catching up

so i'll do my reading for the day, check this blog, see what people have written, and then - i am ashamed to say - just leave. no excuses here really (actually i could probably come up with a ton but why waste the time?). just an apology to you all.

so here are some of my goals:
1. spiritually i've been kind of dwindling since the school year. before this group, when i would read the Bible everyday, it would be kind of aimless and i wouldn't really take in what i was reading. during the school year i would have this devotional that PG gave me that i would go by and it would tell me what to read, and then i would talk to my LCG (accountability partner/mentor sort of thing) and i would really grow. however now during the summer i don't really have anyone to talk to so the drive kind of died. i'm hoping that this blog and this group will kind of keep me going. i'm excited to finish the Bible in one year because i really want to get to know God's word better and so my goal is to read everyday (which i have been doing) and post at least once every two days (which i have not been doing >.<) and keep this up until we are done(at least)

2. pray bigger prayers. making them more meaningful and detailed. i mean if i don't know what i want, what can i ask from God? i want to be less selfish in my prayers and pray more for the bigger picture and those around me rather than always focusing on myself or situations/things that concern me.

3. schedule an appointment with the IPE office this summer so i can figure out the exact route that i want to minor in and fix my schedule for the fall accordingly

4. be more loving to my brother in that i stop trying to discipline him and acting all motherly and just act like a sister to him and have fun/play with him

5. ok this is kind of silly but i want to make another bag this summer. i mean i pretty much have all the materials i need and for a while i've had sort of a vision for my second bag. it's not extremely detailed but that's how my first bag started out. i just want to see this idea become real like my first one did. God gave me some skills in this area and i think it would be a waste if i didn't do something with them. also since something like this takes a lot of time i won't be wasting my time this summer sleeping (excessively) or on the computer.

6. work out at least 4 times a week every week. i was literally sick the whole school year last year and i want to get healthy and stay heatlhy. my mom bought my lifetime membership for me to lose weight haha, and while that would be nice i'm just aiming for toning and getting rid of any flabbiness hahaha XD

~day 3~
in Genesis 8:21 God states about men that "...every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood" but then we always say that children are innocent. so does He mean when you're old enough to know the difference between good and bad that you always have the tendency to do bad? or does He mean that if children were never taught the difference between good and evil they would do evil? because isn't that a completely different view of children that people portray now? "children are so innocent!" or "they don't know any better" is what you always hear. then again if you say that a child doing something bad is only because he/she doesn't know any better, then what God is saying is right (duh), so why do people always say that children are innocent? is it because of the fact that they don't know any better? is it due to that lack of knowledge that they can be called innocent? ok the word innocent is starting to sound funny now...(said it in my head one too many times...)
*edit* nvm i just looked up innocent (stupid i know i should've done so to begin with -_-) and one of the definitions is "uninformed or unaware; ignorant" so yea i guess that's it. makes sense now

also in Genesis 9:24 Noah cursed Canaan for what Ham did, but why Canaan? why not any of Ham's other sons? or why not just Ham himself?

then in Genesis 10:25, what does it mean that Peleg's time on earth was divided?

~day 4~
yea i have the same question as lulu. if God limited the number of years men could live to 120, how come in the genealogies some of them lived like 500 years? or was it more of a gradual process? like the lifespan of people couldn't just be suddenly cut to a tenth? because that sure seems to be the case when reading the list in Genesis 11

and again...same question as lulu: after Abram beat the other kings, he refused anything from the king of Sodom, but wasn't the stuff Abram's to begin with?

so nothing new from me for this day i guess...><

~day 5~
Genesis 15:11 seems kind of random and almost useless. if Abram drove those birds away in the end and all was well, why was that even mentioned? i think i need verse 16 explained to me. for some reason it's just not clicking. the last part especially, "...the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
also why does Hagar begin to despise Sarai when she conceives? i don't really get it. is she scared that Sarai is going to take her child and pretend like she's his mother instead of Hagar?

also, why is there a need for a physical representation of God's covenant with Abraham? was it like their end of the bargain to keep while God greatly increased Abraham's descendants and made them into a great nation?

~day 6~
in Genesis 18:22-33 i think that God shows so much patience with Abraham when Abraham was pleading for Sodom's case. i mean if it were me after the first two numbers i'd probably just be like, "ok hurry up and get to the point! bargain faster." or something like that. it kind of reminds me how when we talk to older people we have to repeat things over and over and over....and over again. and i lose patience fast, and sometimes this could be with my parents. i guess this is just a really good reminder to be patient with people.

okay so about the story of Abraham and Abilemech...why did Abraham do it again? actually no it says why, but i just thought it was kind of funny (?) that about the same thing happened here that did in Egypt. how come the Bible portrays the Abilemech and the Pharaoh as bad (sort of?) or that they were in the wrong? it doesn't make it seem like Abraham was equally at fault, which i feel like he was.

ok i think that should be all for now
hopefully next time i post will be within the next two days >.<