Community Chat

[gloriajean]

Becoming overwhelmed creeps up slowly, one commitment at a time.
Lord, help me regain my time and sanity, accomplish my priorities
without major setbacks, and have quiet time left to nurture my spirit.

Scripture for the day:
"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

Meditation for the day:
We can rest now until life, eternal life, flowing through our veins
and heart and mind, bids us to bestir ourselves. Then glad work can
follow. Tired work is never effective. The strength of God's spirit
is always available to the tired mind and body. God is our physician
and our healer. We can look to these quiet times of communion with God
for rest, for peace, for cure. Then we can rise, refreshed in spirit
and go out to work, knowing that our strength is able to meet any
problems because it is reinforced by God's power.

Prayer for the day:
I pray that the peace I have found will make me effective. I pray
that I may be relieved of all strain during this day.

Greetings to you all! Hope you all had a great day! For me it seemed like a miracle happened to me since last night's ordeal with my throat. I got up this morning and had coffee with Linus as usual, nothing hurt! Last night it hurt to even swallow water. Having the X-Ray and knowing that nothing showed up there stuck, gave me great relief and when I got to bed, I prayed for healing so I wouldn't have to get my throat scoped this morning - God answered my prayer and yours.
Another blessing - Linus finished his 5 days in a row now - and no foot pain!! Another miracle due to prayers!! A couple days when it was very slow at work they let him go home early and that all helped too. We met Greg's parents tonight at our fav restaurant - very nice people. I was a little nervous, but everything was great - another blessing!
Another house showing this morning - a guy with crutches. Watched at my neighbor's house again. Sammy barked when he saw people going into our house!!! Had to shut him up! Weather was really nice out. I sat in my neighbor's swing with Sammy.

Homily of the Day
July 5, 2011
How Are You Doing?
by Monsignor Dennis Clark, Ph.D.
Gn 32:23-33 / Mt 9:32-38
Good help is hard to find. It’s always been so, and we need only listen to our own conversations to verify it. In the course of any week, a lot of us will have rendered judgment on the inadequacies of gardeners, politicians, grocery store clerks, teachers, preachers, and host of other available targets. And almost certainly those very people are equally busy casting aspersions on the performances of their own list of targets, which may well include us.
One really does have to ask, if all the critics have such clean hands, how can there be so many who are deserving of criticism?! The answer, of course, is that there are no perfectly clean hands! None of us is entirely living up to the life’s work God has assigned to us via the unique shape of our gifts. As Jesus said in today’s gospel, “The harvest is great, but the laborers are few.”
By virtue of both our giftedness and our baptism, every one of us is called in a unique way to help those around us to thrive and to come to life ever more fully. It’s the ultimate criterion of our success or failure as human beings.
And that brings us to today’s question: How are you doing?

Prayer of St. Francis De Sales:

O God, I vow and consecrate to You all that is in me:
My memory and my actions to God the Father;
My understanding and my words to God the Son;
My will and my thoughts to God the Holy Spirit;
My heart and my body, my tongue, my senses and all my sorrows
to the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ,
Who was content to be betrayed into the hands of wicked men
and to suffer the torment of the Cross.

Is God Dancing On Your Potato Chips?
Not too long ago I had "one of those days." I was feeling pressure from a writing deadline. I had company arriving in a couple days and the toilet was clogged. I went to the bank, and the trainee teller processing my deposit had to start over three times. I swung by the supermarket to pick up a few things and the lines were serpentine.
By the time I got home, I was frazzled and sweaty and in a hurry to get something on the table for dinner. Deciding on Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, I grabbed a can opener, cranked open the can, then remembered I had forgotten to buy milk at the store. Nix the soup idea. Setting the can aside, I went to plan "B", which was leftover baked beans. I grabbed the Tupperware container from the fridge, popped the seal, took a look and groaned. My husband isn't a picky eater, but even HE won't eat baked beans that look like caterpillars.
Really frustrated now, I decided on a menu that promised to be as foolproof as it is nutrition-free: hot dogs and potato chips. Retrieving a brand new bag of chips from the cupboard, I grabbed the cellophane and gave a hearty pull. The bag didn't open. I tried again. Nothing happened. I took a breath, doubled my muscle, and gave the bag a hearty wrestle. With a loud pop, the cellophane suddenly gave way, ripping wide from top to bottom. Chips flew sky high. I was left holding the bag, and it was empty.
It was the final straw. I let out a blood curdling scream. "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" My husband heard my unorthodox cry for help. Within minutes he was standing at the doorway to the kitchen, where he surveyed the damage: an opened can of soup, melting groceries, moldy baked beans, and one quivering wife standing ankle deep in potato chips. My husband did the most helpful thing he could think of at the moment. He took a flying leap, landing flat-footed in the pile of chips. And then he began to stomp and dance and twirl, grinding those chips into my linoleum in the process!
I stared. I fumed. Pretty soon I was working to stifle a smile. Eventually I had to laugh. And finally I decided to join him. I, too, took a leap onto the chips. And then I danced. Now I'll be the first to admit that my husband's response wasn't the one I was looking for. But the truth is, it was exactly what I needed. I didn't need a cleanup crew as much as I needed an attitude adjustment, and the laughter from that rather funky moment provided just that.
So now I have a question for you, and it's simply this: Has God ever stomped on your chips? I know that, in my life, there have been plenty of times when I've gotten myself into frustrating situations and I've cried out for help, all the while hoping God would show up with a celestial broom and clean up the mess.
What often happens instead is that God dances on my chips, answering my prayer in a completely different manner than I had expected, but in the manner that is best for me after all. Sometimes I can see right away that God's response was the best one after all. Sometimes I have to wait weeks or months before I begin to understand how and why God answered a particular prayer the way he did. There are even some situations that, years later, I'm still trying to understand. I figure God will fill me in sooner or later, either this side of Heaven or beyond.
Do I trust Him? Even when he's answering my prayers in a way that is completely different from my expectations? Even when he's dancing and stomping instead of sweeping and mopping:? Can I embrace what He's offering? Can I let His joy adjust my attitude? Am I going to stand on the sidelines and sulk, or am I willing to learn the steps of the dance he's dancin' with my needs in mind? I'll be honest with you: Sometimes I sulk. Sometimes I dance. I'm working on doing more of the latter than the former. I guess the older I get the more I realize that He really does know what He's doing. He loves me and I can trust Him. Even when the chips are down.
Author Unknown

CLOSED DOORS
Author Unknown
We need to learn to praise the Lord as much for a closed door as we do
an open door. The reason God closes doors is because He has not
prepared anything over there for us. If he didn't close the wrong
door, we would never find the right door.
God directs our path through the closing and opening of doors. Once a
door closes, it forces you to change your course. Another door closes,
it forces you to change your course again. Then, finally, you find the
open door and you walk right into your blessing.
The Lord directs our paths through the opening and closing of doors,
but instead of praising him for the closed door (which keeps us out of
trouble); we get upset because we "judge by the appearances. "
You have an ever-present help in the time of trouble that is always
standing guard. Because He walks ahead of you, He can spot trouble
down the road and set up a roadblock or detour accordingly. But
through our lack of wisdom, we try to tear down the roadblocks or push
aside the detour sign.
Then the minute we get into trouble, we start crying, "Lord, how could
You have done this to me?"
We have got to realize that the closed door can be a blessing. Didn't
He say that no good thing would He withhold from them that love Him?
If you get terminated from your job, praise God for the new
opportunities that will manifest themselves: it might be another job,
it might be school.
If that man or woman won't return your call, it might not be them, it
might be the Lord setting up a roadblock (just let it go).
We can sometimes trap ourselves in doubt and discouragement through
judging by appearances. .. Be grateful for the many times our Father
has closed doors to us just to open them in the most unexpected
places.
The Lord won't always say in spoken words: "Go to the left, now to the
right" ... sometimes He will just close the doors that are wrong for
you.

Love Confession
Heavenly Father,
I thank you right now in the name of Jesus that I made the decision to have a personal relationship with you. I have knowledge of you that is grounded in personal experience.
Father I have decided to clothe my life in love. I thank you that as I have made you my first love you have taught me how to love myself so I can love others.
Father I thank you that you have given me a working revelation of your love. So as I walk in love I experience victory in every area of my life.
In Jesus name. Amen.

THIS IS GOOD!
Author Unknown
July 5, 2011
The story is told of a king who had a close friend with whom he grew
up. The friend had a habit of looking at every situation that ever
occurred in his life (positive or negative) and remarking, "This is
good!"
One day the king and his friend were on a hunting expedition. The
friend would load and prepare the guns for the king. In preparing one
of the guns, the friend had apparently done something wrong, for after
taking the gun from his friend, the king fired it and his thumb was
blown off.
Examining the situation the friend remarked as usual, "This is good!"
To which the king replied, "No, this is NOT good!" and proceeded to
send his friend to jail.
About a year later, the king was hunting in a dangerous area.
Cannibals captured him and took him to their village. They tied his
hands, stacked some wood, set up a stake and bound him to it. As they
approached to set fire to the wood, they noticed that the king was
missing a thumb. Being superstitious, they never ate anyone that was
less than whole. So after untying the king, they sent him on his way.
As he returned home, he was reminded of the event that had taken his
thumb and felt remorse for his treatment of his friend. He went
immediately to the jail to speak with his friend. You were right," he
said, "it was good that my thumb was blown off." And he proceeded to
tell the friend all that had just happened. "And so I am very sorry
for sending you to jail for so long. It was bad for me to do this."
"No," his friend replied, "This is good!"
"What do you mean, 'This is good'? How could it be good that I sent my
friend to jail for a year?"
"If I had NOT been in jail, I would have been with you."
Situations may not always seem pleasant while we are in them, but the
promise of God is clear. If we love him and live our lives according
to his precepts, even that which seems to be bleak and hopeless will
be turned by God for His glory and our benefit. Hold on...God is
faithful!

Healing Prayer for Bobbiesue and all who are sick:
HEALING PRAYER
"Beloved Mother, I come to you with prayers for healing of mind, body and spirit. I ask you to
hear my special concern (state petition) and to place my needs before your Son who you nurtured
and cared for with all your heart. Help me to release all fears and doubts that cause me anxiety and bring
me peace and comfort through your blessed intercession.
Let me be receptive of God's will and help me to learn compassion through my suffering. Teach me
to love others as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Give me the strength and understanding to forgive and to receive others' forgiveness. Blessed Mother,
help me to grow closer to your Son in everything I do. Renew my spirit and restore my soul through your intercession.
I seek your guidance and protection, remembering these words: "Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me." PS 51:10 All this I pray in Jesus' name. Amen"

Good night and God bless you all!! Sweet Dreams!