Shabbat Inspiration with Diane

Sid and I are here in Florida for this season. It’s hard to believe we’ve been coming to Florida for the last eight winters, the first several times just passing through or staying for a short time, the last several actually living down here for a number of months. Doing so has allowed us to live deeply while here, restoring relationships with family who live nearby as well as experiencing meaningful dialogues and interactions with those here who had never heard of Messianic Jews before meeting us. Each year has brought us into deeper intimacy with HaShem and I can’t wait to see what this season will bring. This year we got a later start than anticipated due to several factors but once... Read More →

As this new year begins, we are once again given an opportunity to start anew, set new goals, look back and move forward to be the person HaShem has created us to be. We are given yet another time to become energized to live life moving closer to walking with Him, a time to choose to do so. Many of you know my sister Wendy who is also a member of Ruach. She has given me permission to write the following. Wendy has been a believer in Yeshua ever since the Oklahoma City bombing. She has walked with Him for so many years and does so in the ways that have been her journey, as is true for all of us. In our busy lives we sometimes find it difficult to do what in our hearts we know we should... Read More →

Do you ever just walk around your house or outdoors and become overwhelmed by God’s blessings? Not all the time (as we probably should), but just now and then when you just can’t help yourself? So it was this morning. I woke up at our home in Maine. Granted, we’re only here for one day. We drove up from MA last evening to drop our dogs off to be taken care of by a lovely family here while we go to Vermont for the holidays. I have a days’ worth of last minute gift wrapping, bills to pay, and other “desk stuff” to attend to after being in Dallas for so long. Yet as I puttered around gathering gift wrap and bills, I looked out the window and said, “Thank you, God, for all t... Read More →

How we don’t know what we don’t know. . . Last Erev Shabbat I flew back from Dallas to Boston. After six weeks with my dear ones and after the passing of my loved one there, it was time to come home. Other loved ones were there to take my place as we could all look forward to being together back in New England for the end of the year holidays coming soon. My music group was up to lead worship on Shabbat morning, and so, I came to rehearsal and assumed Shabbat would be just like I left it, that I would be able to jump right in where I left off so many weeks ago. I was so ready to engage in worship together, yet found it hard to do so. I couldn’t bring myself to chat at oneg, actually... Read More →

The inevitable has happened. My beloved brother-in-law passed on Sunday evening. Although it was expected, it was sooner than anticipated and not without suffering at the end despite the best efforts of hospice. It has been beautiful to see the love that has made this journey the least bit tolerable. The care given by the home health aides has been phenomenal with them checking on his health even when not their day to work. So many family members and friends have been here to help and love on him and support each other, not to mention his loving wife by his side through the end. What was most transfixing were the deep looks of love between him and her. They were not just superficial,... Read More →

A Shabbat encouragement from a couple years ago, still timely today: At this time of year when surrounded by festive lights and reminders of Christmas, we often hear the expression, “’Tis the season!” Although used in the 19th century previous to the well known Christmas carol “Deck the Halls”, that song popularized the expression which has come down through the ages to us today. Over the years its use has expanded beyond the Christmas season reference and has become part of our vernacular. Watch out, ‘tis the season for ticks, for colds. . . . By far the most common usage, however, does relate to this time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. ‘Tis the season to celebrate these festive... Read More →

This week I saw a great movie on Netflix – “Freedom Writers” – a 2007 film depicting the true story of Erin Gruwell (brilliantly portrayed by Hilary Swank), a teacher in Long Beach, CA, who profoundly changed the lives of her students. The story takes place two years after the 1992 Los Angeles riots and gives the viewer an intense window into the darkness these young people endured through lives steeped in gang violence and poverty. Interestingly, a major turning point in her students’ transformations centers around educating them about the Holocaust as they journal and begin to heal their hearts and change their perspectives on themselves, and on life. As these young lives slowly begin... Read More →

Each day being with my loved one whose husband is in hospice has brought me new ways to think about one’s passing, and loving him or her through it. Although it’s a road not easily chosen, to walk alongside the deeply hurting family member as well as the person soon leaving this world, I know it is one important to experience. Last week I shared with you the moments of joy in the small interactions – the lopsided smile, the deep exchange with just our eyes, the squeeze of a hand. This week the eyes are closed, the grip no longer strong, reminding me to cherish each fleeting day. I’ve also learned another important lesson brought home by such a dramatic set of circumstances, and... Read More →

Often when a person knows they have a limited amount of time left, he or she may plan exotic trips or want to try daredevil experiences. Being here with my loved one’s spouse whose every normal function is being diminished daily, I’m instead struck by the beauty of the seemingly small, but most meaningful joys in life. I must admit, when I arrived here the first week since I had not gradually experienced the precipitous decline since my last visit, I couldn’t help but sob at the loss of what was. Seeing my dear one’s shift from walking and feistiness just a few weeks ago to being helpless, bedridden, and unable to communicate other than with his eyes, or with groans when agitated, at... Read More →

I am currently in Dallas at my loved one’s side as she watches her spouse slowly slip away from the effects of brain cancer. As I have traveled here every several weeks over the past few months, it has been shocking to me how dramatically he has slipped, especially between the last visit and this one. Being here so intimately involved in the process of someone leaving this world and entering the next triggers so many thoughts. . . First, it is not really leaving this world and entering the next. Rather, the world we live in and the one we enter after this seem intimately connected in a way we cannot fully understand, and yet, we are given ever growing opportunities to see the spiritual... Read More →

This year we have been blessed with one of the most beautiful fall seasons I can remember. The changing of the leaves seemed to have started even earlier than I remember from previous years, and only this week did we really have a storm that swept through with wind and rain to bring much of the colored foliage down. In past years I would experience the growing change of colors as a beautiful landscape vista. This year that perspective was combined with observations during my jog times with HaShem to notice more detail. The new observances combined with the multiple weeks of beauty allowed the trees to speak to me in new ways: Each individual leaf starts with a touch of color that over... Read More →

I recently heard an NPR interview of a school board member bemoaning the agitated climate at their meetings. He had served on the board for many years on and off so had quite extensive experience of serving during diverse societal times and over a wide variety of comings and goings of board members, as well as during the leadership of different political parties. In his experience, he had never served at a time when the board was so divided as now, often paralyzed to inaction. Many of the same issues that seemingly only affected their own school or school district on topics previously easily reaching consensus now suddenly seemed controversial. How could there be so much disagreement... Read More →

I have written to you before about my belief in angels. Not only have I read about them, but I have experienced them in my own life. I have so many white feather stories! Several years ago, Sid and I were truly rescued by a couple of angels from a disastrous descent on Cadillac Mountain, and I even have a photograph of angels surrounding me during a time of danger, the picture taken with a regular camera, for HaShem does not need our technology! The new thought regards synchronicities – that perfect timing of events when you know it can’t just be coincidence. You know it is God showing up in your life at that moment to remind you of His Presence. I believe that coincidences are... Read More →

Home at last. Well back to Massachusetts at my sister’s for awhile before returning to our actual home in Maine. Our time abroad was so wonderful in so many ways. I had actually not anticipated our trip much beforehand. I had been preoccupied with so many issues that I was really feeling if I went fine, if not, that would be fine too. What I realized when we arrived in Ireland, however, was that it was a very good thing for me to take a break, physically and mentally, from my usual days, not only to get a bit of a rest, but also to reset my perspective. I love my life. I really do. As you know from my weekly writings, it is rich to overflowing with relationships and activities that are... Read More →

Sid and I are continuing our trip this week with an amazing tour of Portugal. I am so impressed with the history of this small country. What a story of magnificence centuries ago with its early maritime and scientific advances before Spain gained supremacy. Portugal’s far reaching influence is evidenced over thousands of miles and centuries in ways that were unknown to me previously. I found it fascinating that the Japanese word for “thank you, “arigato”, comes from the Portuguese, “obrigado”, from the early Portuguese landings in Japan hundreds of years ago. Since then, it has had such a struggle for existence and personal freedoms, not unlike the story of our Jewish ancestors. When... Read More →

Not sure what time it is back home as I write this, but at the moment Sid and I are sitting in a Starbucks in Dublin, Ireland. We had somehow accumulated an inordinate number of Marriott points which turned into a fully paid big trip which we would either use or lose if not used this year, so we booked this trip about six months ago. We decided it would be a meaningful way to celebrate my big birthday last year, Sid’s big birthday next year, and our 18th (chai!) anniversary this year. We’ll be spending a few days here on our own before we connect with a tour of Portugal. The weeks leading up to this day have been filled to overflowing for me. Work has been busy. More than one trip to... Read More →

I recently observed two people carrying on a conversation through a plexiglass window at a bank. Granted, each had on a mask so it was not easy to understand what was being said. I realize in this era of masks how often I actually do aid my hearing by watching the other person’s lips so it was understandable that they were having difficulty. In this case, I was able to understand each person’s comments and could tell that they were not hearing each other since their comments were not responsive to the other person’s comments or questions. They were talking past each other and not able to hear what was being said even though only a small distance separated them. The scene reminded me how... Read More →

I recently saw a video about Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis’ promise made to a dying boy. The child was a huge Notre Dame fan and knew he only had a short time to live. He asked the coach if he could call that week’s game’s first offensive play since his hope was to be able to see the game on television before he died. Coach Weis agreed. The child asked that the first play be a pass to the right. Sadly, the young boy died the night before the game. When Notre Dame was up for its first offensive play, the Fighting Irish were inside Washington’s one yard line, meaning it would be extremely risky to pass. A coach would never take the chance to pass on that play for fear the opponents could... Read More →

HaShem has my number. When I seek Him, it is typically when I’m outdoors, in nature, and over the years He knows how to catch my attention. . . As you know, butterflies definitely have a place in my spiritual world communication hotline. I look at them as angelic messengers, working with the angels, unseen but nevertheless at work. And so it was with me yesterday, as I was experiencing an inordinately stressful chain of events. Just as I ended my last call, filled with frustration and worry, at that very moment, as I passed a window on the second floor of our home, a Monarch butterfly came to that window and flew alongside me, separated by the glass but clearly flying with me. I knew... Read More →

Last week, I shared with you my recent time of burden, with hesitation actually, since these encouragements are not to be about me, but rather, intended to be relatable. Such was my hope. I shared how God met me where I was and pulled me out of that time of despair. In response, I received an unusual number of emails from so many of you who felt the message was needed by you in your own personal time of struggle also happening in these days. Baruch HaShem for the courage to share! What I learned was how universally so many of us are in a time of suffering. Last week we reflected on how our Abba meets us where we are through Yeshua. In our moments of deepest challenges He lifts us up and... Read More →

In these days, so often we feel we have reached our limit. And then something more happens to help us recognize our weakness even further, our need for God, our challenges becoming even more than we thought we could handle when we were already at our limit. When times of worsening personal trials coincide with societal challenges, troubling headlines, we’re pushed even further. The question is pushed deeper into despair, or closer to God. This year was the thirteenth Camp Or L’Dor, our Messianic Jewish camp for teens. Hard to believe!! What a wonder! So many lives changed, not only those of our campers, but also, of our staff, our leaders, our volunteers, and the many Jewish and non... Read More →

As you know, I did not send out my usual Shabbat encouragement on Thursday evening. It was a rather overwhelming week of preparation for and travel to Camp Or L’Dor in the Poconos this year, work deadlines, Airbnb preparation for renting of our house while away, and most importantly, attention to a family member’s grave medical condition. I was not in the head or emotional space for my usual times with HaShem and as a result, my spiritual strength was sapped. So this morning at camp, as we held Shabbat services outdoors, as I prayed deeply the Amidah while looking at His magnificent created beauty, so many thoughts flooded my private prayers with Him about camp. Despite the many... Read More →

Do you ever just need to give yourself a good talking-to? It’s actually quite amazing! This morning I spent some time analyzing my feelings. Why was I not feeling loving toward someone? Was there an underlying sense of resentment that I was not acknowledging? And if so, why? Was there something we weren’t discussing, and if so, why not? Was I deep sixing my thoughts or feelings just to maintain the status quo? Was that helpful to the relationship? Did it just feel like it was when maybe it was making the relationship so much less than it could be? So as I was attending to house chores, I actually spoke out loud to myself, as if someone was talking to me and giving me another way to look... Read More →

As most of you know, I treasure, protectively guard, my time with HaShem when I take my daily jog or walk while listening to Messianic Jewish music. It is a part of my day like daily grooming, or regular meals, but with obviously elevated purposes and unique aspects. Prioritizing this intimate time of connection with the Divine is often very challenging, like today, when my day was already overscheduled with work commitments and meetings. Yet I knew that if I could carve out just 30 minutes of time with Him, I would be blessed with peace, insights, and encouragement. As I was noodling these thoughts around on my jog, I realized that some days I joyfully look forward to this time with... Read More →

Last week at services I spoke about our goal to come back to worship together in person at Ruach. As we work to regroup, rebuild, and recommit, and as I reconnected with our virtual community after services as well, I was reminded of what a larger discussion this topic really is. My mother, who was raised Orthodox Jewish, used to say to me that you can go into a field and pray to God. He is everywhere, though we prayed to Him “up there”. Then when I came to know Yeshua so many years later, my worship experience took on a new dimension, one that included intimacy with Yeshua, as well as awe of Him “up there”, somehow all as one. Up there and right here. He is omnipresent and the power of... Read More →