{Genesis}

I just finished the book of Genesis 2 days ahead of schedule! (I wanted to build up some buffer for those inevitable days when things don't go as planned.)

Reading through all of Genesis in just 2 days gave me a fresh perspective on narratives I've heard many, many times. I did my best to not let the details slow me down, though I did make notes of what I want to study further once I've completed this.

I noticed themes I have never noticed before. For example: "weep" and "wept". I'm pretty sure every patriarch wept at least once. I found that interesting.

Here's the highlights of what I learned in Genesis:

*God cares for us. Deeply. Each and every one of us.

*God is gentle, firm, compassionate, patient (read: LONGsuffering), merciful, faithful, true, trustworthy.

*Don't take matters into your own hands. You can't speed up God's timing (though I've tried, as they did, *ahem*), nor do you get to decide or change God's plan (yep, I've tried that, too), and there are ugly consequences if you do (that could have been avoided).

*Also, we can't ultimately thwart God's plan (*comforting*).

*He knows us so well.

*He loves us anyway.

There's still so much I don't understand (and likely, never will; like The Flood...so many questions), but these narratives came alive to me in a whole new way.

Now on to Exodus...