Thirty Four...

So today was sunday. I woke up went for a short 3 mile run and went to church and then went out to lunch with some ladies after church, came home and decided I didn't want to sit around my apartment all day so I decided to go for a walk, I put in some headphones and went for a stroll, I went to starbucks and stopped for a while to sip on a delicious drink and sit in the air conditioning, then I continued on to Central Market, my first time in the store. It had delicious amounts of food to choose from, I decided on some sushi for dinner.... Amazing... I walked back and that was that I spent the rest of the evening chilling, eating dinner and watching some Melissa and Joey reruns.

What I ate... scone and fruit, coffee, chicken caesar wrap, passion tea lemonade from SB, and spicy tuna roll from Central Market as well as some bread in olive oil... delish!

What I read.... Genesis 34

I am really not a fan of this passage... I will admit. Instead of focusing on the whole chapter I want to look primarily at this part....

¹ Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. ² And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her. ³ His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman. ⁴ So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”

Where was Jacob when all of this was going down... Why was Dinah out on her own... Why was she seeking out the other daughters of the land, why not stay with her own people.... Well, here's my thoughts, I know I've gone through some trials and factors that changed my perspective. As a young woman I can greatly identify with Dinah's need to get out and socialize and since, there were not any other women her own age in her family she sought out friends from the other daughters of the land. As humans we seek companionship. That is totally understandable.. I've been there too. However, instead of being protected she was by herself and Shechem came grabbed her and raped her? Wow that sounds a lot like today's world does it now. Guy sees pretty girl, guy wants pretty girl, guy sleeps with girl... Was she consenting? Does it matter? He was older, she was a young girl perhaps still a minor? The thought that keeps coming back to me is why was she by herself? Why did no one go with her? As young women, we desire to get out of the home, to make a way for ourselves, but why was no one looking out for her. Who was there to tell her don't cross the street by yourself... If her brothers were out tending the flocks, where was she supposed to be... I guess I recently listened to the song... Daughters by John Mayer... watch it if you get a chance to check it out... It it pretty good... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZLbUIa7exE It kind of just explains that little girls are super impressionable, we want to be pretty, we desire attention and it amazing, that when as little girls we don't get attention, we go out in search of friends or we go out looking to get some attention. Now I know that some attention is considered good attention and sometimes it is considered bad... it all comes down to where it's coming from or where you go to get it... I think Dinah was in the wrong part of town... I am so thankful for my parents for being the amazing people that they are... Sure, we are not the Cleavers but we sure share a lot of love, joy and when I was growing up, sometimes I wanted them to stop paying such close attention to what I was doing... Love you both!!

God Bless!