their donkeys and returned to Egypt with him. They stood by Benjamin and would not let him go alone.

When they returned to Egypt, they went to Joseph and told him that they would all be his slaves. Joseph only wanted to punish the thief though, not all of them. Judah begged Joseph to let Benjamin free, because he could not bear to see his father suffer if he loses another favorite son. He told Joseph the whole story about how they had to convince Jacob to let them bring Benjamin on their journey. Judah seems to really love his father now.

Well, I think we know what happens, but we will have to wait for next before we move forward with the story.

Joseph-Genesis 39-40

Joseph is Faithful-Genesis 39-40

Pray

We started learning about Joseph last week. We will study his life until the end of the year. What have you learned about Joseph so far? (He is a son of Jacob by Rachel, he is favored, coat, sold as a slave by his brothers, dreams that his family would worship him).

We will get to know Joseph a little better this week. We will find out that he is very faithful to God, no matter what happens to him.

Do you remember several months ago when we heard that God told Abram that He would bless those who blessed him? He didn’t just say this about Abram, but about all of Abram’s descendants. We see a great example of this. Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers. The men who bought him later sold him to a man known as Potiphar. Who was Potiphar? He was the Pharaoh’s head of security, one of the top men in Egypt. It sounds like Joseph was a great slave. He was probably cheerful, helpful and a hard worker. It would be hard to be any of those if you were being held against your will. But Joseph was faithful to God and seemed to understand that everything was in God’s hands. Potiphar noticed that Joseph was different from the other slaves; he saw that everything he did was successful. That was because God was with Joseph. Potiphar put Joseph in charge of his entire household. The Bible said that the only thing Potiphar had to be concerned with at home was with what he ate. Joseph took care of everything else. And all of Potiphar’s household was blessed.

After a while, Joseph had a problem. Potiphar’s wife wanted Joseph to sin. Joseph was very smart, and very loyal to both God and Potiphar. No matter how hard Mrs. Potiphar tried to convince Joseph to sin, he refused. He told her that not only would it hurt Potiphar, but it would also hurt God if he sinned. That is because Joseph knew that every sin, no matter what it is, is against God. What is the last line of the Pledge to the Bible? “Hide its words in my heart, so I may not sin against God.” In another time in the Bible, King David is talking to God about sending Uriah off to be killed in a war. Even though he hurt Uriah, David says this to God in Psalm 51:4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.” So Joseph told Mrs. Potiphar that he would not sin. He did something else really smart. He stayed away from her. Sometimes avoiding something that can get you into trouble is a good thing. Joseph remained faithful to God, and faithful to Potiphar. Anyway, that made her really mad. So mad, that she lied about Joseph and said some really bad things about him. Potiphar could have had Joseph killed because of the accusations that were made against him. But he didn’t. God was protecting Joseph.

Does God ever protect you? I am sure he protects you all the time. You just don’t see it because He keeps the danger far, far away from you. Just like God had a plan for Joseph’s life, he also has a plan for your life.

Joseph was sent to jail. It was probably really bad in jail. I bet it was dirty and stinky and had lots of bugs. But Joseph was still his normal, obedient self. And God was still with him. The prison warden, just like Potiphar, really liked Joseph, and put him in charge of the jail! So even though Joseph was in an awful place, God was still with him and was taking care of him. And Joseph was still being faithful to God.

How do I know that Joseph was faithful to God? There are at least two ways we can tell. The first one is that the Bible says that God was with Joseph and gave him success in all that he did. The other way we know is because God helped him with one particular thing in the prison. He was able to tell two men what their dreams meant! Do you think Joseph, all by himself, was able to figure out what the dreams meant? Nope. Joseph doesn’t try to pretend that he knows anything about the dreams. He says that God can understand the dreams.

Do you remember what the dreams were about and who had them? The cupbearer had a dream about a grape vine with three branches. He was squeezing grape juice into the Pharaoh’s cup. And the baker had a dream about three baskets of bread that were being eaten by birds. They told these dreams to Joseph and God told him what they meant. Which man had the dream with the good meaning? The cupbearer would be freed in 3 days. Joseph told him to please tell Pharaoh about him so he could be released. But the cupbearer forgot. Do you know who never forgets you? God will never forget you. And like a shepherd, He will seek you out until you come to Him.

So what happened to the baker? He was executed.

Pray.

fencing pictures

Before any fencing-a little nervous and a little annoyed at me for taking pictures.

Saluting before the match.

He shouldn't do what he is doing here-checking the machine to see if he got the point. You are supposed to go until the referee stops you.

I was videotaping most of last night, but here are some shots I did take. Larry was able to go with us and it was really fun. It was great to see Max do so well!

more fencing

This was the first match last night. I was afraid this kid would kill Max because he has no control whatsoever-but that doesn't matter. Max did well against what I thought was a loose cannon. Max won 5-2 I think. Might have been 5-3.

This was against an adult. He didn't win, but still got a couple points. Max was pretty acrobatic in this, but it doesn't show too well. The man was laughing (nicely) at Max because he was practically doing backbends to avoid his foil. The man won 2-5, I think.

This is the one I posted on FB. This is the kid that Max faces first in the single-elimination tournament that they have next week. He will probably face the man above if he wins that match.

Max has a +2 rating. I don't exactly know what that means, but it is the 2nd highest rating in the class, and anything over 2 is good. One of the adults has a +12, which accounts for so many negative ratings. Max has not fenced him yet. The adult he fenced above also has a +2 rating.

fencing