Suffering and Prayer

.the value of pain, when joined with prayer, in moving the heart of God. Prayer, all prayer, is always efficacious. But prayer takes on extraordinary power to win graces, for the one praying and for all mankind, when it is united with patient suffering.
Indeed, suffering is already a prayer, when humbly accepted from the hands of God and offered to God—as Christ’s prayer on the Cross—in patient resignation to a divine will.

Faith and Hope

In the dark dreary nights, when the storm is at it's most fierce,

 

the lighthouse burns bright so the sailors can find their way home again.

 

In life the same light burns.  This light is fueled with love, faith, and hope.

 

And through life's most fierce storms these three burn their brightest

 so we also can find our way home again.

Hillsong Music - How Great is our God

Life Changes

Do not look forward in fear 

to the changes in life;
rather, look to them with full hope 

that as they arise,
God, whose very own you are,
will lead you safely through all things;
and when you cannot stand it,
God will carry you in His arms.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow;
the same understanding Father who cares for
you today will take care of you then and every day.

He will either shield you from suffering
or will give you unfailing strength to bear it.
Be at peace,  and put aside 

all anxious thoughts and imaginations.

Psalm 139 (Wonderfully Made) by Danielle Rose

The Saint That is Just Me

The Saint that Is Just Me

Oh I thought I'd be heroic and inspiring

I wanted to offer You the greatest sacrifice

Like all the Saints who've gone before me

I tried to prove my love for You and so to gain the prize

I thought I'd be a martyr like Cecilia

I hoped I'd disappear like St. Therese.

Or wear a hidden crown of thorns like Rose of Lima

To heal the sick and raise the dead.

When You hung upon the Cross looking at me

You didn't die so I would try to be somebody else,

You died so I could be, the saint that is just me.

I wanted to be poor and free like Francis,

To cut off my long hair like lovely Clare.

To be faithful like Mother Teresa in the darkness

Lord, won't you make me just like her?

I tried to kneel for hours in the Chapel corner

To persevere like Paul wih all my sleepless nights

To stay awake and trim my lamp with ten wise virgins,

To really give the devil a good fight.

When you hung upon the Cross looking at me

You didn't die so I would try to be somebody else,

You died so I could be, the saint that is just me.

Just me, Just me.

You died just for me.

just me, just me

You died just for me.

You saw that  I was perfectly imperfect

O happy fault the sin of Adam's pride

Thats the reason that you became man

and bore the New eve from your wounded side

If it weren't for my sins and wounds and weakness,

Then you wouldn't have married me upon the Cross

Why do I fear being seen naked and broken?

That's why you came  because I need you that much.

When you hung upon the Cross looking at me

You didn't die so I would try to be somebody else,

You died so I could be, the saint that is just me.

Laura Story - Blessings

My Cross

My most beloved Jesus, I embrace all the sufferings You have destined for me until death. I beg You by all You suffered in carrying Your cross, to help me carry mine with your perfect peace and resignation. I love You, Jesus my love; I repent of ever having offended You. Never let me separate myself from You again. Grant that I may love You always; and then do with me as You will.

What if God says "no?"

 Sometimes I find that my life and illness is very overwhelming for me. I have so much on my mind.  I am not even sure if I am scared.  It's hard.  I don't like not having any control over all of this.  I've learned I have to change myself and get busy on the rest of my life... however long that is.  I don't want to go out like this!  I am not giving up.  But, What if God says "no?"  It's a time to look back, but most of all live for today.  I know that I am where I am supposed to be.  I know that when the time is right, God will open the door for me. "God's ways are not always our way."  I just have to "Let go and let God."  I know He is beside me always.  When I can't see Him, when I cannot hear his voice... He is still there for me.  I have to trust in that.  It's just hard!

 A friend from High School sent me this video.  It is wonderful. Thanks Elissa.

Click here to see the video. What if God Says No. By The Akins.  Here are the lyrics:

One year ago today, she got the call

That stopped her life

And ever since that moment,

He prayed God would heal his wife

She got weaker by the minute

In that hospital bed

And she could see that he was mad at

God, so she took his hand and said

What if God says no

It don’t mean He loves us less

It just means He knows what’s best

What if God says no

It’s enough we have His grace

So don’t let go of your faith

What if God says no

Just south of Atlanta,

It’s been slow out on his job

But now he’s lovin on his family

And has time to talk to God

He’s prayin that a miracle

Will turn his business back around

But what if God gives him the answer

That His grace is good for now

Jesus prayed on the last night

Before He was crucified

And said, “Dad if there’s another way,

Could you let this pass me by?”

But God saw the big picture,

That it had to be done

So as much as it hurt,

He couldn’t say yes to His Son

(Nick and David Akin/ Chris White Music BMI)

God Loves You

God loves in you even that which you dislike. 

God doesn't partition you into pieces and loves some and not loves others.

That's what people do.  That's what you do.

God, who created you, accepts and loves every little part of you,

even those you deny and hate in yourself.

So next time you try to dislike a part of you,

just pause, look and remember that God loves it.

Peace is yours.

but you can still find peace in your own heart

because the God of Peace reigns within you.

"Surrender control to the supreme wisdom and authority of God and to the Divine in your soul.  Step into the void with courage.  Learn to say, "I don't know."  That's not blind faith.  It's pure faith that will allow God and your spirit to lead you wherever your soul wants and needs to go."

Give it to God

the weight you carry on your shoulders is much too heavy for one human being. Give some of that weight where it belongs, - to God, and have faith that what happens is for the best, whether you understand it or not.

Prayer of a Soldier's Mother

Dear God,
Tonight I ask as a mother to bless my child as I do every night, but now, I am reminding you this is a special child.  This child helps to provide a blanket of protection that we as Americans slumber under each night. 
He has decided to give his life to protect the country of ours and as before now there was always prayer for you to watch over this child, but, after the terror that has struck our U. S. soil, I feel even stronger, more pleading as I pray to you.  This child loves You and this Country and has sworn to protect her inhabitants.  But this is still my child who I have sworn to protect with my life until the day I die.  Now I need your help more than ever.  He is no longer in my reach, but, can only be reached by Your hand to protect him.  He may be on the oceans, above the earth or in lands foreign and hostile to him, please God, keep him safe and bring him home to me... alive and soon.  Let this horrendous terror go away.  Let us find peace and keep these special children alive and safe to teach future generations how important life is and how to protect it.  They are a rare breed, and we are the mothers who helped to raise them. Now we are the mothers who ask for your help to protect them.


Please bless all the mother's children of the world, but please remember I am a military mother and am asking you to take special care of this special child.


I ask this in Your Holy Name, Jesus,


Amen.

Adoration

If you become accustomed

To having Him at  your side,

And if He sees

That you love Him

To be there

And are always trying

To please Him,

You will never be able,

To send Him away.

my faith

Faith is to believe what we do not see, 
and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” 
~ St. Augustine 

One good deed

One good deed can shift the balance of the whole world.

Never underestimate the power of your goodness and kindness.

 

Gratitude

 “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”  

Choices 2

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” 

Choice

Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there.  What you choose to do with them is up to you

Opportunities

Difficulties are opportunities to better things, they are stepping stones to greater experience.  Perhaps someday you will be thankful for some temporary failure in a particular direction.  When one door closes, another always opens. 

Offerings

If you desire something, offer something.  Offerings can come in many forms:  a gift, a prayer, a smile, flowers, food.  Offer something from your heart. 

flesh and bone.

God is glad that you are you. Sure, we all have things we want to change, to improve about ourselves. But underneath the flesh and bone, you are an immortal and perfect soul. Always remember that...

Give Glory to God

In a world where there are many things competing for your devotion and worship, God is the only one that delivers and doesn't disappoint. Putting anything above God will ultimately let you down and leave you feeling empty.

So sing praises, lift your hands in the air and give glory to God. It's good for you!

Peace

Peace is yours.

Storms might be raging around you,

but you can still find peace in your own heart.

because the God of Peace reigns within you.

Helping Hands

If you ever need a helping hand,

you will find one at the end of your arm.  And a time always comes when you discover that you have two hands:

one for helping yourself,

and one for helping others.

Do not shut love out.

Do not to shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find and keep.  The quickest way to find love is to give love.

If you want it too badly, you will not find it.  The most secure way to keep love is to give it space and care.  If you hold it too tightly, you will lose it.

How Beautiful ~ Twila Paris

How Beautiful the hands that served

The Wine and the Bread and the sons of the earth

How beautiful the feet that walked

The long dusty road and the hill to the cross

How Beautiful, how beautiful,

               

How beautiful is the body of Christ.

How Beautiful the heart that bled

That took all my sins and bore it instead

How beautiful the tender eyes

That choose to forgive and never despise

How beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

And as He lay down His life

We offer this sacrifice

That we will live just as He died

Willing to pay the price,

Willing to pay the price...

How Beautiful the radiant bride

Who waits for her groom 

with His light in her eyes.

How Beautiful when humble hearts give

The fruit of pure love so others may live

How beautiful, how beautiful,

how beautiful is the body of Christ.

Hands

God, as our creator of those both great and small,  Made each of us an equal,   He loves us one and all. He created hands to to build a future, hands to learn and teach.  Loving hands to hold and comfort someone out of reach.  The hands of a newborn infant, so new and innocent.  Hands stained and worn this labor, of a lifetime spent.  He made hands with great abilities, hands crippled over the years.  Hands to clap with joy and delight, hands to wipe another's tears.  Whatever hands God has given you, whatever they may do,  Two hands reverently folded in prayer will bring His peace to you.

You are not alone.

... You are not alone.  God is always with you, seen or unseen, saint or sinner.  Giving you air, supporting your footsteps, nourishing you with sunshine, God is here with you.  The separateness you sometimes feel is an illusion, in truth you are never alone.

Pray and then Practice

... that to worship God you must go beyond words to speak with your heart.  You can mouth the words of a prayer all day long and just waste your time, unless you also speak with your heart.  And to speak with your heart means to embody first.  If you pray for love, be loving.  If you pray for wealth, be generous.  If you pray for health practice health  yourself.  What is your favorite prayer... How can you begin to embody it...

Living

There are only two ways to live your life:  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as if everything is.  Don't wait for miracles, your whole life is a miracle.

When God says "no"

God's "No" is not a rejection,

It is a redirection...

Divine Gifts

There is no such thing as a problem without a Divine gift hidden within it.  You have these problems because you need the gifts they carry within...

Suffering

"When you die, you graduate. I don't worry about death. Sickness teaches there is joy in everything. Take joy in your sickness because a lot of times God is telling you: 'You may not know it, but you're more blessed than you realized.'" 

Wealth

... that letting go makes you wealthier.  Wealth is never measured by what you have, but by what you can give away.  You are rich with money when you can afford to donate.  You are rich with love when you can give love freely.  You are rich with God when you can behold your enemy with compassion.

Magical

On this day, God wants you to know.. that every little part of you is magical. Yes, even the parts that hurt, even the ones that are feeling disease right now.

It's alright to love what is in pain. More than alright, that's exactly where your love is needed the most. So why not touch that part that hurts and smile at it, at yourself through it, and whisper: ''I love you.''

I always forget to love myself.  If I don't love myself, how can I love anyone else or accept that love from someone else?

Slow down and be present

... that when whispers do not get your attention, bricks will fly your way.

Don't speed through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at you to get your attention.  

Slow down and be present.

Relationships

God wants you to know that every relationship rests on three legs:  accepting, supporting and challenging...

That's really it, isn't is?  You want your relationships to be grounded on accepting each other as you are.  On supporting each other through the inevitable ups and downs.  On challenging each other to become more, to grow, to flourish.  Which one of these is the more difficult one for you, and how are you going to practice it in the next 24 hours?

True Self

 God wants you to know... that the way you treat others is the way you treat yourself. True respect comes from self respect.  True love for another comes from self love.  True forgiveness for another comes from self forgiveness...

All you need...

When there is nothing left but God -

that is when you find that

God   is all  you  need

Crossroads

 I am aware that I am at a crossroads in my life.  I am waiting to hear the results of tests that will change my life greatly.  If my blood work is therapeutic and my blood clots have dissolved they can do the CT scan to see if the mass in my lung has changed.  If it is safe to do a biopsy they will schedule it. 

The nurse and caseworker came to evaluate if I should go into an assisted living facility, or have someone stay with me 24/7.  I will do whatever I need to do to avoid that.  I can't even entertain the thought of not having my dogs.  Maria will be out of work when she has the baby.  It is hard for me to open the door and let someone new in, even if it is just temporary.  I have lived alone most of the last 20 years.  I've had good assistants and I have had bad ones too. 

God has His timing. My niece and her son are going to come stay with me for a few months.  It should be interesting.

He Will Be

Click for video

don't waste time...

you carry whatever you're supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world."

He Will Carry Me

And even though I'm walking through

The valley of the shadow

I will hold tight to the hand of Him

Whose Love will comfort me

And when all hope is gone

And I've been wounded in the battle

He is all the strength that I will ever need

He will carry me.

Even though I feel so lonely

Like I've never been before

You never said it would be easy...

But You said You'd see me through the storm.

invite or isolate

 ...that to love is to be vulnerable. Love is the opening of the heart, the welcoming of your beloved. Loving is not secure, authentic loving is risky. Security lies behind the walls of a closed heart. You either invite the union by opening in love, or you secure the isolation by closing down.

Faith and Doubts

---

 

On this day of your life, we believe

God wants you to know...

that true faith flowers from and through doubt.

 

If you never questioned your beliefs, - you are just a puppet dancing to somebody's strings. If God had wanted your mindless obedience, you would've been created without mind and without free will. But you have both so you can come to God of your own accord. Just look at the lives of saints, - most of them had gone through a dark night of the soul, and that's why their faith was so strong. The path to true faith always goes through doubt. So ask those questions you've always been afraid to ask, and find the answers, and then your faith will become unshakable.

Listen for the whispers

 

Your life is speaking to you.   

 What is it saying?

Be Still

I have felt the presence of God my whole life. Even when I didn't have a name for it, I could feel the voice bigger than myself speaking to me, and all of us have that same voice. Be still and know it. You can acknowledge it or not. You can worship it or not. You can praise it, you can ignore it or you can know it. Know it. It's always there speaking to you and waiting for you to hear it in every move, in every decision. I wait and I listen. I'm still—I wait and listen for the guidance that's greater than my meager mind. 

Life's Lessons

Millions of people from all over the world watched as Oprah signed off on her 25 year talkshow.  Here are some of the highlights for me.

Each one of you has your own platform. Do not let the trappings here fool you. Mine is a stage in a studio, yours is wherever you are with your own reach, however small or however large that reach is. Maybe it's 20 people, maybe it's 30 people, 40 people, your family, your friends, your neighbors, your classmates, your classroom, your co-workers. Wherever you are, that is your platform, your stage, your circle of influence. That is your talk show, and that is where your power lies. In every way, in every day, you are showing people exactly who you are. You're letting your life speak for you. And when you do that, you will receive in direct proportion to how you give in whatever platform you have. 

"My great wish for all of you who have allowed me to honor my calling through this show is that you carry whatever you're supposed to be doing, carry that forward and don't waste any more time. Start embracing the life that is calling you and use your life to serve the world.

You are responsible for your life. ... You are responsible for the energy that you create for yourself, and you're responsible for the energy that you bring to others.

Every single person you will ever meet shares that common desire. They want to know: 'Do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you?

---

"The only time I've ever made mistakes is when I didn't listen. So what I know is, God is love and God is life, and your life is always speaking to you. First in whispers. ... It's subtle, those whispers. And if you don't pay attention to the whispers, it gets louder and louder."

Because nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me.  I know I've never been alone, and you haven't either. And I know that that presence, that flow—

Some people call it grace—is working in my life at every single turn. And yours too, if  you let it in. It's closer than your breath, and it is yours for the asking

Trust

You are exactly where you are meant to be.  Trust in God that everything is exactly the way it is supposed to be.  Just as a child has to pass through a tiny channel on its way from the womb into  life, so are you on your way to God

Ask

God wants you to know that you only need to ask. 

He is waiting for your asking, waiting to reach out to you.

It is ok to ask for help. Sometimes we get overwhelmed with the details and complexities of our lives.   Sometimes we need some help to get untangled, to gain a new perspective.  Ask for help.  Help may come in human or divine form.  It may be seen or unseen. Ask and ye shall receive.