LAZER beams of Love...

 

Oh Mercy.  What a crazy life we lead.  RIght?  Recently I asked God to help me learn to shoot lazer beams at people that I am having trouble with.  And the image I was left with was something like the above picture.  This would be super cool, if I could really do this.  Come on God!  Don't you agree??  Wouldn't that be really cool??

I really should start at the beginning of my story though...

I have been struggling with a particular person in my life.  This person can drive me completely insane.  Sometimes I have every reason to be annoyed, and other times, I am the one being ridiculous.   But regardless I see this person on a regular basis, and it is NOT always easy being "Christ Like" to them.   You know these people too, I assume.  At least I pray I am not the only one who struggles with this.

So the other day, I happen to find a few minutes of time to really pray.  REALLY PRAY.  This doesn't happen often but when it does amazing things happen.  I was thinking about this Blog, and I said a prayer for all you crazy people who have read anything I have written here.  God BLESS YOU ALL.  I don't know who are, or if you are reading anything you like, but I pray that God will bless you abundantly just for reading a page of anything I have written.  Really and truthfully.  

Well gradually my prayers of gratitude shifted to whining; and then my eyes found a crucifix.  What a strange symbol we have of our faith.  It is comparable to walking into a room filled with statues of electric chairs.  Some empty, or some with an figure strapped to one with a terrible look of pain on their face.  Think about how strange that really would be to walk into a house of prayer and see an image of a man being electrocuted at the front center.  Terrible.  Just terrible.

Then my mind wandered back to the original scene at Golgotha.  I was imaging myself walking on a cold, dark, night, past hundreds of people who were heading the opposite direction back toward the city gates.  The looks on these peoples faces were ones of shock, sorrow, disappointment, confusion, or even blank.  Something momentous just occurred, but no one really could explain it.  

As I keep walking, I notice how grotesquely silent the night is.  There is NO noise anywhere.  No sounds of birds, or bats.  No sounds of rustling leaves, no wind seeming to blow.  Almost as if life had just paused.   I can only hear the sound of my own heart beat, and my own breath as I pick up my pace in a direction that no one else seems to be going.

Then up ahead, I see a few people surrounding three very large poles in the ground.  There in the middle one is my God.  My king of kings, my Lord of Lords, my prince of peace, and the one for whom my SOUL loves.  There he is, this man that I have been whining too, about how challenging my life is.  The one who I was hoping to have comfort me because I was feeling hurt, and abandoned.  He is there in the middle of this very small crowd of people, hanging from a cross, dying.  

He is in Pain.  Even though he is God, he is completely human.  He feels the pain.  But the look on his face tells me the pain isn't just from the nails in his hands.  The pain he is feeling is also from the pain of betrayal, the pain of abandonment, the pain of all that he is about to lose on this earth.  Even though his Divine nature tells him there will be great celebration when it is finished, he will no longer get to experience life as a human.  No more fishing with his friends, or sharing the truth about the Kingdom of God with those he encounters on earth.  No more healing the sick and the blind with his own human hands; that job is going to be passed on to those less qualified.

That must have hurt.

So now here I am standing at the foot of the cross with all my hurts, and I am about to lay them at his feet.  My response was immediately back to gratitude.  All of the bad feelings that I brought with me, he has also experienced, and he experienced them to point of DEATH.  So Jesus, instead of trying to burden you with more of my "Not such a big deal" troubles.  Please let me know what I can do to HELP you.  

What can I do?

Immediately I felt God place on my heart the message from the Beatitudes.  LOVE those who trouble me.  Love them.  Love them all.  That's when I get so excited that I pray to be fill with so much love from God that I am literally BURSTING with LOVE.  I want to BURST WITH love so much so that it is not just overflowing out of me, but that it is literally spewing out of my body.  I want to be as powerful as the pressure washer that we just used to clean the sidewalks in front of my house.  I WANT TO BE SO LOVING THAT PEOPLE HURT FROM THE LOVE THAT POURS OUT OF ME.  

I want to shoot LAZER BEAMS of Love out of my eyes and and ears and mouth.  Wouldn't that be super cool????  

Merry Christmas World!

A few years ago I was SUPER excited about what I had purchased for my kids for Christmas.  Has this ever happened to you?  You know you got them something they WILL LOVE, and your excitement at giving it to them is so big you can hardly contain yourself.

I act like a lunatic whenever this happens, and I almost always give the surprise away.  I am totally pathetic, giggling, like I want to get the camera out and record their faces as they open whatever package it is.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this right?   ..........Right? 

Okay, maybe so.  But pretend for a moment that you are like this too.  For my sake.

Anyway, I realized this year that this is how God is for us ALL THE TIME.  HE gives the BEST gifts.  Sometimes we have to wait for them, but he KNOWS us best, and knows what we will love the most.  Oh Yes.  TOTALLY. 

So Open up your present from God.  It's his SON, and because of this GIFT, someday we can party up in heaven for ETERNITY.  And believe me, we will LOVE that.

Crazy little Christmas Customs...

St. Nicholas   (aka Santa)

There are so many Christmas customs all over the world.  And so many ways to prepare our homes and hearts for the Birth of Jesus.  I love to hear about what people do, and I thought I would share some of the ones my kids have really enjoyed over the years.  Some of these ideas are completely cheesy and very "gitchy."  But kids LOVE that stuff don't they???

1.  Our gift to Jesus.  I found a ceramic box at a thrift store one time and it was perfect for this idea.  Prior to finding the box, I had actually wrapped up a box with Christmas paper and a ribbon, but made sure we could open and close it without messing the paper up.   Inside the box, i would have the kids write down, or draw a picture of some "GIFT" they would like to give to Jesus for his birthday and we would put the paper inside the box.  Nearly ever year, I would have to remind the kids that Jesus doesn't need or want a bike for his birthday.  He doesn't want new toys or anything like that.  (Although we could give him toys, and he could give them to other kids who don't have any.)   What I always emphasize is that Jesus wants things like obedience and kindness for his birthday. He wants us to love others in HIS name.  That is what I imagine Jesus wants for HIS birthday.

2.  Wise Men Moving.  Another interesting custom I heard about is a great visualization for kids to understand the patience required for Advent.  The idea of the Wise Men traveling from far away place.  Where ever you set up your Nativity set you could put the three wise men WAY over on the other side of the room.  Then each week they could move to a spot a little closer to the stable.  It was a fun way for my kids to understand how far people came to see the birth of baby Jesus, and how special he really is to all of us.

3. We are the hands and feet of Santa:  We love getting shoe boxes and filling them with small toys and items for kids in third world countries as a part of the Operation Shoe Box project.  A few times my kids have wondered why Santa doesn't make it there himself.  In a rare moment of BRILLIANCE, (there aren't many here people, so when it happens I need to brag.) I shared with my kids that Saint Nicholas was a real man who really did live on earth a long time ago.  When he was ALIVE he loved to help make children happy and to spread the LOVE of JESUS to everyone he'd meet.  Now he lives in heaven, or what some people call the "NORTH POLE" and he needs our help to deliver gifts to girls and boys all over the world.   The little kids buy into the idea easily.  The older kids take a minute as they ponder what this means about the truth of Santa.  Well, if they are smart enough to figure it out, then they are ready for the truth.

I am sure there are TONS of ways you make the REAL miracle of Christmas come alive in your homes. 

But really, no matter how many parties I attend, how many cookies I bake, or how many gifts I buy for others, I have to remind myself constantly that it all started in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.  It all started with Jesus being shut out.  That's how he entered the world. The King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.  The creator of the entire universe chose to sink to our level to save us from ourselves.  He gave us the most amazing gift; himself.  And we told his parents, "Sorry, No room for you here, go find somewhere else."

Let's not do that again this year.

Amen, Merry Christmas.  Open your hearts to Jesus!!!

Spending Time with Jesus.

Pretty much the minute I clicked off of my last post, this idea came to me.  Maybe my problem is that I don't know how to pray very well.

I used to be okay at saying the Rosary.  I was decent at putting my kids down for a nap, going straight to my room, and getting the beads out.  I would prayerfully recite the rosary, in return for what I believed would be a pay out from God in the form of extra long naps, or a good parking space at the grocery store.  I always felt AMAZING afterward and I don't doubt that the quiet time was good for my soul, but I am not sure that is how I am supposed to pray.

Other times, I would get a prayer request email, and I would read it.  Then I would quietly ask God right then to answer whatever prayer is being requested.  Not a bad thing to do; but I am not sure that is quite right either.

I spend time reading my Bible occasionally, but I don't always know where to start reading.  Sometimes I would read over the Gospel from the previous or upcoming Sunday, hoping maybe to get something new from it.  Or I would actually do the Homework for the Bible study I was participating in, and learn some new perspective on the scripture that I had never thought of before.  These were great sometimes, but other times it was over my head, and not really sinking in.

Then other times I try laying in my bed imagining Jesus and I alone in a room and I just talk and then try to listen to what he is telling me.  However, someone shared with me recently the verse Isaiah 53:2b, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him."   It sort of ruined my image of Jesus.

I'll be honest, I don't believe for a second that Jesus was ugly.  In my head he is HOT HOT HOT.  Like a dark middle eastern rugged hot.  I just googled that and found this picture.  Yes, this is what I imagine Jesus to have looked like.  Is that wrong?!?!? (Wouldn't you want to spend every second with a guy that looked like this???)   Okay okay, whew! Is it hot in here?    Clearly my prayer life needs to change a little.  

Now that I have completely caused most of you to fall out of your chair, let's talk about how to pray.

I have no idea how you should pray.  I can only guess how I should pray.  In a way, writing this Blog for me is a prayer.  I am focusing on my God, and I am asking HIM for guidance on all things.  I am sharing what my concerns are, and I am attempting to GIVE all of those concerns to HIM.  I pray for wisdom and strength, and guidance constantly.  Not just for the big things.  But also for the little things.

Please Lord, help me find a parking place;  Please God help me get to the meeting on time;  Please Lord, help me find the right gift for such and such.  However, I do definitely need to take more time to listen.  NOT just to the voice of God I sometimes hear in my Heart, but also to the voice of God through my friends and family.  I need to pay more attention to the TUGS at my Heart.

Recently I went on a retreat for a whole weekend about prayer.  It was divine.  Literally.  A Priest friend of mine gave the retreat, and he introduced us all to a book by Father Tim Gallagher called, Ignatian Introduction to Prayer .  This was RIGHT up my alley.  I have always had a great imagination, and I really enjoyed getting into the scripture.  And I do mean GETTING INTO the scripture. 

For almost two weeks after the retreat, I was reading Mark 10:46-52.  I was imagining the scene outside the gates of Jerusalem and seeing myself finding a spot among the crowds right next to Bartimaeus.  In fact, Bartimaeus and I got to be close friends through this meditation.
 
Everyday for two weeks I was dragging my mat right next to this blind beggar.  Bartimaeus would hear me coming and make room next to him as we waited for Jesus to come by.  I played this entire scene out each time, and each time I felt a twinge of guilt that I was calling to Jesus with as much passion and deparation as this old, poor, blind man next to me.  In my imagination, Jesus looked directly at me when he passed by on the donkey.  And in my imagination, Jesus called my name to come to him to be healed of my sins and cured of my illnesses.  I would walk away from this meditation with a renewed sense of strength, and a feeling of completeness.  I also a received a sense of gratitude that my Jesus was able to do the same for my friend Bartimeaus.   It has been a powerful prayer, and it is only page one!

The name of the book is "An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer" and the Author is Father Timothy Gallagher.  I highly recommend if you are looking for something new to do with your prayer time with your image of JESUS.  In the mean time I will keep looking for new ways to spend with MINE!!  (Bam chica bam bam.)  (Is that inappropriate?!?!?!)  This might be the start of another BLOG post.  My slightly inappropriate relationship with Jesus.

I am a Mountain Climber...

Bear with me Friends...  This might get weird.

SO yesterday, I was with some friends at church and we were doing a Meditation on Hope and Patience.  Now I do realize that everything I could possibly hope for is found in Jesus.  And that is the REAL gift of Christmas.  However, I got a little crazy with this hope thing.  You see I have something I have been hoping for a very long time.  It is a good thing I think, and the more time that passes the more I hope for this.  But I still have NO idea if this thing I hope for will ever actually come.

Here is what I wrote down yesterday....

What AM I HOPING FOR????

I don't dare even write it down here - because my hope seems so lofty, so far fetched, at least from the point that I am currently standing at.  When I first dreamed this hope it didn't seem that ridiculous, but it seems almost laughable now.

You see I got thrown off my Mountain recently.  Or Maybe not thrown off exactly, maybe I just noticed that my Mountain is MUCH MUCH bigger than I previously realized.   There I was, on this almost plateau like incline; not too treacherous, but certainly NOT easy either.  It was sort of a steady climb up my mountain.  I think I may have even gotten into a rhythm and I was feeling good.  Like I was gaining ground, and getting close to the top. 

Then all of a sudden I went right over a cliff.  I think I probably fell a short time down this other side, and when I looked up I saw this other part of my Mountain.  It was GIGANTIC.  Not at all separate from where I had been climbing, but not what I expected to see.  I think I was thinking there was going to be some beautiful open grassy plain, filled with wild flowers and deer or something.  Instead it was like the Mattershorn.  Jagged and dangerous looking.  Oh Boy.

At first I was in shock.  I realized how little I had actually climbed when I saw this new mountain peak.  I felt VERY ANGRY, like I guess I thought I was doing well, and now I realize I had barely climbed anything at all, compared to how far I had left to go. 

I realize I do have some choices.  I don't HAVE to climb this mountain.  I could pick a new mountain, something entirely new to hope for.  Maybe that mountain will be different, and not as tall or treacherous.   Or maybe I could stop climbing all mountains.  Just stop hoping for anything at all.  I could sink back down into the valley and hang out for a while in the shadows of other peoples hopes and dreams and just watch them climb.  But that is not really who I am.

I am a Mountain Climber.  A dreamer and someone who is filled with HOPE.  I am also filled with Faith.  For me, however, faith is when I feel certain about the outcome.  This particular thing I am hoping for I am really not sure what the outcome will be.  I have faith that the outcome will be good.  But I only have HOPE that outcome will be what I want it to be.

I get back up and start climbing this mountain again; now full of the realization of how difficult this climb is ahead of me.  It is the same HOPE as before, but a much much steeper climb.  I have no idea how long it will take to get there, or if I ever WILL make it to the top of this Mountain.  I don't even know for sure if the top is everything I hope for.  But I keep climbing regardless.

IT is MY Mountain to climb.  No one else can climb it for me.  No one else can bear this burden in my place.  My Lord walks with me, and comforts me along this journey, but out of love, he allows me to experience this climb, because he knows it will make me stronger.

Which then brings me to PATIENCE.

Oh how I hate this word.  Not just because the time it requires - but mostly because I don't know how to occupy the time.  If I have faith in something, then it seems a waste to keep praying for this thing with which I have faith will be answered.  However, if I only have hope, then what am I supposed to do while I wait with patience?  How do I climb this mountain?  DO I try and help the situation, do I attempt to control or manipulate the outcome?  Do I try and forget about the entire thing while I wait and occupy my mind with other thoughts while I climb?  But if it means so much to me that I am willing to climb this mountain, then HOW do I just forget about it?

And if I turn the whole thing over to GOD, completely and let him handle the entire thing, then what is my role during the time I am supposed to be patient?  This is something I have a very hard time understanding.  How do you turn something that you hope for with every essence of your being; something that you have ZERO control over; how do you give that completely to GOD, and then wait patiently for the outcome? 

Please Lord, give me something to focus on while I wait for your will to be done in my life.    



 

Advent: hurry up and wait...

Oh advent.  You are so not in my nature. My whole world is about hurrying up.  Hurry up and get dressed, hurry up and eat, hurry up and get it in the car so we can hurry up and get to the 5 million places we need to go to in the next ten minutes.

I am not sure if advent has always been about slowing down, but that seems to be the message I am being told now.  And thank you God!  You always seem to give us what we need.  

So I pray that this advent I can truly slow my life down.  For me that will be looking at my phone less. (As soon as I finish typing) and looking at my bible more.  It will mean spending more time with my kids and less time just around them.  It will mean worrying less about the non important stuff like their grades and whether they made their beds, and more time playing with them.  

And all of this will be for the purpose of waiting. Waiting in anticipation of the most precious gift any of us have ever received. It's not a surprise and we don't really HAVE to wait.  But just like a birthday for an anxious child, we wait in hopeful anticipation for the Joy we receive in the gift of Jesus!!!

And then spend twelve days celebrating the fun!!!  Now that's what I call a birthday party!!!

Awesome new app! (Or new to me at least.)

This is from a new app called First 5.  It's all about giving God the first 5 minutes of our day.  It even allows you to use this as your alarm each morning.   It's from the people behind Proverbs 31

Ministries.  It has become a wonderful go to place for a quick mediation to keep me focused on the right things!!!

#First5 @First5App

Each morning has an inspiring quote or focus and then it is followed by a brief message.  Right now they are going through the book of Matthew.  Check it out!!

aith & Life

Rejoice Always

On coming back up after going under, and the woman in the picture on my wall who never stopped pointing toward her Son.

Personal Reflection  ·  Philippians 4:4

---

Please forgive me, Internet. I basically went under for a while. Stuff went down, and I sort of sank with it. I suppose that is life.

We talk about how we live in an imperfect world. Well, I saw that firsthand recently. But thank God this is not all we have. It is not about this world, and no one ever promised life would be easy.

What I am learning, slowly and with great effort, is to express joy in all things.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice!"

Philippians 4:4

So here we go.

• Thank you, Lord, for all the recent events in my life that totally turned my world upside down.
• Thank you, Lord, for choosing me to experience hardship so that I can learn total dependence on You.
• Thank you, Lord, for giving me a full plate that proves You are working in my life, because no human being could possibly handle all of this alone.
• Thank you, Lord, for giving me amazing friends and family who help support me when I am down.
• Thank you, Lord, for giving me the wisdom to know when You are guiding me up a certain path. I have been walking uphill for a while now, not downhill.
• Thank you, Lord, for giving me the courage to do things differently than the world would have suggested.
• Thank you, Lord, for opening my eyes to all the things You want me to see.
• Thank you, Lord, for every good thing and every hard thing.

✦   ✦   ✦

I will be honest. I have not prayed a Rosary in a while. I have not really talked to Mary, our Blessed Mother, in a while either. Not that I was avoiding her, but I was sort of deeply involved with her Son. Then we moved over the summer, and I inherited some pictures of her from my mother and placed them in my room.

One of them stopped me.

She looks beautiful in it. Strikingly beautiful. Not dressed inappropriately, but adorned gracefully, like a queen. And yet her stature is completely humble. She looks almost embarrassed that I might have a picture of her in my room, as if she is quietly insisting she is not worthy of it.

✦   ✦   ✦

I found myself thinking about how she must have felt after Gabriel appeared to her and she responded with her beautiful, trusting yes. The Magnificat, where her soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, sounds a little bit like the feeling I get when I have made a good choice and it turns out well. Except multiplied by about a trillion.

And then I thought about what she must have felt after the Crucifixion. Was she angry at God? Did she feel betrayed? Did she feel like something had gone terribly wrong? Did she wonder, even for a moment, whether her yes had been a mistake?

I think I would have thought those things.
But looking at her picture on my wall,
I do not think she did.

I think she thought: God, You must have a good reason for this. I will wait to hear from You about what I should do next.

Yes. She is worthy of being called Blessed. She is pretty spectacular. And she never seems to want to keep my attention for herself. She always points me toward her Son. Just like at the Wedding at Cana, she will say to me: "Do whatever He tells you."

Pray for me. I will pray for you. 🙏

A Personal Blog on Faith, Life & the Journey

Sorry it's been a while...life got real

The good news is nothing catastrophic happened that kept me from blogging.  

But if any of you are real people with real lives, you'll understand how the treadmill of life tends to speed up just before a shift in schedule occurs.  

It's like the momentum of the turn is so fast it whips you around leaving you breathless for a few moments while you get used to a new schedule.  Ahhhhh life, so full of surprises and exhaustion.  How blessed I am to have so much to keep me breathless.  

So I did read a few catholic mom blogs in my spare time. (Okay I read one.) real catholic mom.  Omg. That could be me.  There are so many good catholic mom blogs out there, and yet the people we are all trying to reach are so busy with life, who has time to read them.  I guess I don't care.  I don't really write for others. I sort of write to keep track of my own thoughts.  

So happy reading and writing, and hopefully you all (whoever you are) will catch your breath as we dive into our summer plans!!!

The Secret to a happy life. It is so much easier than we all think!!!

We all realize, that the secret to happiness in life is not Money, or Sex, or Beauty.  (Well at least we know it is not that, although we still sometimes crave those things. I can't help it!)   The world is trying to sell us those things, and many of us buy it.  But for any of you who have stumbled upon this blog, you are probably smart enough to have figured out that the secret to happiness is not any of those things.

It actually came to me the other day, while I was yelling at my son.  (He's ten and he really knows how to push my buttons!) Basically my ephipany came something like this...

You see, I LOVE my son.  He is my oldest, and he is very much like me.  He is creative, witty, and full of energy.  He also questions EVERYTHING.  All of these things which are going to hopefully make him hugely successful later in life, drive me insane right now.  I am sure some of you can relate! 

But you see, I really do want him to be happy.  (Contrary to what he sometimes believes.)  Don't we all want that for our children?  I love giving him things that I know will truly make him happy.  But I don't give him everything he wants.  That, I know, would not truly make him happy.

I can admit that I am totally IMPERFECT, so I can understand that occasionally my children don't trust my judgement.  They certainly question my ability and my desire to put their needs above my own.

However, we all have a perfect parent, GOD.  And if I, an imperfect parent, can sincerely say that I want happiness for my child.  Then shouldn't it be totally obvious that true happiness, is also what my perfect Parent, God, wants for me?    So here is the key to happiness in this life...

TRUST in GOD.

Wow, I hear that all the time.  But I don't think I really got it, until now.   TRUST in GOD.  Isn't that basically written all over our money?   (I wonder what the conversation was like when our fore fathers decided to put that on our money?  Another post for another time...)


Soooo... What does this have to do with yelling at my son?

Well, I yell at my son, because he doesn't always OBEY me.  I think he doesn't always obey me, because he doesn't trust that I want him to be truly happy.  Or he thinks that he will miss out on some sort of fun (ie happiness) if he does obey me.  

Yet, I believe if he could just do EVERYTHING I tell him to do all the time, I would be able to make him even more happy!!!  If he helped me unload the dishwasher, and helped take care of his sibblings, if he never argued with me or his Father, not only would we have more time to make him happy.  Our desire to make him happy would increase even more.  (I realize this sounds conditional, and it is.  But remember, I am not a perfect parent.)

Now, our perfect parent, God, may not LOVE us more if we are obedient.  I mean he LOVES us perfectly even if we do disobey him.  BUT our JOY will definitely increase if we are obedient to his will for us.  Because he knows us best.  He knows what makes us the most happy in this world.  And if we can just trust him always, he will lead us to true happiness in this life!!!

Sounds awesome right?!?!?!   Now if I could just learn to do it.

Help me Lord, to always be obedient to your will for my life.  In the big things, and even in the little things.  Help me to place you FIRST in my life.  When I am distracted by the material things of this world, please give me the will to return to you.  I love you Lord!!!!

The parable of the Lost Coin - modern day

I lose my debit card way too often.  

You know how it goes.  You purchase something with a baby on your hip, and something in your other hand.  Kids are running all over the place, and you realize there is a ticking time bomb about to explode if you don't get out of the restaurant/store/etc REALLY QUICKLY.  SOOOoooooo, you slip that little debit card in your back pocket and forget about it.

Until the next time you go to pay for something, and it is NOT in your wallet.  SNAP!  

This is when my frantic search begins.  "Where did I put it?  Saint ANTHONY?  It's me again!   What pair of jeans was I wearing?  Did I do the laundry?  Is it in the car tucked between the seats?  Is it floating in the purse with the goldfish crumbs?  Is it on the counter?  When was the last time I used it?"   After frantically searching for it all over the house/car/work, and calling all the friends I have seen recently asking if they saw me with it, I begin to think maybe it really is gone.

Then my real disaster begins.  Do I tell my husband?  He is totally not going to be happy.  Now we have to order both of us new cards.  All the automatic payments need to be re done, and who knows how long it will be until our new cards arrive.   Not to mention, what if it was actually stolen?  Oh no, someone could have totally cleaned out our entire bank accounts!  This is seriously not going to end well.

My entire house is torn apart.  The card is no where to be found, and I have already alarmed my husband.  At least I have looked on-line and realized that no one has started spending our money; YET.   

Then suddenly I'm inspired to look one place I haven't looked already. 

There it is. Thank you Jesus!

THERE IT IS!!!   I FOUND IT!!!  THANK YOU JESUS!!! 

I don't know about you, but this is when I start dancing.  I am getting my "found my debit card" GROOVE on.  HOLY SCHMOLY this is so awesome!  So glad I didn't have to cancel this card after all.  HALLELUIA!!  Call the Husband and REJOICE!  The card is found!!!  Call all the friends who you asked if they had seen it, and share the JOY of finding the card with them.  SCREAM OUT THE WINDOW!!!  I FOUND MY CARD!!! YAHOOOOO!!!

Then it dawned on me.  This amazing feeling of JOY at finding my lost card, is just like the feeling of the woman who lost her coin in the parable. 

And that woman's Joy is being compared with Joy our Heavenly Father feels when one of us repents and turns back to Him. 

I can imagine God doing His, "Found My Child" Dance of Joy!!!

Luke 15: 8-10“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Show me you love me by being obedient

The other night I was putting my ten year old to bed at 8:30 pm.  He felt that was cruel and unusual punishment, but we are out of town, had been traveling a long way, and I was exhausted! After many attempts to help him understand why I would demand such a harsh and completely rediculous request.  I begged him, "can you please just show me you love me by being obedient."  

Immediately I understood that sometimes that is exactly what God asks of us.  It doesn't matter if we understand the why, sometimes we are incapable of understanding.  All that matters is that when we hear him ask something of us, we respond in obedience.  

Did Moses get the Shaft????

I was at a retreat yesterday, and the retreat director said a lot of wonderful things that struck me.  But one thing that really stuck with me was about Moses.

Moses; gotta love that guy.  He went from riches to rags, and then back to a whole different kind of riches.  He was the instrument God used to save HIS people, and change the course of Human History.  He was the Jesus before Jesus, and the one guy given the task of getting the Israelite people to the promised land.

And yet, he never got to go himself.

Poor Moses.  Poor Poor Moses.  I always felt a little bad for him for that reason.

Until Yesterday.

You see, it was pointed out to me that Moses was totally cool with the whole deal.  That he stood on Mount Nebo in the presence of God.  He watched the Israelites stand before the promise land, and completely didn't mind that he didn't get to go.    Why?  Or should I ask, How was he okay with that?

Because... he was STANDING IN THE PRECENCE OF GOD!!!!

I mean who the heck cares about Milk and Honey, when you have the PRESENCE OF GOD!?!??!   Deep, Personal, relationship with GOD, the CREATOR of the UNIVERSE, the Dude who knit us together, and knows how many hairs we have.  SINCERE, REAL, RELATIONSHIP.

Poof.  Mind Blowing.  Right?!?!

I can have that sort of relationship too.  SO can you.

SO when I am whining that I don't get to go to the Promised Land, which for me, can be all sorts of things; a bigger house, a perfect marriage, a ski vacation, a cruise around the world, a new louis viutton bag, whatever.   I need to remind myself, that God is allowing me something WAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYY BETTER.  HIM. 

If I really invested myself in relationship with him. Then I would probably stop asking for the other less amazing things. 

And while we are talking about Relationship, I had a somewhat sad conversation with a friend yesterday.  She left the Catholic Church and is now going to my Husbands Baptist church.  Growing up one of her parents was a Director of Religious Education at our Church, and I was surprised that somehow this individual did not understand the truths or recognize the gifts the Church offers it people.  (That is my assumption based on the fact that she couldn't possibly have chosen to leave if she did understand.  Big assumption, I know.)

I asked her why?  (Probably a little gutsy of me, but I really didn't understand, and it just sort of came out.)  She said she was NEVER taught the idea of a personal relationship with God.  In all her days of attending a SALESIAN Catholic School and being the daughter of the religious education director of a Catholic church, she was NEVER reminded that GOD wants a RELATIONSHIP with her.

Come On?   Really?????   Maybe, she just wasn't listening.

Anyway, I just want to remind us all to encourage one another to grow in relationship.  And to understand that ALL the sacraments, and the Mass, specifically the Eucharist, are tools/gifts to help foster that relationship.  THE whole point is RELATIONSHIP.   And how can you get more personal than TOUCHING, SEEING, EATING Jesus himself??!?!?!?

So today, I am going to AIM for NEBO.  I am hoping to be like a MOSES, where I don't care about my promised land, I only care about HIS Promised land.  

Let's Build and EMPIRE!!! (Not for us though...)

I have written before that my husband is a Baptist.  He loves Jesus and we have many things in common that relate to our faith, but living these differences every day is a major struggle.

For one thing, I love love love my Catholic faith.  I get super excited about something cool I read about the Catholic Church, or an event, or a retreat that I just returned from and my poor husband doesn't get it.  He doesn't share my joy with me and many times we end up arguing.  

He loves loves loves his Baptist faith, and listening to pod casts from his favorite pastors.  He wants to share his excitement with me.  Sometimes during the podcast it will mention something about "papists" or bring up some issue they have with the council of trent and I get totally defensive and we end up arguing again.  (And then i have to go google the council of trent to see what happened!)

Our children are being raised in both faiths, which I know is going to get confusing, and it's probably only going to get more difficult.  I know with God all things are possible, but I am not sure if God had created my husband at the time that phrase was written, and I seriously wonder sometimes if we will ever be united in faith.  

But the good news is I have an amazing solution!!!  Really, I know that if this one little thing happened everything would be much easier and we could finally worship our Lord from a unified place.  

Ready...?

Here it comes....

ALL Christians unite!!!  O my goodness that would be a dream come true.  I am certain God never intended for all the arguing and division.  (It's like when my own children argue about stupid things, and I say, "I don't care who is right and who is wrong, just quit fighting!!!!)  And I honestly think God's plan might be to unite the world, and then my husband will be FORCED to join the team.  Because there will be only ONE team!!!

So what can we do??? Well I know this sounds rediculously simple but I think it will totally work.

WE LOVE!!!

Yes, you read that right.  Let's just love everyone!!! Love the Baptists! Love the Methodists! Love the Lutherans and Presbyterians!  Invite them to stuff, and don't worry for a second they are not Catholic.  Then if they invite you to their things, (which I'll bet you a million bucks they will) Go!!! Go and enjoy it and worship your heart out! And show them that Catholics are the real deal!!! And then keep inviting them to your stuff.  If they have questions, find out answers!  Share with them!  

I think it would totally work!!! Got any other ideas???

HOT Saint of the Day...

Look at that Face!!

First let me begin by saying that ALL saints are good looking.  Whenever any one has that glow of the Holy Spirit they totally radiate good looking vibes.  I have often joked that the Holy Spirit could be considered the best facial cream ever!  Give me some of that, and my skin glows better than any cream from Nordstroms! 

But, I have to say, this guy, my new best friend up in heaven,  (Yes, I am that shallow, that I rate my intercessors on their good looks.) is a Hottie!!!!

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati!    (AKA: Hottie Frassati!!!)

Click this link to check him out:   http://www.frassatiusa.org/frassati-biography

He was all about the poor, and LOVED Jesus, died at 24 and his body is in corrupt!  He is the real deal, and was super good looking at the same time!

Thank you JESUS for all the BEAUTIFUL people you have put on this earth!!!

Love a Saint who knows how to laugh!!!

Did I mention that my husband and I are not the same denominations?

So I realize for most people different denominations is not a big deal. Usually one spouse converts or just starts going to the other spouses church, or else together they pick a new religion and raise their kids in that tradition.

Yeah well, that's not us.  I am a totally fired up Catholic.  I love my faith, and I totally get it.  I believe it.  I UNDERSTAND it.  (I realize this alone might be unusual!). My husband is a true to his roots Southern Baptist.  He loves his faith, the methods of worship at his church, the children's programs (they are amazing!) and doesn't get my catholic faith at all.  He doesn't understand it, and he doesn't like it.  

We are totally stuck.  I could never Imagine abandoning by beliefs, and he feels equally unimpressed with the Catholic faith. 

So what have we been doing these past eleven years and five kids later???  I'm so glad you asked.  

We go to two churches.  Yes, every Sunday we wake up and go to a totally spirit filled Baptist church.  The kids go to Sunday school,  and we enjoy worship or help out in the nursery.  Then, either Sunday afternoon or evening I take the older kids to mass.  Sometimes he joins us, but not always.  

This is definitely NOT recommended!   But it has been working for us.  And although not easy, it is probably more in line with what sabbath is about than we realize.   We are spending two hours on Sunday worshiping God, instead of one.  (Still not great, but better.  Right?!?!?)

Please pray for my family!  Pray that we are united in faith one day.  (Which is the real reason for this post.)  Pray that someday ALL Christians are united in faith.    And if you have similar stories of interfaith/interdenominational marriage; Share!!!  I would love to know how other couples with interdenominational marriages make it work.


Update: (12/18/16)
This is getting more and more difficult as our kids get older.  It is so confusing to the kids, and I tend to take it personally when my husband doesn't attend Mass with the rest of us.  I tend to paint rosey pictures of some very UN ROSEY situations.   Keep on praying.  AND for all those well intentioned wonderful mixed denomination couples out there considering marriage....well just know this is A LOT harder than we make it sound.

God moment number 342

So last year the day after our school carnival, after we had just spent hundreds of dollars on rides, cotton candy, snow cones, drinks, more rides, and countless hours walking around searching for friends to enjoy all this fun with, my kids start crying because I won't take them to get frozen yogurt.  

What?!?!   After everything we had just given them, they still aren't satisfied?  They still are not APPRECIATIVE for all that we have just given them?!?! They still want more??? They still find something to complain about??? 

And then I heard Gods voice in my ear say, "exactly."   

Wow God!  I am so sorry!!!!  Thank you for opening my eyes to how rediculous I act sometimes!!!

Hot for Jesus!

Just came home from an amazing retreat experience!  It was totally a weekend of totally relaxing with Jesus! Love that man!!!

First of all Jesus is totally HOT. (I mean he is God! I can't imagine him ugly.) Secondly he is totally super smart, caring, loving, wise, etc etc.  I mean all those things we look for in a man.  He has them ALL.  And here is the best part.  

Wait for it.....

 

He totally crushes me!!!

 I mean is there anything better than totally having the man of your dreams, loving you back!?!?

Okay so this almost seems like I am having an affair with Jesus.  And I totally am.  But here is the best part.  I AM ALLOWED!!!!   So are you, actually.