Feeling uninspired.....

Be the first to finish the song lyric quoted in the title of this entry AND name the band and you win.............THIS AMAZING SIDEWAYS SKATEBOARDING MAN!!!

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Things have been going well lately at the school here with Megan and I. Megan has been really busy tutoring 2 students after classes in their algebra skills, which has been nice for me too because I get most of my grading done in that time. Today she gave a math exam to the eighth graders, and two of the students she has been tutoring actually passed it! She was worried that one of them would fail in spite of her help, but he came through and did really well. It's always good to see that all the time and effort you put into helping someone actually sticks in their brain.

I've been reading through Joshua lately (never read it before) and was struck by something kind of funny. The Israelites had just crossed the Jordan River (which God had conveniently stopped up to allow them to cross) and were heading to take down Jericho. Before they take the city, God gives Joshua explicit instructions on how to go about it, one of which is for the Israelites not to take any of the spoils of battle for themselves (i.e. gold, silver, animals, etc.)

Joshua 6:18 "Do not take any of the things set apart for destruction, or you yourselves will be completely destroyed, and you will bring trouble on all Israel. Everything made from silver, gold, bronze, or iron is sacred to the Lord and must be brought into his treasury."

Pretty clear, right? So the Israelites do the whole marching around Jericho seven times on the seventh day and shouting thing, and the city is demolished. Everything is cool until one of the Israelites spots something he can't bear to see destroyed. So he snatches a few things and tucks them under his robe, tunic or what-have-you and takes off for camp. What is so hilarious about this is what he does with his treasures afterwards. Here's what he says after he's been found out:

"I saw a beautiful robe imported from Babylon, two hundred silver coins, and a bar of gold weighing more than a pound. I wanted them so much that I took them. They are hidden in the ground beneath my tent, with the silver buried deeper than the rest."

The guy BURIES the things in the ground, UNDER his tent! Now wait, you just saw God dry up a swollen RIVER and you somehow think he's messing with you when he says not to take anything from the battle? And you think that burying it under the ground and stacking your tent on top of it is going to help?!? I couldn't help but relate to the humanity of this poor guy, and how we try to hide our sin and the messiness of our lives from God sometimes when it's so completely futile! I wonder if he ever got to wear that cool robe though?

This weekend Megan and I are heading to a town called Tela on the North Coast of Honduras for a little beach bumming before we hit the chaos of finals week next week. We'll put up some pictures once we get back!