Boone's been in a lot of trouble lately. Mainly for his behavior at school. At home, it can be tough to know who to come down on. Boone can be a real butthead, but at the same time, the older kids do like to give him a hard time. So while Boone obviously isn't happy here . . .
Stafan and Lyric appear to be delighted.
Cokie seems pretty happy too . . . .
I'm going to do some deductive reasoning here, and say Lyric and Stafan were having some fun at Boone's expense.
And don't let Cokie's angelic face fool you . . . she was probably in on it too.
I'll give Shepard a pass and say he was minding his own business.
And don't even think about giving me that innocent look Pryor. I know you like to pick on Boone.
That's it. Just like Hillary at her "emailgate" press conference . . . look down and avoid all eye contact.
The poor tormented boy himself.
Wait a minute . . . he looks happier.
Now it looks like he is telling Remi what's what.
She smiles at first. . .
But now just looks annoyed. And so we've come full circle. Boone seems to be annoying everyone these days. Especially his teacher . . . and then when I get the note from her . . . me!
This is the outline from our preacher's sermon Sunday. The scan isn't very clear, so here is the long and short of it.
Numbers 21:4-9
They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea,[a] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”
6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
The verse above is about the sickness of the entire Nation of Israel, after Moses led them out of slavery in Egypt. No matter what God did for them, their gratitude was short-lived and quickly turned to complaining and even outright betrayal of God.
The people of Israel were sick. In order to get better, they needed to be thankful for the blessings God had given them and stop focusing on all the things they thought they were entitled to but didn't have.
OK, that's my take on our preacher's sermon. The thoughts and opinions that follow are completely my own and should not be attributed to my preacher, my church, my family or anyone else (except maybe my friend Ginger).
Does the story of Israel sound familiar? I pray for another nation that has been incredibly blessed by God but has now largely turned its back on Him. It was just a short time ago that the people who founded that nation declared their independence from tyranny by recognizing their unalienable rights to pursue life, liberty and happiness are granted by God. I believe that nation's initial recognition of and reliance on God is why it was so richly blessed by God. But now that nation has largely turned its back on God. That nation, our nation, has paid its people to mock God in the most disgusting ways imaginable. It has persecuted those who are simply trying to pursue their unalienable right to pursue life, liberty and happiness in a way that honors the very God our founding fathers declared endowed us with those rights. Who knows what is next for Christians in this country. But whatever it is, none of us should be surprised by it. "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." 2 Timothy 3:12. In fact, we should rejoice when we suffer for Christ, because if we're not being persecuted, it may mean we are in danger of seeking the world's favor instead of God's favor. “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." John 15:18-20.
