😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Welcome to February, the month of love, right?  There’s a song that we sing within the Walk to Emmaus community that starts out…”Love, love, love, love.  The Gospel in one word is love.”  Singing those two sentences puts a big grin on my face.  It’s really kind of hard to describe love.  Okay, think back to your teen years and that first crush you had that you were soooo sure was love.  Oh no, I’m not discounting that at all.  Your first crush was actually a great starting point.  It was a new and exciting time.  It probably made you feel happy and good about yourself.  Maybe even a little more confident.  But on the other hand, you may have felt a little unsure as you experienced new emotions.  Now, consider how different your first crush was compared to your first serious relationship.  If you’re like me you may look back and think, “Wow, I really had no idea what love was.”  Each relationship we experience and share, we grow a little more in our understanding of love.  There are so many different characteristics of love and just as many types of loving relationships.  The ones that top my list started with my parents and siblings and grew into loving relationships with my husband, children, grandchildren, and friends.  There are so many things I enjoy doing with my loved ones.  So how did they earn their coveted places in my love circle?  It all started with my parents and them showing me love by taking care of me.  That is an unspoken love that is known without a word being spoken, that built a strong foundation for my current understanding of true unconditional love.  It’s a love that brings with it a feeling of comfort and peace.  In your loving relationships, you may find yourself doing what I do.  If I feel the need for…then I reach out to…because I know they can provide that kind of love for me.  But today I need…so I’m going to reach out to…because they know the exact loving words to share.  And so it goes.  We build that circle of loving relationships so that we always have the perfect person to draw from when we need it.  Right?  On the surface it’s starting to sound like the majority of love is about what we receive.    

A warm sunny day. Forgiveness.  A walk in the woods.  Grace.  A friend to talk with.  A listening ear.  A healing touch.  A guide and mentor.  Compassionate.  Faithful.  Merciful.  Patient.  Dependable.  Trustworthy.  Peace.  Savior.  Genuine.  Truthful.  Unconditional.  These are all aspects of my relationship with God.  But the greatest of these is love.  Why is that?  It’s because they are all aspects of love.  God IS love, therefore EVERYTHING He does is love.  It’s such an overwhelming experience and feeling, there’s no doubt we crave it.  Actually, it’s more like we’re addicted to His love.  God offers us a class of love that we as humans can’t duplicate, but we constantly desire and seek.  Unfortunately, at times, we go looking for His love in all the wrong places.  In those moments, just stop for a moment, breath Him in, and He will guide you back to Him and His ONE TRUE LOVE.  This week’s song isn’t one of my typical songs, but it made me smile and I thought it was fitting.  Besides that, God can and will use anything and everything to bring His message of love to us.  Bless others and be blessed.

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 He may also bless others.

#RobertPalmer – Addicted to Love

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Was it you?  Did you ask for change?  I don’t think it was me.  Well, I did ask for change, but it wasn’t that.  Maybe I used the wrong words.  Maybe He didn’t quite understand me.  Oh no, He heard my words very clearly, but I just didn’t know what I was really asking for.  This past weekend I was reminded that if change is going to happen, then it’s up to me to seek it and make time for it.  That fire has been reignited, but I don’t want it to blaze as if fuel had dumped on it and burn out in a blink.  I want a fire that is constant and consistent.  I want a fire that I can get excited about and I’m drawn to.  I want a fire that will wow me and grow me.  Moses experienced a Fire that wowed and excited him.  A Fire that drew him in and grew him.  But that’s not where his story began, not at all.  You talk about some crazy change to move, pull, stretch, and grow him into the leader God asked him to be.  From the arms of a Hebrew mother, to Pharaoh’s side.  From a murderer to a desert wanderer.  From a family man to a questioning mind, to a servant of the Lord on a mission he knew he couldn’t do alone.  But he knew the One who called him from the field to the mountain, and allowed him to see Him, would never abandon him.  The Lord knows Moses didn’t understand why certain things happened and why people acted the way they did, but he trusted the Lord with his life.  That’s the kind of fire to have in your soul.  Is your fire dwindling?  Throw another log on.  Or better yet, build a self-feeding fire. 

Those logs are scripture, books, podcasts, Mass, prayers, Christian fellowship with a community of saints, quiet time with God, worship music, mentors, etc.  We learn and grow through many experiences and seasons.  If it only took one experience, the Bible wouldn’t be filled with so many chapters.  Speaking of fire, this week’s song got me fired up driving to work one morning, so I knew a had to share it with you.  I hope it sets your soul on fire also.  Bless others and be blessed. 

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 He may also bless others.

#BrandonLake – I Need a Ghost

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Last Friday, while enjoying a day away from the office, I contacted some companies to research different aspects of our home building project.  One of those contacts was a mortgage person that I worked with years ago when I worked in the real estate industry.  It had been a few years since we last spoke, so when I left Joanna a message, I said “You may remember me from…”  She returned my call about an hour later and said, “Of course I remember you…You gave me one of my most treasured gifts.”  Wow!  I was really caught of guard.  It’s not often that we hear those words spoken to us.  But I was also very curious.  What was it that I gave her that was such a treasured gift?  I had to ask.  Joanna went on to describe a cross I gave her, that is my favorite version of a crucifix.  It’s called “Gift of the Spirit”.  She also told me that she keeps it in her office and looks at it often.  My heart was so filled with joy.  I don’t think I could have smiled any bigger.  It absolutely filled my heart that God allowed me to be His messenger like that, but also (although years later) allowed me to know how He was working through me.  That is such a humbling experience.    

I think I originally purchased the Gift of the Spirit crucifix for myself maybe around 2006.  When you walk into our home, it will probably be one of the first things you’ll see, being that He sits on a table right by the front door.  Since I purchased mine, I have, when prompted by the Spirit, given this crucifix to a variety of individuals at different times.  I pray that all of those families have felt and continue to feel His presence and peace through their crucifix.  In case you’re curious, here’s a picture of mine and yes, I do keep that tag sitting on the base of the cross.  Take a moment now to read it.

Is it a coincidence that I start my Wednesday message with “Christ’s peace be with you.”?  No, it isn’t.  The Holy Spirit calls us to action for a purpose.  We absolutely need more peace in this world and the only peace worth anything is peace in and with Christ.  I first started beginning my Wednesday message with “Christ’s peace be with you.” on 01/09/2019.  Believe it or not, it was actually a bit of a struggle for me to actually put that on paper.  I imagine you can relate to self-doubt and the whole thought process of “What will others think of me?”  I finally gave in and told myself, “It doesn’t really matter what others think.  If they want to accept it or not, I want them to have Christ’s peace with them and in their lives.”  It is a prayer specifically for you. 

Last Sunday was the second Sunday of Ordinary Time and our first reading was from the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 3:3-10, 19.  Like Samuel, at times when the Lord calls to us, we mistake Him for someone else.  And also, like Samuel, we may even say “Speak, for your servant is listening.”, without knowing whom we are truly speaking with.  But here’s the thing…God is asking you to share His peace.  God is asking you to make a difference in someone’s life.  God is asking you, without knowing what the outcome will be, to be bold in your “yes” to Him.  And occasionally, like in my conversation with Joanna last Friday, you will hear Him say thank you good and faithful servant, when He brings your Yes full circle through someone sharing with you how a God moment, you were a part of, has impacted their life.  I’m not sure I can fully express in words the magnitude of a moment like that, but you will know it when you feel and experience it.  Keep listening for His call.  Reply “Speak, for your servant is listening.”  Then act as you are guided.  You may be asking, “How do I know it’s from Him?”  Well, He will only prompt you to do what is good.  Bless others and be blessed.

#GiftOfTheSpiritCrucifix

#GeorgeStrait – I Saw God Today

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  We’ve all been there.  You experience the same basic message in multiple ways in a short period of time, just to make sure you get the message, His message.  My husband calls that getting hit upside the head with a 2×4.  Prepare, prepare, prepare keeps surfacing.  But what am I preparing for?  Many times, we don’t have a clue or if we think we know, the end results turn out to be not quite what we expected.  And its all about God’s timing.  So many times, it comes down to a combination of events stitched together that we couldn’t have planned.  What is He bringing to your life today?  Why is He specifically bringing that at this moment? 

Being that we didn’t have our planned big family gathering at Thanksgiving, we had a frozen turkey and all the yummy side dishes that were just sitting around waiting to be prepared.  We started thawing the turkey on Thursday planning to have our meal either Saturday or Sunday.  Okay, stick with me on this, because I’m going to stitch a few things together.  Saturday morning I was working through a backlog of personal emails and came across one in my spam box from a friend.  She sent it to me on 12/14/2020.  I sent her an email thanking her and letting her know that I would take a look at it.  I went back to her email Sunday morning.  It included a link to “Christmas with The Chosen”.  In her email, Buffy wrote…”The whole program is wonderful, but the best part starts at 1:18.”  God couldn’t have made it any clearer.  Dallas Jenkins shared a little of his story about how “The Shepard” and “The Chosen” came to be.  On the heals of a big failure, it was presented to him that “It’s not your job to feed the 5,000.  It’s only your job to provide the loaves and fish.”  How often do we feel responsible for the end result and do all that we can and sometimes in a not so nice way, to try to make everything perfect?  Faithfully prepare and be obedient to only what you have been called to. 

Sunday afternoon as Brian and I were preparing this big meal for just the two of us, Brian ran to the store for a couple missing ingredients.  Upon his arrival back home, he said “We should call your mom and dad to see if they want to join us.”  So, we did and they accepted.  An interesting fact that they explained to us was that Saturday evening they were debating between two restaurants to eat at.  At the first, they were going to have a turkey dinner and their second option was hamburgers.  They chose the hamburgers.  You see, God was planting that seed in them about the turkey dinner, before they knew what it was all about.  Sure, you may say that was just a coincidence.  I don’t believe in coincidence, but I do believe in GODincidence.  The meal was just the mean, because He was once again using my Mom to carry a message to me as she spoke about repairing relationships one touch, one invitation at a time.  Preparing the groundwork for all the goodness He has planned.  Tuesday morning I was listening to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Daily Readings Reflection video by Deacon Arthur L. Miller from the Archdiocese of Hartford.  It’s a short 3:47 minute video that I shared below. The whole message was thought provoking, so I suggest you take a few minutes to watch it.  One line in particular stood out to me was, “If we don’t transform, we will transmit what we were.”   Which brought me back to preparing and moving forward.  About 30 minutes after listening to this reflection, I read 84 Packing Your Saddlebags in the devotional book Unbridled Faith by Cara Whitney, which is about preparing for the journey and “packing your saddlebags” for the unforeseen what-ifs that are just beyond your line of sight down the trail. 

Do you see what I mean by experiencing the same basic message in multiple ways in a short period of time?  So, tell me how are you experiencing these multiple touches from God in your life?  Seriously, I would like you to share with me what God is doing and how He is moving in your life.  I’m not one to say “Look at me.”  Actually, I’m one of those people that would rather blend into the crowd.  But a small part of what I’m getting from the messages God has been bringing to me is that I have to faithfully trust Him.  I know it’s not about me and I shouldn’t view it as a prideful thing to invite you to share what God is asking me to share.  After all, it’s for His glory, not mine.  So, 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 He may also bless others.

Bless others and be blessed.

#Unbridled Faith – Cara Whitney

#United State Conference of Catholic Bishops Daily Readings Reflection

https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/video/2021-01-12-reflection-306

#Christmas with The Chosen

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Happy 2021!  How did you start your new year?  I stayed up watching one of my favorite shows, “Heartland”.  It’s a Canadian TV series that began in 2007, so if you’re looking for a binge worthy show that will take some time to get through, this is the one.  I was watching season 9 episode 4 and as the clock struck midnight, Jack (one of the main characters) had to put his longtime friend, partner, and horse, Paint, down.  I’d seen this scene multiple times before, so it was not surprise, but I still had leaky eyes.  The timing just seemed fitting with the end of the year.  After I finished watching that episode, I thought…”I might as well get this year started of right”, so I opened my Bible to see what God wanted to share with me.  Picking up where I had left off, I read Matthew 4:18-22 Jesus Calls His First Disciples.  How absolutely amazing it is to me that these men would just drop everything they were doing and follow Jesus when He called to them.  Talk about an incredible trust and faith in the unknown.  I don’t know that I would drop everything to that degree.  I believe that is what the Holy Spirit was trying to show me.  I need to be more willing to by faith alone trust what He is calling me to.  Next, I read Matthew 4:23-25 Jesus ministers to crowds of people.  As Jesus was teaching in Galilee, the people listened and really heard what He was sharing with them and were amazed at how He was curing such a wide variety of afflictions.  They couldn’t contain themselves, they had to share what they heard, saw and experienced, which drew even more people to Him.  Part of sharing the goodness of God can sometimes only breakthrough in our sheer excitement and joy about Him.  You can talk and talk all day long about Him, but if people don’t see or experience your excitement and joy about Him freely flowing from you, they may never truly experience or understand what all the hype is about.  Finally, I read Matthew 5:1-12 The Beatitudes.  Talk about a recipe for success and a goal to strive for.  No, it’s not your normal go get ‘em kind of goal, but it’s something that can be worked at daily.  And, there are multiple characteristics to work on, so I guess if you get a little bored with one, you can start working on another. 

So, God handed me a plan for 2021. 

I’m calling out to you.  Will you trust and join me?

Get excited and share what you have learned and Who you have come to know with all the nations.

Don’t forget to work on you.  If your core is rotten, the rest of your fruit will also be spoiled.  Work from the inside out and radiate a full, complete character that others will immediately recognize as Christ in you.

Bless others and be blessed.

#Heartland

#Cain – Rise Up (Lazarus)

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Happy New Year’s eve eve.  2021 is knocking at your door.  Will you answer?  Are you going to bust through the door into 2021?  Will you saunter over to the door?  Some have become very comfortable in their homes during 2020 and may not be too eager to open that door.  Pondering 2020 makes me think of dirt on a car.  I bet you weren’t expecting that.  The last vehicle I had was white and the dirt showed up dark against the white.  My current vehicle is a very dark blue and the dirt shows up light against the blue.  So, what is it?  Is the dirt dark or light?  2020 no matter how you look at it has been a year of change and change always brings with it a mix of dark and light, reluctance and empowerment, steadfast and progress.  I was speaking with a friend yesterday and she shared with me her Christmas family experience of Zoom Family Feud.  It sounded like fun and possibly a new family tradition.  Heck, think about how much money businesses are saving with their employees working from home.  Without such a forced experience, many businesses wouldn’t have even considered having all or the majority of their workforce based out of their homes.  Just like the robbery we experienced, sometimes God is going to allow events to flow to give us that kick in the pants we need to move us forward.  I’m really in awe of how God has showed up and shined through in 2020.  I encourage you to deflect your thoughts from the dirt of 2020 and experience the incredible blessings the Lord has given us.  This thought just came to mind.  I remember at the end of 2019 how people were saying we needed to get that “20/20 vision”.  They may or may not have known the depth of truth they were speaking.  We certainly got an eye full, haven’t we?  So, the question is, will you let 2020 vision blind you or will you see the blessings a little more clearly?  Bless others and be blessed.

#JordinSparks – This is My Now

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Woot Woot!  It’s my last workday before Christmas break.  I’m looking forward to four days away from the office, but more importantly I’m excited for Christmas.  No, not because of the gift exchanges or holiday food or time with family.  Yes, these are all fun and enjoyable things and time well spent, but what I’m most excited for is the impossible.  Back in 2012 when we moved to Michigan, Brian and I said we should write down all the God moments, everything He did and orchestrated to carry us through those two years.  There were so many moments that we recognized as God moments and I’m sure countless moments that we didn’t quite recognize as God moments, but none the less were.  We never took the time to write them all down and although the major moments are still fresh in our minds, most of those God moments are faint memories and some have been long forgotten.

It’s just crazy to think of everything that God pieced together, working around all of our human selfishness, errors, misdeeds, etc. to bring His Son into our lives.  Not for His sake, but for ours.  I mean, we’re talking thousands of years here.  Quite a few of us have a hard time committing to something that will last one month, let alone one year, but none the less, He’s patient and willing to work with our commitment issues.  We’ll crack the door open a little to let Him peek His head in and get a look, but then we’re quick to slam the door shut before He gets too good a look at who we feel we really are.  The thing is, He sees way beyond who we think we are, to the person He knows that we are.  Sometimes that can be a very convicting feeling, but also one of freedom to pull the mask off and freely be His child. 

Last Saturday at Mass and elderly parishioner had some type of health issue and medics were called.  Until we heard the walkie talkies, a good majority of us didn’t even know there was a situation going on.  Praying the Mass continued on, seemingly as if nothing was happening.  A part of me was sad about this.  I thought, we have been given a beautiful opportunity to come together as a community of believers in Christ, extend our hands over her and pray for her comfort, Christ’s peace, for those that were seeing to her needs, for the family member that was with her and for healing, but it didn’t happen.  Although I prayed silently for these things (as I’m sure others did), I didn’t have enough courage to pray them out loud.  Looking back, if it was me needing the medical assistance, I would want to hear those around me asking God to be with me and help me through this trial.  I know, prayers don’t need to be audible for God to hear them, but sometimes we need to hear them.  Monday evening I sent a prayer text message to a friend as she was trying to work through a task.  I asked the Lord to place His words in her, so that she could put them on paper.  That He enlighten her to all He has allowed her to do and experience, that has prepared her for this moment in time.  Just about two hours later she replied “I must have received your prayer without reading your message!”.  Her response made me smile as God reminded me that even if the person doesn’t hear the prayer, it’s not going to stop Him from doing His part.  Our Lord is a god of possibilities.  Although we hold ourselves down, He wants to lift us up to all we are capable of.  Don’t hold back.  Let Him walk with you and guide you on your amazing journey. 

Quick reminder, at 6:00 PM on Christmas Eve step out of your home and ring bells for two minutes to welcome Christ into your home and your life.  Even if you aren’t at your own home, be bold for Christ.  Bless others and be blessed.

#IAmThey – No Impossible with You

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  No.  NO!  Nooooo.  No?  Yes!  No, no, no. Yes.  How many No’s does it take to get to the center of a Yes?  This thought and these words have crept into my life multiple times this past week.  We definitely hear No more in our lives than we do Yes.  I mean, it only makes sense, right?  From the very beginning as a young child, we hear our parents telling us “No, don’t touch that.”  “No, don’t do that, you’ll get hurt.”  “No, you can’t have my drink.  I don’t want your floaties in my cup.”  And the list of No’s goes on.  As we grow up and even into adulthood, we still have that barrage of No’s coming at us before we finally receive that Yes.  Is it a 5 to 1 ratio, 10 to 1, or maybe even greater?  I believe that ratio depends on how well and quickly we prepare for that Yes.  We all have things that we want NOW!  But are we willing to say No to obtain Yes?  During 2020, I’m sure that we’ve all had to say No a whole lot more than we normally would in a year.  No dinner with friends.  No group outings.  No family gatherings.  No HUGS!  I know it’s not ideal, but we say No now so that we can live another day to safely say Yes.  Logically I’ve talked myself into being okay with all of this in 2020.  But last night I had a moment of sadness with all the No’s during a FaceTime call with our five year old grandson.  He’s a bit of a goofball, but twice during our conversation he got very serious and asked if we would come visit him.  He lives about 8 hours away, so we don’t get to see him much in a regular year, which I think is why it just seemed to sadden my heart a little bit more when I had to tell him that we couldn’t visit. 

Yes, this Christmas season there are going to be a lot of NO’s when it comes to gatherings with family, friends and coworkers which will allow for Yes in different areas.  My idea of Christmas music is singing at midnight Mass.  There is absolutely something about singing Christmas songs welcoming our Savior at Mass.  Outside of that environment, I typically don’t listen to Christmas music, but this year I have said Yes to Christmas music and added it to my morning routine.  Something else that I’ve said Yes to, to brighten Christmas…no it’s not Christmas lights.  I said Yes to something I saw in our neighborhood app and you may have seen it in other social media sites.  I said Yes to ringing Christmas bells in my front yard for 2 minutes at 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve.  I shared this thought with some neighbors and they too said Yes!  Actually, they were all pretty excited about the idea.  At 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve, I invite you to also say Yes to welcoming our Lord into our broken world by stepping out of your home and maybe a bit out of your comfort zone to ring Christmas bells to welcome our Lord and Savior.  The sound of those bells will mean different things to those that hear them and may not be expecting them.  Like Christ Himself, the sounds of the bells will bring feelings of joy, happiness, peace, surprise, love, and for some it may free them from their loneliness for a brief moment.  Will you say Yes and join in this celebration of carrying Christ outside of our homes and ringing Christmas bells to fill the air with the sounds of a grand welcome for our King?  Please share this idea with your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, the person cashing you out at the grocery store.  Actually, share it with every person you talk to between now and 6:00 p.m. Christmas Eve.  Let’s light up this silent night with a joyous sound that has never before been heard or experienced.  Bless others and be blessed.

#MatthewWest – The Hope of Christmas

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  There’s nothing like having a solid purpose to motivate you off the couch.  Especially this time of year, as the days are getting shorter and colder, it’s easy to get comfortable, hunker down and go into hibernation mode.  In speaking about our recent garage break in, my daughter Diana sent me a card in which she wrote, ‘I hope that despite all you’re feeling right now, you think of this as God saying “This was me showing you it’s time to move on.”  It’s not what happened to you, but what happened for you.’  I kind of feel like God is telling me, “I guess if you aren’t going to listen to me, I’m going to have to talk a little louder.”  Well, He got my attention and within two weeks of the break in, He has shown us very clearly what He had been trying to bless us with, but we kept ignoring Him.  Have you done that, ignored God, when He was trying to bless you?

So many times in our lives when “life” happens to us we ask “Why?”.  I think maybe we’re asking the wrong question.  Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In the Gospel reading, Luke 1: 26-38, we hear the incredible message that the angel Gabriel delivers to Mary.  “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God.  You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”  Being that we know the end of the story, that’s a heavy burden to accept, but I really don’t think Mary fully knew what she was accepting.  What caught my attention when hearing the Gospel this time was Mary’s response to Gabriel, “How can this be…”.  Think about that.  She was asked to take on a huge responsibility/role in the journey to salvation.  That road was paved with joy, worry, pain, and loss, but did she ask “Why me Lord?”.  Nope, she asked “How”.  How will we do this together?  That’s the question we should be asking, then follow this simple two step plan.

1. Listen
2. Act

Bless others and be blessed.   

#MattyMullins – Unstoppable featuring Jordan Feliz

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Happy Time of Preparation…What?  Yeah, that doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as Happy Advent.  Okay, well then let’s try Happy New Year!  Yes, the beginning of Advent is also the beginning of the new Liturgical year.  Get excited!  Celebrate!  You are at the beginning of a year filled with greatness…but will you be ready?  Will you take the time now to prepare?  Will you go through the challenges now and build those spiritual muscles?  God has some incredibly Awesome gifts picked out just for you!  Will you prepare to meet Him to accept your incredibly Awesome gifts?  My dad pointed out something to Brian and I this past weekend.  He essentially brought to light how outside influences and situations “seemingly out of our control” tend to, I don’t won’t to say force us, but give us a hard push into a different life direction, which has patched this broken road journey of ours together.  It’s kind of like “expect the unexpected”, but if you knew what to expect, it wouldn’t be unexpected and you could properly prepare for the “unexpected”.  What God is inviting us to do is not to expect the unexpected.  In my mind, that has a very negative feel about it.  What God is really inviting us to do is prepare our hearts and minds in a posture of peace and openness.  God is inviting us to be wise with our finances and giving in a spirit of gratitude.  God is inviting us to walk with Him in faith, because it is by faith that we can clearly see Him in the midst of the fog and clouds that try to settle down upon our lives.  In the heat of our daily lives it’s not easy to see how that day’s path will guide you to the next.  When I was an aircraft mechanic in the Air Force, my crew chief would often say to me, “Step back and get the full effect.”  That’s a lot easier when you’re looking back at how God managed to weave those crazy, often unbelievable, choices we make into something so beautiful.  Sometimes wouldn’t you like to get even a small glimpse of what He is inviting you to next?  You know you can.  Really???  Yes, you can.  How are you at putting puzzles together?  I very much like jigsaw puzzles.  They just make sense to me.  You can step back, look at the box and get the full effect of what you have before you.  Don’t worry about putting the pieces together right away.  To get started, flip all the pieces over so that you see the color and beauty of each piece.  Get familiar with what you’re working with and also separate all the edge pieces.  Depending on your puzzle, you can also separate like colors into piles.  This time of preparation may seem like a waste of time and unproductive, but it’s really much more important than putting those final few pieces together.  This preparation time allows you to focus and center yourself on the journey ahead.  If you know what you’re working with, you will more quickly recognize when that particular piece will bridge the gap and connect those different seasons in life.  Sometimes it may seem like you’ve been searching for years to find the right piece and others you’ll put five of them together in a matter of seconds.  But it all comes down to the preparation.  Also, you may want to be on the look out for lost pieces.  You could simply walk by your puzzle and your clothing knock a piece to the floor without you realizing it.  Or, you may have some furry distractions in your home that seem to think those pieces are their play toys.  Yes, we all have people in our lives that, whether on purpose or not, steal our peace.  It’s very important that you don’t let your peace leave you for long.  Find your peace as quickly as possible so that you can continue to build onto your puzzle.  Consider your options on how you will prepare and approach this new season as you walk this journey with your Friend and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He is preparing to meet you.  Bless others and be bless.     

#JoshTurner – Me and God