Celebrating My “D” – My 500th Post

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

What does the letter D bring to my mind and heart?

Don’t you love coincidences or what many of us call them God-incidents?

The letter D symbolizes the Roman numeral 500. 

Participating with Patty Wysong’s meme and writing a blog once a week based on a letter of the alphabet has been fun for me and I hope for you. This week is the letter “D” and as I began to think about that letter, I was amazed to realize that this would be my 500th post on this blog. 

500 = D

Now that is a God-incident!

The number “500” has other meanings also.

I read that the number 500 is used 27 times in the Bible.

This number represents infinity to the Irish and a world known race to Indy 500 fans.

There is the Fortune 500 and the card game 500.

The legend of the mythical bird, the Phoenix, says the bird lives a 500-year life cycle. Near its end, this colorful bird builds a new nest and both the nest and the bird erupts in flames. Out of the ashes a new bird is born.

I am not sure I want THAT to happen to this blog after I hit publish – to have it burn up in flames! HA!

I don’t believe much in the power of numbers, after all 500 is just one more than 499 and can amount to nothing more the amount of sheets in a ream of paper.

But pausing at this level does invoke gratitude in my heart. Thankfulness for you – coming along side me, reading these words, and taking time to walk with me on our journeys. You are my traveling companions.

And thankfulness to our Lord – for His creative ideas, His words, and His guidance on our paths. God also travels with us.

 I started this blog in February 2009. To celebrate my 500^th post I will repost my very first entry as I hope from the beginning to the whenever the last post will be published that my words glorify God and nurture you closer to Him.  Thank you for accompanying me on my journey!

  “ A healthy person works out every day to keep the body in shape . . .but a spiritually healthy person kneels in prayer to keep the soul in shape.

   Healthy people have faith, hope, and love that they are strong enough for the journey . . . but spiritual healthy people have faith, hope and love that it is in the journey that they will become strong.

Welcome to Healthy Spirituality. My hope for this blog is that the words nurture you closer to God and help you discover his wonder and his unconditional love he has for you.

Healthy spirituality can be defined in many different ways. For me and this blog, it is the sense of wholeness only possible through a relationship with God. We are never complete without him and He continually pursues us to draw us back to him.

The foundation of spiritual health always is in prayer – listening and talking with God. Another component is paying attention to and learning God’s word. Studying the stories God gave us in the Bible and most importantly, studying the life of His son, Jesus, gives us guidance and discernment on our walk in life.

And we can’t forget our own story. I believe God has planted deep within our soul, a story, our core essence, created by Him, unique only to us. Our journey on earth as humans is to discover and sing that song God has placed within us.

     “We had thought that we were human beings making a spiritual journey; it may be truer to say that we are spiritual beings making a human journey.’ (Teilhard deChardin)”

Trusting God – Lectio Divina

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What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web. Job 8:14 (NIV)

A spider’s web.

Lord, once again I put my trust in something other than You.

I turn my focus outside of You and lay my hope into human hands.

Even worse, I take control all by myself with false self-confidence that I could do it on my own.

I know that foundation is weak,

I know it may fail even before I begin.

I hold my breath…

Take one stop onto that thin ice…

and think maybe…

maybe this time….

Yet like this verse I put the weight of my burdens on the fragile spider web and expect it to hold up.

Lord, the world weaves a tapestry of spider webs. The sinister spider invites me to believe in the safety on its web.

I see the fascinating intricate patterns masquerading as strengths. I cling to them before their stickiness adheres to me. I trust in what I easily see instead of what I know to be true.

Or I grip onto my own plans instead of waiting for Your clear guidance.

Your word in the book of Job is to beware of spider’s webs.

I grab for a spider’s web and it crumbles in my hand.

I reach for You and You catch me in Your perfect love.

I am fragile, Lord. Hold onto me, please.

In You I trust, my Hope and my firm Foundation.

A Swedish Blessing - Quote of the Week

Fear less, hope more;

Eat less, chew more;

Whine less, breathe more;

Talk less, say more;

hate less, love more;

and all good things are yours.

Swedish Proverb

A Promise from God – Guest Post by Phil Malmstrom

     About a year ago I discovered a great blog, Inspirations by Phather Phil written by Phil Malmstrom. 

     He honestly shares his heart and his conversation with God in a way that makes you feel you are drawing up a chair and taking part in the intimate discussion between three good friends: you, Phil and God.

    Since I have spent much of this month trying to see the cold bleak Ohio winter season with new eyes and discovering its lessons, I asked Phil if he would share some thoughts about winter with us. 

    Thank you Phil for giving me insight and hope in winter.

The Promise

Stark…

Cold…

Bleak…

Unyielding…

Such is the way many choose to view the winter landscape.

And yet,

I believe that winter carries with it a deeper message;

A Promise from God.

I absolutely love taking long, quiet walks in the woods; spending that communion time with my Heavenly Father, surrounded in the majesty of His bounty. In that Stillness, I find that I feel powerfully connected to God’s presence, and He’s used those moments of intimacy to bring me some wonderful revelations.

I try to visit our local forest as often as possible, even during the “less comfortable” seasons.  Seeing the many transitions and phases of God’s creation never fails to unveil new truths to me, and whatever the conditions are I always come away feeling Blessed for my time there…

Even in the dead of winter.

Hmmm… The “dead” of winter…

Not a very accurate description in my opinion.

I actually enjoy walking through the woods in the winter months.  Strolling among the leafless timbers, the barren landscape lies in stark contrast to the lush foliage that normally fills the scene. And yet, while first impressions are that all life has left this place, nothing could be further from the truth…

Life still resides here…

Waiting…

Promising to burst forth and begin anew with the breath of spring…

Just as God designed it to.

And funny enough, He designed our lives that way as well.  Like that forest, our paths are bound to the seasons God lays out for us…

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

Times of abundance, and periods of trial; both are gifts from God. We celebrate those moments when His Blessings shine brightly all around us, and yet those times of wanting are also cause to rejoice…

When instead of dwelling on our pain,

We give thanks for His promise;

The promise that it is in fact, a season,

And that in the “dead” of our Winters, there is still life,

And there is still love.

Thank You for our Winters Lord, and Your promise of the Springs ahead.

Amen.

~Phather Phil

Creator God and Chocolate – Two Great Words Beginning with the letter “C”

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

What does the letter C bring to my mind and heart? 

Creator God and Chocolate

One of my best friends – a retired Catholic priest – begins his prayers when we are together with these words, “Creator God…”

I love it how he starts all his times with God remembering and honoring God as Creator. 

The attributes of God as Creator humble me, yet draw me closer to this God who can do absolutely anything and everything including loving us simple and frail human beings.

God’s hands shaped the universe out of chaos. In a blink of His eye, God established the hundreds of billions of galaxies, black holes from which nothing can escape, even light and the estimated two million comets just in our solar system.

God’s mind dreamed detailed description of life:  the polkadots on the giraffe, more than 12,000 species of ants, whales who compose underwater musical compositions, 30,000 facets or lenses in a dragonfly’s eye, four noses on a slug, eels who can produce a shock of up to 650 volts, catfish with 100,000 taste buds, and the 62,000 miles of blood vessels in the human body – laid end to end they would circle the earth 2.5 times.

God created another of my favorite “C” words: Chocolate

Image via Wikipedia

One of my most requested topics as speaker and retreat leader is called “What Chocolate Taught Me about God.” This the story I tell at the beginning of the talk.

~~~~~~~

God decided one week to be creative.

 After the first day of work when he returned to heaven, Michael, the archangel, asked him, “What did you do today, Lord? 

He answered,  “I made light and darkness, and it is good.”

After a second day of work, God sat down with Michael and told Michael that on that day he separated the waters and made the sky and is was good.

The third day it was getting rather late, Michael was worried. It isn’t like God to be late, you know. Finally the Lord appeared, skipping and happy, showing all sorts of signs of joy.

“What did you do today Lord that made you so happy?” 

“On this third day, I separated the water and made the dry ground appear, and then all the vegetation began to grow.”

“Oh,” said Michael, “all the brown stuff on your hands and face, is dirt then? 

“Oh no,” said God, “this is chocolate. It is great stuff and it is very, very good.”

“How are you ever going to top that creation Lord?”

“Mmmm, let me think about that for a few days,” replied God.

On the fourth day God made the sun and the moon and it was good.

Still thinking, the fifth day, He made animals, birds, creatures of the sea and it was good.

And on the sixth day, He said, “let us make man in our own image.” And He did make man and woman and gave them all the things of the earth to take care of. The Bible even mentions God gave them all seed bearing plants. Genesis 1:29 – “I give you every seed bearing plant on the face of the earth and every plant that has fruit with see in it.” – that is chocolate plant. 

He looked over everything he had made and it was good, so very good.

I praise the Lord for His creativity – snails, sea horses, and stink bugs.

I praise the Lord for His wisdom – the sun to provide light and life and waters to nourish us.

I praise the Lord for starting it all – the order – rhythm of the tides, the pattern of the seasons, and beauty in His rich color palette.

I praise God for the lessons I learn in the waiting and rest of winter.

I praise the Lord for spring – time of new births, fresh air, and renewed spirit.

I praise the Lord for seeing to the details that enrich our lives beyond measure – the smell of a newborn babies, the smile of a 99 year old friend, the laughter of families together, and yes, the yummy taste as sweet chocolate as it melts in our mouths.

I praise the Lord for who He is – Creator God.

Answering God Without Delay – Lectio Divina

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.

When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. Mark 1: 16-20

At once

Without delay

Lord that is how I want to respond to You.

At once

Without delay

No doubts

No hesitation

No maybe later

No let’s talk about this

No whining about too much to do

No postponing until it is more convenient

No forgetting my good intentions

No because I have more urgent things to do

No excuses

At once

Without delay

May I pay attention and seek You in every detailed moment of my life.

May I turn and listen to You immediately when I hear You call.

May I follow You without hesitation, keeping my eyes only on You.

May I hear Your direction and follow in Your footsteps

May my hands and heart serve You whenever You ask

May my answer be “Yes, Lord, here I am,” even when I don’t fully understand or know where You are taking me.

At once

Without delay

I am yours.

Our Vocation/ Our Call – Henri Nouwen

Image by ulterior epicure via Flickr


Quote of the Week

It is very important to realize that our vocation is hidden in where we are and who we are. We are unique human beings, each with a call to realize in life what nobody else can, and to realize it in the concrete context of the here and now.

We will never find our vocations by trying to figure out whether we are better or worse than others. We are good enough to do what we are called to do. Be yourself!

Henri Nouwen from Bread for the Journey

Why Do You Go to Church?

I read this story the other day:

A minister was talking to a man about joining the church.

“I want to join a church because I want to be fed,” said the man.

The ministered answered, “Well that is fine, but we all would be better off if you would take off your bib and put on an apron.”

Good answer, Pastor, but to be honest one of the reasons I do attend church is to feed my spirit. I attend for an opportunity to worship and be with God and to serve Him by helping and being with His community. So if you put all three reasons together I attend for God, for others and for myself.

Is that so bad?

The Barna Group recently surveyed Americans who have attended a Christian church sometime in the past and discovered what they say about their experiences in these congregations.  I found some of their discoveries very fascinating and through provoking. Also interesting to note that the size of the church didn’t matter – small, medium or large answered in similar ways.

·      Most people responded that they did connect with God at church. I thought it was sad though that a third never felt His presence at church. After all 66% is considered failing in school. Yet part of me is also surprised that two-thirds did experience God in a church setting.

·      One-quarter of Americans (26%) who had been to a church before said that their life had been changed or affected “greatly” by attending church. Another one-fourth (25%) described it as “somewhat” influential. Nearly half said their life had not changed at all as a result of churchgoing (46%). Almost one half said church had not changed their lives? Wow!

·      When asked to think about their last church visit, three out of five church attendees (61%) said they could not remember a significant or important new insight or understanding related to faith.  Can you recall a new insight from last Sunday?  I am really appreciating and enjoying our new pastor as I usually do take away awareness that applies to my daily living.

·      This study also showed that 68% of the respondents said when they attend church they feel “part of a group of people who are united in their beliefs and who take care of each other in practical ways.” On the other hand, one-quarter (23%) of those with church experience selected the description that church feels “like a group sharing the same space in a public event but who were not connected in a real way.”

·      The survey asked respondents to consider the budget, activities, and encouragement of the church they usually attend and to rate how much of an emphasis is placed on serving the poor. In total, 40% of adults with church experience said caring for the poor was emphasized “a lot,” while 33% indicated it was “somewhat” of a priority.

I am thinking of sharing these findings with our church council and Sunday School class. May get some good discussion going.

What do you think? Do you agree with what they found out? Why do YOU attend church?

Winter Lessons from Birdnests

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

Image via Wikipedia

What does the letter B bring to my mind and heart? 

Since I have been trying to find the gifts during cold and snowy Ohio winters, I could say that the letter “B” stands for bleak, boring, blowing, and brisk see your breath bundling cold.  HA!

But the letter “B” reminded me instantly on a blog post I wrote a year ago about bird nests and their lessons for me. So I am reprinted it here today in honor of the letter “B.”

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   Winter enfolds me with a sense of emptiness and loss of hope. My mood reflects the dreary gray winter sky that blanket northwest Ohio.

    But the last few years I see winter with new eyes and a renewed appreciation of its beauty and purpose. I am surprised at this new phenomenon and the joy I have discovered in it stark loveliness.

      Bird nests were the first indication of seeing winter in a new way. My eyes were drawn to them. I saw them everywhere. Tree branches, now barren, allowed me to see them where they were hidden before.

    Every time I looked up, multiple bird nests materialized. They beckoned me, “Look at me, I have something to tell you.” In His mysterious way, God began to invite me to wonder about these empty and barren nests.

    The nests were not just empty, but represented hollow vacant cups, waiting to be filled. Instead of focusing on what they did not have, they remained open, ready to hold new life that was yet to come. These ordinary nests made of everyday stuff, though empty, slowly pulled me into a new realization. The nests symbolized a lesson that began to transform me to hear what God’s lesson.

      The nests embodied God’s promise of fresh beginnings in the next season. That simple change in my perspective permeated my soul. My feelings of being mired in dreariness and dryness disappeared. For the first time in a long time, I felt hope.

     Our lives are like these nests, having seasons of production and times of rest. The ordinary everyday stuff like twigs of good times and laughter, straw of tears and tensions, soft down of love and community, and mud of confusion and change make up most of life's events. God’s presence still exists even in the dreary season of winter while He is quite actively preparing each of us for new growth.

     I glance out of my office window and see my garden at rest. Its stillness tells me to create a space to listen to God and to nourish my roots to become stronger for the season ahead.

     Richard Foster in his book titled Prayer, writes, “Winter preserves and strengthens a tree. Rather than expending its strength on the exterior surface, its sap is forced deeper and deeper into its interior depth. In winter, a tougher more resilient life is firmly established. Winter is necessary for the tree to survive and flourish.”

    In my journal I wrote, “I fell in love with winter this year. The stark silhouettes of the barren trees against the gray skies; the sudden appearance and attraction to bird nests – hollow, empty –composed of ordinary stuff of life, waiting to be filled. Waiting to be filled.”

      I originally only saw the emptiness and hopelessness in that dreary winter season. God led me to a new appreciation of this time and taught me a valuable lesson. Every winter since then, I search the barren tress for the bird nests. Instead of emptiness, I now see symbols of hope and promises of new expectant life. I see beauty in winter.

What does winter show you?

A Perceiving God – Lectio Divina

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139: 1-2 NIV

You perceive my thoughts

You perceive my thoughts, Lord.

Why do You pay so much attention to me?

I certainly don’t return the favor.

Why do You listen so closely to everything I think and believe and act upon?

I know I don’t take the time to hear You that deeply or consistently.

Why are You so aware of my opinions and imagined perspectives of the world?

Too often I only seek my ego-driven point of view, not pausing to wonder what You may have divinely designed.

Perceive is an odd word, Lord

To perceive –

    to observe

     to behold,

       to discern and discover,

         to grasp and to hear

           to know and to touch and

             to understand.

Why, Lord?

Part of me knows the answer lies in Your love, yet I resist fully believing if You really knew me, if You perceived my most inward thoughts…

Would You still love me?

Yet You hold fast and continue to perceive my thoughts – to hold my thinking – to touch my soul and to understand and  - gasp - to love me.

Unfailing love.

Merciful love.

Faithfull love

Your love.

Celtic Benediction – J. Philip Newell

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In the busyness of this day, grant me a stillness of seeing, O God.


In the conflicting voices of my heart, grant me a calmness of hearing.


Let my seeing and hearing my words and my actions be rooted in a silent certainty of your presence.


Let my passions for life and the longings for justice that stir within me be grounded in the experience of your stillness.


Let my life be rooted in the ground of your peace, O God, let me be rooted in the depths of your peace.

from CELTIC BENEDICTION by J. Philip Newell

A Spiritual Legacy – My Aunt Anna

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on a letter of the alphabet. Check out the details here. It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.

The Letter A

What does the letter A bring to my mind and heart?  I knew the answer immediately: my great Aunt Anna.

What a legacy she left. My middle name  - Anne – was given to me in her honor. But she is also deep within my genes and DNA as she was a writer and studied spiritual giants in her lifetime.

Aunt Anna was born on January 24 1883 and was the sister of my grandfather. She died when I was just a teenager at the age of 84 so my memory of her is a gray-headed old woman who liked to tend her garden. Little did I know then that as an adult, I would identify so much with her.

Oh, how I would love to spend time with her now and talk over our mutual interests.

Aunt Annie received her Doctorate in Theology from Columbia University, New York in 1934. Her dissertation and first published book was called Friends of God – Practical Mystics of the 14^th Century. She also published a book, St. Elizabeth – Her Brother’s Keeper and numerous articles.  I have a copy of her third unpublished book too.

Aunt Anna – the writer

Anna spent a year in Germany researching the German mystics of the middle ages: Meister Eckhart, John Tauler, Heinrich Suso, and Jan Ruysbroeck.    

Aunt Anna – spirituality and “ the great cloud of witnesses” that go before us.

Besides teaching, Aunt Anna worked for the National Board of the YWCA and represented them in outreach to China and Japan. She did research in China for the Layman’s Foreign Missions and then served as Executive Secretary of the Council of Women Home Mission and Director of American Indian Work. She traveled extensively throughout the world. 

Aunt Anna – traveler

She knew so many people personally in Japan and China that when wars broke out in 1940s, she traveled on peace missions and took a stand against the war – a courageous and unpopular position. The violence and deaths broke her heart as she lost friends on all sides.

Aunt Anna – compassionate peace activist

And she wrote in her journals. I am so blessed to have most of her diaries, starting in 1913 through the 1950s. A few years are missing and many of the entries are just daily living references but also many treasures lie within her words waiting for me to discover.

On of my goals this year is to read through all her journals and get to know my Aunt Anna better.

Aunt Anna - journal writer

Legacy -  A legacy is something that is handed down from one generation to another.  Not only did Aunt Anna pass on physical items – her journals, letters, photographs – but she bequeathed something much deeper to me – her namesake. Her words and her life unite us across generations and the hallowed space between heaven and earth.

“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.” (Pericles)

What does the letter A bring to my mind and heart?  - My Aunt Anna and her priceless spiritual legacy woven into my soul.

The letter of the alphabet flooded me with cherished memories and thoughts about legacy. How about you? What does leaving a legacy mean to you?

Cold Sores and Cold Feet - No Wonder I Don’t Like Winter

This is the second in my series about Contemplating Winter – trying to find spiritual lessons in my least favorite season. You see, I am NOT a winter person. I dislike winter so much I rank it about ten on the list of four seasons. But I do know God sends us lessons in all experiences if only we are open to hold them for a while in our hands and hearts. What is winter showing me this year? “Contemplating Winter” will be the focus on my blog posts on Tuesday in January. Come and ponder this season with me.

"Hear! hear!" screamed the jay from a neighboring tree, where I had heard a tittering for some time, "winter has a concentrated and nutty kernel, if you know where to look for it." 

 ~Henry David Thoreau, 28 November 1858 journal entry

COLD

I pondered the word COLD this morning. No wonder I don’t like it. Think of all the negative associations with this word:

Cold sores

Cold feet

Cold-blooded

Cold war

Cold case

Cold shoulder

Cold sweat

Cold turkey

Brr – being cold is laden with emotional downheartedness. How depressing. I can’t help myself when I think of being cold to let my feelings sink into dark pessimism. Just the mention of the word I shiver and withdraw.

That is really stupid of me - letting what society says about a simple word cloud my opinion of a season and drain my joy. I am allowing myself to react to its initial meaning without dwelling deeper into its gifts.

Cold represents some good characteristics too.

Cold can be healing. I put on a cold compress to my sprained ankle to help it mend quicker. Or sooth my irritated eyes with a cool cloth. Winter coldness is time to rest, push my spiritual roots deeper and to heal.

Cold preserves food.  And who would eat hot ice cream, right? I wonder what I need to preserve and protect spiritually in this time of year?

Cold is refreshing. Don’t you love sipping ice-cold water when your throat is parched? Or breathing cool crisp air in after being shut inside all day in artificially heated environment? Lord, my faith is dry and brittle and I thirst for Your Living Water.

Cold build gratitude. To be honest try as I can to like winter, I do appreciate the warm weather of spring. I am grateful though, for furnaces that work, workers cleaning the roads, and bright winter sunshine during the day.

Coldness brings sharper perspective. The winter stars at night seem to shine clearer and brighter. Lord, open my eyes to see your world in divine clarity.

Cold makes me cautious. I slow down. I am more careful walking or driving on the snow. I think I enter prayer more reverently during winter at this slower pace. Now that is a new insight for me, as I never realized that before!

The word COLD takes on new meaning in my heart now. Next time I feel a bit chilly, I will the embrace and be thankful for its blessings. Maybe this winter gift is worth holding for a while.

What does the word COLD mean to you?

God Knows – Lectio Divina

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. Psalm 139: 1-2 NIV

You know me.

You know me, Lord.

Part of me takes great comfort with that statement.

Yet buried deep in my ego I squirm with the idea that You really know me.

All of me.

The good. The bad. The hidden.

You are familiar with every last atom in my body and fragment of my soul.

No wonder I doubt Your love at times.

I want to only share with You the decent, the behaving, the following all the rule parts.

I put on my mask of self-righteousness and in vain smugness exclaiming to others: God love you!  All the while tiptoeing the reality of my belief that if You really knew me, You would leave me.

Yet You call me Your child.

What an amazing God You are.

You welcome me with open arms, embracing all of me. So enfolding me with love that all the walls between us disintegrate and I collapse in Your heart, knowing You do love me.  Our souls meld in this all encompassing Knowing.

You do know me.

You know me.

You know me.

You know me.

And that makes all the difference.

Blessing for the New Year – Quote of the Week

May this year we have peace within.

May we trust God that we are exactly where we are meant to be and exactly where we are supposed to be heading.

May we not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.

May we use those gifts that we have received, and pass on the love that

has been given to us .

May we be content knowing we are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into our bones, and allow our soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

St. Theresa