Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Faith is what lifts me to the level of possibility and opens the door
to God's promises. Lord, continue to strengthen my belief and bless
me with unyielding faith.

S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y

"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;
for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." ~Matthew
11:28-30

M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y

I can believe that fundamentally all is well. Good things can happen
to me. I believe that God cares for me and will provide for me. I
need not try to plan ahead. I know that the way will unfold, step by
step. I can leave tomorrow's burden to God, because God is the great
burden-bearer. God only expects me to carry my one-day's share.

P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y

I pray that I may not try to carry the burden of the universe on my
shoulders. I pray that I may be satisfied to do my share each day.

Peace to you this third day of the New Year! The party went well - everyone had a great time! Tomorrow we can eat some left-overs!
Blessings for us both today started out with our beautiful Mass with Fr. Matthew - so uplifting! Then I got a text message that Darla and Greg arrived home safely, and after the party got an email from Greg saying they made it in good time - roads were good - and they made it in 14.5 hours instead of the 16! Said Darla drove fast!
Hope you all had a good day and hope that our dear friends come back again that have disappeared! And we always welcome new posters to come and be our friends, also.






Rules For Daily Life

Begin the day with God
Kneel down to Him in prayer;
Lift up thy heart to His abode.
And seek His love to share.

Open the Book of God
And read a portion there;
That it may hallow all thy thoughts,
And sweeten all thy care.

Go through the day with God
Whate'er thy work may be;
Where'er thou art-at home, abroad,
He still is near to thee.

Converse in the mind with God
Thy spirit heavenward raise:
Acknowledge every good bestowed,
And offer grateful praise.

Conclude the day with God
Thy sins to Him confess;
Trust in the Lord's atoning blood,
And plead His righteousness.

Lie down at night with God
Who gives His servants sleep;
And when thou tread'st the vale of death,
He will thee guard and keep.

Pass this inspiration on ...

- Author Unknown

A Guiding Light for the Year Ahead

As you go through the days of the year ahead,
busy with all the responsibilities the world has placed upon you,
remember to keep the truly special things in mind.
Keep things in perspective: Work, play, learning, living and especially our faith in Our Lord.

Have happiness as a part of your priorities!
Be creative and aware and wonderfully alive in His Truth
and always remember where to find your smile.
New journeys await you in the coming year.
Decisions lie ahead, wondering what you will do, where you will go, how you will choose when the choices are yours.
But remember, God is with you always. Work for the ability to choose wisely, to prosper, to succeed.
Let the roads that you travel take you to beautiful places, and have the faith it takes to achieve and aspire.
In this year, I pray that our hopes for our tomorrows take us to the summit of our goals,
and our joys bring us peace, love and happiness. Amen.





25 Questions for Mary

By Max Lucado



What was it like watching him pray?

How did he respond when he saw other kids giggling during the service at
the synagogue?

When he saw a rainbow, did he ever mention a flood?

Did you ever feel awkward teaching him how he created the world?

When he saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did he act differently?

Did you ever see him with a distant look on his face as if he were
listening to someone you couldn't hear?

How did he act at funerals?

Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying
was asleep under your own roof?

Did you ever try to count the stars with him ... and succeed?

Did he ever come home with a black eye?

How did he act when he got his first haircut?

Did he have any friends by the name of Judas?

Did he do well in school?

Did you ever scold him?

Did he ever have to ask a question about Scripture?

What do you think he thought when he saw a prostitute offering to the
highest bidder the body he made?

Did he ever get angry when someone was dishonest with him?

Did you ever catch him pensively looking at the flesh on his own arm
while holding a clod of dirt?

Did he ever wake up afraid?

Who was his best friend?

When someone referred to Satan, how did he act?

Did you ever accidentally call him Father?

What did he and his cousin John talk about as kids?

Did his other brothers and sisters understand what was happening?

Did you ever think, That's God eating my soup?

Busyness in Life
"Come apart and rest a while." -- Jesus (Mark 6:31)
According to tradition, the apostle John had a hobby raising pigeons. On one occasion a fellow church leader who was returning from a hunting trip stopped by John's place and found him playing with one of his birds and gently corrected him for wasting his time.

John, noticing his friend's hunting bow, said that the string was loose whereupon the man replied, "Yes, I always loosen the string of my bow when it's not in use. If it stayed tight, it would lose its resilience and fail me in the hunt."

"And I am now relaxing the bow of my mind," said John, "so that I may be better able to shoot the arrows of divine truth."

Work is important. We need to eat and we need to take care of our family, but over-busyness can be a curse. Without sufficient rest and relaxation we will eventually lose our health and not be able to work efficiently. And without taking time to nurture and be nurtured in loving relationships, life becomes empty and meaningless.

We need to follow the advice of Jesus when he said to his disciples, "Come apart and rest a while." Or as somebody else put it, "Come apart and rest a while before you come apart."



~ Author Unknown ~

Words of Encouragement


January 2, 2011


The Ninth Day of Christmas!
by Mark Shea

Galatians 5:22-23

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.

The nine fruits of the Holy Spirit that Paul mentions in today's verse are, like the Nine Ladies of the old Christmas song, meant to dance, not just sit there. Fruit is, after all, to be eaten. More than that, it is to taste good and sweet. Some of us approach the fruits of the Spirit in a mood of onerous legalism. We do "good works" in the pinched and cold righteousness of a Puritan biddy handing out a penny to a beggar in the hope of "doing her duty." We approach the life of grace with a Minimum Daily Adult Requirement attitude that asks, "What's the least I have to do – the absolute bare minimum – that will get me saved?" The truly Christian life is a million miles from such an attitude. Christ came to give life abundantly, not sparingly. There is a fundamental generosity at the heart of the fruits of the Spirit. An exultant exuberance that sees virtue not merely as a job to be slogged through, but as a sweet, good thing to be tasted. Today, taste and see that the Lord is good!


I BELIEVE
Author Unknown


I Believe...
A Birth Certificate shows we were born. A Death Certificate shows we
died. Pictures show we lived!

I Believe...
That just because two people argue,doesn't mean they don't love each
other.
And just because they don't argue,doesn't mean they do love each
other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends
change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every
once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even the longest distance.
Same goes for true love.

I Believe....
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache
for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be
the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to
be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best
time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down,
will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that
doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many
birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you
have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for
your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we
are,but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change
your life Forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally
different.

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't
even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries
out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too
soon.

I Believe...
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in,
I just did.

I Believe...
The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of
everything we just make the most of everything.

Commit Yourself..

For 30 days commit yourself to stop one of your addictive behaviors (smoking, drinking, chewing, internet surfing, watching TV, etc.)
If you break your commitment in the middle, just smile, forgive yourself, and start over for another 30 days.

Spend more time listening and less time talking.

Spend half an hour everyday - meditating, walking in nature or dancing passionately...

Get some things that you were postponing for a long while - done!

If you need support for step number 4 - get it!
Get a housekeeper, a bookkeeper, a gardener, and at least have your car washed!

Clean your physical space.
Get rid of some old clutter and create space for something new to enter your life.

Clean your relationships.
If you have an intimate partner with whom you need to spend more time, schedule it tonight.
Stay on good terms with those you can, and end those relationships that are never going to support you.

Laugh a lot.
Do you know why angels can fly? Because they take themselves lightly...

Do something you believe you cannot do.
Science has declared that a bumblebee cannot fly, due to its physical structure.
Do you know why a bumblebee can fly? Because it doesn't read the scientific literature...

Give something from your heart to a total stranger.
A flower, a smile, a drawing, a chance..

Wishing you

12 months of HAPPINESS
52 weeks of FUN
365 days of SUCCESS
8,760 hours of GOOD HEALTH
525,600 minutes of BLESSINGS
3,153,600 seconds of JOY

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Closing Prayer:

Prayer for Peace

Send Thy peace, O Lord,
which is perfect and everlasting,
that our souls may radiate peace.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
that we may think, act, and speak harmoniously.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
that we may be contented and
thankful for Thy bountiful gifts.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
that amidst our worldly strife
we may enjoy Thy bliss.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
that we may endure all, tolerate all
in the thought of Thy grace and mercy.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
that our lives may become a divine vision,
and in Thy light all darkness may vanish.
Send Thy peace, O Lord,
our Father and Mother,
that we, Thy children on earth,
may all unite in one brotherhood.
Amen.

Good night my friends - sweet dreams and may your Monday be blessed! See you then!