Miracle Today...

With Love

It was supposed to be a sunny day,

warm and smelling of spring;

but instead it was a chilly day,

cold, rainy and dim.

So instead of the favorite picnic table

underneath the pines, with little yellow

lanterns hanging from the bows,

we had this...

... and lanterns instead, all in a row

... and mismatched china plates

... and roses so sweet, you could have cried

... and vintage vases, whispering the colors of the sea

and of warmer days ahead.

Photo credit: Bethany

Yes, this day was special...

it was Mother's Day.

We love you, Momma-Lou!

We Will Never Forget

"Somewhere inside of me the jasmine continues to blossom undisturbed, just as profusely and delicately as it ever did, And it spreads its scent round the house where you dwell, oh God.... I bring You not only my tears and my forebodings on this stormy, gray, Sunday morning, I even bring you scented jasmine. And I shall bring you all the flowers I meet along my way, and truly there are many of those."

~~~~~~~~~

"God? How good You are, how kind and if one had to count the number of goodnesses and kindnesses You have done, one would never finish.



God? It is You who command. It is You who are justice, it is You who reward the good and punish the evil.



God? It is thanks to You that I had a beautiful life before, that I was spoiled, that I had lovely things that others do not have.



God? After that, I ask You one thing only: Make my parents come back, my poor parents protect them (even more than You protect me) so that I can see them again as soon as possible.

 Make them come back again.

Ah! I had such a good mother and such a good father! I have such faith in You and I thank You in advance."

~~~~~~~

These are such beautiful pieces...

they speak so honestly of the heart,

of sorrows and joy and of undying faith in the only One who

can save. They speak of Hope.

When first reading these pieces, one does not

see fully the desperate and painful circumstances behind them;

perhaps we too often forget the lives of others who have gone before,

and that there were those who have suffered so greatly...

far greater than we could ever dream.

It is easy to forget...

but I do not want to. I want so greatly to remember,

and while remembering, I want to gain insight into their lives.

To see that life is a blessing, in all of its joys and sorrows; to see that God allows things in our lives to strengthen us; and that through it all

He remains Faithful.

He is Lord,

He is Truth, Life, Hope

and Justice. He never fades away,

He knows,

He sees,

He hears,

and He...

remembers.

~~~~~

The first entry was written by

Etty Hillesum in a book full of her journal entries entitled: An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork.

Etty was 27 years old when Amsterdam was invaded, and died shortly after this journal entry

at the age of 29. While on her way to Auschwitz, she threw a postcard out the window

and it was found by farmers who mailed it. On the postcard she had written,

"We left the camp singing."

The second entry: Eleven-year-old, Jewish orphan, Liliane Gerenstein was sent to her death a few days after she wrote this letter to God:

The letter was found in April 1944 in the abandoned children's home in Izieu.