The Journey

Have you ever noticed that I Samuel's account of David in exile sounds a lot like the character of Robin Hood? Take a look at the following passages. First, he goes into exile. Then a crowd of men begin to gather about him: David departed from there and escaped to  the cave of  Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him.   2  And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, [ a ]  gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him  about four hundred men. I Samuel 22:1-2  Sounds an awful lot like he's accumulated his "merry men". And then he gains a "friar Tuck": 20  But one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named  Abiathar, escaped and fled after David.   22  And David said to Abiathar...,  23 " Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you sha...

Do you want to know who one of my favorite women of the Bible is? No, it's not Mary. Or Esther. Give up? It's Deborah. Bet you didn't guess her! You may be wondering what this has to do with the title of this post. I admit, Deborah isn't a very talked about woman and there's not much known about her, but there's not much that we know about encouraging the boys in our lives to become men either. If you were to ask just me and me alone how to do this, I would have to tell you that I honestly don't know. But Deborah does. Let's take a look at what we do know about our dear Deborah: She lived in a time when everyone around her was doing anything but what God had commanded them. (Judges 4:1) She was being plagued by an enemy nation that seemed like all it wanted to do was pick on her people. (Judges 4:2,3) She was in an unusual position of authority (that most women in that time period did not have) as a prophetess and judge. Everyone and anyone w...

In my previous post Prince Charming: Real or Pretender , we discussed what a princess looks for in a prince. We made the point that sometimes it's hard to tell the real thing from a royal pretender. Well, today we are going to turn the tables. We're going to take a good look at ourselves and determine if we are a Sleeping Beauty or Snow White. You all remember the stories, right? In Sleeping Beauty  the princess is fated to prick her finger on a spindle and die on her eighteenth birthday. But one of her fairy godmothers changes the curse so that she actually falls asleep for a hundred years before her prince comes to wake her up. The second story, Snow White , is about a beautiful girl who incurs the wrath of her stepmother and has to flee for her life. She runs as far as she can until she discovers a little hut where seven dwarfs live and she offers to clean and cook for them. After spending many days there, she is tricked and killed by her stepmother. However, a prince...

It’s amazing how much a story can affect you. It can make you laugh, cry, love and die with every breath a character takes. It can lift you up with wings of joy or bring you down in dark sorrow. Such is the power of the written word. There is a beauty and a curse in this power. Through the scribbling of silent writers, love has bloomed between couples; but also wars have been fought, leading to many deaths that otherwise would not have happened had someone not bothered to dip the fated quill. As writers and authors, much responsibility falls upon our shoulders. What we write not only affects us, but others. As we pour our boiling emotions onto paper for the relief it gives, they are swallowed by another who may not have the ability to release them. Oh, how my heart aches as I write this! For them, such a life is naught but eternal torment. Thus, we as scribes are required to turn our torrent of words into carefully hewn chasms that will channel even our negative energies in...

Currently on my "to buy" list: a new laptop! And I had my eye on a sweet one- an Alienware. It had everything I could possibly want- durability, processing power, awesome graphics, style, and attitude. I was so wanting to buy it... really badly. But then, after weeks of research, a thought entered my mind: yes, it was my dream computer, but did I really need all that power? I had told myself, "I need a better graphics card so I can play my Global Agenda." "I need more space for more programs." "I need, I need, I need...." But did I really? It was something that bore some thought. Finally, I came to the conclusion that even if I got a computer that was barely better than the one I have now, it would be what I need. Which bears the question: How much that I buy on a regular basis do I actually need? Why am I willing to spend $700 dollars on a computer and $75 on my health? How about replacing those socks with holes in them instead of gett...