Wow…

Well, so much to catch up on!!!  Its been quite the weekend, stressed out about how my family in Jamaica and in Grand Cayman would fare in the hurricane…

My brother in Cayman decided he felt safer sending his 7 year old son to me to avoid the effects of the hurricane if it actually hit them.  Their flight was scheduled to land on Saturday/Sunday morning at 1am, but with the chaos in Cayman with people rushing to get out of there, their flight was delayed and they arrived at 6am.  We stayed up all night of course, waiting for word that the flight was close to landing, so I was TIRED the next day. 

When we picked up my nephew and his Aunt who brought him up, he was obviously tired, but he got this sudden jolt of energy and was hyped up about being here with me, etc.  We got home  and since they seemed to both be “UP”, I decided we should go to my Church at Flamingo Road Church (Cooper City) at 10:45am – that way, we’d get home and they could just relax, knowing they would n’t have to rush to get up again for a while.

 Well, my nephew fell asleep in the car on the way – but I got him up and we went in.   Needless to say – he fell fast asleep shortly thereafter, and when we got home – he was KNOCKED OUT for HOURS!!!

 His Aunt is a born-again Christian (does anyone know that this term means different things to different people?)  Anyway’s, she was initially so excited that I was going to Church, but when we got there, she was -in her words- disappointed!  Why?

 Well, I chalk it up to it being different to what she’s accustomed to and comfortable with; to her feeling it was too dark in the room and the music too loud….  I personally think she fell asleep, but she swears she didn’t and that she heard the whole teaching – I don’t know for sure…

I think that old saying – different strokes for different folks applies!!!   We each have different ways that we receive and are fulfilled…

All I can say is that I LOVE my Church – and the possibility exists that it fuels and supports my relationship with God in a way that another may not!!!  As an almost-40 year old, married woman, whose husband does not YET go, I thrive on the teachings that relate so closely to my own life experiences and help me to recieve the Word of God in a way I’ve never experienced before…

As a born and raised Roman Catholic, I came to the decision some time ago that I think RELIGION is a major problem in our society – because as mankind, we use RELIGION to divide ourselves instead of having God unite us through faith!!!   And I think that “Christianity” is becoming a RELIGION for some in some ways too, you know?

I’d like to move my personal life away from RELIGION and towards true faith and relationship with Christ!!!  My Church is a huge Church – and I see why people can feel its too large to be personal – but that’s why I plugged into serving to get ‘connected’ to my Church community!  Now when I go each week, there are people I recognize, who recognize me and that feeling of ‘hugeness’ shrinks weekly!!!

Anyway, I have so much  more to share, so let me move on before you get tired of reading my diatribe…

 I spent Saturday night into Sunday emailing and reaching out to all of my office family and my BNI family and many others who I do life with to pray for my family in both places as they faced the storm.  The responses I got were OVERWHELMING!!!

And you know what – I took the time to send out a thank you email blast to my office for all the support they’d shown and that my family was safe and how much their caring and prayers meant to me…  And Monday morning, I got a call from one of the owners who firstly called to ensure my family was all safe and sound, and then he said my email made him tear up a bit, because it was a physical display of the culture of our Company – to act as a family to place God first (this is actually our MODEL!!) – God first, family second and then career!!!  

I then got a personal call from our new Team Leader just also touching base to make sure we were all okay!!!  Isn’t that awesome??????  Where do I work??? Keller Williams Realty!!!  This is such an incredible organization, and my office strives in every way to follow the models and principles of our national organizational models!

Truly, some of the people I thought would call – didn’t…  But by giving so much of myself to my team, they care SOOO much about me and are really my family also!!!  The same with my BNI Group!!!  I am so BLESSED!!!!!!!  Thank You Lord!!!

Anyways, Grand Cayman was spared, so everone is A-Okay – Jamaica obviously had damage and needs help – as does Lima, Peru where they suffered a MASSIVE earthquake last week and are in a truly CHRONIC situation!!!

 We’re trying to head up a collection drive for the people in Lima at my office, so if you’re based in the South Florida area, and want to help these people in this time of immense need – please email me at nriettie@riettiegroup.com and we will let you know how you can help.

Peru is currently experiencing Winter, so if you have any warm clothes, blankets, canned foods, water, etc – just shoot me an email and I will contact you asap!

Till then – God Bless and Peace Out!!!

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