Saturday, April 2, 2011

Buckle Up!

I am going to summarize Genesis 27. Rebekah had two sons and they were fraternal twins. Before they were born, God told Rebekah that the older son would serve the younger son. Esau was born first and Jacob was born second. When their father, Isaac was old, he was going to give the blessing to his oldest child, which was a part of their tradition and culture as long as the father felt that the oldest should get the blessing. The father could give another son the blessing if he felt that son was more deserving of it. Through the blessing the son became the leader of the family. Anyway, when Rebekah heard that Isaas was going to bless Esau, she took matters into her own hands and had Jacob pretend that he was Esau and deceived Isaac so that Isaac gave the blessing to Jacob rather than to Esau. Esau got so mad that he said he was going to kill Jacob and Jacob had to flee. The consequences of Rebekah's interference were that she never saw Jacob again, Esau became the founder of an enemy nation, and Jacob was exiled from his family for years. The irony of this all is that Jacob would have gotten the birthright as God had proclaimed that Jacob would before he was born. If Rebekah and Jacob would have waited for God and let God work things His way things would have turned out much differently for them. I don't think it's appropriate to use deceit to get what we want. My questions to you are: (1) Why did they use this scriptue for the reading this week? (2) How does Proverbs 23.22 relate to this week's reading? (3) Why is Colossians 3:21 another good reading for this week? (4) Is there anything different that Andy's mom could have done? (5) Why do you think Rebekah and Jacob did what they did? (6) Why do you think Andy's mom treated Jared the way that she did? (7) Should she have treated him differently and why? (Enough questions for everyone to answer at least one!!!)

3 comments:

  1. Ok, I'll try this again. I had a huge response and I lost it all.

    I did the reading on Wednesday and couldn't decide what to write. I came back to it yesterday morning and reread it and still wasn't sure. So this morning I was going to open it up to everyone for help. After reading what Mom wrote I better understand the scripture reading. I understood the connections between Rebekah and Andy's mom in that they both want what is best for their boys and step in when they probably shouldn't have. I struggled to make any more connections than that.

    Answer to Q 4: While reading I had been thinking about if my child was friends with someone I didn't care for, what would I do? I still don't have an answer. I feel in some ways it would be good to talk to your child about your concerns in a calm and caring manner but in other ways that may push your child away. I'm thinking Andy's mom shouldn't have said a thing. If she felt like she had to then I think she should have sat him down at a more appropriate time and talk about her concerns.

    Answer to Q6: I feel like Andy's mom didn't have any good reasons for treating Jared that way. She obviously had concerns about her son's actions and needed to have someone to blame. I wonder what would have happened if she would have talked to Andy about her concerns of him being a firefighter and not even had mentioned Jared. I can sympathize with her in that if I lost my husband and only had my son I would be very protective of him.

    Answer to Q 7: I do think that Andy's mom should have treated him differently. Trying to talk to someone before they are about to leave is not a good time to discuss your concerns. She needed to talk to Andy without sounding like she is attacking Jared. She needed to tell him how much she loves him and worries about his safety, not take it out on Jared.

    I was glad that she realized the kind of person Jared is and is able to give him the appreciation he deserves. I doubt she'll give Andy a hard time about Jared again.

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  2. The scripture for this week relates to the story in that both mothers exhibited actions that were harmful. Rebekah deceived her eldest child and husband - driving her youngest away. Andy's mother made a snide, mean comment as a way to inappropriately relay her fears to her son. This nearly drove him to not buckle up, which would have been a tragic result. I really thought the verse from Colossians at the end of the story hit home, "Do not embitter your children or they will become discouraged." It's important to bring children up positively and in a happy environment. Let them learn their lessons and talk with them about what they think and feel. I know it's hard to avoid those snide comments - I know I make them to Chris sometimes. It is learning to take the time to know why you are making comments like that and not just talking before thinking (something we're also trying to teach Chayton right now) - and then when and if you think of something to say, making sure it is appropriate and in context. With appropriate communication and discussion of feelings, children and parents can learn and really vet out all options - and understand what actions are really rooted in desires and what actions are rooted in "getting even" or "being with the crowd" (i.e. if everyone jumps off the bridge, so will I).

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  3. This reminds me too - and I'm not sure if Mom remembers, but when I joined the military, we were all grocery shopping and Mom said to me, "You know you won't make it." That really hurt. I know I didn't grow up physically active and I know Mom was also afraid of me being in the military. We didn't have any family experience with the military - the little we had was negative. The military was overall a positive experience that helped me develop one of my mantras: "Lots of people have done this, I can do it too!" I wanted to do it and I'm glad I did. I'm sure I'll make negative comments to my children too over the years, but I hope that I can take these lessons and become a better person for it. I love you Mom!

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