Women's Intuition - Bible

Below is a rough draft of one of the subjects in my intuition chapter of the book I am working on: "The Brilliance of Women, based on the 144 women in the bible who made brilliant decisions"

Maidens going out to draw water - I Samuel 9:6-14

Each afternoon the young girls in each Israelite town would get water for their families at the community well. This was a chore but also a social time for all the girls to connect with their friends and discuss the latest events in town.

During one of these trips, they were greeted by two men, one a tall, handsome and distinguished young man (the future king Saul), and the other appeared to be a family servant, who were looking for a lost donkey.

The men asked the girls if the prophet Samuel was in their town. “‘He is’, they answered. ‘He‘s ahead of you. Hurry now: he has just come to our town today, for the people have a sacrifice at the high place. As soon as you enter the town, you will find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. The people will not begin eating until he comes, because he must bless the sacrifice; afterwards, those who are invited will eat. Go up now; you should find him about this time’ (NIV)”.

Whenever I read this portion of scripture it always amazes me that the girls knew all the goings and comings of Samuel. My thoughts are that if the two men had run into a group of young boys, they would have had no clue where Samuel was. Even if he had run into a group of men they probably would not know all the things these girls noticed.

In a similar fashion whenever I am confused about something in a store I always ask a random woman in the aisles for advice. I remember asking a women’s advice on what to bring to a potluck I was going to, I still get compliments on the four hummus dip and flat breads I bring for appetizers. Another time I ran into a woman I knew at church and she recommended chips with a lime dill flavor, that her husband love’s, I am getting raves for that also.

When I am shopping for my house asking random women advice has had amazing results. A few years back I had my bedroom painted and bought new bedroom furniture; my comforter now did not match my bedroom makeover.

Going into “Bed Bath and Beyond”, paint can and a drawer from my dresser in tow. With the help of their sales clerk we picked out a cover that matched the can and the drawer. We put the can and drawer next to the Duvet cover and the clerk told me it was a perfect match. I thought it looked pretty good, but felt the clerk might be biased toward her store, I felt I needed a second opinion.

I eyed a woman, a few years older than me, walking down another aisle and I went over and asked if she could give a woman’s opinion. I got the feeling I had made her day as she followed me back to my display.

She informed me the colors I had picked out “were perfect…IF YOU WERE IN JUNIOR HIGH.” She told me a cover at Macy’s, across town, would look fabulous. She even told me to go down the escalator and head left toward the corner and it was a “Ralph Lauren Home” brand. It amazed me that she knew all this. She also said if you have a bed with side boards use a fitted sheet over the box spring.

I immediately went to Macy’s and purchased a comforter cover and two sets of sheets, of what she recommended. The next day I came back to buy a third set and the clerk told me that an Asian man had bought “absolutely everything” right after I left. She said the Asian guy was upset that “the blond guy” had beaten him out of some of the store’s stock.

It still amazes me that this random woman, just off my paint can and drawer front was able to know that bedding across town would be perfect. Whenever I have people over and they pick up their coats off my bed they always comment at how great everything looks.

With assistance from sisters, girlfriends, female friends and random women in the store aisles, they have made my home a showplace. I have had people ask, “Are you sure you have never been married” and others have made comments to the effect I decorate better than the guys that play for the other team. I always respond “I get a lot of help”.

Host Dude

I was at a BBQ last Sunday and a woman from my church told me one of the last two pictures will be used to recruit host families for the "Reaching Japan for Christ (RJC)" conference held at our church each spring.

The pictures are from George, one of the guests in my home. In Georges Blog http://public.fotki.com/georgekchow/2008/ he said:

"Feb 21, 2008
Tony and my host dude, Otto, for the RJC conference! He picked us up from the airport, hosted us for 3 nights, drove us to and from the conference and we had great fellowship time together. Thank you Otto! Please come visit us in Columbus anytime!"

All the other attendees were hosted by couples or families. With me being a single guy, Tony and George started calling me their "Host Dude".

I had a great time having them at my house. It was great to be with fired up young Christian men serving the Lord. Tony is a Neat-Nick and George is an extreme people person. I look forward to hearing what ministries they get involved in.

When I saw the above pictures my first reaction was "I am going to have to ask for heavier guys next year" standing next to them I felt heavy, I think the most either of them weighed was 130 Lbs. I felt a little like Shrek in the pictures.

Small World Situation:
The interpretor for this conference was a Japanese missionary's son, Roger Olsen (see first picture). Roger's dad Jim went to seminary with my dad. On my parents first date, a double date, Jim Olsen was one of the other young people(62 years ago).

Ethics

At The Tahoe Retreat the speaker, Al Erisman, talked on bringing your faith to work and Ethnics. He did an excellent job and I enjoyed getting to know him and his wife, Nancy; they were fun people.

During one of the sessions he handed out a list titled:

Ten Practices of Ethical Business Leaders

1. Each person matters. Give attention to each person as an individual.

2. Don't objectify people. Give each person room to grow and change.

3. Call each person by name, with respect.

4. Demonstrate commitment to good work and good rest.

5. Honor the families represented by those that work for you.

6. Provide a safe working environment.

7. Keep your promises.

8. Be fair and just in financial matters.

9. Be open and honest in all communication.

10. Avoid the temptation to take credit for the work of others.

He then told us that these were taken directly from the Ten Commandments.

Tahoe Christian Single's Event

Over the fourth of July I went to a Christian Singles event at Lake Tahoe with 92 others. I had a great time. I was in charge of small groups , the whitewater trip and hiking. It was a lot of work but it was a lot less work that what other leaders did.

During the Saturday night talent show I presented the material below:

"When I was growing up I was very competitive with my siblings. When I was nine I went to a Bible camp and at an alter call I observed my eight year old sister raising her hand …, so I also raised mine.

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The leader asked the two people who raised their hands to come forward, I felt very uncomfortable as I walked down the aisle. When we got to the front he used us as examples. Looking at my sister he said “some people come to Christ crying” and looking at me, “and some people come to Christ smiling”.

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Three year later at another camp, this time a family camp, at an alter call I was the one crying. My shirt could hardly contain the tears as I moved down the back row, past many other twelve year old boys, and down the long aisle to the front.

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There were approximately a thousand people in the sanctuary as I slowly came forward. When I got to the front a pastor greeted me and asked me to sit with him in the front row and discuss my decision.

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At the exact time I was making the biggest decision of my life, my fourteen year old sister, who was sitting about five rows back, decided to tell me something. She shouted out, loud enough so everyone could hear, “I knew you were faking it”.

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When summer ended I started Junior High School. It was a hard transition for me for I had always been the tallest kid in every one of my elementary school classes. Whenever they took school pictures I was always the token boy in the back row with all the tall girls.

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When I looked around, that first day of seventh grade, I was amazed that somehow I was just an average height kid. This started to bother me enough that I decided that it was something I should bring to the Lord.

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That evening I prayed I would be six feet tall when I woke up in the morning. At the time I had so much faith that God was going to say yes to my prayer request, I slept diagonally on my bed, so that during this miracle I wouldn’t injure myself”.

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Today I am 5' 11" "

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After the above I got a lot of praise for how well my presentation went. The biggest praise I got was from the speakers wife who asked if I could give a similar presentation this fall in Seattle.

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During the conference I came down with a nasty sore throat. I pushed through the weekend and made it home fine.

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I realized I hadn't taken any pictures while away (the raft picture above is a stock picture).

On Monday I slept 14 hours and had a 100 degree temperature. By Wednesday, yesterday, the fever was gone and my other symptoms are now abating.

Weekend With Three Nephews

Last Friday and Saturday, I had three of my nephews over, aged 9, 7 and 6. We had a great time.

I over planned the time. The first thing on our agenda was to go on a round trip five mile hike to Carbon Glacier along Carbon River in Mt Rainier National Park. It is about an hour drive from their parents house.

This is a hike I took many times as a kid and a few times as an adult. It has been over ten years since being up there.

I didn't check the conditions before leaving (I am a guy) so didn't realize that the spring rains and flooding of Carbon River had washed out the road and most of the former trail.

Instead we parked at the ranger station at the entrance to the park. We chose to hike to a waterfall 3.7 miles up the road. Thinking the trail is flat and follows mainly the road I thought "no problem". Little did I realize small bodies have a little trouble with this distance (7.4 miles).

Joel, the seven year old brought his own pack. He was well prepared for he had a lot in there. When I asked why he had a library book and a Dr Seuss book from home, he said "I brought them in case I got bored".

The start of Mt Rainier is out of this picture on the right. It is one of those situations that you are too close to see much of the Mountain anyway.

These makeshift log bridges, made by the Rangers, were our method of getting over Carbon River. We had to go over four of these to get to the base of the waterfall. Every winter these log bridges get washed away and they build new ones in the spring.

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The water running in this river is Glacier fed and looks like a mixture of 1/2 chocolate milk and 1/2 water. The water was probably 34 degrees. Walking across this bridges, with the cold from the river and the heat from the sun, gave you that feeling you get walking from the parking lot into an air conditioned mall on a hot summer day.

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One of the boys panicked on the third bridge so we headed back; we saw the water fall from a distance. Nathan, the nine year old, took my big pack and the other boy took the small pack and I carried a 53 lb boy across three bridges.
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Then we headed back. The younger two started whining about the distance. Five minutes each on Uncle Otto's back and we made it back to the car. Then off to McDonald's in Enumclaw WA.

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We then headed to, a closer to home, "drive to" waterfall, Snoqualmie Falls. They wanted to go down the trail to the base and Uncle Otto deferred for another time.

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We then headed home for Croquet and basketball. It was the first time they had played croquet and the rules seemed strange to them.

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We then shot baskets on a 6' 6'" hoop in my driveway. Then Apples to Apples before going to bed. Dale hasn't learned to read yet so he chose not to play. His brothers says he usually throws cards in blind and ends up winning.

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One of the boys was extra clean that evening. I think he drained the city water tank with this one shower.

Saturday we went Putt-Putt golfing next to a country club. The night before some prankster put dish soap in the decorative waterfall and stream running through the course. There was white bubble foam everywhere. A couple times we had to run back to the club house to get new balls for the foam covered anything close to the stream. I have lost golf balls before but never in foam.

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We had a territorial view of Lake Washington, Mercer Island and downtown Seattle as we hit golf balls on an 18 hole grass putt-putt greens. There were no wind mills at this Putt-Putt facility.

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I didn't know one of the boys was left handed until he attempted to use the back side of the putter. Back to the club house we went for a "lefty" club.

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They had trouble with "the farthest from the pin hits first" rule. They felt that whoever hit the best shot should go next. We finally got that rule under control.

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One of the boys was having the most trouble with this game, he even once pounded his putter into the ground in frustrations. I gave him a warning and he settled down. Like a typical golfer he finally hit a great shot on hole 15 and then said, "I am pretty good at this".

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Another trip to McDonald's and then off to the "Kung Fu Panda" Movie. At about three that afternoon, they were back to their parents and their sisters.

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Things I heard all weekend:

"It's my turn"

"Can we eat at McDonald's again?"

"Can I have this?"

"Can I wind up the Grandfather clock?"

"You look like our dad".

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One time comments:

"Can I pee in the shower?"

"Can we climb out your sun roof?"

"Why do you have the same last name as us?"

"You're too old to get married"

"Don't you have any bubble gum toothpaste? This adult toothpaste tastes terrible"

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This past week, I think my brother and sister-in-law are tired of hearing about their son's "Uncle Otto" weekend.

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Uncle Otto took a few days to rest up from this weekend.

In the World But Not of the World

Last weekend I decided to attend a secular singles event. I heard about it from a woman I met at a business networking luncheon. I passed it to a friend and we recruited others. The others couldn't make it so I went with my good friend Laurie.
It was a unique evening. As we were looking for parking all we saw were well dressed women and no men. When we got inside it was pretty close to the same, maybe 300 women and 50 to 60 guys.

I don't know if others of you get this feeling when you go into a Casino but those were the feelings I was getting as I was there that evening. Like this isn't where I belong

Fortunately the first two women I met were Christians: I was probably 15 to 25 years older than them. I talked with them for a long time and then Laurie joined us. One of these two gals said "it is like a boob fest around here".

I felt out of place as I talked with others; I talked with a few women I knew through my Christian circles. They wished they hadn't come. Other than them I didn't meet any other Christians.

What was hard was the MC for the evening was a 6" black woman, who used to be a man. He/she had a woman's figure and had a "potty mouth". This person had picked a stage name of "Poisoned Waters"; this name was so fitting.

It was difficult to listen to him/her. Most of the audience was very accepting of this person.

The celebrity portion of the evening were local sports figures, TV news anchors or weather people, actresses and business owners. They had collected donations from local businesses and the audience bid on a date with the celebrity along with the donated items.

The first Package went for $500 and the last package went for $5,200. There were a lot of sensual overtones to the auction. With the ratio of men and women being skewed, the women bid up the men dates way beyond reason.

One bright spot was a local TV weather woman who made it clear she was a Christian. The items she had collected were also amazing. I didn't plan on bidding so I was too slow on the draw with my number "901". I felt they prematurely closed bidding on her package. That segment was then over.

Then the evening got tacky. Three firemen volunteered to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, It became like a "Chip and Dale" routine. Then two women volunteers to be auctioned off for dates. The overtones to this portion got bad, I started getting ready to leave.

After attending this I decided I need to be more ambitious in my Christian circles and stay away from these secular events. I also plan on staying away from places that give me that "Casino Feeling"

I received a group of pictures from someone connected to this event. The picture below was the only one I felt was conservative enough to post. The others showed a lot of skin. It was held in empty space on the 35th floor of a Seattle downtown high rise.

What gives you that "Casino Feeling'?

Picking Partners, Part II

Here is more information about picking partners:

Multiple studies show that women prefer tall men. Most conclusions in these studies talk about height being connected to resource potential.

According to David Buss, University of Michigan, author of "The Evolution of Desire", he asked 10,00 people in 37 different cultures what they considered most important in choosing a mate. He found that that everyone is looking for a partner who offers the best shot at successfully producing offspring. Age of a woman and resources of a man, that he is willing to share with her and the offspring, play a large role in mate selection.

Quoted in the book "Blink" (2005)The average American male is 5' 9", 14.5 percent of all men are 6 feet or taller and 3.9 percent of adult men are 6'2" or taller.

Quoted from WIRED in the July 2008 Readers Digest, "In the world of online dating , a five-foot-eight-inch man has to make $146,000 more a year than a six-foot-tall man to get the same number of dates."

"Marrying Up" and "Marrying Down"
Historically, if you "married up," you married someone taller, older, richer, or better educated than yourself. Most women married up, by choice. Fittingly, most men preferred shorter, younger, poorer, or lesser-educated partners, so "married down." People generally now reject such class distinctions, They say they want to "marry sideways," or words to that effect. Current studies indicate the the "marry up" and "marry down" patterns still exist. It also shows that women, not men, do most of the matrimonial choosing.

According to John Money: John Hopkins University, by the time we are eight years old, our "lovemap" has already started, "the pattern for our ideal mate has already begun to float around in our brains"

In picking cars the saying goes, "women buy chassis and the men buy engines". When it come to women and men picking mates, women buy engines and the men buy chassis.

The more education a woman gets diminishes her chances of marriage. Studies show a highly educated woman , if typical, doesn't want to marry a not so educated man, if she can help it. So when looking over potential mates, she finds fewer eligible men to choose from.

"A man falls in love with his eyes, a woman through her ears". British journalist Woodrow Wyatt said it . His aged belief, not uncommon, holds that a man is attracted to a woman by what he sees in her appearance. but a woman is attracted to a man by what she hears - from him and others - about his personality and status.

My (Otto's) summary of "Getting the Love you Want" by Harville Hendrix, PhD. We are attracted to those that are similar to the parent we have the most difficulty with.

Similar to the above, a counselor friend told me, "95% of the time you will marry a person that is like your problem parent."

Sincerity: look for this in a mate; if the person doesn't have sincerity none of the rest means much.