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Showing posts from November, 2014

Sunday Journeys to the Far East

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                                     Memories of Eastern Long Island   Long Island grew longer on Sundays. As a child, forced to endure family drives out east, I was sure of it. Dad said it was 118 miles long, but it seemed more like a million. We lived in Mount Sinai, a town on the north shore, almost halfway between New York City and the eastern tip of Long Island. The drive always took about three hours with traffic and stopping along the way. From a kid’s point of view, that was way too long to sit in a car—but Dad promised we’d have surprises on the trip. And we usually did.   Mt. Sinai sat smack in the middle of the Island’s suburbs where new mini-malls grew every few months. We were never more than five minutes from a Long Islander’s necessities: pizza, bagels, ice cream and a hair salon. Traveling east brought us away the malls and into the new sights, sounds and smells of farmland. For my sister and I who only saw milk at 7-11’s, spotting a clu

Celebration Time!

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    It’s time for celebrating! Our house is done. Two years after Super Storm Sandy flooded and ruined our home, it is done—all because of Samaritan’s Purse Ministries.   This Tuesday, November 18 th , at 3:00 we will welcome the Samaritan’s Purse staff and volunteers, family, friends and everyone else who wants to share this special time with us. They call it a house dedication. After eleven months of Samaritan’s Purse people devoting their time and energy into rebuilding our home, we have this opportunity to thank them and give God the glory for it all. They will pray a blessing over our home as we pray for every person who came.   After the storm, we felt discouraged, trying to cling to our hope in the Lord. We had faith that God was in control, but still struggled with how we could ever get back to normal. Then Samaritan’s Purse teams arrived. Every week a different team of volunteers wearing their orange t-shirts pulled up in va

What NOT to Design

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  Sunlight seeped through the cracks of New York City skyscrapers and glistened on the sewing needle in my hand. I guided it through the black linen and sewed the fourteenth button on the dress I designed. What was I thinking? Sixteen more buttons to go and my term garment was due in three hours. A term garment was the Fashion Institute of Technology equivalent of a final exam.   Back at the sketching stage, a full-length dress with thirty buttons and a jacket looked nice, made the dress unique. I should’ve foreseen the days of all-nighters I’d have.   Three hours? My stomach twisted like a garlic knot; my eyelids were determined to close; and my finger bled needle-size raindrops. Thank God the fabric wasn’t white.    All I wanted was sleep. Ginina slept peacefully. As Ms. Perfect Interior Design major, she finished her project early. Of course. Probably dreaming about her model boyfriend back home in Costa Rica . No, I wasn’t jealous…maybe a teeny tiny pea size