Balance

It's been a crazy year!  I didn't realize that I had been away for so long.  I guess it's time to start fresh and get back to it.  It's interesting how balance works.  Everybody has to work at maintaining balance between work and personal lives.  Sometimes we need little reminders to work at balancing our health as well.  We need to find the right balance of Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual health.  I know I have been struggling for a while.  Either I spend all my time praying, or all my time exercising, or all my time just sitting and reading.  Sometimes I just spend all my time watching television and being useless.  Finding the right balance is the key for us all.  Just when I think I'm doing a good job, I realize I've been neglecting another area.

Right now, I feel like I've gotten my spiritual life right where it should be, but I haven't been exercising, and I am afraid that getting back on that wagon will knock me off the one I'm on.  I am asking for prayers for this process as I try to lose some weight again without neglecting my prayer life.

My goal with this blog now is to get back to posting weekly.  I would appreciate if anyone reading this would keep my family in your prayers as we have a major surgery coming up next month.

God Bless You All!

Praise the Lord!

Well, I finally got a call Friday afternoon.  I will be moving on October 1.  It will be just about four years to the day that I have been temporarily living with my parents.  Things are looking pretty good.  The Lord has been answering some of my prayers and I can't wait to serve Him again tomorrow morning at Mass.  

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year with my children coming to visit our new apartment.  It will be a very different experience for all three of us.  Our last Christmas together in our own place was pretty rough and it was in the house that we had lived in as a family for about eight years.

God, thank you for these blessings in my life.  Please continue to bless my family and those we care most about.

Impatiently...Patiently Waiting

Waiting to hear about an apartment that you really like is a frustration best put in God's hands.  I know that whatever happens will be for the best, but the waiting is difficult.  Many have asked me what I've heard, and I am left just saying "nothing yet."  It's hard to maintain a calm exterior when inside you're all jittery.

God, Grant me the grace to accept the things I cannot change, the strength to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.  Amen!

Keeping Fingers Crossed

This afternoon, I am going to meet with the owner of an apartment complex very close to where I live now.  They happen to have one apartment available and I really want to get in there.  I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it is looking very promising.  I really need prayers.

You know, sometimes when you start to think things are hopeless, God just reminds you that He is still watching over you.  I could use all the prayers I can get right now.

Lord, help me to make the right decisions to pick the right place to live.

Absence...Explained!

To anybody out there still reading this, I'm sure you've been wondering, "What happened."

Recently, my son decided that he didn't want to come visit me.  I was devastated!  It was all I could do at times to put on a smile.  I spent the last two months with my daughter, making the most of the time that we had together this summer.  When I dropped her off, I had a brief, but promising conversation with my son.  I know that he is getting older, and it is difficult for a teenager to understand the importance of spending time with his father, but my biggest fear is that he will regret not spending time with me while he is still young.

I have had a quite distant relationship with my own father for many years.  A lot of that is my own fault, and I don't want the same for my son.  Many of my prayers are for the continued softening of my son's heart that he may see how much I love and care for him.  Lord, help him to see that I do more for him than he knows.

Silence!

Those who know me best have got some insight into why I have been out of touch for a while.  I won't get into details publicly, but I have had some personal struggles lately.  Only a few years ago, the same situation would have devastated me beyond all compare.  Now that I have found my Jesus again, these things can affect me, but not devastate me.

God is my compass to find my way out of the darkness.  The devil is always throwing out lines that we all tend to latch on to without knowing that we've been hooked.  The Holy Spirit is our salvation if we will only allow ourselves to be saved.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and lead us to everlasting light.  Amen

Habemus Papam!

I was on the edge of my seat this afternoon at work, along with the rest of the world!  As much as I wanted to see white smoke I really wasn't expecting to see it today.  What an exciting day for us as Catholics!  Even for the rest of the world, this day is truly glorious.  Pope Francis has already impressed me greatly with his display of humility when stepping out onto the balcony in St. Peter's Basilica wearing the simple white cassock of his new office.  Then, before giving us a blessing, he asked us to pray that the Lord might bless him...and he bowed his head while we prayed.

He is ready to lead us if we allow ourselves to be led!  I look forward to the future and am so happy to have such a great new shepherd.

Viva Pope Francis!