I can hardly believe so much time has lapsed since my last post.  Things have been busy in my home…doctor appointments, tests and lab work, baby-sitting, Spring cleaning.  And then there was Lent.

I decided to forget about giving up the desserts and candies, a guise to start my old diet; but, to spend more time focusing on my relationship with God.  New prayers, more of the old favorites, and religious reading was my way of focusing this Lent.  I found myself spending more time with God and less on other things in my life…less computer time, less phone time.

I wondered why I wasn’t able to share my time with God in my blog.  I have no answer, except that perhaps I was selfish and possessive of our time together…God and me.  It was time I just wanted to share with Him, our time.   A time I found my spirit to be still.  So forgive me for the long silence.  During that time you, my readers, were still in my thoughts and certainly in my prayers.

I would like to share with you my thoughts about a time we were baby-sitting for three of our young grandchildren for several days early on in Lent.  James, the youngest at just three years old, is his Daddy’s boy.  “I want my Daddy” was repeated many times over that first night and it took lots of cuddling and hugs before he fell asleep.  The next morning we were greeted with “I want my Daddy.”  Thank goodness for my husband’s chocolate chip pancakes, a great distraction, which are  the very best!  Then the day was filled with games and playing outside under the blue sky in the sunshine.  All five of us had a delightful time!

As I was cooking dinner, the children were amusing themselves with coloring books.  Out of the blue, James called out to me, “E-Mom, I love you!”   What a gift from this little one which took me completely by surprise!  “I love you, too, James.  I love you very much.”

A few days later at weekday Mass, Father Jack said that our prayers should not only be those of petition and thanksgiving, but of adoration.  He said that we should tell God we love Him.  James’ “E-Mom, I love you” popped into my mind.  I didn’t need to hear that for me to love James or enjoy caring for him; but, it brought such utter delight!  It was a surprise; unexpected; and warmed my very heart…that little boy with his big smile!

So, that’s what it might be like for God, I got to thinking.  He certainly doesn’t need my love to exist and doesn’t need it to love me.  He loves me more than I realize.  He loves all of us unconditionally…always has, always will.  But for Him to hear it from us, to hear “I love you, God”  must bring a smile to His face and joy to His heart.   Picturing my God smiling, because of me, makes me want to shout that over and over again….I love you, God!  I love you, God!  I love you, God!  And I find myself smiling as well!

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God,  I do love You.  Help me remember that You, too, enjoy hearing those words.  Amen

“Let me be aware of the many ways you reach out to help me today and let me stand in awe of the power that you use in such loving ways.”  These words are from an online devotional, Lent: One Prayer A Day.  I happened to find the site by accident and promptly e-mailed all my friends of it.

I say by accident; but, is anything really by accident?  Just last week a friend and I were talking about all the wondrous small ways God works in our lives.  Some people would call these times coincidences.  We like to call them God-incidences.

The question that always arises by many is why would such a mighty God be involved in the little things you do every day?  The God that created the moon and stars, created man, created all the elements on the Periodic Table and some that are not even discovered as yet.  Why would this God be concerned about the little things, things of such little importance in our daily life?

My guess is because He is our loving Father.  He sent His Son to redeem us.  He gave us the Eucharist through His Son, Jesus.  I once heard a priest say in his homily that Communion is God’s way of being close to us.

I see a loving Father who wants to be involved in our lives, who wants to be close to us throughout the day.  It’s almost like He is hugging us often during the day.  I can’t help but think of us grandparents who just can’t get enough of our grandbabies.  We just want to hold those little babes in our arms and when we do, we can’t stop kissing them!  Go ahead, ask any grandparent!

My friend and I reassured each other that God helps us with the little things, nudges us to remind us of something, and sends certain people into our lives to brighten our day, among so many other little things.  So, I had to smile when I read these words this morning, “let me be aware of the many ways you reach out to help me today.”  Again, it is as if God put these words in front of me to say that He indeed is with me, with me and helping me with the little things.  That there are no coincidences, only God-incidences…and all the while he is smiling.

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God,  thank you for all Your help doing the day.  Never ever let me question Your presence in my everday life.  Give me the wisdom to always know it is You helping me.  Amen.

PS  My dear friends, I am sure you are aware of a problem with the Catholic Daily website.  The site says it is temporarily closed and refers you to another site for Catholic news.  I do not know when or if the site will  reopen  and I really don’t know how many of you are still able to open my blogs.  It may only be those of you who requested notification of my postings.  I will continue to write and share my thoughts with you and thank you for reading them.  It is a blessing to be able to do so.   You are in my prayers.  I ask that you join me in praying for Catholic Daily and the administrators in hopes that it will reopen soon and even better than ever!   Thank you.

1 John 3:16  ”The way we came to understand love was that he laid down his life for us; we too must lay down our lives for our brothers.”

While reading this in the Divine Office today, I thought of our brave military men and women who have given their lives for our country, for us.  No greater love than to give your life for another.  May God give them eternal rest and bless their families.

Bless those who sacrificed their lives for others in the face of danger…the staff in Newtown, Ct., and all the brave in the terrible shootings our country faced in schools, movie theaters, malls, on our streets and the all the brave on 9/11.

Bless all those who died putting others first, whether for a loved one or a stranger.

Bless those who place themselves in harms way for the sake of others…our police officers, our firefighters, our EMTs, and all our rescuers.

Bless them, God, bless them all.

If so many men and women have willingly laid down their lives for others as Christ has done for us, then I must do so, also.  If not by physical death, atleast by caring for and putting the needs of others before my own.  By forgoing my comfort for others, strangers and loved ones alike.  By forgoing my needs for the needs of others.  To live my life by helping and caring for others.  To love in an ever so small way, as best as I can, as Christ loved me.

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God,  Let me always see the needs of others and the wisdom and strength to help them.    Amen

“Lord…lift our hearts, fill us with new trust in you” are words from the hymn, “Jesus, Lord” by Randall DeBruyn.  New trust…it didn’t say renewed trust or more trust; but, new trust.  It implied, to me, that there was a lost trust waiting to be filled with a new trust.  So in that moment, as I was singing, I felt a sadness for those who didn’t trust in Jesus.  I thought of the people I knew who didn’t trust. I found myself praying for them…help them, Lord, to trust in You.

It wasn’t until I started thinking about those words, again, that I realized I was praying for myself!  I questioned…when did I lose trust; I never lost trust, did I?  Then I remembered the times I questioned God…what are You thinking, God?  You’re not answering my prayers fast enough!  You’re not doing it my way; don’t you understand?

It was then I did not trust God.  I did not trust Him enough with my life, my family, my circumstances.  I thought I knew better and knew how things should be; thought I knew what was best.  I believe there are times we all have lost trust.

I remembered after losing our beloved granddaughter, Kamryn, in a stillbirth, I found it hard to pray when learning another grandbaby was expected.  Do I dare pray for a safe delivery and healthy baby?  I did that when Kamryn was expected and God didn’t answer my prayers.  Do I dare pray?  Do I dare trust Him with this new expected baby?  Will He answer my prayers this time?   Yes, I decided to try trust again.  I did pray and my prayers were answered with our beautiful, precious Christopher.

Sometimes laws of nature or the behavior of others need to play out and we suffer the consequences; we feel the pain.  But, I believe God helps us through the pain;  He weeps with us.  He fills us with His strength and His peace.  As Paul Claudel said, “Jesus did not come to explain away suffering or to remove it.  He came to fill it with His presence.”

I have learned to trust so much more completely over the years, since then.  Maybe it comes with age; but, it’s easier now to trust my God.  Trusting in God takes the burden of worry off my shoulders.  It’s easier to trust in God than trying to run my life without Him. God knew me before I was knit in my mother’s womb and knows the number of hairs on my head.  He wants the best for me.  I know He loves me with an everlasting love and I can honestly say I trust Him with my life and with my family day in and day out.

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God, fill me completely with trust in You.  Never let me doubt You or Your will.  Amen.

As the lector read from Isaiah 40:1-5, her words appeared on the monitors on each side of the altar:  “Comfort, give comfort to my people, says your God.”  I barely heard the words following that verse.  Comfort.  Not just feed the hungry, clothe the naked, or give drink to the thirsty; but, comfort my people.  The word “comfort” steps things up a notch.  It tells us how we must care for others.

My son, Louis, on his trips home from college would change trains in Grand Central Station.  Inevitably, a homeless person would ask him for money.  “For food,” he would ask?  The answer was always “yes.”  With that, my son would say he was just going to get himself a hamburger and suggested they come with him.  So there they sat together at a counter eating a burger, fries and a coke all the while conversing.

My friend, Susan Ferguson, in her blog, “Running on Faith” relates a similar story that took place at a FACETS hypothermia prevention site; a wonderful church sponsored service for the homeless  to have a hot meal and a warm place to sleep.  She was there, with other volunteers, to help prepare and serve meals.  Yet, that wasn’t enough.  The volunteers, after serving, would eat with the guests and engage them in conversation when the opportunity arose.

“Feed the hungry.”  And so those in both stories did; but, took it a step further to “comfort my people.”  According to Webster, that’s the same as saying “aid, lift, cheer, buck up, console, relieve, reassure” my people.  To sit with someone perhaps unkempt, with dirty or tattered clothes, gives the message that I am concerned and care about you.  A message that you are a person worthy of my time and love.  A consoling, reassuring message, certain to lift their spirits.

By the gift of their presence to these in dire need, they not only physically fed them; but, fed their hearts and their souls.

Love is the essence of the ability to comfort.  That leads us back to “love one another, as I have loved you”…to love each other, to be present for each other.  To do as God asks of us all… comfort my people.

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God,

Open my eyes to see those in need.  Open my heart to comfort them.  Amen

The last of the Christmas decorations are away.  The nativity figurines were packed away; but, the wooden stable and the Christmas tree were the last to come down.  Looking at the empty stable, it was almost as if the Holy Family had moved on.  I couldn’t help but to think of Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus fleeing to Egypt to escape Herod’s wrath.  What was it like to move to a strange land, away from family and friends?

Sometimes we think that all the situations in their daily life were perfect.  They are, after all, the perfect family, the Holy Family.  But, that was the furthest from the truth.  Their family life was filled with worries, trials, and rejection.

Returning to Nazareth from Egypt, Joseph provided for his family with all the frustrations of owning one’s own business.  He was a carpenter, making and selling his wares to the townspeople and dealing with the everyday problems.

Mary cared for Jesus, Joseph and their home.  There were meals to be made, clothes to be weaved, floors to be swept.  And those preteen years…Jesus staying in Jerusalem without telling His parents, resulting in that anxious search!  I wonder if that was the only mischievous thing He ever did?

Joseph’s death must have been a tremendous loss for Mary and Jesus.  Mary became a widow.  Jesus suffered all the ramifications of a young boy or a young man who had lost his father.  Both had to grieve their loss.  And then life continued on the road to Calvary.

Yet, through it all, this family was perfect… perfect in their faithfulness to God.  Every moment of every day they listened to and trusted God. They fully accepted His will.  Every thing they did for each other was done out of love… love for each other, for others and for God.

They are a role model for present day families.  Sounds so easy…just trust God and do everything out of love!  Yet, so often, I fall victim to worry and fear.  So often, I pass up that moment to do something lovingly for another.  So often, I’m quick to judge.

Having the Holy Family as a model, especially Mary, for me a wife, mother and grandmother, I continue on, taking each day at a time, asking the Holy Family for a kind and loving heart, with an understanding mind and a strong will to follow their example.

Wishing you and all those you love a 2013 filled with all of God’s blessings!

Sharyn

Dear God, Thank you for the gift of Baby Jesus and this Holy Family. Help my family and all families to follow their loving example.   Bless us all during 2013.  Amen.

There is a heart-wrenching sadness felt by so many.  Our nation is mourning.  It’s a terrible time; a school massacre of twenty-six people in Connecticut.  Six women who sacrificed their own lives to protect the dear children in their care and twenty children who were only six and seven years old.  They were innocent children, just babes, and now they are gone.  All twenty-six gone suddenly, through an act of violence.

There is no joy, no merriment; just a sadness, a silence.  A pain so deep, you wonder if it will ever go away.

It makes me wonder…this Little Baby Jesus, born to us on Christmas…what is it that He brought for us that night in a stable?  Was it merriment and joy?

I think it was love and hope.  It was God’s love for us through this Baby Jesus.  This Baby who would grow up to be ridiculed, mocked and killed for us.  For us, because He so loves us and wants us to be with Him for all eternity.  The ultimate sacrifice… His life for us; because He loves us.

It is a season of love and hope.  It is in the love of these women for their students…a love that resulted in the ultimate sacrifice…their life for the sake of another.  It is in the love of caring people who are there to comfort these grieving families.

It is in the hope that God will help everyone through this tragedy.  It is in the hope that God will take away the heart-wrenching pain and fill all with His peace, His calm.  It is the hope that one day we all will be together, again, with our loved ones and with God, in a place filled with love and peace… a place of no more pain and suffering.  A place of goodness.

May  God bless you.

Sharyn

Dear God, help all the families suffering the pain of this tragedy.  Console them.  Love them.  Give them Peace.  Help them, O God.  Amen.

“In the not-so-good changes, pray to God for His strength, for His help to get through this time.  Focus on God.  Focus on His love for us.  Focus on His presence in our life.  Focus on the fact that He will get us through anything.  He will give us a bright new day after the storm of the night.  Focus on God.”

That is what I wrote in my October 27th  post.   In my wildest imagination, I never thought that in two short days there would be devastating changes for the people of New Jersey and New York through Hurricane Sandy.  Lives lost.  Homes lost.  Possessions lost.  Everything lost.

In this abyss of loss, can they focus on God, as I suggested in that post?  When they can hardly believe what has happened and try to comprehend the ramifications of this devastation, when they walk around homes severely damaged by flood waters, unable to decide where to begin the cleanup, can they focus on Him?  Can they focus when so overwhelmed?

As the days and weeks move on, the shock and numbness begin to subside.  The hard facts of being homeless, having only the clothes that are on their back, having no school supplies for school and having to attend a different school slowly become a nightmarish reality.  And so to, it brings the pain.  The pain for what was lost and the pain of an uncertain future.

It’s a struggle for some to get through each day, sometimes each hour.  It’s through the support of volunteers, police, rescuers, utility workers, National Guard and the compassion and generosity of so many others that the cleanup has begun and items of necessity are being distributed.  Communities are coming together to help one another.

It is my prayer that those who are having difficulty focusing on God during this turmoil will be able to see the Face of God in all those surrounding them with love and support.

It is my prayer that the love of others will enfold them in such a way that they will feel the Arms of God wrapped around them.

It is my hope that after this storm of the night that God will send them a bright new day.

May God bless you and all those you love.

Sharyn

Dear God,  Help all those devastated by this storm.  Help them, God, help them.  Amen

At Mass on Sunday, I heard the words of the Responsorial Psalm, “I love you, Lord, my strength,” and my heart leapt.  O my Lord, I so love You and You are my strength.  You have carried me through so much.  And today, in all the devastation along the New York and Jersey shore, it will be You who carries Your people through.

Your strength…strong, constant, stable, unfaltering, calming.  I can hear Your assurance that we will get through the hard times; that we will survive.  I can feel Your strength.  It permeates my body.  It is Your strength we need.

God bless you.

Sharyn

Dear God,  Fill us with Your strength.  Carries us all through these hard times.  Amen.

Sandy hit 50 miles south of me, forty-eight hours ago.  My family and I are safe.  But the devastation left by this hurricane is unbelievable.  I am asking for your prayers for all affected by Sandy…prayers today, next week and in the many months to come.  It will take a long time to rebuild homes, businesses and towns.  It will take a long time to rebuild lives.

God bless you.

Sharyn

Dear God,  Comfort and strengthen all those devastated by this hurricane.  Hold them close to you.  Let them see Your Presence in their lives each day.  Help them to know you will never abandon them.  Amen