29°F SW6mph SR0718 SS1716

Morning Offering given

Village peaceful

Coffee strong

Today
-Read Job 40–
-RIAY Day 33
-MV- again review your list

Good Morning! It feels a bit chillier than the past couple of days. Hey, it is February, and the temperatures are supposed to be cold. So far, we’ve all been spoiled with the warmer temperatures. Never fear—it is coming, and we won’t get out of it.

I’m spending time today relaxing, looking at the week ahead, and noting what I need to do to make it a good one. Checking the past week’s list of to-do’s and adding the unfinished one to my squeeze-it-in-wherever list for next week.

Know you are prayed for.

20°F SE17mph SR0719 SS1714

Morning Offering given

Village peaceful and sleepy

Coffee strong

Dear Lord,
Bless our family. Be so kind as to give us the unity, peace, and mutual love that You found in Your own family in the little town of Nazareth.
Saint Joseph, pray for the head of our family. Obtain for him the strength, the wisdom, and the prudence he needs to support and direct those under his care.
Mother Mary, pray for the mother of our family. Help her to be pure and kind, gentle and self-sacrificing. For the more she resembles you, the better will our family be.
Lord Jesus, bless the children of our family. Help them to be obedient and devoted to their parents. Make them more and more like You. Let them grow, as You did, in wisdom and strength and grace before God and man.
Holy Family of Nazareth, by your intercession, love, and holy example, make our family and home more and more like Yours, until we are all one family, happy and at peace
in our true home with You.
Amen.

Today
Read Job 39
RIAY Day 32 A Total Offering
Memory Verse – review your list

Good Morning!
New month- The Church’s theme for this month is, “The Holy Family”. Above is a photo of my home altar for this month. I’d like to encourage each of you to have a home altar and if possible make it the focus point of your prayer time. Ours is located in the dining room of our home and honestly may be a little over the top but it inspires me to be more aware of Jesus, which is the purpose for it. Take a few moments to run through your memory verses and see how they are coming for you. I can tell you from experience if you don’t commit them to memory they won’t be there when you need them.

Know you are prayed for.

30°F NNE12mph SR0720 SS1713

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Coffee good

Today
-Read Job 38 and Psalms 31-33
-RIAY Day 31
-Memory Verse – Deuteronomy 4:8 – Or what great nation has statutes and ordinances that are as just as this whole law which I am setting before you today?

Late return from IA this morning 0130. Very foggy from Hopkinton to Guttenburg. Clear sailing from there North. Could have scored 2 nicely racked bucks and 3 does had I not been attentive and of course we mustn’t forget to mention the skunk that could have been my undoing for a good week. St Francis did his job and kept them safely from me.

May we speak about who YOUR companions are when you journey? I call upon St Francis to take care of the animals, Sts Jude and Anthony to handle the impossible situations that arise for the good of God, St Christopher to handle the navigation and all guardian angels of my human passengers, and JMJ to keep us safe. It is not foreign for me to also call upon the saint of the day to add their 2 cents. I have never been disappointed.

It is important for us to recognize and use what God makes available to us for our safety and well-being.

Know you are prayed for.

20°F SW11mph SR0722 SS1712

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Coffee strong

Today
-Read Job 37 & Psalms 28-30
-RIAY Day 30 the New Ark… if you can only do one of RIY do it today
-Memory Verse – John 6:66 – As a result of this, many [of] his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him.

Good Morning! It looks like a heatwave is coming our way today. I welcome the warmer temperatures, but I know winter will not leave us without a very good snowstorm. Rumor has it April will be when it comes. Back in 1973, it did come with a huge amount of snow shutting down highways, to the point of barricades being put up on ramps. The man who at that time was my boyfriend spent a few days at my house shoveling snow.

Today I will deliver & return the workshop women. Between times I will be home. Lots to catch up on here. Tonight I will make a quick run to IA, drop off some people, then head to my DD#1’s and drop off a gift for SA as we did not make it to her confirmation last Monday. I am looking forward to getting a few things done today.

May we take a few moments to reflect on the Memory Verse for today. In this Chapter, Jesus is telling his followers what they must do/believe to gain eternal life. It was too much for them to wrap their minds around. Just as it was too much for the rich man to give up his riches. (Matthew 19:21-24) If you would, take a moment and think about what Jesus has asked of you and you walked away from it. Perhaps now is the time to confess that transgression and do what he has asked of you.

Know you are prayed for.

32°F WNW12mph SR0722 SS1710

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Coffee good

Today
-Read Job 36 & Psalms 25-27
-RIAY- Day 29
-Memory Verse Matthew 5:4- Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Psalms 23:3,55:22, & 56:3; Philippians 4:3 are more verses about this.

Today is my day to pray for CmomC, an online Catholic Motherhood group that has been praying together for the past 20+ years. I thank God for this group. These women have been with me through some particularly difficult moments in my life. The group was started so that Catholic mothers could experience a friendship like the old neighbors over the back fence. It came at a time when we needed to be able to discuss things from a Catholic perspective without fear of censor. It was then and is now a place to discuss our Catholic faith without having it questioned by those who were outside the Catholic faith. Our group is aging, our children are no longer toddlers and new membership seems to be stalled. Check out the bible in regards to the wisdom of older women. Lois- 2 Timothy, Naomi in Ruth, Anna in Luke 1, Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist.

Know you are prayed for.

17°F WSW24mph SR0723 SS1709

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Today
Read Job 35 & Psalms 22-24
RIAY Day 28 Be Joyful Be Free
Memory Verse- James 2:18 – Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

Good morning! Hold on to your hat. The wind is really blowing out there. Temps are rising, and the snow is mostly gone. Here we are 28 days into the new year, and it doesn’t really seem like winter out there. How is your new year restart going? Don’t give up. Keep plodding on. One foot in front of the other will get you to where you want to be. There are no quick fixes, no secret pills, or drinks that will remove what it took years to make. You will have to do the work. When you stumble, keep going. When you fall, get up and start again. Be sure to take Jesus with you. You do not have to do this alone. You do not have to be strong. It is okay to rant and rave, cry, and be sad… just do the vent and get on with it. Sometimes, it is very hard to see where our choices landed us. Even harder to look at those choices, admit they were not the greatest thing, confess the sins, and thank God that you are now free.

Know you are prayed for.

18°F WSW18mph SR0724 SS1707

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

Coffee strong

Today
-Read Job 34
-RIAY Day 27
-Memory Verse Psalms 137:9 Blessed the one who seizes your children and smashes them against the rock. (read footnotes and history (Isaiah 13:16) to understand the meaning of this verse.)

Good Morning!
Congratulations! to SA who will be confirmed tonight into the Catholic Church at St Luke’s in Hopkinton, IA. Our plan is to attend. Typical Monday morning happening here. How goes it in your world?

Know you are prayed for.

5°F WSW10mph SR0725 SS1706

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

Coffee good

Today
-Read Job 33
-RIAY Day 26

Sunday has arrived—a day of rest. Are you old enough to remember when only the church, hospital, and police department were open? The day was spent with family, friends, or relatives who enjoyed dining together and good conversation? I remember those days fondly. We should consider bringing them back.

Know you are prayed for.

15°F W17mph SR0726 SS1705

Morning Offering given

Village sleeps

Coffee smells wonderful and tastes awesome

Today
-Read Job 31 and Psalms 19-21
-RIAY Day 25
-Memory Verse – James 1:19 – Know this, my dear brothers: everyone should be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, ( Please note, there is a difference between wrath (extreme anger) and anger (a strong feeling of annoyance))

The Reproaches…
-O my people, what have I done to thee?
Or how have I offended you?
Answer me
-Because I led thee out of the land of Egypt:
thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
O holy God!
O holy God!
O holy strong One!
O holy strong One!
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.
O holy and immortal, have mercy upon us.
-Because I led thee through the desert for forty years:
and fed thee with manna, and brought thee into a land exceeding good:
thou hast prepared a cross for thy Savior.
O holy God! . . .
-What more ought I to have done for thee, that I have not done?
I planted thee, indeed, my most beautiful vineyard:
and thou hast become exceeding bitter to me:
for in my thirst thou gavest me vinegar to drink:
and with a spear thou hast pierced the side of thy Savior.
O holy God! . . .
-For thy sake I scourged the firstborn of Egypt:
Thou hast given me up to be scourged.
O my people . . .
(I led thee out of Egypt, having drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea:
and thou hast delivered me to the chief priests.
O my people . . .
-I opened the sea before thee:
and thou hast opened my side with a spear.
O my people . . .
-I went before thee in a pillar of cloud:
and thou hast led me to the judgment hall of Pilate.
O my people . . .
-I fed thee with manna in the desert:
and thou hast assaulted me with blows and scourges.
O my people . . .
-I gave thee the water of salvation from the rock:
and thou hast given me gall and vinegar to drink.
O my people . . .
-For thy sake I struck the kings of the Canaanites:
and thou hast struck my head with a reed.
O my people . . .
-I gave thee a royal scepter:
and thou hast given a crown of thorns for my head.
O my people . . .
-I exalted thee with great strength:
and thou hast hanged me on the gibbet of the cross.
O my people . . .
I post these because today is the first time my mind registers hearing them.

WOW to the March for Life speeches.

FYI
Cpap wearers
Dry mouth
causes tooth decay
see your dentist
speak to your Dr about preventatives

Know you are prayed for.

-10°F S12mph SR0727 SS1703

Morning Offering given

Village waking

Coffee good

Today
-Read Job 31 & Psalms 16-18
-RIAY Day 24
-Memory Verse – Matthew 15:11 – It is not what enters one’s mouth that defiles that person; but what comes out of the mouth is what defiles one. Let us make note of Mark 7:18 as well since it also relates to this subject. You might consider noting this on an index card for future reference. He said to them, “Are even you likewise without understanding? Do you not realize that everything that goes into a person from outside cannot defile,

Today we look at our language…content & tone…
Just walking down the street our ears are filled with horrid, disgusting words. Those words are so commonplace they are now used on radio, TV, in the office, in government, and sadly I have heard them in the basement of the church as well. Unfortunately, I have heard them coming from my mouth at different times. More readily when I am with persons who use them, or when frustrated, or when angry, or more sadly to fit in. There was a time when language like that never even entered my thoughts, let alone came out of my mouth. The words were considered so vulgar the use of them hurt the soul. As a teen, I remember a man who came to our house as a vendor. When he drove into the driveway my mother would call to my father saying, “The cursor is here.” Dad would always go out and greet him in the yard. Seldom was he allowed in the house, and if he came in he never made it past the office, and generally mom would close the office door so the conversation never went over the door frame. When our children came home with that language they put money in the swearing jar for each curse word said. Most of them could now purchase a house if that practice was still something they did. We have become a vulgar nation. Perhaps it is time to return to the old-fashioned way of speaking and thinking.

Let’s practice that… no vulgarity and no condescension.

I’m also wanting to know if anyone has used or is familiar with the Echo Prayer App? I need a way to keep track of prayer requests, is was brought to my attention. If you are familiar with it please let me know what you think.

Know you are prayed for.