Advent Adventure 2015 Dec. 2 assignment

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Well, I know there's a difference between the two lists; that information is built in to the assignment. I'm not sure what it is, though. The author of the second list,
Paul, had a lot of troubles to cope with. Most of the items on both lists are similar. Deprivation, disagreements about belief, facing enemies, suffering from someone else's attitudes are listed in both places.

I watched an episode of the series Band of Brothers last night. Seeing the hardship and deprivation those men faced during their time in Bascogne left me amazed at how many actually survived.No winter clothes, no aid station, not even medical supplies. So, as cut off as they were, they survived.

Differences about belief are another matter entirely. I once attended a church that was good at first, but started going in a direction that didn't fit my family. The longer we stayed, the harder it became to keep going. We stopped attending and the fallout was hard to cope with. Why didn't we tell everyone what our reasons were? Everyone feels betrayed. You have to tell us.

My husband and I never did say, but with that pastor you either agreed with him or you were wrong. I'm tempted to go into my laundry list of why we left, but that's not what I'm supposed to be writing about. Was that adversity? Oh, yeah. But it taught me what I didn't want in a church, and gave me a real appreciation for later churches I attended. It also showed me adversity as differences in belief and people's attitudes.

I think the difference in these lists is Paul's attitude at the end. He says he wants to boast about being weak. He says in his writing that he's foolish, but this takes the cake! Who wants that? I'd rather think I survived on my own strength, not shout out how weak I am. If I withstood all this grief, I'd like the credit, thanks. Why does Paul do this, anyway? He could quit and let somebody else worry about these people. He's crazy.

But I suppose if he quit, he'd be saying he can't handle it. Maybe if Paul admits to being weak, it helps. He doesn't have to be superhuman, and if he says he's weak, then maybe it makes room for God to step in and say " I got this. Chillax."
Paul must have realized at some point that he had to do this because he couldn't manage alone. Besides, if God's really behind all this, then Paul can worry less, y'know? Because it's not all up to him. If Paul started thinking he could handle everything, he'd be elbowing God out if the picture...then he'd fall on his face. So, it's better to say "I'm weak" and get the help he needed. Anyway, that's my take.