After finally getting home around 9:00 this evening, the girls and I settled down to watch the recorded elimination of several more American Idol contestants and the bringing back of a few for a wild card night.  (By the way, if you have never watched a recorded American Idol in triple speed it is totally worth the effort…. the dancing is way fun to watch) As the contestants were narrowed down we were disappointed to see that our favorite female of the evening was going home… “Oh, nuggets”……As we continued watching we were biting our nails in hopes that our personal favorites would have one more chance.   Suddenly, they announced “Tatiana.”  What??? … but we let it go…  It came down to the last open spot… and Simon announced the one final person to have one more American Idol chance… “Anoop”… What???? No Nick/Norman???  Oh no, he didn’t just pick Anoop over Nick… How frustrating… how boring Idol will be now.  I’ve got my top three favorites but I wanted Nick to be in that top three… So now that my fun favorite is not in the mix I will have to root on my top three and my absolute favorite, Danny, and enjoy the rest while I can…..I guess the reality of Idol is not everyone in America can be pleased… we can’t always get what we want..

You know,  that is the reality of life in general….

In continuing the story of Balaam (Numbers 23-25),I have wondered several times if the author used this little story to bring some humor into the picture… First, there was the talking donkey  and now we are at the place where Balak is hoping for the curse on Israel… You can probably imagine the scene…

Balak, the king/prince, is eager to hear that Balaam has cursed the Israelites.  He waits in anticipation for Balaam to come back down from the hillside and say his evil deed is done. But Balaam has news of his own… I picture the conversation like this…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him not to curse these people…

Balak, possibly thinking that Balaam had misunderstood, sent him to another place… same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and they will probably kill you guys”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him these people were going to harm us!

So Balak sends Balaam to another place in hopes of a different story.. same routine of altars and sacrifices.. Then Balaam goes back to Balak…

“Attention everyone!  Balaam has come back down from the hillside to inform us that the Israelites will not harm us because he has cursed them and we are safe.”  The crowd cheers.  “Balaam, would you like to tell the crowd exactly what kind of a curse you placed on these Israelites?”

“Ummm,” Balaam stammers, ” God told me not to because he likes them and he curses you instead”

What??? Oh no, he didn’t just say that God told him to bless them and curse us!

Balak had enough and sent Balaam on his way.
Seems that if Balak would have listened to what God had to say and not worked so hard to change God’s mind he could have been blessed.

Numbers 24:9

⁹ Like a lion they crouch and lie down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse them?
“May those who bless you be blessed
and those who curse you be cursed!”

Wonder how many great things I’ve missed out on because I was too stubborn to slow down and listen?