JOYFUL WORDS
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri

Oxygen

6/6/2017

2 Comments

 
Prayer is the oxygen of the soul.   St. Padre Pio

My older brother Jim was the master at scaring the snot out of people!  He could stealthily hide behind almost anything and lunge out at the perfect moment and leave you jumping and breathless.  No matter how many times he did it, I was always caught off guard.  My reaction was always a giant gulp and a moment of holding my breath until my heart started beating again.  I have that same “gulp and breath hold” every time I see a snake, giant spider or mouse jump out of the feed barrel in the barn.  It’s a crazy thing when you momentarily stop doing the one thing you do most instinctively; breath.  

When I happened upon this quote from St. Padre Pio it made me think of all the times we gasp and stop breathing.  There is no real danger in those snap seconds but they remind me of those moments in life when things are scary, heavy or so frustrating it feels like I can’t breathe.  If I dig into those times a little bit, I realize those are probably the times I try to take the wheel and handle things on my own instead of lifting the moment up in prayer.  I will know I’ve reached a new spot in my discipleship when I lift things up in prayer before I think, ponder, worry or hold my breath.  Prayer truly is the oxygen for the soul and when there is oxygen, there is life and peace and joy.

I spent the weekend in Up-State New York and it was so great!  I had my first flight in an 8 passenger Cessna, my first glimpse of the Adirondack Mountains and my first opportunity to see the beautiful landscape and meet the lovely people who call that part of the US home.  I was invited there to present a Catholic Hospitality Training. One of my favorite parts of the day is the session when we learn to pray together with others.  I always ask the group to find a prayer partner that they don’t know.  I say a prayer to the Holy Spirit that he will match people up to make a  powerful connection.  It all seems sort of random until we give it over to him.  I have to tell you, some mighty things happened Saturday afternoon…talk about a whole lot of oxygen for the soul!  One couple who wound up together was a man recently diagnosed with a medical condition and a professional who treats that specific disorder.  Another pair was a person who went through addiction  counseling quite a time ago and she wound up praying with a former counselor who helped her find the path to healing. A third pair discovered that they had so much in common they were in tears.  It is such a powerful thing to witness! It’s as if new life is breathed into the room and the souls are filled with life giving oxygen.

Jesus is so willing to flood our souls with the oxygen we need, but we have to stop holding our breath.  We have to go to him and we have to offer to bring him to others.  When we offer to pray for others the life giving oxygen for our souls comes to both the pray-er and the prayed for.  We often hesitate to pray with others because we’re afraid we’ll do it  wrong or say the wrong words but the power of prayer is so much bigger than the words we speak.  We aren’t the giver of the comfort; He is, and he just wants us to open our mouth so he can pour forth the words. So how’s your oxygen level?

A Seed To Plant:  Sit in quiet prayer for  a few minutes today and just focus on your breathing; the rhythm of the air in and the air out.  When you’ve settled into a peaceful calm, focus on the prayer that will bring oxygen not to your body but to your soul.  ​

Blessings on your day!


2 Comments
Sharon A Fuller
6/6/2017 12:42:16 pm

I , too, enjoyed that special moment of prayer with a lady who loved to sing as I do. I prayed for her family and she prayed for a family member of mine. Sunday, the next day; I was drawn to a lady at church who was having a lot of medical problems and wanted to pray with her, but instead said I would pray for her. I wasn't sure it was my comfort level or hers I was concerned with. Sometimes, I need to just follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and just "do it"

Reply
Cathy Witkowski
6/6/2017 04:43:32 pm

I was one of the attendees at Saturday's workshop and left invigorated by Sheri's enthusiastic spiritual attitude. The area of Michigan she described sounds like a bubble of Christianity that needs to be burst and spread around the entire nation! Thanks for sharing your wisdom, love and prayer with us! Till we meet again..Gods Blessings to you!!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Joyful Words magnet picture

    ​Click on the items below to expand the options available to you to explore the Joyful Words blog.

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Thessalonians
    2 Corinthians
    Acts Of Love
    Advent
    Ageing
    All In
    Amazing
    Anxiety
    Armor Of God
    Asking For Help
    Bad Habits
    Balance
    Baptism
    Be
    Beauty
    Being Gracious
    Blessed Mother Teresa Of Calcutta
    Blessing
    Blessings
    Brokenness
    Carry Our Cross
    Catholic Education
    Change
    Changes
    Cheerfulness
    Children
    Choices
    Christian Belief
    Christmas
    Colossians
    Commitment
    Comparisons
    Compassion
    Consistent
    Content
    Contentment
    Courage
    Crosses
    Crumbs
    Dad
    Daughters Of God
    Delight
    Desire
    Desire God
    Details
    Dicipleship
    Die To Self
    Discipleship
    Dissapointment
    Dying To Self
    Easter
    Ecclesiastes
    Education
    Election
    Encouragement
    Enemy
    Ephesians
    Evangelization
    Exodus
    Expectations
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Falling Short
    Family
    Fathers Love
    Fear
    Flag
    Footstool
    Forgiveness
    Fresh Start
    Friendship
    Fr. Mike
    Fr. Mike Schmitz
    Galatians
    Generosity
    God In Everyday Things
    God In Scripture
    Gods Beloved
    God's Enough
    God's Forgiveness
    Gods Gifts
    God's Guidance
    God's Love
    Gods Love
    God's Plan
    Gods P Lan
    God's Restoration
    Gods Strength
    God's Timing
    Gods Timing
    Gods Ways
    God's Will
    Gods Will
    Goodness
    Good News
    Grace
    Grandma
    Grandpa
    Gratefulness
    Gratitude
    Greatness
    Gretness
    Grief
    Happiness
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrews
    He Chose Me
    Holiness
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Thrusday
    Holy Thursday
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Humble
    Humility
    Identity In Christ
    Intimacy
    Isaiah
    James
    Jeremiah
    John
    Joshua
    Joy
    Judgement
    Justice
    Kids
    Kindne
    Kindness
    Labor
    Laughter
    Lent
    Lessons
    Light
    Listening
    Little
    Love
    Lovelies
    Luke
    Mark
    Marriage
    Mary
    Matthew
    Meekness
    Mercy
    Mom
    Mornings
    Mud
    Obedience
    Openness
    Parenting
    Parentng
    Patience
    Peace
    Pentacost
    People
    Perseverance
    Perspeceive
    Perspective
    Philippians
    Pioneers
    Pleasing God
    Poor
    Porch
    Positive
    Possibilities
    Pray
    Prayer
    Priorities
    Promises
    Proverbs
    Psalm
    Relationship
    Religion
    Respect
    Romans
    Sacrifice
    Sacrifices
    Sainthood
    Saints
    Samuel
    Scripture
    Seeking God
    Service
    Serving God
    Signs
    Silence
    Simple
    Sin
    Sinfulness
    Slow Down
    Small Stuff
    Steve Ray
    Stillness
    St. Mary's 4th Of July
    Strength
    Stress
    Suffering
    Surprises
    Surrender
    Temptation
    Thanks
    The Right Thing
    Time
    Troubled Times
    Trust
    Trust In God
    Truth
    Understanding
    Unravelled
    Valentines
    Waiting
    Weddings
    Word Of The Year
    Words
    Works Of Mercy
    Worry


    ​Archives

    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012


    Back to Home

    RSS Feed


      HOME                        BLOG                       SPEAKING                        WRITING                        HOSPITALITY                        MEET SHERI  

CONTACT: 989.640.6673
Picture
EMAIL

FACEBOOK

Twitter

Content is the intellectual property of Sheri Wohlfert 2017
Created by dhengesbach
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri