Shame and Honesty

As you have become more and more the young woman, I have looked back at my journey into womanhood. I am the one who is to guide you in ways that your father cannot. I look deeper than I would look for myself into myself to find the good, the bad, and the ugly.

It really is hard to be that honest with myself because then I see areas that I need to change in me now. It is truly wonderful to be that honest because then I can grow up and stop living in old patterns that I picked up to just survive. I get a chance to thrive, as a face old shames.

I am ashamed that I did not bring my personal dilemmas to my mother, only I would have been even more ashamed if I had.

The shame was there, in part, because I was accepting wrong things and pretending it wasn't all so bad, all the while feeling very bad indeed. 

I want a peaceful inner life where shame is not sticking to me like glue, sticking and keeping me all stuck.

I don't want to be stuck. I want to be free to be me for you... for me, for life!

Agitation and a Need to Rebel

Learn to have a home base.

We are free.  As a free person, how do I manage my life to be competent, responsible, and dependable?

Max Lucado mentioned a time when he picked up the wrong suitcase.  The moral was that we should not live out of someone else's suitcase (or expectations for us).  We have our own suitcase.

When we are told who we are supposed to be, there is agitation in the core part of ourselves.

Only in being given freedom--as God does to each of us--do we find ourselves and can give ourselves freely.

My Biggest Parenting Job

My three older ones are teens.  Some parents in my case could say "Thank God they are almost all out of the house."  Others could say "I feel like I am going to be obsolete."  The parenting job some say is the hardest job you'll learn to love.

Speaking of teens almost adults, I'd like to say that it can feel amazing to be an adult!

Only, I didn't find that out until now.  To me being an adult meant that life would be dreary, tiresome, no playing, no fun, just "responsibility."

I realize that I need to be responsible and such.  However, too many times I have wondered why my actions seems so hit or miss.  I have not done what I wanted to (but didn't, but did, but didn't). It leads to not being dependable.

So, I began really thinking about it.  My usual MO is to read about a topic I want to know more about.  This time, I began writing, looking at why I do what I do; specially, why do I do what makes me feel worse about myself.

It is a rebellious thing: that "responsibility" thing was what others told me to do.  

Today, I tell myself thinking about my life and living it is my job. I need to tell myself to go to bed, to eat good food, to exercise, to pray, to smile, to have fun, to work hard, to be gracious with others.

This responsibility is linked closely with knowing what I want, who I am, where I am going, how I will think, act, believe.  The adult is the one who knows all of that and manages it.

Well, when a teen, I did not commit to asking all those questions at once and getting answers to live by.  

The sad truth, then, is that I have been living immaturely, expecting others to do my job for me.  I have not been showing up to my own job of living my life.

I hid behind being a people pleaser, a whiner, a complainer, a demander.

In the end, it all came out when I "committed" to things to avoid saying "no" and then didn't follow through.  It came out when I was not showing up for others.

I have been unreliable.  I have grown to dislike my unreliable, immature self.

Life, it happens, can be "lived" by going with the flow, doing what others want me to,  not rocking the boat, looking for getting what others have, comparing myself to others.  It is a series of lack of choosing, stumbling along, thinking I can never be enough so why try.

The commitment to being that better version of myself--the grown up one--is the framework to hold in all the answers for my life.  Commitment to myself can push me to go that healthy way of difficult growth--when the wider, non-thinking road seems better for demanding less and being "easier.  This more travelled road is not mentally rigourous, not spiritually challenging, not intellectually stimulating.  It is more mentally zoned-out, spiritually dead, intellectually unchallenging.

It is the way that one ends up on and then says "How did I get here!"

It was the ship without the captain steering the rudder with constant vigilance.  It was not making plans that led to goals and missions and legacy.

Going the road less travelled means one needs to think more, stand up more, be thought of as unconventional (at best).

Waking up the captain makes all the difference in results.  It is parenting oneself, rather than remaining an adult child.  It is getting out of the "house" (bad habits) and making childishness obsolete.  It is relishing decisions, practicing and knowing that makes one better at whatever one needs to learn how to do.

I can finally pinpoint what it all means:  rebel against rebelling.

Once I would be 18, I had also thought the world would open up to me.  It opens up for no one of its own.  One has to take it on.  A Mel Robbins YouTube video talks about how we make decisions and are there for ourselves. Parenting oneself gets one to do the hard things that will get one to become who one wants to be.

I get to manage my day-to-day projects, responsibilities, and needs to stay on track, advance and be someone my parents are glad to see thrive.

I get to do that for me!  Amazingly, that is when I like myself.  I begin to get what I really wanted:  being me.

Parenting myself is my biggest job ever.

Feel attractive by taking actions

My husband and I are opposites who attract.  Or repel, if we are stuck in not understanding why we are so different one from the other.

I was complimenting him on his risk taking to invest the family money so that it will grow.  I was impressed at how he had taken action, not just once, but over time, with patience, through ups and downs, to manage the money.  It takes forethought, continual thought, and the ability to move as one needs to.

Love and growth take action.  It can't just stay in our heads.  He calls us forth toward each other and the world! We are attractive when we respond. We show up strong, interestingly at the exact moment we are weak (vulnerable).

My husband shows me love through action.  He responds when I do the same. I learn incalculable lessons by being around him.  So, likewise, I am learning incalculable lessons being near Christ in Adoration chapel. These actions open us up to live by giving it first before receiving it.

Maybe, rather, we are grateful for receiving His Love first. He loved us in giving us each other. I wish you love!

Mother's Day Letting Go

Yesterday was Mother's Day 2018.  It was a really good day for me, resting, thinking, recharging, healing, believing in myself, having a support system in my family, getting breakfast in bed, a pizza picnic dinner out at a park in the evening. 

That is, there was margin and with that came personal time, with individual time with most of the members, including my husband, plus family time.  The pizza picnic got us all together.

Ironically, my husband spoke of how college is coming up and we will not be together as a family then. That got me thinking (beyond the financial) to spiritual growth together.  Are we growing in our journey toward trusting in God?

Yesterday, specifically, being Mother's Day, we did not meet for the class on apologetics; we didn't talk about God together. I may not notice the chances we are missing to go to Him, but I feel the lack by the end of the day or in the middle of the night.

The call to drink of the Living Water is there. 

There are ways to drink of that Water:

• through reading of Scripture;
• in meditating on His Words via Lectio Divina;
• via the offering of Himself at the Mass;
• within the pages of spiritual reading;
• in His individualized touch in our personal prayer;
• in asking Him questions;
• in listening to His answers;
• in leaning on what He calls us to;
• through taking action to do what He asks of us;
• in the strengthening of prayer with others;
• by talking and sharing with other believers, family, or friends.

I read that modern culture wants the Water without the going to the Well.  It wants the good stuff without the effort.  Yes, I am seeing myself in that.

I have turned to getting "self-improvement" without asking how to accomplish the vision God has for my life.

His vision encompasses my needs!  When we start high enough--when we become God's down deep--His Plan leads us to become our best self.

The other way, we are pulling ourselves up so painfully, trying to get our needs met.  

It is the St. Therese elevator method,

or the Little Child method of putting the hands up to know you will be lifted up without any other work on your part. One could think of this akin to instead of pulling up the full and heavy bucket of water from the well, being given a glass of fresh water to drink in our hand!

It is an entrusting ourselves to God, to trust Him to provide for our needs and then letting Him do that.

St. Therese acknowledged to God that she was too little to be able to do great things on her own.  She would not be able to scale great mountains like the saint giants of old.

She would need God to help her reach Him by providing an elevator she could get into and ride up all those stories.

Thomas Merton wrote Seven-Storey Mountain.  It is about the spiritual life and provides great imagery of a challenge in reaching God

because we have to re-create the way we think and act to be in His Image.

St. Therese surrendered her way of doing things to allow God to do His Bigger Way.  He is calling us each to allow Him to show us the Bigger Way.  We will get what we long for and more!  It is just that if we don't let go of control, we can't have that intimacy and trust in His looking out for us.

I let go of running the kitchen yesterday.  I allowed others to provide.  I became my better self of not controlling or not fearing for my needs.  It was such a humbling lesson because I was provided in such a bigger manner than I could have expected--so much love and thoughtfulness.

I continue on the journey.  Cooking resumes. Yet, yesterday, I learned in a visceral way what "Let Go, Let God" means.  I can move along inviting God into my life through the work of my hands, by my relationships.  I can meet Him in living my vocation and making my life a sacred meditation, a turning to God.



Ask Him what He needs for the building of His Kingdom.

May I allow Him to bless my marriage and motherhood and carry it out.

I turn to my Heavenly Mother (Happy feast of Our Lady of Fatima for yesterday), but that is another story for another time.

For today, I listen to Her "Yes" and let that lead me.

Happy belated Mother's Day!

Star Wars

We watched the newest Star Wars movie during the Christmas break as a family.  Later, we talked about things we didn't like in the movie, such as the way that the Resistance Leader didn't share information, or the way that Kylo Ren tore down Rey's self-esteem.

We realize that the Star Wars universe has affected our world, so it is important to see how it has influenced the way we think and act.  People are modeling their thoughts and behavior off of movie's these days now that movie are the cohesive fabric of society rather than the Word of God.

We talked, as well, about things we did like, such as the bright red of Snoke's throne-room or the first appearance of a proper Sith Cycle (Master trains Apprentice, Apprentice defeats Master and then becomes the Master).

The biggest issue that is brought up by the Ks is that one needs to connect and the Jedi belief that one cannot be married or attached to persons breaks away from true human nature.

Since then, there has been an ongoing talk about the Star Wars series, its inconsistencies, its errors.  The whole strength of Luke Skywalker is compromised.

A New Year and a new course!

A New Year

Dear Daughter,
You came to the Writers' meeting with me today.  Thank you! 

I want to write, but I am struggling with knowing my audience.  Then, I pull back and just think of you:  you are my audience, and I know how to talk to you.

A new semester is beginning, so you will be doing new things. 

Your new start is with the driving course.  So proud you are gaining new skills.
Learn well, grasshopper!

Isaiah 43:19English Standard Version (ESV)

19 Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.

-----------------------------------

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 14th this year.  The Christmas lights are still out, and it does not seem desert-like at all.  In fact, it got bitterly cold today.

So, imagery that would resonant more with me tonight would be God making a way in the chill, offering a hot fire in the fireplace, warming me up again!

In fact, I have not connected with enough family and friends with Christmastide that I do feel I am in a desert of sorts.  

Hope and Happiness

It is good to be challenged, and I thank you bringinghopeandhappiness.com for a seven-day make-a-difference challenge I received today to give back. I do help starfish daily, but forget I am saving them by doing that.

I am a mother, working now to exceed my children's expectations.  My tired son wanted pancakes for dinner,  so I did that as he napped. Fudge syrup and whipped cream. Exceeded his expectations. Then he exceeded mine, using the rest of the batter for large, grilled-in-a-bit-of-oil pancakes: crunchy on the outside, fluffy inside.

They were out of my own batter (when mine where bite-size and a bit dry--hence whipped cream!) and taught me it's not what you have; it's how you use it!

I can use my talents to make a difference to those nearest me, and this week will do it without expecting anything back. I know mothers tend not to be thanked daily, but we all tend not to be thanked.

(I thanked my starfish for the restaurant-quality pancakes he shared with siblings!)

It feels so amazing to be acknowledged as a difference-maker. The one you help may help you back unexpectedly. (Or not.)

I thank you for your difference! And I challenge you to make a habit out of that difference-making-for-one-person.

Disappointed and going nowhere! Part 1 of the Light my Fire series

Apathetic?  Bored?  Disappointed?  Stuck?  Not making traction? Make a goal!  Then reach for it!

Things really do get started that way!

I just haven't because I think that I can mess up.  If I have a goal, I may not reach it. I'll feel like less. I'll feel alone!

Wait, what do I really fear?  Lack of support and encouragement.  

Ah, that makes more sense because I know that even if I don't reach a goal, it is still good to move forward.  Right!  However, a part of me has thought that I have to get it done, done really well, or it is not worth doing at all.

I see my track record. I do not get things done.  I start and then fizzle.  That is what is keeping me from starting again:  my lack of faith in myself and in my ability to get supported.

It is not wrong to want support and encouragement.  However, keep a dream in your heart, nourish it, live it, work it, move toward it!  Otherwise, your heart will grow faint, weak, demoralized, cynical, bitter, angry.  All that stuff that doesn't work toward living fully!

I want to live, not die!

I need to help my dreams live, not die!

Just to be Alone for 2 minutes

We each need that space in which God can be with us.

Space gets filled up.

He gets squeezed out.

We can find a way to be with Him.

Giving Him two minutes: 

one with adoration and thanksgiving

"Here I am to worship, here I am to say You are my God, thankfully."

and another with contrition and supplication

"Here is where I am (what I have done wrong, what I really long for, how I need help to attain it). Help me be who You call me to be."

It trains us to turn to Him,

to be OK with silence and waiting.

He will not let us down

as we lift Him up, 

as we turn to Him.

Love and prayers,

VMK

Find the gift in the experience!

My dear,

Your father really likes "Groundhog Day," the movie.

It has quite a lot of humor in it.  It is that fun bit about seeing the world from different perspectives.

The Bill Murray character starts as an arrogant, negative newspaper man covering Ground Hog Day and living the same day over and over again:  "Life has a way of repeating itself!"

There are some interesting one-liners, but most glaring is his lack of enjoyment in life and his rudeness. What comes first?  That or his self-centeredness?  

There is too much of my own mistakes in him! At first, that kept me from really liking the movie.  Where was the inspiration?

It was all so cynical.  Can you relate to that?  For instance, he doesn't help a person on the street asking for help and ignores them. How many days have I had to "relive" before I figured out that it is in making life more amazing for others that I find great fulfillment!

The great shift comes--for me and for the movie--when he starts making new choices, and the female lead likes him more and more.   

You've seen and felt my mistakes.  I have seen and felt yours.  The inspiration is in how we have helped each other through the mistakes!

Thank you!

I always like the way you pull yourself out of the mood that caused a problem between us.  You come over and apologize.  Your awareness has allowed me to learn not to make it worse.  I give you space.  I gain new patience!

Thank you for the openness that models healthy living! space too and pulling out of Groundhog Day with new responses.

 I did not want to be like Bill Murray, stuck in this one day, going through the same rocky day, unable to get off and keeps reliving it until growing as a person.

I need to attempt to solve the larger problems rather than just wait on it, live with the problem.

Instead, I can look for the gift in the experience and learn the life lesson as soon as possible from the living in each day.

So, see when you catch yourself stuck in the "same day"--acting the same way that doesn't help us or others.

We all need to learn how to live life!

Giving yourself Dignity

You know how I mentioned having dignity in how you act.

Well, someone needs to tell me that too!  And just did!  Her name is Sandra Felton, and she is the author of Winning the Clutter War, known as The Organizer Lady on YouTube.

She said:  

Cleaning your room is actually

treating yourself with dignity.

This wasn't said in a derogatory way.  Usually we need to delve into what we are experiencing to understand it better, and then to act rather than just coast in that behavior.  So far, I agree that I am giving up a lot of who I can be if I just stay where I am and act as I have.

You know how it is when we get tired, hungry, angry, lonely:  we stop treating ourselves, others, or both with a sense of dignity.  The yelling, whining, complaining, criticizing begin.  That is dishonoring.That is messy behavior that needs attention and management.

Our messy behavior with our things, not just our emotions, may have deep roots, as well.

Sandra Felton explains how many are living out painful emotions through negative actions.

She says,

(1)  We could be resisting keeping the house nicer because we want to show anger. A spouse may leave things messy as a weapon in a family conflict.  Or deep in your own heart you are resisting being made to do what you don't want to do. Maybe you are angry about being forced to spend your time doing jobs that you hate.  The rageful dance is very destructive to moving forward in neatness.

(2) It could be leaving stuff around the house, not cleaning up the room as a statement of independence. Or maybe it is the voice of your mother, the neatness checker, echoing from the past. It becomes overwhelming and one wants to ignore it.

It helps to see underlying, hidden motivations that lead to messiness.  Then one can move past them.

One can find joy in having order and peace.

Staying Small and Under the Radar

I was listening to a Ted Talk by Brene Brown at 3 minutes 30 seconds Shame and Vulnerability

Innovation, creativity, and change were the things I was asked to talk about--not shame or vulnerability.

Vulnerability is not weakness, she says.  That myth is profoundly dangerous.

Lean into the discomfort One needs to live and love with, not without, vulnerability.

Stories are "data with a soul"

Emotional risk, exposure, honesty, and it is an accurate measure of courage.

Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity, and change.  Create something!  Adaptability to change is vulnerability.

It is a spiritual awakening moment to break down.

Cultural "truth:" if you cannot measure it, it doesn't exist.

She wants to talk about messy topics.  Relationships are messy, but they give meaning to our lives--the ability to feel connected is how we are wired!

She wants to lay the code out for everyone to see.



I called my friend Chris and was so grateful I could be vulnerable with her.

"Opportunity for growth" amidst all the positives leads one to focus on that problem area!

I told Chris that I struggle with seeing the positive.  It is the one negative thing amidst all the positives that I will zero in on, stressing and frustrated.

Ask about love, and you hear about heartache.
Ask about belonging, you hear about rejection.
Ask about connection, and you hear about disconnection.

Shame:  fear of disconnection
The more you talk about it, the less you have it ;)

To make a connection possible, one has to be seen!

Speak up!

I have gotten stuck in the why-I-can't, trapped into just saying "poor me."

That is not the kind of daughter I want!  We have been talking about being proactive, being relentlessly happy.  And we know Who does that for us, with us, in us!

I will begin my journey to learn how to have MORE faith!  I will continue my journey I began at Baptism!

Faith in myself and faith in what God can do was explained to me today in a talk I listened to about a plain brown bush.  The plain bush is the one that God set on fire!  It is the one that stunned Moses because it was burning and did not burn up!  

Now that I reflect on my life, I see that He is always trying to set me back on fire. We are not to live in darkness.  He is the Light of the world!  In Baptism, through the grace of the Church He established to pass on what He began, we are joined to Him and made the light of the world!

Remember the way we start out in darkness at the Easter Vigil Mass?  Then we are given candles, and they are lit up starting from the Easter candle (symbolizing Christ), to the priest, down to each other!

Ephesians 5:8: "For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord: walk as children of light"

Christ's life within me is the fire, lighting me up, but not consuming who I am.  Yeah, that is stunning!

I can say that in not turning to Christ more often during my low moments, it has led to a turning off of that light, that passion, in me.  In Baptism, our sponsors are told to help us keep the light of Christ burning.

1 John

5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin"

Set my heart on fire.  I asked for that when I was 18, after I started to really think about Confirmation, setting the world on fire, knowing, loving, trusting, serving God.  He gives us a great deal of a new start at a full life, and I just knew one should not pass that up!

At the American Heritage Girls' Leadership Conference in January 2015, there was that song on the last day that reminded me of my long-ago desire:  I wanted to set the world on fire at Pentecost and beyond with the Holy Spirit like at the First Pentecost!

Set the World on Fire 

by Britt Nicole

I wanna set the world on fire
Until it's burning bright for You!
It's everything that I desire.
Can I be the one You use?
I, I am small, but
You, You are big enough!
I, I am weak, but
You, You are strong enough to

Take my dreams, come and give them wings.
Lord, with You, there's nothing I cannot do,
Nothing I cannot do!"

There is a bit of a change to this theme, still with the focus on a change, a renewed passion:

I don't want to set the world on fire
I just want to start a flame in your heart

   By The Inkspots

I have longed to "Shine" like the Newsboys sang:

Shine
Make 'em wonder what you've got
Make 'em wish that they were not
On the outside looking bored
Shine
Let it shine before all men
Let'em see good works, and then
Let 'em glorify the Lord

Trust Makes a Way!

I have been wanting to "start my life" since I was in my teens!  It's about reaching out, teaching what has worked for me.  It's wanting my struggles to find happiness, peace, joy, fulfillment to help others find it sooner than I have!

Fear keeps getting in my way.  What if others just want to be left alone?  What if they have questions I cannot answer?  What if I forget to practice what I have learned?

I have not gone forward in sharing my life as I had dreamed I would.  That in itself would be a whole victory story -- loving enough to reach out!

We need each other!  We need that approval and support of each other.

One needs to confront to get ahead... confront the fear and do what I know I am called to do...

Reach and teach!

I am getting the guest room ready for a visitor, and I found a book I would recommend to my father when he arrives this week:  "Do it!: Let's Get Off Our Buts."

While I was going to college, I had a book called "Life 101" which he once borrowed and recently returned.  It was written by the same author as "Do it!" and was left unread for many years:  "Then I finally picked it up and read it!"

Now, as I re-read it, it makes so much more sense:  making plans, having goals.  In my early twenties, I couldn't wrap my mind around goals.

Today I began a book on making decisions.  I made the decision to reach out and teach today!  What?  What I am learning :)

I am learning that it is in going through the fear, trusting God to sustain me, as He did for His People when He parted the Red Sea, that I can move forward.  I cannot do it alone.  (John 15:5 reminds us that we cannot do things apart from God.)

Doing it on my own power, I haven't done it, haven't moved beyond my fear.  Fear is our chance to lean on God.  We pass the test, so to speak, when we go to Him rather than back to our land of slavery.

I was listening to a YouTube video by Joyce Meyer when she visited El Paso.  She told the story of God rescuing His People with such mighty, mighty works that anyone and everyone would be able to trust Him to take care of them!

Yet, even after the parting the Red Sea that gave them a way out (one that no one could have imagined!), God is not trusted when problems arise again. Let's go back to what we knew, even if it was slavery!

We have to want a better so much that we will turn and trust God for it--and know that He will deliver!  It does not mean that He will give us the easier route.  We need the long way

sometimes (often!) to be made ready for our new challenges.  As my daughter reminds me, I am to see that I have made progress, not just say that I am not there yet and despair!  Rejoice instead!!!

I want the easy way--no wonder I keep going backward.  I focus on my fears rather than focus on Him:  I need to see the Light, look at what He IS doing now, praise Him for that, move toward Him.

I CAN do the harder way, if I abide in Him! He is reaching out to me to teach me to take the challenges! It will make me ready to turn to Him when I make decisions, going forward though afraid, for I rest in Him.

And that is a lot to learn in one morning!  All the lessons were pointing to getting past fears and doing what God is calling me to do--sharing what I have struggled through.

I can be proud of that--facing negativity and fear and going forward through it! It feels amazing to find Him there, waiting, loving, supporting me!

Kinetic Energy!

"Mommy, are you available right now?"

"I could be..."

I walk over to the living room where a pair of legs are up in the air.  I know that is the son who called me over, not because I can see his face, but because I recognize his pants! (When the pants become "hand-me-down"s, it throws me off for awhile until I link the new owner to the pants!)

"So, do I talk to the feet?" I joke to him, surprised to see him this way.

He (Oldest Brother, OB) is polite, so he realizes this is not an ideal situation for talking to me about his idea.

He is also funny, but so is his spunky, younger brother (YB) who jumps into the discussion with a closed hand up near OB's face!

The mood in the room shifts:  "How about you talk to the fist!"

His implied threat takes over.

(I never did find out what OB's idea was!)

I stand by to hear how this will play out: I can usually count on a battle of wits rather than a brute-strength battle!

OB:  "Well, hello, Fist, how are you feeling?  I hope you are feeling weak today!"

YB's Fist:  "Nope, I have a lot of energy today... kinetic energy!"

I'll let you imagine the ending.  I was off laughing really hard.  I love science talk!

The Name of Jesus--Words Create Reality! Part 2 of 2 in Name of Jesus Series

With God, words have power!  



Greek and Jewish philosophers 

believed that God had created 

everything

through His word, or His wisdom.  


Words create reality with God:  

He says it, and it happens!

Words are powerful, as powerful as the speaker and the speaker's integrity and authority.

    
The "word" was His power to think

 — his rationality, His creativity.



The Word was made flesh!   In post-modern language, Jesus is God's "selfie."

(Wow, now that is getting into the Oneness of the Threeness in the Trinity!)

I often get out of balance when I do not ponder deeper spiritual realities.  I get stuck in the mundane, the routine, the comfort zone.

 I think there is plenty to learn before you are officially an adult, and you should work at growing in many areas.  I am working at doing that myself!  In reading about teens, I am finding a lot applies to adults that want to have it "more together!"

The Church sets January aside to honor the Holy Name of Jesus.  He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega (Revelations 22:13).  He is honored in January and December, from His Birth to His Presentation and beyond.

His very Name is a constant reminder of His task of saving us, but contains within it, as well, all the marvelous and beautiful things He did while on this earth.  Use that Holy Name with love and reverence.  Call upon Him!  His Name is a prayer, my dear!

Reflect on the meaning of things.  He gives all things purpose and meaning.  Let Him speak to you.

The Holy Name of Jesus -- getting things "more together!" Part 1 of 2 in Name of Jesus Series

The Holy Name of Jesus

I know that one always hears that teens like to form their own identity and even choose a nickname, choose and form who they are.  

I thank you for helping me understand you, bit by bit, talking to me. Thank you for reaching out via the Breathe Prayers and by reading this blog :)  This is partly for you and partly for me to meditate on greatnesses that I have a hard time valuing enough.

Thank God we are called by the Church to dwell on Truths via the Liturgial Cycle, year after year, deeper and deeper.  Pentecost is coming up and Ascension Thursday was just yesterday.   What meaning is in the Name of Jesus?

There is great love expressed in His Name!

He does it through His Son...

It means "God Saves."  Even saying His Name shows us why He lived!

You'll gobble it all up!

I've always been amazed at how quickly you go through books!

I would say it is the ratio of how-long-it-takes-to-write to how-long-it-takes-to-read that boggles my mind, as well!

It reminds me of how we would eat the bunuelos that my mother made faster than she could make them--

that is, by the time she finished making them and was ready to eat one herself (after stacking them for us for 45 minutes), there were not any left!







How does this apply to us? Well, you all make the fun food, and you share it, so we don't have that problem. 



But what about you reading my posts before I even get a chance to enjoy a comment about what you thought about what I wrote?  You'll be on searching for the next post to gobble up!

I can't keep up with that voraciousnesss!  I need to write to you for a year, and then you can have an afternoon of reading :)

That said, I will write to you at the speed of life.  It is now time to get ready for the Board meeting, so I'll see you later!  You are in my thoughts and prayers (go, get something to eat!).

Love,
your Mother