Christmas passages

Sunday night the Youth Pastor/Assistant Pastor preached. Pastor Kelley asked him to expound on the Christmas story in a different light. He did just that. He started out saying that he was going to read two really familiar Christmas passages and then have us turn to an unfamiliar Christmas passage.

"Please turn in your Bibles to the very familiar Christmas passage, Numbers 22:5"

He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

"Next please turn to an equally familiar Christmas passage, Daniel 2:24"
Therefore Daniel went in unto Arioch, whom the king had ordained to destroy the wise men of Babylon: he went and said thus unto him; Destroy not the wise men of Babylon: bring me in before the king, and I will show unto the king the interpretation.

"Finally we will turn to a very unfamiliar Christmas passage, Matthew 2:1-12"
Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,...

He then asked us why we thought he read the first two passages and how they connect to the 3rd passage he read. Do you all know?


He said that it was the only two places in the Old Testament that "wise men" were mentioned. Balaam was considered the first wise man and Daniel saved the wise men from losing their lives.

The Wise Men who came to see Jesus were the same type of "wise men" as those mentioned above. They most likely were part of a king's court somewhat as "counselors".
These Wise Men in Matthew 2 teach us some things that we need to have in our own lives. Are we "wise men and women"?

First, they passed down some good traditions. Like gifts, giving your best, worshiping the King, and such. We need to pass good wholesome traditions down to our children and grandchildren. Going to church, reading the Bible, tithing, etc.

Second, they kept the Bible in the proper perspective. These were gentiles. The only part of the Scriptures that they most likely had were the prophecies of Balaam and Daniel. Balaam prophesied in Numbers 24:17 (about Jesus being born)
...there shall come a Star out of Jacob...

And Daniel about when Jesus would BE born.

They knew these two prophesies and had taken them into heart. These Gentiles knew that a King of the Jews would be born and they knew when He would be born. They were looking for the Star. The priest and scribes in Jerusalem also knew the Scriptures but they weren't looking. When Herod asked them where "Christ should be born" they replied "In Bethlehem of Judea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not the least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel."

They knew where it was to happen and they could have very well known when it would happen but they didn't go check it out. Instead these Wise Men came ALL THE WAY FROM THE EAST because they knew when but they didn't know exactly where in Israel. They went to Jerusalem because that was the capital of Israel.

I don't remember the last point but it had to do with that they worshiped Jesus even though He didn't look like a "real" king. Mary and Joseph were poor so their house more than likely wasn't very big. Not all the Wise Men fit in the house at once (never in the Bible does it say that there were only 3 Wise Men). They also did not take away any portion of the gifts they brought. They gave EVERYTHING they brought to this new King. Do we worship the King of kings as we ought to?

We need to set and establish good wholesome traditions.
We need to place the Bible in Its proper place in our lives.
We need to know what the Bible says.
We need to worship Jesus with the worship that He is worthy of.

ARE WE WISE MEN AND WOMEN? if not now then we need to start working on it.

Volcanos vs. People

So volcanos are worse than people. Do cars count in with people? Or is that a separate category?

work

I have told the Day Care that I am "not available" to sub while Jesse is off of work for Christmas break. I think they are only closed the Friday before Christmas, the Monday after Christmas, and one or two days for New Years but I am not sure.
I was asked last week to work Thursday (15), Friday(16), and Wednesday (21). Then on Friday (16) I was asked if I could work Monday (19). I said "yes". While leaving work on Monday I was asked "Do you have any morning plans for tomorrow?" (actually this is what she normally asked me either morning plans or afternoon plans.) I sort of smiled and I told her that sometimes I want to reply something like "sleep in". I told her that I could work.
Anyway, I was only suppose to work from 8:00 AM - 12:30 PM. About 9:30ish I was asked if I could come back to work at 3 and then leave when the numbers when down in my room to under 6 babies.
I agreed to work. I love working with the little babies and little kids. Recently I have been with the babies. We have two that are learning to walk. One walks better then the other but they still don't walk good enough to go to the next room.

If you are wondering (and even if you aren't)
Day Care needs the ratio of 1 adult : 6 babies, 1 adult : 6 under age 2, and 1 adult : 10 over age 2
There are 4 "rooms" at this Day Care.
1st: newborn to walking and eating table food
2nd: walking and eating table food to 2 years old
3rd: 2 years old to 3 years old
4th: K3 to K5 (this is only after lunch - K3 and K4, and after school K5)

Anyway, that is just a little bit about Day Care.

Have a very, Merry Christmas.

Fajitas

Finally, I understand why I never understood what people here in America meant when they said they were eating "Fajitas". I couldn't picture them and just had this big mental block when it came to "fajitas".

I hope you enjoy your French Fajitas.

"Merry Christmas" "You too"

That has been the transactions between cashiers and me lately. Yep, They can't say "Merry Christmas" but they can put on a big smile and say "You too" or "Same to you".
There is one incident that has stood out to me. I had gone into this one McDonald's and the guy at the front register kept on singing a part of a song while recieving money and giving out change. The song "Joy to the World" but that is all he sang. I suppose he couldn't say "the Lord has come".

Jesse and I worked on the blog last night. I found all these useless facts and stuff so I thought I would post one every now and then. I had such a difficult time trying to get it to look like I wanted. Actually, Jesse was the one to get it to look good. I didn't know how to do it. I am glad that he was able to help.

Jesse's birthday

Yesterday was Jesse's birthday. We celebrated it on Saturday though.
I gave Jesse some clothes and a DVD. After resting up and just enjoying being home together we headed out for the River Walk. It took us about an hour or so to go all the way from the begining of the walk to one of the two ends of the walk. I think it was about 5 miles.
After that exhilarating walk (ha ha) we went out to eat for 1. his birthday and 2. to celebrate being married 6 months.

Happy Birthday, Jesse

Rascal, to bed

For the last few nights I have said something like "Rascal let's go to bed". I believe she knows her name now because she will look at me when I say her name. I also believe she understands what I am saying because she will either follow me into the bedroom or run ahead of me. Then she jumps up on the bed and meows and meows telling me that I have not hurried fast enough for her (I suppose). After I get situated under the covers she gets on my stomach and I pet her. It is our little ritual now and she loves it. Itsuki sometimes comes and to get petted - I don't deny her the privilege but I think Rascal sometimes gets a little jealous. I try to make sure I pet both equally.

The answer to the cat puzzle

So how many cats are in this picture?


The answer is





3

Rascal and Itsuki are hugging each other. Sakura is that big lump or log in the bottom left hand corner.

This picture was not in any way, shape, or form planned by any outside human efforts. Jesse came into the bedroom and found all 3 cats sleeping like this and hurriedly took a picture of them.

How many cats are in this picture?

How many cat's are in this picture?

















I will give the answer after a substantial amount of answers come in.

If you are a sub...

does it mean you work everyday?

So far there has only been two days that I haven't worked. I could always tell them "I'm sorry I can't work today" but I don't. Well, I did once - I told them that I had to take Jesse to another dentist (a week after my dentist thrill).

I really enjoy working there. I have been three days with the baby room, 2 3/4 hours with the 2 year olds (nap time) and 4 days with the kindergarten day care. I like everywhere I have been. The baby room is in a sense more active because there is always feeding and changing diapers. But then with the 3-5 year olds there is the "peacemaking" attribute that you need to use.

I think the reason I have been asked to sub so much is that there aren't all that many subs out there. Anyway Jesse and I like it this way because I can always say NO and I get paid for doing something I like.

Christmas at our house

Well, I haven't been too good in blogging. We've been busy. Our plumbing hasn't been the best as the bathroom got stopped up and then it went into the MAIN. But my dependable plumber worked at it and got it all fixed. (I had wrote saying that the plumbing was fixed but then it got even worse. I think Jesse wants to write about it so I won't say another word about the plumbing.)

Two days after going to the dentist Jesse and I went to Harlem, Georgia for Thanksgiving. We were at Jesse's cousin's (PJ) house. After lunch, which was eaten around 2:30, Jesse's aunt
played Christmas songs while PJ sang. Others sang with her but since she has a nice voice she is always requested by Aunt Betsy to sing. I tried to sing but I couldn't see the words so it was hard to sing words that you don't really know.

Jesse and I have this tradition. Actually it was started by this lady who we call Aunt Rochelle. Last year we three and her two grandsons ate at this restaurant called "D&D's". Since it was the Saturday after Thanksgiving she mentioned that we should make it a tradition to meet there every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This year sad to say, her two grandsons didn't make it, but Jesse and I plan to do something with them.

After eating at D&D's we came home and put up our Christmas tree. It is one of those that has 6-7 rows of branches with about 8 branches in each row. Needless to say it takes a long time putting up just the tree since you have to form each branch and make it look just right. We put up the lights. I put icicle lights in a "W" shape pattern. They aren't long enough to put around the tree in a circle so I had to be creative. Then I strung one strand of color lights all around the tree. Jesse got down on the floor and looked at the tree and then commented that for the kittens the tree would look plain because there are no lights under the tree for them. I laughed at him but he was dead serious. So I put a small strand of white lights all around the bottom side of the tree for the kittens. After turning on the lights on the tree I told Jesse that the tree lacked lights because it was so bottom heavy with lights that the rest of the tree looked dull and empty. My wonderful husband put another strand of lights on the tree and made it look real good.
We hadn't gotten started putting the ornaments up when the stand of the tree broke. We had to position the tree so it wouldn't fall over and run to Walmart to bye a tree stand. So far the tree is upright, in a new tree stand, with 4 strands of lights, but no ornaments. I think we will put them up tomorrow.

Dentist trip

This is the way we go to the dentist, go to the dentist, go to the dentist.
This is the way we go to the dentist so early in the morning.

Yep, that's true. Bright and early at 9 AM we went to pick up Jesse's grandma and headed out to the dentist. Our appointments started at 10. Since this was the first time visit for me there at Jesse's dentist I had to fill out a medical form. So... I filled it out with all the correct answers and checks and stuff. You see, I am a college graduate so I can read and write and answer questions "correctly". I got to this section where you check "yes" or "no" and started filling it out. I skipped one question needing to ask something about it and continued on down. Then I had to skip another question. This is when I noticed that while I was putting a "no" check for all these questions, that I had misread where the "no" and "yes" were. So instead of saying "no" to do you have cancer, do you smoke, do you have aids - I was putting "yes". Uggggg, I felt so stupid, so dumb. I went up to the receptionist and told her that I had made a mistake (hoping she would give me a new paper) but all she did was put wriggly lines though all my mistake answers and put a single solitary check on "no".

Well, there is a good note to all this.

I DON'T HAVE CAVETIES!!!!

GUESS WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We just got a phone call asking if I could go in to sub today at the Day Care.
Well, that sounds to me like if I have a part-time job, doesn't it?

I will be working from 11 to 6.

I AM SO HAPPY!!!! can you tell?

Day Care maybe

For some weeks or even months I have been thinking of doing something for a few hours a week.  A job maybe but I didn’t really know what I wanted or where I was thinking of heading.  Well, on Sunday there was an announcement in the church bulletin about sub needed for the school day care.  So I have filled out an application and will find out later this week or maybe next week if I have a job as a substitute day care worker.

Itsuki's surfing

No, I am not talking about surfing the web. If you recall a while back I had written all that Itsuki would or could do on the computer.
Anyway I am talking about real surfing but not the time you would do on the water.
Ok ok I can hear you all shouting GET TO THE POINT.

We have a TV table in our computer room. On top of the table is a small rectangular box about 2 inches high and about 7 by 10 in width and length.

Itsuki ran into the room and jumped up on the table. Unfortunatly she landed on the box that continued to move with Itsuki's velocity. Just as it came to the other side of the table the box and Itsuki slid to a stop. Itsuki looked at us like "good, I am safe" and then PLOP both box and Itsuki first teetered and then fell to the ground.

Ok, so it was funny the first time but then about 5 minutes later Itsuki did the very same thing. So did she have a short memory span and forget about it or did she like it so much that she tried to do it again?
who knows.

plumbing problems

I have thought of Rebecca and her fixing up the bathroom a lot this past month.
Why? you ask.
Thanks for asking!

Sometime about a month ago the toilet started not flushing properly. Basically it would overflow.

To make a long story short, Jesse fixed it and now we have a working toilet. And I have a bathroom to clean.

Itsuki

Itsuki, who is really Jesse's kitten but has made me her person, is one of the most loveable, friendly, and trusting kitten/cat I have ever seen. She lets me holdher like a little baby (back down, stomach up). Recently though, she has made Jesse her person and Rascal is taking a better liking to me.

She is our alarm clock ... at 5:00AM. She loves rubbing noses with you. All she wants is for you to touch her and to hold her. One time I was looking at recipes and she wanted me to hold her. I picked her up and held her with her right legs hanging down one side of my arm and the left legs the other side. Her head was between two of my fingers. She just sat there and "read" along with me as I flipped the pages.





There is only one way to lay down in bed acording to Itsuki. That is on your back. If she finds me or Jesse on our stomach she will push her little head against our chin and "try" to push us over. She will meow and push and meow some more. She won't give up until you turn over. The she leaps up on use and proceeds to make herself confortable.








This is possibly the first picture I took of Rascal and Itsuki. Rascal is on the left and Itsuki is on the right. Itsuki had bitten out her stickes and had to wear a collar in order for her wound to heal. I think the look cute.







This last picture is of Itsuki sleeping on the desk. She seems soooooo comfortable. (I wouldn't be.)

Rascal

OUR LITTLE RASCAL








Rascal and the other felines in our family love playing with boxes.




It is very hard to write about Rascal and not include Itsuki. Also most pictures have both kittens in them. But I will try to give each on a seperate post.

Rascal can be discribed in one word: rascal. Yup she is a rascal. Oh and yes Rascal is a female. All our kitties are female just in case you didn't realize that.

OK, back to Rascal. Jesse says that Rascal is how Sakura was when she was little. For that reason Sakura really doesn't like Rascal. Oh she tolerates her but if Rascal starts playing with her or gets too close, PLUNK, plunk plunk. Sakura doesn't hesitate in showing Rascal that she is displeased with something.
Rascal is also very curious. She will be the one to climb up on to something to examine it. And if I or Jesse comes into the room, PLOP, she jumps down from where she is and runs away. Expecially if it is in the kitchen. She has learned that the counters, kitchen table, china cabinet, and desk in the bedroom are all off limits and are all also good places to stimulate her curiousity. BUT that doesn't stop her from getting on them. She will just run and hid for a few minutes and then come back and ask forgiveness for doing wrong.

She loves to get under the covers and sleep between my legs. Oh and she also LOVES to clean everyone. She has done my entire face about 2 or 3 times. And she also makes sure Jesse's arm hairs are in perfect formation.

Recently she has been cuddling with me a lot. That is very suprizing because she doesn't like to be cuddled or held like a little baby. But lately she has taken a real liking to stuff like that. Jesse says it is possibly because she is sorry for the "bad" things she does and comes to me for forgiveness.

We bought a play mouse for Sakura before we got the kittens, but now Rascal has claimed it and so Sakura will have no use to it. Rascal will flip it up into the air and then catch it. She will bat it around and chase it. And she carries it around EVERYWHERE in her mouth.

By the way, Rascal is my kitty. All the others are Jesse's except for Tomoyo who is no ones. Jesse told me to say that Rascal is up for adoption but NO CAN DO! He would have to put me up for adoption WITH her!!!!!

Long time no post

Sorry guys and gals - we have been a little busy and lax in our posting. Not that there wasn't things to write about but ... well... time just flew.
I had a sinus infection that really put me down for a while. And Jesse has been on Safari with Theodore Roosevelt. (Arsenic and Old Lace)

Thought we should say that we are ok and still kicking.

"The Cougar"

Here is a sizing reference for Sakura, or as she is known, "The Lion", or "The Cougar" (someone at work gave her that name today, after having seen this picture) That same co-worker, a few days ago, told the story of a huge cat a friend of his has. I took the information he provided, looked it up on the Internet, and found it to be a Maine Coon Cat. I never thought Sakura was "big" I just thought other cats were small. Point being, I saw the statistics on the Maine Coon Cat, and quite a few of them reminded me very much of Sakura. We do not know anything about Sakura's father; what do you think?