Don't get lost... in the negative!

I will not expect the doubts to go away.

I just learn how to face them, acknowledge them, work past them. Housework overwhelms me, leaving me wondering when I will read, write, connect with friends.

The work doesn't go away, but when I face it, I grow--and then I can give to others, especially those nearest to me.  I want to give them God's love not my frustration.

Pick up on what you are always talking about already.  Then branch out and help others with that :)

Research and put down what you learn.  Or say it with a photo...

Integrate things or close the door and move on. Have an impact!

Use your energy well by living right where you are -- not thinking in the past or into the future, even if that means clearing a counter for a clean home or baking a pie for a surprise dessert or saying a prayer to get closer to God and others.

Complex ideas -- simple steps -- take action -- make it happen -- that is the creator part in us that we share with God by being in His Image.

Be gutsy.  Be proactive.  You are the one that can make that particular thing happen!  God is always showing us the way we are to go.

Your Today Message: Move forward!

How to advance?

Bit by bit.

Look around at what needs doing.

Do something now.  Begin. Your talents kick in once you throw your hat  in the ring!

One can miss the action of the moment by not observing what is available.

Say "I  am enough.  I have enough."

He is always providing.

Walk with Him.

Your talents  can help you give, and then you receive so abundantly!

I have been stuck so often, wanting to know the next step!

Children often go forward in confidence, curiosity, and creativity!

So, I take a step into inviting you in, not having the blogs for future days written now, but come back as things unfold, bit by bit to observe the blooming of it all!  Not just my blooming, but yours, as well.

Take control--take the steps!

Whenever, it seems, that I mention I have four children, I get the question of how do I do it.

"How do you get done so much?" is probably the question.

The simple answer is "I am not alone."  I have God's help, my husband's support, and friends and family. Well, that is my answer on a good day.  

As a woman, especially on long, tiring days, I deal with my internal voice which asks the question: "Why can't you get things done?  You fail to execute on those plans you write down on your to-do list!"

One key factor is for getting things done is to:

the emotions!

By controlling my emotions, like the one of despair or frustration, I regain control over my thinking which helps me get things done rather than stewing over how I feel.  

It is a relaxed control rather than frenetic activity.  Simply put, it is the ability to look at the situation, think and reflect on options, and act appropriately.

That is, not just going on knee-jerk reactions, explosive reactions, impulses, and fears.

My husband can be quite good with relaxed control, thinking things out and planning.  Seeing him to it, I've learned how to do it, to some extent!  In fact, this year, I planned the family vacation!

He and I had wanted to go see the U.S.S. Lexington for quite some time in Corpus Christi!  We anticipated seeing aircraft carrier built for the Navy in WWII  was commissioned in 1943, saw action in the Pacific, got remodernized in the 1950s, served as a training carrier for 30 years, and was decommissioned in 1991.  It was an amazing adventure for my three sons who are WWII buffs.

I have been using this technique of controlling my emotion of anger when I hear some snippy remark from my teenage daughter.  She doesn't mind pushing buttons...

 and so I push back by taking control and addressing the deeper issues.  I ask what she is going through.  (Plus, she is REALLY good at apologizing on her own!  I make that easier by not pushing back and staying open to her.)

In the process, I am taking control.

I know appreciate that God is ALWAYS open for us!  He is also the One in control of everything... like helping my friends I visited in Corpus Christi this last July to move back to the Dallas area this March!  He takes control and asks us to move in His Plans... living our vocation brings great joy and growth for ourselves and others (though it isn't as easy as pushing a button!).

Then we won't have regrets!

I had been thinking about how to live Lent this year, ready to get going, thinking of it a month before it arrived!

Why mention that?  Let's put it this way, I was not always ready to meet Lent head-to-head.  It's that Cross stuff, you know!  Suffering and for what?

Well, I've been going through some suffering--emotional and physical--and now I realize that one needs to accept what one cannot change.  To have the courage to change what one can (like someone hunger), serenity to accept the things one cannot (that one gets hunger daily), and wisdom to know the difference.  

During Lent, I can work on serenity and on courage.

I used to really get frustrated in college that Holy Week was during Spring Break.  Why did I have to be in the church full days when others were at the beach?  Alright, didn't I already do this last year?  I remember that He died for me.

Now I know that I DO NOT remember He died for me.  It is a constant gift, at each Mass, giving Himself to God the Father to intercede for us.  He doesn't complain that He did it yesterday and the
day before, just as a woman in love doesn't complain she did a loving kindness yesterday and the day before, so why again today?!

Some show up at church twice a year: Christmas and Easter. That is enough, right?  The rest of the year, they can handle things on their own.  We can handle our lives, right?  We have the serenity and courage on our own, right?  Yes, I do forget that everything we have, even the serenity and courage, come from Him.  He calls us to Himself, not to tolerate us, but to love us profoundly, in the midst of our temptations, dreams, and battles.

Life is a constant battle of choosing the good over the bad, of living just the way I want to and of living the way that will really bring me joy and fulfillment.  Lent helps me find my way back to knowing what is really good, what joy really is.  I find my way back to God.

Back to the Check-in-twice-a-year style:  it acknowledges Christ's Birth and Christ's Death.  Christmas and Easter are such huge days that "Christmas Day" and "Easter Day" actually cover a period of nine days and into Christmastide and Eastertide for about forty more days of reflection on the Birth and the Death of our Redeemer.  

We get ready for those times with time before it.  In the end, we will realize that we were living our Forty-Years-in-the-Desert during our lifetimes, always lead by Him, always getting ready for the time when we will see God face to face!  For He is indeed, the Promised Land!  He leads us in the Eucharist so we may "see" Him this side of Heaven.  The desert is hard... that's true.  Drink often of His Ways to not get parched and lukewarm, dehydrated and in survival mode.  It makes you stronger in dealing with life.

 In the desert, He is the Living Water; we won't complain the times we thought of Him, drank Him in, dwelt on Him, over and over again.  Blessed Lent!