Laura-Lee Was Here

Laura-Lee Was Here

October 28, 2014

The Night Mom Passed Away

Hours alone in a room, where my suffering mother lay,
here's what happened ...

The Night Mom Passed Away

by Laura-Lee Rahn 
Sept. 13, 2014

Dry as dust
In he came
His eyes downcast
And all in chain
Not preening and strutting
As I'd been dreading
But a loathsome slave
Fearful and forgetting
Cringing in the presence of his King
For one mere second
Allowed to do his "thing"

Once done, the light erupted
As her life was momentarily disrupted
Then followed by Light and Life much greater!
Could they do less in the presence of their Creator?

In everlasting arms and with his Right Hand,
I saw so clear my Master's Plan:
We all must die to corruption and pain
To know what it is to rise again.

So into that room
Where Death crept
From sorrow and despair
Up She Lept
(and that applied to me and Mom both
joined one more time in that moment of hope)
Amid disease and death and gloom
I knew the joy of the Delivery Room
Not Life to Death, as some suppose
But reborn forever
Up ...  She ...  Rose ~~~

Her journey complete and winter done
Jesus said, "Come with me my Beautiful One.
I've waited long. You're mine at last.
Take my hand. It's time we dance."
Oh, how the Lord does love a feast!
And I'll join in when I'm released
But there's room for more
No need to shove
His banner over us is always love 

* Inspired by "Song of Songs" (NIV) and the real life events  

June 28, 2014

A Poem by Me

( Inspired by the poem "I Prayed for You Today" Not by Me)

I prayed for you today
And I know God heard
He answered in my heart
Though spoke not a word

I didn't ask for money
Though everything has cost
I asked for Heavenly wealth
It can't be lost
I asked Him to send mercy
New to you each day
To grant you health
To give you peace
And a friend to share your way
I asked that you'd find joy
In all things big or small
And that you'd discover Jesus
Who loves you most of all.

                                                                     ~ llr 

May 17, 2014

It FINALLY Happened

Since I adopted my cat, MONTY, you've all been waiting to see how long it takes before I cross over and become "a cat person" and stick up a picture of my cat as the main blog photo. So mark the date. It has "finally" happened. Whenever I have to go out, this is the expression MONTY gives me. The really weird/great thing is that it's the exact same expression MOM used to have whenever she would see me off. Love is love and it's nice to appreciated and missed. 

I am at the library and stopped by to see what's been going on at my blog. Apparently, since my last post where "you amazed me", you are still amazing me. I had almost 500 views here during the month of April and I've only done 3 posts for the entire year so far. Maybe I should just never come back and I'd be massively famous! I'm just kidding. I am continuing to be amazed that you are stopping by both to see if I've posted anything new and to read older posts. (there are almost 200 of them at this blog alone). All that spells out  that you care about me and what I have to say. Which means more to me than I could ever express at this time in my life.

God keeps telling me about a "remnant". So many times in the Bible there was someone God loved and they had nobody in their lives. Or at least, nobody who wasn't out to get them. But God kept encouraging them by saying that what they were seeing in their everyday lives is NOT what was really happening. There was a group of people that God had kept separate for Himself. It makes me wonder how many other people "out there" who, judges from their circumstances, think they are completely alone. But in truth, all of us are alone ... together. I am praying for you. We have something HUGE in common beyond our "alone-ness". God is with us and He dealing with us individually but knows we are a group. Maybe not a large group, but a faithful one. As times get tougher and more people turn away, keep going back to the Lord as your main source of everything. Because when everyone is gone, (and I mean everyone) He remains. 
Live by "faith, not by sight" and "seek his kingdom and his righteousness" and you will NEVER go wrong.

As for me, He has shown me amazing things. In the quiet, in the darkness, in the suffering, in our alone times and in our prayers, ... we draw the closest to him. Those are the true riches.

Laura-Lee was here ... and still is. 

P.S. As for MONTY, ... he has become rather famous through these pages. He has his own fan club, is demanding his own Blog and there are talks about a TV movie. (and I think he's hiring a new agent/manager behind my back) I've created a Monster! But he is a cute one. Just look at the picture. (at least I don't have him dressed in little out-fits and costumes. Yet.) 

May 05, 2014

God's Word

“Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”   

(Exodus 14:13-14)

February 27, 2014

You Amaze Me

I haven't had Internet at home since the beginning of December 2013 and this is only the second time I've been able to come to my blog and check on things.
Even though I am not currently posting here, I am still getting approximately 400 views a month and another 300 over at my other blog, "The Bible and the Biz".
(Are you taking the time to read up on some of my past posts? There are about 200 of them.)
                              
Grief is a hard thing to deal with, but actually it has been losing my closest family members at the same time that Mom died that has left me truly wiped out. I thought the reason that the letters, cards and emails I send all the time weren't being responded to was because every one's lives are so much busier than mine. In truth, they've probably just been trying to give me the brush off and I was too stupid to figure it out. Since nobody has given me a reason for this massive exodus from my life, I have been left feeling confused, puzzled and extremely embarrassed (not to mention like a piece of trash). So many times I have wondered what in the world I'm still doing here. Why hasn't God taken me home too?

Right now, I'm at the library using their computer. A poor man came in from the cold -25 degree evening and started asking people for money to get some dinner. He was polite and humble and was met with hostility and rudeness. They were just getting ready to kick him out when I motioned him over and gave him $10. And believe me when I say that it was a very precious $10 to me. But I felt led to make the sacrifice and give it to him. 
As soon as I gave him the money, he thanked me and left quietly . Then, much to my amazement, the people in the library turned on me. We are all sitting around a big table that has computer stations and they all decided to give me a piece of their mind. I was called "naive", "stupid", lectured to about what that man was going to really do with the money (buy drugs) and "the reason the economy is in such a mess is because of people like you". I sat here silent and stunned. But they actually stared at me and wanted me to explain and justify my actions. With everyone looking at me my mind went blank and I wished the floor would open up and swallow me. But I finally said, "He might not use that money for food, but I'm only responsible for my decisions and actions not his." There was some shoulder shrugging and a lot of head shaking, but they finally went back to their computers. (we all only get an hour before we have to hand them over to someone else)

When Mom died last year she had no funeral service and made only one request: That people would honor her memory by giving a donation to the "Hope Mission", which feeds the homeless people in our city. Mom lived 72 years opening her home and heart to whomever had a need. But after all that giving, only one person made a donation in her memory. In fact, many people (and the majority of them Christians) believe that if someone is poor it is because God wants them to be. He is punishing them for their lack of faith or "secret sins" or whatever. Apparently they ignore the fact that almost every person who preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Bible was poor and imprisoned and eventually killed for following Jesus.

I don't know what has become of the world. I feel like I'm on another planet. Yet there is a part deep inside of me that KNOWS this is not the way to live. Only 20 years ago what happened to me at the library would not have occurred (a lone woman berated for giving $10 to a person begging for food). There must be other people out there who yearn for something different too. For a home that is also a haven. A place where they will be supported, appreciated, accepted, loved and can love people back without any fear of  rejection. Where they can use their talents and abilities, (be they big or small) to make a contribution and  be  valued for it. Where they can stay for a short while to be refreshed away from the world OR live out the remainder of their lives not having to worry what will happen to them when they get old or sick, because they will always be surrounded by people who will care for them and about them. This is my dream. It may be a simple one, but sitting here amongst strangers who are angry at me for giving a man $10 because he said he was hungry,  I yearn for a place like that. Maybe that's why you still come here. Do you see hints of that life in my stories and posts? But whatever reason you have for coming here, I do most sincerely appreciate it and at this moment in my life more than ever before. You have made me feel that I might have some worth. You have penetrated my darkness. You amaze me.

I don't know if or when I'll be back (the library isn't feeling too friendly to me right now), but Laura-Lee Was Here and YOU made it worth the visit.

Love, Laura-Lee

February 05, 2014

Poem

Twilight tames; sun dips low
No might remains; heart beats slow

A bursting past, but lonely ending
Life too fast for friendship mending?

People gone; no sound to hear
A still small voice, says Christ is near

Body aches, but spirit bright
No day break, yet no dark night

Why follow on when trials stayed?
God's dead Son, in cold tomb layed

Life is killed; pain is prime
But promises filled at Resurrection time!

Finally united; Bride finds peace
All invited to the Wedding Feast.

 ~~ LLR ~~
Edmonton, Alberta