Checking in

I’m sorry I haven’t checked in for a while now, but I’ve been really busy with going to class 3.5 hours a day, then working at Qwest for 6 hours a day, then studying weekends and evenings for the two major exams (mid-term and final) and the three section tests. I was so busy that my blood pressure at the end of one my worst days was up to 162/90 causing my Dr. to wonder if I need to be on meds to get it back down. I’m back to regular exercising now, and I hope to get it back down without the meds.

Meanwhile I still have a paper to do (see my January 8th entry) this weekend. I’ll post it when I’m done.

As much as I’d like to think that I’ve recovered from many of my trauma-based lies, I find that my body refuses to believe that. Somehow, my schedule over the last few weeks has stirred me up enough to alter my BP and affect my general sense of well-being. I’m still working on getting back to my usual affect.

Thanks for listening.

Guess I'll be cutting down on fast food!

Per the New York Times news today, more than one in every eight New Yorkers now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as an epidemic.

"I will go out on a limb and say 20 years from now people will look back and say: 'What were they thinking? They're in the middle of an epidemic and kids are watching 20,000 hours of commercials for junk food.'"
-- DR. THOMAS R. FRIEDEN, New York City health commissioner, on diabetes.

All I can say is, WOW.

Two birds with one stone

Today while I was going for a walk with Phyllis, I was thinking about a paper I need to do for my Old Testament class and I was also lamenting about not having time to blog. Then it hit me. Why not do both? Why not put my thoughts in rough draft form out there on my blog, and invite YOU to interact with me. So, please feel free to comment, provide your insights, resources, whatever. Thanks! I would especially be interested if you knew how to cite and format scripture and web references using APA style formatting.

One of the requirements for the paper is that I talk to the professor before I start, so I’ve already done that. The paper will be called "Counseling Applications (or Implications) from the story of David and Bathsheba" or something like that.

I’m thinking of an outline that would go something like:

A) Introduction
The topic
Why I chose it

B) Brief overview of the life of David
The shepherd boy
The psalmist
The anointing
The hero
The friend of Jonathan
The hunted
The honorable
The warrior
The king (harem, palace, ark, success)
The turning point
The decline, his sons, his death

C) Salient details and commentary
The disengaged (he’s not at war like kings were expected to be)
The seed of lust
The adulterer
The schemer
The murderer
The cover-up
The confrontation of Nathan
The repentance
The consequences

D) Useful constructs for counseling
What led to the failure?
How did his sin affect his kingdom, family, and relationship with God?
Why does the Bible honor David so much?
Kings and Chronicles are soft on his failure
David’s sins are not mentioned in 1 or 2 Chronicles at all
Bathsheba becomes the mother of Solomon
Solomon becomes part of the genealogy of Jesus
Remembered as a man after God’s own heart

E) Conclusions
Implications drawn from the story
The power of sin
The power of sex
The consequences of sin
The value of repentance
The values of God
God’s amazing plan and redemption

It’s only a five-page paper, so I can’t say too much about most of the above, but I may be missing some important points, or including some I should exclude.

What do you think?

I have to blog now!

. . . Phyllis has a link to my site now!!!

My friend Mike says I should at least "check in" so here goes.

I just took my first test on in my OT512 (survey of 25 books of the Old Testament) and didn't study for everything my prof thought of asking on the test :( So I'll study a little harder for the next test.

Beautiful day today. Phyl and I went for a long walk on the Highline Canal trail between Orchard and Belleview, and then I went for a bike ride on the 470 trail, the Platte River Trail, and the Lee Gulch Trail with Mike. OK, that's enough exercise for one day!

Sue has departed our household for her excellent adventure as a missionary extraordinaire. So it's a little quieter around here now. Justin is still home on semester break, but when he leaves in a week or so it will get really quiet around here!

Enough for today.

What was I thinking?

... when I decided to create a blog?

I haven't posted for awhile, but I'm not sure why I thought I could ever find time to do this at all. Tomorrow I start back to work and I start my three-week, three credit hour class on 25 of the books of the Old Testament. I've never been a history buff, and as near as I can tell from the reading I did in the three required textbooks I've been reading over the holidays, this class will be all about stuff I really don't give a rip about. We'll see. I hear the prof is good, so maybe I'll convert!

I'll try to find time to post sometime over the next three weeks, but with things as busy as I expect, I may not get the time. O well. Meanwhile, it's been nice to have a couple weeks off from work, and spend lots of time with family.

Phyl and I just spent the day shopping at Cherry Creek Mall and downtown, and saw the movie The family stone which I recommend highly -- very well done.

Happy 2006!