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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

QUIZ - WHAT BIBLE PERSON ARE YOU? ....I am Abigail

You Are Abigail!

Little is known about you, but you are a beautiful woman of strength, courage, intelligence, integrity and wisdom. You understand your place, and act with decisiveness. You are the source of wisdom and reason in your household. You Are Abigail!

its funny, cause i dont really know this story, mainly because its not one i have heard allot about.

im not gonna lie, here, im not an avid reader, i cant get into the stories if im reading...so this story of abigail has passed me by, or i read it and it had no impact on me..

i did a google seasrch on this story, because i was wanting to know WHY i was so much like her, with all these wondferful traits she carried (as i do too, lol) and found out shes a pretty awesome person...
more like me than i realized, lol

heres what i got from the net about her..

 you can read the original article HERE

Abigail and David - Abigail Was King David's Wisest Wife 

Abigail Was the Comrade David Needed to Succeed

By Cynthia Astle

The story of Abigail and David ranks almost as exciting and deceitful as that of David and his most famous wife, Bathsheba. The wife of a rich man when she met David, Abigail possessed beauty, intelligence, political shrewdness, and material wealth that helped David at a critical moment when he could have thrown away his chance at success.

David Was on the Run from Saul

When Abigail and David encounter one another in 1 Samuel 25, David is on the run from King Saul, who has rightly discerned that David is a threat to his throne. This makes David an outlaw, camping out in the wilderness while trying to build up some following among the people.
In contrast, Abigail lived in Carmel in the north of Israel as the wife of a rich man named Nabal. Her marriage gave her considerable social standing, judging by the fact that she had five maidservants (1 Samuel 25:42). However, Abigail's husband is described in scripture as "a hard man and an evildoer," making us wonder why such a paragon of virtue as Abigail would have married him in the first place. Yet it's Nabal's rude and intemperate actions that bring Abigail and David together.
According to 1 Samuel 25:4-12, David, in need of supplies, sends 10 men to seek provisions from Nabal. He tells the messengers to remind Nabal that David's band had protected Nabal's shepherds in the wilderness. Some scholars say this reference implies that David was merely seeking a quid pro quo from Nabal, but others argue that David was really trying to extort the ancient Israelite equivalent of "protection money" from Nabal.
Nabal appears to think David's request falls into the latter category, for he sneers at their message. "Who is this David?" Nabal says, meaning essentially "who is this upstart?" Nabal then accuses David of disloyalty to Saul by saying, "There are many slaves nowadays who run away from their masters. Should I then take my bread and my water, and the meat that I slaughtered for my own shearers, and give them to men [who come] from I don't know where?"
In other words, Nabal gave David the ancient Israelite version of "Buzz off, kid."

Abigail Gets the Word and Acts

When the messengers report this unhappy exchange, David orders his men to "gird on your swords" to take provisions from Nabal by force. The phrase "gird on your swords" is key here, says the book Women in Scripture. That's because in ancient Israelite warfare, girding involved wrapping a sword belt around the waist 3 times to make it secure in battle. In short, violence was about to ensue.
However, a servant brought word of David's request and Nabal's rejection to Nabal's wife, Abigail. Fearing that David and his army would take what they wanted by force, Abigail was prompted to act.
The fact that Abigail would gather supplies in defiance of her husband's wishes and ride out to meet David herself implies that she was not a woman oppressed by her culture's patriarchy. Carol Meyers, in her book Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context, writes this of gender relationships in pre-state Israel: "When a household occupies the preeminent place in society, women have a strong role in decision making and consequently exercise considerable power in the household. This is especially true for complex households such as the extended or multiple-family units that made up a significant number of domestic compounds in Israelite villages."
Abigail was clearly one of these women, according to 1 Samuel 25. She not only has five women servants of her own, but her husband's male servants also do her bidding, as seen when she sent them out with provisions for David.

Abigail Used Courtesy and Diplomacy

Riding a donkey, Abigail was just coming into view of David when she heard him cursing Nabal for his stinginess, and swearing vengeance against all of Nabal's extended family. Abigail prostrated herself before David and begged him to take his anger at Nabal out on her instead, because she didn't see the messengers he sent and therefore didn't know of his needs.
Then she apologized for Nabal's behavior, telling David that her husband's name means "boor" and that Nabal had acted like a boor toward David. Far more polite and diplomatic than a woman of her standing needed to be with an outlaw like David, Abigail assured him that he has God's favor, which will keep him from harm and give him both the throne of Israel and a noble house of many descendents.
By diverting David from vengeance against Nabal, Abigail not only saved her family and its wealth, she also saved David from committing murders that could have brought retribution upon him. For his part, David was captivated by Abigail's beauty and apparent wisdom. He accepted the food she brought and sent her home with a promise that he would remember her good counsel and her kindness.
 

Nabal Is Literally Scared to Death

After placating David with sweet words and stores of food, Abigail returned to her home with Nabal. There she found her boorish husband enjoying a feast fit for a king, utterly clueless to the danger he was in from David's wrath (1 Samuel 25:36-38). Nabal got so drunk that Abigail didn't tell him what she had done until the next morning when he sobered up. A boor he might be, but Nabal was no fool; he realized that his wife's intervention saved him and their family from slaughter. Nonetheless, scripture says that at this point, "his courage failed him, and he became like a stone. About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal and he died" (1 Samuel 25: 37-38). His wife Abigail inherited Nabal's fortune.
As soon as David heard that Nabal had died, he shouted praises to God and immediately sent a proposal of marriage to wise, beautiful and rich Abigail. The implication of scripture is that David recognized what an asset Abigail would be to him as a wife, since she was clearly someone who managed well, protected her husband's interests, and could recognize dangers in time to avert disaster.

Was Abigail a Model Wife or a Betrayer?

Abigail is often held up as a model spouse among King David's wives, the epitome of the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31. However, Jewish studies scholar Sandra S. Williams has proposed another possible motivation for Abigail's actions.
In her paper published online, "David and Abigail: A Non-Traditional View," Williams argues that Abigail actually betrayed her husband Nabal by siding with the outlaw David. Since scripture describes both David and Abigail as good-looking people in their sexual prime, it's entirely possible that some undercurrent of sexual attraction pulled Abigail toward David. After all, as Waylon Jennings wrote in his classic country song, "Ladies Love Outlaws."
Given their respective physical beauty and characters described in scripture, Williams theorizes that David found in Abigail the kind of comrade he needed to achieve the kingship of a unified Israel. Williams cites David and Abigail's common characteristics: both were intelligent, attractive people, charismatic leaders with good diplomatic and communicating skills, masters of diplomacy who knew how to play situations to their advantage, yet deceptive creatures who could feign victimhood while betraying the trust of others.
In short, Williams says that David and Abigail recognized in one another their mutual strengths and weaknesses, a realization that probably made their union, although ethically ambiguous, inevitable and successful.

Abigail and David References:

  • The Jewish Study Bible (Oxford University Press, 2004)
  • "David and Abigail: A Non-Traditional View," Sandra W. Williams http://www.sandrawilliams.org/David/david.html
  • "Abigail 2" Women in Scripture, Carol Meyers, General Editor (Houghton Mifflin, 2000).
  • Discovering Eve: Ancient Israelite Women in Context, Carol Meyers (Oxford University Press, 1988).
  •  
upon further  searching, (and i really am a slacker, here) i found out that Abigail is the mother of...DANIEL , from Daniel and the lions den (a story i know well), and David.
and this of particular embarrasment, because, well, my sons named daniel..lol

how could i NOT know this info? lol

She became the mother of one of David's sons, who is listed in the Book of Chronicles under the name Daniel.
ugh. makes me feel ashamed to be called Christian, i SHOULD know that stuff, and yet, i dont.
no ones fault but my own.

Monday, May 12, 2014

it was a PIZZA SPAGHETTI kinda night.



i didnt take pics of the dinner so anything you see here is from the net, but looks exactly the same as what craig had made.

we have several jars of pizza sauce in my closet, we havent used and should really get used simply because they are glass jars and i dont like glass stuff, if we have some tornado or something come thtough they will break..

so we had like, i dont know, 6 jars maybe? we hadnt used.

so i saw them, and said to craig one day, ya know we can make a PIZZA spaghetti, sometime.
he was like, "whats that?"

same way you do traditional, except you make the sauce have PIZZA SAUCE and STUFF for pizzas in it..

so we went out and got the supplies about a month ago,
peperoni slices,
mizzarella cheese
black olives
 we went basic, because my son isnt much into STUFF, but if i had MY way, id also include:

Red onion- chopped
Bell pepper -chopped
Mushrooms

basicaly whatever YOUR fav pizza is you go get that as part of your sauce.

so, he came to me and asked me how to make this idea...
so simple, really? geeze, nothing major, make it like youd do regular spaghetti, just use the pizza sauce as  your spaghetti saucr, and add the STUFF...top with mozzarella cheese

so he made it, was..ok, i really think it would have been so much better with the other ingredients, but i could tell it was pizza and not traditional...

INGREDIENTS

Pizza Sauce (we used 2 jars)
Ground beef (you know your family, use what you normally do for spageetti, we do a pound a person) (we also, use ground turkey - sausage flavor)
Mozzarealla cheese
Olives (gree & Black, or either)
Red onion, diced
Bell pepper, diced
ham (if you like it meatier)
heck, go wild, want  pineapple? you can throw that in as well, it would be awesome too, anything and everything you can think of thats on a pizza, you make this to YOUR preference..
SLICES PEPPERONI (the most important part, lol)

DIRECTIONS
make the noodles par the directions
heat the sauce  in a sauce pan till heated through
add your ingredients.

SERVE
1) all togerther by mixing it all up in the pot.
2) noodles then top with the auce mixture.

TOP
with the mozzarella cheese

ENJOY!!

it was just enough different it broke our routine, which can become dull and boring if your always eating the same stuff, and still allot like what we normally do to not be too "out of the box"

it was..pleasantly different, and i ate all mine up.


Sunday, May 11, 2014

MOTHERS DAY 2014..filled with Love & Surprises! (UPDATED)



went to church today and expected the normal mothers day routine to happen.
wed have several talks by members all about moms, and the the kids would get up and sing a song to all us moms out there. and then wed get carnations and dismiss to our next class we have to attend.

but things change, lol
we had fast and testimony meeting today, so we were blessed with a various amount of individuals who shared their love for, of course mothers.

and the kids sang, somehow i missed it, must have been when i was trying to reconnect to the network at church to upload my selfie pic i had taken of me in my awesome new necklace.
and, then we got ROSES!! not carnations today! that was quite the change, and they were ALL red. not any other color but red..

before church started, and i MUST add thisd part because its important that i do..
i was handed a small gold box by a friend of mine who told me his wife (rachel) wanted me to have this gift.
i had NO idea i was even getting this item, let alone what could be in it...
so THIS was a real surprise and its so hard to surprise me, because i usually have to ge there with ppl to let them know whatever it is thats yellow, or a monkey is ok to get..lol

so, i had NO idea what was in this box. at all.., so with excitement i opened it to find, a small monkey zipper pull! and i was so tickled! it really doesnt take allot to make me smile in my heart, seriously...i actually got emotional about it, and had  goosebumps because of it, because it tickeled me so much to get.


and i went about my business, didnt think anything other than what a wonderful gift that was, and was handed another gift as i was socializing, i also had to open.

so i get done with talking, and go back to sit down next to my feind andrea, and start to pull the zipper pull out to get a closer look, and saw there was a silver chain it may be attached to, so i think its on a necklace or something, so i pull the chain, to revela, not one more thing, but TWO!
i in fact do have a necklace, but thats not the zipper pull..its in fact a whole different gift, with yet another gift inside the pouch it was in!

but the next item was prolly the one ill hold the most and cherish the most.
it was a hand written letter from rachel, expressing her appreciation for me towards her family and her son noah, who is currently serving a mission (i need to email him, ive been kinda slack on that, thats my fault)

so, im going to type her letter to me here, i dont think anything was private or secret, or couldnt be shared, and it was such a wonderful gift to me, in all actuallity, its all i needed, i didnt even need the other things she gave me, her letter (i call it a love letter) was far more precious to me.

so, heres what she said to me:


im not sure how easy that is to read, so ill retype what she said here:
 May 11, 2014
Dear Michelle, Happy Mothers Day!
I just wanted to say, Thank you for always being there for Noah. (hes currently serving a mission for my church in Mexico City, Mexico). I know he consideres you a very good friend and that you have always been so kind to him and been like his mamma. Im so thankful to you, you have been a blessing in our lives and such a very good friend. I know this little token (the zipper pull, & Necklace & letter) isnt much, but i know you like monkeys and these little guys needed a friend. (AWW!) I hope you enjoy them. I hope that you have a wonderful mothers day filled with love of your wonderful family, lots of fun and maybe if your lucky a nice nap (im always  on facebook, posting how i cant sleep, seems to be a pattern in my life, lol), and awaken with sweet little puppy kisses from baby. (baby is my newest furry family (dog) member who came from this family, shes a joy!) Noah is going to skype (ill talk about this new thing latter in my letter as well as touch on some points in this i wanted to make sure i made) us around 5:00pm today if you want me to pass a message to him just let me know before then.( i sent a message via Larry, rachels husband when we were at church, on the back of a receipt, lol hope it made it to Noah!) And i already know he will be sending you lots of wishes for you to have a special day and be blessed to have you as a very special friend and mom. He told me one day that one of the things that he likes most about you is that you are yourself, no matter where you are, or who your with your you 100% present. you have such a giving heart. He was so proud to wear the tie you made for him and it is a gift he will cherish from now on. Well, i better go, have a very blessed and happy mothers day! 
 Love Rachel.

wasnt that just the kindest and sweetest letter ever?

i had NO idea i impacted anyone in that family that way, and to be honest, feel the same in regards to them as well, with a situation i can point out about Noah, the son whos serving his mission right now.
about 4 years ago, maybe a bit longer, craig was out of work, and was coming to him  1 year mark on his unemplyment, with no job forseen in his future, i was getting desperate and  hurt that my faith hasdnt  carroed me over and allowed me some inner peace (mainly because i was worrying about the situation so close to the end like we were) well, one day it all spilled out when i was at church, i was overwhelmed with sadness, and hurt, and condfusion, and anger to some degree, that it all piured out of my eyes, happened on a wednesday night. scouts were all there, and they all shiffled by me as they went to class...
all, exept noah, who, saw my pain, and....stopped.
he stopped, and i felt bad, because i knew he was coming to ask me what was wrong. i couldnt hide it, i was extreemly emotional over the entire thing, i felt bad that he was so young, and any form of disclosure would make him have to carry some form of burden, which, for his gae, wasnt right for him to have to do, even if  it was only to share (in my mind anyway, at THAT time).
so, he comes over...and, of course asks me whats wrong.
all his buddies are gone and in the class, including, MY son, his friend, it was just me and noah, alone..and im in emotional pain, and spiritually struggling.
noah asked me what was wrong, and i gave a brief  explination, and he sat and patted my shoulder, and offered me some words of comfort.
off the top of my head i cant recall exactly what they were. it wasnt impotant, what i took away when he went to catch up with his freinds was a compassionate, caring, soul, that took the time to make sure i was ok, and offer me some form of comfort.
how very close, in that moment was he to Christ? in THAT moment? he WAS him!
"Do unto others what youd have done unto yourself" "for of these the greatest commandment is to love one another as i have loved you"

such a small, simple gesture...to...care.
and IT made a world of difference to me in MY life.

i can remember telling rachel about it. and larry as well. that action couldnt go without being told, because who noah is is a direct reflection of his upbringing and religious faith. and now..hes sharing that person hes become with others. i couldnt be more proud than if he were my own son doing that as well.

so, i mentioned id talk about noah SKYPING...thats something new that the LDS missionaries get to do, we have come so far in this faith since the opening up of social media, used to be, back in the day, missionaries would get to call home 2 times a year, mothers day and Christmas, now...they SKYPE, and have a video face-toface chat with each other! how awesomely cool is that? thats just amazing! moms can see thier kids faces, see the jy, the pain, the growth in REAL TIME!
since these kids take 2 years out of thier lives to serve these missions and they are often across the globe, it makes a mothers heart both happy and sad (i can imagine) to have the chance to engage in. but still, a blessing. :)

and onto my last notation of this letter i was handed and cherish so much...
"one of the things that he likes most about you is that you are yourself, no matter where you are, or who your with your you 100% present. you have such a giving heart. He was so proud to wear the tie you made for him and it is a gift he will cherish from now on."
i am an advocate, now, for being who God has allowed you to be. While it may seem awkward, and "out of the box" to allot of ppl, its what God, i believe wants to see us all be, who he has designed us to be. we cant effectivly ever be His mouth peices if were playing some role we think the world wants us to be, where the happiness in that? how, if were not happy inside can we effectivly be an example for him? i say we can not.
so, i always tell ppl, you can be you (that inner self your dyojgn to let out) and STILL be a representative of Christ.
who knows, maybe the fact that your actually honest about yourself, and are ALWAYS the same, no matter what, where you are or who your with, will make ppl see the truth and light inside you.

 you can be "odd" and "quirky" and "different" and STILL be a representative of the Lord.

all i ask, is you be the BEST at who you are ment to be..simple. be yourself, but be the best you.
no one else can fill THOSE shoes, they were menat and designed ONLY for you.
so be proud, and show who you are off...

i had made a rochet tie for both noah, and another younf man Brayde spain in the flag colors of the countris they were both going to be serving, Noahs was mexio, Braydes was Brazil.
when noah had the time, he sent me a message letting me know his tie i had made was a HUGE hit at the Mission Training Center. and helped him, break out of a shell he felt he was in a bit, he wasnt much for socializing, or haveing any sort of agressive nature, hes a quiet, soft young man, but the tie, well, that made him stand out, and be noticed (so glad it did too) and ppl asked him about it, talked to him, it basically forced noah to have to talk to strangers. HAVE to start his role as a missionary for the Lord. im so glad it did.
crochet tie in mexican flag colors

Crochet tie in Brazilian Flag
i had a pic, somewhere on my hard drive of  the boys together with me wearing the ties i made for them. ill have to hunt deeper for it, and add it.FOUND IT!! :)

onto my day with my kid...
we went out to eat at a chinese restaurant in CHOCKTAW, oklahoma, one of the fav places for you and craig.

and we had a buffet dinner, like we always have, and i got to open gifts craig and i had scouted out the day before and got, pickings were very slim for what i could get, but i did get things and i like tham all.

a yellow water bottle, i can use when i cut ppls hair.
a reversible yellow towel.
a big mug i can drink out of (thats kinda yellow, more green, but i liked it)
and some choclates.






i like to take a pic of our fortunes when we go out to eat asian, and these were ours, in order of  Craig, Myself and then you (at the bottom)

yours says: you will bring sunshine into someones life. :)

everyday, daniel, everyday i am brightened by your light.
i love you, and i thank you so very much for allowing ME to be YOUR mother. to me thats the best gift i could ever have had, ever.

you make all the pain and struggle i have ever had to go through emotionally, mentally, and physically, so worth it all...id do it again, every bit, to be right where i am right now at this very moment i am in your life.
id trade NOTHING! because its been a wonderful experience to have you share my life.

i love you so very much, my words cant eeven come up with the words to say it the right way, its an emotion..to deep to cover in our feble langauge. its spoken from the inners of the depth of my heart.

i love you, never ever forget that.!

UPDATE< i have neglected to mention another gift i was given..

while i stepped away to socialize another member of my congregation approached me, and handed me a very thick "card" .
opened it up to find a book in there!

she even wrote a note on the inside cover.


book is 13 pages of Christ-like knowledge about being a woman of God who also is a mother.
LOVELY GIFT!
thank you Joan Stephenson! your one of the best Visiting Teachers a Mormon like me can ever hope to have!

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

DARK NEON CROCHET CELL PHONE CASE

handed off one of my cell phone cases tonight.

individual wasnt at church to get it herself, for me to take a pic of her with it, she was sick at home, trying to feel better.

but this is hers:

she has a purse/ bag she has that matches these colors, so i wanted to make something to go with it.

now, onto the STITCH one, also for this same individual.

i have made 2 others for a larger smart phone (samsumg, etc.)
and i need to make  one more for a total of 4 in this design.

 UPDATE: 
heres the young lady wearing her prized possession! and it DOES match her bag, so pleassed about that! :)


funny id see this across my timeline, because im actually making her the STITCH one as i saw this...
wonder WHICH one shed wear more? lol

GETTING A LITTLE GIFT...and..its YELLOW!!

so, im just sitting here doing my morning routine...checking emails, watching ppl tag others in some wedding pics i took on saturday (i need to blog about that)

and i get a message from a friend, she texted me, and told me she got me a yellow one of these:


these little flowers are way too cute!
they swing back and forth with the sun, because they have a small solar panel in the dirt part.

i had one before but it  kept sliding off my dash, so ill need some velcro to put this on my cars dash and make it stay..

more pics later when i get it..and place it in my yellow car..:)

what an awesome gift! from a really awesome freind!
THANK YOU TERRY!!