No, I'm not pregnant, but.....

So I said I'd talk about Joseph today. You ask, "Why the pregnant photo, then?" Well, as I have looked at the life of Joseph, it can be said that he was "pregnant" a LONG time and the delivery didn't come until 13 years later. I have many friends and family member that are pregnant right now. Of all of them, only one is doing really well with the pregnancy. The others just can't wait for the "reward" after the nine months of pain, sickness, and discomfort. Just imagine what the baby feels like at this point in the picture..... LET ME OUT! I like it. I see it as myself, struggling and desiring to get out of this world and into the world where I can REALLY breathe. Heaven.
Back to Joseph. (paraphrased from Genesis 39-41) He was adored by his father, the son of his beautiful bride Rachel. He was different than his brothers so his father honored him with a coat of many colors....this coat was designed to signify the father's blessing on him and the due inheritance he would receive after his father died. He was the second youngest of 11 brothers. Imagine the thoughts of his jealous brothers.... then Joseph began to have dreams. Not just any dreams....dreams that prophesied and foreshadowed his family members bowing down to him because he would be raised above them. Joseph, perhaps modeling a spirit of pride, decided to tell his brothers the dreams he had been having. No, they were not too impressed. In fact, when the brothers went into their fields, they plotted to kill him. They could not stand him that much!
Jacob, Joseph's father, asked if he could travel up north to check on his brothers and bring them some lunch (a 50 mile trek). Joseph, being the favorite, did not hesitate. He went to the field looking for his brothers only to find out that they had moved on further north for better cattle grazing. Joseph could have gone back home and reported that they had moved on which would have been fully acceptable by his father, but he didn't. He went the extra 20 miles north to feed his brothers lunch wearing his honored coat. His brothers saw him a ways off and commented, "Look, here comes the 'dreamer'"....Obviously this isn't the end of the story, but I must make this entry a series of entries.....BUT, there is a lesson in this small intro to Joseph's life....Joseph CHOSE to move on north to find his brothers out of a desire to honor his father and serve his brothers. He went the extra mile even though he must have known they hated him. Despite his initial weaknesses of perhaps pride and insensitivity, he desired to do the right thing.
How many times do we meet life putting in only what is necessary, but not going the extra mile or following through. Joseph's dreams were the first sign of a "pregnancy" on the way...little did Joseph know that the pregnancy would be a journey of great pain.....stay tuned. :)