Saint Hyacinth

I’ve had a string of strange coincidences happen to me lately. I know I’m the kind of person who has a tendency to read more into things than may actually be there – but for the most part I’m a pretty level headed person, I just believe that God speaks to us is many ways.

Redeemed

I’ve been struggling lately. Depression is something that I’ve struggled with my whole life. It’s hard for me to talk about being depressed and being a Christian in the same sentence. Part of me has always thought there must be something wrong with my faith if I am depressed. I must not really believe in God – I start to feel like a fake.

Struggles

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.

² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?

³ My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”

Gratitude

Lately I have been overwhelmed with gratitude. Sometimes it seems I just can’t stop being amazed at how God reaches out to help me. I know he does it, but I never ceased to be amazed that I matter to him, and that he makes a path for me to travel in this world. I don’t have any eloquent way to say how grateful I am for my life and all the amazing things that have happened to me, I don’t know how to tell God how wonderful I think He is when he sticks by me even when I’m a spoiled pouting brat, except to just say, “Thanks.” and I really mean it from the bottom of my heart.

Here is a good article I found on Gratitude. It’s an interview with Brother David Steindl-Rast, and I thought it had some really good thoughts.

Happy Easter to Everyone!

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Most of us, if we’ve lived for any length of time, have at least one of those moments when everything changed forever. One day you were moving along, life was going along in it’s same-old, same-old way and we thought this is the way that out life would be. These things around us would be these certain ways, our plans would work pretty much the way we expected them to, and even if there were a few variations, our life was pretty much laid out before us.

St. Joseph’s Feast Day

Happy St. Joseph’s Feast Day to you! This is a special day for me because St. Joseph is someone that I have a deep devotion for. I believe that St. Joseph has helped watch over me and helped to bring my husband into my life. Our son that passed away was named after St. Joseph, so that makes it special too. I hope all of you have a peaceful and beautiful day and sometime during your busy day, remember St. Joseph and how this simple and quiet man who worked as a carpenter was given the unique and magnificent privilege of being the foster father of God Incarnate.

Prayer

My great grandmother is the person who taught me how to pray. She was a very Godly woman and would pray every night before going to sleep. She could no longer kneel beside her bed so she would sit on the edge and say her evening prayers. During the summers when I would stay with her I would lay quietly on my side of the bed listening to her gentle whispering, waiting for her to finish.

Like a flower of the field

I live in a farming community and during the early spring, farmers begin to burn their fields. It’s not uncommon to be driving along the highway and see the surrounding fields ablaze with bright flames and dark smoke. It’s an eerie sight at night, like some pagan festival from a forgotten time. The reason that they burn the fields is that it burns away all the stubble from the previous growing season, and the ashes fertilize the soil. After the fields are burned bare, they take their plows and discs and turn over the dirt and get it ready for another planting season.

I like seeing the fields burning – it means that spring is on the way. Soon the weather will be warmer, the ugly brown grass will turn green, trees will fill out their skeletal branches with new leaves. It’s the best time of the year I think. It’s appropriate that Easter falls during this time. I love the feeling of everything being new – the rebirth of nature echoing the resurrection of Christ. I always start feeling happy around this time of year. How can you not – for me, there’s such an anticipation of “newness.” I know Easter is still over two weeks away, but today I’m so eager for Easter to come!

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;

he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;

for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass,  he flourishes like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children-

with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.

Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.

Praise the LORD, all his works  everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the LORD, O my soul.

Psalms 103:8-22 

Details, Details, Details…

I’ve been thinking about how I know the Bible was written by men as opposed to women. Now, before anyone throws a burning bra at me, I must explain my anecdotal evidence to prove this statement. This weekend I just happened to be reading through some of the Old Testament. I admittedly don’t know the Old Testament as well as I know the New – which is probably true for the majority of Christians. I guess the Old Testament is more intimidating to me for some reason, like this verse out of Exodus 30:34 – 38:

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take fragrant spices—gum resin, onycha and galbanum—and pure frankincense, all in equal amounts, and make a fragrant blend of incense, the work of a perfumer. It is to be salted and pure and sacred. Grind some of it to powder and place it in front of the ark of the covenant law in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you. Do not make any incense with this formula for yourselves; consider it holy to the LORD. Whoever makes incense like it to enjoy its fragrance must be cut off from their people.”