Community Chat

[gloriajean]

We can show God that we truly love Him by the way we speak and live.
May I be inspiring, Lord, and may everyone that I meet find You.

S C R I P T U R E F O R T H E D A Y
"Be still and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10

M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E D A Y
I can try to keep my life calm and unruffled. This is my great task, to
find peace and acquire serenity. I need not harbor disturbing thoughts.
No matter what fears, worries and resentments I may have, I can try to think
of constructive things until calmness comes. Only when I am calm can I act
as a channel for God's spirit.

P R A Y E R F O R T H E D A Y
I pray that I may build up instead of tearing down. I pray that I may be
constructive and not destructive.

Hello my friends! Hope you all had a good day today. I've been busy with gathering some good gluten free recipes from the net today and tonight bought some flours for them, tomorrow I will bake another loaf to see how we like it. I made some cornbread today - it got crumbly because I didn't have the right flour, and I didn't know it would make a difference. I'll make it again tomorrow with the right flour. If at first you don't succeed, you try and try again. I was blessed by having a nice phone call from Lori this morning. She worked from home today. She signed up for swimming so she is going swimming now. Remember Steve we prayed for who was rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding? He's much better and she thought he could come home today. Haven't heard any more. And those triplets were born today! My neighbor called to tell us to keep them in prayer - two boys and a girl! Very small. They were due in March. Julie has a 2 year old and now triplets!! Wow!! I cannot imagine it! She quit her job and her Mom will be helping her out when they get out of the hospital.

Homily of the Day
January 24, 2011
Don´t Close Your Eyes to the Workings of the Spirit
by Monsignor Dennis Clark
Heb 9:15, 24-28 / Mk 3:22-30
It is truly astonishing to see how far away from reality some of us can wander. Sometimes it’s fear that makes us shut our eyes, and sometimes it’s a powerful personal agenda which reshapes and rearranges reality to fit our personal desires. We get a good look at just such a blinding, distorting personal agenda in today’s Gospel.
Jesus had been doing what He usually did: heal the sick, cure lepers, give sight to the blind, and expel demons. And what did the scribes from Jerusalem have to say about all that? “He’s possessed by the devil”! They simply refused to let the evidence speak for itself, because to acknowledge the facts would undermine what they valued more than anything else: their own power over the Jewish community.
The Spirit was at work in their very midst, but they simply turned their backs and refused to see the Spirit – all to protect so little! In part it was a form of despair, thinking that there was no more to their lives than a bit of power over their piece of the “turf.” At the same time, it was a form of presumption, denying that they had any need for God. It was a sin that could never be forgiven, because it locked out the Spirit, saying either “I don’t need your help,” or “You can’t help me.”
The Spirit is powerfully at work where you are every day. Don’t underestimate your need or the Spirit’s power. Welcome the Spirit with a hopeful heart, for the Spirit knows exactly what you need today and will give it to you if you ask.

You Are Very Special

In all the world there is nobody, nobody like you. Since the beginning of time there has never been another person like you. Nobody has your smile, your eyes, your hands, your hair. Nobody owns your handwriting, your voice. You're Special.
Nobody can paint your brush strokes. Nobody has your taste for food or music or dance or art. Nobody in the universe sees things as you do. In all time there has never been anyone who laughs in exactly your way, and what makes you laugh or cry or think may have a totally different response in another. So - You're Special.
You're different from any other person who has ever lived in the history of the universe. You are the only one in the whole creation who has your particular set of abilities. There is always someone who is better at one thing or another. Every person is your superior in at least one way. Nobody in the universe can reach the quality of the combination of your talents, your feelings. Like a roomful of musical instruments some might excel in one way of another but nobody can match the symphonic sound when all are played together. Your Symphony. Through all eternity no one will ever walk, talk, think or do exactly like you. You're Special.
You're rare and in all rarity there is enormous value. You're Special and it is no accident you are. Please realise that God made you for a special purpose. He has a job for you to do that nobody else can do as well as you can. Out of the billions of applicants only one is qualified. Only one has the unique and right combination of what it takes and that one is you. You're Special!

Trust Him
Trust Him when dark doubts assail thee. Trust Him when thy strength is small.
Trust Him when to simply trust Him seems the hardest thing of all.
Trust Him, He is ever faithful; Trust Him, for His will is best;
Trust Him, for the Heart of Jesus is the only place of rest.
Trust Him, then, through doubts and sunshine, All thy cares upon Him cast,
Till the storm of life is over , And the trusting days are past.

WHY GO TO CHURCH?

A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me I can't remember a single one of them. So I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me those meals, I would be physically dead today.
Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing.... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
(Author unknown)
Dear Lord Jesus,
It's so easy to get caught up in our busy lives. Help us to stop and reflect on Your love for us. When things seem to become too much, let me think of You and have be patient. Thank you for all you have done for me and all you will do. Amen
- - -
Acts 20:7 - And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them...

Be True To Yourself

Don't wait for some distant day to come,
it may be too late before you've even begun.
Not everyone will agree with all you decide.
Be true to yourself first and foremost.
The only important thing in life is what you do
with the time you spend here on earth.
Don't be afraid to follow your desires,
they are not silly nor selfish.
Take the time and do what makes you feel alive.
Leave your fears and regrets in the past,
for this is where they belong.
Don't cloud today with things that can't be undone.
You have no more control over yesterday or tomorrow,
than you do the raging of your passions.
Do not quiet these dreams nor quench your desires.
For if you do, your journey is ended.
You have only today to begin anew and follow your dreams.
For in the end all we have are our memories.
When the twilight comes to us, let there be,
No excuses, no explanations, no regrets!

St. Teresa´s Bookmark
Let noting disturb you;
let nothing dismay you;
all things pass;
God never changes.
Patience attains all
that it strives for.
Those who have God
find they lack nothing;
God alone suffices.

Sacrifice
The sacrifice of love we give,
Takes less and yet gives more;
An everlasting hand of love,
The heart an open door.
The willingness to give of self;
To lay down your own life;
To touch another persons heart,
In loving sacrifice.
The chance that God has given you,
To reach another soul;
Forever changed by kindness,
A life your love made whole.
For life is but a circle,
Each life part of the chain;
Each link is joined by sacrifice,
That causes man to change.
To turn and reach a hand of love,
To touch and other's life;
Will cause the circle to be whole,
In loving sacrifice.
by: Allison Chambers Coxsey

Closing Prayer - Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Paul the Apostle - here is a prayer in his honor:

St. Paul the Apostle
Loving Savior, on this the Feast Day of Saint Paul, I ask for a share in his passionate enthusiasm for spreading the Gospel. You saved him from the belief that Christians were heretics; help me to resist judging and persecuting others out of a lack of understanding their beliefs, and teach me how to turn people away from wrong beliefs to You-Who are the Way and the Truth. Bless me with the same boldness and conviction and leadership that Saint Paul had, with words provided by the Holy Spirit. And inspire all Christians to have this same zeal for sharing their faith. Saint Paul, pray for us. Amen.

Good night now and God bless you all - sweet dreams and may the Angels be always with you in everything you do. Remember to always call upon your Guardian Angel and remember that you all are very SPECIAL!