😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Holy Week. I don’t take it lightly when I say it’s my favorite week of the year.  I think Christ experienced every possible human emotion in the span of that week. Think about it. Palm Sunday starts with such a great high and it rolls from there…friendship, love, betrayal, denial, rejection, physical and emotional pain, the kindness of a stranger, the commitment and unconditional love of His mother, the repentance of a sinner, the faithfulness of the Father, the promise of salvation and eternal life. That’s a heck of a lot and extremely overwhelming for one week. And He CHOSE to accept it ALL, WILLINGLY because of the sinner I am and the simple yet incredibly powerful fact that there is no other place that He wants me to be, than in His loving embrace.  Sharing our faith in and friendship with the Lord is not a requirement.  But it is a gift, a choice, a willingness to return a very small offering back to our Friend for the awesome and unfathomable choice and offering He made for us.  Allow the emotions of Christ’s Holy Week to penetrate your very spirit, that you may be one with Christ. Bless others and be blessed. 

#ThirdDay – Offering

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. My oldest sister had a great idea last fall, to have a family vacation with our parents, us four siblings, and our spouses to celebrate Mom and Pop’s 75th birthdays. So this past week the 10 of us traveled from Colorado, Florida, and Ohio to Asheville, NC.  It’s been many years since we all spent time together.  We did some tourist items like exploring the Biltmore estate, shopping, a walking food tour of downtown Asheville, and visited other local restaurants…We like to eat. On Sunday night, as we were once again eating, my sister asked…What was your favorite part of the weekend?  For me it was going to the Basilica of Saint Lawrence and celebrating Mass together as a family. It brought me back to a feeling of home, that I haven’t felt for far too long. At on point we sang a song that I had never heard before and I thought, “That’s a great prayer.”  So, I took a picture of it so I could remember.  As a surprise to our parents, my sister contacted the church back in December and asked if their priest would be willing to pray a blessing over our family, so after Mass we went to a smaller side chapel in the Basilica and received a family blessing. What a great moment that was. This week I would like to share the blessing of this song that we sang at Mass. Bless others and be blessed.

“O Dearest Lord, Your Sacred Head”

O dearest Lord your sacred head with thorns was pierced for me; O pour your blessing on my head, That yours my thoughts may be.

O dearest Lord your sacred hands with nails were pierced for me; O pour your blessing on my hands, That yours my works may be.

O dearest Lord your sacred feet with nails were pierced for me; O pour your blessing on my feet, That yours my path may be.

O dearest Lord your Sacred Heart with spear was pierced for me; O pour your blessing on my heart, That yours my life may be.

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  This morning I wanted to share with you something I read while sitting in a waiting room yesterday morning. 

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new end.”

Bless others and be blessed.  

#CastingCrowns – Nobody

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Reading through Genesis 9 I was given a slightly different perspective of the term “lifeblood”.  At this point the ark had come to a resting place, Noah and his family were exiting the ark, and God was offering Noah a covenant with Him. Which brings us to verses 3-6: “Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting for every animal. And for each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.”

The first thing that caught my attention was that God was just now giving us permission to eat anything that lives and moves. Originally, we were all vegetarians. Hmmm, maybe that’s why they lived so long.  God goes on to say that He will demand an account of our lifeblood and the lifeblood of those around us. I don’t think He’s talking just actual blood here. There is more than one way to kill someone without puncturing the skin or leaving a physical mark. Harsh words verbally attacking someone; giving someone the stink eye; ignoring or abandoning them; these are all ways in which we can kill someone’s spirit and drain their lifeblood out of them, to the point that only a shell of a person remains.  And God will demand an accounting. I know this is something we don’t want to reflect on in our own lives, but we need to. Yesterday, how many times did you act without thinking and fall into this type of sin?  How many times last week? Last month?  It starts to add up quickly. We need to be conscience of our thoughts to prevent them from becoming life taking words and actions and turn them into life giving embraces.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#TobyMac – Speak Life

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. A quick question to get things started and say your answer out loud. Are you a follower of Christ?

Brian and I shared some quality time with each other this past weekend driving 26 hours to FL and back, walking through parks, and feeling the thunder of NHRA drag races. Yesterday I was catching up on listen to a church service I typically listen to each week and they mentioned Romans 6:4-8 (NIV)

“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we will certainly also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. For we know that our old self was crucified with Him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.”

What really struck me listening to this passage is how many times Paul said “with Him”. That got me to thinking about the question I asked you earlier. It would have been a very different situation if we had driven two cars and I followed Brian to FL. I know, that would have been a very silly thing to do…right? We would have missed a lot of conversations, looks, singing together, holding hands, and even just sitting quietly enjoying each other’s presence. Following Brian would have put distance between us and allowed for missed opportunities to experience each other and grow our relationship. So, are you a follower of Christ with that margin of distance between you; reading His words that were written many years ago, but never hearing His voice; seeing or hearing about other people experiencing His presence or hearing Him speak and thinking they must be special to experience that? OR are you WITH Christ, feeling and experiencing His presence; talking with Him and hearing His words; allowing Him to use you to be His presence? Do you want to be a follower of Christ or with Christ? The choice is yours. He’s already putting forth the effort to pursue you, now it’s your turn to let Him know by your actions what He means to you. Bless others and be blessed.

#DannyGokey – If You Ain’t In It

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Saturday I had some events happen that I thought I would share with you…until Monday evening happened.  I would really rather be sharing something a little lighter, but I have to tell on myself a bit. I guess if we don’t learn from and share our mistakes, then they were made in vain.  So here goes. 

Sometimes we can be so focused on what we want, that we are blind by choice, to what God truly desires for us and knows is best for us.  Monday night I was whining about a situation with a friend and then about an hour and a half later I found myself whining to a different friend about the same situation. That’s when it happened. Right in the middle of our conversation, God said in a stern but hurt voice “Why are you complaining about a gift I gave you?”  I don’t know if it showed on my face or not, but it was a take a step back, pit in my stomach, hardcore reality check for me. There is a big difference between talking something through to receive wisdom and guidance, compared to whining and complaining.  I did apologize to Him for whining.  And you better believe if I head down that path again, I will remember the sound of His voice and put a stop to my useless actions. I don’t ever want to hear His voice sound like that again.  If you by chance find yourself heading down that road, maybe you too can think about His words and avoid the situation I put myself into, so that you don’t have to make the same mistake. Bless others and be blessed. 

#SanctusReal – Changed

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  For the past month I’ve had this pain in my left shoulder. It wasn’t until last Saturday that I thought about it enough to try to figure out why I was having the pain. Then the answer came very clearly, in more ways than one. God told me, “Quit carrying around the weight of your situation.”  You see, I have a situation going on for which I created a binder with all my notes, emails, etc. in it.  I carry it with me each day in a bag that I put on my left shoulder.  Yeah, no real surprise I have that pain. But God didn’t stop there.  He went on to remind me how we are so good about carrying around the weight and the physical and emotional pain of our burdens, thinking that we can handle them on our own. There’s no doubt we can be proud like that, thinking we can handle it on our own.  But He told me and He’s telling you, “Lay it down.”  On Sunday, I took that binder out of my bag and a ton of change out of my purse. What a difference it’s made. I know laying down the physical stuff can be much easier than the emotional, but none the less, we must lay it all down or that pain will never leave. Don’t allow pain to consume your thoughts and cripple your actions. 

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent and Christ’s journey to the cross. He paid the price so that you and I can lay our burdens down.  So why are we still holding onto them?  Seriously, take them to His cross, lay them down, and walk away.  I pray that you really reach out to the Lord this Lent and take a few steps with Him along this road. Talk with Him and listen for His response, then go forth and share with others what He took the time to share with you. Oh and if you see someone with ashes on their forehead today, don’t tell them they have dirt on their face or try to wipe it off. Say a prayer and thank God that person is not afraid to express their faith and devotion to Him.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#Unspoken – Human Condition

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  Reading the second letter of John, his final words in verse 12 caused me both to ponder and smile. “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”  

How easy is it nowadays to “communicate” through text, tweets, chats, and posts?  It does make it easy, but the art, skills, and benefits of face to face visits and conversation are being forgotten and lost.  In John’s day it was no easy task to hike from town to city and city to country, but he was willing to put his words on hold and wait until he could have a face to face conversation “so that our joy may be complete.”  Sharing news, the Good News, with someone face to face is by far more exciting and inspiring than through written word. And don’t forget the actual exchange of expression; the sound of laughter; seeing a person so moved by what they are sharing/hearing that they get choked up; a handshake; a hug; watching tears fill your friend’s eyes and being there to hold and comfort them. After all, where two or more are gathered in His name, He too is there with us. 

John uses almost the same closing words in his third letter, as he did in his second letter. How many letters do you read about Jesus writing compared to how many journeys He took to have face to face conversations and relationships?  There is great importance in sharing of our lives and having conversations face to face.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#JamieGrace – With You

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. This past weekend my daughter shared a story with me about her 1 year old daughter and 3 year old son. Her daughter had gotten sick on the way to school one morning, so when they arrived she asked her son to walk to his class while she cleaned her daughter up. When his teacher arrived she found him in his cubby, in the dark, crying. He was afraid of the dark. 1 John 1:5 tells us…”God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all.”  At your age, I’m sure you won’t be sitting in a cubby, in a classroom, crying because you’re afraid of the dark. But think about it for a minute. How do you act when faced with fear? Just like my grandson, I imagine there’s some crying involved, maybe you lash out at others, get defensive, hide in your room.  Maybe fear paralyzes you and you’re unable to move forward, or maybe you overcompensate, act arrogantly and pretend nothing is wrong.  As childhood innocence fades away, we feel that we have to act strong and pretend that we can handle everything on our own. But that is the farthest from the truth. God created us to be in relationship first with him and second with others. He will never leave us to face fears alone.  1 John 4:16 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”  Monday I heard this on a Christian radio station and thought it was worth sharing. “Satan knows your name, but calls you by your sins. The Lord knows your sins, but calls you by name.”  

The Lord’s light that overcomes ALL darkness is His radiant love. Allow His radiant love to penetrate and consume you as only the love of our Lord can. Bless others and be blessed. 

#BrandonHeath – Your Love

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you.  2 Peter 1:5-7 encourages us to “make every effort to add to your faith, goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.” Peter goes on to tell us in verses 8-9, that if we possess these qualities, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if we don’t have them, Peter calls us nearsighted and blind, declaring that we have forgotten that we have been cleansed from our past sins.

What I’m hearing God telling me is that faith in Him must be our starting point. Remember, it only takes faith the size of a mustard seed to move mountains. From there you add goodness. But don’t just rush through that process. You need time to grow in His goodness before you should transition to the next God-centered, character building quality. The journey from faith to love is not a sprint. It truly is a marathon with all the aches, pains, doubts, victories, joys, and relationships along the way. It may only take you a couple steps to get from faith to goodness. But it may be a lot more involved, intense, and many more steps to get from self-control to perseverance. Sometimes we may even have to repeat a few steps. Wherever you are in your journey, don’t give up. God has an incredible plan for you and it’s all about the journey, not the destination. Don’t get me wrong, He definitely wants to share eternity with you in heaven; but we’ve got a lot of growing, in Him, to do before we will even come close to comprehending the incredible blessings that God so desires to give you. You are His beloved child and He delights in you. Bless others and be blessed. 

#Unspoken – If We Only Knew