Joyful Words Blog
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105
– Psalm 119:105
Would everyone who ever had a mother look into their eyes and say, “Just do it… because I said so!”, please stand up. If you are a reader who follows directions, you’re probably now reading this post standing up! Somewhere early in mamma school the women in my mother’s generation learned how to say that phrase with such authority and strength it was simply a conversation stopper! When my mom launched that phrase from her lips it was a done deal…mamma said do it…case closed! Lucky for me, my mother passed on the talent. As I fast forward lots of years, I have said those same words to my own children at the end of a debate I had to come out the winner of. It’s like the motherhood trump card…do it because I said so!
Why is it so powerful…why does it work…why do we say it? I think the first thing that makes it so powerful is that it’s biblical…if Mary, the mother of Jesus could use the line successfully all mother (and fathers) should be encouraged to use it too! I think it works because it’s simple and I think we say it because we love our children, and we know what’s best for them. Mary’s words had a deeper meaning; they were an invitation to the servers to be a part of something amazing that was about to happen. Mamma Mary knew great things were about to begin with her son…she knew best that night, so she used those powerful words and the servants at that wedding did what they were instructed because Jesus’ mother “said so!” Those words from John’s Gospel have a strong tie to our lives even today. We are the servers…we are those called to be Christ’s hands and feet on earth. We are called to live and spread the Gospel message so Mary’s words are as relevant to us today as they were to the servers in Cana the night Jesus performed his first miracle. Our mothers told us to “do what they said” because they knew there was more to the situation than we could see. Mary knew that too. Mary knows that still. Whenever we hear the words in this Gospel message, we should be reminded to “do whatever He tells us”. That really is our job…to do whatever He tells us. He has every last detail about our life sealed in His heart why wouldn’t we listen and obey? We are a stubborn people. Lucky for us, Mary reminds us through this verse to do whatever Jesus tells us, and even luckier for us, because of God’s great love and wisdom, we are invited back again and again to try to do it the right way…the way He tells us. A Seed To Plant: Before you go to bed tonight, recall a situation where you didn’t “Do whatever He said”. Think about the outcome of that situation and prayerfully sleep on it. Tomorrow morning pick one tricky or difficult area in your life and specifically ask God to help “do whatever He tells you”. Blessings on your day!
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Raise your hand if you like spicy food! Mine is not up because I avoid food that has the potential to hurt me. Flaming hot Cheetos, Doritos and hot cinnamon candy were snack time favorites and the 6th graders were always trying to get me to “try just one” but I stood my ground and took a hard pass. I haven’t been offered a flaming hot snack of any kind in almost a year, but it crossed my mind the other day when I heard the phrase “Spicy Disciples”. That made me giggle and after some thought, I realized I have a new goal…to be a spicy disciple of Jesus so I can follow him with no fear! I suppose the opposite of a spicy disciple could be considered a “Soggy Disciple” and that doesn’t seem like it would do much good at all.
The whole idea of being a spicy disciple has made me wonder what kind of follower I really am. There are all kinds of followers when you think about it. Think about irritating little siblings or whiney toddlers. What about needy, moody teenagers who follow behind like they have a rain cloud hanging over their head. Then I thought about the Eeyore type of folks who just plop along looking at the negative side of everything and don’t seem excited or grateful about anything. Oh, and then there are the complainers who don’t see the good in anything or the strong natured folks who follow along because they always need something. And let’s not forget the demanding, bossy, “I have the best idea” kind of followers. After thinking about all these kinds of followers I wondered what kind of follower Jesus sees me as? I wondered if Jesus ever gets annoyed as I followed him constantly asking for stuff or pointing out the things he didn’t do the way I wanted. I wondered if he sees me like a pesky little sister who gets bossy and sassy. Most of all I wondered if I appear to be ungrateful and selfish, always wanting to be in charge of the plans for the day. I suppose none of those things would qualify me as a spicy disciple would they! An honest question I had to ask myself was, “If I was Jesus, would I enjoy having someone like me following me around? The dictionary definition of spicy contains words like bold, exciting, intense, fragrant and surprising. Living out our discipleship in such a way that bold, exciting or intense could describe us would make a true difference in our lives, in our relationship with Jesus and it would have a positive impact on those around us. A soggy disciple just seems to perpetuate all the things the world has too much of, so now is the time to spice things up! Thank goodness becoming a spicy disciple doesn’t require Flaming Hot Cheetos or Cayenne Pepper but rather a decision to let the Lord be in charge and to ask him for the boldness to follow him with joy and trust. I’m going to start being spicy today by saying the words “Jesus I Trust In You” three times before I complain, compare or ask for anything. Being a spicy disciple won’t make my lips burn but I sure hope it makes my heart burn with a desire to love and serve him more joyfully! A Seed To Plant: Pray with the words bold, exciting, intense, fragrant and surprising asking the Father to help you pick one to develop on your way to becoming a spicy disciple. Blessings on your day! Consider trials JOY? What was St. James thinking when he wrote this? Upon first glance at this verse we might be tempted to wonder if the beloved Saint put in a few too many prayerful “all-nighters” because surely he wasn’t serious about feeling joyful when the washer breaks, someone you love gets sick, the fuel pump on the car goes out or the sweet teenager in your home eats the last piece of peach pie you were hiding…I mean saving, in the back of the fridge! Joy…I don’t think so! And what about the really big stuff like losing your job or serious illness, surely he couldn’t have meant those things could bring joy. I suppose we could sit down and make a list of all the trials that have happened upon us in the past month and we would be overcome with many emotions, none of which would be joy!
The real meat of this verse is the part that explains what we can get in exchange for our trials…stronger faith and perseverance. Do you remember when you were young and you went home from school and complained about that boy who pulled your pigtails or the girl who annoyingly pointed out your every move to the teacher? The standard reply from home went something like this, “Well honey, if they didn’t like you they wouldn’t tease you.” This verse has a little bit of that flavor to it don’t ya think! God promised that we would have trouble…it is a guarantee, not a possibility. Even though we’ve read those words more than once, trials still seem to catch us by surprise. We sometimes even cop an attitude and think, “What, me…why me Lord? What have I done to deserve this difficulty?” We might even get really sassy and say, “Oh, pardon me Father, but you’ve made a mistake, I’ve already had 8 serious trials this month, I believe this current dilemma belongs to the neighbor or even better, the guy who cut me off in traffic this morning!” The simple truth is, if He didn’t love us, He wouldn’t give us trials at all. Each difficulty or disappointment that knocks on our front door or barges right into our day is an opportunity to grow in trust or compassion or patience. When we throw up our hands in despair and say, “Ok God, I don’t know how to do this…I don’t think I’m strong enough for this, please guide me and guard me and love me through it!” we will grow in faith and perseverance plus we will be blessed with grace and mercy. I think what St. James was teaching us is that any time we surrender to the holy power of God, that’s joyful, and the blessing is more strength, more grace and more faith for the next thing! It seems strange to thank God for the lousy stuff but that is what we are called to do. We need to act like we are completely aware that He is about to do a might work through that trial if we would just stand back and let Him take us through it. A Seed To Plant: The next time a trial comes your way, stop and thank God for it and ask Him to show you the joy in the situation. We’d love to hear your stories! Blessings on your day! Growing up I remember pot-luck dinners in the church basement. Sometimes they were held for special occasions and events and other times they were for no particular reason at all. I remember everybody laughing and chatting and enjoying each other’s company. This sweet memory popped in my head this week listening to the daily readings from the Acts of the Apostles about the early church sharing meals and prayers together. Maybe it was because it was a simpler time or maybe it was just cooks from a small rural community but the food that would show up on those long tables was always beyond delicious. As I was taking this little walk down memory lane, I remembered a time my mom took a dessert that everybody wanted the recipe for. Everyone made such a big deal out of this dessert. Mom served it from a lovely glass bowl that made it look extra fancy. When we got home, she just laughed as she washed the bowl because this super delicious, fancy dessert only had four simple ingredients. A cake mix, a can of fruit cocktail, a stick of butter and a tub of cool whip. She said it was the easiest thing she’d ever made but it sure looked and tasted like a big fancy thing.
That dessert was such a hit even though it was so simple. We tend to underestimate simple but the Gospel story about the healing of the blind man came to mind as I remembered the story of the famous pot-luck dessert. Did you ever stop to think about how in this story Jesus did something absolutely profound with something as simple as clay and spit? We are the seekers of the fancy and we’ve become so immune to the simple that we often miss it because we’ve got our heads stuck in the “over the top”. I wonder how much peace we could add to our life if we were to make it our goal to seek the simple. This entire Gospel is an episode of the blame game. It’s pretty easy to get our mind stuck in the things we feel we’ve earned, or we’re owed. When things don’t go according to our plan we want to know why and find the reason things got messed up. The truth is, God does some of His very best work in the messy, the broken and the disappointing. When we hold too tightly to our wishes, we miss God’s plan and the dozens of ways He’s ministering to us and to others through us. At the beginning of this Easter Season, let’s pretend we are the blind man begging Jesus for sight to see with His eyes and to see His plan and to see His beloved in our midst. I can be so blinded by my own ambitions, expectations and foolish pride. I’d like to be healed of the bad habit of seeing things only through the lens of what’s best for me. Lord cover my eyes in clay and spit so I will truly be able to see You in all Your magnificent Easter Glory! A Seed To Plant: Spend some time this week with this simple prayer. Dear Jesus, help me see with your eyes. Heal my eyes and make me aware of the simple ways you walk with me, lead me and invite me to draw close and grow holy. Amen Blessings on your day! Happy Easter! We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song! Are you still singing three days after Easter Sunday? I sure hope so because this joyful season lasts 50 days and takes us all the way to Pentecost Sunday…it’s not over: it’s just beginning! If you’re wondering what that even means, this is the post for you.
This is BIGGER: Perspective is a helpful thing here. We make a big deal out of lots of things…currently many of us are celebrating college basketball and getting all caught up in the NCAA tournament which lasts for nearly three weeks. We host celebrations and give gadgets and awards for so many things but honestly how do any of them compare to something like Being Raised from the Dead? That trumps everything but we can so easily skip past it in one day. For the entire Easter Season, what if you told yourself and your family “Happy It’s Still Easter” and spent a minute thinking about what Jesus did...that’s worth celebrating! Stay In The Sunday: God loves us with a love we as humans aren’t even capable of. He doesn’t count mistakes, shortcomings and take plea bargains for our bad days. He just loves in spite of it all…we get caught in Good Friday and the pain, suffering, punishment and brutality and sometimes we apply that thinking to our own life thinking we can never be “good enough” to “pay Jesus back” for all he did for us. That’s true…we can’t! But He’s not asking us to and he’s not asking us to stay stuck there. He’s asking us to realize he did it for us…the dying has been done so we can move on to the living and the JOY and EXCITEMENT of Easter Sunday. He wants us to stay in the Sunday with him, to celebrate, to rejoice, to soak up his extravagant love for 50 full days. Fancy Stuff: Easter calls for fancy stuff like baskets, decorations, flowers, new shoes and clothes and of course goodies. All that is part of the celebration and it’s an event deserving of all of that, but it goes so much deeper. The shoes and clothes will go out of style, the flowers will wilt, and the goodies will be gobbled up, but the gift of Easter is eternal. If we spend a little time each day thinking about that, it will leave us changed. Share it to Keep it: Easter dinner and goodies can be shared more than just once. What if we celebrated each of the 7 Sundays of Easter as a “mini-Easter” and took the time to sit down to Sunday dinner and invite friends or family to join you. What if we shared Easter goodies with a different person each week of the Easter Season in order to keep the good news of Jesus’ gift alive. What if we read and talked about the “what happened next” events that took place after Easter Sunday in order to keep the Easter joy alive in our hearts. Our Resurrection and New Life: The 50 days of Easter is the perfect time to focus on the things we would like to “rise up” from. Maybe we would be closer to Jesus if we rose above gossip or pride. Maybe we would enjoy new life in our relationship with Christ if we spent a few minutes in quiet peace thanking the Lord. Maybe our families would experience New Life if we spent more time together doing simple things like pizza picnics in a fort or playing games and going for a walk. How can we rise up from the noise and chaos of our days…Easter is an invitation to ask the Father to help you do exactly that. A Seed To Plant: How will you celebrate Easter for 50 days…give it some prayer and some thought…you won’t be sad you did it! Blessings on your day! When I hear the word poor, I usually think of no money…anyone else think that? The story of the widow’s coins is a part of the Holy Week narrative, and it was one of many lessons Jesus was teaching during his final week. Truth is, it’s not about money or earthly wealth at all but rather about humility, generosity, trust and the sincere condition of the heart. I pondered some areas of my life where I needed to imitate the poor widow because I missed the point of story and here’s what I came up with.
There are days when I’m short on patience. My tongue can be snappy and my judgments quick. One of the great casualties of being poor in patience is not being a good listener. To be like the poor widow, I need to listen more than I insist on being listened to. Lord, on these impatient days, help me know the wealth of loving those beloved of yours that come into my life. Sometimes I’m short on trust. When my trust is low, I decide to take control and try to do God’s work for him. I tend to look to heaven and say, “I got this one God!” I can tell ya how that usually works out. When I’m low on trust, I doubt his love for me and the wisdom of his plan…silly me! Being like the poor widow means believing with all my heart that the Father’s plan is Heaven, and getting there is a beautiful story. I can’t forget that I’m looking at one page of the story and He’s holding the whole book! Lord, on the days I lack trust, help me remember the only riches I should desire come from trusting you and being your disciple. I’m often rich in pride instead of poor in humility. I forget that God organizes things specifically the way he needs them to be. When money is tight or when success seems to find its way into someone else’s life it’s tough not to get discouraged. Remind me of the wealth that comes from celebrating the good things that come to others because they are blessings from you. We are like the poor widow we rejoice in the blessings of others instead of evaluating all the reasons it should have happened to us instead. When I’m poor in humility; Lord remind me to keep my nose in my own journey. The poor widow showed us how to live in the present. God has created THIS day and is inviting us to be with him here. Yesterday is already finished, and tomorrow isn’t a guarantee. The people, the opportunities, the joys and the challenges of THIS day are His gift to me and it’s my job to soak it all in and ask constantly through the day how to do his will. A Seed To Plant: As we prepare for the Glory of Easter, let’s take these last few days of Holy Week praying for ways to be like the poor widow who gave from the bottom of her trusting heart. Blessings on your day! Believe it or not, here we sit right in the middle of the last regular week of Lent. As we close in on Palm Sunday, I’m offering this re-post because it contains so much to consider. If your Lent expectations didn’t quite match up with your Lent reality, this is the perfect way to finish strong and head into Easter with a joy and a prayerfulness that will bring peace to your heart. As Palm Sunday comes barreling toward us, some of you are tired, some are frustrated, some are happy, and some are worried. No matter what you’re feeling as we wrap up this week and head into the next week, I’m going to ask you to put it all on hold and realize this is not just another week. This is HOLY WEEK and more than anything I want this week to be different for you, for me, for everyone who is a Christian. This is a week of powerful sacrifice, love, commitment and glory. The point and purpose of this post is to help you make this week set apart from all the others. I’m asking all of us to lay down our worries, our burdens and our “stuff” and choose instead to walk this week with Jesus.
The Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in Duluth MN have a spectacular way of living out this week and setting it apart. I’d like to share their Holy Week focus in hopes it will change our focus too. Here’s what they think and pray about each day this week. They actually begin on Saturday before Palm Sunday. I’ve added a couple of questions to each day in hopes we can think about and act on them as we walk with Jesus through this extraordinary last week of his earthly life. ***Commitment Saturday - Ponder and pray about the commitment Jesus made to his Father’s plan and will. The commitment he made to our salvation. How have I committed to Jesus? What can I commit to do for him today? ***Procession Sunday - Jesus publicly showed his love for the Father. Will I walk with him? What will I do today to publicly stand and walk with Jesus? ***Extravagance Monday - How extravagant was his love for us. Read the story of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume in Matthew 26. Her love and her actions showed extravagant love. How has Jesus shown extravagant love for you? Who can you love today? ***Compulsion to Completion Tuesday - Jesus was compelled to move forward to do his Father’s will despite doubts, worries, troubles or fear. He was determined to complete the Father’s will. What is God asking you to do for him? Where do you need to add compulsion and completion like Jesus? ***Aloneness Wednesday - Jesus knew the next day he would give everything and he paused to be alone in prayer, in silence in the presence of his Father. Spend at least 30 minutes in silence today. Take time to be alone with your Father and His Son pondering the upcoming few days and all Jesus did for you. Read the Gospel accounts of Holy Thursday and Good Friday so you will be ready to think about them in the upcoming days. ***Body Given Thursday - Jesus gave everything. His body to the guards who arrest him this night and in the Last Supper, he gave us the everlasting promise of His Body and Blood which were to be poured out for the salvation of us all. What is Jesus asking you to give? Are there people in your life who need the gifts you can offer them? ***Impotent Friday - Jesus was powerless on this day. He who was Almighty became powerless for our sake and his Father had to observe it all. That happened for you and for me. Where do you need to submit to the Father? Where do you need to relinquish some power to the Father, knowing all the while he will be with you? From the time you wake up until 3 spend 5 to 10 minutes each hour meditating on the events of Good Friday; walking with him through this sorrowful day. ***Saturday - The Day of Night, Jesus spent this day in darkness. It was still, it was waiting, it was quiet. It was a day that with patience, reaped great glorious joy. Where do you need to be more patient? Find a way to practice that today. ***Sunday - The Day of Miracles. After you eat your chocolate bunny, make a list of all the miracles God has worked in your life and be sure to put Jesus a the top of the list. A Seed To Plant: Print this one or open it each morning so you remember how to pray your way through each day and say a prayer of thanksgiving for the good Sisters for their Holy Week example. Blessings on your day! I’m often asked how I like my first months of retirement and the truth is, I have loved all the extra time I’ve gotten to spend with grandkids and time spent helping family. I had the opportunity and the time to write a book. I do enjoy the extra prayer time and the time with my handsome groom, but I miss my teacher friends and I miss the kids for sure. I was cleaning out a file folder and came across some wise words written by some fifth graders a few years back and have been saving them for a Lenten post. These were snippets from Stations of the Cross Reflections written by some very beautiful and prayerful hearted eleven-year-olds. I hope they give you cause to ponder and pray.
*Jesus, they stripped your garment from you, and you didn’t complain, help me realize I need to be stripped of bad habits without complaining. Jesus, help me strip from evil things and put on clothes of kindness and clothes of love. *Jesus, when they rolled that stone in front of the tomb it separated you from the people who loved you. Help me realize my sin is just like that big stone; it separates me from you and the more I sin the heavier that stone becomes making it harder to roll away. *Jesus, when Simon helped you, he showed us how to be unselfish, he showed us how to be a friend even to a stranger. Help me love others even when it’s hard or I don’t want to. *When the women of Jerusalem came to meet you, they weren’t afraid; I would have been. I would have worried about those mean soldiers and their whips, but you weren’t. This station shows me I shouldn’t be afraid to stand up for Jesus and defend him. It also makes me think that I should be a friend to others and accept friendship when somebody shows it to me. *Jesus, I could never do what you did. I don’t think I’m supposed to because you did it for me and I thank you for that. I can carry my own cross though; I can fold the towels when my mom asks me and not pretend, I don’t hear her ask. Jesus, you give us little crosses to carry and every time I do that, I make it easier for the person who follows me just like you made it easier to follow you because you did the hard stuff. *I can understand why you fell Jesus. You were so tired, and the cross was so heavy but you got up and kept going. Help me get up when I fall, help me realize things like being ignored or getting blamed for something I didn’t do are so tiny compared to what you did for me. Help me be stronger and not make such a big deal out of little things. As I read their reflections, I was inspired to be a better Disciple of Jesus. Their words were so honest and to the point they left me changed. As adults we tend to complicate things, so maybe this Lent these simple words can inspired us to pick up our cross. A Seed To Plant: Strip yourself of devices and screens and noise this week and spend some prayerful time reflecting on the Passion Narrative from the Gospel…walk with Jesus this week in a quiet powerful way. Blessings on your day Welcome to the third week of Lent. So, how’s it going? Are you feeling yourself growing in holiness through your prayer, study and discipline? Maybe this Lent isn’t quite what you planned and imagined on Ash Wednesday. I have discovered that life itself has provided my Lent through events and situations that were not on my radar. Completely by the grace of God, I have been able to abandon my plans and just roll with the things He’s put in my path. We did however have a couple of tuff days where I tried to convince Him we needed a re-route because my first Lent as a retired person was a star-spangled holy plan for sure. It was full of doing and serving and giving and leading and had a very “worldly” focus because I had the time…or so I thought. But then life just started shifting and I had to let go of my plan to take care of the world!
I sure have a knack for overcomplicating things sometimes! I was still trying to convince myself that my extra retirement minutes gave me time to tend to the world and God helped me see how easy it is to get tangled up in the stories and happenings in others’ lives and forget that we aren’t saddled with the job of deciding and judging and sorting it all out. Thank goodness that’s the work of the Father. I’m simply called to love God and to love others. Seems simple but rest assured, I can goof up even that very simple instruction. God always has a way of yanking me back when I’ve wandered too far off. The first few days of Lent he did it with a teeny, little story. A wise, old middle eastern mystic said this about himself. “I was a revolutionary when I was young and all my prayer to God was: ‘Lord, give me the energy to change the world.’ As I approached middle age and realized that my life was half-gone without my changing a single soul, I changed my prayer to: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change all those who come in to contact with me. Just my family and friends and I shall be satisfied.’ Now that I am an old man and my days are numbered, I have begun to see how foolish I have been. My one prayer now is: ‘Lord, give me the grace to change myself.’ If I had prayed for this right from the start, I would not have wasted my life. Jesus is calling us to notice the need, the want, the holes and flaws in our own life. Allowing Him to love us and fill those places with His mercy and love is much harder work than trying to change the world. Maybe you will join me during the second half of Lent to let Him help us with the beam in our eye and leave the splinters to Him. A Seed To Plant: Just read that little story a few times and ask the Lord to let it wash over you and change you. I think the world will look a whole lot different if we get this one little prayer right! Blessings on your day! Can you think of something you loved to do as a child that you enjoy just as much today? One of the things on my list is listening to stories from my dad’s childhood. Even if I’ve heard some of the stories again and again, I just love to listen to him. I really love it on the rare occasion when I get to sit down with my aunts and uncles and listen to them all chime in and laugh and add details the other might have forgotten. Sometimes I feel like I’m being catapulted right into the middle of the story myself. I can remember the names of people and places that were never a part of my life because their stories have been handed down with such detail and emotion. I wasn’t alive when WWII ended but I’ve heard my dad talk about that day when he was a little boy and Grandpa closed up the store so they could load up the car and drive around with a picnic lunch celebrating. I’ve never lived in the day of prohibition, but I know stories about young men and their fast cars that carried bootleg whiskey across state lines. I’ve never known a life without indoor plumbing or electricity, but the stories make me realize I’m blessed by my abundance but lacking in the simplicity and peacefulness of that time. Not all of the stories are fun, some are hard to tell and hard to hear but they are all a part of the story of my family and God’s fingerprint is so clear throughout. I’m always sad when the conversation ends. I just want to know every part of the story.
Jesus had a magnificent story, a story of heaven. He didn’t talk about it like a distant mystical place; He talked about it like it was home. His stories were rich with detail and hope. He had a way of drawing people in, and they would sit at his feet and listen as long as he spoke. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to sit there and listen, to be inspired and amazed and encouraged. A young person recently made me realize how important it is to share the stories of our life and our family and our faith. I came away from my conversation with her realizing we need to share the most important part of our story…the part that lets people know what God is doing in our lives. Some think faith is a private thing, a personal thing. What if Jesus had thought that very same thing? What if he’d kept the news of his Father private and personal and never shared the details and the emotion with his followers? What would have happened if the Apostles had kept the story of Jesus to themselves? When you sit down to tell your stories, past and present…tell them the whole story. Tell them how God has been a part of your history, your life, your success and struggle? We can’t assume our others know about our Faith…we have to tell the story for the same reason Jesus did, to inspire, encourage and amaze. A Seed To Plant: Make a list this week of the ten greatest ways God has been a part of your history. Share at least three of those before the month ends. Blessings on your day! As many of us take time this Lent to dive deeper in prayer and scripture I think we will discover that Jesus had a favorite word and he taught over and over that we should put that word into action. The word…LOVE! It covers a multitude of sins and corrects a mountain of troubles, but what does it look like? I’ve had the Beetles song “All I need is Love” stuck in my head for a week and then I came across this article below; the Holy Spirit no doubt is responsible for this post! I have no idea who wrote it or I’d give them credit and a thousand thank you’s.
A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader, deeper, and more profound than anyone could have ever imagined! **'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore... So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.' Rebecca - age 8 **'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.' Billy - age 4 **'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.' Karl - age 5 **'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.' Chrissy - age 6 **'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.' Terri - age 4 **'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.' Danny - age 8 **'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.' Bobby - age 7 (Wow!) **'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate.' Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet) '**Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it every day.' Noelle - age 7 **'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.' Tommy - age 6 **'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.' Cindy - age 8 **'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.' Elaine - age 5 **'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.' Chris - age 7 '**Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.' Mary - age 4 **'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.' Lauren - age 4 **'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.' Jessica - age 8 **And the final one: The winner was a four-year-old child whose next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, 'Nothing, I just helped him cry.’ A Seed To Plant: These snippets have so much to think about! What if this Lent was all about finding ways to LOVE BIGGER! It’s impossible to focus on loving others harder and be selfish at the same time. Blessings on your day! Happy Valentine’s day and Happy Ash Wednesday. The two don’t really seem to go together but every so many years they both wind up smack dab on the same day! When you think about it, Ash Wednesday is the first day of lent which is above all, a season of sacrifice offered to the Lord out of love so maybe it’s not such a surprising match up.
This is the first Valentine’s Day I won’t be receiving a stack of cute little cards and candies from a room full of students…that seems like an Ash Wednesday sacrifice for sure. I was thinking about that today and I remembered a conversation with a first grader many years ago and it made me laugh. One little boy asked me who ever came up with the idea of Valentines Day with the hearts and cards and mushy stuff in the first place. I told him I’d share the whole story on Valentine’s Day but as a sneak preview to the lesson I told him the day was the feast day of St. Valentine. He smiled and said “I can’t wait to see what she was all about.” I smiled even bigger and said, “St. Valentine was a boy.” His jaw dropped and he said, “No way a boy thought of all this, you gotta be kidding me!” I laughed out loud! Although I really enjoy February 14th, one thing about the holiday I don’t enjoy are the little candy hearts with messages. My philosophy quite basically is; if it isn’t chocolate candy, it isn’t worth eating! I saw bags and bags of these little treasures the other night and as I stood reading some of the messages, I had a thought. What if we read each of those candy messages and added the words “said God” at the end of each one? I started laughing right in the center aisle of the store. Not all of the messages worked, like the one that said UR HOT STUFF, Said God…but most of them worked! When we are reminded in the New Testament letters to pray often and include God in all of our plans and love Him with our whole heart and soul, we sometimes have to think creatively. I do think God reminds us often how much he cares for and loves us; we just don’t always see it. If God is the author of love, who’s to say He can’t write a love note on a heart shaped lump of pastel colored sugar. Here’s what He might be saying to you…BE MINE said God, UR AMAZING said God, UR SWEET said God, TRUE LOVE said God, XXOO said God or CRAZY 4U said God. If you happen to come across some of these little holiday treats this Valentine’s Day, grab a few and see what message God might have for you. For extra credit tell someone else to add the words to the messages they read. Nobody ever said love couldn’t be silly and besides, those icky little candy hearts have now been given a purpose in my opinion! A Seed To Plant: Take some time today to prayerfully ask God how He wants to help you feel and share His love this Lenten season. And share this joke with everyone you talk to today. Q: Did Adam and Eve ever have a date? A: Did Adam and Eve ever have a date? A: No, they had an apple. Blessings on your Day! I asked some students I was leading a retreat for one day what they thought God looked like. One boy said he supposed God would look old and tired with wrinkles like his grandpa. I asked him why he thought God would look tired and he said, “Well wouldn’t you be tired it you made the whole world in 6 days?” Another student thought God would look beautiful like a flower and still a third thought God would look like a fancy king. Next, I asked them where they thought they might see God. The standard answer was, “in heaven”. Then that one little voice said, “I think we can see Him everywhere, but we have to look with our heart.” As I was tearing up and reveling in her deep and faithful insight, I was quickly snapped to reality by one of the boys who loudly said, “That’s not right, your eyes are in your head not your heart.” Ahh, kids…gotta love it!
I came across this verse from Psalms a few weeks ago and it reminded me of that discussion with the kids about where God is found. If we are supposed to seek His face always, I suppose we’d better know where to look! It’s easy to seek the face of God in the obvious, like creation, babies and children. I have no problem seeing and feeling the presence of God when I’m doing ministry! Working with people who are seeking Jesus fills my heart with joy but it’s a bit more of a challenge to seek His face in the unpleasant, the unfair, and the unlikable. Seeking God’s face doesn’t just apply to people…we need to seek His face in situations and experiences. Sure, we recognize God in the events that are happy and joyful like weddings and celebrations but we need to know He is present in the sad and difficult and sorrowful events as well. His love, presence and inviting spirit are there even if we recognize no apparent good in the situation. We are reminded not only to seek Him but to praise and thank Him in all situations. That’s easy to say until we’re smack dab in the middle of ugly and we have to spit out the words, “God, I’m seeking you in this mess and I thank you for these circumstances…even though they STINK!” Sometimes uttering those words can taste like vinegar in our mouth but if we repeat them again and again, we can begin to see His face and feel His presence guiding and teaching and blessing us. We like things to be simple and easy and happy and when they aren’t, we tend to think God has left us all alone. Our purpose in seeking God shouldn’t be to make us “feel good”, the purpose is to build us up for Heaven and a life spent with Him. Very often the things we need to learn can only be taught when life isn’t all neat and tidy and happy. But make no mistake…God is there…just waiting for us to seek Him so He can take us by the hand and begin the next lesson! A seed to plant: Write the words, “God, I trust you, God I love you, God I will be faithful and seek your face” on a notecard and read it again and again when you’re in a situation where it’s hard to seek His face. Blessings on your day! Sometimes when I see kids playing in the neighborhood my mind will flash back to when the 3 little Wohlferts were young. I had one of those experiences this week and it really put a dent in my perspective. There have been a few snow days lately but as I walked from window to window all I saw in the yard was fresh unmarked snow. No sled marks, no snowmobile tracks, no snow angels or tunnels, forts or snowmen. As I stood there getting way too sentimental, I remembered the wishes I’d made when my kids were in their snow stomping days.
I remember all too well how long it took to bundle them all up, find 6 gloves and 3 hats and 6 boots that all fit and matched (ok…so they didn’t always match). By the time they all got zipped and buttoned and tied up I was sweaty and frustrated and relieved that they were out the door! I would wish they would stay out and play for hours so I could have some peace and quiet. I remember all the energy it took to get them out there and it never failed, 5 minutes later someone was yelling from the doorway, “Mom, I have to go to the bathroom!” or “Mom, so and so put snow down my back, I need a towel!” or my very favorite, “Mom, I lost my boot in the snow hill!” For the amount of work it would take to get them out there to track up the snow, it never seemed to last long enough. I wished for them to be independent and creative out there in the snow without my help but before I knew it, they would be in and the back room would be a mess of wet, cold puddles and drippy snow pants and boots. It would take twenty minutes to get everything hung and mopped up and then we’d do it all over again. Flashing back to that part of winter made that sparkly uninterrupted snow seem less sentimental. I wondered that morning as I stood there staring at the snow how many things I had wished away in my life. It seems like we’re often wishing for the day when we won’t be so busy or when things won’t be so hectic or when the kids get more independent and don’t need us so much. But are we really satisfied when that day arrives? That recent snowy weather made me realize I should do a better job of recognizing the hand of God in every circumstance and stage of life. Life comes in seasons. It won’t always be the same, which is to say if things are hard, it doesn’t mean it will always be hard and if something is simple and lovely that won’t always last either. God works through all circumstances and with each season of life there is growth and challenge and joy if we stop and look for it. There is blessing and benefit in every stage and season of life. Each one has a purpose and God has perfectly designed and arranged it to define and mature a certain part of our holiness. Little kids mean puddles in the entryway, big kids mean uninterrupted snow…each is full of blessing and beauty; I have to ask God to help me find that beauty in every season of my life. God help me find you in the NOW of my days and help me stop looking so hard for you in the “then’s” and the “when’s”! A Seed To Plant: Say a prayer for your “present”. Ask God to help you recognize His work THIS day without comparing it to yesterday or tomorrow. Blessings on your day! One of my mom’s favorite sayings was, “Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill!” It was her way of keeping me from being dramatic or overwhelmed and I’m grateful for the lesson because that silly little line always made me stop and check my perspective. In the heat of the moment or the center of a crisis it can be pretty easy for molehills or small problems to look like mountains. Something I came across the other day reminded me of mom and her famous line. The phrase that caught my attention was this, fretting magnifies the problem, but prayer magnifies God.
We live in a world that is programmed to look for the bigger choice. We want the bigger cup of coffee or the extra scoop of ice cream and the vehicle with more leg room. On some level most of us fall prey to the notion that bigger is better; especially when we get a “deal” on it. We seem to go through life looking for the mountains and sometimes things get unrealistically inflated and we can lose our perspective and get carried away. In a society that embraces big…the Father is often leading us in the opposite direction. I’m taking a Scripture class, and the teacher was drawing comparisons between Saul the King in the Old Testament who lost his way and got tangled up with power and “bigness” and Saul in the New Testament who was also on a quest to be big…so big he found it his lifes mission to stamp out the name of Jesus. I had never really connected those two dots and thought about the similarities of the two Sauls so as I did a little thinking about the two I remembered watching Jim Caviezel (Jesus in the Passion of the Christ) speak and he taught that the word Saul means big and the word Paul means small. I’m pretty sure Paul found greater favor and did a better job living out his discipleship and seeking the Will of the Father than Saul’s did. I think when we get stuck on seeking or chasing the big things it’s easier to drift away from the Father but the more we focus on the little, the more the big things of the world lose their appeal. We begin to realize molehills are often much better than mountains. The truth spoken by someone much smarter and holier than me is this…If God isn’t bigger than my life, my life is bigger than God. Scripture is full of stories of people who showed us what happens when our life gets too big. God wants our little…little hearts, little worries, little problems, little attempts to be holy. When we bring them, He clams all the fears, anxieties and troubles. Corrie Ten Boom said, “Anything too small to take to prayer is too small to be a burden. He turns our little tries at goodness into giant success and he takes our big troubles and worries and squishes them up small. I suppose today is the perfect day to stop looking at the big things and start thinking about the little things I can take to God. A Seed To Plant: Where might the Father be asking you to trade big for little? Blessings on your day! I let His face shine upon me alright…and it made me wonder if He laughed as hard as I did! Have you ever been in a rush even when you felt like what you needed most was to just zip your lips and be still for a few minutes while you gathered your peace? I knew that’s what I should do but I just kept charging forth like a bull in a china shop…I was bargaining with Him and telling Him I’d get to some quiet minutes with Him as soon as I finished with my stuff. Bad idea!! It wasn’t until I tried to unload way too many plastic shopping bags from the back of the Buick at once that I got it. I’m not quite sure if it was the broken jar of salsa my shoes were swimming in or the rotisserie chicken that hit the driveway so hard it busted open the plastic container and rolled halfway down the driveway that got my attention, but I got the message. Luckily the salsa was on sale and the chicken was a day old discounted bird so I wasn’t out full price but I heard my Dad’s voice repeating that line from my childhood; “pay attention; it doesn’t cost anything to pay attention!” Mostly true but on this day, it cost about six dollars to pay attention.
The thing about asking the Father to help you get better at something is He actually does. I’ve been praying a lot lately about being more attentive to His promptings and guidance. Now I clearly need to pray for the ability to respond properly and not keep doing things my way until I’m darn good and ready. When I had finished cleaning up the salsa and chicken goo, I put the cold stuff away and left the rest on the counter while I made a cup of coffee and sat myself down to laugh, pray and be still. I started that little prayer time feeling pretty proud of myself for chopping off half my to do list before ten in the morning, so I started adding things to the list instead of using the time to focus on Him. I finally settled my mind and came across this a nugget that left me a little flabbergasted! The thing I was reading (randomly selected reading…yeah right!) said if you want to follow Christ, stop using the word priorities. There is no such thing as priorities…only PRIORITY! We can’t make everything the most important thing…only the Father can be the most important thing. I was letting that ruminate a little and began to listen to a Gospel Reflection on the Hallow App and the host, Jeff Cavins started talking about exactly the very same thing! He pointed out that our PRIORITY in life is to follow the plan God has for our life…that’s it! We can’t be all things to all people, only God can be all things and when we focus on that one PRIORITY and use it as a direction for all the things we do in a day, things will always be alright. He used the example of having the opportunity to go to a big fancy pants event where he would be a big deal celebrity or go to a birthday dinner for his daughter. If the PRIORITY was the Father’s plan for his life he knew being a dad was his vocation and the work God had given him, so there was really no decision to make. The will of the Father was to be present for one of God’s greatest gifts to his life, his daughter. I’m tellin ya, this has been kind of a big deal in my mind. The Father’s plan for our life involves commitments and responsibilities but the PRIORITY is always Him and those commitments, responsibilities and tasks are what help us grow in holiness and live out the Father’s plan. I actually had to look at all the things I considered my priorities and guess what I realized…none of them were as important as the Father and in their own unique way, each of those things were a huge, lovely part of His plan for my life. I guess chicken and salsa are pretty good attention grabbers. A Seed To Plant: Sit with the work PRIORITY and see how this idea of having only one fits with your busy schedule…and pro tip…don’t carry too many grocery bags at once! Blessings on your day! Happy New Year! May 2024 be a year of grace and blessings for each of you! I typically write the first post of the new year about my “word of the year”, but the Holy Spirit has been leading me in a different direction the past several weeks. As the end of December grew closer and closer, I began to be puzzled that I wasn’t getting any sense of direction about my word for 2024. The more I thought about past words, the more I realized they were all about something I should do. Be still or be content or be open…all great words but they all put the focus on ME and required ME to do something. Fast forward to mass on New Years Day and a message I’d never considered whapped me right upside the head.
The Holy Spirit didn’t inspire a word for me to act on, rather as I listened to the first reading on Monday from the book of Numbers I realized He was inviting me to focus on HIS word to me in stillness and probably quietness…and rest in the truth of what HE wants to do in my life FOR me instead of me thinking it’s always about ME doing something “for Him”. In all honesty he doesn’t need me to do anything for Him…He’s inviting me to just be His so instead of a single word this year I will be focusing on this message instead…. Numbers 6: 24-27 interpreted as a message to me (or you) personally…I, The Lord will bless you and keep you, Sheri! I, The Lord will let My face shine upon you and be gracious to you Sheri. I, The Lord will look kindly upon you Sheri and give you peace! You shall invoke my name, and I will bless you. I honestly think I let out a sigh of relief when these words jumped off the page. It’s kind of like that phrase work smarter, not harder. Instead of trying to muster up things to please the Lord maybe I should just sit still, shut up and allow Him to do the things that are best for me like love me, bring me peace and bless me when I call on His name. It almost seems too simple, but I tend to overcomplicate things so I’m going to make this my focus for 2024. As I begin the New Year with this truth, I realize after just a couple of days, I’m bossier than I thought and rooting myself in this truth will be tricky; the good news…maneuvering the tricky stuff with trust and faith always brings blessings. When there is chaos, Lord, I’ll let you give me peace. When I’m frustrated and worried, Lord I will look up and feel your face shine upon me. When I’m overwhelmed and feeling inadequate, I will accept your kindness. When I make decisions, I’ll invoke your name and take your hand as you walk me through whatever lies in my path leading to your blessing. Yeah…this is gonna take all year for sure!! A Seed To Plant: Pray a few days with these words from Numbers and see where the Lord might be leading you. Blessings on your day! As we enjoy these days of Christmas we should take some time to focus our thoughts and prayers on God’s gift of perfect love; His Son. Love is, after all the only reason God could possibly have for lavishing such a sinful people with such an extraordinary gift.
Many things have come along over the years that have changed the world. Henry Ford’s Model-T weighed 1,450 pounds and it changed the way the world moved. The first washing machine weighed over 250 pounds and it made cleaning things easier. The first computer weighed nearly one ton and it gave the world access to more knowledge and communication. As valuable, helpful and convenient as these and other modern changes are, they haven’t always changed our life for the better. In fact, sometimes changes in our world just muddy up the water and clutter our focus. Bigger, faster and more convenient isn’t always better. Sometimes all these changes lead us away from the love, peace and joy God sent His Son to this earth to bring us. The most significant change for the people of God’s earth weighed only seven pounds and arrived in the humblest surrounding imaginable. There was no million-dollar marketing scheme to prepare us for His arrival. There was no multi-million-dollar Super Bowl commercial to get us all hyped up about His coming. There was simply a seven-pound miracle that came to change EVERYTHING! If we would embrace it and all the Christ Child brought us, we could move through our days with hearts overflowing with joy. We would travel through life here on earth more easily than the first passengers in a Model-T. If we opened ourselves to God’s mercy and forgiveness, we would be washed whiter than any garment to pass through even the most efficient washing machine. If we shared the love that little seven pound wonder came to bring us, we would speak and act with more wisdom and knowledge than any computer could generate. Maybe, if we would slow down this Christmas to absorb the absolute Wonder and Awe of the coming of Christ, we would begin to find our balance and see that God sent His Son to earth to change us significantly. A seed to plant: Take time this Christmas to gaze at the Christ Child in the manger and ask God to help you see what changes are needed to draw closer to Him. It’s ok to start small, after all the biggest change ever only weighed seven pounds. Blessings on your day! Raise your hand if at least once in the past couple of weeks you’ve looked at the Christmas gifts you’ve purchased and wondered if they were just right or fancy enough, fun enough, thoughtful enough or impressive enough. I completely understand how important gift giving is, but I also know it can suck the joy right out of the season. It can be such a comparison game and that doesn’t usually lead us to a good place. As we ramble through these next few days leading up to Christmas it might be time to look at things the opposite way and refill our hearts with some peace and joy.
If we really think about it, I would be willing to bet we can all think of a gift from our past that we remember fondly, and I would also hazard a guess that it is probably a simple reason we remember it. For me, it was a doll bed made by my dad out of an orange crate from my Grandpa Ted’s grocery store. My mom painted it and made a little pillow and mattress and blanket for the bed. I still have it…my daughter used it and someday my granddaughters will too. It isn’t special because it was fancy, expensive or impressive, in fact it was quite the opposite, but it was the love that adds so richly to its value. It was perfectly wonderful, but it was completely opposite of what the other little girls in my class got for Christmas that year. The gift of God’s Son was the greatest gift we could imagine, and the story of His birth has some opposites that we can learn a great deal from. As a Christmas gift to yourself, take a look at these and ponder the depth of this 2,000-year-old gift and how relevant it still is today. **We think about being noticed…clothes, cars, position, houses, what our kids are doing but Jesus entered in the darkness and danger of night as a simple “nobody” who quietly and with hardly any notice entered the world only to bring a power, majesty and grace that we still struggle to comprehend. Lord, when others see me, may they really see YOU! **We can get a little steamed up when things become inconvenient or untimely for us or when people make too many demands on our time. Mary rode for days and days on a donkey over rugged, dangerous terrain while 9 months pregnant only to get off the donkey just in time to give birth in the same spot a bunch of stinky animals hung out. Lord, remind me you will bring GOOD from every situation in your own time! **We worry about money, investments, savings and nest eggs seeking the security we think they’ll bring but the most powerful, influential, memorable, virtuous, magnificent one to ever walk the earth had absolutely NOTHING except a devotion to His Father who provides every treasure we can imagine…he’ll do the same for us. Lord, help me trust in the riches of being your child! **We fuss about being socially approved. We ponder what others will think and the impression we make on the people we meet. Two of the holiest humans of all time, Joseph and Mary were socially scorned and by many were treated as outcasts but they were firmly rooted in the Will of the Father and that was WAY MORE than enough. Lord, help me grow in obedience and humility like Mary and Joseph! **We sometimes consider the company we keep and whether or not they are good for our image, but the birth of Jesus was made known first to the Shepherds who were one of the least impressive and desirable classes of people of the time. Lord, help me be like the shepherds! **We worry about giving our kids “all the things” so they will be accepted and won’t feel unloved. Jesus was raised by parents who didn’t even have enough money to buy the prescribed offering for the Temple Presentation. They had to opt for the pigeons, which was the lowliest gift given by the poorest of the poor. Lord make me poor in the things of the world so I may truly enjoy the riches of your love and grace! We should subscribe to the notion that ordinary is the new excellent! Every single detail about the birth and early life of Jesus was ordinary to the casual observer but what made the ordinary excellent or extraordinary was faith and obedience to the Father’s plan. We have a false notion that ordinary means insignificant. If you’ve watched, It’s a Wonderful Life, you know that’s the whole story line. George Bailey saw himself as insignificant because he never got to do fancy, exciting things but his whole life had been a series of good, ordinary things that had a profound impact on a multitude of people. If we could just slow down a bit and realize from the moment Jesus entered the world, He was teaching us that the path to His Father is paved with opposites. A Seed To Plant: Spend some time praying with one or two of the opposites between Christmas story and your thoughts and attitudes. Ask God to help you discover the beauty of being ordinary. Blessings on your day and May you have a Peaceful, Joyful, Merry Christmas! It’s really hard to practice patient waiting when things like Amazon Prime, Door Dash and drive-through everything are a common part of our daily lives. We really don’t have to wait for much of anything but here we are in the second week of Advent where the goal of the whole season is to wait patiently, and we struggle. The Father loves us so much we begin each new church year with a season designed to help us brush up on our “waiting”. All three of my kids were overdue but so worth every minute of the extra wait but even though I was pregnant seven extra weeks and had three amazing kids, I still didn’t learn my “waiting is good” lesson and I still struggle with being a patient waiter so I’m pretty sure Advent was invented for me! In case patient waiting is tough for you too, here are some things we can do to get better at it.
*Give God permission to make the decisions and do the heavy lifting in your life. There is a huge difference between waiting FOR God to do something and waiting WITH God while He orchestrates the plan he has for our life. *When impatience creeps in, trade it for prayer. Let your prayers be prayers of surrender as you wait. Sometimes our prayer can simply be a conversation where we advise or counsel God about what we need but the kind of prayer that helps our waiting be fruitful happens when the root of our prayer is; “You are God and I am not!” *When you feel like rushing instead of lingering, ask the big question…” Where am I WINNING and where am I SINNING?” The first questions helps us see all the places God is busy in our lives and leads our hearts to be grateful. When we ponder the second question and invite God into those places, we grow closer to him and depend on him to help us turn our sins into his wins. * Think outside yourself. My mom was the master of cutting to the quick and she would often remind me that “life wasn’t all about me”. Often our impatience or unsettledness is because we’re caught up waiting for God to do what we want and we forget he might be working through us and our circumstances to bless someone else. If you find yourself stuck in a “woe is me” funk the greatest way to snap out of it is to do something kind and generous for someone else and remember God will never be outdone in generosity. *When considering if waiting is worth it, consider whether you’d like to feel closer to Jesus on Christmas Eve than you did at the beginning of Advent. The difference will come from what you allow into the middle. One of my favorite lines from the Chosen series was after the demons had been cast out of Mary Magdalene and she said, “I can’t explain it, I was one way and now I am completely different and the only thing in between was Him.” Learning to wait for the Lord is a blessing…let’s use the remainder of this Advent season to allow Him to be “in between” where we are and where we’re He’s leading us. A Seed To Plant: On a scale of 1 to 10 how good are you at waiting? If you’d like to bump up your score, choose one of the ideas above and put it into action this week. Blessings on your day! |
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Sheri's writing can also be found at Faith Catholic Publications and on CatholicMom.com
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