Genesis 29-30 - So many boys... just one girl?

First a disclaimer: this post is a rambling of thoughts... not very well organized.

Okay, so I'm reading along in Genesis and I get to one of the stories that I have always been fond of - Jacob in Paddan Aram. He is fleeing his home and went to his uncle's, Laban's, household. This is where he catches sight of Rachel. And it is love at first sight.... but Laban tricks him into marrying Leah her sister first and then he marries Rachel later. This is all very interesting to me but then I got to chapters 29 and 30. Jacob starts having children with the sisters... and their maidservants! Rachel, after being barren for some time, gave Jacob 2 sons; her maidservant gave him 2 sons as well; Leah's maidservant gave him 2 sons; and then Leah gave him 6 sons and... 1 daughter!?! One daughter in the whole bunch - 1 out of 13 children! I don't know why I find this so interesting. I also find it interesting that these two sisters are falling over each other to give Jacob children. They are having child after child, or when they don't conceive offering their maidservant to Jacob, to show each other up. The chapter reads pretty funny, especially verse 30:8 - "Then Rachel said, 'I have had a great struggle with my sister, and I have won.'" I don't know whether to laugh or cry over these women feeling they have to compete for such a man as Jacob! The man that tricked his father and brother and ending up having to flee them and then he would soon trick his father-in-law as well! The other thing that I don't get is Rachel saying, "God has vindicated me; he has listened to my plea and given me a son." in verse 30:6 when it wasn't Rachel's son at all, it was her maidservant's. And what does God have to do with it? Did God really lead her to give her maidservant to Jacob? It doesn't read that way to me. How often do I do that? How often do I say that God has had more of a part in something than he really did, where it was really my doing. But then there is the agrument, "Everything comes from God..." Hmmm....

Almost time to go back to work!

Oh goodness! I can't believe how fast my maternity leave has flown! I go back to work in two weeks - I can't believe it! I'm glad that I'm only working part-time. I can't imagine the transition from being home full-time to working full-time. I will miss the alone time that I've had with Greyson though. He is such a sweet baby and I love having quiet play time with him on the days that Madelyn is at school. When Madelyn is here, it is like a tornado going through! It is wonderful seeing how well she is getting along with her brother. I don't think she is jealous of him at all. I think she may be jealous of the one-on-one attention Greyson gets at eating time, but in general she is handling having a little brother VERY well. And I think that we, the parents, are handling having two kids fairly well too. Thankfully, Ben is a hands-on Dad. I don't think I could do it otherwise.

Today, Ben has his first class of the quarter. He is taking two classes this quarter so it could be a rough one. Hopefully not. Graciously, his classes are in the afternoons rather than in the evenings so he may go in a little early and come home a little late some days to make up hours at work but he won't be gone any evenings. That is good! I could take care of the kids by myself, but I'm glad that I don't have to. Ben will, of course, have homework that he will need to get done but he is pretty good about working on that after Madelyn goes to bed. He only has three more classes left - 2 this quarter and 1 next quarter. Then he graduates on June 2nd! I'm so excited for him!

Thankful for every moment

Today I was thinking back on when Madelyn was as old as Greyson is now. I remember being so emotionally fragile. I was fragile because I was recovering from the depression that life was throwing at me after Madelyn's birth. I am realizing now that it probably wasn't just the post-partum hormones that were causing my funk, although I'm sure that they helped. I think it was just my mind trying to cope with a complete shift in life and responsibilities. But MAN! It hit me pretty hard. Thankfully, I had Ben and my mom to pick up the slack with Madelyn.... they literally only brought her to me when she needed to nurse. It was sad... I don't really even remember the first two weeks of her life. I'm glad that a lot of pictures were taken so that I can see what she looked like and how she changed in those weeks. Looking back on that makes me realize how fortunate I have been to not have issues after Greyson was born. What an amazing time! It has been amazing to see him change and grow. It has been amazing to see his sister take to him so well and genuinely want to help me take care of him. I am in awe.

Greyson at 7 days old.

Genesis 6:20

One of the reasons that I decided to challenge myself by reading the Bible (albeit abridged) was because I think I depend too much on other people's interpretations of the Bible. I need to read the Bible more myself and make my own interpretations! Something I have found though, is that I am surprised by the details of the stories that I have read so far that I didn't know. For instance, let's look at Genesis 6:20 - Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. I don't think I ever knew that the animals came to Noah! I always thought that he gathered up the animals... why did I think that? I wonder if it is because I have never taken the time to read the story for myself. I always assumed that I knew the story because I have heard it a million times, especially in the last 2 1/2 years. It really puts a different spin on the story for me. Yes, Noah would have built the ark simply out of obedience but if he had questioned at all that this request was from God, he didn't have to question it anymore once all these pairs of animals started showing up to enter the ark! How amazing would it be to see animals lining up of the own accord for you save them from God's wrath? Hmm....

Happy New Year!

It starting snowing yesterday... and it snowed and snowed and snowed! So this morning we woke up to a beautiful yard full of it! The first couple of days after it snows is the best part of living in a place where it snows - the snow is still beautiful, white and clean, and you can play in it because it isn't packed down yet. So, after Ben snow-blowed the driveway, we all got bundled up and headed down to our sledding hill to let Madelyn get some more runs on her new sled. The hill was packed with people but luckily our little corner of the hill wasn't discovered yet. That way we didn't have to worry about Madelyn being run over by a runaway sled and she got to sled on unpacked snow. We did have to watch that some guys with their new snowboards didn't move over to close to us (they started making me nervous right before we left).

Greyson is getting so cute! He is cooing and starting to respond to us when we are playing with him - yay! The next 10 months are fun in that way. However, he is also going through a "not sleeping at night" streak.... not fun. He got his shots last Thursday so I wonder if it's that he's doesn't feel all that good. I don't know. All I know is that I haven't had a good night's sleep in several nights. I'm tired....

A goal for the new year...

Yesterday at church, our good pastor asked the congregation to consider setting a goal of reading the whole Bible this year. I have heard this request before and have never really taken it seriously because, frankly, it doesn't seem doable. But this year I was impressed by Pastor Stan's request. It not only came with pleading words but also with some help for those of us that need it. He made up three pamphlets to choose from, each listing a reading a day for a year - Plan A covers the most frequented chapters of the Bible that will take about 5-8 minutes a day, Plan B covers that and Old Testament History and Psalms that takes about 10-12 minutes a day, and Plan C covers the WHOLE thing that takes at least 20 minutes a day. Okay, I decided to commit to choosing one and then decided that I didn't want to disappoint myself later on so I chose Plan A. Hopefully next year I can commit to Plan B or C, but this year I think Plan A is doable. So, I'm gonna start today at Genesis 1. Wish me luck! Maybe you will hear about what I have read along the way...