The day NY shook!

I was at lunch with my hubby and one of the youth from our group. They were ordering the food and I was holding us a table. It was the lunch rush and seats were few and far between. My husband had just come back to the table when I argued with him about the price he paid for water. And as soon as he went to get the food. I began to feel a trembling under my feet and my eye sight started shaking. I thought I had lost my mind. I couldn't believe. It couldn't be an earthquake this is New York! We don't get earthquakes!  And then I looked around the restaurant and I saw the fear in eyes of all those around me. A table full of Japanese students got up and walked out leaving their food on the table. And I got more scared. I stood up and began to step toward my husband was standing. I began to think, "Is this going to get worse? Is this the end of the world?" So, I prayed. I asked God to forgive my stupidity for arguing over the price of water! Then I asked for the forgiveness of my sins. The funny thing is that all this took place in just 2 minutes of my life! Two minutes. The Bible says, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come." (Mark 13:32-33 NIV) and there is another bible verse So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. (Matthew 24:43-44 NIV). These bible verses started running through my mind. And I thought is Jesus coming back today? Is this what we have preparing for? All of a sudden that made me more scared! I'm a Christian, and yet I was freaking out just as bad as everyone else. I know God. He's a good God and He loves me but the idea of this being it filled me with trepidation. My story isn't over. I refuse to be scared and so I need to increase my faith. And how am I going to this? "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ." (Romans 10:17 NLT)

I have chosen to spend time with God and in His Word. When the end comes I will be ready. And I pray you will be too. 

A powerful little Book

Have you ever gone to a hotel on vacation and opened the drawer next to bed only to find a little book? It could have been red, burgundy, or blue but at the bottom right hand corner of this book was a small logo of a circle with an urn and a flame. And just above that in gold lettering were one of the most recognizable words: HOLY BIBLE.
Living in a country where the HOLY BIBLE is so easily accessible I sometimes take it granted how powerful that book is. Recently, I had the honor of attending a dinner held by The Gideon's International. What a powerful night! I heard so many testimonies about what God has done using the Bible. How many lives have been changed by one man standing on a corner giving out a Bible. So amazing.
The guest speaker, Craig Warner, Executive Director in Australia, said, "The Bible is a unique book because every single time it's read the author is present." I thought that was so interesting! Since God is everywhere:

"7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the dawn,  If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,10 Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,  And the light around me will be night,” 12 Even the darkness is not dark to You,  And the night is as bright as the day.   Darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb.14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Wonderful are Your works,    And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You,  When I was made in secret,   And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me,  When as yet there was not one of them." Psalm 139:7-16 (NAS)


It is so amazing to think that every time we open the Bible God is there. I love the Chronicles of Narnia book series and if C.S. Lewis was in the room every time I read his books it would be amazing. I could ask him about what he was thinking when he wrote something or even ask him to elaborate on a subject. Well, since God is always around then when I read the Bible if I have questions I should be able to ask Him. He is the author after all and it would be nice to get answers to my questions. Just like God is there when we read our Bibles, He is also there every time we walk right by it and leave it untouched. There is something so great about seeing a Bible that is tattered and worn. It means that that person invested time is getting to know it's author. The next time you're on vacation and open the drawer with the Gideon Bible give it a read and know that it's author is right there beside you.

CRAZY SUMMER

This Summer has been happy, fun, crazy, busy, restful, restless, and so many more adjectives. I went on vacation at the end of June til the beginning of July. I went to Louisiana for a wedding. I met some real Cajuns and fell in love with there hearts. I also was able to see my first alligator that wasn't in a zoo. It was up close and personal.
I even got to see the TABASCO factory on Avery, Island.

 Everything was so cool. And then there was the wedding. It was the first wedding I had every gone to where the pastor preached just to the couple and two things stuck out about his sermon: 1. Don't dig up bones. (That means don't bring up the past during an argument.) 2. Adam (from the Bible in the account of creation) was given the ability to name all the creatures that God had created "¹⁹ So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. ²⁰ He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him." Genesis 2:19-20.   
This pastor said that God gave Adam the responsibility to name the animals and what he named them that's what they recognized as being. A husband has the responsibility of naming his wife. He can call her a "battle ax" or "nag" and she will live up to that. Or he can name her "beautiful, beloved, honorable, strong" and she can live up to that. 
Then the pastor said that woman was made from the rib of Adam.
" ²¹ So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs and closed up the opening. ²² Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. ²³ “At last!” the man exclaimed.   “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’” ²⁴ This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one." Genesis 2:21-24


This was important because God took Adam's Rib to make Eve because she would be able to influence her husband more than anyone else. And she could do it for good or evil. It's important for a wife to know that God made her special for her husband and respect him as such. 


And then I went to Florida to see my in-laws. And we had so much fun! God used my husband and I in ministry. It was so much fun to see our friends and family. 


Once we got back to Long Island it was back to work. It's been this way from the moment we touched down in NYC. But now I am in a pensive mood. What do I do know? Just work like a frantic person until next vacation? Things must be different because I need to enjoy life. Vacation is a couple of weeks a year. But life is the rest of it. I am praying hard for direction.