New Years Resolutions - Bring God Into Your Life

If you are a believer, you understand the desire to bring God into your daily life.  While you may be accustomed to attending a church on Sundays, spending time with God during the week is more challenging, especially if you don't attend additional services.  Praying can be difficult if you aren't in the habit of doing it, and if you are waiting to "feel" God, you might be waiting for a while.  You can discover God in your daily life, but only if you look for Him.

Believe me when I say I'm not preaching.  This is one of my goals for 2017.  Mother Teresa went through long periods of her life where her walk with Jesus was "dry."  She didn't sense His presence, but she persisted in her prayer life.  It's a matter of habit, so I want to follow my own suggestions to get into the habit of bringing God into my daily life.

I think the most obvious is prayer.  As a Catholic, I have lots of formal types of prayer available to me - the Rosary, novenas, chaplets and many formal prayers.  That does make it a little easier.  But I think the essential part is setting a time every day exclusively for prayer.  There are many places you can get suggestions for how to pray, but generally, you should start with quiet.  Clear your mind.  Then start with praise and honor to God.  It's a little like saying hello.  Next, thank God for your blessings.  It can be mundane or the big things - family, health, life itself.  Only after you have praised and thanked God should you ask for anything.  Don't just ask for yourself - ask for others.

My next strategy will be reading the Bible.  I'm going to try to use a program to do it in a year.  There are multiple websites with suggestions for how to do this and you can find apps to read the Bible to you.  If you want to go deeper, there are countless Bible studies you can do yourself or find a group.  Finally, read some spiritual books.  There are too many to count and they come in all shapes, sizes and beliefs.  Find some that inspire you.

Finally, the best way to bring God into your daily life is just to open the door to Him.  Talk to Him while you're doing your daily activities.  Did you get a green light or a break in traffic?  Thank Him.  Did you lose your keys?  Ask for help.  Pray before meals.  Pray when you wake up and before you go to sleep.  These don't have to be long or complex.  If you're talking to someone all day, you will tend to think about them throughout the day.  God's not just hanging out in the church building.

Please pray for me and I will pray for you.

cindy

Contemplate - The More Excellent Way

If I speak in human and angelic tongues but do not have love,

I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge;

If I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, 

I am nothing.

If I give away everything I own,

If I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, 

I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind.  

It is not jealous, is not pompous, 

It is not inflated, it is not rude, 

It does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, 

It does not brood over injury,

It does not rejoice over wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.

It bears all things, 

Believes all things, 

Hopes all things, 

Endures all things.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13

You've heard it before - probably at a wedding, right?  Funny thing, St. Paul never mentioned marriage in this letter to the Corinthians. 

Maybe he was talking about God who is Love.

Maybe he was illustrating what it means to love our neighbor as ourselves.

cindy

Friday Coffee Date

If we were having coffee today, I would tell you . . .

Lately I've been writing Scripture verses on my Facebook page.  I originally started with the following verse as a commentary on the upcoming election:

If my people who bear my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my presence and turn from their wicked ways, then I will listen from heaven and forgive their sins and restore their country. 2 Chronicles 7:14

I had so many "likes," I decided to keep doing it.  Every time I do it, I get more likes and some comments.  I really think God's word resonates with people.  Even better, I'm enjoying how it makes me examine Scripture, one book at a time.

The way I've been doing it is fun too.  For ease in cutting and pasting, I use an online Bible.  I go to the page with the list of the books of the Bible, close my eyes and move the cursor and click.  Whatever book I find myself, I read and find a passage I like.  It's kind of like Bible surfing the electronic way!

There have been a few times that have been harder than others.  The other day I found myself in the Song of Songs.  I love that book, but sometimes the verses are so personal between a husband and wife that it's hard to find one that is more applicable for general viewing.  I ended up with probably the only familiar verse in the book.  Here's what I picked:

Set me like a seal on your heart, like a seal on your arm. For love is strong as Death, passion as relentless as Sheol. The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of Yahweh himself. Love no flood can quench, no torrents drown. Were a man to offer all his family wealth to buy love, contempt is all that he would gain." Song of Songs 8: 6-7

Today I picked the following verse.  I think it's a great verse to pray about in the morning, so here's my Friday gift to you, my coffee buddies:

"The Lord is not being slow in carrying out his promises, as some people think he is; rather is he being patient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

Great take away - the Lord is patient in carrying out His promises because He wants everyone to experience them and turn to Him.  

Amen

cindy


"Friday Coffee Date" is a weekly feature from Rags to Stitches.  Join me there to read some great insights and have some coffee.

Beauty for Ashes

Today begins Lent, the season that prepares Christians for the commemoration of the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  We start this season with ashes to remind us that we come from dust and to dust we shall return.  Many see it as a time of sadness and mourning.  But Lent is really a time of transition, where we can renew our commitment, come home and change our lives.

The Year of the LORD’s Favor - Isaiah 61

 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, 
   because the LORD has anointed me 
   to proclaim good news to the poor. 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
   to proclaim freedom for the captives 
   and release from darkness for the prisoners,^[a] 
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor 

   and the day of vengeance of our God, 
to comfort all who mourn, 
 ³ and provide for those who grieve in Zion— 
to bestow on them a crown of beauty 
   instead of ashes, 
the oil of joy 
   instead of mourning, 
and a garment of praise 
   instead of a spirit of despair. 
They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
   a planting of the LORD 
   for the display of his splendor.

Today I received ashes, but in 40 days I hope to celebrate in the beauty of the Lord's resurrection on Easter.

cindy

Advent Season

It's now December and everyone is rushing around getting ready for Christmas.  This year I'm celebrating Advent.  I know Advent comes every year and it's a time of preparation for the birth of Christ, but I am so busy getting ready for Christmas that I forget about Advent.  Not this year - First Things First.  If you don't know what Advent is about, here's Advent in Two Minutes:

I'm making a concerted effort to teach my kids about Advent.  In addition to putting treats in our Advent "house", I'm including a verse from the Bible that anticipates the birth of Jesus.  We also have an Advent wreath and light it every night as we read the verse.

Another new tradition (can it be a tradition if it's new?) is to set up our "Bethlehem" and populate it one person at a time.  We have a Fontanini set and they name each person and provide a back story. I know they are not Biblically based, but I want my kids to understand each person and his/her perspective living in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth.  Here's an empty Bethlehem:

My son mentioned the sheep were dead, but they are just sleeping :)

So what are you doing to prepare?  Are you preparing for "Christmas" or Christ's birth?  One more reminder:

Cool, huh?

cindy

First Things First

It's not going to happen this year.  I am not going to run like a mad woman doing for the sake of doing.  I will have a meaningful holiday season.  These are my mantras as the Season looms like an approaching storm.  Notice I capitalized "Season" as if it is a threatening entity instead of the joyful and spiritual time anticipating the coming of the Kingdom.

First things first


I will not be making gifts this year.  In previous years I have made many of our Christmas gifts, especially for extended family.  I love being able to do this, as I firmly believe a handmade gift is more meaningful and personal.  However, without more advance planning, creating items at the last minute can result in sloppy gifts that are made at a time when I should be enjoying the holiday season.

First things first


I will carefully plan and purchase gifts using online resources, especially considering so many of our family members live out of state.  The free shipping and discounts I expect to see in the next week should work well with this plan.  (Just writing this has resulted in several great gift ideas.)  If I can get that done soon without mailing or wrapping, I can focus my attention on family and home.

First things first


I will make a concerted effort to get the Christmas decorating completed by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend.  In the past I have dragged out all of my Christmas decorations only to gradually put them up over a long period of time.  That has deprived us of the cozy Christmas home we expected because it was cluttered with storage bins and packing paper.  If it's not done by the end of the Thanksgiving weekend, we will have a more simple cozy Christmas with fewer decorations.

First things first


I will get the Advent calendar out before Advent begins and fill it with quotes from the Bible preparing for the coming of Christ.  I will set up our nativity and populate it each evening with a new character in an effort to teach my children about the time and place where Jesus was born.  I will involve my family in decorating our Christmas tree together with ornaments that reflect our memories of times and places we have enjoyed together.

First things first


I will not focus too much on the things and tasks I need to do, including the items mentioned in this post.  The most important thing about Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas is to enjoy time with family and friends in joy and charity, so things and tasks are less important.

First things first


cindy

A Woman of Value

What makes a woman meaningful and valuable in our culture?  A poem might go like this:
A good woman, where can she be found?
   She's worth her weight in gold.
Her husband thinks she is a good lover,
   and does a good job with the kids.
She has the most fashionable clothes
   and always a fresh mani-pedi.
She's active in the PTO
   and supports the admirable work of Planned Parenthood.
She makes sure her kids understand what is politically correct,
   and tries to be their best friend.
She takes care of the checkbook
   and makes the minimum payments on the credit cards.
She's busy with book club, driving the kids to activities
   and gets take-out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
She balances her career with home life
   and occasionally has time to help with homework.
Her children are happy if she's there when they get up for school
   and her husband is happy when the house is picked up.
A woman who moisturizes her skin, gets to the health club
   and looks 10 years younger than her age is valued.
She's all things to all people.

Is that the standard we are striving for?  Perhaps we should instead look to God's standard for women:

A wife of noble character who can find?
   She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
   and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
   all the days of her life.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
   she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
   and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
   and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
   her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
   but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
   but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
   and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 31: 10-12; 25-31

When this life is over, I pray I might be judged kindly by God's standards.

cindy