😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  On Saturday I signed a document that will draw to a close one of the five longest chapters in my life so far.  After 27 ½ years, I signed a contract to sell our home.  At the time I purchased our home, I never imagined I would be there that long.  It was a first-time homebuyer house.  I figured maybe 5-7 years tops.  But God had greater plans.  This home sheltered us through my divorce.  It became a kid hangout.  You would think I was a Kool-Aid mom.  (Not everyone is old enough to understand that reference.)  Me, the girls, and their friends spent so many hours in the kitchen.  The kitchen was carpeted almost the whole time I owned the house.  We would sit on the floor, with our backs against the cabinet doors and talk, sing, play games, cry, count a jug full of change (Becca)…we did so much living in the kitchen, other than just cooking.  When we renovated the kitchen 4 years ago, I had to laugh when I saw the lower cabinet doors.  We had sat up against them so much, that they had a slight bow to them.  Our living room is where Brian’s dad married us, standing in front of our fireplace.  There were many good times, some challenging times, and a few moments I would like to forget. 

We’ve been slowly clearing out our home and I’m now at the point where I’m taking the last items out of a room and vacuuming the floor for the last time.  Oh, the memories that fill my mind as I do the final sweep.  I tell myself that I’m okay…I’ve had 3 years to prepare for this.  There is one thing that I’m leaving in each room until we do the final walkthrough the day of the closing, a crucifix.  Yes, the rooms are becoming bare, but when I took one of the crucifixes off the wall, the room felt very empty.  I put Jesus back on the wall and decided He will fill and protect our home as long as possible. 

It truly is amazing how the presence of Christ can fill a room.  Better yet, how He can fill our hearts and lives.  Kind of like feeling the emptiness of the room when I took the crucifix down, I don’t want to feel or even imagine my life without the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in it.  The depth of His love is match by none other.  The breadth of His mercy and grace is beyond compare.

Lord, thank you for this chapter in my life, the blessings beyond measure, your never-failing love, and the opportunity to share you with others.  May they feel Your presence and experience Your blessings in a lifechanging way.  May the Lord of all lords, bless you and hold you ever near, in the warmth and safety of His embrace.

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.

#MichaelW.Smith – Draw Me Close

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  On February 26^th I started reading, working, and praying my way through Matthew Kelly’s book 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory.  In my opinion, this book is a challenge and invitation to draw yourself closer to God, in and through the Holy Eucharist.  This book, with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, has got me fired up and excited about what I get to read each morning.  It’s pretty cool, in the back of the book it lists different start dates to choose from and then tells you which feast day of Jesus you will end your 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory.  I chose to start on February 26^th, so that I could end on Good Friday.  I have gotten into the habit of taking Good Friday off from work, to help make that day more focused and deliberate for Christ, so I feel Good Friday will be a beautiful day to conclude this journey. 

I understand, it can be VERY challenging to believe that the Eucharist is the real and true presence of Christ, but I like how Matthew puts it.  “Those who believe don’t leave.”  That is 100% the truth.  Are you committed and sold out to Christ?  If not, do you want to be?  Even if you aren’t sure if you want to be sold out to Christ or not, I highly recommend that you engage with Christ through Matthew Kelly’s 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory. 

On Day 6, Matthew presents six seismic shifts in the spiritual life.  I’m not going to give them away, because I feel every word that Matthew put in this book builds and leads you to a fuller understanding and desire for the most Holy Eucharist.  Even though we are constantly changing emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually, God is the rock of our lives who is ever consistent and unchanging.  As Matthew put it, “What is unchanging allows us to make sense of change.” 

Lord, I boldly pray that all who read your words, which you have chosen to speak through mere humans, will penetrate beyond human understanding, to a faith, wisdom, and belief that will, in the hardest and easiest of times, draw us even closer to you, that others may see and experience You through us.  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.

#MatthewKelly – 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory

#PhilWickham – I Believe

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Brian and I are planning a pilgrimage to Spain to walk the 75 mile El Camino de Santiago, The Way of St. James.  We definitely have some preparation to do to get our bodies, particularly feet and legs ready for this journey.  We will need to prepare our minds and hearts for the spiritual journey.  And being that took French in high school, I’m also needing to spend this time of preparation learning Spanish.  Between Rosetta Stone and a Spanish friend of mine, who is also a Spanish teacher, I think I’ll be in good hands.  Needless to say, with all this preparation going on, there is an amazing, but challenging opportunity for great growth in my future. 

Will the pilgrimage be worth the many hours and days of preparation…100% it will.

Will the effects of this preparation go beyond this pilgrimage…100% it will.

Until now, I’m not sure if I’ve thought of my pilgrimage with God this way, but I have to ask myself…Am I willing to be deliberate in all of these areas in preparation for my 9 day El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage?  I also need to ask…Why am I/have I not been as committed to my life long pilgrimage with God? 

Why do I not physically prepare myself for doing His work?

Why do I not spend more time clearing my mind of distractions, so that I can focus on Him?

Why do I not spend more time in meditative, spiritual prayer?

Why do I not spend the time to learn God’s language?  Which by the way is Love.  Love can be a challenging language to learn.

To all of these, I would have to say my answer is distractions.  Some distractions can be okay, because it may lead us to a path God is guiding us to, but all too often I allow the distraction to consume my prayer time, which leaves me without prayer. 

How can I ever expect to learn the language of love if I don’t listen, practice, and put it into action?  Thanks be to God, that He doesn’t give up on us as easily as we give up on Him. 

The choice for today is in your hands.  The choice for tomorrow is in your hands.  When you fail, don’t start over from the beginning, because you will never make it to the end.  When you fail, the only way you will complete the journey is to pick up where you left off and keep moving forward. 

If you’re interested in information about an El Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, reach out to me and I can pass along some information.

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.

#ConsumedByFire – Walk with Jesus

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  On my way home from exercise class yesterday evening, I found myself thinking about those in my family that I’m praying will choose to return to Christ.  My thoughts then turned to friends that also have family members they are praying will return to Christ.  My thoughts then drifted to the snow we recently experienced.

The snow all fell all at the same time, yet some melted, while others remained.  On the south side of our home, the snow melted within a day, yet the north side porch still has wind drifted snow on it.  What makes the difference…the light and warmth from the sun. 

When we leave our home, we have the choice to walk out the North door or the South door.  Will we choose the warmth and sunlit back porch or the shadowed and chilled front porch?  No matter which way we choose to walk out into the world, once we step outside, the world and those within it influence us, our thinking, and our actions. 

If you find yourself where you don’t want to be, you have a choice of two paths 1) Work your way around to the sunny side.  2) Backtrack, cutting through the house, to the sunny side.

Sure, the choices seem simple enough, but Satan is in the soul trapping business and he has traps set all over, just waiting for you to stumble into them.  No one consciencely chooses to step right into his traps, but yet we find ourselves falling into them like potholes in early spring.

My advice, NEVER STOP PRAYING FOR YOUR FAMILY.  You may never experience the fruits of your labor, but the reward is not in you seeing them return to Christ.  The reward is them returning to Christ.

By the way, when you come to visit us, make sure you come to the back door, the South, sunny side of our home.  I even have a sign over the door that states “Back Door Guests Are Best”.

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.

#ElevationWorship – Praise

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  St. Valentine’s Day, what a fabulous day to start Lent on.  In reality, Lent is a season of love.  I can’t even imagine how much love it took to overcome fear of such a horrible death, that Christ knew He would endure for our salvation.  The love it took to take the abuse and torture.  The love it took to watch your closest friends run from you and deny you.  There truly is no greater love.

As we begin our 40 days of Lent, I want to share with you, this writing from Rita A. Simmonds.

I have sinned and sinned and sinned again,

Yet I’m called to be a saint?

You are the one who calls me.

I fear I’ve made you wait.

How many fallen soldiers

Now stand within your ranks?

How many souls shine brightly

Because they gave you  thanks?

How many weary travelers

Sleep soundly in your arms?

How many disenfranchised

Sit safely at your hearth?

How many of your enemies

Become your closest friends?

How many friends betrayed you

And yet you let them in?

Will you refuse a sinner

Who’s called to be a saint?

You are the one who calls me.

I’m at your mercy gate.

I pray that this Lent, you will make the time to sit quietly with Christ.

Speak with Him.

Hear His words.

Feel His presence.

And make Him known to others.

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.

#RitaA.Simmonds – Mercy Gate

#TomConry – Ashes

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  While praying the Rosary last Friday and meditating on the fourth Sorrowful mystery, Jesus carrying the cross, I was drawn to the thought of Simon of Cyrene carrying the cross with Christ.  What an inconvenience that must have been.  I imagine that was probably the last thing he expected would happen to him that day.  Do you think they spoke?  Was Simon complaining?  What do you think Christ, in His weakest hour, would have said to Simon?  How do you think Simon walked away from that experience with Christ?

You and I are called every day to carry Christ’s cross with Him.  Notice I didn’t say for Him.  At times, we feel burdened by the weight of the world.  It can be a physical or mental burden causing you to fall on your hands and knees.  If Christ wasn’t there carrying that cross with you, you would have been pressed flat on the ground. 

Matthew tells us of Jesus in Chapter 11: 28-30 saying, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Notice Jesus is saying, come to Me and put this weight, this yoke upon your shoulders so I can share it with you.  He didn’t say, I’m going to take everything away.  You shouldn’t expect that.  But what He is saying is, you will have trouble, you will have burdens, but you will also have Me. 

He will never ask you to do something that He isn’t willing to do or has already done himself.  If you trust in what He is calling you to do, and act upon them, you will never regret your actions.  From the Allen Hunt and Matthew Kelly book, No Regrets, “Death is inevitable.  Regrets are optional.  It’s time to live the rest of your life with no regrets.”

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.

#AllenHunt&MatthewKelly – No Regrets

#MatthewWest – My Story, Your Glory

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  This past week we’ve had quite a bit of rain and three days of very dense fog.  I felt like I was back in England with all the fog.  Life showers us with physical storms, as well as emotional and spiritual storms.  Like that dense fog I experienced recently, those storms can be hard to see in, with no visible clearing. 

Storms can blind us to the truth and keep us from seeing the light.  Back in December, heading to the airport, it was cold, dreary, gray, and drizzling, but just on the top side of those clouds, there was a beautiful sun, lighting the sky. 

It can be hard staying focused and positive in those storms.  Patience…well, that can seem eluding, but just like the sun on the other side of those clouds, Christ is always with you.  You may not always see Him, but He is watching and waiting for you to seek Him.  He won’t force Himself of you, but He will remind you in many small ways, that He is there.  Sometimes you just need to move, to find a different point of view.  Spinning your wheels in the same muddy rut is only going to fling more mud and bury you deeper.  Step out of the rut and find some music to dance to.  Storms will come and go, but our God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  You want someone you can count on…You only have to turn to 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.

#Schultz – Snoopy

#Chochren&Co – The Lows

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  How big is your faith?  Watching an episode in season 3 of The Chosen, Jesus talks about having faith the size of a mustard seed.  Matthew 17:20 “…In truth I tell you, if your faith is the size of a mustard seed you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move; nothing will be impossible for you.’”

Yes, the mustard seed is tiny, yet produces a great plant.  Likewise, the tiniest of faith can and will produce great results.  For example, Peter. When he had confidence in his faith, he joined Christ for a short walk on the sea.  Although that walk was short lived, we can see how powerful a little faith can be.

In that episode of The Chosen, in my opinion, Jesus had a mic drop moment when He said…”It’s not about the size.  It’s who your faith is in.  If your faith is secure in God, trusting His promises, choosing His will for your life, instead of your own, this size of faith is enough.”

So, so true!  Every time I put any degree of faith in myself, I’m squandering that which is meant for God.  When we give it to Him, He empowers those He has called, and who have accepted His call, to do His will among us.  At times, that call may go out to your family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, and also to you.  Allow yourself the peace and willingness to step aside from your desires, to allow God to move in and through 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.

#TheChosen

#JackCassidy – Let Go, Let God

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  Time and time again we hear our names being called, and like Samuel, we eagerly respond without knowing who is actually calling out to us. 

1 Samuel 3:3-10: “The lamp of God was not yet extinguished, and Samuel was sleeping in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was.  The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, “Here I am.”  He ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. You called me.” “I did not call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to sleep.” So he went back to sleep.

Again the LORD called Samuel, who rose and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “You called me.” But he answered, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”  Samuel did not yet recognize the LORD, since the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

The LORD called Samuel again, for the third time. Getting up and going to Eli, he said, “Here I am. You called me.” Then Eli understood that the LORD was calling the youth.  So he said to Samuel, “Go to sleep, and if you are called, reply, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’”

When Samuel went to sleep in his place, the LORD came and stood there, calling out as before: Samuel, Samuel! Samuel answered, “Speak, for your servant is listening.””

God loves you so much that He is going to keep calling your name until 1) You realize who is calling you, 2) Someone informs you as to who is actually calling you. Or 3)…Actually, there is no 3).  God is not going to give up calling you BY NAME, until you respond to Him. 

You may be thinking, “This guy is a crazy stalker.”, but He’s not.  We just can’t comprehend the depth of love that the Lord has for you.  Stop and listen to the sweet melodious sound of His voice calling out your name.  Once you hear Him and recognize it is the Lord calling out to you, you will then be open to hearing what He has to offer you.

His offer of salvation and the blessing of having the privilege of sharing His salvation with others is a gift beyond comprehension.  We may think we know what His salvation means, but then, tomorrow comes and He reveals a new part of Himself to us.  It’s like a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.  You receive just one piece at a time and in random order.  Each day you are gathering your pieces, desperately looking for pieces that fit together.  It’s okay to walk around the table and look at His pieces from different angles and perspectives.  Often, that’s what we need to do, before those pieces start coming together. 

Never stop searching!  Never stop choosing to experience His love and salvation!

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.

#JoshWilson – Revolutionary

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I spent some of my Christmas gift money yesterday and bought myself six weeks of pietra fitness.  In my years, I’ve done multiple types of fitness classes and even had my Zumba instructor certification, but never had I ever taken fitness classes that encompassed Biblical readings, meditation, and prayer.  By the time I left the class, I was so relaxed.  Maybe a little too relaxed, because it was a challenge to stay awake driving home.  Going to a gym or working out was certainly not on my radar, not even the slightest blip, but the thought of a prayer, scripture, and meditation infused workout piqued my interest. 

In life, some of the best God given gifts are the ones we don’t know we need and would never ask for.  Be open, mind, body, and spirit to what God is giving you.  You won’t always recognize it at first sight, but be vigilant, He will reveal His gifts and presence in time.

If you haven’t already done so, take a few moments with your family to experience the Epiphany Home Blessing (use the link below).  Your home is an incredible gift from God that far too often goes unrecognized.  Take some time to share with God your gratitude, while at the same time, asking for blessings upon everyone that enters into 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.

#EpiphanyHomeBlessing

Click to access Epiphany-Blessing-of-the-Home-2022.pdf