Crafting Is Grown-Up Play

I absolutely love losing myself in some creative endeavor.  The inspiration for this menu board was one I saw on Pinterest. It combines several aspects of my life. I love to craft and cook, and I'm always trying to be more organized, and I'm always looking for ways to stay on my diet. So, as I started going to Weight Watcher's this week, I thought that actually using this menu, board that I made months ago would be a good idea.  Kelly, my daughter-in-law and I each created a menu board together.  She's my inspiration in trying to be more purposeful about my menus. She plans her menus for each night of the week and then shops accordingly.  I realized today that following her lead will give me more control over my evening meals.  I love this board because it reminds me of Kelly and because it gives me inspiration to be organized and to stay on my diet plan.

This One Is So Hard

     When I became a Catholic, there were beliefs that I thought would be hard to accept. I studied for a year before my confirmation, and in that time, God gave me the gift of faith and obedience, at least mostly. While some of the teachings of my new church were still difficult, I learned to pray about them and to be patient both with myself and with God's timing. Understanding comes in waves as we are ready for more. One of my favorite parts of being a Catholic is the 2000 years of Church tradition, the firm foundation of a faith that can trace its roots to the apostles, a Church that was established by Jesus. Mine is a church that teaches as the magisterium and when there is a difference between my conscience and the official teachings of the church, the magisterium, I have to go with the magisterium because I know that I can trick my conscience when I want to believe something is okay. All this is to say that the teachings of the Church on contraception are the hardest teachings for me to follow. I understand the teaching intellectually. I truly believe in the sanctity of ALL life and the sanctity of marriage and of the marriage act. But believing intellectually and having enough faith to practice that belief has always been difficult for me personally. Whatever difficulty I have with the practice of my faith, though, is between me and my Lord, and He has worked out a path for me that will never fail me.
All of that being said, this post is not about my own beliefs on contraception. This post is about my Church. The Catholic church does not consult polls to explain God's laws. It does not change a belief when the practice of that belief is difficult. I can point to scripture and thousands of years of Church teaching to support the Catholic belief on contaception; however, that's not my purpose here. My purpose is to tell you that the Catholic church has the right to teach its people God's law as it is interpreted by the magisterium, and the US Government does not have the right to ask the Church to violate its teachings because it disagrees with those teachings. Those of you who believe that this battle is about women's health are very sadly mistaken; I say sadly because your belief does not take into account a loving God who created you and loves you and knows you and wants what's best for you. He will never fail you. A woman's ability to carry life inside of her body is an unbelievable blessing from God and is about so much more than what meets the eye. Don't believe the lies being told; your body belongs to God and is a holy temple. Your treatment of this temple has far reaching consequences that you can't understand. 
This battle is about the Church's authority to guide its people as it sees fit and as the Holy Spirit directs it. No female is forced to follow the Catholic Church or to work for a Catholic institution or to attend a Catholic school. The fact that they chose to do so should not force the Catholic Church to violate its conscience to in any way promote or condone the use of contraception. Freedom of religion is a precious American right. That freedom should be defended at all cost.

Ash Wednesday

     Even though living according to your faith can be difficult, Ash Wednesday reminds us that, with God, we can start over at any time.  The message of Ash Wednesday is that life is short. As we move about in this world, it's easy to lose sight of what's important. We are all sinners, and we are reminded of that on Ash Wednesday. We are asked to fast today and abstain from eating meat in atonement for our sins, not because we believe that making sacrifices removes our sins, but because making sacrifices makes us stronger while reminding us that though we are all sinners, God has a plan for us. Through Christ our sins are wiped clean when we repent of those sins. Abstaining and fasting are our human ways of showing the Lord that we are repenting, and the ashes we receive are our reminder that no matter how strong we become, we will always need the Lord because we are only humans. We come from dust, and we will return to dust.

Worry is Lack of Faith

     I often think about the first time Jesus saw his disciples after his death and resurrection.  Jesus had predicted exactly what had happened including Peter's denial and the abandonment of the other disciples. But the very first words he shares with his friends..."Peace be with you."  He did not want his friends to be troubled or afraid. This scripture gives me so much comfort because it shows that Jesus knows exactly what is in our hearts. He knows our human weakness. He wants us to follow Him and believe in the Peace and Love that he offers.
     Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God. I think that sometimes we don't appreciate the depth of what Jesus is offering.  All of the turmoil, anxiety, and fear that exists in our world today doesn't have to rule us. We can choose to follow Jesus and in so doing receive His peace, and there is such joy in that peace! Why do we allow ourselves to become so anxious, so worried when all we have to do is have faith that our Lord is going to take care of us?
     I don't like feeling worried, anxious, and fearful, but when the world feels like its spinning out of control with budget cuts, wars, and disasters, it's easy to have those feelings. I don't think well or feel well when I'm anxious like that. I'm not as creative, loving, or productive. I try to figure out what I need to do, like there's some sort of magic answer. The truth is that these times are when I'm furthest away from Jesus. I'm not trusting in the peace that He offers. I'm forgetting that He died for me, and that all that really matters is that I follow Him, trust Him, love Him, and let Him love me. If we ask Him, he'll restore the peace within us. It's one of my favorite times at mass~ the "Peace Be With You" rite~ because it's one of the most important things we need to remember.

God Sent Me My Hon

     One Sunday when I was in college, I went with a friend to the chapel on campus for mass. I was stressed out from school and from relationship problems, and I told the Lord that all I really wanted to be was a wife and a mother. Then, for the first time ever, I heard that internal voice of the Lord say, "You will."
     I have always cherished the memory of that Sunday morning, especially this morning on the 28th anniversary of the day Dean and I received the sacrament of marriage and were joined by God as one. I know beyond all doubt that God sent me Dean. He wasn't exactly what I had expected and he certainly wasn't in a place that I had expected, but he was and has always been exactly what I needed in a partner.
     My best friend, Keith, read this poem on marriage by Kahil Gibran at our wedding ceremony: http://leb.net/~mira/works/prophet/prophet3.html .  The poet talks about how to be together bonded by God as a couple but also how to not to be so "near together" as "the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow." That's the balance that is hard to find as a couple. To be together and put family second only behind God but not to lose who are as an individual. This morning, as I look back, I know that sometimes along the way we've struggled and there were times when I felt like I was losing me. That's not what God wants for us when he unites us as one. Marriage is similar to salvation; you have to give up your life only to discover that after doing so, you find it! Dean and I know each other's strengths and weaknesses and have come to appreciate the strengths and laugh at the weaknesses because where one is weak, the other is strong. God already knew that; it just took us a while to get there! And being there is oh so wonderful.

I Love People

     I seriously love people! You will probably find this odd, but I'm fascinated by people the same way that a bug collector loves bugs or a paleontologist rejoices when she discovers an amazing fossil.  I could stand in an elementary cafeteria all day and watch the kids interacting, each one of them a little treasure. So tonight when I did my readings and read these words in Jeremiah, "Cursed is the man who trusts in human beings," I felt a little sad.  Later, the verse reads, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord."  Maybe I can understand what the Lord is telling me after all.
      I have been so blessed with the people God has placed in my life. Professionally, I have had the best mentors beginning with my dad. I work with the most amazing people, and I have had the privilege of meeting kids who have shown me how much a person can survive and still thrive.  Personally, I have had wonderful friends who made me laugh and who gave me a sense of belonging and acceptance. My family is incredible~ each in their own way. My boys are so loving and so special, all three of them. 
     But, if I'm really being honest, there have been times when I've been hurt by the people in my life when they have let me down. And honestly, there have been times when I've let the people I care about down.  We're human beings; that's what we do.  We're never going to be able to love each other with the kind of love described in Corinthians until we get to Heaven.  People come in and out of our lives, and we should love them and appreciate them while we have them, but I think what the Lord is telling us is that we can't put other people at the center of our universe no matter how much we love them. If we do, we're bound to be disappointed. But if we make the Lord the center, if we place our hope for salvation in Him alone, we will always be nourished.

Truth Begins in Humility

     Today someone I work with took the time to send me an email telling me how much she appreciates the way I do my job. Now the fact that she would take the time to let me know her feelings meant a lot to me, but it just so happens that I started the morning with some clouds of self-doubt.  Her email had come at the perfect time. I responded with, "How did you know I needed to hear that this morning?" And she responded with, "The Lord works in mysterious ways."  How awesome!
     So I'm about to go to bed but before I do, I read my daily Mass readings, and wouldn't you know it, Jesus is talking to me about humility~ about not behaving in ways just to seek recognition, about how Truth begins in humility. And yet the Lord made me, and "He saw that it was good." So how are those two positions reconciled? As today's meditation says, true humility is knowing your own strengths and weaknesses and being honest about both. After 50 years, I know exactly what my weaknesses are, and I also know what my strengths are. I believe that both are gifts from God. I was given my strengths so that with His grace, I can accomplish my work here on earth. And I was given my weaknesses so that I would have to depend on the Lord and on others who were given the strengths that I don't have.
    So where did the self-doubt come from? I believe that self-doubt comes from lack of faith. I believe that when I doubt myself, I'm actually doubting the God who made me. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Self-doubt is temptation not to act or to act in ways that are self serving. How much havoc is wreaked on the world by people who are just trying to make themselves feel better? We can't make enough money, lose enough weight, win enough trophies to ever make ourselves feel better, at least not for the long haul. Only Christ can fill that hole, and when he does, then we have a responsibility to share the gifts he has given us and serve Him and each other.
 And yet that doubt, that lack of faith can creep in at any time because we live on earth, not Heaven. So thank you God, for sending me an Angel today to remind me that I've got work to do, and that You have given me and will continue to give me exactly what I need to accomplish that work.