Posted on Oct 03, 2008 under His Word |
I’ve been praying. Fervently. I’m in dire need of God’s blessings right now, for me and for my entire family. In fact, I’ve been praying so much that I almost forgot to stop and listen.
I was so desperate yesterday that I begged God that if this wasn’t the time to answer my prayer, to at least give me a sign that things would be okay. And then I prayed some more.
When I finally shut up and listened, I got that one sign. It wasn’t the solution to my problem, but it was the sign I’d requested. That one glimmer of hope was right there, waiting for me to listen to it.
Praying is good. God wants to be at the top of our priority list. He wants to be our first thought in the morning and our last thought at night; and He wants to be a part of every minute between the two. But God wants to speak to us, too. He wants us to listen.
Today, I’m going to listen to God. I don’t want to miss His message to me.
Posted on Oct 02, 2008 under Faith |
I’ve had a lot of time to think about fathers and daughters lately. I’ve contemplated my own relationship with my father as I’ve tried to guide my son in his relationship with his daughter. I’ve realized how very fortunate I am to have a father who loves me so selflessly.
I could write page after page about my dad and all the things that make him special. One thing, though, sets him apart. He has shared with me, very quietly and without fanfare, his faith. He is not a loud or gregarious man; he doesn’t preach or recite Bible passages. He lives his faith every day, every moment.
In my attempt to be more diligent in saying my Rosary every day, I’ve pulled out a few pamphlets as well as two books explaining the Rosary. The first, Scriptural Rosary, is a small hardback book that my dad gave me. Inside, he wrote simply,
To Marisa
With
Love
Daddy
The second book, The Secret of the Rosary, is a paperback and honestly, I didn’t remember where I’d gotten it. Until I opened it, that is. Inside the front cover my dad had written,
To My
Daughter Marisa
May you find patience,
wisdom and purity of heart and body
As I did.
Love ya
your Dad
in Christ
My Father in heaven must have loved me a great deal to have blessed me with such a wonderful earthly father. Today, as I beg and plead with my heavenly Father to answer my prayer and bring peace and healing to my family, I will keep in mind that I have no been forsaken. I will remember the blessings I’ve been given and have faith that more will come.
Posted on Oct 01, 2008 under Faith |
Not to forget the lessons of the past week, I’ve kept up with my prayers. Of course, I’ve been in dire need of God’s blessings. I suppose the question is, Will I continue praying faithfully if He answers my prayer? Oh, I do hope I will.
For now, I’m trying to find the strength and the faith to say, “Not my will but Thy will be done.” I talked with my son today about the faith to do that, the acceptance of what is and the belief that God will tend to us in His own time.
And yet, I fear. It’s the unknown that totally wipes me out. If God would send me a sign indicating exactly when my prayer will be answered, highlighting a path that I must take to get to His answer, I could handle the waiting. Yes, I realize that I’m talking in circles. It’s the unknown – and acceptance of it – that brings grace to my life. It’s remaining at peace and trusting His love in spite of not knowing that is the true testament of my faith.
I’ve been praying the Rosary every day. When you pray, please remember me and my family in your prayers.
Posted on Sep 27, 2008 under prayer |
I tend to ask “Why me?” whenever bad things happen. When someone hurts me, I’m especially confused. I really do try to be kind to others so I never get it when people are unkind.
Today was a rough day. It’s a personal thing and I’m not comfortable giving details. The person whose actions caused me grief had been very special to me. Although our relationship changed, I’ve tried to be loving and generous. It’s becoming more and more difficult to do that, though, when my heart keeps breaking.
Anyway, I sat here wondering why these things were happening to me and to my family and thought I should pray. I reached for my Rosary and my daughter commented about it. The next thing I knew my daughter, her friend and I were all saying the Rosary. We prayed for the person who was causing so much emotional turmoil for my family.
That’s when I realized that if not for the hard times, I might get lazy about praying. It seems when I start pushing God to the back burner, He yanks on my chain and yells at me to pay attention.
Maybe that’s the answer to “Why me?”
Posted on Jul 10, 2008 under prayer |
Sometimes it just doesn’t seem like those two tiny words are enough. When God’s hand in your life is so apparent that it takes your breath away, “Thank you” just doesn’t seem to cut it.
Today I will be out and about. I’m not one to stand around preaching to total strangers, but I do believe that my actions can be a prayer and a testament to God’s loving power. Today especially, I will dedicate my every action, every word, to God. This day will be my prayer of thanksgiving to God for answering my prayer and for always taking care of me.
Thank you for giving me this morning. Thank you for giving me today.
Posted on Jul 08, 2008 under Faith |
Leave It In The Hands Of The Lord
by Sebastian Temple
Chorus:
Do not worry over what to eat,
What to wear or put upon your feet,
Trust and pray, go do your best today,
Then leave it in the hands of the Lord.
Leave it in the hands of the Lord.
1.
The lilies of the field,
They do not spin nor weave,
Yet Solomon was not arrayed like one of these.
The birds of the air,
They do not sow or reap,
But God tends to them,
Like a shepherd tends his sheep.
2.
The Lord will guide you in his hidden way,
Show you what to do
And tell you what to say.
When you pray for rain,
Go build a dam to store;
Ev’ry drop of water
You have asked him for.
3.
The Lord know knows all your needs before you ask.
Only trust in him,
For he will do the task
Of bringing in your life
Whatever you must know,
He’ll lead you through the darkness
Wherever you must go.
Posted on Mar 04, 2008 under prayer |
For those who have read this blog daily and enjoyed it, I apologize for taking this extended break from it. It all started with a nasty flu that ran through my family and ended with procrastination and depression.
I’m going to make an effort to get back to this blog because it had been such a joy every day to write here and to ponder the Lord’s words. I ask that anyone reading this please say a prayer for me that I am able to refocus my efforts. I know that prayer can pull me through this slump and get me back on track. After all, anytime I fail, God pulls me through. I know He will this time as well.
Thank you all.
Posted on Feb 15, 2008 under Faith, Family |
These are the commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed me to teach you to observe… so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you.
Deuteronomy 6:1-2
My faith has been passed to me from my parents; their faith from their parents. I’ve brought my own children up in the same way. While some find their way to the Christian faith on their own, many of us pass our faith on to the next generation just as it was passed on to us.
For many years, I went through the motions of religion with my kids, taking them to Mass, having them baptized, and on through the sacraments. I didn’t really share my faith with them, though. I didn’t talk about the miracles in my life, the fact that I spoke with God regularly. My faith was personal and quiet and I wasn’t quite sure how to share it with my kids at first.
Somehow, I did learn to open up and talk more and more about my faith. I did learn to share with my children the importance of God in my life and how the Gospel was a part of my day-to-day living. Yesterday, my second son called and asked me to pray for him regarding an issue. He called a few hours later to thank me, because things did work out.
I realized how important it was that I shared my faith with my kids and let them see God’s hand in my life. I realized, too, that my children would be passing along to their own children that same faith. Our faith in God is a most precious heritage.
Posted on Feb 14, 2008 under Children |
When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
Proverbs 10:19
It took me many years of raising my two oldest sons to finally understand the phrase, “choose your battles.” It seems that I spent quite a bit of my time in the beginning harping on my kids. Whether they had picked out mismatched clothes or were insisting on eating with their eyes closed (seriously, strange kid), I believed it was my duty as a mother to correct them and teach them the “acceptable” way.
The fact is, kids don’t learn if they never make mistakes. And kids don’t learn to think for themselves if we do all the thinking for them. Yes, we must keep them safe and step in when their decisions might be harmful. Most times, though, it’s best to let our children make mistakes and learn on their own. Sometimes, they may even find a better way and teach us something, too.
Just as our heavenly Father guides us with his Word and is always there to lift us, He also lets us make mistakes and learn from them. Once again, if we pattern our our parenting after our Father, our children will do well.
Posted on Feb 13, 2008 under Children |
Speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, this , Christ.
Ephesians 4:15
Have you ever met someone who takes pride in their honesty? You know what I mean. These are the people who proclaim proudly that they may hurt feelings but at least they’re honest. Or they call it being outspoken, confident, in-your-face. Whatever they call it, it all amounts to one thing: honesty spoken without love hurts and discourages.
As parents, we want to communicate our values and thoughts to our children, but we have to remember to do that with kindness and allow our children to see our genuine concern for them. The difference? Well, if your teen daughter is wearing inappropriate clothing, you’d be better off suggesting something more appropriate and explaining how nice she would look in something else than if you’d simply blurt out that her clothes make her look like a tramp.
I think that sometimes we parents handle situations with hurtful words because we’re afraid. We see ourselves losing control of our children and that frightens us. We see our children forming their own opinions and sometimes that doesn’t mesh with our own values. That’s a scary thought. We want to protect our kids but our fear takes over and we lash out at the very people we love so much: our kids.
The best way to allay the fear and speak honestly to our children with love, is to always trust in the Lord. Follow His way, pray that he replace our fear with faith and allow God to help us to parent. That’s the winning combination.
