Joyful Words Blog
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path.
– Psalm 119:105
– Psalm 119:105
…to the church of God…to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…1Corinthians 1:2
Tomorrow we will be celebrating the holy men and women we call saints. All Saints Day at St. Mary School is as exciting as a mini Christmas! It’s a day of fun, celebration and excitement. In a world that likes to put lots of “role models” in front of our kids, it’s nice to show them who they really should be trying to imitate. This year on All Saints Day we will unveil each classrooms new patron saint, enjoy the 5th and 6th grade Saint Art Prize exhibits and unveil the new House System. Since it’s been crazy with a capital C I’m short on writing minutes so…I’m borrowing from some words from those wise, holy people we call saints. Hopefully you will find a nugget or two to warm your heart and point you on your own path to sainthood. “What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family.” St. Mother Teresa “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes away except God. God alone is sufficient.“ St. Teresa of Avila “No one heals himself by wounding another.” St. Ambrose “Pray, hope and don’t worry.” St. Padre Pio “The saints did not all begin well, but they ended well.” St. John Vianney “Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to Him. That is all the doing you have to worry about.” St. Jeanne de Chantal “The devil fears hearts on fire with love of God.” St. Catherine of Siena “Apart from the cross, there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven.” -St. Rose of Lima “You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.” -St. Francis de Sales “God never tires of forgiving us, we are the ones who tire of asking for his mercy.” Pope Francis “Stupidity is a gift too, just be careful not to overuse it.” St. John Paul II A Seed To Plant: Pick a quote and read it every day. Blessings on your day!
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…Joy comes with the dawn. Psalm 30:6
God made a lot of amazingly wonderful things for us to enjoy on this earth but one thing I love (almost as much as Mr. Wohlfert) is COFFEE! I love the taste of it, the smell of it, the way that warm steamy mug of deliciousness feels as I swallow those first sips snuggled in my chair for morning prayers…I love everything about it! I do have some rules though…it CANNOT be instant and it CANNOT have any sweet or creamy stuff added to it. Just plain…straight up good black coffee; plain and simple! I joke with my middle lovelies every time I make a mistake (which is about 100 times a day) I just laugh and say, “Yikes, guess I need more coffee!” They laugh and are diverted and we move along. That first cup in the morning is pure joy! Even if my old bones are a bit weary at 4:45 am when the alarm goes off, I topple out of bed because I look forward to that first cup of coffee! God is so good! Now you might think I’m nuts for writing about something as random as coffee, but if you think about it for a minute…there’s a connection to our faith. I love the way God reveals little nuggets of his truth in the midst of the silliest things…yes…like a cup of coffee. When I wake up in the morning and putter to the kitchen in the dark to hit the on switch on the coffee maker, it doesn’t matter what yesterday was like, or how I slept or even what’s on the schedule for the day, I know for certain my cup of coffee is going to be delicious and wonderful just like every other morning and I know I won’t be disappointed. Few things in life are that certain. Sounds a little like God’s love if you think about it…no matter the day, the time or the event; God is going to be there with a love that is amazing and certain. We don’t have to earn it or deserve it or even request it, all we have to do is hold up our day and say…fill me with your grace and smother me with your mercy and there it is! And…just like a fresh pot of delicious coffee…it happens the same way day after day after day and he will never disappoint us! I like my coffee plain and simple! I don’t want sweet, gooey, fluffy distracting stuff in my coffee and I don’t want it weak, lukewarm or artificial! That’s what being a disciple of Jesus is all about. If we follow Him and live by His word we are guaranteed truth; plain, simple and authentic! I love waking up to fresh coffee and I make sure to thank Him for inventing it every morning when I sit down to enjoy IT and HIM! Joy comes to me twice every morning …while I sip and while I pray! A seed to plant: Make a list of 3 simple things you enjoy…do a little deep thinking and see how those things are like the love of Christ. Get creative and share them if you like so we can all enjoy your thoughts! Blessings on your day! Love requires sacrifice…always!
It’s not scripture but it’s a powerful truth I seem to forget. Sacrifice often takes a back seat to convenience and comfort. We prefer easy, speedy and painless and then wonder why we don’t feel fulfilled. The important stuff; the stuff that leaves us joyful and alive; that’s the stuff that involves love and requires sacrifice. I’ve had several nudges lately that remind me how true this statement is. We are called by the greatest commandment to love, and the truth is, we can’t follow that commandment without sacrifice. Sometimes that sacrifice is small, for instance, I love my students but spending time in the evenings and on weekends to grade or plan is a sacrifice. Other times the sacrifice is much bigger. I hugged a good friend at her father’s wake this week and she lovingly told me she was so happy for her dad and found peace just thinking about him rejoicing and being free from pain. Her perspective and strength were inspiring but the sacrifice of that love will weigh heavy on her days for quite a while. Sometimes the sacrifice needs to look like patience. Sometimes it needs to sound like a swallowed opinion. Sometimes it needs to appear to be sand slipping through our fingers as we let go of the past or of our own agenda. Sacrifice is loving people exactly how they are and where they are. Sometimes we’re called to love someone just by being present and there is sacrifice in keeping quiet and not trying to fix or change them. The people who love us back make it easy to love but we’re also called to show Christ’s love to those who can give nothing in return and that is truly a sacrifice. I think about all the times I’ve tried to find the perfect gift to show my love for someone. When I heard this line spoken by a movie character I realized I’ve been shopping the wrong way. I suppose the more we love, the more we should be willing to sacrifice. I loved my children but I’m not sure they always saw my carpool complaining as a loving sacrifice. This simple little line can bleed into doing the laundry and helping with homework and holding the flashlight in the rain so Dave can figure out why the tractor is making a weird noise. This kind of love happens in the middle of the night after a bad dream or at the end of the day when you wan’t to tune out the world but someone you love just really wants to spill their heart. There have been times when I’ve wondered if all the sacrifice of a relationship was worth it or if it was really supposed to be so hard and one-sided, but as I’ve prayed with these words for a few weeks I realized I was looking at it out of balance. Love and sacrifice aren’t always equal. Sometimes we receive love far greater than we sacrifice and more often than not it is opposite. We’re able to sacrifice and love others but at some point we expect to receive love in return. We want to feel there is something in it for us. I forget that my call to love others isn’t to get something in return. Love is so much bigger than all the warm fuzzy feelings. Love is the duty of a disciples and the way to keep that in balance is to realize each person that crosses our path is there so I can show them the love of Christ. It’s not about loving so I can get something back, it’s about loving so I can love Jesus himself. When I look at Jesus on the cross I find the truth because it reminds me that there is more love poured out on me than I could ever imagine. I know I will never be called to love with a sacrifice anywhere near that magnitude but when I recall his sacrifice for me, it helps put my teeny little sacrifices for others in perspective. Again, I remember it’s not about me at all! A Seed To Plant: Who can you love today? Blessings on your day! And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23
If someone asked you what holiness was could you give a good answer? I thought I could, but then something changed! Before this thing happened I would have told them holiness was going to church, saying prayers, doing good deeds, SEEING and BEING Christ to others…that’s what I thought. But then…I read something that stopped me in my holiness seeking little tracks! Holiness is dying to self! What? I read those words again and promptly shut the book and put it down because I didn’t like that. I pouted about it for the rest of the day and then came back to those words later that night. I like going to mass, I like praying, I like doing sweet, thoughtful things for others, isn’t that enough? After some feet dragging, silent temper tantrum throwing and finally a very ungraceful surrender, I realized how true those words really were. I can add and do all I want but it’s about the subtracting; the dying. As eerie as it sounds, each prayer journal entry this week has started with the words, Lord, help me die a little more today. No, I’m not loopy and I haven’t been sniffing the ink in the ditto machine I’m serious and it’s a lesson that’s HARD! Holiness is all about being close to Christ; so close I’m hidden in him and I can’t do that if I have my own stuff in the way. If you’re anything like me it’s a daily objective to make things easier and more comfortable for myself. I call it efficiency sometimes. I say I’ve earned it sometimes. I think its standing up for what I’m entitled to sometimes. The bottom line is this…I want what’s best for me, what’s most convenient for me, what’s easiest for me and I need to die a little because getting my way isn’t making me holy. So how do I need to die? (That just sounds weird doesn’t it?) I need to die to my desire to be appreciated and recognized for everything. I need to die to my desire to eat anything I want because I like it and think it’s yummy. I need to die to my desire to be right all the time. I need to die to my desire to make comparisons and judgments. I need to die to my desire to tell God what I need and what he needs to take care of. I need to die to complaining because that is the greatest form of selfishness. I need to die to my desire to offer my opinion and perspective all the time. I need to die to impatience. And I really need to die to my desire to organize, plan and evaluate everything. All of these things minimize the amount of room God has to work in my mind and my heart. All of these things separate me from God when what I really want is to grow in holiness. My sacrifices in dying to self in these ways are what God is inviting me to do…wanna join me and do a little dying? A Seed To Plant: Write down the ways you need to die to self and then get busy growing in holiness. Blessings on your day! Do not accept anything as truth if it lacks love. Do not accept anything as love which lacks truth. St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
I’ve bumped into several people lately who all shared a similar concern. At one point in the conversation truth in media came up. I think on some level we’re all a little frustrated as we try to figure out who is actually telling the truth. It’s hard to figure out what the truth really is and there is no shortage of folks ready and waiting to jump in and stir up the stories. I suppose St. Teresa really put it all in perspective in one little quote. For those who might not know her story, she spoke these words as she and a group of other nuns were being loaded on a cattle car headed for a concentration camp. The message she wanted to leave with those who would follow is basic…speak truth in love. I think I will take her words and let them guide my speaking and listening for the next few days and see what I learn. I think it just might change a few things. A Seed To Plant: Put this quote somewhere visible and let it guide what you say and how you process what you hear. Blessings on your day! For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord...Jeremiah 29:11
How many times do we hear the world tell us BE GREAT! Since the beginning of time, greatness has been important. I guess someone has to be in charge and have power but I'm not sure that makes them great. I'm not sure money, stuff or position are the best indicators of how great you are but it seems like we live in a world that uses those very things as the benchmark. Greatness makes us feel fancy, it can make our chests puff a little and it almost makes us feel like we have a free pass at the yucky stuff. I mean, how many queens scrub the toilet? Greatness means people seek us, smile at us, talk kindly to us and that isn’t a bad thing at all until we look at it from the other direction. As I was thinking about how neat it would be to achieve greatness and be all sparkly, I found a few words in a book by Matthew Kellly that put it all in perspective. I hope he doesn't mind if I borrow and I hope they touch your heart and serve as a reminder of the true definition of greatness. "Do you want to be great? He was great…born in a stable...served all men...was criticized for His attempts to live and proclaim the truth...and He suffered. He was the greatest. If you want to be great, be little.” A Seed To Plant: Take some time in prayer and ponder the kind of greatness the Father is calling you to today! Blessings on your day! …”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9
I love working with people who have a “can do” attitude. They always seem so full of energy and optimism. I’d like to think that most days I’m a “can do” kinda girl but then there are those days when I’m absolutely not! Some seasons are busier than others and they spread out before us to-do’s and events that just don’t let up. It’s hard to maintain a prayer life, a house, a dozen schedules, the laundry and then plan meals that don’t all come from a bag or box. We try hard to squeeze it all in but if our prayer time gets whittled away things can jump the tracks quickly. God knew there would be seasons like these. He knew we would loose our way and forget to sit at his feet. He also knew that there would be times when we were overwhelmed and drained so he has a solution. The antidote to our worldly craziness is his GRACE. The blog would be a mile long if I made a list of all the times I reached the “I’m about to loose it” stage and then remembered to ask for his grace. There is always an instant turn around when I stop and recognize my “can do” has turned into a “can’t do” and I ask for his grace to guide me through. He always delivers every…single…time! The following blip was written by Bonnie B Thurston. I have no idea who Bonnie is, but when I read these words in class Tuesday night I knew she had written them for me; and perhaps for you too. In the accounts of the Garden of Resurrection in the gospels there is a great stone over the mouth of Jesus’ tomb. Who will move it? The women know that they are unable to remove what separates them from the Lord. This is a great metaphor for the spiritual life. We cannot in our own strength, remove what separates us from God and the life God wants us to have in fullness. We cannot bring life from death. But God can and does. The technical word for this is “grace”. Bonnie B. Thurston. His grace brings life and removes what separates us from him and the life he has planned. All we have to do is ask for it; loads of it, heaps of it, there is no end or limit. We just have to be still and ask him. A Seed To Plant: Sit still and have a chat with the Father about grace. Ask for it, tell him where you feel weak and worn out and ask him to swoop into your life with giant grace and then enjoy what he does next! Blessings on your day! Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
For all of us who have ever spit out the words, “Lord, just tell me what to do and I’ll do it!”, this post is for you. As usual, I was wrestling with this question and overcomplicating the answer. He let me continue to wrestle with it for a few more weeks and then on a random Saturday, I attended a conference I wasn’t really all that excited about going to and right in the middle of it, I got a very simple answer to what I thought was a genius level complicated question. The man presenting the class said the path to discovering God’s will for our life was found in First Thessalonians. He said it involved three things and then he pointed to the verse you see at the top of this page. I’ve been thinking and praying about it for a few weeks and here’s what I think. Rejoice always…I’ve discovered rejoicing has very little to do with my personal comfort and satisfaction. I’m reminded of Pope John Paul II’s words, “I’m gonna act like I wished I felt!” When I realize every situation and circumstance is an opportunity to grow in holiness or grow in selfishness, I need to pick the first one. God is with me at every turn; even the wrong ones and he will never abandon me if I call on his help and I can’t think of a greater reason to rejoice. I’m trying to change my “Seriously God!” to “God, not sure what we’re doin here but I’m happy because you’re doin it with me!” Rejoicing is also noticing and praising him for all the great things in a day; giving credit where credit is due. “God it’s so great that you…” is a phrase I think and say a hundred times a day. “God it’s so great that you kept that crazy driver from taking off my front fender. or God it’s so great that you created the pinks of the morning sky, the yellow of my favorite mum and the orange of those pumpkins.” I call it out when things fall in place, when things go the right way and when they don’t. Noticing him and rejoicing for ALL of it puts HIM first in my mind instead of myself. Pray constantly…all things are prayer when we invite him in. Before our feet hit the floor our first words should be, “Lord thanks for new day, please be the boss of it!” Every situation is an opportunity for prayer. “Lord, be with me as I make this phone call. or Lord please take charge of my work today or Lord, please meet me in the laundry and bless all those who will wear these clothes I’m going to wash and fold.” The more we invite, the more we can turn all of the parts of our day into constant prayer. He will walk through any task with us if we invite him through a simple prayer. He wants to join us in the exciting, the boring, the terrific and the yucky. Truth is, he makes all of it better and if we truly ask him in throughout the day it changes the things we get into. If I invite him in to my evening office time I’m much more likely to be productive rather than get lost on Pinterest or Facebook. Give thanks in all circumstances…All of them? Yup…all of them! When we give thanks for all things, even the ones we really don’t like, great things can happen. First, if it’s a really lousy situation we’re thanking him for, that gives us a chance to offer that suffering and that is always a powerful thing. Second, it makes us mindful of his power and grace. I have a lot of trouble with my knees and every time I walk and it hurts, I say “Thank you for this pain, please take this teeny suffering and do something good for a soul in need.” I know he will, and it makes things much easier. My mom told me to never waste my suffering and that suffering was the closest path to Jesus’ heart. Giving thanks also allows us to recognize God’s hand in our life. It allows us to see the truth; there is no such thing as luck or coincidence, only God’s providence and the more I notice it and thank him for it, the clearer his Will for my life becomes. Perhaps these three things will help you discover a path to His plan! A Seed To Plant: Copy down this verse and put it into action this week. See how many times a day you can incorporate these three simple things. Blessings on your day! For she said “If I even touch his garment I will be made well.” Mark 5:28
I love it when I find a nugget of something new and cool. I’m in year two of a four year Scripture Study class and we are currently studying the Gospel of Mark. One of the resources we are using is a study book written by Dr. Mary Healy and it is so wonderful. She peels away so many layers of new meaning and understanding to words and stories I’ve heard my whole life. Last week we were comparing the stories of the healing of Jairus’s daughter and the hemorrhaging woman. To be honest, I had never really paid attention to the fact that the second story was sandwiched inside the first. Two things really struck me and I thought I’d share. First, Jairus had just begged Jesus to come heal his daughter and Jesus heard his request and they were headed to his house. As a parent, I would have wanted to take his hand and sprint to my house but shortly after they set out Jesus stopped to find out who had touched his cloak. Can you imagine the panic of Jairus? I could just see myself screaming to Jesus in utter panic, “Come on Jesus, she’s so sick, talk to this lady later and for heaven sakes how did you even notice someone touching your cloak in this crowd? I’m sure it was nothing; please, hurry, lets go!” I’m sure to him that conversation with the hemorrhaging woman seemed like it lasted forever and as they were getting ready to head off again, he received news that it was too late. My heart hurt for Jairus thinking about it all from his perspective. How hard to feel like our children are the center of our world and then discover they don’t seem that way to everyone else. The second thing was a little fact Dr. Healy pointed out in her book. Jairus’s daughter was twelve. That is how long the woman had been bleeding. Holy Cow!! She had been sick for as long as that little girl had been alive. If you think about the little girls twelve years they were probably filled with joy and laugher. In those twelve years they celebrated her birth, learning to walk, speak and learn. Everything in those years had been new and exciting and her family probably adored her. Then you think about the woman's twelve years and realize she had been sick, hurting and she used all her resources and still didn’t get better. She had no joy, no support or family to celebrate her because she was ritually unclean for a dozen years and she was sealed off. She was miserable, out of money, and isolated from people and from her ability to worship in the temple and find comfort among those gathered there to pray. She was closed out and suffering through no fault of her own yet she was treated like a criminal outcast. When you compare those dozen years it seems so out of balance. As I have pondered these two stories the past week I realize there are some lessons and truths to consider. When I think of Jairus and the panic he must have been in; the urgency he felt, I wonder how many times those emotions are mis-judged. Do we see frazzled parents and stop to think about what might be going on that’s making them that way? Do we offer to pray or talk with them about their worries or anxieties or do we wonder why they can’t seem to get a grip and settle down? It also makes me remember that every child is somebody’s everything and parents deserve to be treated like we know that. When I think about the hemorrhaging woman I wonder how many people I know who have been suffering for a long time with something I can’t see? How many people are struggling with isolation and judgment and an affliction that just doesn’t seem to get better. I think of those who battle with anxiety or mental and emotional challenges and I wonder if I’m doing all I can to offer support, compassion and prayer; basically everything the woman didn’t get? This Gospel passage made me realize everyone has a story and I don’t need to know what it is but how drastically the world would change if I simply remembered these stories, applied them to people I meet and changed my attitude and behavior toward others. I had to ask myself, have I done all I could to help stop the hemorrhaging or have I made it worse. I’m pretty sure I can do better and I’m thankful for the chance to see this Gospel through new eyes. A Seed To Plant: Look for the strugglers and pray for them and ask God to show you how you can help. If you are the struggler, take it to prayer and let someone share your struggle and walk with you and help you find healing. Blessings on your day! |
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