Scattered Persons

I'm on the second P now in Holly Pierlot's book and she hit on something very interesting that I had to share. She talks about how sin scatters our persons. This "scattering" affects the order we have internally. She has this to say about that:

We feel it every time our emotions cringe in fear and disgust in reaction to something we know is a good, such as cleaning the attic! We experience it every time we want to eat too many sweets, or sleep too late, or when we want to engage in sinful activities. Instead of subordinating our drives and desires to choose objective good, our wills, damaged and weakened, follow along behind the passions. We ten to choose something that will make us "feel" good, but that might be, in reality, very harmful to us. Our reasoning power is damaged also, and so even grasping truth becomes more difficult than God intended. This leaves our wills uninformed, weakening our decision-making capacities. Our hearts, no longer in line with God's will, seek a selfish fulfillment, and our emotions become a powerful force that can now work against our better reason.

Wow! That was a mouthful huh?! But it makes so much sense! I mean how many times have you let your own selfish wants and needs take over your life? I have done it so many times I can't even count. But I can also remember when I let God come into my life and I began making more of a conscious effort to let His rules guide my decisions. It's not easy, that's for sure. But life isn't about taking the easy way out. Jesus didn't take the easy way out. He stood amidst the pain and the suffering for us. And I want to thank Him for that every day of my life by living the way He wants me to live.

Holy Heroes Lenten Adventure

Holy Heroes is a Catholic company online that sells children's materials like coloring books and CD's. They are doing a program called Lenten Adventure. Since Lent is coming up, I figured I should pass on this info. Go to their website and sign up for the emails during Lent. I haven't ever done it before, but apparently they send out emails with activities to do with the kids during Lent. And hey, I might even learn a little bit too!!

Good News

Well my good news I can tell you has absolutely nothing to do with the economy!!

My daughter's birthday was very blessed yesterday with more relatives than I anticipated. We were missing the little ones for sure, but I was so glad that we had an aunt, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents here. I know she was glad too. Everything went smoothly and it ended at a very reasonable time so everyone could get to bed!!

So it was a good day after all. I thank God for that!

Standing Up For Our Father

"...Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." Mark 8:38

I listen to a Country Worship CD quite often and there is a song on there called "I Can Only Imagine" by Emerson Drive. It's a very heartfelt song that expresses wonder about what we will do when we are face-to-face with our Lord. Will we stand or will we bow? Will we sing or will we be silent? I can't even imagine what it will be like to be able to see our Father, in all of His perfect glory. Talk about a humbling experience.

That experience won't happen though if we don't live our lives here on Earth according to Him. Jesus is telling us that if we express shame in this life of Him and don't speak His truths, then He will be ashamed of us when we face His Father. And rightfully so! He suffered greatly for us. He put Himself out there to be scrutinized for us and our eternal life. How can we turn around and deny Him or hide our faith in Him?

But believe me, I have done it. It hurts to say it, but I've definitely done it. Sometimes it can be embarrassing to say you are religious nowadays. It used to be the norm, but now we are considered crazy, rule-following snobs. It's that hate that scares me. I don't know what these other people, obviously overtaken by Satan, will do! But God will be glorified in our truths, in our ability to speak out for Him and the path He has laid out for us.

So how will you speak up for God the next time you are faced with shame or fear of your religious convictions?

Lord, I believe in you wholly. Please help me to shake off my sin and stand up with You.

EWTN: Pope Benedict Rebukes Pelosi Over Abortion

Well, Pope Benedict did it!! He stood up for us Catholics and took the opportunity to speak of the requirements of the natural moral law and the Church's consistent teaching on the dignity of human life from conception to natural death which enjoin all Catholics...

YAY!!

New Venture!

OK, in lieu of my disappointment about the birthday situation, I found a new venture last week that I was hopeful about. I worked a home-based business for 2 years, many hours a week, did well, but my house and family were a wreck! So I quit the business, but continued to get the products because I like them so much (and they're safer and healthier for us- you know, a greener company).

Anyway, I was checking out some supplements for my husband when I was prompted to check out some business info on them again. They had changed some things on their website so I was curious about the information they had there. And I made my way to the info on Charitable Organizations. This company actually has a plan to benefit non-profit organizations! I knew this a couple of years ago when I was actively working, but it was very complicated at the time, so I didn't get into it too much.

But now it's very simple. My Church, as well as the Catholic School my kids go to, can benefit easily. Yes, I would have to work for it, but I learned yesterday that I will benefit from this as well!! I couldn't believe it! The potential is mind-boggling and I can't wait to contact my pastor and see what he says. I still have to make the appointment with him and show him what this is all about to see if we have the OK or not.

AND!! I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and she told me to make sure the company's founder is pro-life, and I think he is. I'm in the process of finding that out. So I'm hopeful that this is something that God wants me to do. If it isn't I'm sure He will let me know won't He!!

More Birthday STUFF!

OK, today is my daughter's seventh birthday! And I was really looking forward to celebrating her birthday with family this evening. Unfortunately, I had to go pick her up from school yesterday afternoon because she threw up in the classroom. She proceeded to throw up a few more times before I stopped making her drink and just let her stomach get better.

She is much better today, but I decided to keep her home just to make sure. She is eating good and drinking and nothing has come back up! YAY!! But the problem is, I don't know how my other two kids are. I don't know if they are going to be throwing up all of a sudden. So we have decided to let family decide if they are coming over or not. Her grandparents and great-grandparents are coming (thank goodness), but her cousins are not. They are very young and we are afraid of getting them sick too. There is no need to risk that. One is 2 tomorrow and the other is only 4 months old. So no one needs these little ones throwing up!!

So I'm quite a bit disappointed, but we have made arrangements to get together next week to exchange gifts. We also agreed not to go over there tomorrow night for my 2-year-old niece's birthday for fear of infecting them and the other little ones that will be there. I'm really disgruntled about that too. She is our goddaughter and I really want to be there!

So, it is what it is, right?! And it will all work out OK. I really wanted my daughter to have a good crowd tonight when we give her our big gift!!

So anyway, just wanted to vent my frustrations! Have a blessed day everyone!

Human Thinking

"Get behind me, Satan. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." Mark 8:33

What does it mean to think as a human being? Well, I'm not really sure how to put this into words, but I can put in an example here.

I was talking with a good friend of mine, about a week ago I guess, and we were talking about why people leave the Catholic church. And she had just learned of an insight from someone else about this. A lot of times, people leave the Church because they don't like the priest, or they don't like all the rules. I'm sure there are more reasons, but these are all human reasons for leaving the Church. The examples I listed here are not guided by God, they are guided by Satan.

Satan will do everything in his power to keep us from getting closer to God and doing what we need to here on Earth to be with Him eternally in Heaven. We must be conscious of those efforts and tell him to get behind us! Tell him to get out of the way! Stand up and fight those human urges guided by Satan to deny God and His Word.

Have you recognized events in your life where you let Satan guide you in human responses rather than with Godly ones? How will you resist those temptations in the future?

Lord, when Satan gets in my face, help me to put him behind me so I can follow Your ways.

Celebrating Birthdays

Before I married my husband, my family celebrated birthdays when it was convenient. Which mainly ended up on a Friday night, or Saturday afternoon. Well, my husband's family does things quite differently. We celebrate each person's birthday, on THAT DAY. At first, I was pretty annoyed with this. I kept thinking, "Why in the world do we need to do that?? Why can't we just do it on the weekend for goodness sake?" Granted, some other words may have come out of my mouth at the time, but now I'm so glad that we do, and for several reasons.

First and foremost, our birthday is the day that God gave us life outside of the womb! This is OUR day, our very special day that we were officially welcomed into the world He created for us. So why SHOULDN'T we celebrate that day on that day? We absolutely should! It's definitely something to celebrate!

And secondly, my kids get to spend time with family. Everyone is so busy nowadays with work and other obligations we have as adults, families don't get to spend much time together anymore. When we get together, the kids wrestle around with their uncles sometimes, play with their aunts and grandparents, and have a great time with their cousins. These are things they are going to remember! They are going to know that their birth was something special and important to us.

So, while I complained in the beginning, I'm so glad that we do this now. Yes, it gets tough and tiring sometimes (we have 2 in a row twice during the year!), but it's all so very worth it.

Therapy

When they arrived at Bethsaida, they brought to Him a blind man and begged Him to touch him. Mark 8:22

"Mommy, do you need a hug today?" Those are the words of my soon-to-be seven-year-old sweetheart of a daughter. And every time she asks me, of course I say, "YES!" It's very healing. She typically asks me if I'm having a tough day with them. You know how it is. The hormones kick in and the kids are just on your last nerve?! And then I get a hug. It just all seems to melt away and I remember how much I love my babies. And this behavior passes on to my younger children and my four-year-old son will ask me if I need a hug too.

Touch is so very powerful. And I never thought about how touch is all through Jesus' teachings. That's how He healed, is through touch. That's how we can heal each other, is through touch. We are afraid to touch each other nowadays, and I am one of them that is afraid, or maybe I should say, cautious. We don't want to invade the others' personal space. And to be honest, some of us just aren't touchy kind of people! But just the touch of someone's hand on your shoulder or your hand, says something, doesn't it? It tells you that that person cares about you. Touch makes things more personal between us human beings and it can have that therapeutic affect, just like Jesus.

How will you reach out and touch your brothers and sisters today?

Lord, teach me to touch my brothers and sisters as You did.

Scheduling

As you may know, I'm reading a new book called "A Mother's Rule of Life" by Holly Pierlot. I'm truly enjoying it. She's taking me through a schedule a piece at a time and so I'm really able to prioritize my schedule based on what is most important in my life.

The first part of my journey to make a schedule is making time for prayer. So I went through my day in my head, and have decided to say my Rosary at 6am right after I take a shower and before I even turn on this darn computer!! Then I can turn on the computer and do my devotional. I first thought I would stay off the computer all together in the morning because it can really interfere with my routine with my kids, but I think I really need to read the Scripture for the day in the morning. So I'm going to do that and send out my devotionals, and then turn the computer off and be ready for when my kids get up.

Since I'm going to be cutting down my computer time (I think I may use this as a fasting during Lent), I will not be posting as much as I have been. I feel that making sure I'm praying enough and making sure my hubby, kids, and house are taking care of is so important to a happy family.

So I'm not going to NOT get on here at all, I just won't be posting like crazy!! I feel this is a good thing for me. I can really get lost in the Internet information and before I know it, my house is in shambles. I need to really get some self-discipline going here.

So, there's my progress so far. Will keep you all posted on this!!

Time

Morning all! Sorry I haven't posted a lot lately. I have had a lot on my plate lately. I'm making games for my daughter's class and I also have some blankets to knot for my daugther's Girl Scout troop. But there are important things to post, so I'm going to try later. Today is going to be terribly busy! I have to help pick up Girl Scout cookies, and we have 2 Karate classes today. SO!!

I just wanted to say that I haven't gone anywhere. I'm hoping to visit your blogs to see what you all have to say too.

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Getting Back on Track

Do you not yet understand or comprehend? Are your hearts not hardened? Mark 8:17

Jesus warns His disciples against the actions of the Pharisees. He warns them not to get caught up in their ways and in their doubts about Jesus and His power. The Pharisees do not realize why He says these things. They think it is because they did not bring bread as they were told.

Jesus did a lot of teaching when He was here on Earth. He taught for about 3 years and there was a lot to teach us in that short period of time. So when His followers didn't listen to everything He told them, I can imagine He may have gotten a little frustrated.

But we all still need reminders don't we? We all have times where we need to be reminded to stay on the right track. I know I do! We fall off the bandwagon. We skip a prayer now and then, and then that prayer time is gone and we have to get it back. We start gossiping about others, being jealous of what others have, or disrespecting our parents. These are all human characteristics, but they are all works of the devil too. And it's human nature to get caught up in that and forget His ways. And our lives are different when we give in to those temptations isn't it? I know for me my thoughts are more clouded and my irritability increases. That's my little reminder that I have gotten off track.

The important thing though is that we come back to Him and His commandments.

So how are you reminded that you have fallen away from our Lord? How do you get yourself back on track?

Lord, I feel so much better when I follow Your teachings. Help me to stay on Your path.

Seeking Signs

[Jesus] sighed from the depth of His spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign?" Mark 8:12

So why do we? Why do we seek signs from our Lord? I know for me it's because I want to know I'm doing the right thing. I want to know that I'm making the choices He wants me to make. Then when I get a sign, I wonder if it's His sign, or if it's the devil. It can be so confusing!!

So then I sit back and think about it some more. The outcome of our decision may not come right away. As long as it stays consistent with His commandments, we must make our decision and just do it! I'm a very impatient person though, so waiting to see what is going to happen is not easy. I want to see those results right away.

I was recently finishing my book by Mother Angelica and she talks about getting into projects without figuring out the details (like if she's going to have enough money). She said that when money got tight, she would get some sort of big donation and all would be well. Her efforts were rewarded and supported by our Lord, so He paved the way for her success.

Now I'm not saying to go out and buy a house without knowing whether or not you can afford it. But He will clear the path for our success if it is in His plan.

So what is on your mind today? What do you have to decide to do? How will you wait for His signs?

Lord, I want to do Your will. Please be with me as I make my decisions today.

Pride

Pride either keeps you back from doing what you should do for God and His kingdom or it pushes you forward into things you are not able to do.

-Mother Angelica

LOVE THIS!! And how in the world do we tell the difference? There have been so many times in my life where I wonder if what's happening is God's will, my will, or the devil's will. My pride has gotten in the way of a lot of things in my life. It gets in the way of having good relationships with my friends and family. And as I read this quote over and over again, I suppose my pride has gotten in the way of being successful at certain things.

One thing that I'm proud and thankful for my pride taking a backseat, is in my role as a wife and mother. I'm so glad I was able to push that down so I could be successful here. It has made such a difference in my life, I can't even explain it.

Judge as the Father Judges

He doesn't judge you at all in this life, so why should we?

-Mother Angelica

Let Go of the Reins

But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die! No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it [the tree] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad. Genesis 3:4-5

I feel like I'm in English class sometimes when I read the Bible. This particular passage in particular because the whole scenario of Adam and Eve is one big metaphor. The tree that Eve was tempted to try the fruit from is a reminder to us that the devil is out there tempting us all the time with promises of power. He wants us to think that power and control over our lives comes from us, and not with God.

I lived for a long time thinking, and trying very hard, to control my life. I was making decisions based on the life that I wanted to live. I wanted my life to be what I wanted it to be. I wasn't considering God's wants. And do you think it was a happy and good time of my life? NO!! It was full of turmoil and fighting with family and friends. The devil loves that and will let you go at that.

But when I relinquished that control to Him, and let Him guide me in the direction He had planned for me, things became easier. Everything seemed to fall into place and it all was truly starting to make sense. It's not easy giving up that control, don't get me wrong. We all want to feel like we have control over our lives. But really, it is God who has a special plan for us.

So how are you going to relinquish that control today?

Lord, I want to live by Your way. Take the reins of my life and show me Your plan for me.

Important Discussions!

There is a talk show in Cincinatti that is going to discuss the possible link between abortions and breast cancer!!! YAY!!! FINALLY!!! Spread the word ladies!!

Click here to get the full article on this.

AAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Oh I'm so frustrated this morning!!!

I was typing my Devotional for today and had on Fox and Friends (my most favorite morning show). Octo-Mom came up. Now first and foremost, she must be the most frustrating creature. She actually has a website up to get donations from all of us Americans to help her take care of here babies. I'm just absolutely speechless....

But that was just the tip of the iceberg here. Brian, one of the hosts, was talking about the process of in-vitro. He said that he notices that women have these "embryos" and feel this need to use them because we think they are babies and they're not!! WHAT?!!?

I'm sorry, I don't typically do this, but what an IDIOT!!! Embryos ARE babies!!!! That's what people don't get, and he just goes and spouts it on television. That "embryo" is the beginning of a human being. The cells that make up that "embryo" is defining that baby's features. Brown or blue eyes, blonde or brown hair, fat or skinny, chunky cheeks or not.... He is a BABY!!

Society has become so numb to human life because we, as humans, have decided to play God and create life outside of the womb and then implant it in a woman in "hopes" that that baby will continue to live. CONTINUE TO LIVE!! If the baby doesn't implant, then it dies. IT DIES!! Dying suggests it was living, does it not?!?!?

Take embryonic stem cell research for instance. If the "embryo" wasn't living, what good would he be to us?? He wouldn't!! That's why we create that LIFE. So we can study him!! How sick.

God is the ONLY one who should be creating life. We as humans are going to have a lot of explaining to do!!

Aaaaarrrrggghhhh... just a little frustrated this morning. People can be so STUPID sometimes!!!!

I apologize ahead of time for using harsh words, but I feel they are necessary this morning to get my point across... FRUSTRATION!!!

From the Rib

The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that He had taken from the man. Genesis 2:22

God created us women from man's rib. Some may say that makes us less than man, but I couldn't DISagree more. God created man first. When he saw that this man was lonely, He created many other creatures in order to provide him with a suitable partner. The man named all the creatures, but none of them proved to be suitable.

So God put him into a deep sleep and created woman.

Did you notice the use of the word "partner" here? Man and woman are partners. We were given different qualities so that we could work together. Man is not meant to be woman, and woman is not meant to be man. We each have qualities about us that enable us to live together and raise children and to be able to participate in society.

It's hard to work with someone who is just like you isn't it? If you both want control, the partnership doesn't work. If you both want the other one to make all the decisions, the partnership doesn't work. That's why God set man as head of the household. It doesn't mean that women are any less than them, just that we have different, but also important, roles.

So how will you show your spouse that you want to follow God's order today?

Lord, I realize that you created us in Your image. Please stay with me and help me to be that for You so that I may have a happy, healthy family.