Thinking of Lost Angels

On May 27, 2011May 27, 2011 By Naty MatosIn Articles2 Comments

Today I just to make a stop to talk about some angels that we’re missing on this earth. In the last few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot about how many children are dying in the hands of their caretakers. It’s is sad when a society gets to that point where their kids are not safe with their own parents or those entrusted to care for them.

The bible says:

Matthew 18:6

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea”

The only consolation that we can have is that they are not suffering anymore, that they are enjoying eternity with our Heavenly Father and that if any justice is not achieved on earth, divine justice will prevail. Join me in praying for the families of these angels and for the true repentance of those who hurt them. Let’s remember some of these lost angels.

JonBenét Ramsey Caylee Anthony

Lorenzo Gonzalez Cacho Conner Peterson

Michael and Alex Smith Noah, John, Paul, Luke and Mary Yates

Paulette Gebara

Kyron Horman (hope we still find him alive)

sadly many more…

Behind the name

On May 9, 2011May 9, 2011 By Naty MatosIn Writing Happenings3 Comments

WordPress gave us a prompt some time this weekend, Where did your name come from? (or something to that effect). My full name is Natividad. People tend to think that I was born around Christmas as it sounds very close to the word Navidad, which is Christmas in Spanish. Ironically my birthday is in July. I’ve been sang “Feliz Navidad” many times at the sound of my name.

I can’t deny that I didn’t like much of my name growing up. It has so many letters that it usually didn’t fit in any form with squares provided to enter your name. Since I moved to the continental US it has been funnier because people struggle to pronounce it and some make it a personal challenge to say it well. At this point I’m used to it and when I’m in a public place and hear someone with their tongue tied trying to say out a name, I know they were calling my turn. I have not been mistaken once.

The fact is I received my name after my paternal grandmother. My father who had six daughters told my mother that he had always wanted to give one of his daughters his mother’s name and had never had the chance, so my mom agreed. I never met my grandmother as she had passed away when I was born. I think I’ve seen some old pictures of her.

Now as a writer working on branding my name I’m actually grateful for the name I have. I like the meaning of my name. It means being born and I’ve been in life situations when I’ve been given the opportunity of being born again and start life all over. Also I’m glad that I have a different name that way people will recognize my name when they are looking for my books.

Ah Mothers!

On May 8, 2011May 7, 2011 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

As we celebrate Mother’s day I’ve been thinking about the mother’s in the bible that have exemplified in one way or another the life that mothers live.

Eve

I’ll be honest and say she was not the first in my mind, but this is a mother that deserves a lot of credit. Everyone remembers Eve just for what she did wrong. Granted, she messed it up for all of us, but Jesus fixed it so time to forgive and forget. She had to experience it all alone. There was no girlfriends to call when Adam was giving her a hard time or someone to show her the secrets of childrearing. To top it off she had to endure the murder of one of her children all by herself. She deserves some credit for the mother she was.

Sarah

Oh Sarah! I’ve always seen her as one more evidence that God can make a way out of nowhere; and that when he makes a promise, he will come through no matter when it comes to fruition. I can only imagine this woman pregnant so late in her life and having to take care of a baby, running around with him. Not forgetting that after she gave her maid to Abraham to have a baby, the little brat had an attitude towards her. Too much drama for your later part of your life.

Hannah

Hannah had begged for a child for years and promises God that if he gives her a son she will give him back to him. So God gives her a son and so she did. Can you imagine dealing with years of fertility problems and then giving your son up?

Mary

An engaged 14 year old engaged to be married, when she’s told she’s pregnant from God in a time where adultery was punished with death. Mary didn’t belong to the “but social club” and she should have lead it. Yes, the club of us who every time God tells us that he wants us to do something we go but God… and I’m not saying she didn’t ask questions, but she did what she was asked. The “but social club” is for those who set up the excuse and don’t do. Then she had to give birth in a manger. No Pitocin, Lamaze; not even a clean room. For the first few years when a mother is enjoying her baby, she was running around like a fugitive trying to protect him from being killed.

I’m sure that Jesus got on her nerves every now and again. She was not too happy when he was 12 and he got lost in the city to be found at the temple. Finally having to see her son murdered in front of her eyes. How many mother’s have had to endure such pain?

Ana

I’m not talking about Mary’s mother and this one is not in the bible. I’m talking about my own mother. She did the best she could with what she had. She sacrificed her life as a single mother working really hard to give her children what she felt was the most important things: The fear and love for God and a good education. Although our worship has changed paths, she taught me that without God there’s nothing in life and that we are to be grateful for all our blessings. She taught me good work ethics and to pursue my dreams. She supported me through the rough patches and bragged about my accomplishments. She too deserves credit for all of them!

I found the parents!

On March 6, 2011March 23, 2011 By Naty MatosIn Articles2 Comments

Every time a child does something wrong the obvious question is, where are the parents? After looking at this commercial closely I felt sadden. I found the parents! One allying against their partner and the other one too scared to exercise his authority. I’m not starting a campaign against “Tide” but it is sad that a household name would take advantage of one of the symptoms of our decay as a society to profit from it.

There’s so much wrong with this commercial, it’s a sad true of the reality we’re living. Families are not working together in raising their children, children blatantly defying their parents and the parents feeling powerless to exercise their authority.

Here are some points that I saw in this:

Common values: This girl is a teenager; someone bought or allowed her to buy said skirt. It is obvious that both parents are not in accord with what is appropriate and not. That itself it’s a recipe for disaster, ““Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (Matthew 12:25)
Respect: It is obvious that the father figure is not respected in this scenario; his opinion is not only ignored but blatantly undermined as the girl parades her now clean skirt in front of her father knowing that she’s defying his wishes. She feels empowered to do so, as her mother approved her behavior.
Alliance: The mother allies with her daughter against her husband, forgetting that he’s the co-parent. She also undermines him in trying to protect his daughter. This is one of those examples were parents try to be their child’s friend instead of their parent and when the child goes out of control they seek the other parent to step up to the plate. By then it’s too late, the child doesn’t respect either. Parents should work together to raise their kids, not against each other. “Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them” (Proverbs 13:24)
Powerless: The saddest part is that the father felt that there was nothing he could do. He had to resort to try to ruin the skirt to avoid his daughter from wearing it. At what point will parents understand that they are the adults and that they make the rules? This father should have felt empowered to disapprove of the piece of clothing upon being bought or seen for the first time on his daughter and not have to resort to tricks to avoid confrontation. Parents, the teenager that “hates” you now for making them follow the rules, is the one that will be grateful when he or she grows up. I’m not a parent, but from what I’ve seen the ones who grew up with parents as friends were the ones that once out in the world were lost feeling that they were being treated unfairly because the world will make them follow the rules and suffer the consequences of their actions.

Food for thought…

Facebook News Feeds, really?

On February 7, 2011February 7, 2011 By Naty MatosIn Articles4 Comments

Yesterday was the big day, Super bowl XLV where the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers were going for the grand honor of being the best of American football for 2011. Congratulations to the Packers on their win. Disclaimer to all football fans: I know very little about football, so forgive me in advance for any wrong terminology used in this post. The subject is not football anyway.

I like to watch the Super bowl, just because of the commercials. Advertising agencies get very creative with these mini movies that have very little to do with the products they’re selling and more to do with the entertainment of the viewers. In between commercials I admit to be smitten watching the Puppy bowl on Animal Planet. It makes more sense to me to see the puppies playing, no offense, that’s just my preference.

The thing that came to my attention was the commercial for the new Chevy Cruze. Their pitch was that the car reads your facebook status while driving. Really? I know social media plays an important role in our modern life, but our facebook news feed? Is that how shallow we have become as a society? Just like a friend commented sarcastically, “Of course we need to know that our farm is ready for harvest”. One thing is to reunite with friends, have fun online, but we are creating a new undisguised addiction that could be unhealthy for both children and adults.

People have lost their jobs for things they have posted in social media or the use of it during inappropriate times. We see commercials were families at the table are not communicating; instead they are using text, e-mail to communicate when they are in front of each other, and we laugh at those commercials, but that’s becoming our sad reality. Slowly we are buying into a culture of alienation. There’s no time for family, prayer, creativity, reading or to look at ourselves, we’re too busy being entertained.

Not to be a hypocrite, I have a facebook and twitter account. I look at my Blackberry more times than I should. I play Farmville and Café World, but I do enjoy a good conversation with a friend or a family member. I like to have silent times to actually place my thoughts in orders. I like the silence in the sweet presence of my Creator who doesn’t speak through the noise. All this is kind of hard when you spend your time entertaining yourself with other things. I think that like with other things moderation and balance are the key word here and we’re losing sight of it.

Just my opinion.

Chevy Cruze Facebook Status Super Bowl 2011 Commercial (brainz.org)
Puppy Bowl VII: Is the Puppy Bowl More Enjoyable Than FOX’s Super Bowl Pregame? (bleacherreport.com)

Disclaimer: images taken from the internet, they are not mine. Page me if credit required-therisingmuse@gmail.com

The Road to Nanowrimo

On October 29, 2010October 29, 2010 By Naty MatosIn Writing Happenings2 Comments

Never underestimate the places were God puts you. I’m not saying that it was God’s will for me to be sick for the last week, but he knew I needed to stop the train of life I was running and there was a lot that I had been praying to hear from him, but had not stopped to listen. Few days in bed shivering with fever, dragging to do every move and knocked out on medication will do wonders to your spiritual ears.

For the last few weeks I’ve been working on the anticipation of my yearly writing main event, Nanowrimo. This is the race to write a novel in a month of 50,000 words or more. Last year was the first time I ventured to do such thing and I was nervous due to the unknown. It’s worth mention that Nanowrimo was the precursor of The Rising Muse. I had so much writing energy after being in writing boot camp that I needed to channel it somewhere, that’s how The Rising Muse was born. It also gave me the opportunity to finally finish a novel, which in itself was a great accomplishment, winning the competition was not bad at all. The rest of the year has been dedicated to editing the fruits of my labor (hint, hint to my editor, get yourself in gear, we’re trying to publish a book here! LOL!)

Anyway, at 52 hours from facing the challenge one more time, I’ve taken the time to review my life within the last year and see how far God has brought me during this time. A lot of things have happened in the last 12 months. I don’t work in the same position, I don’t drive the same car, and I don’t live in the same place. My spirit and my love for God are not even at the same level. I do have more responsibilities, but I wouldn’t trade it for the past. I have new friends, 20 less pounds (that I hope not to gain in November, it tends to happen); a total new life.

In my writing career, what have been those accomplishments in the last 12 months?

My first publication, the short story “The Janitor”
Winning Nanowrimo, “ The Road Home”
Starting my blog, “The Rising Muse”
Starting a Spanish Version of the blog with a collaborator (yes, Yanira you deserve a lot of credit too) “TRM en Espanol”
My second publication, the story “Obedience and Willingness”

I look at it and I can’t believe it myself. Someone asked me today which was the accomplishment I was most proud of in my life ; I responded allowing God to shine through the talents he gave me and letting him use my gifts and mistakes to touch other people’s lives. So to him the Glory of all he’s allowed me to do!

Now at 51 hours the clock continues to race for me to start writing, “Breaking Free”. I think we’re doing better this year. Last year my novel didn’t have a title until the very end. I think we have a good start. Last year the anxiety was because I didn’t know what I was facing. This year the anxiety is because I do know what’s coming.

I want to take the opportunity to thank God for his love, mercy and for giving me this gift. I thank all my readers, my friends and family for your support. Thanks to Yolanda and Jeff for inviting me for the second year to their house for Thanksgiving allowing me to write instead of cooking. I promised a pie and a cake, Publix may end up doing them for me…LOL! To Seth, my editor, for loving me and putting up with my Spanglish writing. Only he understands the things I write, especially when I write in a hurry.

To those around me, remember, as of Monday there’s no cooking. My dog will appreciate visitors to let her out and I will appreciate anyone bringing me a sandwich, a smoothie (Carrie hint, hint), a soy chai latte or (Noe hint, hint) just listen to me fuss about how this story is not coming along. Let the writing begin!!!! 50 hours to go!!!

Natalicio

On July 19, 2010 By Naty MatosIn Inspirational ThoughtsLeave a comment

Natalicio is another word for birthday in Spanish. I happen to be counting another one of those in my calendar. I woke up this morning thinking about my daily routine, even complaining about things here and there and then I stopped myself.

New Years Eve is not the only day to make inventory of your life, every time another year of life is added is good to see where you are, especially in comparison to where you’ve been. I started by thinking where was I for my last birthday. I remembered having a family dinner and a small gathering at home. I am grateful for the efforts but I was not in a good place.

This last year has been filled with hard lessons and great challenges, but has also been filled with the Mercy and Grace of Jesus Christ. I look at myself in the mirror and I’m definitely not the same person I was. I have grown a lot and thank God it has not been in my dress size. I have made new friends, have taken new risks and I can look at the future with purpose.

I also reviewed that God has allowed me to live this far, not saying that I’m old, but any enterprise more than 20 years is a long journey. I looked at my life with gratitude. I have a God that has provided for me every single day. I have never gone to bed without eating, unless I wanted to and I obviously don’t chose to. I’ve had a roof over my head all my life. I’ve always had clothes to wear, and all of you should be grateful for that too. My bills have always been paid, a delay here and there, but that’s my stewardship challenge, not lack of provision. I can’t even count the many times God has saved my life from trouble. I stopped my pity party and looked at life in a different light. I made a decision. Today was the day to move forward; to start looking at life for its blessings.

I felt filled with joy and left my house to live the first day of my life, it was truly my birthday; my day of birth. To complete my joy, friends and family overwhelmed me with demonstrations of love. I was already happy to be alive and have the Lord, everything else was icing in the cake, and I had tons of it, all fat free as it was all involved in love.

Even if it’s not your birthday today, take an opportunity to look at the blessings in your life. Be mindful, your job may not be perfect, but at least you have one. Your check may not be enough to allow you to travel, but your bills are paid. You may not have the latest fashion but you’re not naked. You may not be able to eat at a fancy restaurant, but you don’t go to bed hungry. Be grateful for all you have and all the blessings God has poured into your life and experience your own birthday.

As promised…

On July 8, 2010 By Naty MatosIn Writing HappeningsLeave a comment

Internet is back up, Halleluiah! As promised, upon my return I was going to add another one of my short stories for your delight. Please go to e-reads page and click on “Loud Silence” or simply click on the link below and enjoy this dramatic story of a woman who had it all and basically snapped.

Feedback is always welcome and thanks for your patience while I was away.

Happy Reading!

Sex Scandal in the Catholic Church

On April 23, 2010April 23, 2010 By Naty MatosIn Articles4 Comments

Church Sex scandals are a hot button topic these days and have maintained high visibility in the media recently. I was moved to write this because I believe that the passion and intensity surrounding this issue has skewed a lot of people’s opinions and perspective and I believe that I can give a more balanced view on this issue.

It is terrible that as a people we have to be watchful even with those who we have been conditioned to trust, namely men and women who claim to come in the name of God. Sex scandals have not been exclusive to the Catholic Church, many preachers and pastors have fallen short of the grace and those things have become public. It is always disappointing. I think part of the disappointment comes from forgetting these individuals are merely men and women. We have the tendency to elevate their position because of the part they play in our communities, social settings and the body of Christ. The reality is that yes, their responsibility is to lead and teach us about the Lord, but their humanity doesn’t leave with their calling. Actually, as Christians we need to pray harder for our leaders because their attacks and strongholds are often as large as their calling.

I’ve heard people blaming celibacy for these events. I respectfully disagree. Priests and nuns know that this is a requirement of the commitment they have made. If sex was the driving force then priests having relations with Nuns or other secular adults would be just as, if not more, prevalent. The truth is pedophilia, rape, and sexual abuse is not sexually driven. They are driven by a deeper disturbance; it’s about control and power more than the sex itself.

The other part where I respectfully disagree is where it has been commented that because it was male priests with male boys, that it was due to homosexuality. Homosexuality is not equal to pedophilia. Statistics show that the majority of sexual predators are heterosexual.

Now the thing that really bothers me about these cases is the way they have been handled. Whether the abuse was committed by clergy or the man down the street, the inequities in the handling of the situations are abhorrent. The fact that many of these priests were simply relocated to new communities, with no consequences or rehabilitation program, is ridiculous. On top of that, the new communities were not advised of the person’s past behavior. If the church wanted to take care of it internally, like the military handles issues that pertains to soldiers; I don’t have issue with that, however, relocating them to another community is unacceptable. Instead they should have been placed in some manner of recovery program and then reassigned to work in a position where they didn’t have access to children at all. Is that lack of forgiveness and mercy? No! That’s wisdom. Slapping their wrists and telling them to not do it anymore, without true rehabilitation, placing them back into the communities to do more damage, is irresponsible, dangerous and ultimately criminal.

It is hard for me to understand why servants of God would think that this would stay hidden forever? The word of God says that “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13 NIV) which means that nothing that they were doing was going to remain a secret.

I encourage you to pray for our religious leaders. They have a great responsibility and with it great lengths of attacks. I pray that they take the authority that has been given to them by their calling and correct appropriately those who have been entrusted to them.

I pray for those who have committed these terrible acts that they find themselves in true repentance before God. That they turn their hearts, make amends when possible and face accountability for their actions.

I pray for the victims. I hope that their hearts continue to look to God for redemption and healing. God can restore anyone, and He can restore the souls of these who are suffering and their loved ones. I encourage you to pray the same

Be blessed.

Eggs and Bunnies by the Cross

On March 31, 2010 By Naty MatosIn Articles11 Comments

As a Christian I want to celebrate things that are related to Christ and I’ve been on the search for the truth regarding our most common holidays. Easter is around the corner and all I’ve seen is colored eggs and rabbits. I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but my sixth grade teacher taught me in biology that rabbits had bunnies and hens laid eggs, so that combination alone makes no sense to me.

On the other hand, from my years in church and annual “Good Friday” movies, I never saw rabbits, bunnies, hens or eggs related to the cross of Jesus Christ. Where did this come from? I’ve asked around and nobody seems to have an answer. After much searching, my good friend Google finally led me to my answer, several articles and web pages about the traditions of Easter.

In reality we are supposed to be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the thing that distinguishes Christians from other religions and sects, it’s the fact that our Lord is alive, and not only alive, but conquered death on our behalf. Somehow in the early days of Christianity, the celebration of the Resurrection coincided with a Pagan holiday dedicated to the goddess of offspring and springtime named Eastre. The story says that earlier Christians wanted to celebrate their festivities, but it would have been dangerous and Christianity was sometimes seem as criminal, therefore they decided to modify their celebration for their own safety and to attract non believers.

Why eggs and bunnies?

Both have been perceived as symbols of new life and fertility. This is also associated with the blooming of flowers in the spring time. There was an abundance of eggs during this time as eggs were not part of their diets during the Lenten season. The eggs were boiled for preservation purposes.

Colored Eggs

This tradition was created as another way to celebrate. Early Christians would exchange colored eggs, kind of like Christmas and the gifts exchange. Eggs were boiled in flowers to obtain their color, that’s why when people paint eggs in modern society, they tend to use pastels.

Now, here’s the thing; at least in the United States of America it is no longer particularly dangerous to practice our Christian beliefs and to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord, so I’m thinking, ‘Let’s drop the bunnies and eggs.”. I know that all big business will take offense to this particular mindset because of what holidays mean to the economy, but it’s the truth. Some people may think, “But it’s for the children”. How about if we teach the children that we have a bigger gift than the chocolate eggs and the Eater baskets? We have eternal life!

We want the future generations to live in the truth and the light. I think its time to live in that truth by knowing what our traditions really mean. Now trust me, I’m not against chocolate. I give you permission to eat all the peeps and chocolate eggs you want, but let’s make sure we are clear in our hearts about what our true celebration is this coming Sunday; the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!