On a Journey - God Helm Me

This is not our permanent home. That is one of the things God is teaching me during this time of transition for our family. As we look forward to our new home, there are many things that need to be done here before we can go there. Hard, frustrating work, especially with four young children to care for. God please watch over them when we cannot as we are busy preparing for the next place to live.

We love it here and have such good memories here and have worked hard to make it our own, but it still is not our permanent home. This is made clear by the things that do frustrate us and cause us to search beyond here for a better place. There are still so many things to be done besides the immediate improvements we are working on, but I can see that this is no longer our family's job, and that God has someone else in mind for this job. And that is why I am glad God does not let me get too comfortable because if I did then I might not fall down on my knees at His feet. I might not realize that He is also teaching our children about His love. God help me to be a better example of Your Love and to know Your Love for me so that I can Love them as You do.

I am so sentimental and God knows it, so He has made me aware of the many reasons we are leaving here as my heart wants to hang on. And so we journey, digging and planting along the way, demolishing and building along the way, finding and enjoying along the way, crying and laughing along the way, through it all following the path God has laid out for us. He is always with us, loving us and guiding us. I am looking forward to our next home, but since it is also not our permanent home, I am looking forward to the joys, frustrations and trials that keep me on my knees loving and worshiping Him. Lord, I love you, keep me on our path, let me see your light shining and guiding me always. Break down the obtstacles that block me from seeing and knowing You and build obstacles that will guide me back to You. In Your Name I pray, Amen.

Note: I found a typo as I was reading this before publishing. I had typed God helm me instead of God help me, hence the title of this post. Holy Spirit groaning out from inside again! God helm me - be my direction, my compass, my guide. Steer me always to You, with You, in You. Mary, carry me to Your Son. In His Name, Amen.

Still Here +JMJ+

With end of the school year activities and beginning of summer activities and unexpected sicknesses, etc... it has been quite hectic around here. We are in the middle of purchasing a new house and getting this house ready to put on the market so I haven't posted lately, but God is working in ALL of this and in amazing ways. All of these things have just happened in the last week, and God is showing us He is in charge. Amen! I'm sure there will be many posts to come about all these things happening. Thank you to all who have been commenting on my posts and giving me such encouragement and especially for your prayers. Prayer is powerful. I am so happy to be meeting new friends in the Catholic blogosphere!

Right now I just want to say that God always answers our prayers, sometimes we don't get the answer we want and sometimes He surprises us by giving us way more than we could ever imagine. Uh oh, I feel a song coming along, I can only imagine..... It's late and thank goodness for you that you can't hear me singing. :)

God is good! Thank you Mary. Thank you Joseph. Thank you Jesus.

What happened to TGIF?

Used to be blah Mondays and great Fridays around here. Now optimism is the word on Monday and Friday I can't take it any more. I love my vocation as a mother, but I do not love my negative attitude. God, I need You, I need grace this minute this hour. I pray for all the moms out there struggling with keeping up and feeling like they are failing. Help us to know Your love deep in our being. We are Yours in our being, not our doing. Once we recognize the Peace that is You in our being, our doings belong to You. I need You at all times, but especially now as I struggle through all the distractions, worldly concerns, noise, anger, defiance, decisions, health issues, doubts, and negative attitudes that pull me away from You. Help me to sort through this and and run only to You, where Faith, Hope, and Love reside. Help me to be like Mary, at her station keeping. I love You. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Receiving again

Okay, well, wrote a post yesterday that was supposed to be about receiving but after reading it again I realized that is was more about discouragement and grasping rather than receiving. I ended up deleting it and should have just filed it under crazy Fridays because that is what led to it. A crazy Friday. From now on I will pray more before posting.

It would probably take me a million posts to get it right because that is probably one of the hardest things for me to do. It makes complete sense and it is part of how we are created, especially as women. I have learned that receptivity requires quiet of soul, even if life is chaotic and messy. I must pray daily, hourly, minute by minute for that grace of quiet of soul, and obviously, I fail to do just that: pray without ceasing for that particular grace. This is where I fail, but the Holy Spirit will help me if I but just ask. So a few short words on receptivity and then I will just keep praying and maybe posts on receptivity will get better, but more important maybe my own heart's receptivity will improve.

Receptivity is imprinted onto our very bodies and souls, particularly as women. In the sacramental mystery of marriage, women receive, men give and new life bears forth, just as we His Church receive, Christ gives, and we bear forth fruit as the Body of Christ, one in union with Him. It is He who first loves us, He who gives all of Himself to us, but do we receive all He gives us? Lord, please open my eyes, ears, and heart to see You and receive You wherever you come to me in life, in the Eucharist, in Confession, through my husband, my children, the environment around me, friendships, books, everywhere You are.... In Your Holy Name I pray, Amen.

If you need a lighthearted fun movie to watch...

We love old movies! On Netflix instant view we watched a great Jimmy Stewart / Maureen O'Hara movie this past weekend called Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. Here's a clip from the movie, enjoy:

International Call for the Rights and Dignity of the Human Person and Family

Received this via email from a friend. C-Fam (The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute) has a petition that will be presented to the UN this year for the 60th anniversary on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It only takes a minute to sign the petition here: