Month: May 2021

I remember being in the first grade back in the early 1960s. My teacher was Ms. Quintero. She was a good teacher, but that being the age of the deep-red correcting pencils, I dreaded each time she passed by my desk and crossed out my work. It began on the very first day of school. We were asked to write our names in our books. I was happy and excited because I knew how to write it. To my dismay, a large, bold, deep-red pencil mark crossed it out! How could that be?! I had written my name, Sammy, but she crossed it out and wrote Samuel.
At home that evening, when my parents asked how it went, I was not too happy. I told them of the incident and my mom went, “Ahh.” A new lesson came about on how to write my new name.
For some reason, another teacher, Ms. Yakaloni, would leave at 1 p.m. and my class used to pack up and move from room 111 to her room (108) either every day or on certain days. On one of those days, we were making clay items. The minute I saw the glass jar with beautiful red paint, I reached for it. As I was about to color my project, the teacher came by and removed the paint saying, “No, wrong color.” I couldn’t believe it! I wondered why. As I looked down at my work, I had a turtle and realized it needed to be green. Hence, no red paint. I didn’t think it was fair! I thought it should’ve been painted any color I liked… I guess that took me on a quest for color! History-in-the-making!
Life is like that. There are things we like, things we want, or things we may feel we need. God knows best. Ultimately, our Teacher is present to guide our hand and mind towards those things that best suit us, even if it may look a little off according to our opinion. Trust God’s guidance.
God Bless!
Sam

A multicolored turtle Mom gave me some years ago!

I guess they can be painted as the heart desires!

One of my favorite songs from the early 1970s is Elton John’s Your Song. It paints a beautiful picture of a young man on a roof having written lyrics to a recently-finished song about the girl he loves. He focuses on two things, “How wonderful life is while you’re in the world,” and, “Yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen.”
We all love songs, particularly, ones that reach our hearts. Great songs stir emotions. They are powerful. At any moment in time regardless of where we are, we may hear a song from past days or from decades ago, and we’ll automatically get transported to an earlier time zone. We’ll be taken aback to when we first heard the song, or to a period in time when that song played an important role in our lives. We can remember what we were doing, wearing, thinking, how we were impacted, etc.
God loves songs too. He doesn’t sing about broken relationships. He already took care of that when His Son Jesus died for you to restore you to the Family. Have you accepted that invite yet? He’s waiting on you!! God loves you. He loves to sing about you. You remind Him of why He loves you. He rejoices knowing that very soon all of history will be changed and we will go to live with Him forever. His thoughts are on you.
“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17).
How wonderful is that-to think that the God of the universe would make time to think of you and sing over you?? You’re that special to Him. Rejoice, He loves you and delights in you!
God Bless,
Sam

Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life” (Proverbs 31:11).
King Solomon paints for us a picture of what a God-given and God-honoring woman looks like. Read the rest of the chapter to grasp just how special this type of woman is. I have a wife fitting those descriptions. God has equipped men and women with certain gifts and capabilities meant to enhance a marriage and to thrust it forward to where He wants us to be at. However, such a woman isn’t to be seen as a threat but rather as a compliment to the relationship.
Truth be told, few men can compare to what she can do, and some men, including God-fearing ones, don’t believe in her abilities. Many have a small vision of what such-type woman should be doing for her husband. Some, think women only belong in the house and that their gifts are just a waste of time because they will not allow them (the women) to fulfill their call. Granted, it isn’t easy, but there have been plenty of times when my wife’s intuition, knowledge, and skills have been “on target” whereas, I’ve been clueless. Whoever said that behind every great man, there’s a special woman, is correct.
Here’s a shout-out to all the women fitting God’s description of a “lady after God’s heart.” Thanks for honoring God with your lives. Thanks for tuning in to His ways, His mind, His direction and in the process, complimenting your spouse. To you, as well as to my wife, here’s wishing you A Happy Mother’s Day!
You are extremely special!
God Bless,
Sam

I remember being 3-4 years old and my mom holding my hand and looking at my small fingers and telling me my fingers were like small French fries. I looked at them trying to make the comparison. Ever since I’ve always looked at small fingers in the same way. Interestingly, we both love fries!
When I was 4, some Friday nights were CHILLER-THRILLER nights. Mom had my three cousins, Elsie-whom I haven’t seen in 48 years, and whose birthday will be tomorrow, Curie, and Patty, along with my brother and me watching the scary-monster movies. We’d have chips or Jiffy popcorn while the ugly creatures played out their scenes. Every time something scary was about to happen, the girls would scream and mom always looked to the side and covered her face. She usually said, “Ooofff.” She still does, and says the same thing at 84! Mind you, back in the very early 60s movies weren’t gross or extremely scary. Most scary scenes consisted of shadows showing what might take place. Nevertheless, it spooked us. One movie I remember was Attack of the 50-foot Woman who I think came from a spaceship.
One day in the second grade, we made ashtrays out of clam shells, I guess for Father’s Day. Mine was reddish. I guess I didn’t finish painting mine because I went home knowing exactly what to do. I took my mom’s red nail polish and applied some. It looked exactly as it should, and no one would know I finished it at home—or so I thought! As soon as mom walked in the door, she asked, “What’s that smell?” I think I had to confess.
One time, we were at a doctor’s office and I had gotten a shot. I was crying a lot. To comfort me, mom told me she’d buy me a cake at Antionette’s which was the restaurant on the ground floor of our building. I said Ok. As we walked on, I stopped crying, but I was surely thinking of that cake! As we were right in front of the store, I pulled on mom. My actions were saying, “Umm, aren’t you forgetting something?” I said, “Where’s my cake?!” She said, “Oh, but since you stopped crying…” I said, “Hey, I’ll start crying right now, if that’s what it’ll take to get my cake!” She said, “Ok, OK” and happily I went for my cake, which was either the large 4-5” deep chocolate Ring Ding, or the three Yankee Doodle cakes. They were worth every penny of the .10 paid, as well as every tear shed on this occasion.
In general, moms are always there for us. I’m sure they could tell us long-forgotten stories we’ve overlooked or no longer remember. This past year saw a lot of moms leave this world due to COVID. Perhaps you lost your mom, your grandma, or an older sister that was like a mom to you. My heart goes out to all of you. Life will never be the same when mom is gone. Treasure those memories that you have held dear to your heart. Cherish the good moments together as well as those of hardship. Maybe you’re still caring for your mom. May God strengthen you on the path you’re on. Honor her as the special person God placed in your life to raise you.
God has always loved His children and cared for us like a hen looking after her chicks (Matthew 23:37).
Let your mom know how much you love her and appreciate her. If you need to forgive, then please do so. It’s God’s one conditional commandment: “Honor your father and your mother that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you” (Exodus 20;12 NIV).