Exodus 19

What do you think of when you hear the words 'replacement refs'? NFL. Monday Night Football. Seattle Seahawks. Green Bay Packers. 'Touchception'. Facebook Anger Therapy. You see, the 'replacement refs' will be forever identified with THE call they made at the end of the Seahawks-Packers game. That call has forever defined them. That call has become their IDENTITY.

Simply put, your IDENTITY is determined by with what or with whom people identify or associate you. Some people are identified by a band they like or a brand of clothing or an economic class. Others are identified by a personality quality - funny, friendly, encouraging, lazy, back-stabber, bragger, complainer, mean, etc. Still others are identified by a group of people - prep, goth, jock, emo, cheerleader, artsy, druggy, etc. You see, our identity depends on what and with whom we associate ourselves.

So then, what does a person need to do if they want God to become their IDENTITY? Listen to certain music? Attend church? Do daily spiritual rituals? Wear Christian t-shirts? Avoid bad people? This was precisely the question the Israelites were asking in the book of Exodus after they were freed from slavery and expected TO BE God's people. And God does not leave their question unanswered.

In Exodus 19:5-6 God tells His people:

“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

This is God's IDENTITY for His people: a treasured possession, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.

TREASURED POSSESSION
'Treasured possession' [Hb: segullah] is God's term of endearment for His people to remind them of where they came from and to where God has brought them. When referring to things, the term references the valued riches of a king (1 Chron. 29:3). But when referring to people, the term refers to a servant who is deeply valued [as reflected in many Ancient Near Eastern texts]. And so this term would be a constant reminder to God's people that they were once an oppressed servant of the King of Egypt but now are a valued servant of the King of the Universe.

But how was this term supposed to shape their identity? Well, think about it this way. This term reminded God's people that they were to view themselves as a rescued people. So what is the mindset of a rescued person? People who are rescued are thankful, compassionate and empathetic. People who are rescued have a PAY-IT-FORWARD mindset. They want to bless others because they were blessed!

This expectation is reflected in the laws that God gives His people. For instance, the Ten Commandments begin with, "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery" (Exodus 20:2). Many other verses reflect this same expectation (Exodus 22:21; 23:9; 23:15). God wants us to live like people who have been rescued...with compassion, thankfulness, and empathy.

KINGDOM OF PRIESTS
God also wants us to live as a kingdom of priests. What does this mean? It's simple. We are TO BE a community with a priestly function. But what is the role of a priest? Well, believe it or not, the very garments that priests wore in the Old Testament explain their role. The priestly garment contained 12 onyx stones that symbolized the tribes of Israel (Exodus 28:9). These stones were to serve as a memorial or remembrance of the people before the Lord (Exodus 28:12). This tells us that one of the roles of the priest was to bring the people to God.

That's not all! Take a look...

“These are the garments they are to make [for the high priest]: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and sash...Make the ephod of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen—the work of a skilled craftsman.” Exodus 28:4, 6 

Compare this passage to the materials used for the curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where God's presence dwells.

“Make a curtain of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and finely twisted linen, with cherubim worked into it by a skilled craftsman.” Exodus 26:31

What does this tell us about our identity as a kingdom of priests? Not only do priests bring people to God, priests also represent God to the people and by doing so bring God to others. Put all this together and it becomes apparent that the role of the priest was to serve as a BRIDGE between people and God.

HOLY NATION
But how do we know whether or not we are accurately representing God to people as His priests? Well, God wants us to be a holy nation. This simply means that we are to be a distinct community. Many people throughout history have put their own spin on what is supposed to define a holy community. But God does not leave this up to us. NO. He provides us with His distinct law that defines His holy character and provides principles to be used to define His people. God wants us to find our identity in HIS law (not our own)!

This might scare some people because they have a disdain for the Old Testament laws. But rest assured God was not playing a practical joke on humanity when he made His laws. NO. They flow out of His character and the way He desires the world to function. And so, the Ten Words (Commandments) in Exodus 20 provide overarching principles that serve as the basis for all the other laws. But even these ten laws can be whittled down to what Jesus claimed were the two greatest laws..."Love God and Love others" (Matthew 22:34-40). These two laws serve as the basis for God's holiness, for defining God's people, and for defining how God wants His world to function.

Here's how. Maintaining one's distance in relation to other worldviews and religions flows out of the law to love God. God desires His people to depend on Him and live for Him alone. In this way, we are to take a DEFENSIVE posture in relation to the world. However, God also wants us to take an OFFENSIVE posture. We do this by loving others extravagantly. By doing this, God wants His people to overcome evil with good in the world to help restore His original creation design.

THE BOTTOM LINE
We need to keep tabs on where our identity lies (because in our world it's easy to wander with the current fads). We can do this by everyday asking ourselves: With what or whom do people identify me? If they wouldn't identify you with God then you need to take a look at your character (Am I reflecting God's LOVE?), your mission (Am I taking the initiative to be a BRIDGE between God and my friends?), and your mentality (Am I living like a rescued person?). That's how God wants you to find your identify. PERIOD.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
Do you view yourself as a rescued person? Would people describe you as thankful, compassionate, and empathetic?

What practical things do you need to do to be a bridge between your friends and God?

Does your life reflect both a healthy offense and defense? Are you loving others extravagantly or more concerned about your rights?

Exodus 3-15

FEAR. Why do we have this emotion? Have you ever thought about that? When you think about it, FEAR usually serves to prevent people from entering into harmful situations so that they stay safe. Now that's a good thing, right? But FEAR can also be a barrier to trying new things that are important and meaningful (you know, those GOD-SIZED things that can bless others and impact a broken world). This is why overcoming FEAR is so important.

So how do we overcome FEAR? Some people will tell you that you simply need to face your fears. So if you are scared of cats then lock yourself in a room full of cats! However, this isn't the Bible's advice. NO. The Bible tells us that the more we KNOW God, the less that FEAR will paralyze us. Now, when the Bible talks about KNOWLEDGE, it is not talking about memorizing a list of dates and names. NO. It is talking about KNOWING through experience. And so to truly KNOW God, we need to put the Bible into ACTION. This is why FAITH is emphasized so much in the BIBLE. FAITH is a type of KNOWING that results in DEPENDENCE and ACTION. This is what God desires from His people and what is necessary for His people to accomplish His mission.

As we've seen so far in our reading of the Bible, God has called His people (beginning with Abraham) to give their lives to a crazy SCARY mission. God wants to make Abraham into a large community of people ("Great nation"), who live on a specific piece of property ("land"), who become prominent throughout the world as they live by God's perfect creation design ("Great name"), and whose prominence attracts the world back to God ("bless all the nations through you"). The plan is SIMPLE. But the plan is also SCARY. And so God knows that He needs to reveal Himself to His people to give them the confidence they need to fully engage their lives in His mission. This is precisely what happens in the book of Exodus!

Exodus begins with three unfortunate realities: 1.) God seems to be absent from His people, 2.) The people of God seem to have no knowledge of God and 3.) The people are unable to worship God because they are slaves to the King of Egypt (Pharaoh). However, by the end of Exodus God has revealed Himself in significant ways to His people so that they are free to truly worship Him in the tabernacle where His presence dwells. The unfortunate realities have been removed. And so by the end of Exodus, God has reassured and enabled His people so that they can fully engage in His mission.

EXODUS 3-15
God's rescue of the Israelites from Egypt in Exodus 3-15 was THE primary experience through which God reassured and enabled His people. So what did God teach them through this experience? Well, it all began with God revealing Himself to Moses as "I AM" (Exodus 3:14). Now let's be honest, this self-revelation is not very helpful. I mean how helpful would it be if you asked a new classmate about himself and he said, "My name is Skip and I AM"? That's not helpful at all.

So what did God mean when He described Himself to Moses as "I AM?" Well, in light of Exodus 3:12 it could be God's shorthand for communicating "I will be with you." However, I believe the phrase is purposefully unclear because it is used to introduce God's upcoming revelation of Himself through the signs/plagues. In other words, God is saying, "I AM...(who I will reveal myself as being through the signs/plagues you are about to witness)." And so, the plagues/signs give meaning and content to the name I AM.

So what do the plagues/signs teach us about who God is? Well, Exodus 9:10 gives us the answer.

“I have raised you [Pharaoh] up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

God wants to show His power for the world to see. And Exodus 3:19-20 tells us that He will do this through His mighty HAND when it says,

“But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them.”

What is interesting here is that it is Moses and Aaron's HANDS (and the staff of God) that actually perform the wonders among the Egyptians (7:19; 8:5-6; 8:16-17; 9:22-23; 10:12-13; 10:21-22). What does this tell us? God gives Moses (and Aaron) His power and authority. They represent God to the Pharaoh! Does this sound familiar? If not, think Genesis 1:27.

We quickly see that God demonstrates His power and authority over all of creation through Moses and Aaron's HANDS. Moses and Aaron stretched their HANDS (and the staff) over the waters of Egypt, the dust of the ground, the air, the sky, and Egypt (itself). This gesture was done before each sign to indicate over which domain God was demonstrating His authority. And so through the signs/plagues, God proves that He is King over the water, the ground, the air, the sky, and the nations. And by controlling each of these domains God shows that He controls life, fertility, health, weather, death, and all (supposed) gods.

God also demonstrates through these signs that because He has authority and power over every realm of existence, He alone can reverse the curses of Genesis 3 and bring order back to the world. Now, Pharaohs at this time claimed this same authority. In fact, they were given the responsibility to maintain ma'at (order). But notice that while Pharaoh's magicians were able to duplicate many of God's signs (and by doing so add to God's curses), they were not able to remove God's curses to restore things back to order (Exodus 8:8-15). This tells us that while evil forces can multiply curses, they can not remove them. Only God and His empowered people can restore this broken world!

THE BOTTOM LINE
This is the very mission that God has given you and me: To restore a broken world. And with God's help we can do it. We can overcome evil with good. We can join God in reclaiming what is rightfully His. But this mission is SCARY. And by taking on God's mission we put a lot on the line: our comfort, convenience, popularity, success, self-advancement. . . This is SCARY. And at the end of the day, we will be paralyzed by FEAR if we do not trust that living out God's mission is BETTER than all of this stuff. But this TRUST will only come by getting to KNOW God.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
At school, what fears hold you back from outwardly following God?

How well would you say you know God? Would you say your knowledge of God is more intellectual or more experiential?

What practical steps can you take to know God better (in an experiential way)?    

Genesis 12-50

Why am I here? Have you ever asked yourself this question? I hope so because, make no mistake, this is THE foundational question that will influence how you live your life. After all, WHERE you find your purpose is WHERE you will invest your life. Let me explain…

Let's say you believe that you exist ONLY to attain fame and fortune. Well guess what? You will PRIMARILY make personal investments in ME-focused things like music lessons, sports camps, study groups, personal trainers, and self-help seminars. BUT if you believe that you exist ONLY to attain blessings for others then you will PRIMARILY make personal investments in OTHERS-focused things like tutoring, mentoring, service and social care projects. In fact, if you want to know whether you believe you exist primarily for the sake of YOURSELF or OTHERS look at how you spend your time. Do you spend more of your time on ME-focused activities or OTHERS-focused activities?

But how does God want us to spend our time? What is God's purpose for our existence? Well, the book of Genesis gives us the answer.

GENESIS 12:1-3 

Genesis 3-11 describes a world plagued by pain, sin, and curses (3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25). But this is not the world God intended. NO. The world God intended is found in Genesis 1-2. It's a world of rest, peace, and blessing (2:2). So how is God going to repair His broken world? Well, God's restoration plan is found in Genesis 12:1-3. Here’s what it says,

“The Lord said to Abram, ‘GO from your country, your people and your father’s household to the LAND I will show you. I will make you into a GREAT NATION and I will bless you; I will make your NAME GREAT [so that] you [will] BE a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and ALL PEOPLES ON EARTH will be blessed through you.’”

God's plan is simple...GO outside of your comfort zone to a broken world [so that] you can BE a blessing to broken people. But God's plan is not for the faint of heart. GOING requires that we become comfortable with being uncomfortable as we reach out to a broken world. BEING a blessing requires that we move from a ME-focused life to an OTHERS-focused life.

But God's plan is even more specific than this...God is going to make Abram into a large community of PEOPLE ["great nation"], plant these people on a specific piece of PROPERTY ["the land"], make these people PROMINENT as they live out God's creation design ["great name"], and bless the entire PLANET through the prominence of these people ["all people's on earth"]. However, the success of this plan requires follow-through from both God and people. How so? God's end of the bargain requires that He provide offspring, land, and blessing to people while people need to provide loyalty and obedience to God and His creation design. 

GENESIS 25-35 
So how does this plan fair? In Genesis 12-50, the first phase (the PEOPLE phase) of God's restoration plan plays itself out. In this phase, God earns an A+ grade as He overcomes human stupidity (12:10-20; 20:1-18; 26:1-16), barrenness (ch. 16; 25:19-34; 29:31), and famine (chpts. 42-47) to grow Abram into a great nation. However, humanity doesn't fair so well because they let their ME-focus get the best of them. As a result, they struggle to BE a blessing to others. And this puts the success of God's plan in jeopardy.

Jacob provides the best picture of the stereotypical ME-focused person alive at this time. True to his name which means "deceiver," Jacob takes advantage of his brother, Esau, when he is in great need by purchasing Esau's birthright in exchange for some stew and bread (25:27-34). Jacob then deceives his dad, Isaac, into giving him Esau's blessing (ch. 27). It is clear that Jacob is concerned only about one person... HIMSELF. So how can a ME-focused person like Jacob BE a blessing to the entire world? Answer: It's not possible. And so God knows that if He doesn't do something, His restoration plan might be derailed.

And so God sends Jacob to his uncle Laban for a little training seminar. On his journey to Laban, Jacob gets reassurances from God through a vision at Bethel that God will be with him and come through on His promises (This vision at Bethel is eerily similar to Abraham's vision in Genesis 15). But in this vision God doesn't tell Jacob that He has signed him up for a seminar being taught by his Uncle Laban called: "What It Feels Like to Be Deceived." As it turns out, Laban is quite the teacher and he gives Jacob a strong dose of his own medicine. You can read all about it in Genesis 29.

Jacob eventually gets fed up with Laban's deception and so he makes a run for it with his family and possessions. By fleeing from Laban and back to Canaan, the author wants the reader to understand that Jacob is also fleeing away from his old, deceptive ways and back to God. Jacob is a new man. The author reinforces this in chapters 31-32 through the retelling of Jacob's several encounters with God's angels. In one of these encounters, Jacob wrestles with a man (whom Jacob presumably understands to be an angel) until he receives God's blessing and favor. At this encounter, Jacob's name is changed to Israel which means "struggle with God." This experience was meant to commemorate Jacob's transformation and his desire to struggle for God's favor and blessing (no matter the personal cost). The story of Jacob ends in chapter 35 when Jacob returns to Bethel and recommits himself to God.

THE BOTTOM LINE
God created you and me to restore a broken world. But to join God in his plan, we need to accurately reflect God to the world around us by loving others well and by investing our lives for the sake of others. As we see in the Jacob narratives, God is also in the business of transforming us into the types of people he can use for His purposes. This should be a source of hope for all of us. Because no matter where you are at on your spiritual journey, God can use you! But first, you have to want to be used by God. So let me ask you: Do you want to be used by God?

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

How much of what you invest your life in is for the purpose of attaining your own personal blessing?

How much of what you invest your life in is for the purpose of attaining blessings for others?

What are some practical ways you can move from a ME-focus to an OTHERS-focus?

Genesis 6:1-4

Many Christians believe that the Old Testament has no application to the church (and their lives) today--except, of course, to use Biblical characters as moral role models (but shhh, don't tell anyone that David had an adulterous affair or that Moses was a murderer or that Noah got drunk and ran around naked!). I believe that many Christians have made the Old Testament irrelevant because many fail to understand the overarching story that God has been writing since the beginning of time--a story that is incomplete without the Old Testament.

But rest assured, God has not changed and His purposes have not changed. And so the Old Testament is still relevant to Christians and the church today. Sure, with the coming of Jesus God's story has progressed and some things of old are no longer practiced--at least in the same form--like animal sacrifice. But this does not mean that the sacrificial system and the covenants of old are meaningless to Christians (as we will discover throughout the Eat This Book Challenge)!

But what about Genesis 6:1-4? Are we really supposed to believe that humans (daughters of men) and angels (sons of God) created babies together? And more importantly, how are we supposed to apply this weird passage to our lives today? Believe it or not, this passage is a lot more simple and relevant than you might think at first glance. But we won't see this unless we first understand the passage in the context of God's BIG story. Let me explain...

THE BIG PICTURE
God originally created a very good world characterized by perfect peace and harmony (Genesis 1) and gave two humans, Adam and Eve, the responsibility to protect and guard this perfect creation order (Genesis 1:28; 2:15). However, Adam and Eve rebelled against God by eating from the 'tree of the experience of good and bad' (my translation) and because of their poor choice, bad was unleashed into the world in the form of painful curses (Genesis 2-3). After this, mankind's evil increased and began polluting God's good creation (Genesis 4). But all hope was not lost because in Genesis 5, God creates another line of humans (through the line of Seth) with the mission to counteract Cain's evil line of Genesis 4 and restore God's rule in the world. However, the story begins to take a turn for the worst in Genesis 6 as the line of Seth begins to falter in its God-given role.

GENESIS 6:1-4
Here's what the passage says,

"When men began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful [lit: good], and they married [lit: took] any of them they chose. Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years.’ The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.”

What was happening here that made God so angry? Well, the 'sons of God' were marrying the 'daughters of men'. So who are the 'sons of God' and what's the big deal with them marrying the 'daughters of men'?

Many think the 'sons of God' is referring to angels because this title is used to refer to angels in Job 2:1. However, in Exodus 4:22, the nation of Israel is referred to as God's 'firstborn son'. So is the title 'sons of God' referring to angels or a godly line of people (such as the Israelites)? The storyline seems to suggest that the 'sons of God' is referring to the godly line of Seth as given in chapter 5 (which, by the way, is the genealogical line of the Israelites).

So why did it make God so angry that the 'sons of God' were marrying 'daughters of men'? Well, let me first say, the 'daughters of men' is referring to all the daughters alive at the time. And so, God couldn't have been mad simply because the 'sons of God' were marrying 'daughters of men.' NOPE. God was mad because the 'sons of God' were marrying ANY of the 'daughters of men' THEY CHOSE. You see, Genesis 6:4 makes it clear that within the 'daughters of men' was a group called the Nephilim (which literally means 'fallen ones') and that the 'sons of God' were marrying daughters of these 'fallen ones'. Numbers 13:26-32 seems to indicate that the Nephilim refers to any people group outside of God's chosen line. This would include the Amalekites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Jebusites etc. But why is marrying a 'fallen one' such a big deal? Well, these 'fallen' people groups worship other gods! This is why we read in Genesis 28:1 that Isaac instructed Jacob, "Do not marry a Canaanite woman."

A SECOND FALL
But one thing we learn about humans in the Bible is that when God tells them to do something, they seem to prefer to do their own thing. This was true with Adam and Eve and is true in this passage as well. In fact, when we compare Genesis 6:2 with Genesis 3:6 we see that the sons of God rebelled against God in a similar way as Adam and Eve. God set limits and humans rebelled against those limits. Take a look for yourself...

“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye…she took some and ate it.” – Genesis 3:6

“…the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful [lit: good], and they married [lit: took] any of them they chose. – Genesis 6:2

THE BOTTOM LINE
So what is going on in Genesis 6:1-4? God's people are marrying women who worship other gods. And this IS a big deal. Why? Well, think about it. The line of Seth (the sons of God) were given the mission to counteract the evil and corruption being caused by people like the Nephilim ('the fallen ones'). BUT God's people are forming close attachments with the very people who are opposing God's rule in the world! And we all know what happens when we form close attachments with people who oppose God, right? Our attachment to God is weakened and ultimately compromised.

This is why Paul instructs Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:14-16, "Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God."

THE BIG IDEA
Close attachments to anything impact the strength of our attachment to God and His mission.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION
What are some of the things to which you are closely attached? Are any of these weakening your attachment to God and His mission in your life?

What are some specific ways you can actively counteract the evils of gossip, anger, cliques, bullying, self-centeredness, depression, loneliness, and greed in your sphere of influence?

Eat This Book Challenge

Welcome to the Eat This Book Challenge! You are about to embark on an amazing adventure that just might change your life! And that is the hope of this challenge...life transformation. The ultimate goal is NOT just to read every verse in the Bible. NOPE. The ultimate goal is to work into your life a daily rhythm of BIBLE READING and MEDITATION that ultimately translates into ACTION so that you reflect God's reign through your life. In short, the goal of the Eat This Book Challenge is to READ IT, EAT IT, and BLEED IT.

And we want to help you SUCCEED on your adventure! The truth is that the Bible can be confusing and seem far removed from our culture at times. This is because the Bible wasn't written yesterday. It was written over a period of thousands of years! But we don't want this confusion to be a barrier. NO. We want the Bible to come ALIVE to you over this next year. And so we will be providing resources to help you as you read through the Bible.

Here’s the scoop. . .

THE READING PLAN

We will be using www.youversion.com (or their app available at the app store for free). We will be using the Eat This Book reading plan. To access this plan go to www.youversion.com click on the READING PLANS tab on the left side of the page, select WHOLE BIBLE from the tab on the left, scroll down to the EAT THIS BOOK: ONE YEAR BIBLE WITH DAILY PSALM, and press START THIS PLAN and follow the instructions. We will begin the reading plan on Monday, September 10.

COMMENTARY RECOMMENDATIONS

The journey will also be a lot more enjoyable if you pick up a commentary. Trust me on this one! A commentary simply explains what the Bible is saying in a language that you and I can easily understand (and is especially helpful when it comes to those confusing Old Testament passages). Reading a commentary is like having a conversation at Starbucks with someone who has many years of experience studying and interacting with the Bible. My commentary recommendations are: 

The NIV Compact Bible Commentary by John H. Sailhamer
LINK to NIV Compact Bible Commentary

The New Bible Commentary by Gordon Wenham et al
LINK to New Bible Commentary

VIDEO BOOK OVERVIEWS AND WEEKLY BIBLE GUIDES

Blackhawk Church in Madison, WI has provided 5-minute video overviews and Weekly Bible Guides for each book of the Bible. These will help you get the lay of the land before you actually read through a book of the Bible. The Bible in Five videos can be accessed at LINK to Bible in Five and the Weekly Bible Guides can be accessed at LINK to Weekly Bible Guides. 

THE WEEKLY BLOG

I hope you know by now that following Jesus is a community effort and not just an individual pursuit. With this in mind, we want to read through the Bible as a community. This is where the blog comes into the picture. Each week a blog post will be made at www.oakwoodbigtree.blogspot.com with insights into one of the weekly readings. You can simply comment on the post or use this blog post as a forum to ask ANY question that surfaces as you are reading through the Bible. All you need to do is place a comment under that week's post. The hope is that we will wrestle with God's Word TOGETHER!

THE WEEKLY TALK
Each week at Sunday morning Encounter, you will hear a talk pertaining to one of the following week's Bible readings. The goal of each talk will be to show you how to apply the Bible to your everyday life. Passages will be chosen that seem especially far removed from our culture because we are convinced that ALL of the Bible still speaks to us today!

I’m super excited about our Bible reading journey together and I hope you are as well. Let me know if you have any questions. You can contact Cindy in the office or post a comment on the blog.