Anyone Listening???

Well this week has been full of heartache for so many people...for the nation of Haiti, for people around the world that lost loved ones and friends in the earthquake. Myself included, as I deal with the loss of my friends the Stephensons. Today I came across this video, and as I watched it, and listened to the lyrics...it's so powerful! It's called "Anyone Listening: A Love Song for Haiti" by Kirk Franklin and Friends http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkhHWd9JCYs Please check it out! It will move you to tears! Ok, maybe that was just me!

I admit that in my heart I struggle with how some people can just ignore whats going on with their fellow man, that they show no compassion, or just shut them out and go on with their own lives. It frustrates me, angers me...I just think, if this earthquake had happened to them or in their country, wouldn't they want people to come help them, to pray and be there for them, to support and encourage? It's truly sad how we as people are so caught up in our own world, and how much we take our lives and what we have been given by God, for granted!

"God, help me to always be compassionate to others, to see people the way You do, and realize that being sensitive to the hurts and pain of others in this world is a good thing!"

Many Faiths Unite in Facing Horror in Haiti

The other day I was reading something online, posted by a guy from the Washington Post about the situation in Haiti. It made the front page of http://www.msn.com/ . What I thought was interesting was that it was about how the people of different faiths in Haiti have united in this tragedy. It was a rather inspiring article! So I am going to repost it here....How I wish we were all able to look past denominational lines, and realize that we are all the same.... sinners in need of Christs love!


Many faiths unite in facing horror in Haiti
As lives and houses shattered in quake, so did some religious differences

By Manuel Roig-Franzia - The Washington Post
updated 4:02 a.m. ET, Sun., Jan. 17, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - At night, voices rise in the street. Sweet, joyful, musical voices in lyric Creole. A symphony of hope in a landscape of despair.

"It doesn't mean anything if Satan hates me, because God loves me," sing the women at Jeremy Square, their faces almost invisible in the darkness of this powerless, shattered downtown. "God has already paid my debt."

Haiti is known as a society of devout Christians -- Catholics, Protestants, Methodists, evangelicals -- and followers of voodoo. Faith has long played a powerful role in this impoverished nation, giving hope to the poor and fulfilling social functions that the government is incapable of handling.

But in the days since the earth pitched and rolled here, pulverizing shanties and mansions alike, the religious differences that sometimes separated Haitians have come crashing down.
Port-au-Prince has become a kind of multidenominational, open-air church. Tens of thousands live in the street together, scraping for food and water, sharing their misery and blending their spirituality.

The women singing together in Jeremy Square might never have worshiped side by side before the disaster, but now their voices harmonize and soar well past 2 in the morning. Lionelle Masse, a stringy woman with a deep, sad voice, lost a child in the quake. She sings next to Rosena Roche, a fiery-eyed Catholic whose husband is buried under tons of rubble.

"I still have faith in God," Roche says. "I want to give glory to God."

Regardless of their faith, countless Haitians have similar questions: Why was I spared? Are we being punished for our sins? Is this a test of faith? What happens in the afterlife?

‘Not the will of the Lord’ Seekers stream into the parking lot of the ruined Sacre Coeur Catholic church, a 105-year-old brick gem that was turned into a grim, hollowed-out shell, its stunning stained-glass windows tossed to the ground in shards. There, the Catholics and the Protestants and others seek solace from Father Hans Alexander, a Haitian priest who took his decidedly un-Haitian first name from his German father. He doesn't ask them about their religion; he asks them about their pain.

"Catholics and Protestants and other religions are praying together now," Alexander says, as two tearful women slump over his thick, broad shoulders. "We are saying, 'We love Jesus; we don't care about religions. We just care about the Lord.' " He has tried to teach his followers this lesson for years but did not always succeed in changing the minds of parishioners who thought their religion was better or truer than others. The quake, he says, has done much to convince those he could not.

As it often can be with faith, there are doubts to overcome. Some parishioners want to blame the devil, or take responsibility themselves because they have sinned. Some think God has abandoned them.

"This is not the will of the Lord," Alexander tells the two women, sisters who lost their mother and one of their children, a 1 1/2 -year-old, in the quake. "Don't put this blame on the back of anyone. Don't put it on yourself."

Like almost everyone here, the woe is personal for Alexander, who is wearing sandals, almost as if to defy the dangerous pieces of glass, jagged metal and concrete that litter the sidewalk outside his church and befoul his courtyard. Beneath the broken remnants of his rectory are the bodies of at least 20 church members he must mourn alongside their friends and relatives.

A woman whose relative is now entombed there quietly prays, with arms spread out toward a statue of the Virgin Mary. Some of the grieving have wrestled with guilt about having survived while their loved ones died, but Alexander assures them that "it is not because God loves one person more than another."

Alexander, 40, grew up in this church, first as a vicar and for the past seven months as its principal priest. He is himself pondering basic questions. He has spoken so many times of "original sin," but the quake has led him to what he calls "a discovery," reinforcing his belief that "God created us to be good." The neighbors he sees helping one another -- carting debris, digging for survivors, patching wounds both physical and psychological -- confirmed it for him.
That sense of fundamental goodness is what rankles the priests gathered at Sacre Coeur about comments such as those by American televangelist Pat Robertson, who suggested that the earthquake was a punishment for Haitians aligning themselves, at times, with the devil. When Catholic priest Arsene Jasmin heard that, he was enraged. Jasmin, a Haitian who is a priest at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Church in the District, arrived in Port-au-Prince for a visit the day before the earthquake.

"I get mad when I hear that Haiti is somehow being punished," he says. "It's unacceptable and wrong."

Jasmin gathered Friday night in a nearby building with 100 worshipers for three hours of prayer and song. His friend, Alexander, has no church anymore -- the building that once received 3,000 worshipers for five Sunday services is a wreck. But Alexander says he will celebrate Mass outside a nearby house Sunday anyway, and he expects hundreds, if not thousands, to come.
Salvation under the skiesFor others, especially those stuck in place because they have no way to travel around the city, places such as Jeremy Square will be their makeshift churches, as they have been each night. Roche, the Catholic woman who fears her husband is dead, sleeps and worships in the square, squeezed into a row of 25 men, women and children -- one of at least 60 tightly packed rows along the slope pavement of the square.

Just a few steps from Roche's thin, white blanket, Primrose Toussaint, a fervent Pentecostal believer drenched in sweat, waves her arms in the air.

"Even if I die, I die with Jesus," she calls out to no one in particular. "God bless this country. God bless these people."

She has no home, and almost all her meager possessions are gone, but she says, "I don't feel like I am in trouble. Without Jesus, I would be in trouble."

The children sleep while Roche and Toussaint sing in voices fast growing hoarse from hours of hymns. A chorus builds behind them.

"If you believe in God, salvation is sure," the voices sing as one. "Oh God, open the way."

Heart for Haiti

It's been a tragic week this past week. A 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti on Tuesday January 12th, with many aftershocks, killing thousands, burying thousands underneath its destruction, displacing so many people, leaving children without parents, parents without children, etc... it is difficult to see on the news.

Today the situation in Haiti became a little more "real" for me, as I recieved word today that missionary friends of mine, ministering in Haiti for the past 7 yrs, with their 2 young children, have not been heard from since the quake. The place they were teaching at is apparently "nothing but a pile of rubble". I'm praying for answers and wonder just whether they will be found. It's hard to not lose hope in times like this, when you see all that stands in the way of the "happy ending" you want to believe in. You see image after image on the news of the destruction, of the dead... "Will this country ever recover from this?"

It's brought again to mind the loss of my friends in the Tsunami in December of 2004, who were also missionaries. I'm thankful to have many friends who are missionaries serving around this world, and am grateful for what they do, and the difficulties they overcome to spread the word of Christ to the nations, but when tragedies like these strike they feel much closer to home for me, and the loss is felt deep. I pray that what they have done for those countries will not be forgotten, but will live on, through a child, a person they met, however it can happen! God placed them there, in those countries, for a reason, even though right now it is difficult to understand the "whys" of what has happened.

There is comfort though in knowing that God knows what is in my heart, the hurt, the sadness, the grief, the questions, the anger.....so many emotions go through a person. Yet even in all those emotions, I know that if God has taken them heavenward, as sad as I may be down here on earth, I know they are rejoicing in heaven with their Father, and I have to find strength and joy in that....somehow!

"Father God, be with the nation of Haiti, for the people there, and around the world, searching for answers and loved ones. Let people come to You through this tragedy. Help them to rebuild, and come out stronger. I pray that we, as Christians, would not have a deaf ear to the crys of your people there, but to do whatever we can, even if it is to pray. Give us compassion for that place! Give us your heart, and your love for those people! They are your children! Help us to remember that while we may be here in Canada, or the USA, or wherever we are, in our cozy homes and eating food on the table, with our loved ones around us, to stop and think of those in Haiti who have suffered such loss that we can't even fathom! Give us humility in these times Lord, and to be thankful for what we have, and not take those for granted. In Your Name Dear Jesus, Amen!"

Lessons from an Ice Fishing Hole?

Well, who knew that something I did over 15 yrs ago would come back and haunt me today, but yet teach me another valuable lesson in life!

I was walking outside this morning, down by the river, and watched the ice slowly break and drift down the river, and as I stood there I remembered my adventures with a certain ice fishing hole when I was probably 9 yrs old.

So what's the story? Well...Manda + Ice Fishing Hole + Foot = BAD IDEA! we lived in New Hampshire at the time, at a camp, and we walked down to Ayers Lake one day, and there were some ice fishing holes. Well, being the curious sort that I am, I decided that I would stomp on them to see if they were frozen over. Well needless to say one of them wasn't, and boom, down I went into the hole! I swear I shall never live it down! My dad has used it as a sermon illustration quite a few times. I should get paid for use of my life as illustrations. Anyway, it's kind of funny now that I think about it, but at the time it sucked cause I had to walk all the way back up to camp with a frozen leg, water in my boot, and it was quite a walk back! I remember my Dad said "If you had obeyed it wouldn't have happened!" Ok so I had a rebellious side at the ripe old age of 9...who doesn't?!?! LOL!

Well, that story, my story, triggered something in me today as I was coming home from my walk. Dad had given me instruction, "Don't go near it!", but I didn't listen and did my own thing anyway. There was a huge consequence for it too, a frozen leg in a wet boot, although it could have been worse! Now isn't that like what happens when we don't listen to our Heavenly Father? Sometimes we think that we know better as to how to live our lives, and try to take things, and situations, in our own hands, even though we know that it's not what He wants us to do....and we learn the same lesson that I learned that day at the lake! It's not that God's trying to control us or anything, but instead protect us, from things that, in the end, will harm us. But ultimately we have the choice which path to take... If we take the wrong road, it's a good thing that God's there not with an "I told you so!" sort of attitude, but instead one of a guide who will bring us back to where we should be, and comfort us when our choices backfire and tell us, "It's ok!"

I guess in the end, if we want to avoid unnesessary trials and hurt.. we need to listen to God's instructions instead of our own. He knows what He's doing, and whats best for us.

Change

Last night, I was re-reading a journal that I kept several years ago, when life for me was VERY different, and very difficult for alot of reasons. As I read through page after page, it was like I was reading about someone else, a story, and my heart broke for the girl I read about...for the hurt she went through, the self-esteem she lacked, the brokenness that came with her life, the rejection she felt... The sad thing is that "that girl" was me, and not that long ago. My life was so different then, my heart was different. I saw on those pages a person who had no hope, who was struggling to survive just one more day, who was good at playing the part in front of others, but inside was struggling to breathe! How could life have ever been that way? How did I get there? How did I make it through those times? To be honest, I don't really remember much of those times in my life thankfully! It's like a blur in my life, in my memories, which I guess is a good thing. I look at those pages, and see who I was then, see who I am now, and how far I've come in such a short time! I know that although that was a painful time of my life, it taught me so much about how strong I really am. I never thought of myself as strong. But I made it through those difficult times, and difficult relationships to become stronger. I am happier, and constantly redeiscovering who I am, what I love and don't love. I have the ability to think and feel things for myself again, and pursue things that I love, and be with people that build me up and encourage. For so many years I felt like just a shadow, not really there, I lacked so much during that time of my life, in a sense I lost myself. You know how people say that, well in reality, I know exactly what that feels like, I've been there! I never want to be there again. I survived. And the road wasn't easy, or without pain or hurt or loss, but it was worth it in the end.

I remember the days leading up to my decision to better myself. I was at my wits end, I'd had it, and I was broken in every respect, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I just had nothing left, I was tired. I knew the only thing that was going to save me was to get out. The hardest decision I've ever made, but the best decision I ever made. There was a group of friends that I confided in, that I shared my heart with, that prayed for me constantly, and built me up during those difficult days! I couldn't have done it without them. There were so many times where I would wonder if I made the right decision, that I felt like I had failed. One day I was going for a walk, and I prayed "God, if this is what I need to do, and the choice that I need to make, then make it clear, and give me peace." Time and time again over the last several years, I have been reminded that I made the right decision that day.

There's healing that still needs to happen in me, but I know that I am making head-way with it all. Day by day, I choose to make my life better, to forgive, to change, to move forward, and not let those times define who I am now. I guess that is all anyone can do...

New Year - Esther

Well it is a New Year, 2010, and alot of people have been telling me to start a blog. I'm not really sure what I have that is worth while sharing, but maybe the little thoughts in my mind, or lessons learned, may mean something to someone, or at least might bring a chuckle! If nothing else, then I can look back on these writings for my own purposes, and nothing more.

So this morning, I woke up, a snowy day today, came downstairs to find one of my books that I had ordered a few weeks ago! It's called "A Woman of Strength and Dignity - Esther" by Charles Swindoll. It's part of a series called Great Lives From God's Word. I love this series! I have been trying to get the whole series for quite some time now, and finally I'm getting most of them, only 1 more to get.... Joseph! I'm so excited to read them all! It's been so long since I have read a good book, it's rather sad.

I just finished reading the first chapter of my new book, and what a great opener! Swindoll talks about how though God's name is never mentioned in the entire book of Esther, His presence is in every work in this book! Swindoll writes "God's presence is not as intriguing as His absence. His voice is not as eloquent as His silence. Who of us has not longed for a word from God, searched for a glimpse of His power, or yearned for the reassurance of His presance, only to feel that He seems absent from the moment? Distant. Preoccupied. Maybe even unconcerned. Yet later, we realize how very present He was all along." How true a statement that is! I have felt like that and been through those times in my life where God has felt distant and I am standing there saying "God where are you?" I can't see Him, and sometimes don't recognize His handiwork, and sometimes I don't have enough faith to believe that He's got a plan in all the hard and difficult situations of life that I often find myself in. It's later that God reveals to me just how He brought me through, and says "See Amanda, I had it all worked out, TRUST ME!" I can't imagine what it was like for Esther, when God put her in the position of power, not knowing what the outcome would be for her, for her family, for her people!

I'm excited to read the rest of this, and see just how amazing God uses this woman, and to see God, who might not be mentioned by name in this book of the Bible, show up in some awesome ways through these events.