Grown-Up

I had this weird moment last night. I was working on some paperwork at home, and I was lying across my bed on my stomach, work in front of me, legs in the air. And I had this weird flashback to my high school days of doing homework.

And then I had this realization that I am a grown-up. I mean, it's not like I didn't know it before. It's just weird to think about how I went from high school to this 26 year old grown-up. Somewhere in there I started doing grown-up things like doing my own laundry, paying bills, finding places to live, planning my tasks for a job. Unlike high school where you're told what homework to do when, what chores to do when, and everything else is taken care of for you, as a grown-up I have to figure all that out my own. Or I can choose to just ignore the chores and wear dirty underwear. But that'd be gross.

I don't really know how to explain what I was thinking and feeling in that moment. It was just this sense of wonder that the sheltered teenager, afraid to grow up because I might not be good at it, became the me I am today. And it's weird to think that most of my friends are either parents or thinking about being parents. Without warning, I was whisked into the "friends with babies" stage of life.

Now, I'm all for holding onto some of those elements of childhood that make life fun, like swinging and jumping in puddles and coloring and not eating my vegetables. But without me really thinking about it too much, I've added a sense of responsibility to all of those things. I've transitioned into being a grown-up without seeing the transition.

Responsibility

Today on the way home from work I saw a dump truck with a sign on the back that said, "Stay back 200 ft. NOT responsible for broken windshields."

It stood in sharp contrast to a dump truck I'd seen on our vacation with a tarp on top and a sign that said, "We tarp our loads because we care."

There's no law that says dump trucks have to tarp. And so the truck I saw today denied any responsibility for damage their loads may cause. They put all the responsibility on the drivers to stay back a considerable distance.

But the other truck took on extra responsibility. I'm sure it cost them money to tarp each load, but they knew that they shared some of the responsibility, and they wanted to do what they could to limit damage.

Too often we shirk responsibility. "That's not my job" or "it's his fault." Who knew a dump truck would set the example of how to own our part of a problem?

I don't know the name of either trucking company. But if I did and I needed a dump truck for something, I'd hire the dump truck company that cares.

Failure

You know those times when you just feel frustrated with yourself? Like a miserable failure? I'm going through such a period.

First, there's my wrist. It's not really that painful, just enough to slow me down. Just enough that if I use it a lot, even for typing without taking breaks, it starts hurting more. I'm getting so frustrated having to take breaks from typing, having to write with messy handwriting, having to struggle with my left hand to do things. It's really wearing me down.

On Friday I reached rock bottom. My wrist was hurting especially, I'd had a week full of cancelled appointments (all for good reasons, but it was still starting to hit me), and then I got a really discouraging email that got me questioning my ability to do a lot of things. I felt so demotivated I just wanted to sit and do nothing. Because even though it may be boring, it's hard to fail at being lazy.

There's a part of me deep inside that says I should take that failure, learn from it, and let it motivate me to improve. But it's hard to kindle that part of me.

Rest

While I was at urgent care, even though there were absolutely NO other patients there, I had to do some waiting. And I was pretty bored. They didn't even have any good magazines with articles about Ali the Bachelorette. Just dumb medical magazines.

So I'd just gotten my wrist x-rayed and was sitting next to the x-ray machine while the nurse made sure the x-rays had all come out well, and emailed them to the guy who checks them. And before she left me to do that she said, "Now you get to just relax while I check your x-rays."

The phrase "get to" struck me. It wasn't an obligation to sit and be bored. It was an opportunity to rest.

I'm not very good at just resting. I like to always be doing SOMETHING. Even if it's restful, like reading or watching TV, I can't just sit there and rest. The skill seems to be conditioned out of us here in America.

And as I sat and waited for her, I thought about what it would be like if I could really just sit and rest and be OK with that. If I could see waiting as an opportunity to relax, not a boring time to be impatient. It seems like that would be a nice outlook.

Rude

This was my struggle to find out what happened to my wrist.

I called the x-ray lab place and asked if I could just come in. They said no, I needed to see a doctor to get a request for an x-ray, then I'd need to have another visit to analyze the x-ray. I wasn't psyched about paynig 2 co-pays for the doctor plus whatever the x-ray costs, but it was still cheaper than my urgent care co-pay.

So I called my doctor and talked to the receptionist. Told her I hurt my wrist and I needed an x-ray, but that I needed a doctor's request for it. She said, "Just go to urgent care, they have an x-ray machine there."

I told her my co-pay was really high for that and that I wanted to save money. She said, "Well, does your insurance require referrals to see other doctors?" I didn't know what a referral was. I told her so. At which point she sighed and talked to me like I was 5 or just a big idiot. "Does your insurance require your primary care physician to authorize visits to specialists?" It doesn't, I told her.

"Then just go to urgent care," she said. I explained again that my co-pay was too high, and she said, "But if you come here then you'll need to go somewhere else to get an x-ray." Ok...but again, lower co-pay. X-ray a factor either way. She wasn't getting it, was treating me like an idiot, was being generally rude, and was telling me to go elsewhere. Well fine. I'm not going to beg you to let me be your customer. You want me to go elsewhere, I'll go elsewhere. And never go to YOU again, jerkwad!

So I went to urgent care. At that point I was too frustrated and too busy to try to find another primary care physician, set up appointments, and so on. This lady had me on the verge of tears and I couldn't shake the bad mood she put me in all day. And it didn't help when I was sitting in urgent care trying to fill out forms with an injured dominant hand. And when they kept telling me to sign stuff.

My friend who had recommended the doctor had also had a bad encounter with the receptionist lately. And she's also friends with one of the doctor's there, so she talked to the doctor today and told her of my encounter. She was told that they knew about the situation and are taking care of it. I didn't say anything to anyone at the doctor's office, so they must have heard her side of the phone conversation and realized she was basically telling me she didn't want to help me.

I hope she gets fired. There are too many good people out of work right now to have someone so rude and unhelpful answering phones. Especially at a doctor's office, where people call and come in already in pain or sick and needing a comforting person to help them.

Two-Handed

I've developed a new admiration for amputees. Yesterday and today I've had my right hand (my dominant one) wrapped up in an Ace bandage in effort to support it a little bit. I'm not quite sure the extent of my injury, but it was initally caused by a fall at Garden of the Gods and made worse yesterday in a rousing game of "Duck, Duck, Goose." Actually, "Sit, Sit, Stand." Why those kids had to keep picking me I don't know. Why I didn't stop to think, "Hey, this is hurting my already semi-injured hand. Maybe I should find a different way to stand up" I don't know. But here I am in pain.

And I've realized a couple of things. First, my left hand is extremely weak. Things like opening file drawers that are usually done with minimal effort with my right hand take a considerable amount of strength from my left side.

Second, it's really hard to do normal, every day things with one hand. Even if things were reversed and my right hand was the good one, it would be a challenge. Tonight I cracked two eggs with my left hand, and assembled a lasagna the same way. It was challenging, and if Dan hadn't helped by browning the meat I think it would have been meatless.

Two-handedness is something I take for granted. But as I struggled to open a jar of spaghetti sauce tonight, I couldn't help but think how hard it would be to adjust to life permanently with one hand. On vacation we saw a woman with only one arm riding a horse. I don't know her story...if she had the arm for a while and had to adjust to the amutation, or never had it in the first place...but how much harder must simple tasks be for her than me? How many more trips from the car to the house must she take to bring in the groceries?

It always takes losing something (even temporarily) to really appreciate it.

Creativity vs. Consistency

There's a line that's hard to find between creativity and consistency. At Group innovation and creativity are major parts of who we are. At the same time, we want to deliver something to the customer that is consistent enough not to be confusing. When they order two quarters of the same curriculum line, they need to know what features to expect with the second quarter. We want to wow people, but not confuse them.

And therein lies the struggle. Here's one I struggle with: email signatures. Group recently created a standard format for email signatures. There's a value to the consistency there. It's part of the brand. If a customer emails two Groupies, that signature is a brand. There's slightly different content (obviously the identity and contact information), but there's a brand associated.

But then, does that rob us of our creativity? What if I wanted to use red in my signature? (Which I do, actually, despite the fact that it breaks the brand...)

But by allowing a free-for-all, would we have some people with no concept of readability and design that they put neon green text on a purple background in some obnoxiously hard to read font?

At Group we're always being challenged to think outside the box, break the mold, see things in a different way. Even to break the rules sometimes. But there must be some rules or things would be mass chaos, with customers too confused to use Group again.

The problem is finding the line in the middle of the spectrum.

It's Your Book Now

I wrote a blog similar to this back in my Myspace blogging days, but I'm re-writing it since I have a lot of new readers since then.

My name on blogger is Golden (It's Your Book Now). That comes from a Switchfoot song - probably my favorite song of all time, except maybe the Clapping and Jumping Song by the Smurfs (which isn't quite as touching).

The song is about a girl who is all alone and feeling all used up. She's been "staring down the demons who've been screaming she's just another so-and-so." And Switchfoot says this to her, "You are golden...don't let go."

I love that message. So often I feel like I'm fighting those same demons, screaming I'm a nobody. Just another so-and-so. And when I feel like that, I cling to this song. God sees me as golden. I am his golden child.

The song continues, "She's been hiding in the bedroom, hoping this isn't how the story has to go, it's not the way it goes, it's your book now..."

I love that line. Maybe because I'm a writer. It speaks to me like no other line from any song. I love the concept that when life isn't going the way we want, the story doesn't have to go that way. Obviously God has the ultimate power and plan, but sometimes he wants us to take action as part of that. I love this concept that rather than self-pitying and dwelling on the problem, you get out there and write a different story. Become who you want to be, don't dwell in the fact that you're not good enough. It's your book now.

"The green comes from the frozen ground and everything will be made new again, like freedom in the spring."

When we feel alone, fighting the demons that lie about who we are, this song is empowering. God sees me as golden. So I can go out there and write my story. Spring will come.

Open My Eyes

There's this awesome story in 2 Kings 6. The King of Aram is at war with Israel. Only Israel has pretty great intel - God keeps telling Elisha when they plan to attack. Aram can't catch Israel by surprise.

When the King of Aram finds out who is providing the intelligence, he's understandably mad at Elisha. So he comes to hunt him down. God doesn't warn Elisha this time. Elisha and his servant wake up and the servant sees all these enemy troops surrounding them. The servant is freaked out. And Elisha says this: “Don’t be afraid! For there are more on our side than on theirs!” Then Elisha prays, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!"

All of a sudden, the servant sees that the hillside around them is filled with horses and chariots of fire - straight from God. Then Elisha prays for the enemies to be blinded, and they are. Elisha leads them right into Samaria, then has the King of Israel feed them before sending them on their way.

I absolutely love Elisha's prayer in this passage. When all seems lost, when we feel surrounded by enemies or bad circumstances, when hope is gone, this prayer is for you. "O Lord, open my eyes and let me see. Let me see your power. Let me see your plan. Let me see that I can yet hope in you."

Misunderstood

Dan and I took the puppies for a nice trip to Walgreens tonight. The Walgreens by us allows dogs inside and even gives them treats at the pharmacy, so they love coming along.

When we pulled into a parking space, there was a fancy car a few spots down, parked right in the middle of two spots, the way drivers of nice cars do when they want to avoid being knicked by a neighboring car door. Dan had recently learned, though, that some people key cars that do that just to get back at them for taking up two spaces.

When we got out of our car, Dan commented to the owner of the sports car that some people key cars for parking like that. That really set the guy off. He heard it as a threat, not the friendly warning Dan intended. And from then on, he was determined that Dan had threatened to key his car out of jealousy. He was cursing at Dan, threatening to beat him up (which I think he would have attempted if Dan wasn't so big), and just generally being angry. Dan tried to explain to him that he didn't care that the guy had parked that way, he was just warning him that some people do. But the man was beyond the point of reason. He'd made up his mind that Dan was a jerk who was jealous and threatening, and that was that.

I went in with the dogs and made Dan stay outside to make sure the man didn't retaliate by keying my car. And when I came back out, the guy was still having words with Dan and told me to keep him on a leash, then flipped us off in a final farewell as I got into our car.

I'm thankful that no one was hurt, and saddened that this angry man had his young daughter in the back of his car. And it was a definite wake-up call to listen before reacting and assuming you know what someone is trying to tell you.

Vacation

Dan and I returned today from a 5-day trip to a gorgeous cabin in the Pikes Peak area. It was the perfect length - long enough to feel like it was a good solid vacation, but not so long that we got bored. Plus I hate being away from my puppies!

I think we struck the perfect balance of resting and doing fun stuff. I'm not the kind of person who likes to cram vacations so full of outings that you feel more tired after the vacation than you started out. But I also wanted to get out and see more of this beautiful state. So I think we got in just the right amount of everything.

We arrived Saturday around dinner time and got settled into the cabin. It was a secluded cabin with a great view. And by cabin I mean a lodge type house, not a rustic log cabin. Fully equipped with plumbing and electricity. Very comfortable and beautiful. Then we enjoyed the hot tub and watched some CSI: NY. (We're going through Seasons 1-5 and we're on 5 now.)

On Sunday we went to Garden of the Gods, which I have to say was a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful! Great rock formations and awesome views...I guess I was just expecting more based on what I've heard about it. Maybe it was just overhyped so my expectations were too high. It was free, so definitely worth the trip, but I think if we'd had to pay I would have felt like we'd gotten ripped off a little bit.

After Garden of the Gods we went to Royal Gorge which was NOT free ($25/person) but vastly exceeded my expectations. It was well worth the drive (it was an hour and a half from where we were staying) and the cost. I thought it would just be the bridge over the gorge, which sounded really cool but overpriced at $25. But we decided to do it anyway. Turned out that cost included not just the bridge (which we walked across and drove across), but a tram ride over the gorge (which was so amazing - highlight of the trip for me!), an incline railway ride that took you down to the bottom of the gorge, some animals, and a very cheesy train ride. It also included other things but we were getting hungry so we left. The Royal Gorge was the coolest place we went all week, I think.

On the way back from Royal Gorge it started raining REALLY HARD, and there was a car slightly in front of us in the lane next to us pulling a trailer with no mud flaps or fenders. The trailer went through a puddle and splashed up a huge wall of water on our windshield. We couldn't see a THING...and we were on a winding road. Dan luckily remembered to pulse the brakes, not slam them or we would have hydroplaned, but we were still going for about 10 seconds with absolutely NO visibility. We were so scared, and so thankful that God kept us safe and that this happened on a rare straight part of the road.

On Monday it was kind of raining off and on and we weren't so sure about doing anything outdoors. Plus my rib had popped back out of my spine and I could barely turn my head or torso. So we hung out in the cabin a bit, enjoying the hot tub some more when it wasn't raining, doing some reading (oops...it was a book for work...), and watching some movies. Then in the afternoon we went on a scenic drive which was pretty cool (but we were glad we were in a car because it started raining again).

On Tuesday we slept in later (I got up at 10:30) and were planning to have a leisurely breakfast and then go out. But as I was toasting my bagel in less than decent attire (like I said, the cabin was secluded so privacy wasn't an issue), all of a sudden I saw a workman out the window. I ducked down quickly, but not before he saw me. The workmen proceded to dig a huge ditch in the driveway to lay down a pipe, and we got blocked in. So we watched some more CSI while they worked but were very annoyed that we'd lost half a day unable to get out, without the privacy and peacefulness of our cabin. (They were really loud. But the cabin rental place is going to send us a check to compensate us for the inconvenience. Apparently - and I don't think this would have made a huge difference but whatever - the guys were supposed to tell us what they were doing and how long they'd take, and they didn't do that at all - but told the owner of the cabin that they did! Liars!) Finally at 2 they left and we went to Seven Falls.

Seven Falls is a tiered waterfall with - you guessed it - 7 tiers. And something like 221 steps next to it to climb to the top. That was quite a workout! Then we went on a hike at the top of it which I think was only 1 mile - but it was pretty steep at some parts, especially after those steps had worn us out! So that was definitely a good workout. The Falls were beautiful but the whole place was SOO touristy and packed it was hard to enjoy the view. Royal Gorge was touristy too but it was unique enough to be worth it. Seven Falls was nice but I thought we could have found a less touristy place to hike where there was a waterfall. Still...the workout of going up (and later back down) all those stairs couldn't be matched. AND I was very proud of myself because there was a sign on the trail about snakes living there but I bravely hiked it anyway. And from the end of the trail, you could see downtown Colorado Springs - which was pretty neat!

We came back and enjoyed our last evening relaxing in the cabin. On both Monday and Tuesday night (but especially Monday), we had an absolutely breathtaking view of the stars from the hot tub. We wished we knew more about the constellations! It's amazing how many more stars you can see when you get away from all the lights.

We also saw some wildlife in our yard. There was a buck the very first night while we ate dinner on the deck, and later two does walked by. Dan saw a skunk Sunday morning but I missed it. But this morning was the best - a doe and a fawn were in the yard and I went out on the deck with our camera. They got closer and closer until the doe was right up next to the deck, looking at me almost as if posing for the camera. And then she gave me those same eyes Buttercup gives me when she wants kibbles, and the same double tail wag Buttercup does. (Just two quick wags.) So I'm pretty sure other guests have fed her before and she expected the same from us - but sadly we had nothing to offer her.

So that was our trip! I'll be posting a photo album with some highlights, maybe this weekend.

In the mean time, it's good to be back with my puppies and I'm looking forward to work tomorrow. I do love my job! And I'm glad to be going back feeling well rested and like I had a great vacation.

FYI - The cabin we stayed in is privately owned but rented out through Colorado Mountain Cabins. They have about 30 cabins in the Pikes Peak area, so if you want a neat place to stay in a scenic area, google them! (Just make sure there aren't any plans to lay pipes while you're there...)

Group Prayer

At our monthly all-staff meetings at Group, we usually open with prayer. It's awesome to work at a place that values prayer. I should be thankful for it. And I am...but...

I have to confess that sometimes I find it very boring. And that's not just at Group...it's group prayer in general. Sometimes at our all-staffs we pray silently but with direction - and that I like. I'm engaged in it. It's personal. I'm not a mere observer.

But other times, we take prayer requests and then someone up front prays for them all. And I get really bored. I shouldn't. It feels wrong to be bored. But I doubt I'm the only one that gets bored with this method of prayer. For one, it's redundant...we just heard all the prayer requests, now we're praying for them. Why didn't we just have people say their prayers instead of saying what they needed prayer for? I guess it's nice to have someone else pray for your needs, even if they are essentially just reading off a checklist.

But moreover, I find group prayer requests very shallow. It's very rare that someone will ask for prayer for themselves in a group setting. More often, it's "Pray for my cousin's cousin, who has cancer." And to be quite honest (albeit harsh), even though cancer is a sad, sad thing, I don't really care about your cousin's cousin. I may not even know you that well (though I'd probably like to), but I don't even have a frame of reference for your cousin's cousin.

It's hard to ask for personal things, though. I don't do it very often. Because it's vulnerable. It's easier to think of the closest person to you who has cancer and ask for prayer about that than to ask for God to change your heart on something that you've been struggling with.

I know this blog probably sounds very mean...but it's honest. It's personal. And I think we need more personal sharing. Maybe in a meeting with your whole company isn't the place for that. But at least in our small groups...it's time to get personal.

Jury Duty

Today I was talking with some people about how one can avoid being selected for a jury if it falls during a busy week. Some possible methods were:

- Rave on and on about your beliefs on capital punishment

- Show up drunk (this may result in arrest for public intoxication, though)

- Bring some green army men and play with them loudly during the selection process, making gun noises as they shoot each other

What other ideas do you have? They can't entail lying or deceit, just good excuses that are real or ways to make yourself look like you'd make a bad juror.

Gay Marriage

I usually avoid political blogs because I don't want to spark controversy, but I was just thinking about gay marriage and wanted to write about it. So here goes.

If Colorado had a vote to legalize gay marriage, I would vote against it. HOWEVER: if it passed, I wouldn't consider it the end of the world.

I would vote against it because the Bible teaches homosexuality is wrong.

I wouldn't consider it the end of the world if it passed for the following reasons:

1) I don't believe it's the government's job to enforce Christian morals, unless lack of government regulation brings a person into harm's way. All that does is create forced morality, not any kind of loyalty to Christ. And whether or not they can legally marry, gay people will continue to live as married couples do.

2) It's not like abstaining from gay marriage will send anyone to heaven, nor will entering into gay marriage send anyone to hell. We are not saved by works, but by grace through faith in Jesus. The lifestyle changes need to be a result of a love for Jesus, NOT forced by law.

3) (And this is the main thing...) I think Christians are far too concerned with opposing gay marriage and not concerned enough with loving everyone as Jesus did. Jesus never condoned adultery, prostitution, or thievery, but he loved the adulterers, the prostitutes, and the crooked tax collectors. He didn't try to bring about legislation that would illegalize such actions. He didn't point the finger at them and call them evil. He showed his love to them and asked them to sin no more based on their relationship with him. When homosexuals see Christians, I don't think they see Jesus' heart at all. I think they see self-appointed judges.

I think it's time we start showing Jesus love and praying for HIM to change people's hearts - not the government to change merely their actions.

Me Likey

Lately I've noticed a proliferation of external sites on which to "like" things on Facebook. And they annoy me greatly. But unlike application notifications, you can't block the "so-and-so likes something stupid" notifications (my cynical term...) without blocking the people.

And so I am left to sort through all of these ridiculous notifications with obscenely poor grammar and no meaning (in my estimation).

But tonight I got to thinking, as Facebook informed me that a friend likes "I use my Phone or iPod to see in the dark! ^.^ on See more.." Why do people "like" such things? I find it annoying (as I mentioned), a waste of time, shallow, and a way to give a third party more of your personal information. But obviously people disagree with me or they wouldn't use these websites.

And I think it ties in to the desire we all have to belong. We want to know we're not alone in the world. And so, if people see that other people use their phones and iPods to see in the dark (not that people think they're really the only ones to do so), it affirms in them that there's someone else out there like them. And if there's someone like them in that regard, maybe they belong. Maybe they can connect with people. Maybe they're not all alone in this world.

I'm not going to start liking things on "Me Likey." But I can resonate with the desire to belong, connect, and feel like I'm not alone.

Bible

I was reading the Bible the other day, and I was thinking about how the Bible can get so familiar that you glaze over it. And there are some really cool stories in 1 & 2 Kings that I know I've read, because I've read the whole Bible, but I have absolutely no recollection of. But the problem is when you start in Genesis, it takes a long time to get to those passages!

So I got to thinking about some different ways to organize the Bible, like different types of study Bibles that would bring new life to some of the things we're so used to glazing over.

One Bible I'd love to see is one that's organized by person. You've got some of the same kings talked about in the Kings & Chronicles, and it would be interesting to see them next to each other. So you'd have a chapter on Saul, a chapter on David, a chapter on Hezekiah, etc. Anyone who has more than a verse about them. There'd be some repeats, some of the David passages would also be in Saul...so that would have to be worked out...but I love the idea of seeing the Bible as a collection of real people rather than just distant stories. I'd love to really immerse myself in the people and get to know them.

The other idea is to just fill the Bible with contextual facts. Not just your typical footnotes or stuff, but historical contexts, scientific facts, stuff like that...for basically every passage. So like, scientific stuff about the flood like I wrote about last night. Or one time in college, Rob Bell shared these really neat contextual details about some of the things Jesus said. He said that when Jesus talked about counting the cost, the examples he used were actual things the king had just done...and he was kind of being snarky. That was really interesting, and that's not the kind of thing you read in normal Bible footnotes or commentaries. I'd love to see those kinds of interesting details all throughout the Bible.

What do you think would bring the Bible to new life for you? What would captivate you?

Flood

The account of Noah and the flood is so familiar that we tend to take it for granted. I often still read it with the same eyes I had as a child.

But the other day I saw this picture, and it got me thinking about the flood. Which was kind of a random connection. But as I saw how high Mount Everest is and the pressure at the bottom of the deepest part we know of the ocean, it amazed me. And I remembered something about the flood. The Bible says that the water came until it rose 20 feet over the tallest mountains, and then stopped. (Which in and of itself is pretty amazing. I'd always kinda thought God just covered up all the places people lived. But he had a clear plan to cover the whole earth, and then stop. 20 feet relative to 30,000 is pretty close.)

Now, we don't know that Everest was the tallest mountain at that point, or that it was the elevation it is now. Same goes for the ocean floor. The earth's topography would have been drastically altered by the flood waters. But for imagination's sake, let's say that Everest was then as it is now.

That means that the deepest part of the ocean (as far as we've measured), was about 70,000 feet under the surface of the water. That's almost double the depth of the ocean now. And when you think about the fact that the atmospheric pressure down there now is 1,100, and how dark it is...think how much pressure it would have been down there with twice as much water on top.

Which also means that the pressure of what we know as sea level would have been the same as the pressure of our ocean floor. And the same darkness. People didn't just drown, their bodies were crushed by the pressure. And think of what that pressure must have done to the earth's form! Fossils of trees have been found vertically buried in the ground, probably pushed down by the pressures of the flood.

The Bible says that water burst out of the earth in addition to the rain. It didn't rain 30,000 feet of water in 40 days. (That would be some heavy rain!) And I once heard a speaker talk about how there's clear evidence of a place (I forget where) where it appears as if water burst forth in massive amounts. And that force is what caused Pangea (the united mass of continents) to split into our 7 continents. And imagine how much the ark would have been rocking on the surface of the water with those kinds of major plate shifts going on! It would have been much worse than the greatest tsunami we know of! That's some scary stuff!

Then it took another 110 days until the waters receded enough for the ark to land on Ararat at an estimated elevation of 15,500. Which means that in 110 days, nearly 15,000 feet of water receded. That's 136 feet a day!

I could go on, but I try not to make my blogs too long. Suffice it to say, when you think beyond the pairs of animals and the quaint picture of giraffes peeking out a porthole, there was some pretty amazing stuff going on below the surface of the water. And that just captivates me. I love seeing the Bible come to life as I see things in a totally different way.

Omnipotent

I just read a story in 1 Kings 20 that I wasn't familiar with. And I thought it was pretty cool.

This king named Ben-Hadad says he's going to attack King Ahab and the kingdom of Samaria in Israel. Ahab says he'll give him his wives and gold, but Ben-Hadad wants Ahab to give him everything of value that he owns. Ahab refuses.

So Ben-Hadad says he's going to attack, and there won't even be dust left. To which Ahab replies (and I love this line!), “A warrior putting on his sword for battle should not boast like a warrior who has already won.” (I HATE it when people smack talk about what WILL happen when they have no idea.)

Sure enough, God says he'll win the battle for Samaria, and Ahab will know that he is God. The battle takes place in the hills, and the Samaritans kick booty.

And then Ben-Hadad says this, which really struck me: “The Israelite gods are gods of the hills; that is why they won. But we can beat them easily on the plains." See, in Ben-Hadad's mind, there was no one sovereign God. There were gods of certain things. So they go to war on the plains, and God helps the Samaritans kick booty again. (The only problem is that Ahab makes a treaty and lets Ben-Hadad live, which he wasn't supposed to do.)

In a world full of trouble, where problems can occur anywhere when you least expect them, I'm glad I serve a God who's not just the god of the hills, not just the god of the plains, but the all-powerful God of everything.