So who is Teman?

I was reading the book of Obadiah today when I came to verse 9 of chapter 1.

"Then your mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that everyone from the mountains of Esau may be cut off from slaughter."

And I realized I had no idea who/what Teman was! So I looked it up and thought I would share my findings for anyone else who does not know who Teman is. It's crazy how much information is in the Bible! Although Teman is not a *major* topic in the Bible, we as Christians should always be striving to expand our knowledge of this holy Book. I didn't actually find much about Teman, but here's what I've got:

According to Genesis 36:11, Teman was a son of Eliphaz who was the firstborn son of Esau (Gen. 36:15). Edom was once governed by chiefs and kings (simultaneously? I dunno.) One chief was Teman (Gen. 36:15, 31, 42).


Jeremiah 49:7 says,
"Against Edom. Thus says the LORD of hosts:

'Is wisdom no more in Teman?
Has counsel perished from the prudent?
Has their wisdom vanished?'"

So it would seem that the Temanites were known for their wisdom. From Obadiah 1:9, the verse in question, it seems Teman was also known for their mighty men.


Jeremiah 49:20:
"Therefore hear the counsel of the LORD that He has taken against Edom, And His purposes that He has proposed against the inhabitants of Teman: Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out; Surely He shall make their dwelling places desolate with them."

So here we find that the Temanites were not a holy people, seeing as the Lord said they would be destroyed. (See also Amos 1:12, Ezekial 25:13, and Obadiah 1:9)


One more place the name of Teman is found is Habakkuk 3:3:

"God came from Teman,
The Holy One from Mount Paran.

His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of His praise."

Habakkuk says this as he is praying.

So that's about all I found on Teman. Got anything else?

Game nights and sword fighting, argg!

This past weekend was a really great one! I really love when I get to spend time with my Christian family! Since we started Lads to Leaders (http://www.lads-to-leaders.org/) three years ago, the teenage girls here have been meeting and going through the GIFTS book by Hannah Colley (Girls in Fellowship and Teen Study: Can be found here... http://colleybooks.westhuntsville.org/PublishedWorks/works.html). It is a really great book for any teenage Christian girl, or Christian woman of any age, really, to read! She addresses real issues that need to be discussed and presents ways in which to combat them! I would recommend it to anyone!

Anyways, we met on Friday night and had a really great discussion about personal evangelism. Until I went to Guyana two years ago, I had never witnessed a personal Bible study. Last year, I led one of my own and I really enjoyed it! I'm glad I know how to conduct one now; it's really useful. At first, teaching someone the Gospel one on one can be really intimidating. You feel like you won't do a good enough job or you don't know what to say or your mind just says oh, someone else will do it. The truth is that one just has to study and practice! If one never tries, one will never know how they would do at it!

After we were finished with GIFTS, we started playing charades and catch phrase, two games I could play forever! We ended up staying till after 1 AM!! It was so much fun! People always seem to be surprised at how much fun Christians can have without going out and partying, drinking, etc. But guess what? We get to remember all the fun we had when we wake up the next day, and there aren't consequences!

The only problem with staying up so late was that I had to get up at 5 to drive to Georgia for a fencing tournament, but that's nothing 5 our energy couldn't fix! Out of 11 bouts, I won 5. There were some really good fencers there, but I still think I fenced pretty well for the level where I am right now. :) I had a great time.



The tournament was at Georgia Southern in their recreation center, and it was amazing! It was 2 stories and had all these exercise machines and treadmills and ellipticals. There were like 7 basketball courts, a few racquetball courts, and even a rock wall! But my favorite part was the track upstairs going around a few of the basketball courts! I couldn't resist running on it after I was done fencing! I love to run, and it was way better than treadmill running! Does anyone know if Freed has one? :P

Divine Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake!

I have a recipe to share! It's really amazing and very easy, too. My new favorite thing! So here it is. I hope you'll try it (if you like coffee, that is)!!


Mocha Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

• 1 1/2 cups creme-filled chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs (I used chocolate teddy grahams)
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons instant coffee (I put 3)
• 1 tablespoon warm water
• 3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 3 large eggs
• 3 (1 oz.) squares semi-sweet chocolate, melted
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup mini-chocolate chips
• Whipped topping

1. HEAT oven to 300ºF. Combine cookie crumbs and butter. Press firmly into bottom of 9-inch springform pan. (I just used a pie pan)
2. DISSOLVE instant coffee crystals in warm water. Beat cream cheese until fluffy in large bowl. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs, chocolate, coffee and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in 3/4 cup chocolate chips. Pour into prepared pan.
3. BAKE 1 hour 5 minutes or until center is set. Cool. Chill. Just before serving, remove side of springform pan. Garnish with whipped topping and remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips.

Enjoy!

I have five fingers!

So I got the most amazing shoes today. They're called Vibram fivefingers, and they're unlike anything you've ever worn before! I don't even want to take them off! They're for running and climbing and walking and yoga and everything else! They can even be water shoes! It feels like I am barefoot. I love them!

Ho ho ho!!

It's Christmas Eve! I just love Christmas, even if it can't be white. All the presents are wrapped and under the tree. It looks so pretty! I think it's funny how we (as a society) build up to Christmas for like three months, starting before even Halloween, and then it's just one day...and it's gone. That's why I like to think of the whole month of December as Christmas instead of just the one day. :D

I usually know almost everything that I'm going to open on Christmas morning before...well, Christmas morning, but not this year! Yay! I hate when there are no surprises! That ruins all the fun, right? So this year, I'm a bit more excited than usual partly because of the added suspense, and also because I'm cooking the entire Christmas dinner! I love cooking! What are we having?

Well, first of all, each of the 4 people in my family gets their own cornish hen all to themselves! We could've gotten some giant turkey or something, but everything is cuter when it's mini-sized! Then we're going to have rice and mushroom stuffing to go with those. There's a cherry cheesecake cooling at this very moment, and there will also be green bean casserole.

We don't always get to spend Christmas with our big family like a lot of people do because they live so far away! This time, they were all getting together in Texas. It takes 2 full days to drive to Texas (yes, drive). Also, we couldn't really afford that right now, especially with redoing the house as I talked about yesterday. I have been away for Christmas for the past 2 years, so it's nice to be home this year anyway. :)

Have a wonderful day today, tomorrow, and every day after that! Happy Holidays!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

If only. *sigh* If you can believe it, I actually had to turn the *air conditioning* in my car on yesterday! December 22, even in Charleston, should not be that warm! My, oh my...

We're making progress on the redecorating going on in my house since it's break and all. I think we've decided on a color scheme consisting of blue, green, and brown for the living room. My dad and I sanded the floor some more today. We're finally getting our wood floors back! Personally, I like them much better than carpet.

The other day I was watching tv (this isn't completely off topic, though it sounds like it) and the picture just wasn't that clear, and I couldn't figure out why. When it got turned off I could see a nice, fine coat of sawdust on it. It was lovely. :P

We've never done this before, so I'm just finding out how ridiculously expensive decorating is! It's horrible! We bought this one pillow for our couch, just to base the colors for paint and such off of it, and it was 13 dollars! ONE pillow. Yeah. The price for all the fixtures for one large window (actually 2 windows beside each other) can get bank-breakingly high as well. Let's see...

2 window scarves: $20
1 curtain rod: &20
2 sets of decent blinds: $40
2 sets of the actual curtains: $30

One cozy room: PRICELESS ;)

So when it's almost 100 bucks to dress the windows in one room of our house, plus it's Christmas, plus we're painting walls, adding decorations, redoing floors, getting a rug, AND doing a couple other rooms, too...yeah, it can get stifling. Slowly but surely...hopefully it will be done before I leave for college so I can see it all! I'm excited for it to be done!

So...

So I've been thinking...I should really get back in to this blogging thing, huh?

I guess I have to start somewhere, so here's the icebreaker (and not a very original one :P):

It's almost Christmas! I love Christmas for several reasons:

I have an excuse to give people random (well actually, not so random...) gifts, and I get to see the happy looks on their faces that I caused!

I have an excuse to receive afore mentioned gifts, and be made happy myself. :D

It is cold! And I love the cold. I love getting all bundled up in a cute coat or two with a hat, scarf, and pair of gloves. I love hot drinks (mostly coffee). Hot weather makes me want to die. It's like...pancakes without syrup! :O I guess that's one reason I should try really hard to follow the Lord and go to Heaven. Because if I don't like the hot weather here, well...yeah.

I get out of school. This is a big factor of the joy I find in winter. Speaking of, My mom and I went to Barry's Jewelers today and ordered my class ring! How exciting!

There are LOTS of parties. Just last weekend, we had our annual ladies cookie swap at church! I've been exercising extra hard to burn them off. ;) There's also the sock party, where I get to come home with a new pair of ugly socks every year! Of course, we might hold that one off till March since this time of year is so busy and all.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and Santa leaves fantastic things under the tree for you!