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Loved Ones,
Greeting and
blessing to all of you! I found myself searching for something to share with
you this month when my assistant Debbie brought me this short story that she
wrote. The sentiments in this story are so touching and can be deeply felt by
all of us who have lost precious loved ones. The moral is to forgive past
hurts that were not important in the big scheme of life and reach out with
love and appreciation for each other. I have shared with some of you recently
how God is teaching me to forgive quickly and completely all offenses from
others. The Lord is asking us to understand rather than seeking to be
understood. This is mostly for our own health, prosperity and wholeness in
life, whether or not others apologize to us or try to make amends at all, we
must release them. This was never clearer to me than when the Lord compelled
me to ask his help in forgiving than man who physically and sexually abused
me. As I went through the process and arrived at the end of it, I felt as if
an anvil had been lifted off of my chest. When ever feelings of anger and
bitterness try to rise up in my heart I cast them on the
altar of God and let him deal with them. Let’s look not to the past but
to a bright future. We must be thermostats not thermometers. Thermometers
measure the temperature in the atmosphere but thermostats change the
temperature! Let’s change the atmosphere around us to one of love, kindness
and forgiveness!
Isaiah 58:12
Hugs, Anita
The Last Days
It was the
Last Days; the journey
for Jesus was quickly coming to an end. Matthew 26: 2, “…and the son of man is
betrayed to be crucified.” He tried to tell them: Matthew 26: 12, 21, 28. He
foretold Peter’s denial Matthew 26:34. Then he prayed…but his disciples slept.
Have you ever been in such agony of soul that you needed someone to pray with
you? Matthew 26: 38: When he returned they were sleeping…Matthew 26:40-41. How
different things might have gone for Peter, even for Judas and all of the
disciples had they fully understood the catastrophic event about to take
place: the event that would forever alter their lives and even eternity.
I think they would have
prayed all night. They would have wanted to spend every minute they could with
Jesus; to ask him every question they could think of, to probe, to prepare, to
tell him how much they loved him.
Recently a business man
only 49 years old died suddenly in his place of business. His wife and
daughter stood by helpless as the paramedics worked feverishly to revive him.
Doubtless his wife and daughter clung to each other, hoping beyond hope
praying for a miracle, as the moments passed, so passed their hope.
They surly thought, “This cannot be happening to us!” His wife must have
recounted the moments of the day, they woke together, went to work together,
made plans for the day, the week…their lives. How could it all be snatched
away in a moment of time. No time to prepare, no chance to say, “I love you.”
No last moments of looking into each other’s eyes or to hear the last strains
of his voice. He had no chance to say goodbye to his daughter. This is the
daddy who rocked her to sleep, gave her piggy back rides and bounced her on
his knee. He read her books as she went to sleep and coached her little league
team. This is the father who must walk her down the aisle to the altar at her
wedding. This was the one who provided for her and protected her. What a heart
break…what a loss.
I had only left his
business about 40 minutes before this tragedy occurred. I am surmising drawing
from my own experience of losing loved ones unexpectedly. You must be
thinking, “how sad, and how morbid” but my purpose here is to simply
say; slow down and ask yourself today, “What or who is really important in my
life?” I have stood in a funeral home with regret for things I’ve said or
worse failed to say, a deed undone, and a promise un-kept, and so I ask you;
Easter is now passed;
Mother’s day is just ahead,
Perhaps your mother lives but
mine is dead.
A sister, a nephew, my Dad
and some Aunts,
No gifts I can give, no calls
can I take,
No cards to be sent or sweet
amends make.
My Mother and loved ones are
taken away.
Much like a song that my
Mother once sang,
“We have this moment to hold
in our hands,
To touch as it slips through
our fingers like sand,
Yesterday is gone and
tomorrow may never be mine,
But we have this moment
today!”
I pray that you will think
about the things I’ve shared with you in this article. Ask yourself, “is there
someone I need to make amends to? Is there someone I need to call just to say,
“I love you and I appreciate all the things that you are to me? “ Give your
loved ones a hug and sit around reminiscing about the good times you’ve
shared. Put hurts and anger behind you and remember your family because it is
love and only love that truly lasts. Read I Corinthians Chapter 13.
God’s
Love to You,
Debbie N
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