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| Sunrise in New York |
This Thanksgiving was one that will be remembered for a lifetime! Long drives and getting together with family that has not been together in many years. God blessed the journey with gorgeous weather, and beautiful scenery. We had a light snow on the last day just to remind us what time of year it really is.
Friday morning my daughter and I watched the Sun rise together! I couldn't have asked for a better back drop. Only God could paint a picture like this, and I was able to watch it and to watch her watch it. Thank you Lord for the abundant fruits of my life...Thank you for opportunities like this to help me slow down and appreciate this amazing creation of yours and share it with my children. You are Glorious!
This trip reminded me not to get so wrapped up in the mechanics of worship and prayer that you forget to be present in this life and celebrate what He made for us. Happy Thanksgiving!
With Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years approaching, the focus should be on faith and family, and filled with joy, peace, and happiness. For many people this merely means higher stress levels and loneliness with a side order of depression. For a large part of my life, I have fallen into the later of these categories.
The biggest stress for me and for many has always been making enough money to pay for all this STUFF. Sometimes its even just to pay back debts. Then there are all the charities that are asking for our money this time of year, knowing that this is the time when people are the most "giving." I prefer to offer myself instead of the money that in many ways, already belongs to someone else.
If all these local priests in their 70's and 80's can keep
serving our parishes where we need help, there is no reason the rest of
us can't serve them. I could easily spend more hours working and make
more money and faster to cover my budget strain, but if I did, I
wouldn't have time to do what God asks of me. If I'm not doing His will, I won't get very far! Experience tells me that much, at least.
Through faith and prayer, I am not worried about this year at all. I am looking forward to seeing my children twice in the next two months, and I'm even not really dreading the long drive. With 3,800 miles of driving to do in the next two months, I think its time for an audio bible or other inspirational talks that will keep my mind from wondering to bad places. I know that God will get me through whatever weather I encounter and any struggles will be another opportunity to grow. The same rules apply to every other day of the year. Bring it on!
It was brought to my attention this morning that I haven't posted anything for quite some time. It's possible that I was a bit more ambitious about this project from the start than later on. It really testifies to the reality of our spiritual lives.
It doesn't take long to come up with the words to get a message out there, especially when you call upon the help of the Holy Spirit. The time can be found anywhere, so it really tends to be about the motivation and memory. By now, I'm sure that you can tell that I have a busy life.
The truth is, I work two jobs, serve at Mass daily, help with our parish RCIA, provide spiritual reflections for our local Knights of Columbus council, pray the Liturgy of the Hours daily, try to volunteer with other various projects throughout the year, and now I'm trying to get this blog going too. And that's what I do while my kids are at their mother's house.
My next goal is to get back to school. I know that I am perfectly capable of making time for it...and knowing me, I will try to keep up all the other stuff too...but the fact remains that I'm not quite sure how I will pay for it. Surely, God will provide! I will be looking into and applying for a local school in the near future, and I only ask for prayers. The more prayers the better...It's going to be a difficult road ahead...Jesus and I will be able to get through it.
May the Lord bless all those who bear their cross and gladly take on more for the good of all!
