😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. This past week and a half has been dotted all over with moments of saying “Thank you Lord.”  I was told at one point that I pray a lot for others, but not really for myself. I guess I never really looked at my prayer life that way. I was reminded that constantly pouring out of ourselves will leave us Spiritually drained. I find it much easier to pray for other and I find it a challenge to ask others to pray for me. It’s very humbling, but at the same time exhilarating to hear what God is speaking into me through others.  And it’s not like those are planned moments, well not by us anyway.  That’s why it’s so important to not just listen, but to act upon His words for you. Let’s be honest. How many of you are like me in the fact that you may listen, but you don’t always act the first time you are told to do something. Part of it for me is that I kind of get frozen in place until I work out all the details. But what God has been showing me this week is that He’s going to give it to me in bite size nuggets. When I chew that up and let it soak in, it gives me the wisdom, courage, and thankfulness to accept the next nugget.  I want to encourage you to not let those nuggets pass you by. Each one, although it may not seem important at the time, truly is when you start connecting those dots. Savor and give thanks for each nugget. Bless others and be blessed.

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. I’m not a road rage kind of person, so it really surprises me last Thursday morning when I wanted to chase someone down. Pulling out of our neighborhood I looked left and there was a car three quarters the way up the hill, so I turned. By the time I was two car lengths down the road, that person was on my bumper. “Where do you have to be in such a hurry at 6:30 in the morning?”  Turning at the next light, I made sure to stay in the right lane so that person could zoom around me.  Not knowing what had come over me, I just wanted to chase that person to show them my displeasure with their lack of concern for others. Then I started talking to myself.”  Don’t do that. There’s no purpose. You’ll just make yourself more upset.”  We turned to get onto the highway, and again this person was being really rude. “The cars on the highway have the right of way. Learn how to merge!”  After merging onto the highway I was like…”That’s it!  I need to see who this person is.”  “Why am I doing this?  Why am I acting this way?”  Just as I pulled up on the left of this car and saw the drive, God said “I wanted you to see the face of the person I want you to pray for.”  Oh was that a humbling moment. So, I began to pray. Quite often God wakes me in the middle of the night to pray. Sometimes He will give me a name, sometimes a situation the person is in but no name, and then other times He doesn’t tell me a name or the situation, He just wants prayers lifted up. So it was interesting that He took me out of my normal mindset and driving style to specifically show me this lady that needed prays.  I have no idea why He wanted me to see and pray for her, but God does and that’s all that matters. I can’t even imagine how many people He has had blindly pray for me, not knowing my name, face, or even my situation. Thank you Lord for the gift of those who pray for me and thank you for the gift of praying with You for others. You know, when you pray, you never pray alone. He is always there.  Bless others and be blessed. 

#ForKing&Country – God Only Knows

😎🐫🎤 Christ’s peace be with you. Last week we celebrated the Easter Triduum and it all started with Holy Thursday Mass. In this one evening Jesus very clearly SHOWS us by washing the feet of His disciples, that to be a leader and teacher, we must first serve others. He then celebrates His last supper, which is a meal that is still being celebrated every day.  During the homily Thursday, Father made a point that I really wasn’t expecting…Jesus washed the feet of all the disciples, even Judas, knowing that He would be betrayed by him within a matter of hours. 

I thought…Seriously?  You want me to go out of my way not to just be nice, but get down on my hands and knees to serve someone that will betray my trust and hurt me?  Seriously!  I don’t think many of us are willing to that.  

Jesus’ powerful action is kind of like when a person is weak, short of breath, and is trying to share their final words of wisdom with you. Lean in a little closer, so that you can hear His every word clearly.  “I don’t care what someone has done, is doing, or will do to you. I am within them. When you serve them, you are serving Me.” Bless others and be blessed. 

#Resurrecting – Elevation Worship

😎🐫🎤 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