Bible Verse Sunday #44 & My Birthday

Today's verse on this very special day for me is Isaiah 44:8:

"Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”

The ESV Study Bible has this to say on the verse:

"you are my witnesses. God's people exist to be living proof of his all-sufficiency (cf. note on 43:10-13). Rock. See Deut. 32:4, 15, 18, 30, 31; Isa. 8:14; 17:10."

Today, the sermon in the main service was about how it is the duty of leaders in the church to raise up mature believers, and how we are to preach the message of Christ with clarity. A quote by desert missionary Mildred Cable used by the pastor was, "The greatest crime of the desert is to know where water is and ...not tell others." In the High School service, the youth pastor continued in our study of 1 Samuel, highlighting how Saul's jealousy of David led to great strife, paranoia, lies, backstabbing, and all sorts of nasty things. To combat jealousy, so said the pastor, we should instead celebrate others' successes and happiness, and be ourselves happy for them.

Today was my 18th birthday. In celebration of this momentous occasion, there was a lunch, a party, gifts, and pie. My (dear old) dad took me out to lunch at one of my favorite burger joints, which coincidentally shares the name of one of my favorite superheroes; Red Robin (blog post forthcoming). I had the Red Robin Gourmet Cheeseburger or whatever it was called, with my steak fries in barbeque sauce, which I tried for essentially the first time, and a "monster" Cookie Magic milkshake. It was very tasty and filling, and I felt so, so full and stuffed after I was done eating. My dad had a Red Taverns Burger and a beer. Then we did a little shopping at Fry's Electronics before heading home (quick stop at the shop, Safeway to get some stuff for the party and to go to the bank in between those two things). There, we prepared for the guests to arrive. As it turned out, there were eighteen people total. Those in attendance included Mrs. Hilliard and her daughter Sarah, my paternal grandparents, my maternal grandmother, my Aunt Amy, Uncle Steve, my brother Carl, his wife Maria, and their four children. Counting our family of five, that made eighteen. We talked, we laughed, we pigged out on tacos and pie, but most of all, we had a good time. The pie of was strawberry/rhubarb, by my request, and we also had apple crisp and vanilla ice cream. It was all very, very nice.

Besides being able to vote and drive, I now have one other privilege; being able to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Several years ago, my mom told me that I could read that series of dubious repute "when you turn eighteen." So, now that day has come, and will I read it? No, not now. I have seriously less interest in it than when the movie came out. I enjoyed the movie, but watching it now would probably betray a different opinion. But whatever. I can read it if I want to, but maybe not for a while longer (Ironic, I know).