Hello my friends! Hope you all had a great day today. The weather was really nice today and we got a lot done at my sister's outside work, only Linus did the work outside, but I visited with Deil, helped plant some flowers in a flower bed. Showed her pictures of the twins etc. and when we got home got a text from Darla that the twins are doing well, and if all goes okay they might go home tomorrow! She is so weak, she says she'll need help. So of course we'll come and help. I told her that her Dad only gets off work at 2.
Please pray for her so she can get her strength back, and not have any more symptoms of preclampsia. May God bless her with the return of good health again.
We don't choose how or when we will die, but we do decide how we will live.
Lord, forgive my frequent drifting and help me to see clearly the best path
for me.
S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
"Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them."
~Matthew 18:20
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
"Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them." The
spirit of God can come upon God's followers when they are all together
at one time, in one place, and with one accord. When two or three
consecrated souls are together at a meeting place, the spirit of God is
there to help and guide them. Where any sincere group of people are
together, reverently seeking the help of God, God's power and God's
spirit are there to inspire them.
P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may be in accord with the members of my group. I pray
that I may feel the strength of a consecrated group.
Remember The Bent Tree
I was lying in bed this morning thanking God for his healing and then
praying for greater healing from some childhood damage I have often
struggled to overcome.
I began thinking about how nice it would be if those events had never
happened. But as I was praying about it, the thought came to me to
"remember the bent tree".
The "bent tree" story is one I heard as a young boy when an elderly
pastor was talking about it to his adult congregation. Being a "young
tree" myself at the time, I didn't then fully understand the story.
From my childhood memory, it goes like this:
A large family with several children had just moved to a home in the
country. The children were delighted to discover that on the property
there was a pond suitable for swimming. On a bank at the side of the
pond a young oak tree was growing. The tree was so young that its trunk
and branches were thin and quite flexible--not capable of supporting
much weight.
The children discovered that with a running start they could make the
thin branches swing and arc over the pond enough to drop in with a
satisfying splash. They spent many happy summer hours playing in the
pond and swinging from the tree. But after a few years they outgrew
the pond and the tree was no longer used.
There was damage to the small tree, however. The branches and trunk had
been bent and twisted and strained so much they were no longer straight
as they had been before. The tree looked like it was crippled forever.
Time passed and 35 years later, the long-since grown children came
together for a reunion in the area of their childhood. They asked the
new owners of the property if they could explore once more the place
they had grown up. And of course, they walked out to the pond.
In their mind's eye, they expected to see a spindly young oak at the
side of the pond.
But things had changed.
What they saw was a large mature oak tree whose trunk and branches had
become thick and massive. But through the solid branches they could still
see the unnatural bend in the trunk they themselves had created--it had
become part of the tree's character.
I think the story might have ended there as the pastor made the point
that "as the twig is bent, so grows the tree". I think he was teaching
that all of us, as parents and neighbors, affect the lives of our
children and people around us in ways that can change their lives for
good or bad forever.
But this morning, as I remembered the tree, I saw there is more to the
story. Yes, the tree had been damaged and bent. But where there had been
damage and weakness there was now massive strength and attractive character.
The curving trunk and branches arching over the pond could no longer be
moved. In fact, the tree now provided stability to the bank on which it
grew and extra shade over the pond for comfort to others. A new rope had
been hung from the now solid branch for a new generation of children to
swing over the water.
It was as if the Lord was telling me that I was praying for the healing
He had started long ago. And the healing He often chooses is turning
weakness and damage into strength and character that may be used by Him
to provide support, comfort and teaching to others. Yet the healing I
had been praying for was to "make it as if it never happened."
Thinking about the bent tree helped me understand a little more what the
Lord has told us before--that His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
When I realized that He has been healing me all along, I saw that my prayer
for healing needs to change--not so much that He will make it as though some
pain in life had never happened, but that His strength will be all the more
manifest-- because of it.
Author Unknown
Prayer to our Lady of Mount Carmel"Flos Carmeli" - Prayer of St. Simon Stock
O beautiful Flower of Carmel, most fruitful vine, Splendor of Heaven, holy and singular, who brought forth the Son of God, still ever remaining a Pure Virgin, assist me in this necessity. O Star of the sea, help and protect me!
Show me that Thou art my Mother.
O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!
Mother and Ornament of Carmel, Pray for us!
Virgin, Flower of Carmel, Pray for us!
Patroness of all who wear the Scapular, Pray for us!
Hope of all who die wearing the Scapular, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Friend of the Sacred Heart, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Chaste Spouse of Mary, Pray for us!
St. Joseph, Our Patron, Pray for us!
O sweet Heart of Mary, Be our salvation!
Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.
July 8 - Jesus Calling
When you seek my face, put aside thoughts of everything else. I am above all, as well as in all; your communion with me transcends both time and circumstances. Be prepared to be blessed bountifully by my Presence, for I am a God of unlimited abundance. Open wide you heart and mind to receive more and more of Me. When your Joy in me meets my Joy in you, there are fireworks of heavenly ecstasy. This is eternal life here and now: a tiny foretaste of what waits you in the life to come
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”
—John 15:11
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
—1 Corinthians 13:12attributed - Sir Francis Drake -1577
Blogs & Forums
Forums
Blogs
