Amazing Race-Not-So-Amazing Week

First of all....I am not sure how I feel about Dave and Mary getting yet another non elimination...I like Dave...I hope I don't too often sound like Mary, but probably I do...So I guess we'll see if they can pull that one out of the fire next week and if the Cho Brothers (who I like but I think are taking this "6 Pack" thing a little too far) come to their aid again (to their own potential peril).

I DO think that the beauty queens' true colors are coming out...and I am not surprised at what we are all seeing. Remember, pretty is as pretty does, girls.

Too many mean people on this time...I am ready for

the model addicts to go home
the beauty queens to go home
the Alabama girls to go home...

how many teams are there?

Ready (almost) for Dave and Mary to go home. Dave is the redeeming factor there.

#1 pick is the Chos and #2 is Dave if he can win alone. If not, Rob and Kimberly and I can't even believe I am saying that but at least they are not nasty.

OK, enough of that.

This is one of those weeks that I thought was busy until I realized how busy it really was going to be about an hour ago.

We will have two houseguests next week, which I think will be great, but also a little stressful since my children are not always the best...plus that means I have to "clean with purpose" this week:-).

So maybe I will blog again this week, maybe not.

But know that it's not you...it's me.;-)

Thursday Thirteen #17

Thirteen Things about My Recent Gardening Adventure 1 The first thing to know is that I am not a gardenener. 2. Much like the aspiring cook who thinks one can put salt or sugar in a recipe because they look the same, I really don't have a clue what I am doing with plants. 3. So, 2 weeks ago, I was a WalMart and thought that maybe I should get some pansies... 4. I got purple and yellow, because we are kind of Vikings fans (in addition to being Sooners). 5. I brought home the flowers, and felt pretty good about myself, envisioning a completely transformed front door area, alive with splashes of color. 6. I did not notice the clouds that were gathering... 7. Once home, todder and I took the flowers to the are in which they were to be planted. 8. We fought over who was going to use the shovel...she cried. 9. As I began to move rocks (the previous owners liked those decorator stones and used about 1.5 tons in all the beds of our front and back yard--ugh) to expose the dirt, I found that plastic that prevents weeds. 10. Under the plastic, I found a tiny bit of dirt and another 3 inches of rocks. I had no additional dirt. 11. It began to rain. 12. 2 weeks later, I finally had another opportunity to plant the pansies, which were all wilted and sad looking. 13. Armed with a bag of dirt, I pushed the rocks back...yes, now there is a big hill of rocks toward the back of my flower bed. And I planted those near-dead flowers. Darth (10 years old and having never seen flowers in our yard) commented how pretty they looked, As they lay horizontally on the dirt with the mountain of rocks in the background. And I watered those flowers as if they might be alive....Someone told me you can't kill pansies. We'll see. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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Names of God Part 2

OK....when I found the Sacred Name Bible, I thought that they had pretty much done what I talked about in the above post....I thought that they had gone through the King James and simply inserted the three main names of God instead of the coded stuff (LORD, Lord, GOD, etc).

But then I looked at it again today, and checked some of the verses against Strongs and it appears that for the most part (maybe all, but I can't say that), John Hurt has changed the words "God" and "Lord" to the specific Hebrew names...very cool, I think.

Apparently, there are people who think that if you speak a particular name of God, it has some kind of magical quality, and therefore, there is some controversy with the whole Sacred Names thing (and I think that movement is actually called "Sacred Names" with an s)...in looking at this site, it does not seem that Mr. Hurt is going there....so don't you go there either.

God is not a genie in a bottle and just because you know that one of His names is Jehovah Rapha (the Lord, your healer), He is not compelled to heal a disease.

BUT I do think this is useful, because the names are right in the text.

You can use it for free online or download the software for a nominal fee.

There are other features there as well. To view the entire site, click on the HTML Bible in the sidebar.

Names of God Part 1

Although this is probably not a new thought, I have theorized that when we read "God" or some variation in the Bible, there might be more to it than just "God"...you know, there are all sorts of names for God, like Jehovah or Jehovah Jirah, and a bunch of others that I don't know.

And I have wondered if maybe sometimes "God" means Jesus and sometimes "God" means the Holy Spirit, or the Father...now this is just wondering, mind you, but I found kind of an interesting thing in my journey:-) to investigate these matters.

The Institute for Religious Research published an article that talks about the King James Version of the Bible and the code it uses to denote the three most prevailent names of God. I thought this was very cool. I am lifting some parts, leaving out the illustrations and just telling you the facts...go read the article if you want more detail.

A code system in the King James Version Bible designates which divine name(s) is used in a given passage. If you look at the KJV text carefully, you will notice that Deity is variously referred to as "God", "GOD", "Lord", "LORD," or some combination of these terms. These different English words and spelling variations were used by the King James translators to designate the various Hebrew words and names for God in the Old Testament. As has been noted, the three primary Hebrew words for God are Elohim, Jehovah (or Yahweh), and Adonai.

Elohim
This is a general Hebrew term for Deity that designates God as our Creator and the object of all true worship. It occurs 2,570 times in the Old Testament. The King James translators rendered this Hebrew word as "God." Notice that God in this instance is spelled with a capital "G" and with the letters "od" written in lower case. It is thought by many scholars to be related to the Hebrew word El, meaning "strength," "mighty," or "the Almighty."

Jehovah/Yahweh
When the name Jehovah (or Yahweh, as modern scholars believe it should be written) is used in the Hebrew text, it is written as "LORD" in our English Bibles. Notice that all the letters are capitalized. In some instances Jehovah is also written as "GOD." Again, with all the letters capitalized. Wherever you see the words "LORD" or "GOD" in the Bible written in all uppercase letters, you will know that in every case it is the word Jehovah (or Yahweh) that has been translated from the original Hebrew text of Scripture. Jehovah is the personal name of God, and speaks of Him as the holy, self-existent God who hates sin but provides redemption. According to the standard Hebrew- English lexicon of the Old Testament, this name for God is used c. 6,823 times in the Old Testament.

Adonai
When this word is used in the Hebrew text of Scripture, it is written as "Lord" in the King James Bible. Notice that it is spelled with a capital "L" and lower case "ord." It means "Sovereign," or "Master," and emphasizes the Lordship of God. This word is used more than 300 times in the Old Testament as a designation for God.

This does not, of course, envelope all the names of God, but I thought that was pretty forward thinking of the King James group of translators. And I guess they were the only ones to think of it, because I don't see it in in any other translation. More on names of God later....

Thursday Thirteen # 16

Thirteen Things That I Am Thankful For

OK....wayyyyy too much negative thinking in my week, so here is my attempt to accentuate the positive...


1. I am thankful that I don't have to work.

2. I am thankful that my children are all healthy.

3. I am thankful that I am healthy.

4. I am thankful that I have a husband and that he, too, is healthy and working hard.

5. I am thankful that people seem to like the work he does and want him to participate in more facets of that work.

6. I am thankful that alot of my family lives close (within 90 minutes).

7. I am thankful that I have options to do extra things, even though sometimes I let them stress me out.

8. I am thankful that I get to sing at Swadleys every 2nd and 4th Saturday.

9. I am thankful that I have so much stuff that I need to go through it and get rid of some of it.

10. I am thankful that I can sometimes choose what things to fixate on and what things to let go of if I will just think about them before diving in.

11. I am thankful for my Body and Soul class because doing Body and Soul has made me feel stronger.

12. I am thankful that I have a number of people in my life who love me.

13. I am thankful that when I think to let Him, God keeps me focused and gives me purpose in my life.



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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Just the Facts

OK, I stink...I haven't posted for weeks and today isn't going to be much better. But I wanted to just let you know I am still alive, watching Amazing Race, etc...

Glad the boyfriends are gone, wondering how long the Kentuckys will be there...that was a close one for sure. And who in the world would choose that rice thing once you looked at it and saw how long it would take?

My best girlfriend Sherri, reminded me that the holidays are coming upon us and found a really good site if you are thinking you might want to do a Jesse Tree this year...but you need to get started so it will be ready...click here to get started or here just to read about someone who did it last year (this actually is a cute blog and I plan to read more of it later....)

As part of my 101 things to do in 1001 days, I am learning to do cryptograms....my grandmother used to do them all the time in the newspaper. I found this about a week ago and it was fun, so if you want to learn how to do one, click here.

And finally, my step dad made a video of Grafted In (our country gospel band) a few weeks ago. I gave a copy to Kenny and he somehow was able to make a YouTube of one of the songs. You can't really hear me (I am singing the lower part) but you can see me and my washboard prowess:-) and hear Kenny singing one of his best songs. AND if you are really alert, you will notice that I look afraid before you push the arrow...like I am trapped in there or something....funny.

OK, that's it for now. Thanks for sticking with me and visiting now and then. :-)