I love this photo. Looking at it, I remember:
August, 1967. My husband, I and our five children had been on that Japanese freighter almost three weeks, departing from Los Angeles, heading to Santos, Brasil, the port city for the megapolis of São Paulo. The voyage was unforgettable!

Going through the Panama Canal, then hitting a storm in the Caribbean... the fun of a celebration party on deck as we crossed over the Equator, then running down to our cabin to see if the water going down the drain really went in the opposite direction!?... During the night before we arrived in Venezuela, a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake rocked the mountains and sea, all the way from Caracas down to the port city. (A ten floor apartment building crushed down to four stories: a two-floor restaurant nothing but a huge heap of bricks, men frantically searching through the rubble for a sign of life; streets with gigantic cracks, beautiful homes with walls gone. Sights, smells and sounds imprinted on my mind and soul forever.)... Just a few days after leaving the tragedies in Venezuela, a mother committed suicide by jumping off the ship into the sea while her little children watched. (Circling for several hours, the captain actually found her body in that boundless ocean!)...

The weeks on board almost coming to an end, we arrived in the bay of Rio de Janeiro early one morning. Hanging onto my smaller children's hands, we learned cars do NOT stop for pedestrians! After the adventure of taking a very crowded bus from the port, we walked on Copacabana beach in the sand and got wet as we ran from the waves. I actually pinched myself to see if I was dreaming... I was in Rio de Janeiro! The Rio I’d read of, heard about, seen movies of... the famous and beautiful Rio de Janeiro!

The sun was setting as we sailed out of the harbor towards the open sea. I looked up to the mountains that surround Rio, and found this statue of Christ in the distance. The floodlights clothed it in light, so I could still see Christ's arms outstretched over the darkening city. I stood at that rail straining my eyes until distance and darkness swallowed all light, then I slowly turned from the quiet to go to our cabin and my five children. We would be disembarking in Santos in less than 24 hours, to start a new life in Brazil.

"oh God, help us! and thank You for reminding me that You and Christ are always here, even in the darkness."

Voni

I love to grab a pen and write down thoughts, or do it on my computer. The advantage of a pen is that it fits into my purse. (I've been attempting to downsize my purses. Anyone identify?)

Just looking at this scene gives me peace. I can feel the warmth of the sun on my back, a breeze blowing in off the ocean and touching my face and body, riffling through my hair. From where I am sitting on the sand, the sun reflects off the ocean, the clouds create a constantly changing design, and I hear the lulling music from the ocean.

What a blessing to have time to think!
Which is what I'll be doing as I write and/or place thoughts from others on these pages.

Come join me. Sit here a moment. Be still. Take a deep breath... and thank God.

I'm looking forward to enjoying these few moments of quiet time with you.

"Be still and know that I am God."
Psa 46:10

Voni

Sometimes we are in a situation or relationship which is impacted in an unexpected or negative way. We may not see it coming, and the force of the impact shatters or scatters order and causes confusion. Momentarily we are left with a sense of inability to make repairs or even to re-connect all the pieces of the situation. It will seem that everything has been fragmented.

When serious fragmentation happens, time and space and healing are needed. This doesn’t mean that restoration cannot happen, but it is wisdom to "withdraw", to spend some quiet time with the Lord and let him gather up all the broken or lost pieces. Sometimes we just need to rest to be able to see more clearly. As we are strengthened in Him and regain our focus, then we can approach our situation with a fresh vigor and a careful eye. He helps us "catch our breath" again, to regain our footing and to move forward confidently.

Do NOT allow discouragement or self-pity to come in. These are spoilers which will only delay matters. We don’t need to panic, for the Lord knows about all the lost and broken pieces of our lives and is able to put them all back together!. He is full of compassion and able to heal, to strengthen and comfort, to bring joy and peace. We have an awesome God, and He is always by our side to help us.

"I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me."
Psalm 13:5 KJV

© 2009 Arlene Schwartzkopf

A Prayer

Lord, help me to go slow enough that, when I smell roses, I can stop and linger. But quicken me, Lord, to move on when Your fragrance isn't there.

A rushed pace can cause me to totally miss Your blessings; but, likewise, so can a pace which is too slow.

Help me to be so attuned to Your pace that I will always move in the timing of the Holy Spirit, always walking in rhythym with what You are doing.

And help me to realize that roses may be hiding in some very plain-looking, everyday places...