Psalms 116:1, 2

Psalms 116:1, 2
I love the Lord, because He hears My voice and my supplications.  Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

I love that the Lord knows what I need before I even ask for it.  He knows me better than I know myself and He is always there to listen to me.  I like to pray when it gets really quiet, like when I'm falling asleep at night and I like to pray when things are so chaotic I feel like I might lose my mind.  I like to pray when I am doing a job I abhor.  I like to pray when I am doing something I love.  I like to pray at home and in the car.  I like to pray when I am by myself and when I am getting lost in a crowd.

No matter where I am or what the prayer, He is listening!  Sometimes it feels like He isn't.  That's why I was so angry during my first year of marriage.  I didn't feel like He was listening to my prayers for a healthy baby.  He always hears us, He is always listening to us.  Are we always listening to Him?  He was trying to tell me that I wasn't ready.  He is always preparing us for what is to come and even though He hears our prayers, we need to be open to His path for us.  We need to understand that we will not receive what we are not prepared to receive.

It is hard to accept that maybe what we are praying for isn't what we really need.  I try to stay away from specifics like praying for a new job or things of that nature.  I try to pray for things in general like instead of asking God to help me find a new job I might instead ask Him to help me find joy or success at my current job or ask Him to lead me to my next place of employment and be thankful for the preparation until I get there.  I want to be open to what He has planned for me and not stifle His vision by getting lost in what I think I want.  I try to remember that He has bigger dreams for me than I could ever dream for myself.

I love that no matter how often I pray, He is listening.  I love that no matter where I pray, He is listening.  I love that no matter what I am praying for, He is listening.  Now, I need to make sure I am listening too.  Dear God, help me be open to your voice.  Thank you for being my rock and my salvation!

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Busy Mommy Blogger

1 Peter 4:16

1 Peter 4:16
but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.

Anyone who believes strongly in something will have to defend it many times over in their life.  Your faith is no different.  Since Jesus first was conceived, people have been defending Him and the faith He brought to us.  Look at those who have come before us, all the saints who have died in His name.  People have suffered for their faith, for the right to believe and the right to practice it.  People now are so scared to even claim it.

I have heard people say, "Well, I'm Catholic, but I don't go to church." or "I'm Lutheran but haven't practiced in years."  They say it in a way that makes it seem like they are trying to distance themselves from their faith, from a stereotype, from being "that" person.  It's not "cool" to be devoted to your faith.  It's not "cool" to love, adore, and live by your faith.

Well, I guess I'm not cool.  I don't shove my faith or my beliefs onto others but I don't hide it either.  I am happy to discuss my faith.  I am happy to explain why I choose to do or not do something.  I am excited to pass the gift of the faith on to my children.  I am not ashamed, I am proud.  Thank you God for the gift of Your faith.  Help me to defend my faith when I am called to.

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Busy Mommy Blogger

1 Thessalonians 5:15

1 Thessalonians 5:15
See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.

It's funny, I was talking to my six year old about something very similar the other day.  My son did something to his sister that was rude and I told him we don't treat people like that in our house.  I told him that we respond with love and kindness.  And that if that wasn't possible, that we just don't respond at all.  My six year old chimed in, "Yeah, but you can be mean to someone only if they are mean to you first."  I quickly and gently corrected her and reiterated what I had just told my son.  It is never ok to be mean to someone, even if they are the ones who are mean first. 

Responding to evil with evil only continues the cycle of evil.  When you respond to evil with love, kindness, or even ambivalence, you are breaking the cycle.  You are choosing to discontinue the projection and absorption of evil.  It isn't easy, what's right never is.  Regardless, we have to set a different example for our children who will learn how to react and respond through our own reactions and responses.  It is easier to say than to do and I understand that but I think if we have the desire to not allow that which is evil to penetrate our skin that we are already ahead in our defense of evil.

We need to stand strong in our faith and in Him.  We need to understand that no evil can shake us because He is holding us firm.  We need to be an example of His everlasting love for us by choosing not to respond to evil with evil but to respond to evil with kindness.  No one can hurt us when He is protecting us.  No one can break us when He is holding us together.  Evil can be like an outbreak, spreading quickly throughout the community, but so can love. 

I have said before that when I was going through my most difficult and dark time in my life, I was not pleasant to be around for anybody.  I'm sure that I was spreading and responding with evil to the world around me.  When I found a parish that responded to me with love, His love, I felt my trajectory changing.  Let's change the trajectory of those around us because so many times that evil is a reflection of a person in pain.  Instead of trying to harm, let's try to heal.  Please God, help me to see through the evil and respond with love.  Thank You for sending me Your love in my time of pain when I was responding with evil.

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Busy Mommy Blogger

Ecclesiastes 5:15

Ecclesiastes 5:15
As he had come naked from his mother's womb, so will he return as he came.  He will take nothing from the fruit of his labor that he can carry in his hand.

It's funny because I have said to my husband in the past, "I see so many people acquiring more 'stuff' and we are acquiring more 'people'"  I really don't care about the fancy in life.  I want a house we can fit our family in, a car we can fit our family in, a school that meets our faith and educational needs, food on the table, clothes on our back.  In other words, I am perfectly happy with the basics.  I would rather be able to afford another beautiful person in our family than a vacation.

God has taught us not to put value in things.  We will not take them with us when we die, we won't even take our bodies!!  But we will take our souls and we will be judged on how we treated those around us.  I'm not saying it's wrong to enjoy "things", I'm saying it's better to enjoy people.  It's the relationships we have with others that bring meaning into our lives.  We should focus on how we treat the people around us and building our relationships with those that we love, it's the love we will take with us when we leave.

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Busy Mommy Blogger

Isaiah 41:10

Isaiah 41:10
'Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'

Let us lean on Him in our times of need.  It is easy to get lost in the angst and worry of everyday life.  How long will this illness last?  How will we pay our bills?  How will we care for this child?  Everybody has something to cause them concern.  Let us give our concerns to God.  He will care for us in our darkest times.  He will help us navigate the most terrifying storm.  He will help us climb the steepest mountain.  If we listen, He will lead.  Lets us turn to Him and allow Him to keep us afloat.

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Busy Mommy Blogger

2 Corinthians 5:19, 20

2 Corinthians 5:19, 20
namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

God speaks through all of us.  We are His children and we are all ambassadors for Him.  We should work on spreading His word through our love.  I don't walk around trying to evangelize protestants, Jews, Muslims, etc., but I am open to talking about my faith with anyone who will listen.  I wear my faith on my "sleeve" so to speak, and do not try to hide or flaunt it.  There were people in my life who offered me flickers of faith.  They did not press their faith down on me but were open, willing, and ready to enlighten me.  When I was ready, when God had prepared me, I turned to those people.

I am always trying to find the balance in parenting.  I don't want to suffocate my children but I don't want them wandering on their own either.  I want them to feel safe to explore their environment and who they are and know that I am behind them gently guiding them when needed.  I consider spreading the faith in the same fashion.  I don't need to push my beliefs onto or get into theological arguments with others, but I do try to send out little "flickers" of my faith to those who are misinformed.  I pray that all people are able to reconcile themselves to God and I am open to being His ambassador.  I like to find moments when I can insert my faith into the conversation and start people's minds thinking.

Please God help me to enlighten those in need.  Thank you for sending me the people in my life who were patient and capable of bringing enlightenment into my life.

Thanks for reading!

Busy Mommy Blogger

Philippians 2:3, 4

Philippians 2:3, 4
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Imagine how beautiful the world would be if we truly behaved as this scripture implores us to?  Imagine people helping others rather than hurting others.  Imagine people building each other's self esteem rather than insulting them.  Imagine people being generous with their homes, services, finances, and hearts, rather than being stingy with them.  Imagine people wanting to see everyone succeed rather than hoping others will fail.

I can only imagine...What a beautiful world that would be.  I plead with you all to start a new trend with yourselves and your children.  Let's teach our children the value of kindness, love, patience, and humility.  Let's teach our children to have chastity, diligence, and temperance.  Let's start a new movement in our space so that it can spread to spaces around us as rampant as a wild fire.  Just like anything, it only takes one to start something grand.  For everything there is a beginning.  The Bible starts, "In the beginning...".  We begin our lives as the tiniest of molecules and have a beating heart before any other parts begin to form.  Everything bad, everything good, has a beginning.  Let's have the beginning of treating people the way Jesus implores us to start right now.

We don't all have to agree.  We don't all have to have the same views.  We don't all have to make the same choices.  We do all have to treat each other with respect, all people deserve respect.  Respect is not approval.  Respect is an understanding that everyone deserves His love and that His love starts with us.

 

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you will join us

And the world will be as one

 Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you will join us

And the world will live as one

Imagine by John Lennon