Joyful Words Blog
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105
– Psalm 119:105
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When the hour came He took his place at the table with the apostles. Luke 22:14
We have a tradition here at the Wohlfert house. When it’s your birthday, you get to choose the menu for your birthday supper. We had the same tradition in the McClaskey house too. Since I’ll do anything to get meatloaf for supper, I thought it was a tradition that certainly needed to continue with my children. As luck would have it, my daughter also chooses meatloaf on her birthday every year. There is just something comforting about sitting down with family to enjoy your favorite meal together. Many years ago some friends invited us to go out for supper with them one Saturday night. Being a stay-at-home mom with three little ones under the age of 5 at the time, I think I had my finger on the babysitter’s phone number in the phone book before I had even finished accepting the invitation. Our friends said they had discovered this great place that they thought we’d just love. I WAS IN! The night arrived and as we waved goodbye to the kids and backed out of the driveway I felt so lucky to be going out to eat at an exciting new place where I wasn’t going to have to cut anyone else’s meat or transfer anyone’s drink to a cup with a spout. I was excited! After a 40 minute drive to the middle of nowhere, we pulled up in front of this old house that look like it had about 4 sunrooms added on, each in a different decade. The parking lot was gravel and the paint on the building wasn’t even all one color. I was a wee bit unimpressed to say the least. When we walked in the door it didn’t get much better. The big open space was full of tables that didn’t match and were covered with vinyl tablecloths that were every pattern and color known to man. All three pieces of silverware were a different pattern and even the glasses didn’t match. I really wondered what it was about the place my friend thought we’d love so much. A few seconds later a sweet, cheerful lady appeared at our table with a personality that would rival Santa’s! We placed our order and a few moments later some of the best homemade delicious food I’d ever tasted arrived at our table. We laughed, talked, ate and enjoyed a fabulous evening! It was not at all what I had expected when we got out of the car that night. Isn’t life like that sometimes! When I read the gospel accounts of the last supper, I often wonder what the apostles thought when they first realized that night was no ordinary supper together. I wonder what they felt more; shock, fear or sorrow. We can be certain the evening didn’t turn out as they expected. Jesus had news they could not have possibly been ready for and the events of the night spilling into the next day were more than anyone could have imagined. It is on this night; Holy Thursday, I am more overwhelmed by my sinfulness than any other night of the year. I know the story, and the Easter morning happy ending but I still feel as dumbfounded each year as the apostles must have felt. Disbelief, sorrow, anguish…I feel it all heavy on my heart. Too many Christians want the Easter without the Holy Thursday and Good Friday. We want to skip to the happy ending and miss the brutality and the guilt but without the cross we aren’t Christians. Without meditating on the burden of our sins Christ bore, we don’t have repentance and without repentance we can’t have forgiveness and salvation. His death brought forth our life and in some small, unexpected, unpleasant way, we have to share it with Jesus. If you truly want to experience Easter joy, spend some time this holy evening reading the Gospel accounts of the last supper…imagine…think…feel…experience the unexpected like the apostles. Tomorrow, on Good Friday, spend some time with the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion. As you read, ask God to join you with the suffering of His Son in order to come to a greater understanding of His gift of life and love. If you can unite yourself more closely with the cross, you will feel the joy of the Resurrection. A Seed To Plant: Spend time with the Last Supper and Good Friday Gospel stories. Blessings on your day!
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“Joy is the serious business of heaven.” C.S. Lewis
When I told my little lovelies that I wrote about them and their “chicken babies” last Thursday they insisted I write about it again today and let you know that we have 25 new “students” in our classroom. As you might imagine, hatch day was filled with great excitement. There was lots of jumping, screeching, hugging, laughing and more smiles and high fives than I could count. We even managed to share the excitement and the chance to see a chick hatch with Mrs. Hattis and Bridget who were absent on hatch day by using face time on our new classroom iPad. I love this first grade project for many reasons, but the best part of the whole thing…the overwhelming, pure, and completely unreserved JOY and EXCITEMENT it brings. That never gets old! It made me wonder though…why is it that we as adults don’t often show that same kind of contagious happiness and excitement? Are we too tall, too sophisticated, too proper or just too busy to stop and enjoy the simple things that bring that kind of raw, simple emotion and reaction? We have officially entered into the most powerful week of the Christian year. During the next few days we will celebrate the events that are the foundation of all our beliefs. We rejoiced on Palm Sunday as we shouted, “Hosanna!” and remembered Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. I learned Friday that Jesus rode on a donkey because if you entered the city on a donkey it signified “peaceful intentions”. (I had one little lovely who thought Jesus should have ridden a big camel so everyone could have seen him better.) Thursday we will recall the events of the Last Supper of the Lord. That night in the history of our faith is so full of events and significance I could devote a whole post just to that night! This past year, I have been stirred by the significance of the washing of the feet and the call we all received that holy night to live a life of service. As I sat watching the kids squeal and hop around, cheering for each little chick as it worked to break free of its shell I made some discoveries about service and joy. For 21 days, 36 little people lovingly turned the eggs and peered into the incubator as they watched and prayed for their babies to be. They listened intently to every little detail of their development and they monitored the hygrometer dozens of times a day just to be sure everything was perfect. Why? They had nothing to gain by it…no money to be made…no fame to be achieved…no status to be elevated. They were in it for something much bigger and on hatch day I had a front row seat to just how big that something was! It was life! Simple as that! They were busy loving something even though it could never love them back. They just wanted to be of service…they just wanted to use their gifts to bring life. So how do we get it so tangled up as adults? Jesus showed us so simply as he entered an angry city in peace and gently washed the feet of His friends. He showed us how to act gently, live simply and above all celebrate the gift of life. If it’s possible for a child to love a chicken…my lovelies do. They remind me each spring that I need to think so much less about things of the world and think so much more about the ways I can show Christ’s gentle service. They remind me how precious life is and how appreciating it should catapult up my priority list. I challenged an audience recently to respect life by trying extra hard to “ be present” for five people in the following week. A young mother stopped me and said the challenge hit home. She is the mother of a beautiful, smiley, chubby-cheeked little girl and she said she would accept the challenge in the grocery store. It seems people are constantly stopping her in the store to talk and dote over her daughter and she always feels like she’s in such a rush to finish shopping and get on with things. She said she realized what a joy and a gift it could be if she would just slow down and enjoy the people enjoying the cute cheerfulness her daughter radiates. It starts with something that simple. So go ahead…use this Holy Week to love and serve another by sharing and appreciating life. A Seed to Plant: Be present for 5 people this week as you offer an act of loving service to each of them. Blessings on your day! Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthian’s 5:17 It’s a big week for my little lovelies…our chicks will be hatching in the next couple of days. It’s more exciting than Christmas in first grade! Today I moved the incubator to the “tiny table” so the kids could kneel down and look right in the clear top to see what was going on inside. As a dozen of them peered intently through the Plexiglas, one of them said, “Hey Mrs. Wohlfert, this reminds me of Easter.” “Why is that?” I asked. I got a groan and grin from one of the boys who said, “Geez Mrs. Wohlfert, don’t you get it…Easter EGGS, that’s what he meant.” After some laughter the little boy who started the conversation said, “No, that’s not what I was talking about. It reminds me of Easter because inside those eggs it’s dark and boring, just like it was inside Jesus’ tomb. We’re all just waiting around not really seeing anything but then in just a couple days it’s going to be like Easter and something alive is gonna break right out of those eggs like Jesus just broke out of His tomb and wasn’t dead anymore.” It was as if the most profound lesson had been bestowed upon them. They were in awe of his wisdom and so the conversation really began. They stared at the eggs and began coming up with all kinds of ways those little eggs waiting to burst forth with new life connected to the Easter miracle. I just sat back and soaked it all in, in awe of the simple beauty of God’s love and the wonderful lessons they found in that incubator. The entire 21 day project is so full of life and faith. They learn about taking responsibility for a living thing and they really become invested as “chicken parents” as we learn all the things that are happening inside those eggs. Even the busiest, most wiggley lovelies of all learn to turn the eggs twice each day with gentleness and tender care. We learn that they have a beating heart on the fourth day of incubation and that they develop their beaks on day 9 but it doesn’t finish getting hard until day 18. They also learn that there is exactly enough egg yolk to feed them for 21 days and then it’s all used up and on day 19 they situate themselves with their beaks pointed toward the air cell at the end of the shell so they can have air during the last 3 days when they grow so big their feet wrap up around their eyes. As I share each new and amazing fact about the developing “babies” inside that incubator, they respond to each astounding detail with one response… “Only God could think of that!” I’ve heard that so many times in the last 20 days I've lost count. Their excitement and anticipation amazes me each year. It just never gets old! They even remind me to whisper the lunch menu if it contains a “chicken” entrée so as not to frighten or hurt the feelings of the “babies” because as you know, “they have ears by day 5 and we don’t want them to know yet that someday they might be lunch.” Toward the end of afternoon one of the lovelies realized that the reason we have eggs and chicks with the Easter decorations in the stores is because they are a sign of new life, just like Jesus. He wondered if everyone knew that. I decided to take them one step further and said, “Now that you know why we see eggs and chicks at Easter does anyone know why we see lambs?” After a tiny second of quiet a giant gasp and a hand flying into the air revealed that one little lovely got it, and she said, “It’s because Jesus is the Lamb of God!” It was an excellent day! The fine folks at the MSU Poultry Farm have no idea how big a lesson they sell for $8.25 per dozen. Only God could think of that! A Seed To Plant: Look for a true miracle of God’s creation today and pause for a minute to tell Him thank you. Blessings on your day! Just so, your light must shine before others, so they may see
the good that you do and give glory to God. Matthew 5:16 I got stuck in a long grocery store line not long ago behind a couple folks who were apparently old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a while. After the preliminary catch up, they began to carry on about the economy, government, gas prices, insurance costs and even proclaim that the human spirit wasn’t worth much anymore. One of the gentlemen talked about how hard it was to even get out of bed and deal with it all. The other man agreed and said he was glad he never brought children into this disastrous world. I nearly bit a hole right through my tongue trying not to jump in and point out a hundred places to find joy. I decided the better thing to do while I was standing there was to pray for them because I was afraid if I didn’t; the gloom would choke me to death before I paid for my bananas! We can find most things we’re after if we just look hard enough. That includes good and bad stuff. The two men in the grocery store certainly had a radar lock on the bad stuff! I suppose there was some truth to their words but dad gum it, if the bad stuff is all you’re looking for, that will end up being all you see and pretty soon it clouds your vision completely. I live in the same world they were talking about but I’ve seen some pretty great stuff lately that trumps the bad stuff. I think it depends on where you’re looking and how your perspective is adjusted. Last month at a school event, a group of people opened their wallets and handed over nearly ten thousand dollars in a matter of minutes to upgrade the doors to a local elementary school in order to make kids safer. Just this week, I learned about a couple who donated all the milk and butter for a community fundraiser breakfast. I also recently heard a story about a woman whose husband was very sick and she mailed the car payment only to have the check returned with a note saying the balance on her vehicle had been paid. These are just a few examples of God’s goodness in the past couple weeks. It happens all the time…all over the country! Generosity is a beautiful and God inspired thing. You’ll be amazed how many times you see it when you begin to look for it. The magic of this verse from Matthews Gospel is in the intention of the generosity and good works. The purpose of these words is to remind us that our goal in being generous and compassionate is to give glory to God not to ourselves. It’s not nearly as impressive or “Christ-like” when people feel the need to announce the good they do. That whole “toot your own horn” thing isn’t cool. What I love is when someone does a great good or beautiful service as a way to thank and praise the God who has blessed them. There is a lot of darkness in our world but we are called in this Gospel reading to be Christ’s light of goodness to those in need. See, the thing about light, it never touches just one thing…it spreads! The antidote to the gloom and darkness the men in the grocery store were talking about is the light of Christ and his goodness and kindness. Look around and see where you could spread a little of that light and compassion. The good that you do doesn’t have to be huge or costly, simple and sincere is just as powerful. Ask God to point out someone who could use a little “good light” in their life and then share a gift of time or talent with them as a way to give Glory to the Father. I guarantee your heart will be as bright as a sunny spring day if you praise Him in this way. We have to take some time to train our eyes to look for the light and goodness that surrounds us and if we can't see it, then it's our job to create it. A Seed To Plant: Jot down the names of three people who are going through a tough time right now. Think of a simple “good” you can do for each of them. The second part of your homework is to make a list of all the “good things” you witness for a week. Blessings on your day! And sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all. Mark 9:35
If Christ were to walk among us today, what would He look like? What do you think He would sound like, walk like, and eat for lunch? I used to love to sit in public places and people watch. I would take note of clothes, shoes, hair…ya know, all the stuff that doesn’t matter. One day I was getting ready to point out to my friend a woman wearing an outfit that clearly didn’t have enough fabric and represented the wildest color combo I’d ever seen on one body. Just as I leaned over to whisper, “Get a look at that outfit!” The woman’s eyes caught mine and she smiled the most warm, compassionate smile I’d ever seen. It absolutely warmed me to the soul. As I shot a stunned smile back, she gave me a friendly little wave and continued on her way. I felt so terrible at that moment and I was so thankful I hadn’t shared my rude comment with my friend. The guilt still weighed like a brick on my heart though because I thought it, and that was where the negative began. Shortly after that experience, I read my first book about Mother Teresa and her ultimate purpose of looking at people simply to see Christ…nothing more, nothing less! Just looking for Christ! It’s since been my mission and it is a work in progress but one very worth the effort even if He isn't so easy to see. Today the world watched for “Holy Smoke” to rise signaling a successor to St. Peter. The cheers burst forth in our building and world-wide when the white smoke apperared. Church bells rang and laughter and excitement filled the hearts of millions across the globe. Many things in this world have changed but not the process of selecting a Holy Father…it’s still a surprise right till the very moment he steps into that window for the entire world to see. Thanks to the magic of social media, we all got to see it at once no matter where we were or what we were doing! It was a beautiful event for Catholics and Non-Catholics alike. As I watched the news on lots of networks tonight the images of the humble man now known as Pope Francis are beautiful. He’s made choices in his life that represent the qualities of a true followers of Jesus; humility, simplicity, prayer, service and defense of the poor and oppressed. I think one of my favorite pictures is a picture of him kneeling at the feet of a sick little boy in a wheel chair kissing his feet. What a gesture…that image catapulted me straight into the Gospel story of the washing of the feet and Jesus’ words; we are here to serve, not to be served. What a splendid first image! I struggle each day to do what’s Christ-like! Let’s face it…Christ-like can be tough! All those little decisions, those split second words and actions that we don’t think will matter, really do matter and I have to remember that. I needed a refresher course today I think. I needed a whap upside the head to remind me that I should be looking for Christ when I’m out among God’s children and I really needed a thump behind my ear like the ones my Mom used to give us in church if we weren’t paying attention to remind me I am here to serve, not be served. I’m grateful that God puts before us examples like Mother Teresa, Pope Francis and strangers at the mall who can bless our heart with an unknowing warm smile. Thank you Jesus for reminding me to see You in others! A Seed To Plant: Take some time to people watch. Be on the lookout for Christ! Blessings on your day! Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God
might be made visible through him. John 9:3 We like explanations don’t we. Our world surrounds us with technology, information and knowledge designed to explain and justify everything…until we hit one of those rough patches that we simply can’t make sense of. We aren’t so good at meaning the words, “that’s just the way it is”. We demand proof! We are a society of highly intelligent humans after all, there should be a way to describe, defend and understand everything. If there isn’t, then somebody must have lied or done something wrong because all things should make sense! If things don’t make sense, or if we don’t like the explanation we’ve been given, we set out looking for a spot to lay the blame. I’ve discovered the more out of balance our society’s moral compass becomes; the harder it is to “accept” things we can’t explain. God’s work included. After hearing this reading from John’s Gospel this morning at Mass, I guess the game of prove or blame isn’t new. The disciples were busy trying to figure out why the blind man was afflicted. They wanted to lay blame or find fault in order to understand the situation but in a simple yet completely profound way Jesus explained the man’s situation. His affliction was not to punish or to penalize…his situation was meant to magnify the amazing power of God.I’ve listened to this reading a dozen times before, and I always thought of that man who lived on the streets in darkness with pity and sadness. This morning I saw him with different eyes and I heard the story with different ears. My feelings for this Gospel character turned from pity to something more like envy. God chose the blind man in such a pitiful state to show His glory…what a lucky turn of events for him! This morning’s Gospel reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a woman who just bubbles over with God’s love. She was speaking so tenderly about her brother who had recently lost his battle with cancer. She shared her admiration and inspiration as she told his story. The part of the conversation that sunk deep into my heart was his reaction to the doctor’s proclamation of his condition…difficult news to say the least! Upon hearing the news he told his sister how lucky he felt that God wanted him home in heaven at such an early age. As tears stung in my eyes, it was easy to see why he was such an inspiration to her. There was no blame, no need for explanation…it was simply a case of “accepting” a situation as the work of the Father. The trouble with trying to explain and understand everything is that we can only do it through the lens of human knowledge. God is the one with the wisdom and understanding to see how things are woven together from beginning to end. We are only capable of seeing what’s right in front of us while God sees so much more. He knows the purpose for each situation…He knows what each event will prepare us for…He knows what will follow each disappointment and sadness… He knows the mighty and glorious ending to all of our stories. If we are willing to accept the “happy ending” we so desperately look for, then we need to remember that His job is to prepare us for it. Sickness, death, disappointment and afflictions aren’t meant to punish, they are meant to strengthen and renew and allow Him to show His mighty and powerful love for His children. In our weakness He shows His strength. That is the only explanation or understanding we ever need…simple as that! The glory of His works on the other side of our struggle is more amazing than we can even begin to imagine. I believe this with all my heart because that’s how much He loves us. So the next time you’re in the middle of “yuck”,remind yourself that God is the only justification, understanding and explanation you need. Remind yourself that the glory He will show through your strife will be every bit as magnificent as the way the blind man felt the moment he washed the mud from his eyes and could see for the first time. Remember that God’s ways are not our ways...His are best and they don’t require explanation or understanding, just our trust! A Seed To Plant: Read John 9:1-41 and make a list of situations you need to stop trying to understand, justify and explain and simply ask God to make you aware of the ways He’s working in them. Blessings on your day! I wait for you, O Lord; I lift up my soul to my God. In You I
trust; do not let me be disgraced... Psalm 25:1-2 Yup…should have known I could trust Him completely! The stone is movin and I am amazed at the power, strength and tenderness of the Father! (For those who are new readers, you might want to look back to the final January post and the second February post for the beginning of the story.) I finished the Whole30 challenge and have decided to continue on with the program through the rest of lent. I managed to finish the first 30 days without a single slip; which is an amazing feat for me because I am “Miss, it’s been a week and now I need to figure out how to wiggle around the rules and make this easier!” I didn’t even so much as lick my finger or taste one thing that wasn’t on my list. Now, before I begin to sound like a rooster puffing out my own feathers,let me make one thing VERY clear…I couldn’t have done this…simply not possible…you see I’ve been at this journey for 30 years and always end up in the same spot. I’m quite sure I’ve lost over 500 pounds over the past 30 years but they always seemed to find their way back to a location somewhere south of my chin and north of my ankles! So what’s different…it’s the trust. In this one pee-wee sized area of my life, I surrendered…completely! I flat out told God I was not capable of moving that stone that stood between us. I’ve asked again and again for help but turns out He didn’t need my help at all…He wanted to do the whole job Himself, the only thing He required of me was to step aside. So, you might be wondering what’s changed since that stone started rolling away; here are some of the highlights. *I can’t believe how much more time I have for positive things since I’m not dreaming of, planning, preparing, devouring and feeling guilty about food. I have time for things like “being still and knowing He is God”…I highly recommend that! *I have about 900% more energy since I don’t have all that sugar, flour and preservative sludge pumpin through my body. *I don’t have to worry, wonder and wrestle about my choices, the list is short and everything on it builds me up instead of weighing me down. The greatest benefit even beyond clearer thinking, no more sore knees, better sleep, better skin, bouncier hair and waist bands that don’t cut off the circulation to my lower torso, is an amazing friendship! The trust and gratefulness for what He’s been able to do with me since February 1st is astounding! Make no mistake, there have been some tough patches along the way but without all that sludge in my body the cravings for food have been minimal and when they come, the cravings to run to Him for strength have been overwhelming. He always helped me find a way out of temptation when I called on Him for help. Sometimes He even did it just to show off a little. One night I was making brownies for a bake sale and I asked for help so I wouldn’t lick the batter. I’d managed to get through the process smoothly until right at the very end and I was walking the messy beaters to the sink when a big glob of yummy batter plopped right into the hand I had carefully placed under the beaters. I tossed the beaters into the dish water and just stared at that gooey yummy chocolate in my hand and all of the sudden out of nowhere, in 20 degree Michigan winter weather, a fly buzzed by and landed right in the palm of my hand in the center of the batter! Temptation over! He even used my weakness as entertainment! I’m so anxious to see what’s on the other side of that stone! I spend time daydreaming about what He might have in store for me instead of daydreaming of dancing potato chips and almond joy bars! I know there is still a lot of trusting to do and just like I mentioned in the earlier posts, I’m still a bit afraid of failing...and now I have a public audience for the“mess-it-up-again” show…that’s a bit freaky but it’s another great place to trust in His power! To those of you who have supported and prayed for me, I thank you so sincerely…it has made all the difference. This is my stone, maybe yours is the same, maybe it’s very different but the process is the same…lay it down…give it to Him COMPLETELY and ask, beg, stomp, plead whatever it takes until you release your hold on the stone and give it to Him to roll away. There is no stone too heavy and no heart too hard. Oh yeah…since some of you have asked…I lost 88 sticks of butter (you can do the math) A Seed To Plant: Name your stone and make your plan, share that plan with someone else and help each other use the struggle to grow closer to God. There is great power in proclaiming your struggle and your trust out loud! Blessings on your day! For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20 Sometimes I shake my head in dis-belief at the ways God has chosen to bless my life! Some weeks are excellent but the best word I can find to describe the past 7 days is SPECTACULAR! The week started with an opportunity to speak to 100 high school students from our parish about the Holy Spirit. Looking out at that crowd and knowing they were there giving their time to God, listening and praying and trying to understand how to grow closer to Christ gives me chills. They were the perfect audience. I might have been there to influence them; however it was me who was influenced that night. It has been my great privilege to know each of them throughout their childhood and to see the young adults they have turned into made my heart happy! For all those folks who say the faith is drying at the roots…come on over and let me show you why you’re wrong! Wednesday I was invited to speak to a lovely gathering of strong faithful women at St. Gerard Church in Lansing. The organizers were expecting a crowd of 40 and to their great surprise and God’s great design, the room was filled to capacity and extra chairs had to be brought in. The Holy Spirit was very busy in Lansing Wednesday night. This beautiful group of women laughed easy and thought deep. Many of these sweet ladies came to speak with me after the presentation about the ways the Lord had been working in their lives and how pieces of the message had confirmed what they thought God was speaking to them in prayer. Once again I thought as I got in my White Suburban to go home, drying up at the roots…I don’t think so! Step aside satan…stuff’s happening! Today I had a peaceful 140 mile drive to the sweet town of Yale. What greeted me there was a complete lift to my spirit. More than 200 strong Christian women from local churches had gathered to share lunch, fellowship and prayer. I was lucky enough to be the person they invited to speak. All the way along my drive I kept asking the Holy Spirit to take hold of the words I’d planned and make them the Fathers. I’m tellin you what…He did just that because things came out of my mouth that were not in my plan. When I ask Him to speak through me, He always knows if there are words someone needs to hear. Today I had the privilege of just standing there in a new skirt opening my mouth and letting his words tumble right on out! When I got home I had an email from a woman who had been in the crowd and her heart was touched by a story about my Mom I hadn’t even planned on sharing. I had spoken a bit about Mother Teresa and her example of service and a sweet lady visited with me afterward about her experience driving Mother Teresa around during one of her visits to the US. I was so touched by her stories. I was so blessed this week. These three events were a highlight but the week was also lifted to rock star status when my little lovelies were beside themselves with sheer joy when our “babies” arrived as fertilized chicken eggs from the poultry center at MSU. They are so excited about this experience in life. They have learned all about the growth and development of these chicks and will spend each day of the next three weeks caring for the eggs and getting ready to become “chicken parents”. They gasped in awe to learn that by bedtime tonight the little embryos will have a beating heart. One of the little lovelies said, “We’re so lucky to see God’s good work right here in our room.” As we struggle to understand how something less than an inch long can have a brain, back bone and beating heart all in the first 48 hours the only way we can explain it is to simply say all at once… “Only God could think of that!” It will be a wonder filled 21 days. Days filled with teachings about the sacredness of life, the responsibility of compassion and tender care and the miracle of life and birth. See why I chose the word Spectacular! But here’s the thing…I’m nobody special…I don’t have anything you don’t have. Each wonderful experience this week happened because I opened the conversation about faith and the rest of it all just sort of spilled out. Our faith is not drying up at the roots…but it does need to be nurtured and tended by all of us. It’s amazing how ready and willing, dare I say, hungry people are to talk about the good things God is doing in their life. All they need is an invitation…go ahead…give them one! A Seed To Plant: Find a person and open the conversation about faith. It might be as simple as acknowledging God in a beautiful sunny day, or as powerful as a piece of your personal faith story. You can’t go wrong. Just ask the Holy Spirit to speak through you then stand back because He does powerful work when you use His words and not your own! 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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