Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival Feb 28

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?
Here are my contributions:
Touch of Our Savior's Hand
Lenten Thoughts

Sabbath Moment - Simple Moments

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, share about it in a comment! Hope you will join us!
I have been hoping to keep things simple this Lent. And so I did this week.
1. Had a busy weekend last weekend. I knew I needed to be sure to get some rest before another work week started. On Sunday, hubby was going to Rite of Election at the Cathedral with the RCIA class he helps to teach. I felt torn about going. But I knew I needed the rest AND that quiet time with the Lord. A Sabbath moment, on the Sabbath. So I stayed home. Ahhhh. It was the right decision.
2. Yesterday morning. I was home alone. Cold day so I stayed snuggled in my chair with a hot cup of coffee and read my morning devotions. A simple quiet moment with the Lord.

Touch of Our Savior's Hand - Feb 26

My special blogging buddy, Karinann, hosts Touch of Our Savior's Hand every Friday. This is such a beautiful meme because it helps us to be more mindful of God's presence in our lives all week long. If you wish to participate or check out other posts, visit Karinann at her beautiful blog - Blessings For the Day. Be sure to check out her other blogs too! Thank you, Karinann, for hosting this meme, for sharing your faith so beautifully and for being my friend!

1. I saw Jesus in the love of my son for his wife and unborn son. He called me, worried about his pregnant wife who went into the hospital for 24 hours for tests. She and baby are fine. Thank you all for your prayers! We are all relieved and they are glad to be home (yes, he stayed in the hospital with her). I did suggest to my son, however, that he talk to his son and tell him to cut it out! He is already giving his parents gray hair!

2. I saw Jesus in Fr. Murray Bodo, a Franciscan priest and writer who led a retreat that I went to last Saturday. He was so humble and  loving and witty! And his talks gave me much food for thought. He spoke on St. Francis and prayer. He talked of the need for silence and solitude and time with Jesus. I felt so blessed to be there.

Your turn! Where did you see Jesus this week?

Odds and Ends

Please pray for my son and daughter-in-law and grandson-to-be (Landon). She is in the hospital for 24 hours of observation. She is in her 21st week.

My youngest son celebrated his 24th birthday yesterday! He should have been on my list of thanks yesterday! Where was my head? Evidently my mind was a bit muddled!

I have been enjoying writing my Lenten Journal. I didn't know how it would turn out. I write my 3 blogs as it is. So why write more? But I am really excited about being focused on my journey through Lent. I try to be as open as I can as I share a few thoughts.

I seem to be "drawn" big time to the phrase - Draw me. You can read more about it here in my journal. It is exciting to know that God is speaking to me or drawing me closer. Truly a gift. I do not know where I am headed. But that is just fine with me.
How is your Lent going so far?

Thankful for Blessings - Lenten Gratitude

One of my special blogging buddies, Judy, at A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings, hosts this inspiring meme! Being mindful of all our blessings can help us keep an attitude of gratitude. Be sure to click on the link above or the graphic on my sidebar to visit Judy's beautiful blog and read about others' blessings. Be sure to check out Judy's other blogs as well! She is so gifted and has much to share. Judy, thank you for all your support and for hosting this meme every week!
Among my many blessings:
1. Me. I am thanking God for me. In my Lenten Journal, I wrote about a quote I found from Abraham Heschel - "Just to be is a blessing." I do not usually think of thanking God for me, for my life. Life is a gift, a blessing. Thank you, Lord.
2. Faith. I suppose I have always had faith. I remember loving Jesus when I was a little girl. I was away from church for a time but then I converted to the Catholic Church. I am grateful for the conversion. My life has not been the same since.
3. Mass. Speaking of the Catholic Church. What a gift Mass has become to me. Going to daily Mass during Lent has been such a joyful blessing! I hope to be able to work something out with work, etc after Lent is over, so I can continue to go.
4. Hubby. I think we all need someone who knows us inside and out and loves us no matter what. Someone with whom we can truly be ourselves. And someone who makes us laugh! My hubby is all of these things to me. Thank you, Jesus.
5. Prayer. Prayer too is a gift. We often think of it as something we have to do. But it is first of all, a gift of God. God wants to communicate with us and so He calls us to pray. God always initiates. Thank you, Lord, for the gift of prayer!

Lenten Thoughts

I am keeping a Lenten Journal this year. Check out today's post - Start reading here and then continue on at my Lenten blog. 

" Just to be is a blessing. Just to live is holy. " - Abraham Heschel

I came across this quote the other day. It goes right along with my Lenten theme. Keep things simple. Focus on Jesus and stop trying to DO so much for Lent. But there is more.  (continue here...)

Music Monday - Wonderful Merciful Savior

This Music Monday meme is hosted by Shawntele at Saved By Grace. Join in by clicking on the link here or the Music Monday image in my sidebar. Share your favorite songs and learn some new ones! It is fun and inspiring! And another way to pray!

I love this song and it is so fitting for Lent. I read somewhere that another name for Jesus is mercy.I heard it sung by Women of Faith group but when looking for a decent video, I came upon this one with Selah singing it. I am not familiar with Selah but I will pay more attention after hearing this beautiful rendition.

Verse:

Wonderful, Merciful Savior

Precious Redeemer and Friend

Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men

ooh, you resecue the souls of men.

Counselor, Comforter, Keeper

Spirit we long to embrace

You offer hope when our hearts have hopelessly lost our way

ooh, we've hopelessly lost the way

Chorus:

You are the One that we praise......

You are the One we adore.....

You give the healing embrace.....

Our hearts hunger for

ooh, Our hearts always hunger for....

Almight, Infinite Father,

Faithfully loving your own

Here in our weakness you find us

Falling before your Throne

ooh, we're falling before your Throne

Chorus:

You are the One that we praise

You are the One We adore

You give the healing embrace

Our hearts always hunger for

ooh our hearts always hunger for.....(2x)

Sabbath Sunday - Feb 21

Fr. Christian Mathis has a meme called Sabbath Sunday. You sign into Mr Linky on his site with the link for an old post instead of doing any blogging on Sunday. It can be an old post, not necessarily one from that week.

So if you wish to join in, head on over to Blessed is the Kingdom to meet Fr. Mathis and other bloggers. 

Here is my contribution:

God Alone is Enough

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival Feb 21

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?
Here are my contributions:

We Are Children of God  
Lenten Journal
Music Monday - Unfailing Love

Sabbath Moment - Quiet Times

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, share about it in a comment! Hope you will join us!

1. Believe it or not, I was able to take a moment during my Remicade infusion (for RA). I brought some Lenten reading with me and looked out the window at the trees. I am learning to take advantage of these "down" times and focus on the Lord.

2. Part of my Lenten plan is spend more time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Two days this week, I paid a visit to Jesus. Even a few minutes can change my atttiude or give me that feeling of peace.

3. I am home alone as I write this. No noise here at all. The tv is off. No radio or ipod. Just me and my prayers and my thoughts. It is starting to get dark, and colder outside. But inside it is warm, and comfortable and peaceful. And I offer this moment to my God, whom I love with all my heart.

Touch of Our Savior's Hand - Spiritual Friendship

My blogging buddy, Karinann, hosts Touch of Our Savior's Hand every Friday. This is such a beautiful meme because it helps us to be more mindful of God's presence in our lives all week long. If you wish to participate or check out other posts, visit Karinann at her beautiful blog - Blessings For the Day. Thank you, Karinann, for hosting this meme and for being my kindred spirit!

Had lunch with a friend today. We get together for lunch once a month and share our spiritual journeys. I do not have a spiritual director right now and the Lord led my friend and I to be spiritual companions for each other and it is indeed a blessing!

We do not judge each other nor do we give advice, unless asked. We just listen, and share our prayer life and the times we have been "touched by the hand of Our Savior!"

Later today, when I had time for reflection, I looked back and realized I had been touched by Jesus in our meeting.

"For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Mt 18:20)

I Am A Blest Guest!

Elizabeth Mahlou from Blest Atheist asked me to write a guest post for her blog on what she calls Blest Guest Wednesdays. If you click on the link above, you can check out my post. It is one of my Dear Jesus letters where I discuss with Jesus what my plans are for Lent! Head on over and check out her blog while you are there! Thank you Elizabeth!

Lenten Journal

I have been hoping to cut down on my usual long list of "things to do" during Lent. But then, what do I do? I decide to keep a Lenten Journal. Yup. What can I say? Except that I could not keep the idea out of my head and so I have to wonder - Is that you, Lord, calling me?

In the interest of keeping myself organized, and also because I love blogging, I started a blog just for this journal. It is called, interesting enough, Lenten Journal. {How original.}

I will write whatever I feel called to write. Whenever I feel called to write. A sharing of my journey through Lent. {Obviously. Sigh. I really wonder about myself sometimes. :)}

And I think I will not allow comments on it for now. I do not want you, my blogging buddies, to feel like you have to comment. If you just must comment, you can always comment on this blog. I just wish to get it all down on "paper." Whatever "it" is.

My prayers are with you all. May you all have a blessed Lenten journey.

Thankful for Blessings - Lenten Blessings

One of my special blogging buddies, Judy, at A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings, hosts this inspiring meme! Being mindful of all our blessings can help us keep an attitude of gratitude. Be sure to click on the link above or the graphic on my sidebar to visit Judy's beautiful blog and read about others' blessings. Be sure to check out Judy's other blogs as well! Judy, thank you for hosting this meme!
Among my many blessings:
1. My hubby and his wonderful Valentine's Day surprise. I happen to love chocolate fondue at a local restaurant. Well, he made one for me! Complete with strawberries, bananas and pound cake! A true choc-o-holic's delight!
2. My grandson-to-be- Landon Richard -my son emails us updates every week on his development - today he is 20 weeks along! Time flies (for grammy anyway, probably not for the new mom-to-be!)
3. Ash Wednesday - Today we begin our journey through Lent. Always exciting for this new Catholic (well, not so new any more, it has been over 20 years!). I look forward to seeing what the Lord has in store for me! Surely a blessed time of renewal.
4. My blogging buddies - I am sure glad I will be making this Lenten journey with all of you! You are truly a gift to me!
5. Books - Books have been a major part of my life since I learned how to read. They were my escape when I was a child. They have taught me, entertained me, inspired me, made me laugh and made me cry. Thank you, Lord, for this world of readers and writers!
Your turn! What are some of your blessings?

We are Children of God

(1st published on my survivor blog)

I did a talk on Saturday for a Day of Prayer. The subject was God's Love and the title of my talk was Cherished by God.

In this talk I share my reflections on how much God loves us and how some of us have a hard time internalizing this so it changes our lives. Especially those of us who have been abused.

Then I witnessed a little about my abuse and about how God has helped me and the people who have helped me.

Then I ended with the story of what happened last summer when my son decided not to invite my father to his wedding.

Here is part of what I said at the end: 
God is just crazy about us.
Julian of Norwich wrote - “...we are God’s happiness and God finds endless enjoyment in us, and we shall in him, by his grace.”

And one of my favorite scripture verses on this subject -
Zephaniah 3:17-18The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, as one sings at festivals. 

I am starting to make God’s love for me the foundation of my life. I talk about it, I write about it, I encourage those who come to me for spiritual direction. 

Kind of like the Samaritan woman. She receives life from Jesus and she goes out to bring this life to others. She goes out to bring others to the well of living water.

God loves us. But there are, however, outside and within us, strong voices that try to tell us something different.

My youngest son, Brian, got married last August. We were so looking forward to the wedding, to celebrate with him his love and his joy.
But there was one small dark cloud hovering over me, hanging out in the back of my mind.
My father.
My son had made the decision not to invite my father. I understood the decision and supported it.
Part of me was relieved. Part of me was scared to death.
Because I knew, it was time. It was finally time to tell the one person in the family who did not know about the sexual abuse. My stepmother.
I had begged my father for years to tell her. But he refused. When my book came out, I begged him again. Did he want her to find out this way? But he refused.
I wanted him to tell her so I would be free of the secret.
I wanted him to tell her so he would also be free. No worrying about her finding out. No more lying and hiding in the dark.
But he wanted me to shut up about it. He was angry that I wrote the book. He was angry that I had told my sons.
He still wanted me to keep the Big Secret that he had forced me to keep as a child.
The secret that was toxic to all of us.
He did not know nor did he want to understand, that telling my Big Secret was a major part of my healing.
Now I was giving him no choice. He had to tell my stepmother the truth because she would wonder why she was not invited to the wedding.
He stalled, he lied, he tried manipulating me. Finally I told him -
You tell her or I will tell her.
And when he told her, she was angry too. Not only at him, but at me and soon, in a scenario that is very common, they both turned on me.
My friends, my sister, my husband, other survivors - they all tried to get me to back away, to separate myself from them. I was being abused again, emotionally and verbally.
Finally I did. I turned away. I cut them out of my life.
And then, I felt guilty. Was I doing the right thing? Would God approve of this?

So I talked to people I knew and trusted.
I spoke to priests. I spoke to friends. I spoke to my husband.

And they all said the same thing to me - Your father is not willing to change, after all these years. You need to protect yourself.

And then I emailed a therapist I know and I will never forget some of the things he wrote to me. He told me that the best thing about all this coming to a head was my son's decision not to invite my father. He said that "... any good son would want to protect his mother. You have a very good son to stand up and do what is right. ... enjoy your son's wedding and the love and respect he has for you.
Remember who your real father is as he will never abuse you...”.
And so, finally free of guilt and grief, I went to the wedding and watched my son enjoy his special day. I could hardly take my eyes off of him, never tiring of watching him smile and dance and hold his bride.
And I felt such deep abiding joy. I felt joy for him and joy for me.
For I knew my son loved me.
And out of love, he had helped to set me free.
And I will never forget the moment when my son took my hand and he whirled me around the dance floor til I got dizzy and all I could do was laugh.
I laughed and I laughed.
I laughed high and long. And it sounded to me like I had a fountain of living water springing up inside of me.
We are people of value.
We are loved and cherished and nourished.

We are the precious children of God.

Special Offer of Blueberry Muffins

From Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday, my e-book, Blueberry Muffins, Everyday Stories of God's Love will be only $2.99! This provides you with another choice for spiritual reading during Lent.
You can click on the Buy Now button on my left sidebar which will bring you to paypal.
You can read reviews of the e-book at Daughter of the King and BENMAKESTEN.
Have a blessed Lent!

Music Monday - Unfailing Love

This Music Monday meme is hosted by Shawntele at Saved By Grace. Join in by clicking on the link here or the Music Monday image in my sidebar. Share your favorite songs and learn some new ones! It is fun and inspiring! And another way to pray!

I had it my head that I needed to post a Chris Tomlin song this week. So I went hunting and  discovered this song. I have never heard it before but I loved it immediately. It is a great song of love and praise for God. Hope you enjoy!

Sabbath Sunday - Feb 14

Fr. Christian Mathis has a meme called Sabbath Sunday. You sign into Mr Linky on his site with the link for an old post instead of doing any blogging on Sunday. It can be an old post, not necessarily one from that week.

So if you wish to join in, head on over to Blessed is the Kingdom to meet Fr. Mathis and other bloggers. 

Here is my contribution:

Heart to Heart

Sunday Snippets - A Catholic Carnival Feb 14

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?
Here is my contribution:

Three Moments with Jesus

Our Lady of Lourdes

Sabbath Moment - Sabbath Peace

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, share about it in a comment! Hope you will join us!
I came upon this quote this week -

O Lord, my God,grant us your peace;

already, indeed, you have made us rich in all things!

Give us that peace of being at rest, that sabbath peace,

the peace which knows no end. -St. Augustine

from Terry Hershey, Sabbath Moment 

That Sabbath peace. That prayer describes sabbath moments pretty well, wouldn't you say?
1. I took some time today to relax after a hectic week. It was raining this afternoon and I love watching a peaceful rain shower. It is beautiful to see and reminds me of God's graces raining down upon us every moment.
2. I love that reading about Elijah hearing God in a tiny whispering sound. Not in the wind. Not in the fire. In a whisper. (1 Kings 19:9, 11-16).
I was trying to decide what to do for Lent. I had this long list and I knew that wasn't what I was supposed to do. I sat in silence, listening for God. And it came to me - I need to spend more time in prayer. Less doing, more being. It was as if Jesus whispered in my ear - Spend more time with me. Who can turn down that invitation?

Touch of Our Savior's Hand - God-Incidence

My blogging buddy, Karinann, hosts Touch of Our Savior's Hand every Friday. This is such a beautiful meme because it helps us to be more mindful of God's presence in our lives all week long. If you wish to participate or check out other posts, visit Karinann at her beautiful blog - Blessings For the Day. Thank you, Karinann, for hosting this meme and for being such a good friend! 
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the retreat I went to with my hubby. On the first night the retreat master asked us - Do you know WHO you are? Do you know WHOSE you are? I was inspired by those questions and I decided to use them in my talk at a retreat I gave last weekend.
Today I was going through my notebook that has writing ideas and quotes, etc. and there was a quote I did not remember putting there. It was on the first page of the notebook so it was written a long time ago. It was a quote from Cardinal Bernadin -

"In the Eucharist we discover who we are and whose we are."

Think the Lord is trying to tell me something?

Our Lady of Lourdes

Sarah Reinhard from just another day of Catholic pondering wrote a great article on St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes. I think you will enjoy it.

St. Bernadette is one of my patron saints for 2010. As a convert, I was really moved by Mary telling Bernadette she was the Immaculate Conception. I was trying to understand what an infallible statement was and how did we know Mary was conceived without sin? Then I watched The Song of Bernadette. The story of St. Bernadette helped me believe in the Immaculate Conception, infallible statements and Marian apparitions. I had three questions answered by God at the same time!

I pray for people who do not believe in Marian apparitions. It isn't that I NEED these Marian apparitions in order to believe in Jesus or to love our Blessed Mother more. I believed in Jesus long before I knew anything about Our Lady of Lourdes or Our Lady of Guadalupe.

But, to know that God loves us so much that he sends us His Mother to remind us of this love...to really know this...is to fall in love with God over and over again. I mean the magnitude of this gift!!!  

Jesus, thank you for loving us so much. Thank you for giving us your Mother to love and to point us the way to you.

image source

Thankful for Blessings - Feb. 10

One of my special blogging buddies, Judy, at A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings, hosts this inspiring meme! Being mindful of all our blessings can help us keep an attitude of gratitude. Be sure to click on the link above or the graphic on my sidebar to visit Judy's beautiful blog and read about others' blessings. Be sure to check out Judy's other blogs as well! Judy, thank you for this meme and for your friendship. 
Here are some of my blessings:
1. Rain - we have a cold front moving into our area in Florida and that brings rain with it. Since winter is our dry season and we often have water restrictions by the time spring comes, I am very grateful for any moisture that comes our way!
2. My oldest son. He turns 28 today. Hard to believe. Seems like he was born just yesterday. He is a good man and I am proud of him.
3. Nook - I got a nook for Christmas. It arrived a few weeks ago. I was not sure if I would miss having a "real" book to carry around, but it is not a problem. Since I am often reading more than one book at a time, it is great that I carry only one book around that contains many other books within! Technology can be so wonderful when used right!
4. My mom - she called me tonight and we had a great talk. We laughed a lot and just enjoyed hearing each other's voices. We live several hundred miles apart so we email each other every day just to stay in touch.
5. My husband - he is so kind and good. And he makes me laugh. My mother and I were talking about him tonight and I told her he was a "keeper." Which is a good thing since we have been married for over 30 years now!

Three Moments with Jesus

Judy at A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings tagged me for this special meme. Thank you, Judy. It has given me such rich food for pondering.The question is:

If you could witness any moment in Christ's life, what would it be? 

Here are the rules for Michael's meme: 

1. To make this a bit easier, you can choose 3 one-hour time periods. (Your "top 3", if you will)  

2. To make things harder, you cannot choose His birth or any time period from the Last Supper on.  

3. If you have a blog, post this question and rules and answer it there. If you would rather not spend a post quenching my curiosity, or if you do not have a blog, feel free to post your answer in the comments section here. 

4. Go to Reach Paradise and leave Michael a comment with a link to your post. 

5. Tag 3 other people to do the same. - Instead of tagging 3 people, I invite anyone who has not participated in this meme to do so!

Here are my three moments:

1. The Woman at the Well - One of my favorite gospel stories - I really relate to her. As an incest survivor, I too am a wounded soul. I have felt shame and rejection and have a poor self-image. Jesus gives her unconditional acceptance and love. He doesn't ask her to change. He loves her as she is and His love transforms her. I would love to have seen his compassion and gentle care of her. And then see her conversion.

2. Praying on the Mountain - Imagine going with Jesus when he went up the mountain to pray. To be in solitude and silence with the Son of God as he prayed to our Father. A retreat with the Lord. Wow.

3. Wedding at Cana - Weddings are such joyful times. Imagine seeing Jesus laughing and celebrating before he starts his ministry. What a moment it would be to dance with him and, even more, watch him dance with his Mother. The miracle of the wine is great, but to watch Jesus with Mary would make my day! 

Music Monday - Chorus of Faith

This Music Monday meme is hosted by Shawntele at Saved By Grace. Join in by clicking on the link here or the Music Monday image in my sidebar. Share your favorite songs and learn some new ones! It is fun and inspiring! 

I love Michael Smith and have chosen him again -  Open the Eyes of My Heart is one of my favorites. The video is beautiful too. 

Sabbath Sunday - Feb 7

Fr. Christian Mathis has a meme called Sabbath Sunday. You sign into Mr Linky on his site with the link for an old post instead of doing any blogging on Sunday. It can be an old post, not necessarily one from that week.

So if you wish to join in, head on over to Blessed is the Kingdom to meet Fr. Mathis and other bloggers.

Here is my contribution:

Is God's Heart Big Enough?

Sunday Snippets - Catholic Carnival Feb 7

This is the weekly Catholic Carnival! Be sure to visit RAnn at This, That and the Other Thing and check out some posts from other bloggers participating in Sunday Snippets this week. Why not join us and share a blog post or two from last week?
Here is my contribution. It is a beautiful song that I shared on Music Monday.

Music Monday - Who I was Born to Be

Sabbath Moment - Pelicans

Sabbath moments are the moments we rest in God, when we take time to just Be with God rather than Do. Sabbath moments are those times when we live in the moment and find the holy in the ordinary. I invite you to share your Sabbath moment(s) here on Saturdays. Be sure to sign into Mr. Linky below. If you don't have a blog, share about it in a comment! Hope you will join us!

Here is my Sabbath moment this week:
I have been working like crazy on my talk for today. And that usually means a lot of things escape my attention as I bury myself in my writing.
Writing is both a joy and a challenge at times. Trying to write a talk that will inspire and encourage and keep people's attention can be stressful, especially as the deadline looms closer and closer.I kept it all together though by taking short little breaks.
Friday when I decided to take a short break, I drove by the little lake in our park. And I was treated with a pelican! It was swimming around leisurely, not looking for fish. Just seemed to be hanging out. A moment of R&R. It was so cute and I was so sorry I did not have a camera! Thank you, Lord, for this treat. I just knew it was there for me!

Touch of Our Savior's Hand - Retreat Talk

My blogging buddy, Karinann, hosts Touch of Our Savior's Hand every Friday. This is such a beautiful meme because it helps us to be more aware of how and where and when we experience God every week. If you wish to participate or check out other posts, visit Karinann at her beautiful blog - Blessings For the Day.  Thank you, Karinann, for hosting this meme!

I am late posting this article because I have been working on a talk for a Retreat Day tomorrow. Everything seems to stop or go in slow motion around me as I immerse myself in the stories and scripture verses and my personal witnesses. The Holy Spirit usually waits to inspire me at the last minute. Either that or I am not listening close enough until the countdown starts!

But I always know when it is no longer just me writing. Suddenly things click and come together. And I thank the Lord and breathe a sigh of relief.

By the way, the title of my talk tomorrow is "Cherished by God." Please pray for me and all who attend this day of prayer!

Thankful for Blessings - Laughter and Rain

A special thanks to my blogging friend, Judy, at A Thankful Woman's Book of Blessings who hosts this inspiring meme! Remembering to give thanks everyday helps us have an attitude of gratitude. Be sure to click on the link above or this graphic on my sidebar to visit Judy's beautiful blog and read others' lists of blessings. Be sure to check out her other blogs as well! 
Here are some of my blessings:
1. Rain - this is the dry season in the south and the rain was welcome. Usually we have rain showers but it rained just about all day yesterday. Thank you, Lord.
2. My Retreat talk - I have been asked to speak at a Cursillo retreat day this Saturday. I love speaking about my faith and sharing my reflections. Often I feel like I receive more than I give. What a blessing.
3. My family's sense of humor - I often share how much my hubby makes me laugh. My sons do as well and today my younger son was teasing me a little as we sent a few text messages back and forth. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Laughter is such a gift.
4. Music - music is another gift. It uplifts me and fills my heart with joy.
5. Chocolate. I am on a diet so I am not eating much chocolate lately. But, every once in awhile I sneak in a few M&M's. Life's too short. :)
What are some of your blessings?

Music Monday - Who I Was Born To Be

This Music Monday meme is hosted by Shawntele at Saved By Grace. Join in by clicking on the link here or the Music Monday image in my sidebar. Share your favorite songs and learn some new ones! It is fun and inspiring! 

This song is from Susan Boyle, the singer from Britain's Got Talent who became a star overnight. The song is very meaningful to me as I struggle with my own freedom from my childhood of abuse. I am especially touched by the line - It feels like it is my turn to fly.

There was no special video with this but I have included the lyrics below.

When I was a child

I could see the wind in the trees

and I heard a song in the breeze

it was there, singing out my name

But I am not a girl

I have known the taste of defeat

and I have finally grown to believe

it will all come around again

And though I may not know the answers

I can finally say I am free

And if the questions led me here, then

I am who I was born to be

And so here am I

Open arms and ready to stand

I've got the world in my hands

And it feels like my turn to fly

And though I may not know the answers

I can finally say I am free

And if the questions led me here, then

I am who I was born to be

When I was a child

There were flowers that bloomed in the night

Unafraid to take in the light

Unashamed to have braved the dawn

And though I may not know the answers

I can finally say I am free

And if the questions led me here, then

I am who I was born to be

I am who I was born to be