One year ago today an American citizen was imprisoned in Iran. Saeed Abedini is currently being kept in Evin Prison. In this letter to his wife Saeed describes the conditions he has been experiencing. Pastor Saeed has been sentenced to 8 years in Evin.
Saeed is a father with young children he has not seen in over a year. Recently Saeed's daughter received a letter from her dad that has been made public.
Saeed's plight has been a topic of conversation in our home many times in the past year. Saeed's name is on one of the sticks we pick each night to pray for at the dinner table. My daughter has been praying for Saeed nightly, just before I tuck her into bed. Every night she prays, "God help Saeed to get out of jail and help the polices be nicer in Iran."
Today Christians are gathering all over the world for a prayer vigil where they will be praying for Saeed's release.
Saeed is not the only Christian in the world who is being persecuted for his faith. www.persecution.org is a wealth of information about the ways Christians all over the world are being arrested, tortured and murdered for their faith in Jesus.
Since the earliest days of the Christian church there has been persecution. Stephen was the first martyr and his murder is described in Acts 7:54-8:3. In a move only God can do, a Pharisee by the name of Saul was present at Stephen's stoning. Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his conversion was so dramatic that God changed his name to Paul. Paul went on to write most of the New Testament and wrote of his own persecution for his faith.
I can't think of Saeed without thinking of the parallels to Paul, including the fact they both came to faith in Christ as adults and have spent their adult lives preaching the Gospel.
As I pray for Saeed I'm reminded of Paul's letter to the church in Philippi. "Now, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Philippians 1: 12-13
Really, I could copy Philippians 1:12-30 as a guidebook on how to handle persecution. Just as Paul continued to preach the gospel to his captors (a captive audience!) so has Saeed.
As the global church gathers today to pray for Saeed I'm praying for his release and also praying for him to have the strength to endure the conditions he's currently experiencing, knowing God is using his life even in Evin prison.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Midnight Rambler
I'm just going to be flat out honest . . . I'm having a rough night emotionally. I'm basically throwing myself a pity party.
A friend's daughter was injured in an accident at home over the weekend and I just can't stop praying for her and her family right now.
On top of that I've been doing a lot of introspection and most of it hasn't been good. The truth is I just wish I could wave some sort of magic wand and have all my shortcomings, failures and idiosyncrasies vanish. Those qualities I don't like about myself and that others don't either . . . I want them GONE.
I guess the truth is I've been thinking a lot about my relationship troubles with friends and family and don't know how to fix what's "wrong" with me. I don't even know specifically what's wrong---I just know something is and I want it changed.
A friend's daughter was injured in an accident at home over the weekend and I just can't stop praying for her and her family right now.
On top of that I've been doing a lot of introspection and most of it hasn't been good. The truth is I just wish I could wave some sort of magic wand and have all my shortcomings, failures and idiosyncrasies vanish. Those qualities I don't like about myself and that others don't either . . . I want them GONE.
I guess the truth is I've been thinking a lot about my relationship troubles with friends and family and don't know how to fix what's "wrong" with me. I don't even know specifically what's wrong---I just know something is and I want it changed.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Syria
I'm very passionate about politics and world affairs. As a general rule I tend to keep my politics off of Facebook and my blog. I have friends on all sides of the political spectrum and I choose not to engage in debates, nor do I want to anger or offend my friends who may not agree with me. That being said . . . this is NOT a political post :)
Every time I hear the word "Damascus" I think of the meeting Saul had with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. I think of Annanias and His obedience. I think of God changing Saul's name to Paul because Saul had died and became a new creation.
The other day I was thinking about the current situation in Syria. I was reading reports of one of the world's oldest Christan churches being destroyed. In that moment I thought of Saul's conversion.
As I'm praying for the people of Syria, the leaders of Syria and the world leaders who are deciding on what level they want to be involved I was reminded of that meeting on the road to Damascus.
Along with my continued prayers for those mentioned above I am praying the leaders of Syria, specifically President Asaad and other decision makers, I am praying they would encounter the risen Christ in such a way their only choice is to fall flat on their face and worship Him. I am praying for a conversion so dramatic it would change a dictator who has poisoned his own people to a man who follows Jesus and loves the world the way He does.
Saul was a "Jew of Jews" and was so zealous in his faith he persucuted the first followers of Christ and was present at the death of the first martyr, Stephen. God changed Saul's heart and renamed him Paul. Paul went on to be a man who wrote most of the New Testament.
2000 years ago in Syria God completely changed a man and caused his life to do a 180. He's done it before and I'm praying that, by a miracle only He can accomplish, it happens again!
Every time I hear the word "Damascus" I think of the meeting Saul had with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. I think of Annanias and His obedience. I think of God changing Saul's name to Paul because Saul had died and became a new creation.
The other day I was thinking about the current situation in Syria. I was reading reports of one of the world's oldest Christan churches being destroyed. In that moment I thought of Saul's conversion.
As I'm praying for the people of Syria, the leaders of Syria and the world leaders who are deciding on what level they want to be involved I was reminded of that meeting on the road to Damascus.
Along with my continued prayers for those mentioned above I am praying the leaders of Syria, specifically President Asaad and other decision makers, I am praying they would encounter the risen Christ in such a way their only choice is to fall flat on their face and worship Him. I am praying for a conversion so dramatic it would change a dictator who has poisoned his own people to a man who follows Jesus and loves the world the way He does.
Saul was a "Jew of Jews" and was so zealous in his faith he persucuted the first followers of Christ and was present at the death of the first martyr, Stephen. God changed Saul's heart and renamed him Paul. Paul went on to be a man who wrote most of the New Testament.
2000 years ago in Syria God completely changed a man and caused his life to do a 180. He's done it before and I'm praying that, by a miracle only He can accomplish, it happens again!
Getting there!
In the past week I have been to the City's fitness & aquatic center three times, with improvements each time!
The first time I went was Friday 9/6. I did 2 minutes on the eliptical before my legs got too tired and I moved to the treadmill. I walked on the treadmill for just under 17 minutes until my legs started getting so red and itchy I had to quit. I was going between 3.5 and 4.0 MPH and kept my heart rate right around 140.
Saturday evening I had a little problem with my old nemesis, shin splints, but I iced them and that helped.
Wednesday 9/11 I squeezed another trip in (it was a busy day of errands and an optometrist appt. so it would've been easy to skip). Wednesday I was able to do 5 minutes on the eliptical and then did 30 minutes on the treadmill. I walked at about the same pace I did on Friday, but I didn't need to stop because of my legs. YAY!
Wednesday I felt so good afterwards I remember thinking, "I wish I could go Thursday . . . " That is NOT me. I'm lazy and despise working out so that thought absolutely shocked me.
Thursday I had no problems with my shins hurting me, though my glutes were a little sore. I'm considering the sore glutes a good thing meaning I'm making progress. They weren't "Oh.My.Goodness! I can't move!" sore . . . just a little reminder that muscles were being worked :)
Today I went straight to the gym after dropping my daughter off at preschool (the previous two mornings were a little later in the day because of appointments and other things that needed to be done). It was a little more crowded this time and all 4 treadmills were busy when I got there. I did the elipitcal for 5 minutes and then a treadmill opened up. About 17ish minutes into using the treadmill I changed one of the settings and then the whole thing stopped and wouldn't re-start. I'm sure it was human error, but by then another machine opened up so I went there. (3 are the same type and one is a bit different. It was the different one I had issues with). Though my goal was just to do about 13 minutes on the second treadmill to finish what I'd already started, I ended up going another 30 full minutes! I had to slow down a little because I was getting a stich in my side. I also noticed my shins were starting to hurt so I let up a little bit.
Time will tell how I feel tomorrow, but right now I'm pretty proud of myself that I've been able to go 3x in the past 7 days. Looking at next week I should be able to go at least twice and may be able to go 3x!
The first time I went was Friday 9/6. I did 2 minutes on the eliptical before my legs got too tired and I moved to the treadmill. I walked on the treadmill for just under 17 minutes until my legs started getting so red and itchy I had to quit. I was going between 3.5 and 4.0 MPH and kept my heart rate right around 140.
Saturday evening I had a little problem with my old nemesis, shin splints, but I iced them and that helped.
Wednesday 9/11 I squeezed another trip in (it was a busy day of errands and an optometrist appt. so it would've been easy to skip). Wednesday I was able to do 5 minutes on the eliptical and then did 30 minutes on the treadmill. I walked at about the same pace I did on Friday, but I didn't need to stop because of my legs. YAY!
Wednesday I felt so good afterwards I remember thinking, "I wish I could go Thursday . . . " That is NOT me. I'm lazy and despise working out so that thought absolutely shocked me.
Thursday I had no problems with my shins hurting me, though my glutes were a little sore. I'm considering the sore glutes a good thing meaning I'm making progress. They weren't "Oh.My.Goodness! I can't move!" sore . . . just a little reminder that muscles were being worked :)
Today I went straight to the gym after dropping my daughter off at preschool (the previous two mornings were a little later in the day because of appointments and other things that needed to be done). It was a little more crowded this time and all 4 treadmills were busy when I got there. I did the elipitcal for 5 minutes and then a treadmill opened up. About 17ish minutes into using the treadmill I changed one of the settings and then the whole thing stopped and wouldn't re-start. I'm sure it was human error, but by then another machine opened up so I went there. (3 are the same type and one is a bit different. It was the different one I had issues with). Though my goal was just to do about 13 minutes on the second treadmill to finish what I'd already started, I ended up going another 30 full minutes! I had to slow down a little because I was getting a stich in my side. I also noticed my shins were starting to hurt so I let up a little bit.
Time will tell how I feel tomorrow, but right now I'm pretty proud of myself that I've been able to go 3x in the past 7 days. Looking at next week I should be able to go at least twice and may be able to go 3x!
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Who needs a plan???
September 12, 2003 was the night I had dreamt of for years. There were times I never thought it would happen. I had given up on the dream for a time, but 10 years ago the man I'd prayed for most of my adult life asked me to be his wife.
My husband and I met in November, 2002 and went on our first date a month later. After only 2 dates he bought a Christmas ornament that said "Our First Christmas Together, 2002" that he didn't show me until after we were engaged. After only about 4 dates Steve was telling his best friend since 3rd grade that he'd met "The One" and was asking his nieces how they'd feel about having me as an aunt (I'm only 6 years older than the oldest).
In February, 2003 he told me he'd turned down a job he'd wanted for years because it would mean moving to CA and "There's someone worth staying for." (Never mind I was a flight attendant with free flight benefits so we could've made it work). He didn't tell me about the job offer until after he'd turned it down.
In March, 2003 we talked about how we knew we were going to get married, but (in his words), "I'm not ready to ask you, yet." Since we were 26 & 36 I was a bit confused as to what he was waiting for (we both had jobs, he was established in his career, he owned his house, etc. so I couldn't see what he was waiting on). Even before the conversation I knew what he was thinking because 3x in a week he'd mentioned he wore a size 10.5 and wanted a solid gold band.
From the time of that conversation I mentally started calculating WHEN we could get married. I'd have thoughts like "Ok, if he asks me by April we can get married in September." When April came and went it was, "If he asks me by my birthday we can get married in November." I tortured myself with those thoughts for MONTHS.
In mid-July it was HOT (Phoenix in July is it's own brand of crazy stick-your-head-in-the-oven HOT) and we decided to walk around the mall that was across the street from my apartment to take advantage of the air conditioning. While we were there he ended up taking me into a few jewelry stores. I was so nervous I ended up trying rings on my right pointer finger! :) Silly Heidi.
I found a ring that day, but he told me to keep looking to see if there was anything I liked better. (Our deal was that I'd pick out the setting, but he'd pick out the diamond).
A few weeks after we'd gone looking at rings he had a rough day at work and called the person who'd offered him the job in CA and asked if it was still available because he was interested. I found out about this when I was on a layover in the Las Vegas airport and was listening to a voicemail from him where he ended his message by saying, "As for us, we'll still be together. I guess it just means getting married earlier than we'd planned." I was thinking, "Um . . . I don't know what you're planning, but I'm ready NOW!" I joke he proposed to my voicemail that night :)
About this time my parents moved from my hometown in California to Arizona. Because of commitments in CA my dad stayed behind there for a few months while my mom moved earlier to start work.
Over Labor Day weekend we had gone to his best friend's wedding reception and had tickets to see "O" at the Bellagio while we were in town. (His friend lived in a suburb of Las Vegas). I had thought for sure we were getting engaged while we were there. WRONG.
That was all just the background. Here's where the story gets good :)
One Sunday in September we were back at the mall across the street from my apartment and stopped back in to the jewelry store to see if I still liked the ring we'd first seen a few months earlier. While we were there Steve started looking at wedding rings for himself (He surprised himself when he liked one that wasn't solid gold, as he'd previously thought. He also found out he wasn't a 10.5)
The next night my mom and I had dinner because Steve met with his accountability partner on Monday nights. While at dinner I asked my mom if she wanted to see the rings we'd picked out so we went to the mall. We walked in to the mall and headed straight for the jewelry store my Steve and I had been at the day before.
When my mom & I walked into the store we were helped by the lady who had helped Steve & I the day before. The lady recognized me and said "Oh! I have your ring right here (on her finger). I need to put it back because someone else was just looking at it." My mom suggested I call Steve and tell him he needed to come buy it before someone else did. The saleslady said, "Yes! Call him!", but I refused. I didn't want to call and say "Come buy my ring before some other girl gets it." My mom and I left and wandered around a bit more.
As we were leaving the mall parking lot we were at a red light and my mom said "Isn't that Steve's truck?" He was in the next lane, one car length ahead of him. Because he lived 30 miles from my apartment there was only one reason I could think of that he'd be there. I pulled out my cell phone and, when he answered his, I asked "So . . . what are you doing at the Chandler mall?" He asked, "What makes you think I'm at the Chandler mall?" and I told him "Because my mom and I are right next to you at the red light" BUSTED! He then asked, "Well . . . since you know I'm down here, can I come over? I'll be over as soon as I hit up the drive through". My mom dropped me off at my place and headed home to give Steve and I some space.
Once at my apartment the story came out. He said, "Well, you probably know what I was doing there." Uh huh :D
Steve had cancelled accountability to buy my ring. He'd spent over an hour selecting my stone and went to his truck to transfer money and to get his checkbook. It was during the few minutes he was at his truck that my mom and I walked in. The saleslady wanted me to call him because she wanted him to know I was there. Just after my mom and I left he walked back in. The ladies who were working got very excited and were telling him "She's here with her mom! You just missed her! We wanted her to call you so you'd know". One lady rang up his transaction while the other stood outside the store watching for my mom and I. At one point we passed back past the store and the lady who was ringing him up basically shoved him into the back room so I would see him. If it weren't for my mom noticing his truck at the light he would've made his escape without me knowing. Steve also told me he was going to pick it up Tuesday night since the stone still needed to be set so he asked if he could come over that night. Of course, I agreed! :)
That Tuesday night was torture because I knew he had it in his possession (come to find out it was in his pocket the whole time we were hanging out). Actually, the rest of the week was torture since I knew he had it. :)
Thursday night we ended up buying his wedding ring. Yes, I bought his before he gave me mine :) Believe it or not there's more to THAT story that I'm not sharing since this is long enough.
Friday night we went out to dinner afterwards we decided to go on a drive into the forest to go see the stars. Later he told me he wished he'd had the ring on him because it would've been the perfect place to ask me, but he was still holding on to his "plan" and our star gazing trip was an impromptu one so he wasn't prepared. After we got back to his house that night we just were sitting together. At one point he asked me, "So . . . would your dad be ok if I called him tomorrow??" A little while later he just came out and asked, "Will you marry me?". OF COURSE I said, "YES!!". We kissed and then he went and got the ring out of it's hiding spot.
In the end he decided not to wait just for the sake of a plan and we got engaged while sitting on the couch his parents had handed down to him when he bought his house in 1997. :D
That was 10 years ago today :)
My husband and I met in November, 2002 and went on our first date a month later. After only 2 dates he bought a Christmas ornament that said "Our First Christmas Together, 2002" that he didn't show me until after we were engaged. After only about 4 dates Steve was telling his best friend since 3rd grade that he'd met "The One" and was asking his nieces how they'd feel about having me as an aunt (I'm only 6 years older than the oldest).
In February, 2003 he told me he'd turned down a job he'd wanted for years because it would mean moving to CA and "There's someone worth staying for." (Never mind I was a flight attendant with free flight benefits so we could've made it work). He didn't tell me about the job offer until after he'd turned it down.
In March, 2003 we talked about how we knew we were going to get married, but (in his words), "I'm not ready to ask you, yet." Since we were 26 & 36 I was a bit confused as to what he was waiting for (we both had jobs, he was established in his career, he owned his house, etc. so I couldn't see what he was waiting on). Even before the conversation I knew what he was thinking because 3x in a week he'd mentioned he wore a size 10.5 and wanted a solid gold band.
From the time of that conversation I mentally started calculating WHEN we could get married. I'd have thoughts like "Ok, if he asks me by April we can get married in September." When April came and went it was, "If he asks me by my birthday we can get married in November." I tortured myself with those thoughts for MONTHS.
In mid-July it was HOT (Phoenix in July is it's own brand of crazy stick-your-head-in-the-oven HOT) and we decided to walk around the mall that was across the street from my apartment to take advantage of the air conditioning. While we were there he ended up taking me into a few jewelry stores. I was so nervous I ended up trying rings on my right pointer finger! :) Silly Heidi.
I found a ring that day, but he told me to keep looking to see if there was anything I liked better. (Our deal was that I'd pick out the setting, but he'd pick out the diamond).
A few weeks after we'd gone looking at rings he had a rough day at work and called the person who'd offered him the job in CA and asked if it was still available because he was interested. I found out about this when I was on a layover in the Las Vegas airport and was listening to a voicemail from him where he ended his message by saying, "As for us, we'll still be together. I guess it just means getting married earlier than we'd planned." I was thinking, "Um . . . I don't know what you're planning, but I'm ready NOW!" I joke he proposed to my voicemail that night :)
About this time my parents moved from my hometown in California to Arizona. Because of commitments in CA my dad stayed behind there for a few months while my mom moved earlier to start work.
Over Labor Day weekend we had gone to his best friend's wedding reception and had tickets to see "O" at the Bellagio while we were in town. (His friend lived in a suburb of Las Vegas). I had thought for sure we were getting engaged while we were there. WRONG.
That was all just the background. Here's where the story gets good :)
One Sunday in September we were back at the mall across the street from my apartment and stopped back in to the jewelry store to see if I still liked the ring we'd first seen a few months earlier. While we were there Steve started looking at wedding rings for himself (He surprised himself when he liked one that wasn't solid gold, as he'd previously thought. He also found out he wasn't a 10.5)
The next night my mom and I had dinner because Steve met with his accountability partner on Monday nights. While at dinner I asked my mom if she wanted to see the rings we'd picked out so we went to the mall. We walked in to the mall and headed straight for the jewelry store my Steve and I had been at the day before.
When my mom & I walked into the store we were helped by the lady who had helped Steve & I the day before. The lady recognized me and said "Oh! I have your ring right here (on her finger). I need to put it back because someone else was just looking at it." My mom suggested I call Steve and tell him he needed to come buy it before someone else did. The saleslady said, "Yes! Call him!", but I refused. I didn't want to call and say "Come buy my ring before some other girl gets it." My mom and I left and wandered around a bit more.
As we were leaving the mall parking lot we were at a red light and my mom said "Isn't that Steve's truck?" He was in the next lane, one car length ahead of him. Because he lived 30 miles from my apartment there was only one reason I could think of that he'd be there. I pulled out my cell phone and, when he answered his, I asked "So . . . what are you doing at the Chandler mall?" He asked, "What makes you think I'm at the Chandler mall?" and I told him "Because my mom and I are right next to you at the red light" BUSTED! He then asked, "Well . . . since you know I'm down here, can I come over? I'll be over as soon as I hit up the drive through". My mom dropped me off at my place and headed home to give Steve and I some space.
Once at my apartment the story came out. He said, "Well, you probably know what I was doing there." Uh huh :D
Steve had cancelled accountability to buy my ring. He'd spent over an hour selecting my stone and went to his truck to transfer money and to get his checkbook. It was during the few minutes he was at his truck that my mom and I walked in. The saleslady wanted me to call him because she wanted him to know I was there. Just after my mom and I left he walked back in. The ladies who were working got very excited and were telling him "She's here with her mom! You just missed her! We wanted her to call you so you'd know". One lady rang up his transaction while the other stood outside the store watching for my mom and I. At one point we passed back past the store and the lady who was ringing him up basically shoved him into the back room so I would see him. If it weren't for my mom noticing his truck at the light he would've made his escape without me knowing. Steve also told me he was going to pick it up Tuesday night since the stone still needed to be set so he asked if he could come over that night. Of course, I agreed! :)
That Tuesday night was torture because I knew he had it in his possession (come to find out it was in his pocket the whole time we were hanging out). Actually, the rest of the week was torture since I knew he had it. :)
Thursday night we ended up buying his wedding ring. Yes, I bought his before he gave me mine :) Believe it or not there's more to THAT story that I'm not sharing since this is long enough.
Friday night we went out to dinner afterwards we decided to go on a drive into the forest to go see the stars. Later he told me he wished he'd had the ring on him because it would've been the perfect place to ask me, but he was still holding on to his "plan" and our star gazing trip was an impromptu one so he wasn't prepared. After we got back to his house that night we just were sitting together. At one point he asked me, "So . . . would your dad be ok if I called him tomorrow??" A little while later he just came out and asked, "Will you marry me?". OF COURSE I said, "YES!!". We kissed and then he went and got the ring out of it's hiding spot.
In the end he decided not to wait just for the sake of a plan and we got engaged while sitting on the couch his parents had handed down to him when he bought his house in 1997. :D
That was 10 years ago today :)
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