Edge Of Life

He awoke one morning, dressed and went to work . . . as he always did. The elevator whisked him to the one-hundreth floor, to his roost above the greatest city in the world . . . as it always did. He walked to his desk, turned on his computer, checked his email . . . as he always did, and suddenly, without warning, chaos exploded all around him! Terror seized his mind, and fear clutched the pit of his stomach. Hellish heat smothered him. The windows that were never open were blown out and gaped open now. The heat and wind and cries of distress hammered his senses. A workmate grabbed his arms, "Help me!" Together they rushed to the elevators, and found they no longer worked. Smoke poured up the stairway forcing them back. The heat and, now, the flames and the smoke pushed them toward the window holes. Gasping for air, with the flames licking, leaping and closing quickly, they made their decision . . . holding hands they stood at the edge of life on the ledge of death and jumped . . . .

A Prayer begins . . .

Heavenly Father, the horror of it all. Commercial jets, carrying hijacked victims, crashing like cruise missiles into floors and floors of innocent people. Thousands dead and buried in crumbled rubble. We are shocked and grieving. Help the injured and their families and help the families of the dead. Woe is man. His dark will has wreaked havoc again. Where is victory over sin and death? Where? . . . . Where? . . . . Only in you.

Read every verse in the left column and on the banner! Clickle one or all and see a beautiful color graphic of each!

Two selected book quotations begin . . .

Grieving Often Starts With Numbness

June Cerza Kolf, When Will I Stop Hurting? Dealing With a Recent Death, Baker Books, 1987, pp. 30, 31.
SoAmazing.com

Category: Christian Living
ISBN: 0801054877
Keywords: grief, stages, grieving, defined, normal, comfort, recovery, shock, numbness, sighing, crying, anger, depression, Baker Books, Kolf, June Cerza Kolf

"Grief work can be divided into five basic stages that will be experienced by most grieving people. These stages do not have to be in any particular order and they can be repeated. Merely knowing that there are defined stages and recognizing them can bring comfort. It is reassuring to know that these stages are normal occurrences in a world where nothing seems normal any longer.

Grief is the process of coming to terms with the changes which will take place when a loved one is removed from our lives. The stages are all steps along the path to recovery.

The first stage commonly experienced is shock. As the numbness from the shock wears off, sighing replaces the stabs of pain. Along with the shock and sighing is the most necessary of the stages, crying. It would be a mistake to try to hold back tears. They are a language which will express anguish in a way words cannot.

The most confusing of the stages is anger. It is often experienced with a frightening, new intensity, causing guilt to hide around every corner, creeping up frequently. In addition to these stages, the feeling of depression hovers in between, stands beside, and moves around constantly."

SoAmazing Review: When Will I Stop Hurting provides helpful advice for those who are grieving. It is a process that takes time and includes five identifiable stages: shock, sighing, crying, anger and depression. These stages can come in any order and may be repeated.

Buy When Will I Stop Hurting? Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

Ruth Brings Forth A Child

Francine Rivers, Unshaken, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2001, pp. 127, 128. The focus is on Ruth, one of the five unlikely women who changed eternity. This is the third book in the Lineage of Grace series.    SoAmazing.com

Category: Fiction
ISBN: 0842335978
Keywords: Boaz, Ruth, Naomi, Obed, wedding, Infant, swaddling clothes, heir, firstborn, son, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Rivers, Francine Rivers

"Ruth gave birth nine months after the wedding festivities. Sinking back and resting against the bedding, she watched Naomi take the infant and wash him, salt him, and carefully wrap him in swaddling clothes. 'He is beautiful,' Naomi wept, holding him close. 'So beautiful.' She carried him from the room and Ruth turned her face to the wall with tears spilling silently.

Boaz came to her later. She had risen from her bed, dressed and was sitting in the doorway to the garden, watching Naomi walk around with the baby. Boaz drew up a stool and sat beside her. 'Naomi will no longer be called Mara.'

Ruth looked at him. He was gazing into the garden as she had, but she couldn't read the expression on his face. 'Thank you,' she said softly.

He didn't look at her. 'Don't thank me for doing what was right.' His voice was rough with emotion.

'You have given up your firstborn son to be heir for another man's family.'

'It is our way, Ruth.'

'No. It wasn't Rishon's way. It is your way, Boza. You have put others ahead of yourself.'

He looked at her. 'Do not praise me too highly, Ruth. I struggle between my duty and my desire.' He looked away. 'I am a man like any other.'

She blinked back tears, wanting to cry out that he wasn't anything like others she had known. Not even Mahon, whom she had loved so much, would have done what Boaz did.

'Do you want his name to be Mahlon?' Boaz said quietly, still watching Namomi sitting on a stone bench beneath an olive tree.

'Let his name be Obed.' A servant.

'So be it. Naomi will never have to fear being alone in her old age.' Boaz said.

'Nor will you.'"

SoAmazing Review: Francine Rivers displays her magnificent writing gifts in Unshaken, bringing to life the admirable characters of two strong women and the loving heart of a man of God. Boaz is a type of Christ, and Rivers highlights the amazing parallels.

Buy Unshaken Now!   Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Christianbook.

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