My Entry For January 14, 2013

Eight years ago …

Genesis 32:24-32 January 14

graduate and faculty ministries 10501.14

And he said, [Thou shalt] be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. 28

Get the other person saying, “yes, yes” immediately.

Doomed Painmerchant 6,475

Martha's school didn't start until 1000 hours today because the power went out this morning. She'll be where I work at about 1630, where she'll pick up my first check with a 401K deduction – I have to have some money for “retirement”.

Llewellyn, Edward. Fugitive In Transit. New York: Daw Books, Inc. 1985.

Twenty years after first contact, Ruth Thalia Adams has escaped to Earth one step ahead of Transit Authority. The alien administrators of hyperspace transport have their reasons for finding her and co-opting Earth authorities to help him in this odyssey with a twist. The mystery makes the time go by.

[Pasted in is the yearly Voice of the Martyrs account for Indonesia.]

Today, recounting this weekend …

The reason I included that book review of mine from eight years ago is I don't remember reading the book. I lost the list of books I'd read since the beginning of the millennium a few years ago (on computer, anyway; I've still got all the journals, and I go through them sometimes to remember where I've been and that YES, even then I was capable of great things. It's also a good record.

This weekend Sarah and Jeffrey's class pictures came home – unlike Martha's and mine at their ages, everyone in the photo's identified in separate frames with our child in the center photo. And this was the second week of Sunday school at my church this rotation, and I had enough sixth graders (eight) to perform the play I'd written based on Jesus feeding the multitudes.

(The five loaves of bread and two fish that everybody gets are five saltines and two Goldfish crackers the kids helped me pack two Saturdays ago.) Sunday morning in church, on the other hand, I brought one of the class puppets who represented John the Baptist up with me because the morning sermon was about his baptism of Jesus. Martha's the only one who looked at me weird about that.

I don't think anyone else noticed, or said they did. In the morning during Sunday school we also hosted Sara Whitney Ewan (www.sarawhitneyewan.com), a Christian singer from Grand Rapids who from the part I got to hear – remember, I teach Sunday school – is especially in tune with prophecy, something I don't often hear in church about despite the fact a third of the Bible IS prophecy. I needed that.

Saturday afternoon Martha and I hosted a Shaklee 180 Turnaround Party at our house. Essentially we got to try several of the refurbished Cinch bars – it's a rebranding and enhancement of the original natural formulas – the shakes are now smoothies and really good as well as watch a DVD about it. Next Saturday we have a party we're co-hosting at Staybridge Suites, a local hotel. Exciting!

And who knows how low my weight will be by then? Since I started with Shaklee at the end of March last year, when I was 225 pounds and … well, bigger than I am now. I weighed myself last Thursday and came in at 192, that's 33 pounds, and smaller around the waist. It feels great, and you can check out more about THAT at our 180 website, www.dmsjalvin4.myshaklee180.com

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a world to change.

David