New International Version: For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
New American Standard Bible: For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
The Message: I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.
Amplified Bible: For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
New Living Translation: For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
King James Version: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
English Standard Version: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Contemporary English Version: I will bless you with a future filled with hope--a future of success, not of suffering.
New King James Version: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
New Century Version: I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.
21st Century King James Version: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
American Standard Version: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith Jehovah,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter
end.
Young's Literal Translation: For I have known the thoughts that I am thinking towards you -- an affirmation of Jehovah; thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give to you posterity and hope.
Do you notice something? Only one of the translations, the NIV, uses the word prosper. The most common word used is peace or welfare. That's because the original word in Hebrew is Shalom, a word we are already familiar with. I learned from the very enlightening site Does God Plan For You to Prosper? that shalom is normally translated “peace”, but it has a much wider range of meanings than our word “peace”. The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament uses these words to describe it: “Completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment. . . . Unimpaired relationships with others and with God.”
Prosper? That seems so unimportant in the big picture compared to being complete and whole and in an unimpaired relationship with God, don't you think?
Hmmm. Still feeling confused and praying for some mental clarity. But thankful for this ray of light today : )
much to my surprise, several people have mentioned that they've noticed it's been awhile since i've updated my blog! so i thought i would look back over what i did in the month of february and blog it :D
FPU
aka Financial Peace University. Denny and I started this great 13-week program with our small group through Kensington. We plan to get our finances in order be debt-free as soon as possible!
Nathan
Back in October, my cat Nathan was diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure (kidney failure). On brink of death, we rushed him to the Emergency Clinic and literally saved his life. We were told this condition could not be cured, but that we could extend his life by, perhaps, a few months by giving him injections and also administering subcutaneous fluids twice daily. We were willing to do this and he spent a precarious few days in the hospital.
We finally brought the poor little thing home, sick and unsteady, barely able to walk or eat. We start his treatments, sad knowing that we would lose him in several short months. We took him back to vet weekly to check his blood counts and weight.
In between those visits though, something unexpected started to happen. What was this? This was the "old" Nathan again. I mentioned that to the vet. "Yes", she said. "But it won't last for long. They'll get a little burst but then they'll start going downhill again and that will be it." "Oh.", I said.
But. He was like, a crazy-cat! Picking fights with the dog, running all over the house, knocking things off the tables, lol!! He was hilarious! The next few times I took him to the vet, he had gained all his weight back (she said cats with CRF never do that) and his numbers were all back up to normal! And this was after she was having me reduce Nathan's shots to only 2x a month and stop giving him the sub-q fluids completely! Finally, this last visit she told me that she's never seen a case like this and believes either he was misdiagnosed in the first place or ... it's a miracle.
Well ... I do work at a church and we were praying for him : )
Arising Images
I took an amazing photograph course through my friend Prem at Arising Images. His is some of my favorite work to look at and I consider myself very blessed to have learned from him! One of the things he always does with his class is take a field trip to the Detroit Zoo to practice the techniques we've learned in class. Here are some of my pictures:
Speaking of Facebook, that's pretty much what I blame for my lack of diligence in keeping up with my blog. I have been sucked into the world of lifestreaming on Facebook. It's really fun to keep up with friends and family that way. If you have a Facebook, please add me as a friend (search Pam Talluto) If you don't have a Facebook, get one! Then add me as a friend!
Superbowl Sunday
Nick and Sara came over for football and food :D
Denny and I saw Switchfoot in concert tonight (along with Robert Randolph, Jars of Clay and Third Day.)
.
Maybe redemption has stories to tell.
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell.
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go? Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here.
One of the perks Denny has working at Comerica Bank is frequent tickets to Detroit Tiger games at Comerica Park :) Yesterday, he got two last minute tickets in the Champions Club, which is actually nine suites put together to form a private lounge.
There's a complimentary buffet dinner ... Denny started with some sushi; while I tried a bit of everything including Caesar salad, pork tenderloins with rice, rigatoni and green beans in lemon sauce. A couple of innings later though, we couldn't resist going back for a couple of Ballpark franks. And then there was the visit to the dessert table in about the eighth inning.
There's also alot of Tiger memorabilia in the Club, including the 1968 and 1984 World Series trophies.
Here's the 1968 World Series trophy on the left ---> you can see my reflection in the glass.
In 1968, Denny and I were in sixth grade and although we went to different elementary schools, we both remember our teachers bringing in little black and white television sets so our class could watch the gamesl :)
On the right is a picture that Denny took with his phone so he could send it to Marc (wish you were here!)
Me and Denny watching the game with the Detroit skyline reflecting in the window behind us ....
---------------> the view from our seats
In the end, the Tigers lost to the Twins 3-2.
But it's not whether you win or lose, right? It's how much you enjoy the game :)
And we did enjoy the game ....
And the post-game fireworks too!
* Fireworks photo credit: Bobby Alcott -- because my fireworks pics pretty much sucked.
That's what time I went to bed this morning. It was because of him. The one on the left.
Michael. It's definitely all good though :) It was awesome to spend that time with him. Michael and Marc were best friends from like first grade through high school. He was another one of those boys that was at my house allll the time. I love this kid. I mean .. I let this kid have my credit card number in high school and he would order stuff online and just pay me back later. Seriously.
So ... this picture? It's from April 2000. On the 8th Grade Trip to Washington DC. I was one of the mom's that went. I loved it.
Michael. He was even partially the subject of my 'favorite Hall of Fame layout', The More Things Change The More They Remain The Same' when I was interviewed by Erin Lincoln for Creating Keepsakes' article, Hall of Fame: Where Are They Now? That layout was about how Marc and Mike played basketball together from second grade through their senior year in high school.
---- > Fast forward to Bryce's wedding a couple of weeks ago. We sit down in the church .. St. John Lutheran, the church our family attended for 15 years before we started going to to Kensington. Michael's family went there too, and so did Bryce's. And all of our kids went to school there through 8th grade. So anyway, Bryce and Holly got married there. We go in and sit down. We look up toward the alter, and who is the best man? Michael...!
It was pretty hectic later that night at the reception. I talked to Mike a little and I did manage to get a picture of the three of them. After I took it, Mike said, "I want a copy of that."
A week or so later, I put a copy of the picture in the mail to him. With a note: "Hey Mike, it was great seeing you at the wedding. Stop over any time! Love you, Mrs. T"
Sara ran into him at the drugstore at around midnight last night. He said, "Are your parents still up?" When she said, "yeah", he said "cool, I'm comin' over". Denny didn't stay up long and Nick and Sara finally went to bed too. But me and Mike? We were up until 4:45 this morning.
He took me seriously when I said stop over anytime. And I'm so glad he did :)
-------------------------------- > It's a standing invitation Mike .. love you!
My monthly outing with the girls. This month was just a simple dinner. Great food. Great conversation. Great company. Love you girls :)
But not what you're thinking. After having my first kidney stone last January, I knew what was coming when I felt the familiar pain again last week. To make a long story short, I left work early Tuesday afternoon, went to the emergency room Wednesday morning where they admitted me and performed surgery that night. I stayed in the hospital until Friday. But the stone is still with me ... I'm having the second surgery tomorrow to remove it; then things should get back to normal!
In the meantime, the in-laws had lots of fun tripping over each other to see who could come up with the best joke about me. Including various Bob Dylan renditions. Like this one.
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