😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, Three in One.  I believe Jesus died for my sins, offering me salvation.  I believe Holy Scripture is the inspired Word of God.  I have learned these and many more truths through Christian doctrine.  Christian doctrine speaks to the core teachings of our faith, but without love, without action, without relationship with the Lord, it’s just words on a page. 

Why do some people struggle with belief in the Christian faith?  Because all they are seeing are the words. 

If someone asked you, “What does God mean to you?”  What would you say?  Would you start reciting one of the Creeds?  Would you stammer about your words?  Would you even have a response at all?

My faith is not words on a page, it’s a living, breathing, growing, physical relationship with the Lord.  It’s asking Him questions and Him showing me the way to those answers.  It’s taking a walk and feeling His Spirit walking with me.  It’s hearing God laugh and laughing with Him.  It’s me acting childish because I didn’t get what I wanted, but God not giving in and doing what He knows is best for me.  Are these all things that can be found in the words and stories of the Bible?  Yes, they are, but it’s the love, the life, the relationship that makes my faith alive.  Doctrine solidly roots us and our relationship grows us.

What does God mean to you?

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#PeterBurton – Where Would I Be

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  What do fingers, hand pruners, gas/electric shears and a saw all have in common????  They are all tools used by The Gardener for pruning.  John 15:1-2, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

There is no question.  Every…EVERY branch will be pruned.  So then, it comes down to which tool will He use and where?  He will use His fingers to pinch a withering flower.  The hand pruner to remove smaller dead branches.  The shears to reshape your overall appearance.  And the saw, that will be use in areas needing major transformation. 

Brian and I did a lot of pruning when we owned a landscaping company.  Each week we mowed a property, we would see the plants, watch them as they budded out and grew in the spring, and picked leaves out of them in the fall.  But we never paid as much attention to them as we did when we pruned them.  We looked at the overall condition of the plant, removed the struggling and dead sections to provide a healthier core, and reshaped it to give it a pleasing appearance. 

In the midst of the pain of God pruning you, He is very close to you, holding you in His hands, and looking with great love, care, and intent to determine where your life will bear its greatest fruit, once He has prepared your branches. 

I am absolutely feeling God’s closeness and Him breathing life into me in this pruning and reshaping season.  Some things are feeling a bit abrasive, but I know the flowers and fruit are close at hand…His hand! 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#BethelMusic – Tend

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Since Easter Sunday, I have noticed a shift in me.  I’m seeing situations from a different perspective and it has me wondering what God is stirring in me.  About a week before Easter Sunday, I was confronted with a situation at our church, in which we were once again shut down/denied the resources/opportunity to start a parish activity.  In this particular situation, it was the request to have Exposed Adoration at our church for one hour, one night a month.  I get it, we are the smallest parish in our six-parish family.  Resources and time spent at our parish may not be viewed as the best “bang for the buck”. 

The extent of our parish community extracurricular activities are:

Once a month donut Sunday after Mass. 

Once a month Church Ladies luncheon, which is limited to ladies that don’t work during the day.  

The new choir, which I initiated about two months ago.

During Lent, Brian and I opened the church for personal prayer for an hour and a half on Fridays. 

Honestly, I was feeling pretty upset that we were denied the opportunity to have once a month Eucharistic Exposition, after it had been offered to us and the first date had already been set.  All the other five parishes have Eucharistic Exposition every week.  One has it twice a week and one has it 24/7, 364.  All we were asking for is once a month.  Yes, we could certainly go to one of the other churches for Adoration and some of us do.  My frustration led me to the point of writing an email to the parties involved in the decision to cancel Eucharist Exposition at our parish, but I never sent it.  God told me to sit on it, so I did. 

He then started feeding into me.  Through Him talking to me and me listening, reading, and a podcast I was recently led to, He showed me that the approach I was going to take would not end well.  He also showed me an opportunity that could potentially make Eucharist Exposition a possibility for our little parish community.  In addition to that, He prompted me and introduced me to a means, method, and resource for starting a weekly women’s group.  God started bringing these opportunities to the surface and making them visible to me this past week, so I have some work to do, people to contact, and ideas to present. 

Our ordained priests and deacons are stretched and it’s up to us laity to move where God is calling us.  Essentially, God is telling me…Don’t be combative, but officer options, solutions, and be willing to take the lead on them.  If I don’t see it available and it’s something that will bring glory to God, then with His help and guidance I need to be willing to put it into motion. 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#SonsOfSunday – God Did!

😎🐫🎤 Happy Easter! May the peace and presence of our resurrected Lord be with you.  We know that Mary of her free will said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” – Luke 1:38.  As I was thinking about Mary’s fiat, her “Yes”, the thought crossed my mind…”Did God ask anyone else that said No?”  I guess we’ll probably never know, because if someone did say No, that history would’ve most likely not have been recorded. There wouldn’t have been a life and Salvation story that needed to be revealed to the world. 

Thinking about it, how many times have I in the past and still today continue to say “No” to the Lord?  How does my “No” to the Lord change His Salvation story?  Yes, we are all called to be part of Christ’s Salvation story, so yes, our “No” has an effect on His Salvation story. 

Matthew 28:18-20 tells us, “Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”

Yes, Christ is counting on you and me to be part of His Salvation story by going forth and making disciples.  That can seem like a pretty lofty and daunting task.  The Lord has placed in you the ability to accomplish your commissioning, but He will never send you alone.  He has given you His Spirit and His Spirit is more than enough.  For most of us, He doesn’t call us to travel great distances.  All you have to do is look around, family, friends, coworkers, people at your church, etc.  He will place everyone He desires you to disciple with, within an arm’s reach.  Make a friend.  Be a friend.  As you move and allow the Holy Spirit to move in and through you, Christ our Lord will be revealed.  That is what He is asking of us, to be our true authentic selves in Christ and allow His Holy Spirit to overflow from within us and pour into others.  Respond to His call with courage and zeal.  Let’s give Him a generous YES!

Amen!  Thank You Lord!  

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#JordanFeliz – Can’t Lose

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  It’s April Fools’, but it’s no joke that we’re already in the midst of Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum starts tomorrow.  If you aren’t familiar with the Paschal Triduum, I would highly suggest you find a church near you and participate in the full (not fool) experience.  It’s a lot of church time in a short period, but each part has a distinctive role in the Easter celebration.

Thursday is the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.  The institution of the Holy Eucharist.

Friday is the liturgy of the Passion of the Lord.

Saturday is the celebration of Easter Vigil, which is my favorite Mass of the year and lasts about three hours.

Sunday is the Easter Sunday celebration, which is not like the Easter Vigil.  Different Bible readings and song tell a different part of the Resurection narrative.

Are you ready for this incredible celebration of our Lord’s return and the celebration of the salvation Christ so willingly died to give us?  Being able to sing the Alleluia at Mass again on Easter fills my heart with joy.  It’s like a cool drink of water after walking through the desert.  I truly hope and pray that every single person will know to their core, the depth of the love that Christ has for them.  It’s a love like no other, can not be replaced by any other, and even if you were the only person, He would do it ALL for YOU!  Get EXCITED!  Celebrate the Lord and share with the world all that He has done for you.  AMEN!

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#JordanFeliz feat. Jonathan Taylor & Mandisa

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I think we could all pretty much agree that being in a relationship with the Lord is not a guarantee of a perfect life.  Jesus was a perfect man, but He didn’t have a perfect life.  In His adulthood, people, demons, and the devil himself tempted, attacked, and tried their best to discredit and take Christ down.  They would not stop until they beat Him, whipped Him, nailed Him to a cross, died and was buried, never to be seen or hear from again.  Or so they thought. 

Why did they do this?  Because they feared Him. 

I’m sure many of you can attest to the fact that, the stronger and more active your relationship with the Lord is, the more the devil and his band of demons will tempt, attack, and try their best to discredit you and take you down.  It can be very challenging, frustrating, and confusing living a relationship with the Lord, but I couldn’t imagine living this life without Him. 

In my youth and young adulthood, I would say that the majority of my decisions were made based on a whim, without a whole lot of consideration as to what God desired of me.  That thought process has SLOWLY changed in my adulthood.  Recently I’ve been struggling with some choices in my life.  I know for a fact that when we keep God in our situation, even if it’s a challenging situation, God will always bless us.  It may not always be obvious in the moment, but you will be blessed by Him.  He gives us the gift of free will, in hopes that we will make wise choices.  As I’m experiencing in this most recent set of choices in my life, I don’t want to just make a choice, I want to make the choice that God wants me to make.  The choice in which I can best serve God.  I am very blessed as things are right now.  So, is this where God desires me to stay?  Or, should I pursue this other opportunity that has been presented to me.  God does not want us to be slaves to Him, which is why He gifted us free will.  At this point, I feel like I keep going back and forth with this choice.  I really would like Him to say, “Shell, this is what I want you to do…”  As much as that would help me to stop questioning the choices before me, I know that He loves me too much to do that. 

Lord, please give me your wisdom to understand and discern the choices you have placed before me.  I pray that I will have the courage, strength, and humility to make choices that will best serve You and the purpose You had in mind for me when You created me. Amen!

I also make this prayer for you, as you find yourself at a crossroad, that you too will have the courage, strength, and humility to make choices that will best serve our Lord and the purpose He had in mind for you when He created you. Amen!

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#KatyNichole feat. Naomi Raine – My God Can

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Last Friday, someone that I had never met before shared with me a story about her 20+ year absence from God in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  Four days later, another lady that I had never met before, shared with me her story about her 20+ year absence from God in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  Both of them also shared with me their life-giving experience of returning to God in the sacrament of Reconciliation.  Honestly, I too have had a very similar 20+ year experience. 

What I found to be similar about all three of our return to Reconciliation experiences is that we felt we had a list of sins a mile long.  It really adds up in 20+ years, so the regularly scheduled Reconciliation times before or after Mass just didn’t seem like they would be long enough.  Not to mention we really didn’t remember the prayers.  Here is what I think was and is so encouraging.  The priests were willing to meet individually with each of us and walk through our examination of conscience, confession, offer advise and absolution, and penance.  One lady and I both commented that our meetings with the priests were about 1 ½ hours.  That experience completely changed my attitude toward this fabulous sacrament.  Really, I went from fear of the sacrament to joy.  It’s still a very humbling experience, but I believe humility is a good quality to have. 

The river only flows when it’s connected to its source.  When we build dams, we cut ourselves off from the living water that flows from Christ.  The sacrament of Reconciliation blows up and destroys those dams, allowing the ragging rives of Christ’s living water and grace to wash over us, cleanse us from ALL our sins, and welcome us into everlasting life with Him.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#JonReddick – I Believe It (The Life Of Jesus)

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I pray that you have experienced a good reflective beginning of Lent.  Last weekend the Gospel of Matthew 17:1-9 brought us the very familiar telling of Christ’s transfiguration.  During Father’s homily, he touched on something that I’ve heard many times, but never really focused on.  I’m speaking specifically of verse 3.

Matthew 17:1-3

1  After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.

2  And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.

3  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, conversing with him..

So, what is so important about Moses and Elijah appearing to the Apostles, conversing with Jesus?

In the past I’ve had conversations with people who seemed to have an issue with talking/praying with the saints and asking for their guidance and intercessory prayer.  The basic response I receive is, why pray to them, when you can pray directly to Jesus?  My initial response generally goes to, yes, I can pray directly to God.  Which is typically followed by, “Have you ever asked someone to pray for you?”  100% of the time, the answer is yes.  Other than being alive and dead, how is talking with the saints and asking them to pray for you on your behalf any different than asking a family member or friend to pray for you?

Well, until Father’s homily last weekend, it didn’t dawn on me that we have Biblical proof of Christ’s example of speaking/praying with the saints.  Moses and Elijah appeared to the Apostles, conversing with Jesus.  Remember, Moses and Elijah were no longer living an earthly life at this point.  This is another of the many subtle and not so subtle ways Christ is calling us to be like Him.  What would Jesus so?  He would talk and pray with His friends…the saints. 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#ChrisTomlin – How Good It Is

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Welcome to Lent!  Today, Ash Wednesday begins our next liturgical season.  Some conversations this time of year may sound familiar…”What are you giving up for Lent this year?”  “Do you know a good fish fry in the area?”  “I really want some chocolate.” 

Maybe it’s time to rethink our approach to Lent.  Is it really about giving something up and not eating meat on Friday?  Let me answer that for you…”No!”  It really is so much more, when we approach these traditions with a focus on using this season of penance to deepen our relationship with the Lord. 

So, where does a deeper relationship with our Lord start?  The first step is a complete examination of conscience and the gift of the sacrament of reconciliation.  Through the gift of reconciliation, we can free our minds and hearts of the sins that weighs us down, freeing those parts of ourselves to be filled with the Lord.  Our attitude plays a big part in how we work our way through Lent, in preparation for Easter.  When we shed our sins through the sacrament of reconciliation, our attitude is lifted and our spirits are lighter. 

Will they stay that way?  Knowing us humans, specifically myself, as much as I want to always choose and do good, I just don’t.  Every single one of us is human, so there is no doubt that we’ll have moments of weakness, in which we will make not so wise choices.  With this known fact, I would like to suggest that every day during Lent you do an examination of conscience.  You may be thinking…”What good will this do?”  Well, if you commit to taking the time to examine your conscience every night, God will be there with you.  You will not be doing it alone.  Every night for 40 nights you will meet with God to talk through your day.  All the good and not so good parts.  As I mentioned, you will not be doing this alone, so once you lay out your day, it’s time to listen.  God doesn’t just sit with you so you can have a one-sided conversation.  He sits with you so that He gets to know your heart and respond with grace, compassion, and guidance.

Give it a try.  After all, what have you got to lose?  And what have your got to gain? 

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#RyanHorton – Sit with Jesus

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  How does God show up and work in our lives????  Let me count the ways.  Recently we had two humidifiers stop working.  We’d had them quite a few years, so I just accepted the fact that I needed to get a new humidifier.  We found one that was an upgrade from what we previously had.  I read through the manual and came across something that seemed a bit strange.  This humidifier may cause white dust.  Before I go further, I want to share that we did not put a forced air heating and AC system in our home, because I didn’t want all the dust that those systems blow around.  After running the new humidifier a few days, it looked foggy or smokey in the house.  It was 0 degrees outside, but we had the windows open, trying to clear the air.  Our home was covered in white dust.  They weren’t kidding when they said it might cause white dust.  I cleaned up the machine, let it air dry for a few days, and returned it.  I thought, “Those fancy humidifiers aren’t worth it.”

We were running our woodstove around the clock and the air was getting pretty dry, so I went to a local store searching for a different humidifier.  One of the criteria was that it didn’t produce white dust.  Most of the boxes I read stated that it may produce white dust.  I was like, heck with this, I’m just going to get another cheap one.  My old one didn’t put out that white dust, so I purchased the same brand I had before. 

Before getting the humidifier set up, I wanted to clean our home and start fresh.  After a day of cleaning, I started running the new, new humidifier.  A couple days later, wouldn’t you know it, the air in the house was once again foggy/smokey.  GRRRRRRR!  This is ridiculous!!!  I was not happy about having to clean the whole house again.  Seriously, we haven’t had this much dust in our home the entire 27 months we’ve lived here. 

Last Saturday, I cleaned my way from the ceiling fans to the floors.  I was pretty close to being done with the floors when I notice a water puddle about the size of a lime in one of our bedrooms.  I looked up and sure enough, there was water dripping from our tongue and grove wood ceiling.

I immediately called the general contractor that is still working on the hail damage repairs on our home.  He and some other crew members showed up at our home about an hour and a half later and climbed onto our snowy roof in the dark.  Turns out that the crew that replaced our roof didn’t completely seal the ridge vent, which allowed snow and water into our attic, which dripped through the ceiling.  Let me add another side note here.  Earlier that week, the guys replaced the metal on our west wall, which is where our bathroom and laundry vents pipe through.  I washed and dried five loads of laundry that day.  Our contractor and I climbed up into the attic to take care of the wet insulation.  While up there, he discovered that when they pulled the drier vent away from the west wall, they also pulled it apart from our secondary drier fan.  Long story short, all the hot air from the drier that day was blowing right into our attic.  NOT GOOD! 

So, how does God show up and work in your life???  Well, for me and Brian, God allowed our two humidifiers to stop working, so that we would buy a replacement, which forced me to clean the entire house because of the white dust it produced, which caused me to return that humidifier and buy a second new humidifier, which also produced white dust, which once again caused me to clean the entire house, which led me to the water puddle on the floor and discover the roof leak, which lead us to the disconnected drier vent hose in the attic. 

Sometimes it’s easier to connect the God dots than others.  Keeps watching for them.  You never know when or how He will show up, but be open to His awesomeness and let Him WOW you. 

I want to say, “THANK YOU LORD, for leading me to where you needed me to be.  AMEN!”

Regarding the humidifier white dust situation, Brian researched and found out that the ultrasonic humidifiers are the ones that generally produce white dust.  I would suggest staying away from those, unless you really like cleaning your home.

Bless others and be blessed.

Shelly  :0)

If the Lord has touched you in some way with His message today, I ask that you pay it forward by sharing this message, so that you and He may also bless others.  Click subscribe to receive your message every Wednesday via email.

#TobyMac – Everything