41°F Fog SSE11mph SR0630 SS1758
Morning Offering given
Village shrouded in fog, peaceful, reminds me of an old mystery movie
Coffee strong
St Chrodegang helped bring us the movingly beautiful Gregorian Chant; we celebrate our faith and love for God. I pray to appreciate the many forms of worship enhanced by music, art, and writing with which God has gifted us.
From the Margins: Wisdom, Justice, Power, Mercy, constant guardians of the law.
Scripture Reading for Day 6 of The Way of the Cross
Matthew 10:38-39 and whoever does not take up his cross* and follow after me is not worthy of me. 39* v Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Meditations for Each Day, pg. 88, Holy Contentment: …the knowledge that everything we suffer for the love of God helps us to merit (the quality of being particularly good or worthy)heaven.
Back in the 90’s, when we began foster care work with Core 3 children. We were nervous about expenses but felt called to care for these troubled children. I remember standing in the kitchen of our home on Manchester Ave in Earlville, IA, and hearing God tell me, “I take care of the Sparrows, I’ll take care of you too.) So, I quit my job, gave up my retirement plan, health care benefits, etc., and became a full-time mom. There was not one time God did not provide in some way, shape, or form exactly what our family needed. He continues to provide this today. There is nothing fancy about the way we live. Our lives are modest and simple. We do what we can, for whom we can, with what God provides for us daily. At one time or another, I have upset each of our children with my blundtness by stating in verbal or written words that the choices they are making are placing them in the near occasion of sin. That if they continue the path they are on, they will sin. Some have chosen to stop having a relationship with me. I’m okay with that because I find comfort in knowing I did what a parent is to do: counsel a child when they are headed in the wrong direction. I know I have done what God instructed me to do. The estrangement doesn’t mean I don’t love them. It means I have stopped enabling them to believe there is nothing wrong with their actions. We all struggle. We all fall short. But the learning begins when we stand firm in beginning the change in our lives that will lead us onto the pathway to a strong, intimate relationship with Jesus. Picking ourselves up, acknowledging in all honesty that we stepped off the path and need to begin again, praying that Jesus will keep us moving forward toward him. We all doubt, we all hate to be told what to do, we all want to be in control, we all go through dryness, we all wonder if there is a heaven at one time or another in our lives. These things are normal phases everyone goes through while cultivating a relationship with Christ.
Know you are prayed for.
In the "Wilds of Wisconsin & Cornfields of Iowa" 