Genesis 45:1 - 46:7

Nine: I can't believe Joseph didn't kill his brothers. He was exceedingly generous to his brothers. It was good he invited his brother to come to Egypt and bring his father so that the Bible could happen. If he hadn't maybe Jesus wouldn't have come.

Twelve: I thought that Joseph was really nice to his brothers. It shows that God can help me to be delivered from times of trouble.

Forty-seven: The pathos of this scene is astounding. Joseph weeping at his brothers' repentance from their previous behavior to him, his brothers both astounded and afraid of what Joseph might do, and the Egyptians cowering (or listening) in the hall and immediately running to Pharaoh with the story. 

Genesis 43:1 - 44:34

Nine: Joseph should let Judah be substituted for Benjamin so their father doesn't die. We should help people who are hurt and be there as their friend.

Twelve: Joseph put them to the test to see if they had changed. They had because Judah offered himself for Benjamin.

Forty-seven: Putting away past wrongs is hard. I think the hardest time is when there is no sense of closure that the other person even understood the wrong they did. I can't help but wish that like Joseph, I could have closure on those tough events in my past. Imagine what our world would be like if everyone could have closure. Come Lord Jesus, come!

Genesis 42: 1- 38

Nine: Joseph was being nice because he didn't kill his brothers, and sneaky because he used the interpreter guy. Apologies are good. 

Twelve: Joseph was being very sneaky. He was very compassionate to his brothers by giving them grain and their money back. He's trying to get an apology. Apologies are good things even if you wish you didn't need them.

Forty-nine: I'm with my twelve year old. I like apologies but I wish they weren't needed. In this chapter, we begin to see the change in both Joseph and his brothers. I pray that as I age I become more like Joseph, more forgiving, more clever in getting to the heart of things, and more generous. 

Genesis 39:1 - Genesis 41:57

Nine: It was amazing that Joseph could interpret those guys' dreams, but God told him the answer. God can do anything. What Joseph predicted came so. God caused it. It is wise to stay on the paths of the Lord and do as He tells you. Look at all the things that wouldn't have happened if Joseph had not followed God.

Twelve: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things. I can act like Joseph with God's help and try as hard as I can. God helped Joseph by showing him the meaning of Pharaoh's dream and also He made Pharaoh trust in Joseph. 

Forty-seven: I had never thought about how this sort of thing would be so odd in our world. To have a man taken out of jail and raised to be second in command of the most powerful country in his world. Imagine Joseph as a VP candidate. How much scoffing would that cause? Yet, in God's plan there he is saving Egypt and the world around it. 

Genesis 37:1 - 36

Nine: Joseph's brothers shouldn't have sold him into slavery that was a bad move. Arguing causes tension in my family; I shouldn't argue about school. I need to stop being a jerk. 

Twelve: Joseph's brothers sinned. Reuben was like me, he wasn't willing to stand up for his brother even when he knew what was right. I have to be strong in my Christian faith and stand up people.

Forty-seven: I think my youngest got to the really hard stuff. How do I act like a "jerk?" How do I keep those actions and words from just springing out of me? My oldest got the answer to those questions: "be strong in Christ."

Genesis 32:1 - 33:20

Nine: (While reading Jacob's brother was Ishey.) Esau has a good temper and is a nice guy who forgives his brother when he had done all that stuff to him. Brothers should forgive each other.

Twelve: I thought this was a fun story because Jacob was afraid of Esau but God made them both friends. Brothers should forgive each other and should always be friends.

Forty-seven: It's funny I've never really thought highly of Esau and yet both my guys were impressed with him in this story. But then again I've never been half of a brother team. Still its good to know that they like the idea of inter-brother forgiveness. Now, to get them to apply it to each other.

Genesis 27:1 - 28:22

Nine: Sometimes lying can help you, but he shouldn't have done that. 

Twelve: Lying is a really bad thing and it hurt Jacob. God's plan was to bless Jacob, and Jacob didn't help that by cheating. 

Forty-seven: I'm afraid my first mom thought was to roll my eyes after my nine year old's pronouncement about lying. 

When we read about hovering parents of today, we can look back and see that parents hovered and did too much all the way back to the Bible too. And it didn't work any better then than now. Much like Abram sees himself losing both sons, Rebeka also loses the one son she is close but this time it is her actions that cause this loss and unlike Abram there is no happy ending for her. 

In my own life it is so hard not to rush ahead of God, sure that I know His plan. It never works out as well as waiting for the Lord to guide me down the path. 

Genesis 21:1 - Genesis 22:19

Nine: God can do anything. I thought it most interesting when God opened Hagar's eyes and she saw the well. Shouldn't she have seen it before? When someone did something mean to me, I felt tested. It helped me to have self-control.

Twelve: If I trust in God, He will provide for me. I am part of His plan. Yes, when I've gotten into fights I've felt tested. So I get stronger and better at controlling myself. 

Forty-seven: I can't imagine what it must have been like for Abram to trust and give up one son and to take another son to sacrifice him. Do I even have a mole hill worth of that faith?

Genesis 15:1 - 21

Nine: I thought it was cruel to chop all those animals in two. God is going to let Abram have a lot of sons. Building my big Lego kit (3803 pieces) seems impossible to me. Faith will help me persevere in building it. 

Twelve: I know God will give them children. I do have big tasks, but God can help me. Faith would help me persevere and get to my goal.

Forty-seven: I keep imagining those stars as Abram saw them. They must have been vast and beautiful. He must have been stunned to know he would have so many descendants. It's hard to imagine what I have before me that would be harder or more daunting than what Abram faced and yet I rarely think about those stars. 

Genesis 12:1 - 20

Nine: You should tell the truth and trust God. God calls people today like He called Pastor Don to be a pastor.

Twelve: You have to tell the truth; God would have protected Abram. I thought it was cool because it showed God was way pleased with Abram. He does call people. He calls them to do His will to be pastors and others to do some job that glorifies Him.

Forty-seven: As I reflect at the end of this momentous day from the past and look forward to tomorrow's momentous day for today and onward, I can only pray that we Americans are as trusting and obedient as Abram. Also I pray that our new president is like Abram and willing to hear God's call whatever it is however strange the path it takes him (and us) on. 

Genesis 11:1 -9

Nine: It serves them right because they were trying to do something against God's will. They would have made sin enter into heaven by building the tower into heaven. (Also, he appeared to have concerns about the structural stability of the tower.)

Twelve: They were doing a wrong but God acted in part to save them. What would have happened if they have reached space? Pride is usually, mostly, a bad thing. 

Forty-seven: What did they think they were doing? And just how big was that tower? And what happened at the top? Those are the academic questions, but I can also ask: how were they like me? Just how often do I go off on my own without a thought for God and His plan. I don't really like the answers.  I'm glad God acted to save me, despite my own pride. 

Genesis 8:1 - 9:17

Nine: It was nice for God to make a covenant not to have a flood again. He has to keep His promise if He is God. I would like to have a clean slate to try to start again and do better.

Twelve: God was abler to control the whole world by flooding the world and returning it to dryness. This shows how evil the people were and how they disobeyed God. I know God loves me. He loves everybody, and He sent Jesus to die for us. Everybody wants a clean slate and that can happen through God.

Forty-seven: Wow! That last sentence from my twelve year old is so true. I can't wait for heaven to be totally renewed! In the meantime I struggle to find that freshness with God each day in the midst of a flood of conflict, stress, business, and sin. 

Genesis 6:5 - 7:24

Discussion guide question for this passage: How do you resist temptation?

Nine: On resisting temptation: Try not to do it. I'm not very good at it. Everything that happens to us is God's will.

Twelve: I try not to do sinful things. I try to do do what God wants me to do. God judges people right; other people don't all the time. God's will is always right but doesn't always seem fair. Sometimes it seems I get in trouble when I'm not doing anything wrong. God always does the right thing and it is His will and the best comes out of it.

Forty-seven:  I wonder how to resist temptation. It seems if you eliminate the stuff that seems obvious that other things come to your attention. It seems that sometimes I'm caught in that same flood, but it's one of my own making. The water just gets deeper and deeper with sin. 

Genesis 3:1 - 24

Nine: Sin is doing wrong; disobeying the Lord's commandments. I feel guilty when someone figures out I've done something wrong, and I become sad about that.

Twelve: Sin is disobeying God's commands, disobeying our parent's commands, and disobeying the Bible. God makes me feel guilty because He knows I've done something wrong. Then I say I am sorry.

Forty-seven: It is nice (at least from a parental standpoint) to see my oldest feels guilt on his own. 

It seems that in thinking about their awareness of sinful behavior that I should pray to be more aware of what God's commands mean when applied to me and to be aware when I have transgressed so that I can continue to reconcile myself to God and His will for me. 

As a parent how do I help them begin to have that awareness? The very same awareness that Adam and Eve have in the garden. 

Genesis 1:1 — 2:25

Nine: First response to Genesis 2:18 was that Adam should have picked a dog; woman is just going to drag Adam into sin. 

Twelve: Could animals talk back then? This is a very interesting passage and it shows how mighty God is that He could create all this. It is also interesting that there are these four rivers created that we still know about today.

Both boys responded similarly to the question of who God was. The oldest said, "He is an all powerful being who created us in his image and sent his son to die for us so we might not perish but have eternal life," while the younger said, "He is the sole creator of the universe and sent his son to die on the cross for our sins."

Forty-seven: I am amazed when I read this passage at how many details have attachments in my mind on them because of things I've been taught in the past. For instance in 1:29-30, I always note the implied vegetarianism because somewhere in my past someone else pointed it out to me. Yet when I move on to 2:5, I notice that there are no plants yet, a detail I've never noticed before. Part of the wonder of the Bible is this freshness in every reading. 

What We're Doing

We will be using the E100 Challenge over the course of the next twenty or so weeks to read through 100 readings in the Bible. 

Our church has provided us with a simple notebook for journal writing and our comments from that will be posted here. If you'd like to follow along there is a simple download of the readings.

We'll also be using the discussion guide provided at E00's website. 

Much of the activity will take place during our home school time in the mornings, but longer readings will be divided and read at that time and at night with dad. Both boys will participate and you'll be reading their comments.

The likelihood of the cat commenting is nil while the dog may participate in some nonverbal and probably destructive way. 

Who We Are

We are a family of six: two adults, two boys, a cat and a dog. The boys are twelve and nine, the dog is under a year, and all other members of the family are of indeterminate age. 

We home school.