EYE OF The Hurricane

Dearest Friends…

In an inspired moment, I wrote the following message below on my “Facebook” wall to share with everyone, and hope this message finds you well. ~Annie

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Please forgive me as I have been away here from our beautiful family circle on facebook. I will work on being more active, hopefully in May or so. Most grateful for your prayers for one another, and for those of you who have emailed me behind the scenes to share your prayers for my team and me.

One can NEVER get enough of prayers! In fact, one of the greatest gifts you can choose to give to one another is if you CHOOSE to pray with all your heart and soul for that person, unconditionally, without any thoughts or intentions of personal gain. So long as you can CHOOSE to pray with all your heart and soul, you are NEVER helpless, but only HELPFUL, whether you choose to pray with good thoughts, meditation, however way you decide… whether you are of Faith or not, you are a blessing when you care and love a fellow human being unconditionally — NEVER FORGET THIS!

I have all of you in my heart and in my prayers! We often receive prayer requests, and will continue to honor each request behind the scenes and in fervent prayers!

I want to acknowledge some of your loving comments behind the scenes in emails to me (I received the blessing to share this one comment from one of our friends — whose name will be intentionally left out per the individual’s request) who said:

“Annie, Thank you for not being a typical judgmental christian. Personally, I stay the he_ _ away from christians, and one day I want to talk with you to share with you why. I’m an atheist, but man, if more people can talk about your DAD the way you do, people would love God more. Why aren’t you in churches, and out there speaking of your faith about this? The world needs you Annie. Too many people, especially christians are lost. When I heard one of your shows, and the way you went off about your Dad, it’s unlike anything I’ve ever heard or experienced. Normally, I would cuss and turn the channel, and you even gave me the listener the option to turn the channel by saying the words, “see if that offends me the least. Know you are always welcome back should you want to come back.” That took guts Annie. I’m glad you’re not on christian radio, you don’t belong there. You belong on secular stations. You have the gift to communicate to many. Thank you for who you are Annie. It is because of you, I am intentionally capitalizing the letter “D” in Dad because you are real.”

WOW! I want to lovingly acknowledge several of our friends here and throughout the Annie Armen Show Network for the past 9+ years who are not necessarily of Faith, meaning believing in God, His Son Jesus Christ, and His Helper the Holy Spirit, and yet, you have welcomed my team and me unconditionally into your hearts knowing we believe in our Father. How beautiful and amazing of you!

If I have not stopped for a moment to THANK YOU, please allow me to thank you now. THANK YOU, and know I love you all just the same, for our Father whether we know of Him or not, LOVES US ALL! Thank you for not judging us with what you perceive to be the norm, and for supporting our efforts because you believe in our actions, not in our words.

Certainly is not my place to judge any one human being, and I make a conscious effort to serve as an example to love ALL, no matter what, and not to shove my Faith down any one human being’s throat, although when asked, will proudly share of my Faith. Whatever one chooses, that is his/her choice to make, for all of us were given the power of choice without a gun on any one of our heads since before we were born.

Whoever tells you or makes you feel that you are less of a person because you are not of Faith, please find it in your heart to forgive that person, and recognize that that individual truly believes he or she is trying to do a good thing; perhaps in his/her mind, he or she really believes they are doing the right thing — but never with the intention to hurt you. Unfortunately, that individual has a lot of growing up to do Spiritually, for such an action most definitely is not the best way to represent our Father who loves us all. Please be patient as they are growing too in this beautiful jungle of a world we live in.

Again, what is most important to remember here is that he or she is not saying those words intentionally to hurt you, and sincerely hope and pray that that counts for something in your mind and heart.

As far as our friend who allowed me to share their comment in quotes above — First and foremost, if you truly did stay the ‘he_ _’ away from Christians, you would not have accepted me so lovingly into your space, knowing of my Faith. Thank YOU for being open, for leaving room in your heart for what you feel may be an exception to the unfortunate norm you’ve experienced and witnessed throughout the years. As far as “especially Christians being lost” … here is my two cents worth — count me in. In truth, who really has it all together regardless of Faith, background, color, race, you get the idea? We are all human, and what makes us all so beautiful is our imperfections.

Although easier said than done, perhaps we can all PURPOSE being more tolerant of one another without judgment, and my dear friend, I appeal to your inner wisdom when I say this — and this includes you. If you made an exception of me into your circle, who is to say you will not come across more so long as you continue to stay open with your mind and heart as you have been with me? I often remind myself of this as often as possible. Everything I am inspired within to share with you, I tell myself behind closed doors, so therefore my blood is certainly not thicker than yours good friend.

As far as me speaking in churches of my Faith, in schools … most humbled, and all in good time. Thank you for your insight and high compliment for without your knowledge, perhaps even without intention, you glorified DAD in recognizing His gifts in and through me. Should you wish to have me appear as a speaker at one of your gatherings, by all means feel free to email my team (all info on website — see signature below), and let them know about this message here from me personally on our facebook wall.

As far as you capitalizing “D” in Dad … thank you for respecting what’s in me more so than respecting me. You have no idea the blessings you have unleashed from HIM onto you because of just that simple action coming from your heart. Thank YOU for allowing Him to use me in your life, and because of your action, in the lives of others. Thank YOU for allowing me to share your comment with everyone here. You are a wonderful human being, and never allow anyone to ever tell you otherwise! You are a blessing good friend, and I am most grateful for having you in our circle of friends!

Back to everyone here… I trust and only hope all of you had a beautiful Easter with your families and friends! Thank you ever so much for your patience, for not giving up on us. For those of you here who are active with our twitter home, as you can see, we have substantially reduced our tweets to complete several projects as a team in HIS (God’s) Excellence!

Nonetheless, you will probably see us tweeting a little more often than on facebook. Acknowledging this, we have made sure to connect our twitter with facebook, so that you you can catch our tweets when we do. All our social media icons are on my main website, top right hand corner should you be interested.

My purpose in writing this message is simply to reach out to all of you with gratitude and with His love! THANK YOU ALL, from the bottom of my heart! I pray this message will touch your hearts, as your emails and messages do mine.

Annie Armen
| Poly-Rhythmic Speaker | Conflict Makeover Specialist | Media Consultant & Coach
| Annie Armen Radio Show | Legends in Excellence™ – The Series
| Syndicated on: | World Talk / VoiceAmerica Radio Networks
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| Website: | www.AnnieArmen.com

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“Annie, what I have to say will hurt! I am not surrounded with True Christians, but with hypocrites! I have yet to meet one true Christian,” as my friend (who shall remain nameless) shouts out these words on December 26, 2009, just twelve hours after Christmas day, with a heart filled with piercing pain, eyes about to burst with stormy tears, and lava-like anger working its way up to a level 10 cataclysmic, emotional quake!

Because I promised my friend that I will not share details beyond the statement above, I will attempt at repeating my advice during that conversation. “LISTEN WITH YOUR HEART – Just Listening is NOT enough!”

There is no doubt that times have been rough for many of us on multiple levels all across the globe, whether financially, personally, emotionally, spiritually … perhaps even safe to use the term “nightmare” in specific instances. As such, during the holidays, emotions escalate to extremes, to either extreme joy, or to extreme anger, or to extreme sadness, you get the idea. When emotions take off in extreme, unintended directions, guess what happens to communication efforts? Any attempt to communicate also goes in shambles, thereby giving rise to misunderstandings, reactionary responses, increased confusion, more drama, and let’s not exclude judgments.

I said these words to my friend: “I hear your every word. I acknowledge your pain, and want to speak to your heart. You said you are not surrounded with True Christians. I personally believe the word you’re looking for is “PURE” as opposed to TRUE. You are looking to share with folks whose words and actions are in harmony, as opposed to flattery with the lips, and betrayal by actions. You are looking for unconditional love, love that is free of conditional definitions and boundaries. You are tired of being used by people …”

My friend stopped me immediately and said, “Annie… oh my God, yes, yes, yes! That is exactly what I mean. How did you know? How could you know?”

Then I said, “Now listen carefully… did you ever ask yourself how you feel about you? Do you approach people with a pure heart?”

My friend said, “…pauses… Annie, I try, I really try, but I can’t say I always do.”

I then said… “well, does that necessarily make you an impure person, a hypocrite, a fake Christian?” …

My friend said, “… oh no… I’m the biggest hypocrite of all. How can I be judging others when I am blinding myself toward my own personal faults?”

I then said, “my wonderful friend… don’t you see… you are not a hypocrite, and neither are any of your friends. There is only one TRUE Christian, and that’s Jesus Christ Himself! As His children, we are all striving to do good, and we are all working hard to better ourselves as human beings, to be the best children, parents, grandparents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends, colleagues, communities, teams we can be. Of course, as human beings, we are meant to make mistakes, and yes, even hurt each other at times. The best antidote to provoke immediate healing is CHOOSING to practice unconditional love followed by genuine forgiveness.”

I continued to say, “during times like this, remind yourself of the last words Jesus spoke on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they not know what they do” [Luke 23:34, King James Version].

Right before my eyes, I witnessed my friend’s inner darkness that was eating away within be transformed to light, wearing a glow of hope visible to the human eye. I then said, “to answer your question as to how I knew… that is because I was listening to you with my heart, not just with my ears…”

AnnieBiotics® Message: Dear friends, regardless of how busy your schedules are, MAKE TIME to love unconditionally, MAKE TIME to properly acknowledge and appreciate those who are always there for you, CHOOSE to forgive those who have wronged you, MAKE TIME to ask for forgiveness (not just say sorry) for those you have wronged, and last but most definitely not least, MAKE TIME to genuinely listen with your heart when your friend is in pain, regardless of surrounding circumstances, reasons, or season!

God Bless You and Yours With His LOVE and Compassion all year long, throughout 2010!

With All My Heart,
Annie Armen

It was one year ago, last Thanksgiving, when I was teaching/mentoring my students on the value of gratitude. While they were expecting lessons in pronunciation, I threw them an unexpected twister with this question: “Right here, right now, at this very moment, what are you grateful for? For the next 15 minutes, make a list, and begin writing your thoughts”.

First reaction without thought, the class burst into laughter, and I purposely joined in to share in their mystified enthusiasm. One student said: “Teacher, how will this improve our speaking skills in English”? I then replied: “First, answer my question by making a list of all that you are grateful for, and I promise that the exercise itself will reveal the answer to your question once you are actively involved”. Needless to say, the student looked more puzzled with my answer, while intrigued at the same time.

Well, during this session, they all looked at each other befuddled, and could not find themselves to stop laughing. Until, one student shouted out, “oh.. oh… I know… I am grateful for my expensive car”. Then another jumped with excitement and said, “ooh… ooh.. my blackberry phone, yeah… yeah, this is cool, I like this assignment” … to … “my video games” … to … “my big screen plasma T.V.” … to … “money my parents give me” … and more. …

As the students were joyously and laughingly expressing the things they were grateful for, I sat their observing their expressions. While thrilled in hearing them articulate their thoughts in English as opposed to speaking in their native language, I was more enthused about their upcoming reactions to the set of thought provoking questions I was about to ask them next:

“Are you grateful to be alive today? For having eyes to see? Ears to hear? Tongue to speak? Senses to smell, touch, and taste? Legs to walk? Oxygen to breathe? Parents who love you? Parents who give you money to buy things like blackberry cell phones, video games, large screen t.v.-s, expensive cars? For experiencing love and care with family and friends? For friendships right here in this class room? For being able to express your thoughts with feeling in English as a result of this lesson on gratitude?

15+ students in one room, and all you can hear is absolute silence and see shock on their faces!

The student who asked the question on how this assignment will improve their speaking skills in English, stood up and said: “Annie, thank you. I spoke more English today then in any of my English classes in school … and … I have learned a valuable lesson on gratitude”.

One week later, on a Saturday, midnight hour, here I am in the studio working on the last five tracks for completing the production of Legends in Excellence CD – the audio series, until I receive this call from another student of mine, to tell me this: “Annie, I am calling you from the airport … (as you hear the shakes in his voice) … Annie … (pauses again) … I am flying back home … (pause) … family emergency … (pause) … my father died in a car accident … (pause) … I am the only child, the only son … (pause) … have to fly back home to take care of my mom, and figure out funeral arrangements … Annie, just last week, you were teaching us about the value of gratitude and we were laughing … and now… it is too late for me to say ‘thank you’ to my father … (pause) … I want to say ‘thank you’ to you Annie, as my best teacher, and for this important lesson in life. I will never forget this lesson and will tell all my friends back home”.

My response was: “It is never too late to express your gratitude, and it all starts from the inside. What matters is that you are showing your thankfulness by great action right now. Here you are, leaving your friends, your school, the state all within seconds of a responsible decision, to go back home and step into your father’s shoes to take care of your mom and family. Know your father is proud of you, and has always recognized the greatness in you. Today, you are witnessing what your father and mother saw in you all along! When you see your mom, hug her, thank her for giving you life with all your love” This is what true, DAILY Thanksgiving is all about”!

Friends, I pray this message has touched your hearts, your lives on a profound level. Regardless of what conflicts you have with your loved ones, while you are alive, be grateful for your family and friends now, not tomorrow!

May You Be Blessed Exponentially with Peace, Grace, and Joy in your lives during this Thanksgiving season, and remember to make Thanksgiving a daily value in your lives. Once a year is a great start … now you have the choice to take it beyond … JUST BECAUSE … because you can!

I am grateful to our Father in Heaven for the priceless gifts of all of you in my life, and I thank YOU for who you are, as you are, just the way you are … you are beautiful!

Annie Armen
Listen to this Audio Archive Featuring Several of Annie’s Students