Genesis 22

Today we have one of the more memorably passages from the book of Genesis - God's command to Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son through whom God had promised to make a great nation. It took a lot of faith on Abraham's part to believe God's promise in the first place, but to now throw it away would be almost unthinkable. Now that I am a father myself I can better understand what God was asking of Abraham here, and it would be very tough to follow through with.

Thank goodness it was just a test, though! God knew what He was doing, of course, and all that was necessary was for Abraham to show that he had faith enough to act on such a seemingly impossible request. Bravo sir, well done!

Genesis 21

The reading today covers the birth of Issac, through whom God's promises to Abraham are to be carried out. It is rather funny that Sarah laughed again at his birth, but this time it seems to be a laugh of happiness and joy rather than of disbelief. Unfortunately for Hagar and Ishmael, though, Sarah's dislike of them rears its head again - and they are exiled.

The later section of Genesis 21 describes what seems to be a territory dispute between Abraham and the people in whose land he and his family were staying, and then a treaty between them. It shows once more that Abraham likes being a peacemaker, I think, and it explains the name of one of the locations that will be mentioned again later in the Bible (Beersheba). Beyond that, though, I am unaware of any significance to this event.

Genesis 20

So, it seems that Abraham has a habit of hiding the identity of his wife everywhere he goes. This time around it nearly brings destruction on a king and his family, but the crisis is averted through obedience to God (on the part of the king) and Abraham coming clean in the end. Apparently, though, Sarah really is blood-related to Abraham: his half sister, to be precise. Ew!

Oddly, Sarah is also 90 years old here (based on the previous chapters). It is somewhat surprising that a king would want to take such an old lady to be his wife. She must have been a real looker ;)

Genesis 19

Wow - there is a lot that could be said about this passage. It is one of the most disturbing chapters I know of, on several levels. It deals with attempted rape, homosexuality, incest, and extremely destructive judgement. If I had the time I could write pages on all of this, but for now I'll just list off a few of the oddest and most surprising (and disgusting) things I noticed.

- Lot lives with the people of Sodom, which he selected because of the nice land quality in that region (earlier in Genesis). Here he appears to actually live in the city, though he apparently does not participate in or condone the activity that the others there take part in. I guess the old adage of "location, location, location" is not strictly true: your neighbors and their moral compass (or lack thereof) should also be taken into consideration!

- The passage says that all the men of the city came to try to rape the angelic messengers, so it makes me wonder if the men engaged to marry Lot's daughters were also there. If so, did they not speak out when Lot offered his daughters to satiate the crowd? Did they care? They certainly didn't heed the warning that Lot gave them to leave, which leads to the next observation...

- Lot's daughters were planning to marry before Sodom was destroyed. They don't seem to have had kids yet, which likely means that they weren't simply sleeping around as appears to have been the norm in the area they lived. That speaks well for Lot and his parenting, but I guess he hadn't mentioned that incest was a bad idea - left to their own devices the girls didn't say "lets go find new husbands", but instead got their dad drunk and raped him (effectively). That seems to be the opposite of many abusive family relationships these days, and seems just plain weird... and wrong! I wonder how much wine it took to get Lot so far drunk that he didn't even know they were taking advantage of him. I'm also curious what the conversation looked like nine months later when his daughters gave birth, and Lot thought back to the three of them being alone in the mountains :/

- Lot's wife looking back on the destruction - and so bringing judgement on herself - and the actions of the daughters later on seem to be very influenced by the culture of Sodom that they lived in. I wonder if the wife was actually from that area, and married Lot after his arrival in the area. That would explain the resulting tragedies a bit more, if they felt that they were loosing the only home they had known (whereas Lot was still considered a foreigner).

Genesis 18

The passage I read today is split into two sections, but the two are tied together by the appearance of three men - one of whom is clearly identified (mid-way through the passage, in verse 13) as the Lord - to Abraham. At first they talk with Abraham about the covenant God has with him, making a very personal impression on him as well as his wife, Sarah. She also tries to sneak in a lie, but God calls her on it. We've all lied at some point, and though many of us have been caught at some point or another it usually isn't in quite such a dramatic and straight-to-the-point way. Plus it generally isn't the God of all the universe doing the (very literal) rebuke. Ouch!

The second half of this chapter deals with the Lord's investigation of Sodom and Gomorrah for the evil deeds that He has heard they've committed. It is rather interesting that God is taking the time here to physically check out a situation when He certainly knows exactly what has and has not happened everywhere; given the way that He broaches the topic I suspect it was done just so that a dialog is opened with Abraham on the subject. Abraham pleads with God for Him to spare Sodom (but maybe not Gomorrah?), arguing that if there are some godly people living there it would not be 'right' to kill them along with the wicked. I presume this is Abraham trying to save the life of his nephew, Lot, who went to live near Sodom - but if so he falls short. I wonder why Abraham left the discussion standing at the presence of 10 godly people being enough to spare Sodom; did he think there were that many living there? Was he afraid to narrow all the way down to the one he did know was there (Lot)? Hmm...

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Genesis 17

This chapter is full of the beautiful promises God made to Abram, as part of His covenant, along with the change of name for Abram and his wife Sarai - to Abraham and Sarah respectively. I imagine it must have been hard to get used to a new name, similar though it may be, at age 100 (or 90, for Sarai/h). Of course getting yourself circumcised, along with all of the male members of your household, would be even harder to do! My wife and I are about to have our new son circumcised, probably tomorrow, and while I'm sure it will hurt him a bit at least it will not be a memory when he grows up. Kudos to Abraham for his faith and follow through!

In this passage we also see that Ishmael is not included in the main covenant between God and Abraham. Sorry Arabs, but this means that the Israelites are the ones who have rights to the Promised Land.

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Genesis 16

Ah, the account of Ishmael - ancestor to the Islamic peoples. This whole incident is rather unfortunate, as it caused strife in Abram's household that has haunted the world even to this day. The pronouncement that Ishmael's "hand will be against everyone, And everyone's hand will be against him" (NAS) is a foreshadowing of, and explanation for, the events we have dealt with even in the last few years. I'm sure that subject could have a whole blog - or many! - dedicated to it, but I think I'll just leave it there.

One interesting side note about this incident is that Sarai was the person who came up with the idea for Abram to sleep with her maidservant, but then as soon as it goes south (and come on, who couldn't see that coming?) she blames Abram. This sounds an awful lot like Adam and Eve, where they both try to shift blame right away. I suppose that is human (sinful) nature, huh?

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Kid on the way!

So, I'm sure someone out there has noticed that I missed Monday's blog post. There was one early Monday morning, but that was actually just a late Sunday reading. I've actually done the reading for Monday as well, Genesis 16, but this afternoon my wife had her water break and then went into labor. I've been at the hospital with her since 5-ish, and this is the first chance I had to sit down with my laptop. The only reason this is possible is because she got an epidural, and she is now very relaxed and out of pain.

Anyways, the kid will likely be born today - or tomorrow at the latest; consider this our pre-arrival announcement!

For further baby and family updates, check out my other blog: http://williamandrose.blogspot.com/

Genesis 15

This section of scripture contains further interaction between God and Abram, where we see Abram's faith in God and His promises. As I've mentioned before, it must have been absolutely amazing to have such a relationship with the Lord - where he not only speaks through written words but in dreams and even directly in the waking day! I cannot imagine it, but it encourages me to look forward to Heaven with great expectations.

Toward the end of this passage, God also gives a physical description of the lands which are promised to Abram and his descendants: "From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates" (NAS). If I read that correctly, it means that the current boarders of Israel are far smaller than they should be! I'd say that the Israeli people have a right to all of Lebanon, as well as a few other countries or parts of countries in that region.

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Genesis 14

Ah, the first account of war in the Bible! Those who know me well will remember that I am a student of the art of war, and though not many details are given here there are a couple of things I find interesting. The main observation, though, is that an army of four allied kings, which had just gone on quite a campaign of conquest throughout the region and defeated five kings arrayed against them at Siddim, was routed by Abram with his 318 trained men and a few allies. That seems quite a feat, though of course Abram had God on his side. I wonder what sort of troop numbers there were involved - and did Abram defeat the entire enemy army or was just a section of it guarding the captured people and goods?

The other neat thing in this section is the appearance of Melchizedek, who is described as the king of Salem and a priest of the Lord. Abram's gift of "a tenth of all" (NAS) to this priest-king is the first example of tithing I know of. He is made mention of again in the New Testament, when it is said that Jesus was "a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek" (NAS). What does that make Melchizedek? I seem to recall in high school Bible classes that he was a "type" of Christ - not an incarnation of Him, but an example of what Christ's leadership would be like. His place of kingship is also interesting, as Salem seems to be identified with the city we now know as Jerusalem! Even in the most ancient of times it seems that place was a center for worship, as it should still be today (and will be in the end times).

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Genesis 13

Despite Abram's shortcomings in the previous chapter, we see here that he also has many admirable qualities. He worships the Lord, he tries to be a peacemaker, and he is generous in letting his nephew Lot have the first choice of where to live. In a bit of a contrast, we see Lot choosing poorly who his neighbors are by pitching his tents near the evil city of Sodom. In doing so he chose land that looked nicer from the outside, but proved bad in the end.

We also get a reaffirmation here of God's promise of land and a heirs to Abram. How amazing it must have been to have God talk directly to you so often, and make such vast promises! I suppose we as heirs of Christ have been given even greater things, which I at least take for granted far more than I should :/

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Genesis 12

So out of the blue God chooses Abram to be the patriarch of a great nation, and guides him to the land that his descendants, the Israelites, will inhabit. I don't know why God picked him in particular, but who am I to question God? I do know that because of this promise and those that God gives to Abram's descendants I believe that even today the Israelis have a right to the lands they inhabit. No offense to the Palestinians, but I have to side with the rightful heirs Abram, Issac, and Jacob.

The second half of this chapter describes a trip to Egypt where Abram was less-than-honest about who Sarai, his wife, was. To be perfectly blunt he must have been quite a coward to put his own life above the sanctity of his marriage. If I'd been in his place I would have proudly announced that Sarai was my bride, especially given the description of how beautiful she was. If I had any real concern that someone would kill me over that I simply would have avoided that area, or come prepared to defend myself.

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Genesis 11

This is one of the most fascinating stories in the Old Testament, to me anyway, and I wish there was more that was told about it. Following the Flood there was just one language, and perhaps that was also the case before it, and with the combined efforts of mankind at that point they tried to build a tower that would reach up to the heavens. Part of the reasoning given is that they wanted to avoid being spread across the whole earth, which was actually what God wanted (based on his commands to Adam and Eve, which are reiterated to Noah and his family). What I find most intriguing, though, is that God says that having done this with one language "now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them" (NAS). If it were anyone other than God saying that I would think they were worried, especially given the reaction in the following verses. It must be something else, though, since obviously man is no threat to God.

It rather reminds me of Genesis 6:6, where "the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart" (NAS). I'm not sure if this is just the author of Genesis personifying God with fallible human emotions (regret, in Gen 6:6, or fear in this passage) or if maybe the translation of those words and phrases into English looses something - but I do find it very curious. Maybe it is more than that, maybe God can feel regret or sorrow about something He created even if he knew it would be that way before it happened. I honestly don't know, but it is something to ponder.

The rest of the chapter is a simple genealogy, though again with ages that allow us to count time. In this case, we can see that there were 292 years from the Flood to the birth of Abram (soon to be Abraham). Combine that with the number from Adam to Noah (1056), Noah's age when the Flood came (600), and a year for the duration of the Flood itself and we have a total of 1949 years from Adam to to Abram. Combine that with the estimates we can make of when Abram lived, and a rough age for the world can be found :)

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Genesis 10

Ah, another genealogy - I'm afraid the early parts of the Bible are full of them. For the most part these seem unnecessary to many modern readers, like myself, but obviously they were included for a reason. I just wonder what that was sometimes...

There are two names in this account that do merit mention, though: Nimrod and Peleg. The first of those was apparently a great hunter, warrior, and king, though I'm afraid that his name has been abused in recent years and now can be considered a mild insult. I've often wondered why there was significance placed on this being a "might hunter before the Lord" (my emphasis added). Isn't everything before the Lord, in the sense of His being able to see all that goes on? Perhaps Nimrod was obedient to God, or maybe that meaning has been entirely lost to history.

The other name, Peleg, means "division" - which may be a reference to the split of languages at the Tower of Babel. I'm glad we don't name kids after events anymore these days; imagine someone born on September of 2001 being called "terrorism" - yikes!

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Genesis 9

This section is split into two pretty divergent topics, so I'll also split my comments. This first section is an account of God's covenant never to destroy all life by flood again, which is basically a more lengthy repeat of the last couple of verses from chapter 8. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot to say, but I do find it interesting that now we finally see God giving animals to man for food. I wonder if mankind was largely vegetarian prior to that, or if it was already established and just being reiterated - but it is enough for me to know that I can eat meat without feeling bad about it :) I also want to note that I am not very happy about the homosexual community stealing the symbol of God's covenant from this event. I'm not sure where they got the idea that a rainbow of colors represents sexual deviancy, but at least I can relish in the thought that all they can do is make bumper stickers; God makes the real deal!

The second, and to me far stranger part, is an account of Noah getting drunk and his sons finding out. Maybe it is just a cultural difference, or maybe we aren't getting the nuances of how it happened, but it seems odd to me that a man would curse his own son (Ham) for simply seeing him naked. I mean, they are both full-grown adults and there doesn't seem to be any maliciousness on Ham's part; it was also Noah's own fault that since he got drunk. Furthermore, it isn't Ham directly that Noah curses - but Canaan, his son. Maybe someone out there has some insight? If not, I'd chalk this up to a father being overly harsh in punishment to a son :(

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Genesis 8

And the Flood is over! Noah and his family spent one year and ten days inside the ark, which seems like a very long time to be bottled up. My wife and I haven't spent more than a year living in any single location since we got married! From the description of how Noah sent out birds to scout for dry land, and his reaction when he finally opened the covering on the ark, it appears that they didn't have a deck they walked on or even windows that could see out to the sides of the ship. So much for all of those cartoon depictions I saw growing up.

I also like the promise God makes at the end of the chapter:

"While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
And cold and heat,
And summer and winter,
And day and night
Shall not cease." (NAS)

So no ice ages, no massive global warming - no need to be concerned about such things! Mind you, I think we should still be good stewards of the earth and all that God has given us... but it is ever so nice to be able to sit and laugh when folks on TV start to freak out over "global warming" :)

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Genesis 7

Ah, the Flood. The Deluge. Judgment by water. A new beginning for mankind. It is too bad we didn't learn from that lesson, but I suppose that is what we get for being sinful creatures.

So Noah was 600 when the Flood happened, meaning that it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 1656 years since Adam's creation. It is also worth noting that when God first instructed Noah to build the ark we see him being told that he is to take with him his wife, his sons, and their wives. Because we are told in Genesis 5 that Noah was 500 years old when he had his sons (were they triplets, or was that just an approximation?) it means that there was well less than 100 years to build the ark. His sons must have already been grown and married, so maybe 70 years at the most? A project like that certainly would have taken time for one family, and they would have needed to tend to other things at the same time in order to sustain themselves while building it.

I've also always been amused that God's judgment here extended to the animals and birds - but fish and things that live in the sea get off scott free. That wasn't supposed to rhyme, I apologize. Anyways, the Flood being worldwide and quite deep probably accounts for a lot of the land features that modern science claims could only have happened over millions of years. It is too bad that so many scientists and historians discount the Bible out of hand, or they might find much easier ways to explain many of this world's mysteries.

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A Late Night

So, I'm about to do my Bible reading and post for Genesis chapter 7. It is a little late, but Rose and I just got back from a nice date night - probably the last we'll have before our son is born. Wow, I nearly typed his name by accident there! Its supposed to be a secret...

Anyways, I wanted to give a warning to anyone who might read this. We went to dinner and a movie tonight, and the movie was Tropic Thunder. It is a comedic take on Hollywood, acting, etc, and while it is funny it is also EXTREMELY VULGAR. I'm talking so many curse words, insults, and inappropriate references to both male and female anatomy that at times I couldn't understand what they were actually trying to convey. Oh, and you also get to see Tom Cruise doing the most hideous dance imaginable. Consider yourself warned.

Genesis 6

This chapter contains the prelude to the Flood, and right before it an interesting reference to "the heroes of old". They are given the name of Nephilim here, and while the name doesn't really bring much with it the description does. The idea of "sons of God" marrying daughters of men could be a simple reference to humans, but if that was the case then why the special name? And what would have set them apart as men of renown compared to others? No - there must be something else here. I think that these were angels who left their proper station and because of their actions brought forth quite powerful men. It is actually mirrored in the Greek account of Hercules, and would go a long way to explaining many of the myths of the ancient world. Goliath, the giant who David slays, may have been descended from such a bloodline; after all, this passage said that they were on earth in those days (before the Flood, presumably) and also afterward.

The main focus of this chapter is on Noah, though, and the preparations God instructed him to make for the impending judgement. It is noteworthy that Noah "walked with God" - the same phrase that is used of Enoch in Genesis 5. It must have taken a lot of faith in order to go building a boat like the ark, presumably a long distance from any major body of water. I suspect that Noah went through a lot of ridicule from his contemporaries for that, and I don't know how well I'd have stood up to something like that... but "thus Noah did".

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Genesis 5

This chapter is all genealogy, but unlike some of the later name lists this has two very interesting and unique items:

1) Ages: The account here gives us the age each man was when he fathered the son through which the lineage is traced, and the total age he lived to. Obviously the long lifespans here are noteworthy, but more important to my mind is the number of years from father to son. This gives us the ability to count the years from Adam (whether his age is counted from his creation or from the fall, I don't know) to Noah's birth. That sums to 1056 years, though that might be a year or two off as a total due to months being rounded off each age. Noah himself, as we will find in the next chapters, was quite old when the Flood occurs - but this combined with his age as it will be given is a very cool insight (in my opinion).

2) Enoch: One of two men in the Bible who did not die, or at least that is how I read it. How amazing it must have been - to be so close to God that he would just take you away from all of this trouble! Obviously we don't know the exact circumstance or details of the situation, but I also find it odd that he was taken at such a "young" age (just 365); I wonder what his family thought of that?

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Genesis 4

Well, there are a lot of firsts in this chapter. The first children born, the first brotherly competition, and the first murder. A lot of things stand out to me, so I think a list may be the easiest way to represent all of them.

- It appears that the oldest occupation is farming, not prostitution (as it is often stylized to be).

- Cain and Abel both made sacrifices to God from what they gained by work, similar to how we tithe today. God seems to have liked the animal offering from Abel, but not the produce from Cain. I've often been curious why that was, but from the commentaries I have found and the translation notes in the New English Translation it appears that it was not the contents of the gifts that separated the brothers but the motivation behind it. The comments about Abel bringing his gift from the first-born of his flocks indicates that he went out of his way to provide the best to God, and we can assume from the results that Cain did not do so.

- I'm rather surprised at God's reaction to the murder of Abel. No death penalty, not even imprisonment, but simply exile. Back then, with so few people around, I can't really understand how that was such a bad thing; heck, he even got to take his wife with him and start his own town! I guess it is a good example of God's mercy, and it reflects somewhat poorly on me that I would have expected - perhaps even insisted on - capital punishment for such a clearly unprovoked killing.

- We've also got the first list of genealogy in the Bible at the end of this passage. There will be a lot of that coming up, so don't expect too many comments when a whole chapter is devoted to names ;)

- Lastly, the final line of the last verse seems a bit odd: "Then men began to call upon the name of the LORD". Again, commentaries and translation notes are invaluable here: apparently this is the first occurrence of prayer and worship to the Lord. I don't really understand why Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel weren't doing this - but perhaps it is because they were able to communicate directly with him. Even after the fall, Cain and God had direct dialog. How amazing must that have been!

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Genesis 3

Adam and Eve - those to whom we owe our sinful nature! Though I suspect that any of us, in the same situation, would have made the same mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, and I'm sure that holds true here.

Anyways, one thing I find interesting here is the excuses that Adam and Eve give to God when they are discovered. Adam blames his wife, though he fully made the decision to eat for himself even if he may not have been able to control her actions. He also tried to point the finger at God for giving him the woman! She in turn blames the serpent, or Satan. I wonder if the temptation took place in the short couple of minutes that it sounds like, or if it was an ongoing effort over a length of time. I'm also curious about how long Adam and Eve had been alive before they gave in to the serpent's urgings... again, a good question for God some day.

The other section that stands out in this passage is the curses God puts on all three of the participants. Eve's penalty hits especially close to home for me, since my wife is nearing the end of her pregnancy. All of the pain that she will have to go through - and has already had to deal with - is because of sin. Of course, sin's spiritual effects are much worse and more permanent, but it is still interesting to think of the enormous difficulties women have in childbirth as part of the curse... (shudder).

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Genesis 2

So, this chapter expands a bit on the creation of man (and woman). The description of the garden of Eden is pretty neat, though the inclusion of the description of the four rivers is rather surprising - it doesn't really seem to fit, unless the rivers are still in the same place even after the flood.

The real gem here is the description of God creating woman and the foundation it makes for marriage. Having just passed our 4th anniversary, I can truly say that my wife is my helpmate. It seems that some translations bring this across more literally as the woman "corresponding to" the man, or matching, and when God brings two people together under His plans it definitely feels like that :)

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A Note on Format

I wanted to explain a little more about the format I will be using for this blog. As much as I would love to quote each chapter at the beginning or end of each entry, current copyrights on the translations I am reading prevent that. Depending on the version, a direct quote can only make up 10 - 25% of a whole document; however, the length of blog entries I am making means that the chapters I am reading would be closer to 50-75% of the total.

So, rather than quoting the text I am providing easy links to it. At the end of each entry, there will be clickable links to the chapter on Bible Gateway in three translations: New American Standard, New International, and New King James. There are other good translations out there as well, like the English Standard Version that a friend of mine introduced me to today, but for now I will just link to those. From what I understand each has its own advantages: NAS is fairly literal, but harder to read, while NIV is more easily readable but takes liberties in translation that aren't always spot-on. NKJ is in-between, and like the original King James version seems to do well with the poetic sections. I personally read NAS most of the time, but reference the other two what I run into something I don't understand.

Genesis 1

Wow, so there is a lot in this chapter... more than I remembered. It pretty much sums up creation - and yes, I do believe in a literal 7 day creation (well, 6 days for creation and a day of rest). At least with the way it comes across in English I can find no other explanation for "and there was evening and there was morning, the first/second/third/fourth/fifth/sixth day". I'm not a scholar of the original languages the Bible was written in, but every translation I've read is like that. Now mind you, if for some reason it wasn't just a few "real" days like that it does not invalidate anything else: God definitely created the universe we know and everything in it, whether it was in six days or over six billion years.

Other interesting things to note here are that in this pre-sin world we (and animals) were only given plants to eat. This inclines me to believe that even current-day carnivores and omnivores were once vegetarian. We also get plural pronouns when God is talking about making man: "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness". This is a great starting point to talk about the triune nature of God (more commonly referred to as the Trinity). It is a bit of a conundrum, but God is both one being and more than one at the same time; eventually we'll find out that this is manifest in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - but more on that later :)

One last item for today is something I've never noticed before, though I've read these first few chapters of the Bible many times over. There is a reference to the purpose for the lights in the heavens (the sun, moon, and stars); they are to "be for signs and for seasons and for days and years". Obviously we make our calendars - days, seasons, and years - around the movement of the Earth in relation to the Sun, but the first item in that list made me pause for a moment: "signs". What exactly does that mean, I wonder? Surely not that things like the Zodiac and astrology are in any way true, but it is an interesting idea none the less. I suppose that Jesus' birth was represented by the sign of a new star which the wise men followed, but I wonder if perhaps there is more to this than we modern people realize. Oh well, it will be a good thing to ask God someday!

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An Introduction

Hello Readers! My name is William George, and I want to share a little bit about myself and about the reason I am writing this blog.

My beautiful wife and I are expecting our first child - a son - sometime this month, and it has been dawning on me that I need to be a good example to him. In many areas of my life I feel like I am prepared for this role; however, I am not in the best place spiritually right now. I've been a Christian for most of my life, ever since I invited Jesus to be my Lord and Savior as a child, but while I still attend church regularly I have not been reading the Bible or praying nearly as much as I should - to say nothing of being involved in a small group, Bible study, or any form of ministry.

In order to grow toward being a stronger Christian and a solid example to my son, I think that daily time in God's Word (the Bible) is probably the best starting point. I know a lot of folks who read and journal daily, but I'm afraid that writing in a notebook will be too hard to stay accountable with - plus I have pretty horrible handwriting. So instead I've decided to post my thoughts about what I read each day online; this way I can share this experience with anyone who cares to read this, and I will have a track record that I can go back and look at when it is all said and done.

My goal is to read one chapter a day, and write a paragraph or two as well. If you see me miss a day feel free to comment, and if you think I've misinterpreted something or you have insights into a given passage of scripture please share your thoughts too! In the course of this I'm sure I will post on other topics as well (our son's impending birth, for example, or other things that affect my life and my family) - so stay tuned and enjoy!