My Summary of Genesis 1 through 3
Gen. 1: God created everything in seven days. Including man in God's own image. And it was good.
Gen. 2: God rested on the seventh day. 2:4 to 24 described in detail day 6 when man, woman, and animals were created.
Gen. 3: A serpent talks to the woman and she chooses to eat from the tree of life. Man eats too. They become aware of good and evil. God curses us to have pain in childbirth, women to serve under men, man to toil for resources and both are banished from Eden.
Thoughts:
An incredible story about the creation of everything that we can perceive today. While it does not say our purpose in being created it certainly tells us how. It seems to also show how we are even more like God than He necessarily desired us to be in that we know of evil even though He initially did not mean for us to. There is no story as to how the serpent came to be in the garden and how he was "evil" before Eve sinned. I also wonder why God put the tree there at all. Did He not know what would happen? If so, why curse us?
Prayer:
Thank you Lord for giving me this look into the very beginning of the world that led to my life. Please give me an understanding on how to remember your love in creating us and a fear of your power. Even then you knew that I would live someday, and I humbly ask that you direct my ways now.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Day 0 - Step of Faith
Tomorrow I'll start a "journey" of faith. I am almost forty years old and still feel like I have not really found my true calling.
When I was a child, like most everyone I think I was filled with hopes and dreams. One of those hopes has been perfectly filled by my wife. I am thankful for that since I know I spend most of high school and college looking for the special woman. I am embarrassed to even guess how much time I would have spent chasing girls had Christie not come into my life. Looking back now, I can definitely say that I was naive as to what it took to achieve these things but my dreams included being President of the United States, winning a Grammy award, and being astronaut. I was serious about these goals and really thought I could do it.
My educational achievements, which culminated in a double major B.S. degree in Finance and Economics, came quite easily. I had no reason to not think that this is what life was and that it would all be pretty easy. In fact, my first job was with Merrill Lynch and that seemed to start out well. Working first in customer service, the typical career track would be to get my Series 7 license and become a stockbroker. Along the way though, my department decided to build some computer software to help us do our job. I helped in this project and eventually became the manager of it. Eventually, I moved out of Customer Service and into the Systems department. This seemed quite natural and I had played with computers since grade school and the moved included a pay raise!
On fateful day, I boarded the elevator to head up to Customer Service. Computer departments are usually located in the bottom of building since that is most logical place to put the servers. I pushed "3" and the other person in the cabin pushed "8". I recognized him as the president of the company to whom we outsourced our software development. He was dressed in what appeared to be expensive clothes as best as I could tell. The eighth floor was the top floor and where the executives of my company were. A light went off in my head right at that moment. This guy makes a ton of money and is headed up to talk to other important people. I knew what projects he did for us and thought "I can do that. I really do much of it now and I don't make hardly anything compared to him. I am on the wrong side of the equation. I need to be a software programmer and make some real money."
That decision has led me directly to where I am now. I went on to become a software developer and followed the money where ever it took me. I changed jobs often and worked both hourly and salary. I can't say that I became wealthy but definitely upper middle class and I haven't had to "worry" about money ever. In fact, I met my wife through my job who is also a developer.
There is a problem though... I don't like it. I grew tired of it after about one year in. At first, I was too ignorant to know that I didn't like it and that there was so much more to see and experience. By the time I figured out that there was more out there, I was getting paid so well for doing something that came easily to me that I couldn't bring myself to make the sacrifice. Finally, in the last eight years, I become so depressed from work that my wife and I knew something had to change. Slowly but surely, I have moved out of the typical cubicle into being self-employed and trying different things. I have never completely left computers as it still helps us make end meet.
So here I am now. I am self-employed part time as a computer programmer and teach sixth grade half days. I enjoy teaching but don't love it. I haven't yet found anything that I love to do that I might be able to call a career. At nearly forty years old, I feel embarrassed knowing that playing games and basketball are just about the only things that can consistently draw me into a state of where time and money don't matter.
Last night, my wife and I talked about all this for about the hundredth time and she said that I should consider just reading the Bible and that God might reveal a plan for me. I have prayed in the past for God to give me insight as to my purpose but I didn't seem to get any feedback. But I don't really have any better idea on how to find what I should do and this certainly doesn't seem like a bad thing to do. I have researched the web on "finding my calling" and one thing I found was to list out ideas until there is one the "makes me cry" and that is the one. Needless to say, that exercise didn't work. Maybe it will for you but not me.
Well, I have been a Christian for eight years but have been drawn into the religion in about the same way that I am drawn into anything else... kinda and sorta. I can't say that I am "on fire for God" but I would call myself a "follower". I can say that I believe that God exists and that the Bible is His Word. So I am going to take a step of faith and try it out. I am going to read my ESV Study Bible daily starting tomorrow until I finish the book. I plan to use this chronological plan from ewordtoday.com.
I don't really have any expectations at what is going to happen but this blog will serve as the journal of my journey. I hope to share not only what I learn directly from the reading but what happens in my life, in my head and in my heart along the way. I do truly hope that this blog will help me and perhaps someone else.
When I was a child, like most everyone I think I was filled with hopes and dreams. One of those hopes has been perfectly filled by my wife. I am thankful for that since I know I spend most of high school and college looking for the special woman. I am embarrassed to even guess how much time I would have spent chasing girls had Christie not come into my life. Looking back now, I can definitely say that I was naive as to what it took to achieve these things but my dreams included being President of the United States, winning a Grammy award, and being astronaut. I was serious about these goals and really thought I could do it.
My educational achievements, which culminated in a double major B.S. degree in Finance and Economics, came quite easily. I had no reason to not think that this is what life was and that it would all be pretty easy. In fact, my first job was with Merrill Lynch and that seemed to start out well. Working first in customer service, the typical career track would be to get my Series 7 license and become a stockbroker. Along the way though, my department decided to build some computer software to help us do our job. I helped in this project and eventually became the manager of it. Eventually, I moved out of Customer Service and into the Systems department. This seemed quite natural and I had played with computers since grade school and the moved included a pay raise!
On fateful day, I boarded the elevator to head up to Customer Service. Computer departments are usually located in the bottom of building since that is most logical place to put the servers. I pushed "3" and the other person in the cabin pushed "8". I recognized him as the president of the company to whom we outsourced our software development. He was dressed in what appeared to be expensive clothes as best as I could tell. The eighth floor was the top floor and where the executives of my company were. A light went off in my head right at that moment. This guy makes a ton of money and is headed up to talk to other important people. I knew what projects he did for us and thought "I can do that. I really do much of it now and I don't make hardly anything compared to him. I am on the wrong side of the equation. I need to be a software programmer and make some real money."
That decision has led me directly to where I am now. I went on to become a software developer and followed the money where ever it took me. I changed jobs often and worked both hourly and salary. I can't say that I became wealthy but definitely upper middle class and I haven't had to "worry" about money ever. In fact, I met my wife through my job who is also a developer.
There is a problem though... I don't like it. I grew tired of it after about one year in. At first, I was too ignorant to know that I didn't like it and that there was so much more to see and experience. By the time I figured out that there was more out there, I was getting paid so well for doing something that came easily to me that I couldn't bring myself to make the sacrifice. Finally, in the last eight years, I become so depressed from work that my wife and I knew something had to change. Slowly but surely, I have moved out of the typical cubicle into being self-employed and trying different things. I have never completely left computers as it still helps us make end meet.
So here I am now. I am self-employed part time as a computer programmer and teach sixth grade half days. I enjoy teaching but don't love it. I haven't yet found anything that I love to do that I might be able to call a career. At nearly forty years old, I feel embarrassed knowing that playing games and basketball are just about the only things that can consistently draw me into a state of where time and money don't matter.
Last night, my wife and I talked about all this for about the hundredth time and she said that I should consider just reading the Bible and that God might reveal a plan for me. I have prayed in the past for God to give me insight as to my purpose but I didn't seem to get any feedback. But I don't really have any better idea on how to find what I should do and this certainly doesn't seem like a bad thing to do. I have researched the web on "finding my calling" and one thing I found was to list out ideas until there is one the "makes me cry" and that is the one. Needless to say, that exercise didn't work. Maybe it will for you but not me.
Well, I have been a Christian for eight years but have been drawn into the religion in about the same way that I am drawn into anything else... kinda and sorta. I can't say that I am "on fire for God" but I would call myself a "follower". I can say that I believe that God exists and that the Bible is His Word. So I am going to take a step of faith and try it out. I am going to read my ESV Study Bible daily starting tomorrow until I finish the book. I plan to use this chronological plan from ewordtoday.com.
I don't really have any expectations at what is going to happen but this blog will serve as the journal of my journey. I hope to share not only what I learn directly from the reading but what happens in my life, in my head and in my heart along the way. I do truly hope that this blog will help me and perhaps someone else.
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