Patricia's Principles for Living

We sit laughingly around the huge mound of presents under the tree in the big living at my parent’s home on High Street in Philadelphia. The doorbell rings. In bounds the ones for whom we’re waiting, my sister and her husband and children from Virginia. . Here we all are, all of us together. My own husband, sons and I have flown in from the West Coast to spend the holidays on the East Coast. Tons of presents together with squiggly grandchildren and aunts, uncles and grandparents make for a memorable scene. For me it’s a golden moment in time. All is right in the world. Christmas tree lights twinkle. Someone takes up the task to start calling names. Will we ever get through all of these presents? As the presents are picked up for distribution they seem to uncover another dozen hiding underneath. Well, there are eight brothers and sisters who have produced 12 grandchildren at this point. Such delight from squealing boys and girls and agreeing oohs and aahs from parents aunts and uncles

Something is Out of Order in Christ Geneaology. Wasn't the line of Christ supposed to pass through the oldest sons? Shouldn't Christ's ancestors be as pure as the driven snow? This just doesn't seem right. Why is Jacob here? He was not the oldest He schemed to get the birthright Why is Judah here? He is not the oldest. His brother oldest brother Reuben, sinned against his father, but he is not even the second one. He is the 4th child. his father was a polygamist too. Why is Pharez here? He was technically not the oldest He had a sketchy beginning, a mother who pretended to be a prostitute to get pregnant in that family line. Why is Boaz here? Boaz's mother was a citizen of Jericho a former counter espionage agent and a former prostitute. He doesn’t have the right background What’s Solomon doing here? He was not the oldest nor was he the child of David's first wife. His father,David, murdered his mother’s, Bathsheba's, first husband Urija