Friday, March 8, 2013

The 10 Commandments, Passover and the Dentist

Crazy post title tonight but these are the topics I want to chat about tonight. . . .

"The Ten Commandments"
So the other day I reminded you all that the History channel was starting "The Bible" miniseries. I told you all that I was excited to watch it and shared how I loved watching "The Ten Commandments" when I was a girl. Well, I was super excited on Sunday when I realized that another channel was playing the "The Ten Commandments" before "The Bible" came on. It was like being a kid again. I was surprised at how well "The Ten Commandments" has held up over all these years. It is 57 years old and it looks like it was made recently - even Gary argued with me that it was not the original one because it looked so good. I am not a big TV watcher but Sunday I ended up in front of the TV for 6 hours! But I am telling myself it is okay because it was quality TV time.  Did any of you get to catch "The Bible"? I thought it was very well done and I am looking forward to watching the next episode this Sunday.

"Passover"
Today I got to go on an adventure! It might not be an adventure everyone else would be excited about, but I really enjoyed myself. Right now I am studying Passion Week (Jesus' last week on earth) in my Bible study time (at Christmas I studied the Nativity). It is a very interesting study but it is also a bit confusing to put all of the events in chronological order. The Jews kept a different calendar than we do and their days run differently than ours does (we do midnight to midnight, they do sunset to sunset) and of course Passion week coincided with Passover then. So, in my quest to better understand all of this history and time differences I decided to call a synagogue to see if I could talk with someone. The 1st synagogue I called was not excited to help this crazy Gentile. But ever persistent I tried another one - they were more than happy to get me in with the Rabbi! So this morning I spent 2 hours in a synagogue chatting up Jewish history, Passover and calendars! Rabbi Rosenberg was so friendly and warm. He answered all of my questions and then some. He even invited me (and my family) to join their Shabbot. I think I will have to take him upon his offer in the next few weeks! I will of course have to go alone - no one else in my family is at interested in any of this. But I think it is always interesting to learn about other people and their customs - and you know what - I couldn't be a Christian if there weren't Jews 1st! Both of us use a lot of the same scriptures - our Old Testament is their Written Torah or the Tanakh.
 
"The Dentist"
Do you remember in August when I posted about my "miracle" at the dentist? Well, I have another one for you . . . 
Monday I had another appointment for a cleaning and a check-up and to make a treatment plan for the rest of the work I need to have done. I get there and do all of the stuff we had planned to get done. Sadly, when they did all of the checking I have a TON of work that needs to be done - like $11,000 worth of work! That amount is for my whole mouth but to just get the stuff done that is really bothering me is around $3,000. As I left the office I was starting to feel a bit discouraged because frankly I don't have that kind of money. So I got in my car and started my regular process I do of trying to figure what I am going to do about this - Get a job? Sell some art work? Not get my teeth fixed? Then I decided I was just not going to worry about it - I was going to pray about it and let God tell me what I should do (this is that whole faith & trust thing) and I was feeling good about this.
 
As I am driving (in Scottsdale) I see a homeless man holding up a sign that said "anything will help - God bless you". I ALWAYS give money to people with signs! I just cannot pass them by - I just can't! But this day I thought to myself "I just can't give him anything - I need to come up with $11,000 for myself"! I was instantly ashamed of myself and pulled out my wallet (mind you I am at a red light while all of this thinking is going on) and gave the man some money. After all, the little bit I gave was not going to pay my dentist bill. As I drove away I told God that I would trust Him to supply all of needs and that I would continue to give the way I always have.
 
When I got home I was telling Gary about all of this and he agreed that we did not have the money to pay this bill. I could see the worry on his face - he is the only money maker in our home. I shared with him that I had faith that God would provide and for him not to worry. The next morning my dentist office called and had talked to my ins company about a claim they had not paid for almost $500 they also told me I had a credit still of $1500. Guess what? The Ins paid it, a check was in the mail to me. Then I was going through some papers for taxes and I found 2 more checks for $300! I could barely believe this! Then to top it all off Gary came home that night with the mail in his hand and says to me "God must really listen to you" and hands me an envelope from our mortgage company with a check for $1000!!!!
Did you do the math. . . I can get the 1st part of my treatment done and pay cash for it all! God is so good!!!! I wouldn't normally share so many details about my finances but I just wanted to encourage you to have faith - to really trust God for the things you need. He really does care about all of the details of your life!
 
So that has been my week - the Ten Commandments, Passover and the Dentist. All three have been a blessing to me. I hope your week has been as good!
 
Till we meet again. . .
 

No comments: