Chores, sickness, and book takeaway

So D has been after me for about two weeks about starting up their chores again. He loves chores...wow! Lol. So we started back this week. The very first day of chores.....he forgets to do his. Bwhahaha. However, he did 2 chores yesterday. When we picked for today's chores, T got "wash dishes"....D was disappointed.....although he did dishes yesterday. "I like to wash dishes!" I told him "Then you could've been helping me all this time!" Haha

R went to the doc on Monday with a cough. The doc told him to use a certain cough drop. That cough drop made him sickkkkk. It didn't dawn on me til Tues evening what could be causing it. So I then had him to stop using them. He felt a bit better on Wed, so he went to school on Thurs. Unknown to me, he felt bad all day. Thinking I wouldn't come get him, he didn't call me. His teacher wrote me and told me that R was feeling terrible and to let him stay home on Fri. All his teachers would work with him to get him caught back up. So I took him back to the doc last night.....still just a cough. This doc gave us some meds and he's doing so much better today.

So I had thought about starting a completely different blog. I even got one set up to "start all over" However......I can't leave this blog. This has been my "go to" blog and don't think I want to leave it. It has been very sporadic the last few years, but it still has soooo many memories. So....I am planning on giving the other blog to the boys. I'm gonna let them use it to write for themselves. It may be rudimentary at first (I actually expect it), but I think it will be 1) fun for them, 2) cool to have them write, 3) a neat way to see their "take on things."

I am still reading "Not a Fan." I seem to be taking forever, as I like to read and I haven't finished this yet. However, I'm soaking it all in....at least I think I am 😊 I wanted to share parts that have caught my attention. For this post, it's a story about thinking about a fan or a follower.

First, what is a fan? As Kyle Idleman talks about, a fan is someone who knows about someone. You may know your favorite NASCAR drivers statistics. Which racetrack they are best at, which one they dislike, or which one works they really have a fun time at. So if you base your relationship of how many books of the Bible you know or how fast you can find John 3:16....those are "just the facts, ma'am" So what is a follower? A follower is someone who has intimate knowledge and relationship. I intimately know my husband because I know what frustrates him, what makes him smile, and how to talk to him when he's down.

The illustration Kyle uses is Luke 7. Jesus was with the Pharisee (who knew about Him).  He had to have the first 12 books of the Bible memorize by age 12. By age 15, he's memorized the whole OT. And he would've also memorized the more than 300 prophecies about the Messiah.

There were customs when eating together in those days. Greeting with a kiss (equal social rank= host kisses guest with kiss on cheek; guest of higher social rank= host kisses guest on hand); washing guest feet (if you wanted to honor the guest, host would wash them for the guest, otherwise, have a servant do it, or give the guest water for them to be able to wash for themselves); and for distinguished guest, the host would give some olive oil for anointing their head. The Pharisee did not do even one of these customs! What?!?! Because he knew about Jesus....didn't know Him. He was just a fan.

Then along comes a woman who was a sinner. They would refer to prostitutes this way. Here she comes, among men of higher social rank, not invited, and just begins to fall at His feet and begins to cry. Her tears begin to drip onto Jesus' feet. She is probably startled that His feet hadn't been cleaned. Did she ignore it? No! She lets down her hair (which another custom is a woman's hair was only for her husband to see) and washes His feet with her hair and tears. She then used her jar of ointment. Not just as a drop or two. She emptied that thing out (which would have probably cost her a fortune).  She became a follower. She poured out all she had of her life and gave it to Jesus. She wanted to know Him.

   Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn't offer me water
   to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them
   with her hair. You didn't great me with a kiss, but from the first time I came in, she has
   not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head,
   but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. ~~Luke 7:44-46

"In the end the religious leader with all the knowledge is the fan, and the prostitute who intimately expressed her love for Jesus is shown to be the follower. Here, is the question you and I have to ask ourselves
                                    Who am I most like in the story?

....I am not asking if you know about [H]I'm, I am asking if you know [H]im."

                                                       not a fan by Kyle Idleman