think about this...

Pick up your Bible.

Flip to Luke 22:43-44.

Interesting, huh?

What you might be surprised to know is that this is not recorded in any of the other three gospels.

Even more, these two verses are not included in many of the ancient manuscripts. Your Bible probably even has a footnote stating this.

Regardless, let's focus on this phrase in verse 44b...

NIV - "...and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."

NASB - "...and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground."

NLT - "...his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood."

KJV - "...and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

NKJV & ESV - "...and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground."

CEV - "...his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood."

TEV & NCV - "His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
The Message - "Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face."

 Growing up, I've heard more than two or three sermons on how Jesus actually sweated blood while he prayed in the garden, complete with in depth scientific explanations on how you can be so distressed that your blood vessels can break and you can literally sweat blood.  Now, scientifically, that very well may be true! But, as we're translating through this passage with the Kenyan SL team, I had to ask if that's really what it's saying or not. And, quite frankly, I'm leaning towards not. In the Greek, it's in the form of a metaphor. But, the question is, what is the point of comparison??

 There are a few possibilities as to what this meant...

a) it was a rhetorical expression -- similar to 'tears of blood'
b) his sweat was falling like blood (the flow of blood vs. the drip of sweat)
c) his sweat was like the colour of blood

 If we were translating into a spoken language, this may not pose such a big issue. We would have to find out how that language uses metaphors. However, we actually have to know what it looks like.  So, with that in mind... how would you have me answer our Deaf artist team whose responsibility is to illustrate each Bible story in pictures that are exegetically sound?

for the record...

I'll take a squatty potty over a western toilet that has no seat any day. It's just. plain. easier.

"if you can't beat 'em... join 'em?"

Referring back to this post, I was on my way home from the office today, when one of the guards greeted me: "Ahhhh... Betty! Hallo!" with a hearty Kenyan handshake.

Hope... what a beautiful feeling

So... been kinda (really) stressed lately. And have been praying through how to change that, as well as talking with supervisors about boundaries ... both inside and outside of the office. Plus kinda having God drill into my cranium my responsibility before Him to rest. Not easy lessons, but He is intervening... and providing people to stand in the gap in little ways here and there. And... today... like a ray of sunlight in the midst of the fog: hope. Things can change. Praising Him for the little moments of victory. He is in the midst of each breath, each moment... but are my eyes open to see Him at work or blinded by the temporary, fleeting, albeit urgent needs always around me. I want to see Him. Not people. Not provision. Not progress. Jesus.

The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. (Exodus 14:14, NLT)

a few of my favorite things...

Artcaffe with friends!

this precocious 2-year-old

little indian girlies

being "bethany auntie"

my kitchen were i cook my stress away

volleyball!!!!!!

standing out from the crowd... ;) where's bethany?

Cameroon vs. Egypt

friends =)

...and precious sisters! =D

homeade pizza

dutch blitz at chai time

chillin'

the "no internet for 6 days" face

goofing off with my roomie to de-stress ;)

a delicious new twist on pancakes

Ok... you've gotta try this!! It was a spontaneous idea one morning, since my roommate can't have milk products. Next time you make pancakes, try substituting the milk with coconut milk, and substitute your white sugar with half powdered sugar and half brown sugar. Add a half teaspoon of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon, and voila! So, so, so yummy. I find canned coconut milk in the baking section -- works like a charm.

name-calling

Yesterday afternoon, as a colleague called me to his office to ask a question...
Kenyan colleague: "Be-the-ny... *pauses* Can I just call you 'Betty'?"
Me: "Absolutely not!"
Kenyan colleague: "Why not?"
Me: "Because practically nobody in my country under the age of 70 goes by 'Betty'. Plus, that's not even my name!"
Kenyan colleague: "Oh! Well we know you're young."
Indian colleague: "Yeah, and "Bethany" is long -- it's three syllables!"
Kenyan colleague: "And 'Betty' is only two."
Fortunately, they settled on using 'Beth' instead at my request, which I knew would turn to 'Bet' since the "th" is not a normal sound for Kenyans or Indians.

One thing's for sure around here, and it's that I never know what to expect next!

I had this strange feeling today...

...that my life will never really be the "typical normal" again. But then, was my life ever "typical normal" before? Living with the Deaf -- I recommend it. Living overseas -- I highly recommend it. Living with the Deaf overseas -- best. thing. ever.

"Hence"

Yesterday, as I was working through checking passages in the gospels with one of the Kenyan SL translators, I was trying to determine the subtle difference between two signs -- which looked and moved exactly the same, in the same location, in the same sentence order, but with a different handshape. One of them I knew meant "continue." So when I asked what the other one meant, I laughed heartily at what my Kenyan Deaf colleague fingerspelled back to me: "hence." =D And people ask me if sign languages are really dynamic enough to communicate complex ideas. ;-) Teheehee.