Quick Takes

Night Crept In (Think kittens)

Night crept in
                           And bit me on the ankle!
I swiftly kicked it out from under the covers.
I heard it shriek as it hit the floor running.

Morning burst in
                           And tickled my senses.
I gladly embraced her with arms opened wide.
         Together we welcomed the new day with laughter.

I’m really going to have to fix that door.

                                             By  Gini Detry

To Be Chosen

I had to cover the hair on my arms!  It was real thick and sticking up.  Everyone would see it and laugh at me.  I had to look really pretty today and now all of this arm hair was going to ruin everything!  Why wouldn't my mom let me get a pair of long gloves or something?  She even got mad at me when I tried to use Daddy's razor to shave my arms!  It wouldn't have cost them anything and I wouldn't be embarrassing myself, and our whole family, by looking like a polar bear. Well, at least the hair on my arms wasn't black like Susie Walter's was. 

At first when my cousin Dick asked my mom if I would be the miniature bride for his ordination, I was really excited.  I would get to dress up like a real bride and have flower girls and everything.  It was even fun trying on dresses, veils, shoes and stuff while Mom poked and pinned me.  We had to go to a great big church in Green Bay and practice walking down the aisle and smiling.  

I asked Mom what an ordination was and she said that Cousin Dick was going to be a priest just like Father Mike.  She told me that when a man went to be a priest, he sort of like married the Catholic Church and that was what an ordination was.  She said something about me being the Catholic Church or something.  I really didn't understand what it was all about, but I figured that it must be important.  So, I decided that I was going to be the best miniature bride there ever was!

I thought I was doing pretty well until I tried on the bride dress the night before the big day.  I had practiced walking and sitting and kneeling.  I even knew how I was going to smile at the people in church while I was walking down the aisle.  But I wasn't prepared to have all of this fuzz sticking up on my arms!

We were standing in line in the back of the church waiting for the man with the black suit to tell us to line up.  I kept trying to find a way to hide my monkey arms.  The only thing I could come up with was to cross my arms in front of me with one hand over each lower arm.  That made it really hard to carry the flowers, but it had to be done!  I wasn't sure what I would do when I had to get the ring from one of the flower girls, but, as my dad always said, "I'd cross that bridge when I came to it."

The big church was full of people and they had flowers all down the aisle.  It was almost as pretty as Christmas in our small church.  Somehow, I forgot all about my hairy arms as I walked down to the front of the church.  I still didn't understand what this was all about but I sure was happy that they picked me to be the bride.  I felt real important and even the flower girls looked at me like I was a grownup or something.  I didn't know why they didn't pick my sister Judy to be the bride.  She is a lot prettier than me and has long curly hair.  They didn't pick my little sister, Kathy, because she is too little.  They needed somebody who was seven years old I guess.  As I stood in front of the alter, I really didn't care why they had picked me.  I wasn't even concerned about my arms. Today I wasn't a chubby little girl with a turned up nose.  I was the Church and a bride, and it felt good and special to be chosen.

THE STARFISH

A very rich man in his late 50's was sitting in his multi-million dollar beach house on Malibu, yet he was very sad, cynical and full of despair.  Every afternoon he would stare out at the beach while drinking vodka on the rocks and contemplating the emptiness of life.

One afternoon, he saw a young boy walking by the shoreline.  Every few steps the boy would bend down, pick something up and throw it out in the ocean.  He watched this for several days.  When his curiosity got the better of him, he pushed himself out of his chair and went down the next afternoon to see what the boy was doing.  When he got to the ocean, he saw that the shoreline was littered with a countless number of starfish.  The boy would pick one up and throw it in the ocean and then go to the next one.  The cynic said, "What are you doing?"  The boy replied, "Saving the starfish."  And the cynic replied, "Well, that's futile.  There must be tens of thousands of them, and you'll never save them all.  What you are doing doesn't make any difference at all."  The boy paused, bent down and picked up another starfish and threw it back into the life-giving ocean.  He turned to the cynic and softly said, "Made a difference to that one."  Where upon the boy continued his journey down the beach.

The next afternoon, the man went down to the seashore to throw starfish back into the sea.  When he returned to his home, he found that the cynic had left, taking with him his loneliness, hopelessness and despair.

Moral:  Do not assume that you alone can perfect the world.  It is futile.  It leads to feelings of inadequacy, powerlessness, anger and despair.  Do try to make this world a little better.  The end of Schindler's List features a famous Jewish saying, "To save one life is as if to save an entire world."

May You Be Like Ruth…….

Both Orpah and Ruth were gentiles who were married to Naomi’s sons.  Both had left their family, their culture, their nation, their religion and the only home they had known and gone to live with their Jewish husband’s people.  Both Orpah and Ruth grew to love their mother-in-law Naomi and, Naomi grew to love them so much, that she referred to them as her daughters.

After Naomi’s husband and two sons died she told Orpah and Ruth to go home to their people, homes and gods.  She saw that they had no hope for a future family if they stayed with her and she loved them too much to see them give up everything for her.  Naomi, Orpah and Ruth had a relationship most of us can only dream of.
At first Orpah said that she would stay with Naomi but, after a little more encouragement from Naomi to think of herself, she kissed Naomi goodbye and returned, crying, to her own people.

It is interesting to note that Ruth 1:14 tell us that – “Orpah kissed her mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her.”  Ruth loved Naomi so much that she could not let go of her. Ruth realized that by choosing to stay with Naomi she would probably face poverty, loneliness and pain.  However, she must have grown to love Naomi so much that she felt a stronger bond with her than she did with her own family.

According to Romans 11 we as Christians have been grafted into the root of Judaism.  We, through faith, have accepted the G-d of Israel and have taken on the responsibilities as well as the promises of belonging to the family of G-d.  We are adopted sons and daughters, wild olive branches.

We, as wild olive branches that have been grafted in to the root, have a decision to make.  When things get rough and the whole world turns it’s back on Israel and the Jewish people will we be like Ruth or like Orpah?  Even at this time, when we hear anti-Semitic and/or anti-Israel remarks, what will our response be?  Will we kiss Israel and turn our backs on her or will we cling to our Jewish brothers and sisters and say as Ruth said to Naomi in Ruth 1:16&17, “But Ruth said, ‘Entreat me not to leave you or to return from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.  May the Lord do so to me and more also if even death parts me from you.”?

Ruth was obedient and not self-seeking.  She did not turn her back on G-d.  She was humble and patient.  She gave up all prospects of a happy future to do the Lord’s will.
We at Isaiah 40 Ministry are trying to locate, build up and encourage the “Ruths” in the Christian community.  We believe that the more “Ruths” there are, the stronger voice for G-d’s Chosen people we will have.  And, as a word of encouragement, Ruth was blessed for the stand she took for Naomi.  Ruth received material rewards and became an ancestress of David and ultimately of Yeshua (Jesus).

And the Bride Stood Up

They came from 146 nations – only 7,000 out of an expected 35,000
to tell the world their story.
The twin towers and the pentagon just strengthened their resolve.
Fear would not paralyze them – they had walked that way before.
And the Bride Stood Up!

We who live in America had a hard time believing the stories they told.
But, we had just had a taste of it ourselves.
Our ears heard but our minds couldn’t take in-

An 8 yr old girl’s story of genital mutilation – as her mother held her down.
A beautiful woman who is beaten every 3 months – and must remind her husband if he forgets.
The tales of torture and humiliation went on and on and on.
But, I watched as the Bride Stood Up!!

“No more”, was the message that they brought.
“No more will we watch as our daughters scream in pain.”
“No more will we live in despair and humiliation.”
“No more will we hide our faces behind the veil.”
They had fallen in love with the Bridegroom – who bled and died for them.
Never again would they bow down to evil!

And the Bride Stood Up!!!!!!!!!!!!

A  parable  by  Gini:

“Arnold’s Dream….”

Arnold was always trying to impress Ruth. In fact, when he thought about it, he was pretty sure that he did impress her every time he was around her, by doing something really stupid. He had liked her since they were kids but didn’t know how to show her how he felt. So, every chance Arnold had, he came up with another idea to capture Ruth’s attention.

This time Arnold was sure that he was really going to score big with Ruth in the “manliness” category.  He had been saving for as long as he could remember to buy a 4-wheeler so he could drive through the bog, get firewood, and go over the moss-covered logs in the cedar swamp.  He hadn’t told anyone but he had also dreamed of some day taking Ruth for a ride on a 4-wheeler to his favorite quiet place back on the high ground.

There weren’t a lot of things a guy who stood 6”4” and weighed 275 pounds could do to touch the heart of a woman as little and dainty as Ruth.  After all, she was only 4’10 (when she wore that thick bow on the top of her head) and couldn’t weigh more than 110 pounds.  Actually, he was always a bit afraid that he was going to knock her over or something.

Arnold’s confidence was the highest it had ever been as he got on his new green, king quad, high suspension, double cam, Suzuki 4-wheeler and headed out to pick up Ruth.  He planned to give her the ride of her life, and then to take her breath away by sharing his “secret hide-away” in the woods.

Ruth was a little apprehensive as she watched Arnold pull up in front of her house on this big green machine.  He was always doing the strangest things and she was a kind of leery about getting too close to him when he got excited about anything.  She never knew what was going to happen next with him around and by the look on his face, he was really excited about this thing he was driving!

Being a man of few words, all Arnold said when he stopped in front of Ruth was, “Hop on”.  Ruth struggled into position behind him and hung on to his jacket for dear life.

After a few “revs” of the engine so he could impress Ruth with the power she was going to experience, they took off at full speed into the cedar swamp. 

Arnold held nothing back.  He found every stump and downed tree he could find, and drove up and over every last one of them.  His plan was to go as fast as he could over “deadman’s boulder” and then head straight for what he hoped would become “their secret hide-away” in the woods.

As they headed for what Arnold hoped would be the experience that would spark the beginning of a life of romance and excitement between them, Ruth was turning white and her face was frozen in what would most likely become a permanent scream!  She had never been so frightened before in her life.  All she could think of was how she never wanted to be anywhere near this big oaf again!

The king-quad was going at full speed down the deer path and as they approached “deadman’s boulder” Arnold assumed the position.  The wind was blowing, the sound of the engine was deafening, the anticipation was building.  Arnold gave the Suzuki one last shot of power!

The big green, king-quad, double cam, Suzuki 4-wheeler literally flew up and over the dreaded “deadman’s boulder”!!  Arnold was flying high as he could tell that he was just within minutes of fulfilling his deepest dreams!

They made it!  They were on the other side of the giant obstacle!  (He had had the oddest feeling as he made the final lurch over the boulder.  It was as though his beloved machine had become a hundred pounds lighter.  What a rush!!)

As the powerful machine landed Arnold’s mind rushed ahead to the high ground.  He opened the throttle - gave it more gas - and drove on…… RUTHLESSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When Jesus was trying to teach his friends and followers some special truths He would often use parables or stories to get His point across.  The story of Arnold and Ruth sometimes reminds me of the way the church approaches the Jewish community.  Quite often it seems as though the church is trying to impress others, but especially the Jews, with how big we can grow, how exciting we can be, how powerful we are and what kind of performance we can put on for them.

We do all we can to get their attention, and then go on without realizing that we aredriving on RUTHLESSLY!  We aren’t even aware that we lost their attention a long time ago because we were so caught up in our own self-importance that we didn’t recognize their needs or the richness of their hearts.