Leah: Lesson 5

There is only one more after this one......I know, I'm crying too. If you have no idea what's going on, then look at one of the earlier lessons (a good place to start would be Leah: Lesson 1 :)

WELL, it turns out that Rachel died in childbirth with her son Benjamin. *I KNOW, SHOCKER RIGHT!!!* So you would think that now Jacob would surely love Leah, but his favoritism continues with Rachel's sons (this goes back to Joseph, Rachel's first son, and his coat of many colors) It always seemed that Leah was always caught in her sisters shadow and could never measure up. But while Jacob didn't favor Leah, God did. It all started with a promise God made Abraham (Jacob's grandaddy) in the early pages of Genesis. God promises Abraham that HE would send the Messiah through his family line. And guess what? God kept to his word, and Leah's son Judah (Praise God), the only son that she didn't view as a tool to get Jacob's love, was going to carry on the line of Jesus. Simply put, Leah was a great-great (many greats)- grandmother of Jesus Christ Himself.

What would you do if you were blessed like this? Isn't that hard sometimes to accept? Leah was totally blessed, but she didn't know it. However, because of one act of humility, she became extremely blessed. But what is humility?

Humility is NOT thinking poorly of yourself. It is NOT having a pity party. It's not even thinking about yourself at all. Humility is recognizing God as King or kings and Lord of lords and being awed that He chooses to love you and use you. True humility is God-focused, false humility is really pride in disguise. In one act of true humility, Leah was truly blessed.

Do you have true humility, or false? What have you learned so far from these lessons?

First-Day Freshman Freakout!

I started my first day of high school today, and I have to say it was the scariest thing I have ever experienced!!!! Being that I didn't know practically anyone (other than my great church friends and elementary friends that I hadn't seen in three years). I was so nervous in the car, practically hyperventilating lol. I just knew I was going to end up that one girl who sits at a table all by herself with absolutely no friends or social life. Luckily for me I caught up with Mack, Haley, and Alec right before school started, which calmed me down tremendously :)

I have health first hour, and the only person I recognized was a guy that I knew from my 3 years of being an orch dork :) Unfortunately I sit front and center, so if the teacher talks I have to pull out an umbrella so I don't get spit on.

Pre-AP Geometry is next, and I get to suffer through with my best friend Sheridan. This will be fun :)

This is where it gets good. Sheridan and I ventured into the main building to Pre-AP Spanish 3. OH man. If being in a class of Jr's. isn't enough, not know what the teacher is saying half the time is even better. She spoke nothing but Spanish, and we had to introduce ourselves, say something we liked, and something we didn't like all in Spanish. Now I don't know about you, but I know I'm pretty rusty from summer. The guy sitting next to us said he didn't like freshman. OOOH snap.

Next me and Sheridan race back to the freshman hall to go to lunch. That was the best part of the day :)

After lunch I went to my 4Th hour, orchestra, only to find that i was supposed to have orchestra first and THEN lunch. *sigh* So I had an orchestra class today full of weird EXTREME orch dorks in the 10Th, 11Th, and 12Th grade. That was awkward.....

5Th hour was English, where we will be reading books like The Odyssey, Of Mice and Men, Night, and Romeo and Juliet. Fun stuff....

6Th hour is Biology. I LOOOOOOVE science, so I'm really looking forward to this class.

7Th hour is my golf class...and we don't start practice 'till Monday or Tuesday. It's pretty boring right now, but when we get to the course it will be hard-core practice. I can't wait :)

Do you have any school-trauma type stories that you would like to share?

Leah: Lesson 4

You can't tell me that the Bible is boring after reading this. If it was a soap opera, I would totally watch it :)

Last time we saw Leah and Rachel, they were in a constant competition for their husband. Do you blame them? Not only were two sisters competing, but they were also competing with their two maids. Since having sons meant carrying on the family name, they were trying to win Jacob over with the most kids. Weird huh?

One day during the harvest season, Leah's son Reuben found some mandrakes and brought them home. Now I know you're thinking "Whats a mandrake?!?" Well, a mandrake was pretty much a "love apple" lol. It supposedly opened someones womb who was unable to have any more children. uh huh.....

Well, Rachel wanted the "love apples", but Leah wasn't buying it that easily. She said, "Wasn't it enough that you got my husband away from me? And now you also want my son's mandrakes?" So Rachel made a deal with her sister. She could have her husband for one night in exchange for the apples.

After that night Leah became pregnant with two sons and a daughter. God then remembered Rachel and made her able to have children. She named her son Joseph ( the one who ends up getting the colorful coat...) Isn't it cool how this all connects?! How drama in the parents life leads to drama and hardship for the siblings? Interesting....

But that's a different story. Both Rachel and Leah were manipulating each other to get what they wanted. Not very wise in the long run, but then again, we do it all the time! We may not realize it, but we totally do. But what is wisdom?

Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Wisdom can be defined in James 3:14-18 as "gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold next, not two-faced". And personally, I'm pretty sure that I don't fit those outlines all the time.

The fact is, It all comes from envy. When we see something we want, it becomes a competition to get it. Then we use manipulation to get what we want.

Hebrews 13:5 says, "Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, 'I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you."

We take so many things for granted, yet we always want more, it's always a competition to get it, we're always manipulating, and it's always dragging us further from God.

What role does envy play in your life? Thoughts? Please? :)

Fear

Imagine this:

It's late, your tired, and all you want to do is cuddle up in your bed and sleep 'till noon the next day. You walk up the stairs, go into your room, and you're about to climb into bed when HOLY COW!!! There's a bee flying around your head. Now, if you know me then you know that I've never EVER liked flying, stinging things.

So what do you do in this crisis? I'm huddled up in a corner, waiting for the bee to land so I can capture it and let it outside or something. But I have no idea where it went. GREAT.......

Again, what to do? Then it hit me! I grabbed 3 pillows, a blanket, and called my dog and sprinted to my closet. Now my closet is pretty big, big enough that if i lay down i can fit with about an inch to spare (not going diagonal). So i grab my sleeping bag from the top of my closet, surround myself with pillows, and curl up with my dog in my closet.

Childish, right? You would think this would be the events of a 5 year old...but alas...this happened a week ago :)

It's amazing the lengths we will go to when we are afraid of something to avoid it..........

What are you afraid of? Any other thoughts?

Leah: Lesson 3

OK, this is the last one until next Thursday! I hope the suspense doesn't kill you.... ;)

In the last lesson, Leah learned that she needed to praise God, not just acknowledge Him. She realized that having children was a blessing rather than just a way to get Jacob to love her. This focus change was her launching pad to freedom, however her attitude of praise didn't last long.

When Rachel realized that she couldn't have any kids of her own for Jacob, she became very jealous of her sister. What?! I know you are thinking, how can Rachel be jealous of Leah when she has EVERYTHING? The answer is competition.

We all know how people can be, especially girls. Would you look at her outfit, it is soo cute! I wonder where she got that....Did you see that hunk of junk for a car? Good thing I have a nice ride. NO! You are not going to win this game of ping pong, I'M going to win no matter what! Uhmm..no, that is MY boyfriend, go find your own! You can find competition EVERYWHERE, everyone does it.

So what does Rachel do? Well, she wants Jacob to be happy, so she tells her maid Bilhah to go sleep with him. What?! OK, 1) what kind of name is Bilhah? and 2) How weird is that?! Now both Rachel and Leah are sharing a husband with 3 people. I'm sorry, but that just makes everything WORSE in my opinion. But Rachel was desperate to keep Jacob's love. So Bilhah has a baby, which Rachel names Dan(Vindication). She figured God took my side and vindicated me; he listened and gave me a son. When Bilhah got pregnant again, Rachel said, "I've been in an all-out fight with my sister-and I've won!" So she named him Naphtiali(Fight). Can you say WOW?

But wait, there's more!

Leah was unable to have any more children. So when she saw Rachel giving her maid to Jacob, guess what? She gave her maid Zilpah (another weird name I have nooo idea how to pronounce). Zilpah had a son for Jacob, which Leah named Gad (Lucky). When Zilpah had a second son for Jacob, Leah said, "A happy day! The women will congratulate me in my happiness." So she named him Asher(Happy).

See what this turned into? An all-out war between two sisters over their husband. Leah didn't want to lose the advantage she had, and Rachel wanted to win Jacob over entirely. Out of jealousy, they started a competition, which lead them both away from God. You see, even though Leah looked Innocent, she had the wrong motive in this. She was so consumed in herself and what she wanted; all it did was drive her deeper into a self-focused way of thinking.

So here is my question, is life a competition for you? What are you most insecure about?
Any other thoughts?