Weeds

The front of my house has a rock garden. Tom and I decided that grass was an unnecessary evil that needed too much maintenance. So we put a tarp type material on the ground and covered it with rocks. We’ve added some plants and flowers to make everything look pretty. This seemed like a good idea because it would be easy to take care of. Being a girl from Brooklyn, I’m not much of a gardener. I don’t know the names of plants or trees, I just appreciate their beauty.

In years past I’ve had a black thumb. Every house plant I tried to grow would die a horrible death. It was sad. Someone would give me a beautiful plant and I would apologize for its short life span. I’ve gotten plants guaranteed to live through dire circumstances, only to be murdered by my hands. Then one day eight years ago, it happened. Someone gave me a plant (I have no idea what type it was) but it lived. It broke the spell of the black thumb. Now I can’t kill a house plant if I tried.

Let’s go back to my outside garden. It looks really nice except for one thing – weeds. In years past if I started to kill the weeds when I first seen them, it wasn’t so bad. Taking care of them one at a time was easy. This year has been so busy and I’ve been sick that the weed population has gotten out of control. The one morning I had time to work in the garden, it rained and I couldn’t do anything about spraying.

God has been speaking to me about weeds lately. What are the things that pop up and try to choke the beauty around me? What are the things that start off small and look harmless, but if left unattended get out of control? Isn’t it better to spray it, pull it out and get rid of it, when there is only one weed to deal with? The weeds in my life are the things that will stop me from reaching my destiny in Him. It’s the things that will slow me down on the road God is taking me. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. I need to not let the weeds fester in my garden so that it doesn’t get out of hand.

Lord, make me a good gardener of the soil that is my life. Help me to take care of the weeds before they get out of control. Keep me on the road You have for me. Let my life be good soil that You can plant Your garden in.

© Nadine Z. 2007

I Had a Bad Experience

I just want to start off by saying how touched I am by all of you who read my blog. Thank you for all your prayers and kind words. I’m feeling better today. I should be getting more answers next week regarding the tests I had yesterday.

Dr. R is a gastroenterologist who was performing the two tests yesterday which were an esophagogastroduodensocopy (EGD) and a colonoscopy. These are not fun test but they’re not the worse test that there are. I know about bad tests, my husband had gone through some really nasty ones. So I wasn’t worried, they give you good drugs and you’re totally out of it during the procedure.

What the doctor found was that I have an infection in my esophagus, which is treatable by medication. My stomach is quite red and inflamed and he took a sample and a few more samples from my colon and will get back to me with the results.

I like to revisit the part about staying asleep during the test. I did not. Waking up during a colonoscopy is an experience I wouldn’t anyone to go through. But when I did, I was quite frighten and in pain. I started to cry out. I heard Dr. R. say, “Oh stop it now, don’t be a baby, you’re alright.” That’s right. He said that. The next thing I remember is seeing Tom. He kept saying, “What’s the matter, honey?” I was crying.

I don’t complain about pain. The nurse that put the IV into my hand didn’t do a good job and I knew it would leave a bruise (which it did). The nurse who placed the blood pressure cuff on my arm did so in such a matter that it left marks on my arm. I didn’t say anything. Excuse me if during a very unpleasant test I wake up and cry out in pain, because I’m first confused by what’s going on and I’m on drugs.

Today, as I examine what happened, I’m grateful for one thing – my husband. I would not have made it without him. When I saw his face I felt safe and protected. He was there for me and took great care of me when I got home. I’m truly blessed to have him. Thank you babe, you’re the best.

I extend forgiveness to Dr. R for his unprofessional remarks to a patient who was scared and vulnerable.

Thank you all again for your love and prayers. I’ll be back visiting as many blogs as I can.

My husband started a new series of messages based on a message he preached that is truly excellent. Do yourself a favor and head over to his blog to read it.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Doctor, Doctor

I’m sure all of you are wondering where I’ve been. At least I hope so. I haven’t been to your blogs, which by the way I’ve missed and I haven’t posted anything. The reason is simple, I’ve been very sick with severe stomach trouble.

Today I had a doctor’s appointment with Dr. T, who has been treating my acid reflux. I told her about my troubles last week and I thought I was doing better today. She thought it would be a good idea for me to see another specialist. It usually takes a month or two to get an appointment with a specialist, Dr. T had other ideas. She put a call into Dr. R to see if he could fit me in today. TODAY!!! Hey, why the rush? After I panicked in my head, I asked calmly, “Today, why?” She wanted to rule out a bleeding ulcer. So she sent me to work and told me to wait for her call.

I went back to work and 20 minutes later I receive a call informing I had appointment with the specialist in less than an hour. Hummm, interesting. So I go and see Dr. R who does all kinds of little tests in his office. I have further testing on Wednesday.

So I’ll not be able to have time to blog for the next few days or visit your blogs. I will return and let you all know that everything went well as I know it will.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Ignored Beauty

My husband sent me the above video clip that I found very interesting. It was originally posted by Washington Post Staff Writer, Gene Weingarten. So click on his name to read his article in its entirety. It’s an experiment the Post set up with the cooperation of Joshua Bell, a violin virtuoso.

I found some things interesting about this experiment in human nature. Joshua Bell plays an instrument made in the 1700s by Stradivari valued at $3.5 million dollars. He gets paid $1,000 a minute to perform in concert. Yet in this experiment he played for 43 minutes for free, performed 6 classical pieces while 1,097 people walked by. Granted this is a busy metro in Washington, DC during rush hour. Coming from New York, rush hour is an insane time. Most people are so focused and determined to reach their destination the last thing on their minds is to stop for a “street musician.” Some people did give him money (he made $32.17). Only one person recognized him.

At first glance this was an ordinary looking man, doing an ordinary thing to most people. In reality he’s one of the world’s greatest violinists. So what does that say about society?

How often do we pass by beauty and ignore it? How often do forget to acknowledge beauty around us? How often do we cheapen the beauty that surrounds us by offering it pennies? How often are we in such a rush in our daily lives that we don’t stop and admire beauty?

When Jesus walked the earth how many people recognized His true beauty and that He was the messiah they were waiting for? I’ve wondered if I lived back then would I have been one of those in the crowd that shunned Him or would I have been one of those faithful followers. Would I have come around later on after He rose from the dead?

How often do I ignore, forget to acknowledge, cheapen, and don’t stop to admire God during my day? As I’ve matured in my relationship with the Father, I ignore Him less. But the goodness of God is that even if His beauty is ignored, He’s there to appreciate the beauty in us. He never cheapens it or walks by it. He recognizes how valuable we truly are. He loves us and for this I’m truly grateful.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Let My Pictures Go

It’s a catchy little title, but if you’re patient with me you’ll come to know the reasoning behind it. My friend Diana was so good to take those lovely pictures of me a couple of weeks ago. She placed them on a disc for me to use as I needed. I’ve used them on my blogs and to make business cards.

Tom was away for the last few days teaching in San Diego. I wanted to surprise him by having his favorite picture of me printed. I thought while I was at it, I would also print some pictures to send to my mom. It’s so easy to get prints from your digital camera. All you have to do is take the disc to Wal-Mart or you could even do this online and they print them off. The gal behind the counter told me it would take about 15 minutes. I’m now excited. My plan was to get it framed and have it waiting for him when he got home.

When I came back the conversation went something like this:

Me: “Are my pictures ready.”
Gal: “Yes, but I’m sorry you can’t have them.”
Me: (With a puzzled look on my face) “Why, they are my pictures.”
Gal: “Well a professional photographer took them and the image belongs to her.”
Me: “But she’s my friend and gave me the disc so that I can get them developed.”
Gal: “I understand but she has to sign a release so we can give you your pictures.”
Me: (In my head I’m thinking, “Let my pictures go! It’s for a surprise. Hey they are of me.”) But instead said, “I see. Do you have a release I can bring her to sign?”
Gal: “Yes.” (She hands me a release.)
Me: “Is it all right if I see them.” (Before I pay the ransom I want to make sure they are okay.)
Gal: “Here you go.”

So I totally get it that the artist owns the image they capture. Like a painter would own the picture he paints and so forth. But this was pretty funny to me because I never had a professional photographer take pictures and so I wasn’t aware of the rules.

It got me to thinking about the Artist who created me. I am my own person but I belong to Him when I gave Him my life. He captured my heart 17 years ago. I don’t need Him to sign a release to free me. I am already free. I’ve experienced more freedom in Him than I did without Him. So Lord never let me go. Always keep me near to your heart. Thank You for all that You do in my life.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Google

I don’t know how you feel about Google features, but some of them are cool. I use the image search all the time for my blog. My husband is away teaching a class in San Diego on dreams. He sent me the following instructions from the map feature. If you want to know how to get to London from New York just count on Google to help you find your way.

1. Go to http://www.google.com/
2. Click on “maps”
3. Click on “get directions”
4. Type “New York” in the first box (the “from” box)
5. Type “London” in the second box (the “to” box)
6. Scroll down to step #23

Enough said. Have a nice weekend.

© Nadine Z. 2007

No, Never Give Up, Never Surrender

I don’t know if you ever seen Galaxy Quest, but it’s a silly comedy starring Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver among others. The premise is that Tim Allen was on a television show (Star Trek like) for many years. The former cast now go to conventions where their fans dress up like the characters from the show. (Scary isn’t it.) Anyway “real” aliens think that Tim and company are real and not actors and ask for their help to save their planet. I know it’s really silly, but it is fun. There is one line from the movie that sticks with me and that is, “No, never give up, never surrender.” This line came back to mind this past week.

My husband gave a great sermon this past Sunday about reaching your destiny. I hope he puts it on his blog because it was solid information. His three points were humility, loyalty, and longevity.

Longevity summed up is - if the enemy can’t stop you from reaching your destiny, then he’ll try to trick you into giving up. How often do you see someone get so close to reaching their full potential when suddenly they give and quit because it gets too hard? How often do you see someone propel into ministry and then they fall from grace because of sin?

I love Tom and he knows that I don’t blow smoke about his preaching, but this one has stuck with me all week. I don’t want to do anything in my life that would prevent God from moving on my behalf and propelling me into my destiny. One thing I’ve learned in teaching the classes we have at our church is the importance of character. Someone may have great gifting but if they have no character to sustain it, they fail somewhere along the way. Gifting is great, but character is what matters the most to the Lord.

No matter what God has called you to do, remember character outweighs gifting and never give up, never surrender.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Coffee Bean Man

A friend e-mailed the above picture. Hidden among the coffee beans is a man. Did you find him?

© Nadine Z. 2007

An Encouraging Word

In my last post I shared about an outreach we did at the jail. Our church has been doing outreaches for the last several years. We have a booth at the local fair and local boat races that we set up with signs that read, “Free Dream Interpretation” and “Free Life Readings.” It doesn’t look like a “church” booth and because of it we have gotten to minister to thousands of people through the years. Once a month we open our church up for outreach from 9:00 pm until 2:00 am on a Saturday night. We call it “The Den.” A local band plays, we offer lattes, coffee, and tea, as well as dream interpretation and life readings. This is perfect because our church doesn’t look like a church and we are surrounded by bars and clubs.

We have learned a biblical base method of interpreting dreams and a “life reading” is simply an encouraging prophetic word. A prophetic minister I know once said that he was able to see people’s sins and in the beginning of his ministry would point those things out. He was convicted by the Lord to tell the people something they don’t know. People already know the bad things about themselves and they often have trouble seeing the good. I’ve found that seeing what God sees in them blows them away.

One couple Tom and I gave a word to at the fair told us they were at the booth the year before and the people then told them the same thing we just did. I would say that had a positive impact on their lives because they remembered what was said a year earlier. God is so good.

Anyone can give an encouraging word and many of you who read this blog already do. You have no idea how some of your comments bless me. I’ve been battling with whether or not I should continue writing. I wasn’t sure that anyone would want to read my book or be interested in publishing it. I kept thinking about what I call the American Idol Syndrome (the people who can’t sing but their family and friends tell them how terrific they are and are shocked that the judges didn’t pick them). I didn’t want to be one of those people. Today, I was reading one of the blogs I visit and I recognized she was talking about me. She called me a “real” writer. Well I was truly blessed when I read her words. At that moment I heard God say to me not to give up. So thank you E for your encouraging words.

I try to listen to the Lord in order to say words of encouragement to people around me. I only say what is in my heart to say. I am a person who doesn’t use words of flattery. I say what I mean and I mean what I say. So to all of you who are reading this, let me encourage you to look at those people God has placed in your lives and give them an encouraging word today. Ask the Lord to show you something positive, encouraging about the person and then share it. It can even be the check out lady at the grocery store or the paperboy. You may never know the depth your words will have on someone, but the Father does.

Have a Happy Easter.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Going to Jail

Tuesday night I went to the local prison with my husband and another member of our church. Tom and I used to minister at Riker’s Island (the women division) back in New York. It was different ministering to people who were in what you would imagine to be dire circumstances. Some of them were there simply as a way to get out of their cells and others wanted to hear about God.

Tom bought his guitar to sing and the plan was to just do some dream interpretations and give some life readings (prophetic words). Our church has been trained to interpret dreams from Streams Ministries. It’s a biblical model of dream interpretation.

The men we ministered to have had other church groups come and this is always a treat for them. In June we are going to the prison to teach, Course 101, The Art of Hearing God. Imagine teaching inmates lessons in character, lawlessness and submission to authority, as well as learning to hear God speak. I believe it will make a difference for them.

When the men entered the room (we met in the prison library) they were a bit guarded, but polite. After Tom introduced everyone he started to play and I closed my eyes and could sense the atmosphere in the room being a bit harsh. As we worshipped, I could feel things soften and the mood of the room change. Worship has a way of doing that.

Tom spoke briefly and shared what having cancer has taught us. One of the things he told them was that we enjoy the good days, endure the bad days but keep moving forward. To keep moving forward through it all was the key. He did a great job conveying hope.

He asked if any of them had any dreams. As each dream was interpreted and some prophetic words given you can feel the excitement grow in the room. The men seemed very encouraged. I felt like we imparted some hope to them. You know it’s a good sign when they asked us questions about our church and where it was. I believe we will see some of these guys on a Sunday.

The evening ended with one of the men asking if Tom could sing one more song and if they could pray for Tom’s healing. Imagine that. They wanted to pray for him…how cool. Tom sang one more song and we prayed. It was a good night. So Lord, I pray you protect the seeds of hope that was placed in these men. May they find strength in You.

© Nadine Z. 2007

And the Winner is...

I want to thank all of you who voted. It was a very close race between No. 2 and No. 6, but No. 2 won by one vote.

I've decided to add No. 6 to the book blog, just for fun. So thanks again for all your very kind comments and for helping me pick a picture.

© Nadine Z. 2007

Cast Your Vote

On Saturday, a good friend, Diana Clark graciously helped me out by taking some head shots for me. I needed those done for the bio part of my book proposal. To check out some of Diana’s work click here. She’s a fantastic photographer.

You have to understand I haven’t enjoyed having my picture taken since my wedding. So I was really nervous about this. She was great and made me feel very comfortable and to my surprise I enjoyed myself.

I’m going off the subject of pictures for a moment. Did you ever watch American Idol? Some of those contestants come on the show and their family are there encouraging them, saying how well they sing and such. Then they get in front of the judges and well…you feel so bad for them. They are terrible and you wonder if their family really loved them, they would have told them the truth. They wouldn’t let them go on television to embarrass themselves. That’s how I started to feel about my writing. I suffered a bit of a panic moment this weekend. I started to wonder if my family and friends only told me they liked my book and other things I wrote because they love me. My wonderful husband loved me through it. Thank you babe.

So on Sunday, Diana gave me the disk with my photos on them. I was so thrilled. She did a great job. So I decided I would use one of them on this blog instead of the butterfly picture.

I thought I would make a fun game out of it and ask for your help. I’m having a tough time deciding which one to use. I’ve posted some of the pictures below. Please leave a comment to vote for your favorite if you have one.

No. 1
No. 2

No. 3
No. 4

No. 5 No. 6
© Nadine Z. 2007