😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace and presence be with you.  I’m currently reading Matthew Kelly’s book “life is messy”, which I would recommend everyone checkout.  Today I would like to share with you a section he titled “Slow down”.

‘This was the next thing I wrote in my journal, “You are way over the speed limit of life, “You need to slow down.” 

 Life isn’t a race.  This is one of those quintessential lessons that we all hear at different times in our lives.  We say to ourselves, “Got it.”  But we don’t.  Enjoy the journey.  Another one of those lessons.  We tell ourselves, “Got it.”  But we don’t.  We continue to rush around like maniacs.

But here’s the real problem with racing though life.  If you think of life as a race, every step sidewards and backwards, every pause, will seem like it doesn’t belong, like a waste of time.

Every step is part of life, and there is life in very step.  Life isn’t a race, it’s a dance.  Every step forward and every step back, stepping sideward and twirling in circles, are all part of the dance we call life.

Great dancers are never in a hurry.  They relax into the rhythm, become one with their partners, and experience the exhilaration of the dance.  When was the last time your life felt like that?

Simply slowing down improves almost everything in our lives.’

Can I get an Amen!?  As much as I think we would all like to be steadily moving forward, for our own good, sometimes we need some pauses, side and back steps.  You need to be able to take in the moments, instead of passing them by like trees on a highway…tree…tree…tree…tree…tree…tree…tree.  It will make you dizzy. 

Within a dance, when steps are taken with intention and purpose, they enhance the dance.  The same is true with your life steps.  When you make them with intention and purpose, they enhance your life, bringing a certain flow and grace with them. 

Okay, so how many of you have some type of step tracker you use, whether on your watch, phone, etc.?  If you take a step forward, that counts as 1 step.  If you take a step sideways, that counts as 1 step.  Even if you take a step backwards, it still counts as 1 step.  All of your steps count and they all matter.  Make them with intention and purpose.

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

If you would like to checkout Matthew Kelly’s book, go to www.lifeismessybook.org.

#MatthewKelly – life is messy

#JohnMichaelMontgomery – Life’s a Dance

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  How fresh is your water? Ezekiel 47:1-12 speaks to us about water that entered one side of the temple and exiting on the other side of the temple, under the threshold.  From that point, a man measured off 1,000 cubits, to which they found themselves ankle-deep in the water.  He measured another 1,000 cubits and they found themselves knee-deep in the water.  Again, he measured off another 1,000 cubits, to which they were now waist-deep.  One final time he measured 1,000 cubits.  At this point the water was now a river that could not be crossed.  It was fresh water that fed and abundantly nourished all the life it passed through, both plant and animal.  The river, upon entering the sea, made the salty sea water fresh.

You are a temple in which God dwells.  As God dwells within you, you have two choices. 

1) Keep Him safe and secure within you. 

2) Allow He who has flowed into you, to flow through and out of you. 

Once we realize God is within us and how incredible that experience is, we never want to be without Him, which can cause us to hold on too tightly to Him.  You may be thinking…”Is that a bad thing?”  Actually, yes. Water is meant to flow.  Christ is our living water.  If you allow His living water to become stagnant within you, you’ll start to see a layer of scum appear and emit an odor.  On the other hand, one benefit of flowing water is that it’s a cleansing agent.  God’s intention in entering and consuming you is to fill you to overflow and flow forth into ALL those whom enter your life.  Not just some…ALL.  As His fresh living water flows through your living temple, you are nourished and used as a vessel to nourish others.  It may start as a drip, that turns into a trickle.  The trickle turns into a stream, that will continue to flow and become a river.  For every life you flow and pour into, in turn will flow and pour into others.  For one person, you may be the starting point for the drip in their life.  For others, you may find that His living water you bring adds to their trickle, stream, or river.

Our God is not meant to be bottled up.  Allow His living presence to flow in every nook and cranny of your life, washing you clean and draining away all the muck.  Don’t be afraid to share His living water.  As you pour into others, each one has a choice to make.  They can either wipe it off or allow it to penetrate into the depths of their being.  But we must allow them to make the choice.  Don’t make the choice for them by not sharing His living water with them.

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#MicahTyler – Amen

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  There is just something special to me about the Feast of All Saints.  It’s not something that I really proactively think about, but for some reason it puts joy in my heart.  Actually, I came to this realization on Monday evening during Mass, as I caught myself smiling and feeling happy about being there in that moment.  There are so many saints.  “A great cloud of witnesses” as they are called in Hebrews 12:1, who are purposefully placed all over this world.  Canada, China, Ecuador, France, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Philippines, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the list goes on.

So, what’s the difference between God’s chosen and the saints?  Every single person, born and unborn, has been chosen by God to be His own.  Every visible and invisible feature, made in His likeness, including free will.  By giving us the gift of free will, He is allowing us the great pleasure of making the decision to choose Him.  He never wants to force us, but offer us that option of being in relationship with Him.  Which leads us to the saints. 

Who are they and how did they become the saints?  First, let’s take a moment to recognize the fact that the vast majority of saints don’t have the official title of Saint.  More times than not, they are called Mom, Dad, sister, brother, friend…you get the picture.  Saints are God’s chosen (which we recognized earlier is every single one of us), who have chosen God in return and acted upon His invitation to be His representative in this life.  As Msgr. James Vlaun, President/CEO of Catholic Faith Network asked in his homily on Monday, “What do the saints look like?  They look like us.”  To paraphrase, he also said that Holy people allow the radiance and being a child of God, to shine through them. 

Take a few moments today, as they come to your mind, to think about the saints in your life.  Those that have gone before you and those that are still present and you continue to experience.  With the saints, it’s not just about knowing them.  It’s about experiencing them and the radiance they shine forth, as an extension of our Lord and Savior.  Drink them in so that you can then pour forth and fill another’s cup.   

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#Msgr.JamesVlaun – President/CEO, Catholic Faith Network

#AudioAdrenaline – Sound of the Saints

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  This week I had two big events in my life.  I started my new job on my birthday and it very much felt like doors were opening before me.  Seemingly like the weather flipping overnight from the warmth of summer to the grey and chill of fall, my life flipped from stress filled days and nights to my mind has been freed up and feeling like there is so much more I can do now.  I feel like there is so much more out there for me to do and now I can actually focus on it.  Have you had a life moment like that, where God opened the path and He stood there reaching out His hand to you, saying “Come join Me.”?  So many times, He calls to us, and like me, you don’t always hear Him through the noise and distractions that consume your mind.  Today’s song, “The Summons” is one we sang in church Sunday, but is also one of my absolute favorite songs and one that I want played at my memorial Mass. 

Seriously, I just listened to this song five times.  It’s so peaceful and calming to my spirit.  I want to let His summons speak for itself.  Listen to this song a time or two…or five.  Close your eyes and feel Him speaking with you.  Allow your mind and body to move and grow where He is summoning you. 

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#JohnLBell&GrahamMaule – The Summons

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  There’s a sign in the yard of a property that we drive by on our way to the park to walk.  The sign simply states…”What if?”  The sign is definitely working because it certainly makes me think and it brought me to this point of sharing it with you.  What if what?  That sign is meant for every one of us.  Those two simple words, six letters, will mean something different to each of us that read this. 

What if I didn’t go to work the day after my divorce hearing?  I wouldn’t have met my husband of 20 years. 

What if I wasn’t in such a hurry to get home with a new board game that Christmas Eve?  I wouldn’t have gotten a speeding ticket.

What if I wasn’t erroneously hired for a job?  I would not have been offered an even better job to try to correct the error.

What if I didn’t allow God to be a part of my life?  When I put distance between us, I was more anxious, fearful, insecure, angry…

What if I decided I didn’t want to take the time to write to you today?  (Actually, the thought crossed my mind.)  Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that, but maybe you wouldn’t have taken the time to talk with God today about your What Ifs. 

What if the only reason for me writing today is so that you take a moment and acknowledge God in your life.  If that’s the only reason, then I’m pleased to have been His instrument.

As the song goes:

“No regrets in the end.

I wanna know I got no what ifs”

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#MatthewWest – What If

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Tuesday evening I sat down, opened my computer to write today’s message, and started to search for the music video I wanted to share, when I heard a distress call from the kitchen.  I quickly went downstairs to find Brian holding his hand wrapped in bloody paper towels and blood all over the sink.  Brian broke a glass coffee pot while doing the dishes and accidentally cut himself.  So off to the emergency room we went.  Thank God it turned out to be more blood than cut. 

I had planned on sharing with you how this past week I had really come to recognize how many different hands are actually involved in our home planning/building project. We haven’t even broken ground yet and we’re working with the general contractor to coordinate the timing of the material purchases, all the subcontractors, building design company, interior architect, county zoning, county engineer, and so on. I’ve really gained a new appreciation for the multitude of decisions, coordination, and people that have to come together for a common goal.

I saw this same type of teamwork in action at the ER. There were at least seven medical staff members that I saw helping us and I know there were others I didn’t see. It truly is amazing the network of people God has put into motion to help and serve one another. He has been doing this from the creation of man. God recognize man wasn’t meant to be alone, so He created all the living creators and let man name each one. He then created woman, who was a much more suitable partner for man. Throughout history, God has given us prominent members of His Family to speak His wisdom to us. And He has also given us every day Family members to impart His wisdom. Have you ever suggested something to your spouse, only to have your suggestion ignored? But then one of your spouse’s friends makes the same suggestion and all of the sudden it’s a brilliant idea. I used to take it personally when that would happen to me, thinking he did want to do it just because I suggested it. It took years to realize it’s really not about me. Sometimes we just need to hear the same thought multiple times from different people, before it really sinks in. That same thought process plays a big role in developing our faith life and relationship with the Lord. He has placed a multitude of priests, prophets, and angels in your life to bringing you the message of His love, grace, and salvation. He will continue to bring many hands and voices into your life to show you at every turn, how much He cares for you. He loves you beyond words and doesn’t want you to go a minute in your life not knowing His love. He didn’t just willy nilly create you. He put great thought into every aspect of you and your life and how your life will cross paths with every single person you interact with from the moment of your conception to your death and eternal life with Him. You are important and have a place in His heavenly choir. May you be the song that lifts a life today.

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#CelticThunder – A Place in the Choir

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. I would like to share a blessing and a praise with you today. A few weeks ago, I interviewed for a position and this past week I was offered the job. Starting 10/24/2021, I will be changing jobs from a HR Staffing Specialist to a HR Compensation Specialist. Moving from a Staffing Specialist to a Compensation Specialist is something I’ve been working toward for a couple years. I know change is good and I also know it will bring challenges and learning opportunities that will allow me to grow even more. No, the grass isn’t ALWAYS greener on the other side. I know with every job there will also be droughts and dry brown patches along this journey. I consider this opportunity an incredible blessing.

So where does the praise come in?  For the last six months or more (I’ve lost count), I’ve been working a lot of overtime trying to keep my eyebrows above water.  Staff that left over a year ago still haven’t been replaced.  In addition to not replacing the staff that left, additional workloads were assigned to our team.  Work is work and someone has to make sure it gets taken care of.  I completely understand that.  Where I believe it affected me most is in the fact that once I came home from work, I just wanted to shut my brain off and do nothing.  I’ve been physically and mentally tired.  Okay, you might be saying…”I’m not seeing a praise in this.”  Well, this past week, I started hearing God again while I was sleeping!  God and I used to communicate almost every night in my sleep.  Multiple times this past week God and I have once again had our midsleep talks.  The first night it happened, it made me a little sad thinking I hadn’t even realized I was missing them.  My mind was so consumed with what my next 20 work tasks were, that I totally quit responding to the conversations God was trying to have with me.  He never left me.  It was me that left our conversation.  I’m so thankful and praise God that my mind has once again been opened to hearing and talking with Him.  Not to sound like an infomercial, but wait…there’s more.  It goes beyond the conversations.  Typically, my conversations with God involved some degree of follow up action.  The majority of which is immediately praying for someone He tells me about or some degree of actual interaction with someone.  I’ve been losing a little sleep because of these conversations and follow up actions, but I have to say…It feels good to be back in this kind of relationship with God.  Sometimes we just don’t realize how special a relationship is until it’s gone.

Take some time to reflect on where you’ve knowingly or unknowingly allowed your relationship with the Lord to slip.  Contemplate on what you’ve been truly missing.  Not just the surface level stuff, dive a little deeper. 

Now…………How will you bring it back?

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#BethelMusic – Raise A Hallelujah

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Today I want to share with you something I read at about 12 or so years ago.  I can’t remember the last time I looked at it, but it is something that has stuck with me through the years and is brought back to mind from time to time.  I don’t know who the author is, so I’m sorry I can’t give credit where credit is due.

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, — THAT’S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job.

So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.

They faxed.

They e-mailed.

They e-mailed with attachments.

They downloaded.

They did spreadsheets.

They wrote reports.

They created labels and cards.

They created charts and graphs.

They did some genealogy reports.

They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.

Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.

Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld.

Jesus just sighed.

Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:

— It’s gone! It’s all GONE! I lost everything when the power went out!

Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work.

Satan observed this and became irate.

— Wait! — he screamed. — That’s not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don’t have any?

God just shrugged and said:

— Jesus saves

It’s that simple.  Jesus saves.  Not just a portion of His work.  All of His work, which includes you and me.  We are saved because He consciously made a choice.  Now the choice is yours.  Are you willing to make the conscience decision to hit the Save button on your life?  The ironic thing about me sharing this with you today is that I know I saved this many years ago when I first read it.  I told myself, “This is a keeper.  I’ll share this at some point.”  Well, once you Save, you have to remember where you saved it. Heck, that was three computers and who knows how many thumb drives ago.  It could be saved on any of those devices.  But if you save your life with Jesus Christ, what you have saved will never be lost. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  The Alpha and Omega.  Praise God for that.  Amen!

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#7eventhTimeDown – The 99

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I spent this past weekend at a cabin with a group of ladies.  It was a time to relax, breath a little, catch up with ladies I haven’t seen in a year, meet new friends, share life, and walk away from our daily stress and chores.  Arriving late Friday evening, one lady shared that someone had hit her car earlier that day and she was really debating on whether or not she actually wanted to camp or not.  Before she headed back home Sunday, she shared with me how much she enjoyed the weekend and that she was glad she came.  I’m sure there were moments during that weekend that she worried about her car, but I also believe she was able to put it on the backburner and enjoy more of the weekend, than if she was at home stressing about it.  Some ladies were given the opportunity to lead a devotional for us and share a bit of their life journey.  One of the ladies shared with me that after she shared her devotional, it seemed like people were willing to come talk with her.  It was like opening a door.  An open invitation to speak with her.  I experienced many ladies willing to help without being asked.  I also experienced a tremendous willingness to share and offer what they had to others.  We certainly do not have a lack of food on these weekends.  The one thing that really caught my attention multiple times this weekend was sitting quietly by myself, watching the ladies interacting, and the pure, genuine laughter that was coming from them.  The sounds of their laughter made me realize that was something that has been missing from my daily life.  It was good to hear the sound of laughter coming from all around and filling my heart with joy.  Sitting out by the campfire I thought, “I bet God experiences this also.”  I imagine our sounds of genuine laughter bring joy to our Father.  He knows how cleansing laughter can be and from time to time He’s probably laughing right along with us.  I encourage you to make some time to just walk away from life’s chores, worries, and stress for a day or two and recharge your spirit.  Laugh a little and put your phone down so you can actually experience each other and the nature around you.  After you do, share with me a bit about your experience.  Today’s song is a good representation of how I felt leaving camp Sunday morning.

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 you and He may also bless others.  Click subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#ApolloLTD – Sunday Morning Feeling

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Driving to 8:30 AM Mass Sunday morning, there was a very noticeable quietness about the morning, very peaceful.  A few blocks further along the drive, I notice a yard sign referencing hate has no home here.  Considering the quiet, peaceful morning and the sign’s message, my mind took off in its own direction.  It struck me that while we sleep, we don’t hate.  It’s only when we are awake, that hate enters back into the world.  I then hear in the Gospel reading, Mark 8:27-35, Jesus asking the disciples who they think He is.  Peter nailed it when he said “You are the Christ.”  Jesus then tried to share with them some hard truths about events that would be happening in the not-too-distant future, concerning His death and resurrection.  Peter did not want to hear that kind of talk, so he rebuked Jesus.  I’m guessing it was a bit of confusion, disbelief, misunderstanding, and fear that caused Peter to lash out at Christ.  Christ in turn rebuked Peter saying “Get behind me, Satan.  You are thinking not as God does, but as human  beings do.”  I then thought back to the quiet, peaceful morning, the hate sign, and brought it together with the Gospel.  Confusion, disbelief, misunderstanding, and fear mixed with thinking like a human, is a perfect recipe for hate. 

To conclude Sunday’s Gospel reading, “He summoned the crowd with His disciples and said to them, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.”  The best thing we can do to help ourselves and eliminate any degree of hate in our lives is to do our best to quit relying on ourselves, our thoughts, and our ideas, to open ourselves to God’s thoughts and ideas.  The next time you’re out in the world, while most of the world is still asleep, make sure to take note of how quiet and peaceful the world actually is.  A line from a hymn we sang at Mass was “Only this I want: but to know the Lord…”  Could you imagine the peace you would have in your life, in your spirit, if that was the desire of your heart, to only know the Lord. 

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 subscript to receive your message every Wednesday.

#ChrisBrunelle – Only This I Want by Dan Schutte