Hello 2nd March 2024 - 96 (Ninety-six) months on - 8 (Eight) years on - Oh, Dearest Mum Bathqyomo Marine Khoury-Issa ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???????

Hello 2nd March 2024 - 96 (Ninety-six) months on - 8 (Eight) years on - Oh, Dearest Mum Bathqyomo Marine Khoury-Issa ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???????

Hello again on this Saturday, the second day of March 2024, which is the first month of Autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere. Hope you have a nice day.

Hello on this day which marks the 96th months or in other words eight years since the eternal sleep of my Mum. Oh Mum, miss you very dearly, Oh Mum, you were a great leader, and you are missed very dearly by all.? So, once again, here I come on this Saturday 2nd March 2024 where I wish to take my readers on a very simple journey with some prayers and Bible verses as I continue to pray to the repose of My Mum whom I miss very dearly.

You might question why I would be saying the following statements here. Indeed, you might think that I might be biased as you are my Mum, but I said before, and I repeat it again as I can see the qualities that make a great leader displayed in the way you Mum dealt with others and the way you went on through your life.? Before going ahead, just a quick reminder of some of your lessons to us, which can be briefed in the following:

You always urged everyone to maintain good manners, morals, have respect to others, be of good character, maintain common sense, be a subject that can be trusted by others, and in whatever we do we need to do with integrity, love, patience and class.

Now, to what I wanted to say: Mum you had an immense confidence, coupled with great commitment not only to the task at hand but commitment to the church, community, and most importantly the family, you had the great ability to inspire everyone who came to know you, and you did that very easily, through your creativity, intuition, honesty and good attitude no matter what the circumstances were, your attitude was always pleasing and encouraging.?

Indeed, you had a great sense of humor, and people would be happy to serve, as you had a great ability to delegate, but most importantly you knew and practiced what LOVE is - as we read in 1Corinthians chapter 13:

Oh Mum… miss you very dearly. ??You demonstrated LOVE throughout your life... and your LOVE to all continues to have its impact.

You were always guided by Our Lord Jesus Christ's saying and you urged us to act accordingly, that everyone would see us should know that we are Our Lord's children, in a manner as we read in the Holy Gospel according to St. John that reads:

Your image, the beautiful memories, the LOVE to you are planted in me... not only in my heart and my mind but in my soul.

With Rumi I say:

I do not love you with my heart and mind.? I love you with my soul, in case my mind forgets and my heart stops.

Indeed you are engraved in my mind, heart and soul. May God repose your soul oh Mum.

Indeed, and as you taught us to pray always, as the world is faced with diverse problems, people might give up - but as we are taught by you Oh Mum, we need not to be overwhelmed but to always pray, and as I read this month through different sources, some advises, and one of them was:

"Pray instead of worrying, stressing, panicking, overthinking, assuming, controlling and wondering.? In every situation: JUST PRAY."

This statement is very relevant not only to me, but to all, as we go through the very difficult situations worldwide at all levels, including moral level, which might lead some to worry, stress, panic, overthink, assume, and wonder. We need to always remember Our Lord's words as we read in chapter sixteen of the Holy Gospel according to St. John:

Indeed, Our Lord had conquered the world, and we need to have courage in the face of tribulation, always bearing in mind that what might enhances our courage would be prayers. Thus, this is an invitation to all, to replace all the feelings of stress, worry, anxiety, etc... with one word that is PRAYER... Thus, let us join our hearts, minds and souls together as we go through this simple monthly journey with my Mum, remembering my beautiful Mum, with this simple general prayer:

Dear God,

Thank You that You can take the most unfair situations and turn them into positives.

Thank You that You are directing my steps even through the hurts, the questions, and the disappointments.

Help me to keep the path of continuing to accept Your plan ?and move on.

Amen.

Indeed, as I am taught by you Oh Mum, I always seek guidance from God the Almighty in whatever situation I find myself in. Oh Mum, you always taught me that I need to give control of my life to my creator Our God and Lord Jesus Christ. This is what I am doing.

This imperfect, earthly, perishable life brings within its wings several of unfair situations, hurts and disappointments, and in some instances it seems that those individuals who can be described as 'people-pleasing' they maintain in an unintentional form of manipulation, and seem to be saying to others (of power or positions), “I will do whatever you want me to do … so long as you like me”.? But, you always taught me, that I am not here searching for people to like me or not, but to merely do the will of God. God the Almighty always gives us strength as you always reminded us, and as we read in the twenty-ninth verse of chapter forty of the Book of Isaiah:

Indeed we need to go according to the will of God, and be patient, as you taught us. I was reminded of your words and guidance in such situations, when I read the words of Beth Moore who said:

Quote

Give it time. God is at work underground. Quit trying to force fruit that is not yet due.

Unquote

Indeed, with the teachings you instilled in me, I learned how to be patient, I learned how to handover total control of my life to my God the Almighty. Therefore, I always look at any negative event or comment as a step to move forward as I am sure that I am guided and my life is precious being the daughter of God in grace, repeating with the Psalmist, the Lord is my keeper, He will protect me in His Right Hand:

To conclude this part on prayer, you always reminded us that we have been bought with special price 'The Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ' as we are taught in the Holy Gospel according to John, and we should always act in an honorable way honoring this great price throughout our lives no matter what we are faced with in this earthly perishable life:

Mum, through the last two articles of #02JAN2024 and #02FEB2024 I shared with you about the new initiative, and thank God, with God's grace the initiative continues and we are now in Chapter seven of the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. I continue to use images from your garden 'Marine's garden'. This is today's image:

Here is the image that was used a cover for the whole month of February 2024:

Thank God the Almighty for giving me the strength to continue throughout the month, and praying that I am supported and strengthened to go on with this initiative. God hears my prayers.

The verses shared during February 2024 can be reached on this link.

Moreover, and simultaneously, I continued to pray on daily basis, and there were several occasions for our beloved church. These for the month of February 2024 can be reached on this link. Here is the first image of these prayers collection:

Now, as it is usually the case on the annual commemoration of your eternal sleep, in this entry, I intend to go on a journey trying to highlight the articles that I have shared since the 2nd of March 2016, the day when change happened and the effect of that change continues to be felt to this day. Since that day, I have been trying to record my feelings, sharing some beautiful images of you Mum, and what you taught me among other things. This was done on monthly basis, and on some important occasions. To follow will provide gif files of the main images of each of the entries. All the entries are available under my account on LinkedIn account.

In the usual manner I conclude this entry with this beautiful Syriac hymn that was shared earlier, received from Touma:

As I would always say, again, and again I continue to be very thankful and extremely grateful to God the Almighty who honored me and blessed me to be the daughter of Bathqyomo Marine Khoury-Issa, something I am extremely very proud of ... Oh Mum... miss you very dearly...

Now, thank you all for taking the time to go through this corner/article.

On behalf of the Issa Family

Your Eldest daughter

Theodora Issa

PS:?Theodora acknowledges the sources used in coming up with this entry including the Issa Family archives for Mum's image shared in this entry, also some collected beautiful flowers, trees and other plants in the garden images that Theodora photographed this month. Also, Lamsa Holy Bible, and the Department of Syriac Studies.