Tag: #doing what is hard

09.18.2023

46⁰F SSE@7mph SR0645 SS1909

Morning Offering given

Village silent

Coffee

Breakfast very good

Bow season opened with hunters testing sundown. Very hard to see camoed hunters on a dark roadside. They lived, so did I.

Monday morning is here… the to-do list is long.

Much improved this morning in the health department.

Test driven car won’t be good for what I need it for. The search continues.

Baby run last night, still waiting for outcome.

The funeral… very nice Protestant service in a Catholic church.

I keep waiting for the grief and sadness. Over the weekend, I realized I went thru that process for the loss of my entire family when my dad died years ago. I was devastated and depressed for quite some time. I hadn’t had contact since then except for superficial public moments. I grieved and accepted their deaths at that time. I tried. I failed. I confessed my faults/sins. I accepted the loss of what could have been if we hadn’t been so broken. I leave the door open.

Know you are prayed for.

09.12.2023

51⁰F NNW@9mph SR0649 SS1919

Morning Offering given

Cascade peaceful

No coffee

Good volleyball game last evening. M is a fantastic server.

Fun flag football game. L did great! quite the run for a touchdown.

Slept like a log.

Hope to finish up my homework for the Bible study class next Tuesday. It’s going to be an interesting class. The plan is to meet K for coffee.

If we could touch on how to parent the disrespectful child (one day this week). If you haven’t pointers, that would be great.

https://activebeat.com/your-health/children/6-positive-parenting-practices-that-dont-include-yelling/?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google_search_network&utm_campaign=AB_GGL_US_MOBI-EnglishSearch-Pageview-RB1&utm_content=g_m_666165163173&utm_term=advice+parents&placement=kwd-100199484&utm_acid=6727840584&utm_caid=20382778292&utm_agid=151990224232&utm_os=&utm_pagetype=var-multi&device=m&gclid=Cj0KCQjwmICoBhDxARIsABXkXlLzDRpAwJSzLYD5SYWWD6o-f9ryXg1COwmzM3S082JWpUNTVaVzD9EaApZREALw_wcB

Is one source. It may, however, be too foofoo. Personally, the 10 commandments are a good starting place. As well as starting young on modeling respectful language and recognition of authority. One can not display what they have not been taught or experienced.

https://www.verywellfamily.com/ways-to-deal-with-disrespectful-children-1094948 is another.

Know you are prayed for.

09.11.2023 Never Forget

58⁰F NNE@7mph SR0633 SS1920

Morning Offering given

Village quiet

Coffee excellent

The man sleeps

Pray for the repose of souls for those lost in the terrorist attack 09.11.2001. May they rest in peace.

The girl and her husband return home today. I hope they enjoyed their time here as much as we enjoyed them being here. We’ll see them again in a few weeks down there.

Fall is almost upon us (23rd). I look forward to winding down the business while enjoying the rich colors and cooler weather of Autumn 🍂

I’m looking forward to the Lutifisk Supper, to eating lefsa, and seeing family at the end of the month.

It is time to reflect on life. To clean out the closets and drawers of the things in the past that should have been tossed out ages ago.

Know you are prayed for.

“Tenacious Holiness” was the label my sis in law put on it…

It got me to thinking and defining things.

It’s being disciplined to do the Godly even if we might not feel like it. Do the Godly until your heart catches up. Tenacious means to keep a firm hold of something. To be tenacious in our faith, we must keep a firm hold of our faith every day in all situations. We cannot become distracted.

In July 2021, Jacob Tanner (an evangelical) wrote, “Christians are commanded to redeem the time” (Eph. 5:16), “be instant to always preach the Gospel” (2 Tim. 4:2), “continually work to take every thought captive to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5) “and pursue peace and holiness” (Heb. 12:4). “Far from being a calling to laziness, the Christian is called by Christ to continually be at work towards holiness. In fact, the command to pursue holiness is exactly like the command to “be holy as I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). It is a command for active obedience in the life of the Christian. While this should never be understood as a prerequisite for salvation, nor as a requirement to keep salvation, the truth is that the one who loves Christ will keep His commandments (John 15:14) as evidence of the salvation that has been experienced. As Hebrews 12:4 also says, without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Thus, the Christian is both shown to rest in the positional holiness of Christ and encouraged to pursue practical holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit. This also means the Christian must actively fight for holiness by constantly putting sin to death.”

JT and I (although we attend different churches, we are both Christian) agree on this.

I had never considered the below:

Patience can be tenacious. In Psalm 31:24 we learn to “Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord!” The harvest does not happen instantly as anything worth doing takes time. Galatians 6:9 says “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up”

Frankly, previously tenacity always seemed to be somewhat of a negative.

I am grateful to my s-i-l for enlightenment.

09.06.2023

68⁰F WNW@15mph SR0632 SS1929

Morning Offering given

Village peaceful

Coffee excellent!

The man sleeps

For those who don’t know me… I am a sassy, opinionated 68 yr old mother to 11 with 22 gchildren (some living, some not). Some married, some not. Some with children, some without. We are Irish, Dutch, English, Scotch, Norwegian, Swede, Kenyon, Cherokee, Blackfoot Sioux, & Mexican… we are proud of our heritage… we are AMERICAN.

We are CATHOLIC. Some practicing, some not, and some fallen away. But once you are, you are, and there is responsibility regardless of whether you recognize that or not. I can not save my children. All I can do is pray for them and remind them they made a promise to God at confirmation. The rest is up to God.

Scripture reminds us that following Christ will not be easy. Our way will be strewn with obstacles and hardships. It tells us to be prepared and to rely on God for all we will need to get through it. Scriptures tell us not to be afraid that we are not alone. It tells us to do what is right even if you stand alone to do that.

Know you are prayed for.

09.05.2023

74⁰F S@17mph SR0631 SS1931

Morning Offering given

Village peaceful.

Sultry already

Coffee good

The man sleeps

Rode the train last night (again) in my dreams. I have no clue where I was going or, for that matter, why I was headed there.  I made this same trip last week, in my dreams.  I was not afraid, but the tone of the ride was perilous. Others were definitely afraid, some cowering. I sat quietly watching the scenery pass by in my bonnet and Sunday dress.  We are North bound, the track is windy and old.  Sometimes, we come to almost a complete stop. The going is slow.  I can hear someone telling the ticket taker that this section of track doesn’t exist.  I don’t understand why he would say that because it obviously did. We were on it.  I knew that just ahead, we would break out of the trees, the land would be flat, and the sky would be beautiful. I also knew I would wake up before we reached our destination in my own bed.

Funny how the mind works.

Tuesday devotions… are the day to honor the Holy Face of Jesus. Blessed Maria Pierina was told by Jesus. “I firmly wish that My Face reflecting the intimate pains of My Soul, the suffering and love of My Heart, be more honored,”

I am fortunate to be a member of the Catholic Church. Each day, there are opportunities to know Jesus more fully.

Sundays are little Easters

Mondays are devoted to the Holy Spirit

Wednesdays to St Joseph

Thursdays to the Last Supper and on 1st Thursday the act of reparation.

Friday are for penance and 1st Fridays for the Sacred Heart of Jesus. “In the excess of the mercy of My Heart, I promise you that My all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in My displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and My Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.”

We have grown lax in teaching these devotions to our children. In return for our sloth/or acedia in this area of our faith, hearts have grown luke warm to tepid. PROVERBS 16:18.

Jesus invites us to take up his cross daily LUKE 9:23. These devotions help us do that.

Know you are prayed for.

08.31.2023

45⁰F clear SSE@9mph SR0645 SS1940

Morning Offering given

Village Chilly

Coffee good

49 years we celebrate today

I’d do it again in a heartbeat

It all comes down to the graces received in our sacramental marriage. We by no means had 49 years of marital bliss. We had 49 years of the Holy Ghost working on our hearts and minds. 49 years of trying to put the other first. 49 yrs of working thru the hard stuff. 49 years of receiving unconditional love from each other. 49 yrs of praying for each other.

Example: Sunday… (him) Jesus, I pray for my wife. Each day, teach me how to lay down my life for her and live in a way that glorifies you and her. Keep her healthy lord and allow me to create space for her emotional, mental, and spiritual growth in a way that aides her health. Teach me how to build her up rather than break her down. I love you, God. Help me to love her the way you love the church. Amen. (Me) Blessed Mother, help my husband and I to be more and more committed to you and your holy Catholic church. Please help us to grow in faith and to pass that faith onto our children. May it permeate every aspect of our life, so there is no question Who we put first in our lives so our children see this and learn from it. Thank you for our faith. May we never take it for granted. Amen.

So far, it works, and by the grace of God, it will continue to work.

Know you are prayed for.

08.22.2023

74⁰F fog SSE@7mph SR0636 SS2006 excessive heat warning today

Morning Offering given

Conception Abbey is peaceful

No coffee

The man sleeps

Looks like today will be a hot one. I will hope this means the line for viewing Sr. Wilhelmina is short.

I read an article a few weeks back that cautions one to be cautious in thought and action when viewing Sr. Although her body appears incorupt, she is not as yet deemed an incorruptible. Rome will make that decision sometime in the future. The touching of objects to her body in belief that she is an incoruptable would be in error.

Last evening, Bro Cyprian reminded us that the only thing our Lady/or a Saint should do is lead us/point us to Christ. He went on to say we need to stop, look, and listen for God’s voice in this. Repeating several times the need to focus on the quiet, unplug from the world that seeks to create noise in our minds, preventing us from focusing on God.

When asked if his life got dull and boring, he responded that it does at times (which is the case in all vocations regardless of the one it is), which in turn creates a challenge to persevere in prayer. It was in persevering that he found the answers he had been seeking.

I appreciated his candor.

Know you are prayed for.