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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“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20
Have you ever accepted an invitation to show up somewhere and “help” only to discover when it was all over that you were actually the one who was “helped”? Last weekend when I volunteered to “help” as a chaperone at the Steubenville Youth Conference, I thought I was doing a small act of service for the Parish and the 60 kids who had signed up to go. Boy did I have that backwards! One of the tasks of the chaperones is to facilitate a small group that meets several times throughout the weekend to process everything they’re hearing, feeling and thinking. The goal is to help them deepen their faith, and ensure the experience impacts them for longer than just a weekend. The small group I worked with was a collection of nine fantastic young women you could imagine and they amazed and inspired me each time we met. Before I get too far into the story, you should know that a small group discussion meeting is not on teenager’s top ten favorite things to do list! This group was an exception! They were always eager to gather under a tree somewhere on campus and share their thoughts and see what insights the other eight had to share. They amazed me time and time again! These lovely ladies are all recent graduates and they wanted to soak in everything they could before they charged off into the world. They wanted to process the information but more importantly they wanted to talk about how they could weave it into the fabric of their being to help them become better disciples. They want to LIVE their faith not just claim they have it! They laughed together, prayed together, cried together and they did it all with such loving support of one another. I’m not sure they realize how amazing their connection to each other really is. They shared the ways they felt God calling and working in their hearts with the same casual ease some adults talk about the weather. It was just so natural and candid and honest. They tackled some tough topics about college and prayer and personal brokenness. I had the best spot at the conference and it was my pleasure, my joy and my great blessing to have been a part of this circle of nine amazing, beautiful, faithful, funny, loving young women. God has great plans for those nine and I know with all certainty they will make good on His plans! I guess the thing that made them so inspiring to me is that they were able to do something that we aren’t so good at as adults and that’s help each other share and grow in our faith. They did it with such ease…like they were talking about the latest fashions or what they were having for lunch…it just flowed from their hearts. I was very humbled and I realized I want what they have. I went to help but they taught me there is something very important missing from many adults’ lives. We don’t typically huddle together and talk about the grace God has slathered us with lately or about the way we feel Him working through us as we navigate our way through the challenges of everyday life. Why don’t we? We share tools, we share cleaning tips and recipes and we share our Kohl’s 30% off coupons but we don’t share the stories of God alive and present in our lives. If you could only see the spark, the enthusiasm and the greatness that can come from a conversation like that you’d be convinced. For now, you’ll just have to take my word for it and accept my invitation to gather a group of people and make Jesus the topic of conversation. I feel obligated to announce to the world that there are nine young women on fire for the Lord ready to let loose on the world…stand back…they have faith and they aren’t afraid to share it and live it. Good luck ladies and thank you for the blessing you’ve been to me and thank you for the way you are about to make a difference in this world! A Seed To Plant: Gather a few friends and talk about the work of the Father in your lives. Start with a scripture verse and let it flow from there. I guarantee the graces will be abundant! Blessings on your day!
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It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you… John 15:16 A good number of us wake up each morning and choose to pray and invite God to help us live a saintly day. I don’t know about you but I put the whole weight of discipleship on my shoulders. I thought Christ’s love was connected to MY choices, My sins, MY behavior and actions…but in reality, this passage from John’s Gospel makes it very clear that before I even came into being, I was chosen by God the Father. The whole truth is, He picked us first and we are His no matter how much we goof up our relationship with Him! Now I’d like to tell you that I discovered and pondered that revelation while in a quiet and peaceful lakeside location…and I contemplated it some more as I strolled through a majestic forest while listening to the birds and smelling the flowers and admiring God’s colorful handiwork in nature. But…that would be a lie! I tend to think I can only come to these great discoveries in stillness and prayerful connection to God, but…just because He can…He taught me some amazing things this past weekend in the craziest, loudest, most electric place possible! I had the enormous pleasure of chaperoning a bus load of high school students to the Steubenville Youth Conference at Franciscan University this weekend. After we checked into our luxurious accommodations…oh wait it was a dorm room….we walked to the Field House and were greeted by about 2,200 teenagers….and a band…and beach balls bouncing through the crowd, and lots of jumping and singing and screaming and …I’ll stop before you all need to go find ear plugs or take a Tylenol just imagining it! It wasn’t a rock concert or a ball game, it was praise and worship adolescent style and I am changed because of their passion and their faith and the their enthusiasm!!! The theme of the conference was “Chosen” and we spent the weekend learning and understanding that we are chosen, loved and accepted unconditionally by our Heavenly Father. That was a powerful revelation for hundreds of teenagers this weekend, and having a part in watching those revelations occur was a blessing beyond measure. It’s a very humbling and amazing experience to hug a teenager as they laugh or weep deeply because they have been able to push past every obstacle society puts between them and God’s love and then watch God fill them so full it leaks out all over! It’s incredibly powerful to see more than two thousand kids kneeling in bleachers or a gym floor so completely immersed in prayer that an hour passes like a second. It’s incredible to watch the power of the Holy Spirit fill a teenager so full of courage and hope and holiness that they crave God’s word and they dedicate their heart to the Father and not to the world. I can’t even describe what a splendor that sight is to behold! If you’re watching the news, reading the paper or having conversations that include topics like, government healthcare, Monsanto, the IRS or just about any other worldly topic, it’s easy to feel like someone just pulled your plug and drained out a good share of your hope and optimism. I am here to tell you to lift up your heart because what I witnessed this weekend proved that THEY are our hope. If we want to make a difference in this world there is a natural resource we need to protect and nurture and it’s our youth! They have a fire, a hunger and an ability to bring about greatness…the greatness of Christ. Youth who love Christ and are armed with the knowledge that they are CHOSEN are a powerful ally in the battle for truth and goodness! I’ve felt their passion, I’ve seen their enthusiasm and I’ve heard their voices lifted in praise and I’m tellin ya…they are a mighty force. They are the body of Christ NOW and they need our prayers and our support and ou interaction NOW. As adults we tend to view them as the future of our church when actually they ARE the church and they are hungry for a place to love and serve the Lord. In many cases they know more than we do, they love Christ more deeply than we do, they have more passion than we do and they certainly have more energy than we do. We need to stand side by side with them and set about the work of those who know they are CHOSEN! If you don’t think working with teens is in your set of gifts, then pray for them or financially support their spiritual development. If you doubt the power of a teenager, I’m guessing you’ve never seen firsthand what happens to one who allows the power of God to work through them. That’s something EVERY person should see, they will amaze you! A Seed to Plant: Get the names of some teenagers from your church and begin to pray every day for them by name. At some point this week pick out a teenager and have a conversation with them and encourage them in some way. Blessings on your day! "Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” ~ C. S. Lewis
I think if any of us could actually remember our first year of life, we’d be amazed at all we were able to do in twelve short months. Some of us have a better understanding of the accomplishments of the first year of life because we’re parents. Many have perhaps never even stopped long enough to give it thought, but if you ponder it a second it’s pretty amazing. Babies begin as little bundles that can’t even hold up their own head but they turn into little people that learn to communicate, motivate their body, begin to feed and soothe themselves, and recognize the ones they love. All that in 365 days! The really astounding part is they do all of it without going to a class, or a seminar and with very little guidance and instruction; it just happens naturally. Generally speaking, nobody really interferes with the process…we don’t introduce legislation or pass ordinances or seek corporate funding for the process. We simply have faith, pray for healthy children, meet basic human needs, lovingly support and encourage and… ta-dah…the result is as a one year old who is surprisingly different than the child they were twelve months earlier. Today is the first birthday of the Joyful Words blog and as I reflect back on what has changed and what I have learned in the last twelve months I am surprised, pleased and humbled! This whole process has been very much like the first year of a baby’s life. I started out with no training, no experience and I often feel no business, offering perspective and ideas about how to “Live Christ”. I’m not a trained writer, Theologian or Scripture scholar. What I am, is a woman who gets it wrong more than she gets it right and I’m able to use laughter and humor as I look for God in the most common and the most peculiar situations and experiences. I really think becoming good Disciples is all about practicality and I think God uses the events of daily life like laundry and flat tires and disappointments to draw us closer. I truly believe we seek the simple and simple is what I’m good at! I will be honest, I fought this writing thing kicking and screaming! I had attended a class on the gifts and charisms of the Holy Spirit and through the course we were required to complete a 180 question inventory. The scores revealed that I possessed the charism of writing. I distinctly remembered thinking the scoring tool was suffering some sort of malfunction! I sat with that knowledge for more than two years and throughout that time these odd requests kept coming to me that all required writing. My mom was a huge believer in the power of the Holy Spirit as the giver of words and knowledge so when those first requests started coming in, I remembered the way she taught me to pray to the Holy Spirit for HIS words not mine, because His words would always be better. She was completely right! Over the course of the last year, there have been many times I’ve sat down at the laptop to compose the next day’s blog and had absolutely no idea what to write about and my prayer is always the same, “Holy Spirit please send me the words you want me to use today. Please allow me to be the messenger of a word or blessing to someone’s heart.” It’s fun work for sure! When I started I was a little overwhelmed about the thought of doing this twice every week but I just felt Him guiding the whole process so I listened and promised Him that as long as He sent the words, I’d provide the typing! Just like an infant, who with faith, prayer and love changes naturally and dramatically throughout the first year, I too have been changed profoundly. I have been blessed and humbled beyond measure by this work and I would like to thank all of you for that. I have been so touched by your comments and your stories…those honestly are the things that keep me writing. My deal with God was, as long as people let me know YOUR words are touching their hearts, I’ll keep typing and hitting the publish button. Thank you for putting up with my goofy sense of humor and my simple minded approach to living and spreading the Gospel message. Thank you for listening to my silly stories and for taking a front row seat twice a week as I reveal my shortcomings and my challenges as a Child of God. Thank you for telling others about the blog and sharing the link. I suspect the reason we all show up here twice a week is because we’re all in the same boat...tryin our best to live like saints. I guess we’d do well to remember that God created us in His image so we could love and be loved. If I were to blow out a candle on this first birthday, my wish would be for God’s blessing upon all of you! A Seed To Plant: Eat a really yummy dessert to celebrate this birthday. While you eat it, reflect back on the past year and make a list of the changes and blessings you’ve seen. Thank God for one blessing He’s given you for each bite of dessert you take. Blessings on your day! …”Speak Lord for your servant is listening.” 1 Samuel 3:9
When I was growing up, if I would misplace something and say, “I can’t find it!” my dad would always say, “I’m sure it will be in the last place you look.” He was right…it always was but as a kid that line really bugged me! I think it probably bugged me because what I would have rather heard him say was, “I’ll help you find it.” That simple statement of the obvious and the reality that I was on my own was his very simple way of letting me know I was responsible. If I wanted that missing object badly enough I had to invest the thought, energy and action into finding what I was looking for. I heard someone say a couple weeks ago, “God just never listens to me!” I’m sure we’ve all felt that way a time or two when things got bumpy but the question that should always follow that statement is , “How well do I listen to God?” As Christians we can be assured of God’s presence in our lives but sometimes we have to do what my dad always pushed me to do and take responsibility for finding His loving presence in our lives. God speaks to us, but it’s not a bold, booming deep voice from the clouds. God speaks to us daily if we’re seeking and listening. There are four ways He makes us aware of his presence, His voice, and His will. The first place God speaks to us is through Scripture. Once while I was in the middle of a struggle, I tried a dozen things on my own to make it better and finally after no improvement I did what I should have done first and gone to God’s word for strength, comfort and counsel. When I did finally ask God to speak to my heart, I landed in James and these were the words I read; Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. I heard that loud and clear! The second way God speaks to us is through circumstances. Sometimes we call them coincidences, but God deserves the credit for those things, not fate. God so loves each of us, He arranges and organizes events and circumstances all the time just to show us how much He loves us and cares for us. Keep your eye out for them! The third way is through people. Sometimes the right person with just the right word comes along at just right time and it seems to change everything. That’s God, speaking through others. A lady shared a story just recently about being in the hospital and as she was being prepped for surgery a nurse walked in to assist and they just “out of nowhere” started talking about trusting God and feeling His peace. She said it completely removed her fear and she rolled down the hall with an amazing sense of calmness and confidence. The fourth way God speaks to us is through prayer. My husband and I can’t raise our children together if we don’t talk. I can’t teach a room full of little lovelies to read or do math if we don’t talk. I think we understand that we would stumble around in such chaos and frustration if we didn’t communicate with each other. Prayer is our communication with God. It’s the most important conversation we have each day but yet it’s the one that sometimes gets pushed to the side when we get busy or frazzled. The biggest mistake we make is to think we don’t have time to pray. That would be like trying to drive somewhere and being too busy to put gas in the car. If you feel like something’s missing in your life seek the giver of all good things. He will be the last place you look and now you have four choices. A Seed To Plant: Pick one of the four and start seeking Him. I’m willing to bet the more you seek Him in these four places, the more you’ll find Him. Blessings on your day! Wait for the Lord, take courage; be stouthearted, wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14
Waiting is something we aren’t so good at. We live in a society of “drive through”, “instant” and “express” everything. We still have to wait 9 months for babies but it seems like practically everything else can be rush ordered. How did we get so wound up? I think all of the “speedy deliveries” we’ve become accustomed to have made us short on patience. Patience is such an important virtue it is mentioned more than 30 times in Scripture. I guess the big question is what are we supposed to do while we wait on things to happen? We don’t want to waste time or miss out on anything so what is the solution? I’m famous for giving God a time frame. I say things like, ok God, I will be patient and wait for you to show me the way; but I need to know by the end of June because I have to plan for this or that. I’m not sure that truly qualifies as patience. I have to share a struggle with you because it lead to a great message. I love teaching, I love writing, I love speaking…it’s all so different and exciting and sometimes it gets a little crazy doing all three as well as being a wife and mom but I told God I would do whatever He asks me as long as He gives me the energy and the words. Let’s face it, I’m way too old to get by on 5 hours of sleep a night so He’s got to intercede…and He always does. But lately I’ve been getting a little sassy in my prayer. I went so far a couple weeks ago as to tell God I needed Him to choose. Do you want me to be a writer and speaker because I’d love to write a book and I’d love to travel all over the country spreading Your message but I just don’t have enough minutes in a week to do everything? Oddly enough in that two week time frame, three people I am acquainted with got book deals or cool writing assignments AND I saw Facebook posts from several speakers who were doing TV and radio shows and speaking to great audiences in exciting places…I was overwhelmed by the number of these events that just flooded my newsfeed! I was pretty frustrated and more than once felt like throwing my own little pity party. I was so frustrated with myself…I prayed over and over those couple weeks for God to take away those sassy thoughts and feelings because I knew they were not His thoughts or His ways. After wrestling with this, I was standing in the kitchen doing dishes yesterday and I turned on the radio and the song that came on dropped me to my knees! A song began that I had heard dozens of times before but I guess I had never really listened. It was as though the whole world went silent and I heard the artist sing the words, “While I’m waiting I will serve You, while I’m waiting, I will worship.” His message to me that moment was as clear and profound as the burning bush He put before Moses. That was it…I need to serve and worship while I wait. I was lovingly reminded that I don’t get to pick the when, and the where, and the what. I get to pick the HIM and that is enough. I can’t wish for someone else’s journey, it isn’t mine. It’s my great pleasure to write here twice every week, it’s a joy to speak to crowds of 10 or 1,000 in church basements or school gyms or wherever He sends me. Maybe someday I’ll get to write a book or speak in Hawaii or appear on a Christian TV or radio program, but that isn’t for me to decide. It is my humble privilege to serve and worship when, where and with whom He chooses to put in my path. I realized as I listened to that song how blessed I am to be able to do all the things He allows me to do. I don’t want to miss out of one minute of service because I’m waiting for something “big”. Waking up every morning in a country where I am free to love and serve and spread the Gospel is huge…better than a book deal, better than a five star hotel and conference center and certainly better than money! It’s better because He chose it exactly for me…that’s a perfect gift. So while I’m waiting for whatever it is He might need or want me to do with my time and talents, I will serve and I will worship and I can happily do those two things forever because they are pleasing to my Father. A Seed To Plant: Make a list of the things you find yourself waiting for, then next to it make a list of the ways you can serve and worship while you’re waiting. Blessings on your day! For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,
says the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 How about that for a Monday kick in the pants! As I think about the Prophet Isaiah’s words, they have a more truthful application to my life than I’d like to admit! My thoughts ramble off into the back 40 during prayer and the things I’m thinking are definitely not His thoughts and sometimes, my ways are so NOT His ways! Why do we do that…when we know we shouldn’t speak words to others we wouldn’t speak directly to Him and we know His way and His plan trump ours EVERY time? Yet we keep runnin around sayin stuff we shouldn’t say and doin stuff that our stubborn nature tells us is easier! I guess it all leads me back to the truth…I’m just a big ole sinner who needs the love and mercy of a Gracious God because I sure can’t get it right without Him! Maybe that’s the whole point! Yesterday at Mass Fr. Gordon (Jason and Shannon call him Fr. Smiley because he is the most contagiously joyful and happy man ever!) taught us a prayer. Here it is, “Thank You God, Your will be done!” Even I can remember that one! Seems simple and easy and makes sense...until you begin to think about when you should say it! It’s going to be easy to say that little prayer when I get a good parking spot, or when something good happens. The tricky part is when the yucky stuff happens. Fr. Gordon used the examples, when you loose your keys in the snow, “Thank you God, Your will be done.” Or when you loose your cell phone, “Thank you God, Your will be done…now I have more time to talk to You.” Seven little words that can change everything! I think we can get so busy we forget to have that ongoing dialogue with Our Father, maybe lost keys and slow traffic and broken mower belts really are a tiny nudge inviting us to speak with Him. Disappointments are a great place to plug in this prayer! When things don’t go the way we plan, we can get pretty down. I remember not getting a teaching job I wanted so badly! I prayed, I researched, I practiced interviewing I did everything to prepare yet despite my best efforts, the interview committee picked someone else! I was so disappointed! I called my mom in tears and she listened to me blubber on and on and when I was finished, she softly said, “It wasn’t your job to get!” I remembered that conversation clear as a bell in church yesterday as Fr. Gordon was talking about that very simple little prayer and on the drive home, Isaiah’s words chimed in and I was overwhelmed with the power of God’s plan. It hit me that if I had gotten that teaching job, I would not have gone to K-State, I would not have found out about the job opening with the State Department of Education in Michigan, I would not have moved here, met and married Dave Wohlfert, had three wonderful children and my life would NOT be any of the terrific things it is right now! Thank you God, Your will be done! And it was done…with amazing attention to detail I might add! It’s surprising what seven little words can stir up! God always knows what He’s doing. We have to thank Him especially when things don’t go our way. I don’t know about you but sometimes I forget that part. The harder something is, the bigger our thank you should be! He blesses us through good and happy things and He blesses us BIGGER through the difficult, disappointing and heartbreaking! We tend to see what’s good for us; He sees what’s good for ALL of His children. We have to remember we aren’t the only ones He has to care for. Our disappointment is most likely someone else’s blessing…we can stamp our feet like a spoiled impatient toddler or we can use that time for some of the greatest prayer and fortifying ever. He doesn’t withhold things to make us squirm, He waits for the perfect time and the perfect place and the perfect peace…all He asks is that we thank Him and ask Him to show us His way while we wait on His perfect timing. His ways, His words…yeah, it makes sense since we are His children! A seed to plant: Write this little prayer down and stick it somewhere so you’ll remember to pray it often. Thank you God, Your will be done! Blessings on your day! Continue in what you have learned. 2 Timothy 3:14
The first time I remember hearing someone say, “The older you get the faster time goes by” I thought that it was ridiculous. I guess I must be really old because this school year flew by so fast I hardly saw it pass by! Yesterday was the last day of school and as my little lovelies gave me a hug and left the building as first graders one last time, my mind was flooded with the things they taught me this year. *I learned that even on the longest, hardest day, the sound of someone’s laughter can totally change your attitude. Thank you to my “laughers”. *I learned that even in the middle of important things like a math lesson, it’s ok to drop everything and pray about something that just pops into your head…God will make sure you find your way back to what you were doing. Thank you to my “prayers.” *I learned that speaking and playing like Saints is harder than you think but when you get it right, life is way more fun and it’s easier to look people in the eye. “Thank you to my future Saints.” *I learned that we should remember to pray for the President every day because he has a really hard job and he could use God’s help to make him do it better. Thank you to those who were either “politically aware” or “listening carefully to Mom and Dad at the dinner table.” *I learned that we weren’t all given the same gifts and talents but that’s one of God’s great ideas because we aren’t all put here to do the same job so we have to be different. Thank you to my “great thinkers”. *I learned that 6th grade buddies are like superheroes! They look out for you, speak kindly to you and help you when you can’t figure something out. I guess we should all try to be like 6th grade buddies. Thank you to the “helpers”. *I learned it was good to be born in “these days” instead of “back then” because your mom and dad might have named you something like Belshazzar or Abednego or Naboth. Thank you to good parents who picked names we could spell. *I learned it’s really important to try and not be like the Israelites in the Old Testament because story after story is just about them “forgetting God, begging to God, being rescued by God and then forgetting about Him again.” We should try to be like the “remember God” parts of the stories. Thank you to my “budding Bible Scholars”. *Most of all I learned that when you pray and laugh often, try hard, take care of each other and take turns with the best stuff like the longest pencil with the biggest eraser, you’re going to have a good day and time will fly! I learned a lot this year; not because of what people told me or because of what I read, but because of what my room full of little lovelies showed me. We all learn best by example! School may be out for the summer, but we can all keep teaching and learning by example…God’s example brought to life through our words and actions. Oh, and one more thought; the Bible is one textbook that never has to be checked in and shut in the cupboard so today would be an excellent day to begin your summer reading! A Seed To Plant: Pick a chapter in the Bible and begin your summer reading this week. Blessings on your day! Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world ablaze. St. Catherine of Sienna
Last week my daughter asked me to help her with an extra credit paper for her History class. She had all the ideas trapped in her head, and some scribbled on paper but in the interest of time, she wanted me to type what she was thinking and saying. Her History teacher puts a quote of the week on the board in the classroom so the assignment was to choose three from throughout the year and write about the personal significance of each one. They were to identify from among the three which one was their favorite and explain how it had impacted them. The above quote from Catherine of Sienna was her favorite quote of the year. I enjoyed listening to her talk about all the possibilities as she read quote after quote from her planner. I thought it was a cool assignment! It was funny that she picked the one she did because it has been a favorite of mine for a long time but I had never mentioned that to her. I was very curious to see why she had picked that one as her favorite. From her sixteen year old point of view, it meant worrying more about what was right instead of what was popular. To her it meant trying to work past the distractions in her teenage world that might lead her away from what was pleasing to God. In her words it was about trying to figure out who God meant for her to be rather than who the world thought she should be. The whole “set the world ablaze” part baffled her so she decided at this point she was just hoping to be a spark working her way toward a blaze. We live in a pretty self-serving society. The notion of self-sacrifice has gotten a little lost and it’s our job to reclaim it. All too often, we make decisions based on what’s best for me…what fits best in my plan and my schedule. The problem with that is we only know a small slice of the whole big picture. God is the one who holds the blueprint to our life. He’s the one we should be seeking and His plan is the one we should be consulting. Dave and I have been invited to more than 20 Graduation Open Houses this spring and it’s an honor to be invited and to go help all these great young adults ring in the next phase of their journey through life. My advice to each of them is the same; ask God what the plan is…ask Him often if you are doing what He put you here to do. We are very good at asking kids what they want to be when they grow up, what we don’t always ask them if they have invited God into that decision. We need to do that if we want the young adults we love to set the world ablaze. While we’re busy encouraging these young believers to be what GOD wants them to be rather than what the WORLD says they should be, we would probably do well to ask ourselves how we’re doing in that department. Do we slug through each day doing what is required to make it to the days end, or do we wake up each day ready to see Christ in others and be Christ to others? We might be tempted to believe we work in a job that doesn’t pay enough or appreciate us or we may have to work with people who are lazy, difficult or negative. If that’s the case, how are we supposed to believe that’s what God meant for us? Here’s a thought…Blessed Mother Teresa did the most difficult work I can imagine for no pay, serving people who had no means to do anything for her, yet she did it with unbelievable joy. Now I’m not suggesting that in order to live up to St. Catherine’s challenge we have to start rescuing the destitute and bringing them into the living room, I’m saying we need to begin each day asking God to show us exactly what He would have us do THIS day. Don’t worry about tonight or tomorrow or next week…start with today and ask Him to take up residence in your heart and show you what He wants from you. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the right words for each person you meet. Ask Him to give you the graces of humility and joy. Ask Him to help you swallow the words you shouldn’t speak and serve others more than you think you can. Ask Him to help you see Him in everyone you meet today. That’s what St. Catherine meant when she described being what God meant you to be. You can be sure that if that’s the way you live your day, it doesn’t matter if you are a janitor, lawyer, doctor, teacher , secretary or the CEO of a fortune 500 company, you will start a blaze and I’d be willing to bet it’s gonna spread! A Seed To Plant: Begin each day this week with the words; “Lord, show me who You want me to be, may I go through this day seeking more of YOU and less of me.” 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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