Posted on by Charly

Leaves Were Falling This Morning

“Noooo,” I thought as I stood in my sunroom watching the first fall leaves glide down to the ground.  It is so cliche but; Time Flies!

It is inevitable and I do love the fall it just came so fast this year. Summer was a delightfully exhausting season that now lies in the past. We made many memories that I have begun to hold even more dear as my family continues to grow older at a rate of speed that I can’t always believe.

As I watched those first leaves falling it was just another reminder that time doesn’t slow down. No matter what is going on God holds the universe in existence.  I thank Him for giving us this dependable pattern of seasons.  With all that is constantly changing we can always count on His unchanging love for all He created.

Let us hold life dear and find the blessings in our struggles because like the leaves, we to will come to the end of our season and, unlike the leaves, will move on to eternity.

Photo from Pixabay.com

Posted on by Charly

You Are Loved!

I recall being pregnant with my second child and wondering how I could ever love another child as much as I loved my first. I didn’t think I had any space left to fit another child in my heart. It was already so full. Then she was born and suddenly my heart swelled. I had just as much love for this little one as I did for my first.

This blissful feeling is so overwhelming when a new baby is placed in your arms. It’s not difficult to imagine loving this little human and protecting it from harm. You can easily imagine putting your life at risk to keep this precious new life safe. This love and safety that is automatic towards this new little human is the closest feeling I can come up with to describe Gods’ love for each of us. Of course He doesn’t question if He has enough love for more humans, He tells us to go forth and multiply. He knows He has more than enough love for all of us. It is us, humans, who don’t always have enough room for Him.

When I think of someone who loves me I immediately picture my own mom and dad. It truly didn’t matter what I did they always loved me. I pray everyone has at least one person that comes to mind when they think about who loves them. There is something that is strengthened inside of us when we know we are loved unconditionally. This kind of love gives us courage and a feeling of security.

Sadly there are many people who don’t feel loved. They don’t feel that there is someone that will love them no matter what. We live in a dysfunctional world where love is twisted, confused, and manipulated. Even if no human person comes to mind, or if you question weather those who are supposed to love you truly do there is always God. He never takes His love away. No matter what you have done or are going through He always loves you!

He loves you in exactly the way you need. A way that we can’t even understand completely because it is so unchanging. He doesn’t love you only when you do good. He loves you always and because of this He desires your happiness. He gives us rules to bring us happiness. He knows what is best because He knows each of us so completely. He doesn’t want you to be alone, to be scared, or to feel unloved. He wants to walk with you on this journey and at the end of this existence He wants you to be with Him for eternity.

He loves each one of us so much that He has a plan for good for each one of us. Even if we choose to stray from His plan we can always choose to come back to it. He is so good that He will continuously help us find our way back to Him. He is the ultimate guide to happiness because of His true love for each of us.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…” John 3:16 NAB

Photo: pixabay.com

Posted on by Charly

I Want it My Way

light switch

I can deny it but my humanity tends toward the motto; I want it my way.  It’s not easy to do life God’s way. I fail at it multiple times everyday but I continue to start again with Him as my guide. As much as I want my way to be right, without knowing and following Him it can’t be.

We are in a culture where it is “right” to let everyone make up their own rules. Whatever makes them happy they believe is right and they believe they have the right to do it.  As a parent, a friend, a Christian I don’t encourage people to do whatever makes them happy without first having the guidance of God.  God desires their happiness, and so do I,  but there are things that seem to make us happy and will actually bring us harm. We naturally tend to do what we believe will make us happy but without any guiding force that is all knowing we can’t even know what true happiness is.

I have to admit I am not a fan of the darkness of  being unhappy.  It is painful to suffer loss, hurt, illness or any other difficulties. Even just darkness itself is scary. Apparently my littlest one feels the same way. She will run excitedly down to her room but if the light is off she runs back with big eyes yelling “scary!”

She’s right. The dark is scary. You can’t see what is right in front of you. You can’t see if there is danger or wonderful surprises. The solution however is simple; turn on the light.  She may be too short to reach the switch but there is always someone around willing to help her.  I am thankful that everyone in her life at the moment wants to turn the light on and not mislead her into the darkness.  The powers the be in our world seem to want us to walk in the darkness, to make our own happiness by way of enjoying all of the pleasures of life without consequence.  There are consequences to doing things our own way.  The most significant of which is that we will not find true happiness in the eternal life.

Christians have the solution to this worlds darkness. Just as we turn on the light in a dark room we need to turn to God who is light.  The song “Turn to the Living God” comes to mind. It starts out with the title: “Turn, turn to the living God.”  The song continues with, “The God of mercy and justice..” And then it finishes up the chorus with, “and with delight he will turn to you, with delight he will turn to you.”

If we turn to Him not only will He turn to us but with DELIGHT He will turn to us!

He shines so bright that when He turns to us He will light us up with His love no matter the darkness that resides in us or around us. With that light we can then see what will lead us to happiness, we can shine a path for others, we can turn darkness into light, and we can see that what we truly desire is to let Him lead the way.

Posted on by Charly

My Cup Overflows

(Photo from google images)

Parenting is um, I can’t actually think of one single word that describes it.  It is a spectrum of the purest joy to the most painful agony. You can quickly be humiliated and just as quickly swell with pride. You have little control and yet everything you do makes a difference in the well-being of your children’s lives. It holds very little status, especially when you have gone way past the perfect number of two children yet the benefits of multiple children far out weigh societies negative outlook on a large family.  Daily  there are positive character building events that take place in parenting.

I love my children second only to God and their father.  Love is a funny thing though. I have this habit of loving them to the point of overflowing when they are being kind and treating each other respectfully or when I don’t actually have to directly deal with their messes, tantrums, complaining, whining ….

For example they were all out of the house and I quietly delivered clean folded laundry into each of their rooms. I paused a moment in each room and wrote a quick note specifically for that child.  My heart actually spilled over with love for each of them as I did this.  A smile crossed my lips and I remembered sweet moments I had shared with each of them.

Then the entry door busted open.  They came piling in.  Spreading like a spilling pool of water onto the kitchen floor.   Along with them came the mud on their boots, coats and bags flying like a dust cloud. One had tears, one angrily snuck off down stairs, two were proclaiming their death because of starvation, and the oldest one was moaning about something not going his way. Oh, and the littlest one was still in the car because she had been forgotten. As I rushed out to retrieve her I thought, “Where did my swelling heart go?” My anxiety was rising and my heart was growing very irritated and I was now focusing on the mess and discontent that had entered my home along with my children.

Bedtime rolled around and they were all fed and somewhat quiet, and happy. I had the house straightened up again and I was feeling like my heart was swelling with love for my blessings. I paused and smiled. Was it that I made it through another day? Or was it that all seemed to be back in its place? Maybe partially but the truth is it just feels good to have some control in the chaos. This is where the problem lies.  Love is not to be trusted when it’s just a feeling. If I only loved my children when my heart felt full I would quickly lose sight of the treasures that they are and only see the footprints and dirt they leave behind.

The key to mastering these chaotic parenting moments is that God is in control and He gave me these children to love and lead towards Him. When I feel the irritation and the loss of control I need to ask for God to give me His view of these needy, messy, beautiful, children and He will remind me that they along with everything they bring are blessings that fill my cup.

My love for God has a comparable tendency. When I have quiet time to pray I feel so in love with my faith. Yet when life is crazy or even catastrophic I have to remind myself to let God help me.  Sometimes I almost forget He is there and begin to “fix” the situation my own way. But He is there even when my heart is pounding and my checks are flushing and my irritation or my stress is hitting record heights. He is there and ready to show me the blessings that surround me and fill my heart.  He is there reminding me that He has given me many precious gifts that I should be thankful for and love even when it is hard to do.

Parenting is a beautiful, fragile, challenging, loving gift from God.  So each day I will ask Him for His help to remind me that even if my cup is overflowing onto my clean kitchen floor it is because it is full of His blessings.

“…My cup overflows.“

-Psalm 23:5 New American Bible

Posted on by Charly

What Kind of World Do We Live In?

(Photo: pixbay.com)

It seems a world where peaceful children can be brutally harassed by adults. A world where men can lose their job and their character is slandered based on accusation. A world where adults think it’s loving to allow children to do whatever makes them happy. A world where we are afraid to send our children outside to play but not afraid to let them play murderous games on their gaming systems for hours on end. A world where parents are afraid to disappoint their children. A world where suffering is seen as a problem to be avoided at all costs. A world where a woman can choose to kill her baby merely because she doesn’t want it. A world where people stare at their screens instead of each other. A world where the Son of God has been crucified. A world where the devil takes claim.

Does this sound despairing? It does. I have had a case of the winter doldrums the past few days trying not to despair.  Reminding myself that we can never lose hope because we know what lies ahead and we know who is truly in charge. God our loving father. He sends us angels to guide and protect us. He gives us the promise of eternal life. He fills us with a love like no human can.

I have been praying for Him to show me some good in the world outside of my family.  It has not been a dramatic enlightenment for me.  I have had to really search for it but I found it in a few places.  He sent me a smiling face in the store the other day. A kind woman who smiled at me and my little one.  She even took time to chat about how beautiful little children are.  My niece sent me a snap on Monday that she was given an assignment to write about someone she looked up to. She told me she wrote about me. Of all the people in her life she wrote about me, what an honor! A little boy at play group came running up to me smiling and giggling. There have been those gorgeous January sun rises this week. I listen to Relevant Radio and am filled with people who have hope and bring truth to some of the insanity happening in our world. Most importantly I must remember that He gave us His only Son as well as the resurrection and the Holy Spirit.

In this world that seems to be spinning faster and faster out of control do not lose hope, there is beauty! Pray and look for it. Surround yourself with it. Share it with others. Thank God for it!

“… Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10 NAB

Posted on by Charly

God Guides Us

bible

My husband and I are always looking for ways to get our kids to learn about their faith, read the bible, and to pray.  They all seem to have a decent start.  The little ones love to hear bible stories and talk about Jesus and pray for their friends. The older ones enjoy our nightly prayers and hearing bible stories too but they are at the age where they really need to make it their own.  They have to want it.  We struggle or at least I do wondering if I’m doing enough or maybe pushing too hard.

I have bought them copies of the YouCat (Youth Catechism), they each have a bible and there are many children’s versions all throughout our house, I send them colorful notes with scripture written on them, I even write scripture quotes on the bathroom mirror some days.  We pray together daily, we read them bible stories,  and we attend mass every Sunday.  We are doing our doing our best to raise holy children but they are in a world that doesn’t always support their faith so daily we have to find the energy to fight for their souls. It can be exhausting. Sometimes we put so much of this pressure on ourselves we forget that God can not only help us but that He is in charge.  God wants to help us get our children to heaven one day.

Getting overwhelmed with parenting six children happens here.  I bring it to prayer often.  During my prayer time last week I was reading the book of Tobit.  It is a great story full of adventure!  When I came to chapter 4 I paused and read it again.  It is titled “A Father’s Instruction”  because it is Tobit’s instruction for his son Tobiah.  As with much of the bible it is also instruction for the reader from our heavenly Father.  I thought it would be a great read for my older kids. I tucked it away in my mind and moved on with the days activities.

That night after bedtime prayers I mentioned to my older kids to read chapter 4 of Tobit because it was very much something we would want them to follow.  I know at this moment many of you who are parents of teenagers are thinking something like, “your kids must be saints to actually go read the bible.”  Trust me they are regular kids who do not always make the best decisions but this time they were left with just enough interest and a reason they didn’t have to go to bed immediately that they all went and read it.  I did have to give some explanation; No we do not have money hidden in another town or country,  No your father and I are not praying for death, and No you don’t need to marry someone in our family.  However we could take that last one to mean it is best to marry someone with like values and religion as you.  After those short caveats the chapter really made sense to them and is filled with Godly advice for their lives.  I am so in awe of the Bible and how we can relate it to our lives today.  What a gift to let me see it that way but also for my children to see it as relevant to their lives.

I love it when God is so clearly working in our parenting! It is a difficult job and we need Him as our guide. When we look we find Him helping us at every twist and turn.  If it was just my husband and I doing this gig alone we would surely falter more than we already do.  Thank God for all the gifts little and big that He sets before us, may we always see them clearly!

Here is Chapter 4 of Tobit from The New American Bible from http://www.USCCB.org:

A Father’s Instruction.1That same day Tobit remembered the money he had deposited in trust with Gabael at Rages in Media.2He thought to himself, “Now that I have asked for death, why should I not call my son Tobiah and let him know about this money before I die?”3So he called his son Tobiah; and when he came, he said to him:* “Son, when I die, give me a decent burial. Honor your mother, and do not abandon her as long as she lives. Do whatever pleases her, and do not grieve her spirit in any way.a4Remember, son, how she went through many dangers for you while you were in her womb. When she dies, bury her in the same grave with me.

5“Through all your days, son, keep the Lord in mind, and do not seek to sin or to transgress the commandments. Perform righteous deeds all the days of your life, and do not tread the paths of wickedness.6b For those who act with fidelity, all who practice righteousness, will prosper in their affairs.*

7“Give alms from your possessions. Do not turn your face away from any of the poor, so that God’s face will not be turned away from you.c8Give in proportion to what you own. If you have great wealth, give alms out of your abundance; if you have but little, do not be afraid to give alms even of that little.9You will be storing up a goodly treasure for yourself against the day of adversity.d10For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps one from entering into Darkness.11Almsgiving is a worthy offering in the sight of the Most High for all who practice it.e

12“Be on your guard, son, against every kind of fornication, and above all, marry a woman of your own ancestral family. Do not marry a foreign woman, one who is not of your father’s tribe, because we are descendants of the prophets, who were the first to speak the truth. Noah prophesied first, then Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our ancestors from the beginning of time. Son, remember that all of them took wives from among their own kindred and were blessed in their children, and that their posterity would inherit the land.f13Therefore, son, love your kindred. Do not act arrogantly toward any of them, the sons and daughters of your people, by refusing to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in arrogance there is ruin and great instability. In idleness there is loss and dire poverty, for idleness is the mother of famine.

14“Do not keep with you overnight the wages of those who have worked for you, but pay them at once. If you serve God thus, you will receive your reward. Be on your guard, son, in everything you do; be wise in all that you say and discipline yourself in all your conduct.g15Do to no one what you yourself hate. Do not drink wine till you become drunk or let drunkenness accompany you on your way.h

16i “Give to the hungry some of your food, and to the naked some of your clothing. Whatever you have left over, give away as alms; and do not let your eye begrudge the alms that you give.17j Pour out your wine and your bread on the grave of the righteous, but do not share them with sinners.*

18“Seek counsel from every wise person, and do not think lightly of any useful advice.19k At all times bless the Lord, your God, and ask him that all your paths may be straight and all your endeavors and plans may prosper. For no other nation possesses good counsel, but it is the Lord who gives all good things. Whomever the Lord chooses to raise is raised; and whomever the Lord chooses to cast down is cast down to the recesses of Hades. So now, son, keep in mind these my commandments, and never let them be erased from your heart.

20“Now, I must tell you, son, that I have deposited in trust ten talents of silver with Gabael, the son of Gabri, at Rages in Media.21Do not fear, son, that we have lived in poverty. You will have great wealth, if you fear God, avoid all sin, and do what is good before the Lord your God.”l

* [4:3–19] A collection of maxims that parallel those in the wisdom literature, especially Proverbs and Sirach (see Introduction): duties toward parents (vv. 3–4; cf. also 14:13); perseverance in virtue and avoidance of evil (vv. 5–6, 14b); necessity and value of almsgiving and charity (vv. 7–11, 16–17); marriage within the clan (vv. 12–13a); industry (v. 13b); prompt payment of wages (v. 14a); the golden rule (v. 15a); temperance (v. 15b); docility (v. 18); prayer (v. 19).

* [4:6] It was commonly thought in the Old Testament that virtue guaranteed earthly prosperity, and sin earthly disaster (Prv 10:2; cf. Dt 28).

* [4:17] Tobit counsels his son to give alms in honor of the dead or, more probably, to give the “bread of consolation” to the family of the deceased. Cf. Jer 16:7; Ez 24:17.