Today's Readings and Stuff == Sunday, 07 January 2018

COOLD!  Here!!

Yeah, brother in law came by yesterday  (with sister-in-law) to look at our plumbing situation (going on a week now with no water).  To prepare, I'd gone to gas station, bought $10 in diesel fuel, dragged nephew's torpedo heater over and, fueled, started heating the air in our crawl space.  Good preparation?  Yes, I guess.   Sufficient?  No.  When they got here, we tried to pull aside that PVC that blocks (we hope) wind intrusion, animal intrusion, etc. in the space.  Only to find that stuff in that area was frozen so solid that we couldn't gain access.  So ,,,,  I went around to the other side, the opening I had that torpedo heater blowing into.  Pulled it out, leading to a shower of sparks when the housing touched the  outside faucet.  NOT a good thing.  I unplugged the torpedo (it has a blower, you see) and pulled it out.  Tried to wriggle around inside.  No can do.  Not enough space to do so.  And it appears that raccoons, opossums, and an army of feral cats had been active -- most of our sub-floor insulation, including what I'd installed this last summer, was torn up and laying on the ground.  Which, in turn, explains the cold floors and drafts.  NOT good, and nothing I can do about it until Spring at least.    So....  Jim will try to come back Tuesday or Wednesday, when the air temperature is predicted to be in the upper 30's at least, so hopefully the frozen sections will be accessible.

So, no water, still.  I went next door and lugged about 14 gallons over, in various buckets and pitchers.  Lets me heat some water on stove and wash some of the dishes at least.  Some.

This is not turning into a great year, and we're only a week into it.

So we're frozen in and staying home today.  Not even venturing out into the frozen wilderness to attend church worship services.  Yes, that cold.
Now, we have been assured that despite last night's dalliance with temperatures around the -10° mark, today may see a near-tropical +23°!  And a low of +21°, which would be a good bit nicer than our recent "high" temperatures.  And possibly hit 50 on Thursday.  It would be nice to be able to get at stuff and fix the water issue at least.  The torn-down insulation, well,it will have to wait until Spring, at least.  And even then .....  this place is showing its age.  It's been pretty cheap to live in (necessary in our circumstances), and Wife really needed to be back around the area she regards as "home" and around her family.  With niece and their kids next door, and much of the rest of the family nearby, she has that.  But if this place continues to deteriorate faster than we can mend, we'll be needing a fallback.  The emotional strain would be tough on, and most places that we could afford (barely) aren't pet-friendly.  Cats don't bark, which is a plus, but it's still an issue.



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Our study today is chapters 13 and 14 in the Genesis.
Abram, who will later be known as Abraham, is one of those Biblical characters whose life and walk with the Lord led to things that affect each of us and our world to this very day.
But there is much else here.  It is here, for example, that we see the first (but not last) mention of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Here we meet Melchizedek.  He, incidentally was king of Salem.  Salem is now known as Jerusalem, an axis of interest to this very day.   His name will pop up several times later in the Bible.

Genesis 13

13:1		And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.
13:2		And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.
13:3		And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;
13:4		Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.
13:5		And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
13:6		And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
13:7		And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.
13:8		And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.
13:9		Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.
13:10		And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.
13:11		Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
13:12		Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.
13:13		But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.
13:14		And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:
13:15		For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.
13:16		And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
13:17		Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.
13:18		Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

Genesis 14

14:1		And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
14:2		That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
14:3		All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea.
14:4		Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.
14:5		And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in Shaveh Kiriathaim,
14:6		And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.
14:7		And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar.
14:8		And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;
14:9		With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.
14:10		And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain.
14:11		And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.
14:12		And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
14:13		And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.
14:14		And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
14:15		And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.
14:16		And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
14:17		And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.
14:18		And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
14:19		And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
14:20		And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
14:21		And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself.
14:22		And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,
14:23		That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
14:24		Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.