The Stoning of Soraya M.

Last night, my husband and I sat down, watched and listened to the true, heart-wrenching story of Soraya M., an Iranian woman who was falsely accused of adultery - which is still punishable by death by stoning in today's Iran. That's what happened to kind spirited Soraya, a devoted mother, a wife, whose husband's desire to marry a 14 year old girl led him to want to divorce then get rid of her. With the help of the village's Mayor and Mullah, they plotted to kill her, trapping her and the whole village inhabitants into an intricate web of lies. There are no words to describe what was done... As I watched the movie, I was reminded of that woman whom the Pharisees brought to Jesus Christ, to see if He too, would accuse and take part in the stoning.

'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" ⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.' John 8:3-6

Oh, how sweet and loving is my Lord, who forgives all of our sins. Instead of accusing her, he simply said:

"If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"

¹¹"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin." (John 8:7-11)

My heart grieves when I hear stories like Soraya's. I can only sigh and look to our Lord, the one and only true God, who has provided a way out from our transgressions in His Beautiful son Jesus Christ, whose blood purifies us from all sins and restores us as heirs of the Kingdom.

Great Reads

In the midst of the hustle and bustle I still find some time to read some good books I have acquired lately. Apart from savoring the book of Leviticus, I have found a gem in 'Jewish Literacy' by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin. It is a mine of information on the different books of the Tanach, one to have on your bookshelf! In addition, I have started 'The miracle of the Scarlet Thread' by Richard Booker which looks into the power of the blood of Jesus Christ through the whole Bible, Old and New Testament alike. It links everything. It shows how the old Testament was a shadow of the things to come as far as Jesus Christ, His sacrifice and the forgiveness of our sins through that sacrifice are concerned. Hopefully it will shed some new light on the subject. The reviews were pretty good and thought I'd give it a try.
Alright, enough posting - back to my books!

Awards Ceremony

Things have been hectic here as we are getting ready to put our house on the market, hence the absence of posts.
We managed to go to the Awana Ceremony last night though and, of course, I teared up when they called my oldest son to present him his award. For those who are unfamiliar with it, Awana is a great program for kids where they learn about God, Our Savior Jesus Christ and the way we should live out our faith in Him. They memorize Bible verses too. Anyway, last night was Awards' Night. I'd never gone to anything like it. I so love how this country rewards individual efforts. I am happy that my boys are growing is such an environment. To me, it is new and love it!

Star Wars Night

This idea was started by Christine @ Southern Belle Dreaming and thought I'd join as I believe it is one good way to remember the good times in your life.
Even though this week was rich in happy events, I choose one that happened tonight. Tonight was Star Wars night :) I smile because it is definitely NOT my thing but I LOVE so much having friends around that I said yes! when my son and husband talked about doing something like that. On the menu was fun, sharing, laughing, kids running around, pizzas, pies and of course, The Phantom Menace! I love my friends and want to enjoy their company as much as I can before we go!

Garage Sale

Has anyone got experience with garage sales? I don't and I want to organize one. That's one of the good side about moving; we get rid of things we don't want anymore. Do we need a special permit to do it? Can we post signs anywhere we want? How do I get all the information I need? Town hall?
Being a thrower, I won't have a lot to sell so this shouldn't be too much of a hassle.

Our moving consultant has called and we're going to talk more in details about the transfer, tomorrow over the phone. I'm starting to have butterfly in my stomach...

Tears and Beads

I've been a little shaken this morning as I'm having difficulties letting go of something precious here. Goodbyes are not my forte...I need to look forward though and press on. Time is flying and I have so much to do.
Thankfully, I was able to take a break and do some more beading. I have started my summer collection a while back and love it! I'm having so much fun creating unique colorful pieces! I'm planning to start marketing them online next year. So far, all my creations have been shipped to France and have sold well. Only two wonderful ladies -my sister and my mother- are selling them in their Salon/Beauty Shop but it looks promising. So far, everything has been purchased - let's hope the ones I just sent are going to sell just as well. It arrived right on time for Mother's Day -which is the 30 May this year- so that should help!
Have a blessed day everyone and let us keep your eyes on the Lord, for He is our Shepherd.

NC Bound

So it is now official; we're leaving California and are moving to North Carolina. It looks like we will be there by August 1st, at the latest. We will be working with a company that specializes in transferring employees. A consultant will be there to help us in a lot of ways; planning the move, sell our house and help us find a new one over there etc. It looks like I'm going to have to put a lot of the things I've been doing lately on hold and just focus on preparing our home to be on the market.
Wow...What an unexpected twist! To tell you the truth, right now, I'm a little bit overwhelmed so words won't easily come out to express how I feel. I just know there is a mixture of excitement, apprehension and sadness. The latter stems from the thought of leaving some dear people behind...The excitement is for the adventure part of it; new state, new faces, new house, new friends... and apprehension, well...we have a mountain to climb and there's a lot of unknown factors in the process. But the good news in all this is that we have the Great Shepherd to guide us. I know He'll be there, every step of the way.

Boker Tov

Or 'Good Morning' in English! In spite of the busy week we had, I was able to press on and study Hebrew. I have reached the goals set last week with the exceptions of the dots & dashes - again!
In this coming week, I think, I'll focus on developing my listening skills by tuning daily on an online radio station and will continue learning how to read/write basic Hebrew words and phrases - using the script letters.

לְהִתְרָאוֹת

Heritage Village

A little townhome at the end of a cul-de-sac. There lived a fun, vibrant and beautiful woman whose life motto - among a few others I'm sure - was, and still is, to 'live content'. With three arrows in her quiver and a fourth on the way, she was called blessed by many. Oh, of course, she had her own struggles; it is the fate of every human being in this fallen world - but her dedication to living as a true child of God surpassed her anguish. She is an inspiration to get out of your own self to reach out to others. She perseveres in brotherly love and wasn't satisfied with a 'no, another day' when she reached out to me as I was in so much pain years ago, asking if we could get together. She literally went after me a few times because she saw the sadness in my eyes as she then put it. She didn't want to let go. She wanted to become a friend - and she did.
Thank you Christine for your endeavor to reach out and minister Christ's love to me.
You did well and thus became part of my inner healing. Many times, you allowed yourself to be hurt - and by that I mean you had to put up with strong uncontrollable emotions I experienced back then - just so I could savor the sweet taste of God's love in my life.
Christine, I wish you well. May God pour out His blessings on you. May He continue to give you wisdom and knowledge of His will for your life. Read and pray the Word of God, always.

Christine has moved and is now in another state. Please, take some time to visit Her Blog to know her a little better. Be assured that all that you'll read is a true reflection of who she is. She is indeed one genuine person, a quality becoming rare these days.