circumcision

So, did circumcision exist anywhere in the world before God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision? I mean, did Abraham already know all about how to do this, or was this a completely new concept? Plus, if it was a completely new concept, don’t you think he would have been really confused about a covenant like that? And, do you think that Abraham was EXTREMELY nervous about circumcising his only son eight days after his birth? I mean we always look at the story where Abraham is supposed to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to God and all the faith it took for him to be willing to do that since God was supposed to produce all these people from Isaac, but I think that it probably took a lot of faith and courage to circumcise Isaac too for the exact same reason (at least it would if circumcision was a new concept). Plus, guys really have a lot of empathy for each other when it comes to that area of the body. Also, weren't they doing this with flint stone knife things? I mean now days we have these nice little contraptions that make it hard to cut too much when a guy gets circumcised, but they didn't have those back then. I think that would take a lot of faith for a guy back then.

Decisions

It’s funny how little decisions can change the rest of your life. I’m glad that I am not usually pondering this fact as I go about my daily business, because I think that it would be rather stressful to think about at all times. Of course, being a Christian I believe that there are bigger things going on in this universe than just my measly decisions; although, sometimes those measly decisions end up being really big and important, but let me give you a for instance of what I’m thinking about. There was a story on the news just now about a woman that jumped out of her van trying to get a wasp away from her children. The van slipped out of park and ran over her, and now, she is dead. Crazy, huh? In a split second effort to protect her children from a lousy sting, this lady ended up dying, leaving her kids to grow up without her. I think my dad would be happy to know that I’m pondering the effects of little decisions, because I think he worries that I’m just going to go tripping off through the daisies into the middle of a civil war in a country in Africa in an effort to love on some orphans… now, I might end up in such a situation, but I like to believe that I would not be tripping through the daisies while doing it. I like to think that I would seriously consider the situation and that I would pray a lot before making such a decision, and if I did go into a situation like that, I hope that it would be a result of me feeling like God is leading me there, and not a result of a naïve compassion for others. So, I guess I’m saying that if I find myself trapped in a car with a wasp, I will take my time getting out, but I’ve never been stung by a wasp before, and so, I could be allergic. Well, I won’t worry about it. “God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28. This doesn’t mean that life will be roses and lollipops, but it does mean that I can have my peace and hope in him.

HIV prevention

I was reading an article about a new gel that’s to be used for the prevention of AIDS. They think that it is about 60% effective. As I was reading the article I was becoming more and more horrified because they went on to say that some of the women would be receiving a placebo! But, as I read on, they said that they also told the women to continue using condoms, and so the test is really to measure the added protection of using the gel. However, they also said that many of these women would probably not actually end up using a condom too. So, how can they really measure the effectiveness of this gel, if some women are using it with a condom and some are not, and are they picking out women that have partners that have HIV? Also, are they all the same amount sexually active? I don’t understand how this test is going to work. Plus, if a condom is used effectively then it should reduce a person’s risk of getting HIV to less than 1%. So, there’s another variable. Do all these women understand how to properly use a condom? I’m happy that another option is becoming available to women that have sex partners that refuse to use a condom, but I just don’t understand how they are really going to know how effective the gel actually is. I guess that even if it is only a little bit effective, that using it is better than using nothing. I just hope that people who once used condoms will not stop now that a gel is available. They did say that by the year 2012 there should be a gel available that’s up to 90% effective; so, that’s good, but can you imagine having sex knowing that there was a 10% chance that your protection wouldn’t work. By the way, this is being developed with women in Africa in mind. That’s where the largest population of AIDS patients is, and the men there don’t like to use condoms. So, some people might be saying that the women just shouldn’t be having sex, and then they wouldn’t get AIDS, but that’s not the case. Many of these women are faithful to their husbands, but the problem is that their husbands are not faithful to them. This is why it is so important to come up with an alternative to a condom.

Here’s the article: “Large-scale tests of AIDS-prevention gel begin”
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/africa/10/28/africa.aids.ap/index.html

Picture of an orangy eyebrow...

Here is a look at the orangyness of my eyebrows. I know that it might not seem as drastic to anyone else as it is to me, since I'm the only one that actually looks at them everyday, but trust me, it's a lot of orange.

Orange eyebrow?

For the past week or so, I have been thinking that my eyebrows were getting lighter. At first I thought that it was just my imagination, and then I thought, well, maybe it's from being out in the sun. The only problem with that is that I haven't been out in the sun . Then someone at school asked me if my hair was lighter, and I responded with no, but I think my eyebrows are. But, after inspecting my eyebrows yet again today, I am positive that it is not my imagination and that my eyebrows are in fact turning up with more orange hairs everyday! Plus, I was examining the wispy hairs around my face at the roots, and they too are orange! So, that girl was right! My hair would have looked lighter because I had it pulled back the other day (and most days, because that takes a lot less effort). I have now come to the conclusion that either my Clean and Clear face wash is doing it or my Clearasil Cleansing Pads. Either way, it's kind of weird that either of those things is strong enough to bleach my hair, yet they are not effective enough to keep me from getting zits! So, when you see me next time, don't be surprised if my eyebrows look orange. I think I'll go buy some different facial cleansing products this weekend and thus avoid being a brunette with orange eyebrows.

Disasters

So, one reporter the other day was happy that Hurricane Wilma paused over Mexico before hitting Florida, because it meant less damage for Florida. Hhhmmm, what’s wrong with this picture???? Why are we happy that the hurricane paused anywhere? And why are we happy that it paused over a country with fewer resources than our own? I don’t want it to pause over any country!

I just read an article about the tired tourists that are trying to leave Cancun… give me a break! What about the tired Mexicans that are already at home in Cancun and are stuck in the aftermath? Why isn’t that the big story instead of the tired tourists? Oh yeah, we only care about ourselves first, and then if we have enough attention span left over we’ll hear about things that affect non-Americans. One American in a shelter in Mexico was complaining about the situation and questioning how much worse could it get. Now this is a valid complaint, but let me take the time to point out how much worse it could get.

Well, go to this website http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/21/quake.asia.1314/index.html and read about Pakistan and the 10,000 that are in danger of dying of hunger, hypothermia and disease right now. Read about the 45,000 winterized tents they need… winterized tents! I cannot imagine having to sleep in a tent in the winter. Read about the lack of donors from around the world, and about the 3 million homeless in Pakistan, and how Pakistan is getting ready for “a second wave of massive death.” Furthermore there’s somewhere between 47,700 and 79,000 people dead from the earthquake in Pakistan, but they’re not quite sure because they’ve only been able to get to 47,700 of the bodies.

So, I say, “That is how much worse it could get.” It could be so much worse that we could be one of the 6 orphans that died of hypothermia the other night in Pakistan, because they didn’t have a tent or blankets (And that’s just the six that were reported in the story). That’s how much worse it could be.

One man complained that the U.S. should send cruise ships to get them out of Mexico. Well, I’m sorry. The tourists chose to be in Cancun when a hurricane was coming and now someone wants CRUISE ships to go get them, because he’s tired of having to wait for a flight out! Give me a break! I’m sure that it does stink to be there right now. I do feel bad for them, and I’m glad I’m not in that situation. However, I also feel bad for the people FREEZING TO DEATH in Pakistan and the ones that are STARVING TO DEATH in Niger.

So, I guess my point is that disasters happen everywhere, and I praise God that I live in a nation that can help me when my family is faced with disaster. I thank Him for a government that has money to spend to rescue me and the many church groups around that are willing to give so freely to those in distress. I also praise God for giving me the means to help others in distress, and I praise him for pulling my head out of my butt every once in a while in order to make me look at the millions of people in distress around the world everyday. I do not want to be blind. I do not want the media that neglects the atrocities of the world so frequently to dominate my knowledge of what others are going through. I want to be informed, and I want to be MOTIVATED TO DO SOMETHING. I do not want to be someone that watches the evening news and thinks, “Oh how horrible,” and then the next second flips the channel to Friends and forgets that others are suffering in a way that I cannot fathom.

What I have said may make it sound like I do not care about the Americans stranded in Mexico, but that is not the case. I do care about them, but I also just get frustrated when the media does not do justice to other stories of even worse suffering going on in the world.

Facts taken from http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/21/quake.asia.1314/index.html http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/10/25/mexico.wilma.ap/index.html

Hhhhmmmm

Hhhmmmm, so this is my first blog ever, and I must admit that I only created one, because I wanted to be able to post on my sister-in-law's site. Maybe in the future I will write some cool and interesting stuff.