Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Thanksgiving Eve

Thanks for being my friend!
Little do we know how much our friends mean to us until they aren't there anymore. This picture spoke to me so much about how even those whom you would think are enemies, can and do become friends.

Thanksgiving in America is the celebration of our Freedom to express our faith, our political views, our speech, our relationships... yet with such freedom comes also responsibility. Thanksgiving is also about remembering to be grateful for those around you who continually give into your life and yet go unnoticed, like being grateful for those who continue to manage the electric plant on holidays, so you can have your lights on during your Thanksgiving meal; thankful for those men and women who protect our streets, those medical personnel who work every holiday to keep our hospitals staffed. Thankful for the men and women of the armed forces who fight to maintain our freedom from terror. Thankful for close friends, new friends, so-so friends... thankful for friends at all. I suppose there are those who want no friends and are thankful that they have none. Thankful for those who have maintained the water plant, so we can have fresh water. Thankful for those who have processed our foods, so we can even have a turkey on our table that we didn't have to go out and kill, pluck its' feathers and then roast on a spit. Thankful for the people who have made the appliances that cook and store our foods. Thankful for the individuals who've made the containers that contain our drinks, whether soft, or hard. Thankful for the musicians who entertain us and the actors who make us laugh. Thankful for the college football games that keep our husbands entertained (well, some of us women too). Thankful for movies after dinner. Thankful to those who process our fuels, so we can have gasoline to put in our cars to drive to Thanksgiving dinner. Thankful for companions, and children, and a roof over my head, and cars to drive, sheets to sleep in, a bed to sleep on, blankets to keep me warm, clothes for my body, shoes for my feet... we really ARE BLESSED!!!

How much more should we be thankful? I am so thankful for good coffee, clean water, toothpaste, toilet paper, a shower to bathe in, my dogs and my cats (probably should start calling this an animal farm), for my church, for my pastors, for my lifelong friends, for even my enemies who teach me more about what love is about. I'm thankful that I have a lovely house, ample eating utensils, soap, shampoo, garbage bags, and even cleaners to clean up the house.

I am most thankful for my children. They are forever teaching me more about who I am and who I am not. They are forever reminding me who my source is, Father God. They are forever reminding me that I could not live without them. They are my dreams ... my joy... and I am so thankful for the lessons in life they teach me. I think it's called the doctoral college of motherhood.

So what are you thankful for? As Pastor Dony McGuire, says, "what could you not do without?" Is there someone you need to call tomorrow to say thank you for bringing you into this world? Is there someone you need to call tomorrow to say I am sorry for not saying thank you earlier?

The best part of all is the fact that I can freely express my gratitude right here, right now at blogger.com.... and I am very mindful of the people at blogger who keep it up and going. Thank you Blogger!

Happy Thanksgiving to the World... may you learn the art of gratitude.

with love,
RamyB

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

My Beagle - Huey Luis, From Dogs to Adam

In mid-September, my little Beagle, Huey Luis was dog-napped. I just haven't gotten over it. He was a dog that we rescued and fostered. Then we found his owner and were ready to let him go, but the owner didn't want him, as their little sister was afraid of him. His name at that time was just Huey, but the boy who gave him to me
was a teenager named Luis. So, my Beagle became Huey Luis.

He had such a special way about him. I think he had to have been a puppy, when we first got him. He always slept on my bed right at my feet and wanted to protect me from anyone and everyone. He even got along with my Laboradors, Sophie and Gracie, and my roommate's Blue Heeler, Gizmo. But when I rescued a cat, Huey Luis' temperament changed. I had to laugh though cause he really was the most important dog in my life. My kitten, Jeremiah, that I res-cued along with four other kittens could never take his place. Jeremiah was the only kitten that survived, so we kept him. Then, the Labs treed a black cat that someone had abandoned in the woods and she became our female cat, named Peace. Huey was really put out of place when she came into the house. He did not like her from the minute she came in, and was bound and determined to keep her in my room. He was the king of the house, he thought. But Gracie was alpha dog and every once in a while, whenever Huey Luis got too big for his britches, Gracie would pin him to the floor and put him in his place.

Still, Huey Luis was my lap dog. He was the one who comforted me. He sang with me, stayed with me everywhere I was. He was my little joy. Of course I didn't really care for his high pitched bark, but it always let me know that someone was in my driveway that didn't belong there. I so miss my little guy. I wish that whoever stole him would return him. My Huey never left the yard. He was faithful to stay home. He always hung around back with Gizmo when we had to leave for a short time, and most of the time, we made sure that he was inside before we left. But that day, the kids said he got out just before we left. Ugh... life just hasn't been the same. I really do miss him. He was MY dog, my special friend. Every once in awhile, I will be driving through town and think that I hear his bark, and I'll stop, only to realize that it's someone else's dog. They just disappear and I never see them again.

There are people in a town nearby who do covert things... unkind things... and I just hope that they didn't nab my Huey. All this sap for an animal... well yes, they become our companions when humans aren't available.

I am a Creationist, admittedly. I do not believe man came from an ape. My main reason... if man came from apes, why are apes still around? Go figure... Also, I believe that there is evolution WITHIN a species, but not between species and there is clearly a demarcation between humankind and the animal kingdom. I believe the THEORY of Evolution is flawed.

Anyway, God created man higher than the animals in the first place. He made man in God's image. I really believe though that when God was creating the animals and bringing them before Adam... he put in the animal the ability to relate to man in a certain way. Yet, it was God who saw that Adam needed a soulmate... one who was his equal in every way... a female counterpart. So God created that for Adam, yet the animals remained and I believe that Adam had a very special relationship with the animals because they were presented first to Adam.

I can only imagine the look on Adam's face when Eve showed up. I had a picture just now of a naked Adam sitting on a rock with his hand on his knee looking at all the animals that Father God was fashioning and bringing to Adam to see if they would help Adam feel less lonely. And I can see Adam shaking his head saying... "Dad, they just don't have what I need." And Father, seeing Adam's true heart need, caused him to fall asleep and took the rib from Adam's side, fashioning Eve from Adam's flesh, so she would be of his kind, his DNA, his marrow. Then the next morning as Adam wakes up by the stream, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he sees this figure sitting beside him and runs half way across the Garden before he realizes that this is someone he wants to see.

Peering around the tree, Adam gazes upon this amazingly beautiful soulmate, and feels the pain in his side... the place where he was pierced, where his bride came from and looking again at the beautiful, ah inspiring woman in front of him, he had to sit down lest he faint with pleasure. He then looks over at Father God who is resting on the rock and states very clearly, "Dad, uhm, you've hit the nail on the head this time... oh baby... have you hit the nail on the head." Laughing Father blesses them and sends them off to enjoy the Garden cautioning them not to eat of the Tree of Life nor the Tree of Good/Evil.

It doesn't take much does it... to see that Father God had a plan from the very beginning. In that picture of Adam's side being pierced to bring forth his bride, there is a type and shadow of the Christ, when his side was pierced as he paid the price for the entire sin of the whole world, to buy back the relationship to Father that Adam and Eve lost in their disobedience in that Garden. Jesus Christ is the 2nd Adam, the pure Adam, the innocent one who came to redeem the world. The world is His bride. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by being pierced in his hands and his feet and in his side brings forth the blood that redeems and atones permanently once and for all the sins of the world. He brings forth His Bride, the church. The church then is anyone who accepts this gift that Jesus Christ has paid the price for their sin and believes on His name and is called according to His purposes. All you have to do is receive it. That is it. It is a free gift. It doesn't have to be earned. It is FREE. He died that we might live and have all of the bad things that we've ever done wiped off of our slates forever, and ever, and ever.

In God, there is no time. He is endless. He knows your beginning from the end. Father God loved you so much that He sent His Son to take your place... His innocent Son died a cruel, humiliating, naked death to purchase back relationship. Why? Because of love. Father God loves you and I so very much. He wants us to come to Him. In the same way that we seek companionship from humans or animals, He seeks us. He built it into us... we need relationship. He is there regardless, even when the world has walked out. He is the Creator, and we are His creation... the entire world... there is not one culture that is left out. He loves us all, every tongue, every color, every nation. For we are all His children. He loves us all and He desires that none perish. He does not want us fighting one another, or hating one another. He wants us to love one another deeply from the heart.

Will you seek Him? Will you receive the love that He has to offer? All you have to do is call out His name... if you receive Him and believe in Him after reading this post, I want you to write to me at ramyalthea@yahoo.com. Wherever you are in the world... there isn't one place that escapes Father's gaze. He sees you. He knows what you are doing. He loves you just the same. Come to Him. He is waiting and listening... with wide open arms.

With all my love...
Ramy B

Friday, November 03, 2006

Sleeping Wonders...



Is it a wonder that this year has whooshed so quickly by? As I look at my sleeping teens, I am reminded that in a few short years they too will be leaving the nest in search of brighter horizons. They seem so dependent on me now, but it won't be long and they will have more important things to do. Classes to attend, papers to write, boyfriends and girlfriends to hang out with... bills to pay.

I ponder the moments of these sleeping wonders... for they truly are wonders. They are destined for greatness. Each one of our children is destined for greatness if we believe in them. If we believe in their creative abilities, their wonderful minds, their funny attributes, their thought processes, their ability to touch humanity.

They are wonderful creations... yes they bug the heck out of me at times, yes they challenge my authority every single day, but they are learning to be tomorrow's leaders. They are forming their idea of who they are. They are learning what frames their existence. It is my job to remind them that they have great potential, great abilities, and great ideas. It is my job to remind them that they are loved beyond measure... and it is still their job to clean up their room (hehehe).

I can't wait to see what they become... my beautiful sleeping wonders... ok, it's time to wake them up. Time for another day of leadership school... it's called life.

RamyB