😎🐫🎤 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

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Are you thankful?  Can you still praise God in this time of solitude?  Will you celebrate even if you don’t gather with friends and family this Thanksgiving?  We are a blended family and for our Thanksgiving gathering this year, for the first time ever we were going to have my parents and all five of our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren all together at one time.  Being that they would be coming from three different states, this was going to be the first time for some of the grandchildren to meet.  Needless to say, I was rather bummed last Thursday when we cancelled our gathering. 

Yesterday afternoon I received a call from my husband informing me that our garage had been broken into and thousands of dollars worth of tools and equipment gone that quick.  Yes, we have an emergency fund and insurance, but who wants to deal with the hassle of it all and you never remember all of the tools you had until you go to use something one day and realize you didn’t account for it in the claim.  Yes, this is not the first time my home/garage has been broken into. 

Distractions like these can very quickly turn our focus to a negative, “Why is the world hating on me.” attitude.  This type of attitude can lead us down paths that draw us away from who and who’s we truly are.  And this attitude shift may find you trying to be someone you aren’t.  To paraphrase one of the devotionals I read this past week…You will never succeed at being who you truly are, if you’re trying to be someone else.  You/I can’t allow these lame attacks from Satan’s band of demons take hold and control us.  You/I need to rise up and flick that little demon off our shoulder.  These annoying, frustrating shots that Satan hits us with may dent our armor a bit, but if we don’t put on our armor and let his shots pierce into our souls and get the better of us, that’s when he wins.   

Thinking on these events, I’m reminded that not having our family gathering and having these things taken away from us (that took years to accumulate) is such a small sacrifice compared to the sacrifice Jesus made for me and you.  Count your blessings and be thankful for ALL that you have.  Focus and act as who you are, not as Satan wants you to be.  When all is said and done the Lord is our creator.  Just like those thieves stealing our tools, Satan is trying to steal us away from God.  Put on your full armor and stand firm in the Lord.  Bless others and be blessed.

#ChrisTomlin – Who You Are to Me featuring Lady A

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  You’ve been there.  You know you have.  You’ve buried your talents, hidden them away.  Maybe it was because you didn’t quite know what to do with them.  Maybe you didn’t really understand them.  Maybe you were just lazy and didn’t want to have to work at them.  Maybe the thought of your talents scares you.  Yes, at some point probably everyone of us were like the servant in Matthew 25: 14-30 who buried the talent his master gave him, in order to give him back exactly what he was entrusted with.  God used this Gospel reading Sunday to bring home the fact that I’ve been putting Him off.  For the past few months He’s been planting seeds to get me to move, develop, use, and multiply the talents He’s given me.  But I keep telling myself, “Life is good.  I’m at a point that I can do what I want, when I want and not have to worry about any “real” commitments other than work.”  Maybe you haven’t experienced this, but I’ve been a bit selfish with my time lately.  I want that freedom and lack of commitment so that people don’t have to rely on me.  Can you relate?  But you know God.  He knows we can be selfish with our time and talents so He keeps talking with us and patiently waits for us to move where our talents are needed.  Not for our sake, but for the good of others, He patiently waits for us to move.  This makes me think of a tree that a couple friends and I saw Sunday afternoon while hiking through John Bryan State Park.  It was an older tree, straight and tall.  I know that doesn’t seem too unusual, but as we looked more closely, we saw that the trunk was completely twisted.  I can’t help but think how much taller that tree could have been.  How much higher it’s branches could have reached, if the trunk wouldn’t have been all twisted.  But yet, the branches didn’t seem twisted, only the trunk.  We can get lost, wrapped up and twisted in our own world and as God invites us to grow, He’ll send out that straight branch from our core reaching out, moving in the direction of the Son.  He will guide us in directions we hadn’t planned.  He will grow us to reach potential beyond our estimations and expectations.  But He is never growing you, just for you.  He knows there is so much more to you, so much that we have to offer and share with others.  Lord, I pray that we/I follow your lead.  We/I look beyond our/my own wants and needs to see and move toward the lives You are preparing us/me for.  No fear.  No Doubt.  Be my fortress and may Love lead the way.  Bless others and be blessed.

#TaurenWells – Famous For (featuring Jenn Johnson)

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  In America today we celebrate Veterans Day.  We honor all our military veterans and active military members who are still serving our nation today.  One day a year, attention is directed to those that have voluntarily and involuntarily stepped to the frontlines for you.  Yes you.  They may have never known your name, but still they have put their life on the line, ready to go at a moment’s notice to protect you and the freedoms we soooooo often take for granted. 

In John 15:12-13 Jesus first tells us “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend.”  Jesus then followed up His words with action by literally being beat, whipped, spat upon, pierced, hung on a cross, died and stabbed with a sword.  Jesus also tells us in John 6:37-38 “Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and anyone who comes to Me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do My will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”  And in Luke 22:42 we hear Jesus praying and asking His Father, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not My will but Yours be done.”

It all comes down to and starts with love.  We are created by and made for love.  Unconditional love.  Jesus didn’t want to go through all the pain and torture of our sins.  He even asked His Father if He could skip the whole death on a cross thing.  Seriously, who would want to do that.  But He loves YOU too much to want to see you being tortured and hanging on a cross. 

Without you realizing it, there are people in your life (some that you don’t even know) that step to the front lines everyday sacrificing their time, money, prayers for you, without the intention of recognition.  They do it for love of you and love of the Lord.  God will never leave you.  He stands always at your side, loving you, guiding and protecting you.

Take a moment, especially today to thank God for being such a loving Friend who never leaves you and is so willing to fight for you.  Also call, text, or write a letter to those in your life that you are particularly thankful for that willingly stand up and sacrifice their lives for you.  Bless others and be blessed.

#MatthewWest – The God Who Stays

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. Typically I save money that I receive for my birthday for something big, that hasn’t quite presented itself yet, but this year I used some of my birthday money and bought myself something that I’m pretty excited about. Yes, it’s something I already have and actually have multiples of in different versions. I do have a favorite version, but lately I’ve been missing something. Actually, what I bought is just a part of the whole. Lately I’ve been in a solemn mood. Maybe it’s the shorter days, our kitchen remodel coming to an end, turning another year older, or maybe planning to have all our kids and their families together for the first time ever this Thanksgiving, but seeing those plans drift apart. It all just feels like a very strange season of changes that is drawing me to find deeper meaning. Have you figured out what I bought? It’s the Word on Fire Bible Volume 1, which is the New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition of the four Gospels. But it’s not just the Gospels. It’s commentary from early Christian theologians and more recent saints. It’s digging into some of the original Greek New Testament text and incredible artwork from throughout the centuries. It’s thicker pages and single column text. All these features are great and for me a new book gives me a feeling of great possibilities, but in the end it’s just a book, words on a page until you bring it to life. The life you bring is your heart, attitude, willingness, time, desire, curiosity, open mindedness and faith in what the Lord is handing over to you to bring forth to new life. So yes, I’m pretty excited about this journey I’m beginning and what He is taking this season to prepare me for. I pray that I stay committed and focused in order find and soak up the wisdom and compassion He’s leading me to, in order to assist others with their journeys back to Him, which is also my prayer for you. Bless others and be blessed.

#WordOnFireBible

#TheBelongingCo – Just Want You

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  I want to share with you a picture that my Mom took on 10/13/2020.  There is such great depth and coloring in this picture.  For all of you jigsaw puzzle fans, wouldn’t you agree this would make a great puzzle?????

You may want to enlarge this picture to draw the full beauty, detail, and hidden treasure within this picture.  Let me share with you what this picture is showing me. 

This is a life.  Your life, as well as mine.  There are some dark veins running through at different times.  Some thicker, more dominant and others barely noticeable and well hidden by the leaves.  Your eyes are more times than not, first drawn to the dark spots.  It’s so easy to find and focus on the dark negatives in our lives, but once you divert your negative focus, you’ll see that there is more color in our lives than there is darkness.  The beauty of the colors run a spectrum from clean and crisp to a blended medley.  The bright, cloudless sky is the limit, so dream big and believe that you can reach it.  The Son is at the heart of it all, penetrating in and through the leaves and a Mother’s spirit is always close by.  There are too many moments (leaves) in your life to be counted.  Some are hidden by others, while some blend together so well that they appear to be a single moment.  You will experience green growth at the same time you experience the reds, oranges, and yellows of transition and eventual sheading of that which must die in order for you to live.  But make sure you view your life right side up.  When you start looking at your life sideways or upside down, you may be looking at your same life, but it will have a very different look and feel about it.  It could even seem like you are no longer looking at your own life.  Have you ever had a moment like that?  If you’re like me, you may have had a moment in your life when you looked at yourself in a mirror and realized that you didn’t even recognize the person looking back at you.  Seriously, save the picture and rotate it around to see how different it looks with each turn.

Your life is a response to God’s love.  Choose your response wisely and share the beauty of your colors with those God places in your life.  Never stop letting Him amaze you.  Bless others and be blessed.

#Hollyn – In Awe