Alone

We enter this world alone and we exit it alone.

I do not like being alone. Is that the fear I feel when I go somewhere? The fear of aloneness even within the midst of a crowd of people?

Maybe we are not alone. Maybe we always have God with us. Maybe as we enter the world God is with us—guiding us and protecting us. Maybe as we exit the world God is with us comforting us ready to welcome us home.

Did Dad have God with him when he left this life? Was he scared? Did he know there were loved ones –his brothers and his wife there? Did he think of his daughters at all in his last moments? His daughters who impotently sat 8000 miles away without the means to know what he was going through. Were his last breaths full of struggling thoughts, peaceful ones or devoid of thoughts at all.

Did Mom have God with her as she slipped out of this life? Were there any thoughts surrounding her as she lay in the coma? Did she know that she was going to die as she lay in the hospital bed unable to put her thoughts and words together?

Where are my parents now? Are they together? Are they singing with the angels along with the chorus filled with other loved ones? Or, ban the thought, are one or both gone for eternity.

These are the thoughts that rumble through my mind and dwell as I spend time alone.

Signs of Spring

The Taj Mahal

My daughter Vicki has been in India this month ministering to college students. While in India, she is required to wear traditional Indian dress. The group took a trip to visit the Taj Mahal.

Looking up the Taj Mahal, I learned that it was completed about 1652. It is a Mausoleum built to honor the emperor's wife who died while giving birth to her 14th child. There are aproximately 2 -4 million visitors to the Taj Mahal annually. The Taj Mahal is considered a fine example of Mughal architecture which includes elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Muslim architecture.

Look how big the Taj Mahal is --those are people standing on its porch!

Who ever thought I would celebrate Purim?

I've been meeting the last 6 weeks with some fantastic women for an evening Bible Study. We are going through the study Esther done by Beth Moore of Living Proof Ministries. (www.lproof.org or their blog at http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/ )

Purim is a Jewish holiday that is fanciful and partylike. It reminds me of Brazil's carnval and Greece's Apokries. Purim derives from the Old testament story of Esther and celebrates the reversal of destiny for the Jews. In Israel, people dress up and party to celebrate the uplifting of oppression during the time of Esther. They publicly read the book of Esther, cheering when her name is read and booing when the antagonist Haman is mentioned.

This year Purim fell on March 9, around the 3rd or 4th week of our Bible Study. We brought treats, and took onthe party-like atmosphere of Purim as we discussed the week's lesson in Esther. Our table brought leftover Mardi Gras beads and we each had tiaras that lit up.

We had fun :)

Don't ever let someone tell you that Bible Study is boring!