Counting

"The tribe of Zebulun will be next. The leader of the people of Zebulun is Eliab son of Helon."
Numbers 2:07

It took a while to even approach this stop on our not-entirely-random tour of the bible. If you read a verse further, you learn that good ol' Eliab's division numbered 57,400. What's up with all the enumeration?

Today Mrs. will hopefully take delivery of two brand new Omron HJ-112 Digital Premium Pedometers. Yep...in an effort to keep up with our healthy neighbor whom we'll call "Gazelle," Mrs. and I will be counting steps. We haven't been able to make time in our schedules for focussed exercise, so following Gazelle's lead, we're hoping that by counting our steps, we'll be able to value the exercise we do get one step at a time. With a little work, one day we may be able to reach Gazelle's high mark so far of almost 14,000 steps. If Our Inspiration (see link to the right) rubs off a little...OK, a lot...perhaps one day I can run a marathon and hit 57,400 in one day. Seems that things that don't seem worth counting can add up to something.

So back to Eliab. Turns out he and his folks moved into a part of the promised land that was to become Bethlehem. And when all the world was to be counted, that's where Mary and Joseph went.

Preparation

We landed around 11:00 pm on Sunday night, tired and sad that we hadn't landed at our original time 7:00 pm- just a few hours late due to the storm. However, with the extra 4 hours sitting on the plane Mr. was able to finish his book and I was able to read the rest of the magazine, try my hand (and mind) at my first ever Sudoku, and eat lots of peanuts. The sadest part for us landing so late is that this meant we would start the week in the hole.

This week is full of meetings for both Mr. and me. Mr's are very important meetings...something about interest rates? Mine are filled with people who don't quit know what they want, so we go round and round.


Beyond the meetings, we are preparing for Red! This is her first visit to our house, but she is a world traveler as this is her second flight already. So we find ourselves in meetings all day, rushing home to get a few things done in the guest bedroom, and all the while wishing we could just get to bed- since we haven't quite caught up from Sunday night. But on the other end of this week, we get to welcome Miss Red into our home.

8 Days

As far as I can tell, everyone wants more time, or even NEEDS more time. There never seems to be enough time in the day. Recently my boss commented, “I wish I could have an 8 day week and everyone else only had a 7 day week.” I think the Beatles agree with this statement too…though I can’t really tell you what that song is about. (maybe I will ask my little brother this weekend)

So this weekend…

Mr. and I are traveling to my hometown for a class reunion, which should be fun; a chance to reconnect with friends. But I am actually looking forward to the other things that make-up this weekend. We get to see our new friends from Omaha- well they are old friends but new to Omaha. We get to hang out with the Grammy and Poppa. (not my grammy and poppa, but Scarlett’s- she has the power to redefine!) And we just get to BE at home. Mr. has only been there one time, and that was also the first meeting of G and P…so it may have been just a little stressful.

G and P’s home is much different than ours- it is in the plains, not the Capital, and the house actually sits over looking a golf course, rather than the train tracks. It is a quiet place where the wind consistently beckons someone to come out and play; a place where the night sky isn’t too dark because it is speckled with the light of stars; and a place where everyone can answer my question about the Beatles- normally by breaking out in song and a little dance. It will be nice to be home. I hope that we can find some extra ‘Time’ while we are there.

Fine Offerings

If your grain offering is cooked in a pan, it is to be made of fine flour and oil.
Leviticus 2:07

Leviticus has a lot to say about a lot of specific things. At least one theme rises above the copius detail, though: God appreciates the time, effort, and care that go into the offerings that God's people make .

Last night in our living room, I think Holly and Ryan made God smile as they offered up some of their finest. And the twelve of us mere mortals who were also listening smiled a lot too!

Sustenance

"Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, 'Should I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?'"

Exodus 2:07

Blogofite

I guess most new bloggers go through this...you just have to wonder, is anybody out there? I think somehow this experience has made me more vain or something. Hopefully it won't make me more violent!

Guests

We are looking forward to hosting our friends, who have become our friends by the sharing of communities.



Mr. loves to tell the story of our home to many, and one of his favorite stories is of the week before we were married. Our home (his home then) was transformed a number of times to accommodate a home show, a Thanksgiving dinner party for 16 (the first meeting of our families), a hotel for 4 friends, and the pre wedding breakfast.



Mr. has spent thousands of hours working on our home so it could do just that…accommodate anything.

So we look forward to another house show, a chance to get to know these friends better, and a reason to prepare the second guest bedroom. (if time allows)

Parable

by Richard Wilbur

I read how Quixote in his random ride
Came to a crossing once, and lest he lose
The purity of chance, would not decide

Whither to fare, but wished his horse to choose.
For glory lay wherever he might turn.
His head was light with pride, his horse's shoes

Were heavy, and he headed for the barn.

"Fa"

We meant to write a bit after yesterday's passage, but how do you follow that? Sometimes a man...and a post... just needs to stand on his own two feet and have some space.

But I'm guessing that once Adam got created, he started taking care of business pretty much straight away...he had a lot to figure out after all. As do we. What do we call ourselves? What do we call our friends and family in order to protect the innocent? Who do we let know we are here? Why does my rib cage hurt so much? And who is that beautiful woman walking around looking at me?

Well...OK then...on to the naming thing. I guess I'll be Mr. and she'll be Mrs. Anonymous enough, but you get the picture...we're married. The rest of the cast will have to be named as they come up I suppose.

On to the story. While the beginning is a very good place to start, we don't have time for "doh, ray, me," today, so we'll skip right to "fa." It turns out that a school near Capitol Hill is a long, long way to run from Anacostia, especially with a suitcase...and especially at 5:00 am. Our favorite 11 year-old DC resident (we'll call him Mr. D. for now) needed to get to the bus for his school trip very early this morning, so we had a little sleep over last night, got Mr. D up before the sun, and got him down to meet all his tired classmates. He's a little worried about riding down rivers, walking through the woods with the animals, and living outside for a while. We're envious. How come we can't play in the garden?

Alas, off to work the ground from which I was taken....

Mr.

The Beginning

"Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils; and man became a living being."

Genesis 2:07