Fourth of July

INDEPENDENCE
DAY

In the “olden” days of the forties and fifties things were different than they are today. This is quite the understatement. People sang, “God bless America;” they called it, “land of the free;” they were, “proud to be an American,” because “at least they (knew) (they were) free.”  They knew that this country had been given certain inalienable rights by God. Among these rights were the gifts of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” God had blessed our nation with prosperity beyond anything known in the history of the world.

People would gather to celebrate the godsend of the place that they lived in on the Fourth of July. The crowds had a common understanding of and belief in the cornerstones that this country was anchored on. Such celebrations still occur today all across the country. They were all true for most of the people. For some they were not true. The sad thing is that the news media seems to joy in covering the anti-celebrations that occur here and there rather than the majority of what actually happens on July 4^th.

“Why is there so much feeling of hatred and dissatisfaction?” you might ask yourself. There are a lot of reasons.

• The historical mistreatment of some of the segments of American society.
•  While our country was formed of immigrant influx, which, in the early waves, comprised of people who felt blessed and joyful to come to this country to have better lives, this has not been the case in the more recent immigrant peoples.
•  The early immigrants did not just come for money. They came to have a better way of life. They embraced the culture and tried to assimilate.
•  More recent groups have come for the money. They seem bent on getting all they can get while giving back nothing. It also looks like they hate being here and gather into their little groups changing nothing about how they live or think. (Don’t get me wrong. I believe that people should hang onto their culture, but I also believe that they should bring some new thinking into it to make the culture even richer. That does not happen and in the end we witness hatred and a desire to cause harm to this country.)

Those of us, who love our country and are proud to be a citizen of the U.S.A., need to take a careful look at ourselves and our role in this problem. While we celebrated the great nation we were becoming we were also tramping on the freedoms of people in the way of our getting what we wanted. The treatment of the Native Americans is a huge blot on our national credit page. We also imported slaves to do our work for us. These people, kidnapped from their homes, were treated in unforgivable ways throughout the years, and are still not equal today. We excuse this treatment with the thought of how they seem to be living their lives on a plain that is below our happy mountaintop lives. Then there are the American poor who go to bed hungry and cannot find work. These problems are huge and need to be addressed in some way or another.

Instead of focusing on the problems of the oppressed Americans in our midst our country sends millions of dollars overseas to try to dam up foreign economies that are overflowing with what can be thought of as impossible problems. I believe it is the duty of the “haves” to help the “have-not’s,” but it should not be to the detriment of “have-not’s” in our own country. There needs to be a favorable median.

We are a nation of good hearted, loving people who have it on our hearts to help people less fortunate than ourselves. Many try to do whatever they can. Still I think that the problems have grown to such a proportion that they seem to be insurmountable. Do you believe that there seem to be no solutions? We believe that we have a God who can fix even the most impossible problems. When a problem seems unable to be solved we can truly know it is God at work when it is fixed. What is our role in the fixing?

IT IS FAITH AND PRAYER!

If my people, who are called by my name, 

will humble themselves and pray and seek my face 

and turn from their wicked ways, 
then I will hear from heaven, 

and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14

Let’s return to the time of…

Common valor that includes
Common Virtue!

Have a great Fourth of July
Work towards
 Liberty and Justice for all.

God Chooses for His Own Reasons

The next time you feel like GOD can't use YOU, remember some of the people God chose to use in the Bible. 

• Noah was a drunk, 
• Abraham was too old, 
• Isaac was a daydreamer, 
• Jacob was a liar, 
• Leah was ugly, 
• Joseph was abused, 
• Moses had a stuttering problem, 
• Gideon was afraid, 
• Samson had long hair and was a womanizer,
• David had an affair and was a murderer, 
• Elijah was suicidal,
• Isaiah preached naked, 
• Jonah ran from God,
• Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, 
• Jeremiah and Timothy were too young,  
• Peter denied Christ, 
• The Disciples fell asleep while Jesus asked them to watch and pray, 
• And Lazarus was dead!

No more excuses now!! God can use you to your full potential. Besides you aren't the message, you are just the messenger.     

Remember this...

When He uses someone for His purposes,

GOD DOES NOT CHOOSE ONE WHO IS PERFECT...

HE PERFECTS THE ONE HE CHOOSES.

For God is working in you,...
giving you the desire and the power to 

do what pleases Him.  

                                                 Philippians2:13 (NLT)

When God calls you will you be willing to do His will...to work the job He gives you? Just say, YES, and ask Him to help and guide you. Of course He will do just that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I received this in an email from my friend, Jane. In your travels, should you receive an email or find a writing that is edifying please send it to me and I may use it on this page.

Wishing you all a great day!
God bless from
Corinne

Colors!!

This is a lovely slide show 

of how color changes things!

Enjoy!

http://www.greatdanepro.com/Just%20Colors/index.htm>

Native American Creation Stories

It is very interesting to note that most indigenous people in the world have a creation story. This one is from the Sioux Nation. It also has the story of the great flood intertwined in it. This is long but interesting to read.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sioux Creation Story (ca. 1910)

There was a world before this world, but the people in it did not know how to behave themselves or how to act human. The Creating Power was not pleased with that earlier world. He said to himself: “I will make a new world.” He had the pipe bag and the chief pipe, which he put on the pipe rack that he had made in the sacred manner. He took four dry buffalo chips, placed three of them under the three sticks, and saved the fourth one to light the pipe.

The Creating Power said to himself:“l will sing three songs, which will bring a heavy rain. Then I’ll sing a fourth song and stamp four times on the earth, and the earth will crack wide open. Water will come out of the cracks and cover the land.” When he sang the first song, it started to rain. When he sang the second, it poured. When he sang the third, the rain-swollen rivers overflowed their beds. But when he sang the fourth song and stamped on the earth, it split open in many places like a shattered gourd, and water flowed from the cracks until it covered everything.

The Creating Power floated on the sacred pipe and on his huge pipe bag. He let himself be carried by waves and wind this way and that, drifting for a long time. At last the rain stopped, and by then all the people and animals had drowned. Only Kangi, the crow, survived, though it had no place to rest and was very tired. Flying above the pipe,“Tunkasllila, Grandfather, I must rest soon”; and three times the crow asked him to make a place for it to light.

The Creating Power thought: “It’s time to unwrap the pipe and open the pipe bag.” The wrapping and the bag contained all manner of animals and birds, from which he selected four animals known for their ability to stay under water for a long time. First he sang a song and took the loon out of the bag. He commanded the loon to dive and bring up a lump of mud. The loon did dive, but it brought up nothing. “I dived and dived but couldn’t reach bottom,” the loon said. “I almost died. The water is too deep.”

The Creating Power sang a second song and took the otter out of the bag. He ordered the otter to dive and bring up some mud. The sleek otter at once dived into the water, using its strong webbed feet to go down, down, down. It was submerged for a long time, but when it finally came to the surface, it brought nothing.

Taking the beaver out of the pipe’s wrapping, the Creating Power sang a third song. He commanded the beaver to go down deep below the water and bring some mud. The beaver thrust itself into the water, using its great flat tail to propel itself downward. It stayed under water longer than the others, but when it finally came up again, it too brought nothing.

At last the Creating Power sang the fourth song and took the turtle out of the bag. The turtle is very strong. Among our people it stands for long life and endurance and the power to survive. A turtle heart is great medicine, for it keeps on beating a long time after the turtle is dead. “You must bring the mud,” the Creating Power told the turtle. It dove into the water and stayed below so long that the other three animals shouted: “The turtle is dead; it will never come up again!”

All the time, the crow was flying around and begging for a place to light.

After what seemed to be eons, the turtle broke the surface of the water and paddled to the Creating Power. “I got to the bottom!” the turtle cried. “I brought some earth!” And sure enough, its feet and claws—even the space in the cracks on its sides between its upper and lower shell—were filled with mud.

Scooping mud from the turtle’s feet and sides, the Creating Power began to sing. He sang all the while that he shaped the mud in his hands and spread it on the water to make a spot of dry land for himself. When he had sung the fourth song, there was enough land for the Creating Power and for the crow.

“Come down and rest,” said the Creating Power to the crow, and the bird was glad to.

Then the Creating Power took from his bag two long wing feathers of the eagle. He waved them over his plot of ground and commanded it to spread until it covered everything. Soon all the water was replaced by earth. "Water without earth is not good," thought the Creating Power, "but land without water is not good either." Feeling pity for the land, he wept for the earth and the creatures he would put upon it, and his tears became oceans, streams and lakes. "That's better," he thought.

Out of his pipe bag the Creating Power took all kinds of animals, birds, plants and scattered them over the land. When he stamped on the earth, they all came alive.

From the earth the Creating Power formed the shapes of men and women. He used red earth and white earth, black earth and yellow earth, and made as many as he thought would do for a start. He stamped on the earth and the shapes came alive, each taking the color of the earth out of which it was made. The Creating Power gave all of them understanding and speech and told them what tribes they belonged to.

The Creating Power said to them: "The first world I made was bad; the creatures on it were bad. So I burned it up. The second world I made was bad too, so I drowned it. This is the third world I have made. Look: I have created a rainbow for you as a sign that there will be no more Great Flood. Whenever you see a rainbow, you will know that it has stopped raining."

The Creating Power continued: "Now, if you have learned how to behave like human beings and how to live in peace with each other and with the other living things—the two-legged, the four-legged, the man-legged, the fliers, the no-legs, the green plants of this universe—then all will be well. But if you make this world bad and ugly, then I will destroy this world too. It's up to you.”

The Creating Power gave the people the pipe. “Live by it,” he said. He named this land the Turtle Continent because it was there that the turtle came up with the mud out of which the third world was made.

“Someday there might be a fourth world,” the Creating Power thought. Then he rested. Hope you have enjoyed this story

NASA & THE BIBLE

Thought this was pretty amazing and interesting!

For all the scientists out there, and for all the students who have a hard time convincing these people regarding the truth of the Bible, here's something that shows God's awesome creation, and that He is still in control.

Did you know that the space program is busy proving that what has been called 'myth' in the Bible is true?

Mr. Harold Hill, President of the Curtis Engine Company in Baltimore, Maryland, and a consultant in the space program, relates the following development.

'I think one of the most amazing things that God has done for us today happened recently to our astronauts and space scientists at Green Belt, Maryland.

They were checking out where the positions of the sun, moon, and planets would be 100 years and 1,000 years from now. We have to know this so we won't send up a satellite and have it bump into something later on in its orbits.

We have to lay out the orbits in terms of the life of the satellite and where the planets will be so the whole thing will not bog down.

They ran the computer measurement back and forth over the centuries, and it came to a halt. The computer stopped and put up a red signal, which meant that there was something wrong with either the information fed into it or with the results as compared to the standards.

They called in the service department to check it out, and they said, 'What's wrong?' Well, they found there is a day missing in space in elapsed time.

They scratched their heads and tore their hair out. There was no answer.

Finally a Christian man on the team said, 'You know, one time I was in Sunday School, and they talked about the sun standing still.' While they didn't believe him, they didn't have an answer either, so they said, 'Show us, '

He got a Bible and went to the book of Joshua where they found a pretty ridiculous statement for any one with 'common sense.'

There they found the Lord saying to Joshua, 'Fear them not, I have delivered them into thy hand; there shall not a man of them stand before Thee.'

Joshua was concerned because he was surrounded by the enemy! And if darkness fell, they would overpower them. So Joshua asked the Lord to make the sun stand still! That's right.... 'The sun stood still and the moon stayed and lasted not to go down about a whole day!' (Joshua 10:12-13)

The astronauts and scientists said, there is the missing day! They checked the computers going back into the time it was written and found it was close but not close enough. The elapsed time that was missing back in Joshua's day was 23 hours and 20 minutes.. Not a whole day.

They read the Bible, and there it was about [approximately] a day. These little words in the Bible are important, but they were still in trouble because if you cannot account for 40 minutes, you'll still be in trouble 1000 years from now.

Forty minutes had to be found because it can be multiplied many times over in orbits. As the Christian employee thought about it, he remembered somewhere in the Bible where it said the sun went BACKWARDS.

The scientists told him he was out of his mind, but they got out the Book and read these words in 2 Kings that told of the following story: Hezekiah, on his death bed, was visited by the prophet Isaiah who told him that he was not going to die. Hezekiah asked for a sign as proof. Isaiah said 'Do you want the sun to go ahead 10 degrees?'

Hezekiah said, 'It is nothing for the sun to go ahead 10 degrees, but let the shadow return backward 10 degrees.' Isaiah spoke to the Lord, and the Lord brought the shadow ten degrees BACKWARD! Ten degrees is exactly 40 minutes!'

Twenty-three hours and 20 minutes in Joshua, plus 40 minutes in Second Kings make the missing day in the universe! Isn't it amazing?

References: Joshua 10:8, 12-13 and 2 Kings 20:9-11.

If God could do this then; how much more can he do for us today, if we only believe in His word.

ALL I HAVE AND ALL THAT I AM IS BY THE GRACE OF GOD!

Reflections on Father's Day and Fatherhood

Today is Father's Day. My dad passed away in 1994. I have many happy memories of him. Some are not as happy. I would say in a zero to ten rating he would receive an eight in my books. I have memories of lots of fun and activities when I was a child. My father was mostly a happy person. He worked hard to support me and my mother. People liked him, and I remember thanking God for the parents that I had. I always felt loved and the center of their lives. 

I cannot say that my father was perfect...but then what person is perfect? Only God is perfect. We are expected to do our best and to grow and learn from what live gives us. The main thing I remember about my dad that was a challenge to me was his habit of sarcasm. Some synonyms for sarcasm are irony, mockery, cynicism, mockery, disdain, and scorn. When I think of sarcasm I feel that all of the synonyms are included in that word. My dad thought he was being funny, but sometimes he was not funny.

The trouble with sarcasm is that most of the time it has some truth in it. That can be painful to hear when it is spoken in the way that sarcasm is spoken. It can be hurtful and cause harm that remains with a person for a long time...even a lifetime. My dad had a good heart, and I believe he had no idea of the reality of the effect his "jokes" sometimes had on me and also on others. All of this said I still look on my dad as my hero and someone who always had a goal of doing the best for me and my mother.

Overall I have memories to be treasured. I had a happy childhood.

Fast forward to my family. I have three adult children and three grandchildren. When my oldest son thinks or speaks of my Dad it is not happy memories. He remembers the sarcasm and his wounds from it. And when he finally tried to deal with it with his father and me his final assessment was not favorable. He did not like it that we left him and his siblings with a person who he felt to be abusive. I can see his point, but it is heartbreaking to me. I feel like my husband and I failed our children in this regard. My son carries damage in adulthood from this. I also have a hard time adjusting to the idea that it is not acceptable to my son to talk about him since my evaluation of my Dad is not his. I feel robbed in a way to have this constraint on me even though I know that my son's claims have reality in them.

Still I think of Dad and remember the happy times. They override the times that were not so great. My son is locked into the paradigm that his grandfather was not who he thought he should be.In church today Pastor gave a message about fathers. His thought was that some fathers were all they needed to be to raise happy and healthy future adults. Some were not bad but there were cracks in the perfection mirror. Some fell short completely and provided no role model for their children. They were not the protector that a parent is supposed to be. They were abusive to their children. They just were not Godly fathers.

The final kind of Father...the One who could give us all that we need, protects us, and loves us so much that He considers us His children. That FATHER is God. We can fully rely on Him. He brings us a divine influence that is irreplaceable. It is well to remember that when Jesus was giving us a template of how to pray, He spoke a prayer that began with "Our Father." (See Matt 6:9) In this we God identified Himself as our Father. That means that in spite of whatever influences of our Dads, we have a perfect Father in God.

In Psalms 44:1-3 we read what God our Father has done for us through the ages...the gifts of our Heavenly Father...

    All our lives.
Our fathers told us the stories
    their fathers told them,
How single-handedly you weeded out the godless
    from the fields and planted us,
How you sent those people packing
    but gave us a fresh start.
We didn’t fight for this land;
    we didn’t work for it—it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it,
    delighting as you gave it.

                                         The Message

The following is a link to our Father's Day devotional by Jan Andersen. I think you will find it interesting...
             http://paintgodintoyourday.blogspot.com/2013/06/heavenly-father.html 

Hi God

This is a keeper, and do we ever need His blessings right now.

This will just take a couple of seconds.....

He's with you for a life time.

Hi God, it's me. We're getting older and things are getting bad here. Energy, healthcare and food costs are too high, and the future doesn't look good. 

I know some have taken you out of our schools, government, veteran's funerals, and even Christmas.  

But God I'm asking you to come back and re-bless America .  We really need you! As you know, there are more of us who want you than those who don't!

 

Thank You God, I Love you.

Some of the "Places" that we stumble into.

Good Sunday morning all! 

I am sharing something that I think is a cool...though not spiritual...list of the places we may go. It is interesting and kind of reminds me of the Dr Seuss book. In our lives we travel many roads including ones that come from our own psyche. What we need to do is to cry our "CANCEL, CANCEL" to stop the meandering down such convoluted paths.

Here is the list...

We All Go to Many of These Places From Time to Time I have been many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to friends, family and work. I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore. I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often.I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm. Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older. One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!  I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what country I was in. It's an age thing. Life is too short for negative drama and petty things. So laugh a lot, love truly, and forgive quickly! Heavenly Father, When I stray from the path you have put me on, I ask you to put something in my life that helps me to get a grip and that will call me back to Your "yellow brick road." Keep me from the snares that cause me to become distracted from my beliefs and the purposes that you have given me. May I never be caught walking around in circles that take me farther and father from where I should and want to be. Thank you, Lord!

This is an amazing video of the things that people can achieve. It does
not mention God but you and I know it is through God that such
achievements are made. God is there directing their talent and their
spirits.

Please click on this link to watch this amazing video and pray for the
people of this landfill village...especially the children.

The video is entitled...

The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=UJrSUHK9Luw

Ten Commandments of Common Wisdom

Someone has written these beautiful words. It's a must read. Try to understand the deep meaning of the words. They are like the ten commandments of common sense to follow in life all the time. They are ten guidelines that are filled with wisdom.

           

1] Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but it is a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout the journey.

2] So why is a Car's WINDSHIELD so large & the Rear View Mirror so small? Because our PAST is not as important as our FUTURE. So, Look Ahead and Move on.

3] Friendship is like a BOOK. It takes a few minutes to burn, but it takes years to write.

4] All things in life are temporary. If going well, enjoy it, they will not last forever. If going wrong, don't worry, they can't last long either.

5] Old Friends are Gold! New Friends are Diamond! If you get a Diamond, don't forget the Gold! Because to hold a Diamond, you always need a Base of Gold!

6] Often when we lose hope and think this is the end, GOD smiles from above and says, "Relax, dear heart, it's just a bend, not the end!

7] When GOD solves your problems, you have faith in HIS abilities; when GOD doesn't solve your problems HE has faith in your abilities.                

8] A blind person asked God: "Can there be anything worse than losing eye sight?" He replied: "Yes, losing your vision!"                

9] When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them, and sometimes, when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10] WORRYING does not take away tomorrow's TROUBLES, it takes away today's PEACE.

Shared by Corinne

We All Need Somebody

Here is a quote that I have always loved...

“To the whole world you might be just one person, 

but to one person you might just be the whole world.

 Pablo Casals

This is so well stated!

                                        Please take a look at this video from YouTube.
                                         It will give you a good illustration of my topic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK9Xj7eY0UU

Once a turtle is on its back

 it is almost impossible for it 

to roll itself back over...to right itself. 
It needs help.

Very often we find ourselves in this same position.

Only God can set us upright again,
and we know we can depend on Him do do this.  
Sometimes there is a miraculous move of God t
hat we know can only be His blessing. 
Other times He uses different means 
to  save us from being upside down in our lives. 

Sometimes God uses you or me to do His work to aid a person to stand when their life has made standing nearly impossible.

Casting Crowns has song with lyrics to address this thought that we are God's hands and feet on earth to further His purposes. The lyrics go like this...

If We Are The Body

by Casting Crowns

It's crowded in worship today

As she slips in trying to fade into the faces

The girl's teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know

Farther than they know

But if we are the body

Why aren't His arms reaching?

Why aren't His hands healing?

Why aren't His words teaching?

And if we are the body

Why aren't His feet going?

Why is His love not showing them there is a way?

There is a way?

God is the major One that we need to "lean on." Still, when we see someone figuratively on their back and feel that God is calling us to partner with Him, we need to step up to the plate and be His instrument.

God bless...
Corinne

The Roaring Wind and the Fire

The Roaring Wind and the Fire 

I am an old woman now, but I will never forget what happened in the Upper Room so many years ago. I was but a girl who had just moved into womanhood. My father owned this house. He had added a second floor. It was one huge room that he rented to people who needed a place to meet together. Father had me attend to the people who rented the Upper Room. I served them food that Mother had prepared, and I kept the room clean. I just did what Father and Mother told me to do.

I had come up into the room frequently while the people I am going to tell you about were using it. As I worked I watched the people gathered there and listened to what they were saying. 

These people were always praying, talking, and waiting. They talked about and prayed to their dead friend, Jesus. I thought that praying to a dead person was bizarre. I knew that Jesus was that character who had ridden into Jerusalem on a donkey. I thought that was absurd. Entering Jerusalem on a donkey of all things! On top of it, all the people were shouting welcome and waving palm branches to Him. How peculiar was that?

He was actually a criminal teaching things that the Rabbis did not approve of. It was said that they feared that the people would no longer support the temple. He was crucified for His bad behavior. These are the things that I thought at first. Later I heard His followers say He had risen from the dead. They talked about how He had been with them for forty days. Then they said He had ascended into heaven. The followers had rented the Upper Room because they were going to stay there as they were waiting for something. Jesus had told them to wait.

At first I thought it was all nonsense, but, as I listened to their stories and memories, I felt something stirring in my heart. I soon realized that what I was feeling were the first stirrings of my faith in Jesus. It was not long before I totally admitted to myself that I believed Jesus was who they said He was, the Son of God.

At that time, I also noticed that all the people in the room were fearful. They were afraid that those who had hated Jesus and crucified Him would come looking for His followers. The only thing that gave them some hope was His promise to them before He died. He had told them, “… If you love me, obey my commandments.  And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you.  He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.” 

          

I could see that the apostles and disciples did not totally understand, but because He had told them they believed. I also believed because I had listened to the stories. They waited, and I also waited.

One day we heard a loud wind above us and around us. I ran to the corner, and, while crouching down, I watched. The wind blew but nothing was blown around. Then, to my amazement, I saw what looked like candle flames above the heads of all the apostles and disciples. The flames were later called Tongues of Fire. Peter was the first one to speak. He was no longer afraid. He told everyone not to fear that this was the Holy Spirit whom Jesus had promised.

There was a loud noise down in the street. Masses of people were in Jerusalem from many countries to celebrate Passover in the temple. They had run to find out why they heard such a loud wind. They were shouting questions and comments in the languages that they spoke. Peter and the disciples went down into the street, and I followed them. They talked to the crowd about Jesus, and how he had come to offer then salvation. I was really surprised to hear them speaking.. They each were speaking in languages that I did not understand, and the pilgrims seemed to understand what they were saying. I was standing by the door watching when a young woman came up to me. She started asking me questions. She was not speaking Hebrew. Still, I could understand her, and I could answer her in her native tongue. Because I had believed, I also was blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit. I knew it was a miracle. About three thousand people were converted and baptized that day in Jerusalem.

That was many years ago. Ever since that day I traveled with his followers, and brought the good news of the salvation to people in the way we were told. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
  

Written by

Corinne Mustafa                                                               
May, 2013

Two Seconds

We all believe in the eternity that we will enter when our life is finished and we go home. We think about the unspeakable joys that we will receive when we are finally with God in heaven. We rejoice in knowing that we have salvation if we believe in Jesus Christ.  The Bible promises that if we go to the Father through Christ he will accept us.

That is all good.

However when someone we love dies it is harder to be happy about his death. Even though we know where the person is we still cry and grieve. We cry for ourselves and the open empty space in our world that occurs when a loved one dies. Our world changes when that happens. For a mother who thought her children would live beyond her lifetime, the loss of a child puts an indelible pall of sadness over her life that continues long after she has come back to living her life and has worked out a way to go on in spite of her loss.

My friend, Luana, sent me this poem she had written. It is very poignant...but beautiful.

Two Seconds

Sleep, sleep

If only to sleep

Awake me slowly, Lord

Anticipating the first two seconds

Two seconds of consciousness

The first two seconds of my day

The only relief

My time of normalcy

The two seconds it takes me

The time it takes me to remember

I now remember

I remember that Kevin is dead

I look forward to tomorrow morning's two seconds

Written by
Luana Layton

I was very touched by her poem and I wrote to Luana 

to ask about Kevin and if I could publish her poem in Women's Focus Ministries. 

Here is what she wrote...

"Kevin died in January, 1991 in a traffic accident on Pacheco Pass.
He was living with us at the time. Kevin was 23 years old.

You may publish it.
It always helps when you know  that someone else
went through a trauma and had a strange experience because of it."   
-----Luana

Shared by
Corinne Mustafa

   

God Puzzles

 I found this graphic in one of  my picture searches...and loved it!

What God does with our disparate personal puzzles is truly amazing. All we have to do is put ourselves into His care and be willing to be rearranged. Enjoy the graphic, and please think about what is taught in it.

God bless
Corinne