Tag Archives: life

A Dying Love

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This is not what you might think it is when you read the title. It is not about love dying between two people; it is about the one who is the object of love dying. In this case it is about babies and their mothers. Here are two photos of mothers holding their sick infants, knowing that the end is near. Both babies died of unknown diseases, were the firstborn to both mothers and were baby boys. Notice the eye contact in each photo. When the pictures came my way, I immediately felt the poignancy and knew that some day I would have to write about them. Both mothers went on to give birth again; one had three more sons and two daughters and the other, three daughters. Neither mother ever forgot their experience of a dying love…and their love never died.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Interrupted

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On July 27, 2004 I watched the biography of Osama Bin Laden on television. One of the scenes showed the total carnage of the 2003 train bombings in Madrid, Spain. El Qaeda claimed responsibility. Osama Bin Laden was the leader of that terrorist organization.

The body of a woman was shown laying lifeless amid the rubble. She wore a dress in vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow. The stockings were sheer; the shoes high-heeled and red. My mind’s eye saw her getting dressed that fateful morning.

I watched her deftly applying her makeup; the lipstick bright red and glossy. She brushed her long black hair into a shining cascade before shrugging into her favorite dress. It was 100% cotton; cool and colorful. She gently drew the silk stockings over her slender legs, and was now stepping into three-inch, high-heeled shoes.

One last look in the mirror reflected a perfectly groomed young lady prepared for her day at the office. Gathering her handbag and keys, she closed the door behind her. The morning train was taking her to work,  but her destination was death.

Why would one human being do that to another?

Keeping Up Appearances

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How do I put this into words without sounding vain? One of the comments I hear the most is, “You don’t look your age…what’s your secret?” A technician in the Optometrist office once asked me if I drink special water, to which I answered, “Yes, living water.”

I don’t exercise on a regular basis and I eat junk food more than occasionally. When I was sixteen I could get into a bar without being carded. The legal age back then was twenty-one: not that I frequented bars or even drank alcohol. I smoked for forty-seven of my seventy-seven years and consequently fought a battle with lung cancer. I have two heart stents and am on meds for unstable angina, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. So what is my secret? I think I found it today when I came across a journal entry while pondering what my next post would be about.

Here is what I wrote after telling that technician about the living water. I must have come home and thought about that conversation because this is what I put in my journal.

Possible reasons for having a good appearance:

I drink the living water – (John 4:10)

I eat the bread of life – (John 6:35)

I wear the full armor of God – (Ephesians 6:11)

I rest in Jesus – (Matthew 11:28)

I breathe in the Holy Spirit – (John 20:22)

I gave up the worry habit – (Matthew 6:25) (This one really taught me a lot!)

I love to laugh – (Proverbs 17:22)

I believe these may be the reasons for my “keeping up appearances” but on the other hand, I also color my hair!

Does that make me vain? I hope not. But then, all is vanity as Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:2 KJV

The Bible on Birth

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To all my precious “unbelievers”, please don’t bale on me now.

As I mentioned in my upcoming book, “My Precious Life”, the Bible is one of my favorite books. I love what I learn from reading it, especially about my life and where I came from. There are some who can’t see the reasoning in this, but I for one, can see it clearly, especially when it is spelled out so beautifully. I have never doubted where I came from and because of that I’m sure of where I am going. Here then, is a smattering of the Bible on birth.

 

Psalm 22: 9-10 …yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

 

Isaiah 46: 3-4…I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you…

 

Psalm 71: 5,6…Lord, you have been my confidence since my youth. You brought me forth from my mother’s womb; from birth I have relied on you…(9) do not cast me away when I am old…(17) Since my youth oh God, you have taught me…(18) even when I am old and gray do not forsake me oh God…

 

Psalm 139: 13 &16…You knit me together in my mother’s womb. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

Jeremiah 1: 5…Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…

 

Job 1: 21 …Naked I came from my mother’s womb…

 

Job 10: 8…Your hands shaped me and made me…

 

Job 10: 12…You gave me life and showed me kindness…

 

1 John 3: 9…No one who is born of God will continue to sin because God’s seed remains in him…

 

Psalm 27: 10…My father and mother may abandon me, but the Lord will take care of me

 

Genesis 1: 28…Be fruitful and increase in number…9:7…be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it

 

Deuteronomy 28; 11…The Lord will grant you abundant prosperity – in the fruit of your womb…

 

Deuteronomy 28: 4…The fruit of your womb will be blessed…

Who could ask for anything more?

Tomorrow: The Bible on Prosperity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Still Small Voice

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To me, it is astounding what we hear when we open ourselves to listening for more than life’s day-to-day babble. “Faith comes by hearing” are not empty words.

Chapter Twenty-Two   –  The Still Small Voice

Not long after the first experience, which inspired my resignation from my job at the hospital, I received some spiritual literature in the mail that was very thought- provoking. To this day, I don’t know what that material was, but one passage in particular prompted me to contact a dear friend who was in a life-threatening situation at that precise time. She was experiencing an extremely toxemic pregnancy.

It was her mother who answered my call, and told me that my friend, Anna, was in hospital at that moment, in grave danger of losing her life, and also the baby she was giving birth to……

….and after the fire a still small voice….(1 Kings 20:12 KJV)

Tomorrow  –  The Gift of Faith  –  A Lesson in Believing