Sometimes life has a way of pushing us down so deep that it feels like we are stranded in a deep dark hole, with no where to turn. Fear not…God is with you even then. You don’t need to feel Him, just trust! Sit with Him, don’t try too hard to push the darkness away. Give it all to Him, the good, the bad and the ugly and allow Him to speak to you, and please be patient with yourself. Once you start hearing His voice then act on it, put aside all other voices and expectations either self imposed or from others. This is between you and God alone. Small steps is all that you are responsible for. Don’t focus on what you can’t do, but simply do what you can and God will take it from there…this is the place where miracles happen. Stay vigilant!
The Master Carpenter
Once upon a time there was a master carpenter whose biggest passion was to build and then give away his beautiful creations. He would create beautiful and lavish homes and then simply turn around and give away the key. The thing was that he wasn’t simply a carpenter, he was also a master electrician (owner of the power source itself) and the janitor. These homes were specifically built with his imprint upon them and if instructions were followed they pretty much could be maintained for eternity. However it wasn’t in his nature to push his way in.
These homes were freely built and given away out of pure love, and even though the creator longed to be in a loving relationship with the new owner and a part of its maintenance forever, he was patient and kind and respected the new owner’s free will so it was entirely up to them what they would do with their new home. Many out of pure love and gratitude wanted him to be part of their lives, and welcomed him in and listened to him as to how best care for their home. Others welcomed him in, but weren’t really interested in listening to him…they would kind of just nod in his direction whenever he tried speaking to them but then went on to do exactly as they pleased…it was their home after all and life was too short, and besides it just wasn’t cool to have him around all the time. And then there were those who didn’t welcome him in at all. Some would say that they did hear banging when the house was coming into being, but asserted that its creation happened all on its own… the keys just happen to fall on their lap too…so it’s all theirs, no need for gratitude and direction on upkeep as long as they were having a good time in the home, then it’s all good.
But what the first set of folks got to experience first hand that the others never got a chance to, was the full expression of the gift. This amazing home was fully wired for electricity. Amazingly fully powered by the creator himself. The upkeep belonged to him as well (with constant cooperation of the new homeowner of course). There was an amazing trash removal system. Every single time that it was activated, the windows would also get cleaned and amazing amount of light would come pouring in…light so strong and yet gentle that even small speks of dust could now be seen and attended to before it built up but the owner never felt overwhelmed. So even though dirt came in as readily as it did in the other homes ( maybe a little less as these owners were now more observant…but this is debatable)it was never allowed to stack up, so this home would never go into decay as long as the creator was on board (but keep in mind the free will of the new home owner).
However I’m sad to report that it wasn’t the same way with the other homes. Not for lack of trying on the other home owners’ part. They had their little lamps going, and sometimes huge neon signs even, that definitely brought in light but often only served to cause blindness and greater darkness in the end. They had paid professionals to help deal with trash, but it seemed like it could never go far enough so they often decided to just not call it trash anymore after all one man’s junk is another man’s treasure, right? The only problem with that is the accompanying decay. These houses would self destroy in time if the creator wasn’t brought in (and yes, he could still be welcomed in at any point). And still some in the second batch of folks…who did know the creator would often blame him for the decay. Saying that He was a loving Creator of all the homes, not merely the first set, and had given keys to all equally…so he had to maintain all the houses equally and were often angered when this didn’t happen. However the second set were very kind hearted and tolerant folks and really wanted nothing more than this to be true, so they kept spreading this message of ‘love’. But how can an untruth that will bring about such decay ever be loving? It shutoff the opportunity for the real answer…which is of course to acknowledge the need for the Carpenter in the first place!
The Plan for Lent and Beyond
I often hear people say that they can’t do such and such a thing for Lent because they’ll fail, or won’t do it properly, or whatever other excuse they can come up with. The thing is that that’s sort of the point. I mean if you are trying to let go of sin, then yes…success is imperative. However, if you are merely giving up a good because you are a little too attached to it, then it’s ok to face the struggle. In fact I’d say that it’s a big part of what Lent is about. You need to come to the point that you realize that you can’t do it on your own and that you need a ‘Savior’…you NEED Jesus! No matter what our struggles are, He’s the only One that can provide the perfect solution for us.No problem is too big, or too small. So the aim of Lent is not to test your own strength, but for you to come to realize and depend on God’s and build or strengthen your relationship with Him. That’s it…that’s the point…a more intimate walk with Jesus!
So after having prayed about it and feeling that this is what the Lord wants from you, then you are ready for the Lenten Journey. Stick with me and we’ll ‘step into it’ together. The way we make it through is to keep our focus on Jesus. You’ve heard the phrase, keep the goal in mind. It’s the same idea. We are going to be crossing the barren desert into the Promised Land. So we will be focusing on what is in front of us and not on what is underneath our feet, nor on that which we have left behind. The thing that is waiting for us is a life of grace and virtue. So that is exactly what we’ll be focusing on, with Jesus by our side the entire time. The Lord has given me 12 Virtues to focus on. I had started on February 13th with the Nineveh 90 folks but I’m being inspired to start over, and to keep going until Pentecost! Come Holy Spirit!
Here is a list of the Virtues we’ll be focusing on:
Wk 1: Humility Wk 5: Faith Wk 9: Courage
Wk 2: Chastity Wk 6: Hope Wk 10: Obedience
Wk 3: Friendship Wk 7: Patience Wk 11: Perserverance
Wk 4: Love Wk 8: Wisdom Wk 12: Poverty
We will appropriately start with humility this coming week and will continue stepping right through Holy Week which will see us focusing on Hope for the conclusion of Lent, then if you decide to keep going with me we will complete the 12 weeks and then start back up with Humility which leads us right to Pentecost Sunday.
We will of course be open to ALL of God’s graces and any work that He wants to do in and through us. However by focusing on a specific virtue, we are giving ourselves holy boundaries so that our mind and strength doesn’t get scattered in every which way.
Help for the Journey:
1)If you need book suggestions, please check out Our Book Store , I will be adding new books as I feel inspired.
2) You can download my FREE daily planner that I’ve put together just for this journey. Nineveh Daily Planner
3) And you can also reach out to me at any time via the different Social Media sites.
So I hope that you decide to step into this Lenten Journey with me, as we aim to keep our focus on Jesus and the virtues that He’d like us to learn and grow in.
Chastity, the key to Fulfilling our Divine Call
Chastity, many people when confronted with the word, think of it as merely being about sexual abstinence but that’s only a very small part of it and not in every case. Every person is called to a chaste life, however the call to abstinence itself depends on marital status. Chastity is the guardrails that protects ‘eros’, which is the fuel that drives us to fulfill our life’s mission. If our call is to the married state and to procreate, then this divine force will pull us to our mate for that intention. But it has other purposes as well, since bearing children is not the only way designed by God to be co-creators with Him. All of humanity is called to this Divine partnership in one way or another, but most notably through our creativity functions. So Chastity, permits us to honor God’s plan for creation by allowing us to love and respect ourselves properly in line with who and whose we are, and then love others in the same manner. The enemy often distorts and misdirects this creative force in many ways. It is put there to bring together those who have a job to do in common and is meant to inspire His children towards a common goal for His purposes (with parenting being the best example) not towards each other to become stagnant there. One looks outward together and moves the individuals forward, the other at it’s most benign merely blocks the path and immobilizes.
The answer then is to channel this powerful force and use it for God’s purposes. This great passion is from God, but what we do with it is up to us. Just as sinfulness often starts in the mind, chastity has its roots there too. Our thoughts and visualizations should be well attended to. It is a powerful tool that can be easily misused. We should be using our mind’s eye as a path seeker, leading our way to God’s will. “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” (Philippians 4:8) The Power of Positive thinking and the ‘name it and claim it’ people often get a bad reputation from fellow Christians but I think they are on to something. Our amazingly generous and creative Father has set many powerful tools at our disposal, and the mind is certainly such a one. It can be a powerful aid in pursuing our God given talents and putting our gifts to use. Eros is meant to rocket us to our destinies as Christopher West says when discussing ‘Theology of the Body’, and he goes on to tell us that there are three choices when addressing our passions…that of the stoic, the addict, or the mystic.
So go ahead dare to reach higher as the mystics did, ask the Lord for direction in every area of your life and with His guidance start setting out the very particular path that the Lord has set out for you. Start small maybe, don’t let negativity and self doubts get in the way, visualize what the Lord is asking of you and start taking the required steps towards pursuing your calling.
Humility
This was the first week of Nineveh 90, a 90 day period of fasting and prayer in preparation for the 100th anniversary of Our Lady’s apparition in Fatima, Portugal. To go along with it, I chose one virtue per week that I’m to learn more about and grow in. ‘Humility’ was for the first week, or I’d like to think that the Lord chose it for me (as well as all virtues for the remaining weeks). It started off with me being reminded of the following prayer that was written by a dear friend, Catholic Shepherd. When he showed it to me, the thing that captured my interest was the names of the two chosen saints, as they were my parents names as well. I had loved these saints separately, but had never thought of them together this way.
Although it all resonated with me at a deep level, it wasn’t until re-reading it last Sunday that it really hit me hard that THIS was the epitome of humility. All of it, with total surrender being the ultimate desired state of being and that these two saints embraced it so well!
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Personal lessons from the week:
I am weak but He is strong. Learn to be ok with being alone. God alone is sufficient. Seek love within.
The answer to my hunger for love and fulfillment will not come from outside myself. When I look for answers out there, it always disappoints. People are imperfect beings, only God can offer us what we most want and need. He IS perfect love itself.
My body is the Temple of the Lord, to be used in His service and to be cared for accordingly. Be responsible for self-care.
I can’t ignore my health, or push it on to others like my family or my doctors. It is up to me to do what is right, especially as it concerns eating right, exercising, getting enough rest. God leads me to the right path, but I need to step into it myself.
Humility demands that I confidently step into the role that the Lord has entrusted me with.
I often lack self confidence (or actually ‘confidence in the Lord’ would be more accurate), and justify my self deprecating ways as being humble which couldn’t be farther from the truth. Humility is knowing who you are in the Lord (what He’s called you to) and ‘stepping into it’! If we catch ourselves saying no to God because we don’t think we could do something, or not do it well…that might be pride kicking in…we don’t want to look like fools, what if we fail, what if they laugh, what if they talk about us…what if. Humility is giving it all to God! Think of Mary…may it be done to me according to your word! YES! Whatever You want Lord! Total surrender!
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Release perfectionism. Let go of expectations. What is, is ok.(It is what it is). To accept this moment just as it is without wanting to tweak it or improve it in any way, evokes joy. Stay present, it opens us up to miracles.
When I can accept the simplest of moments and am able to see beauty in it instead of all the small faults that it may contain, I am filled with gratitude!
Don’t invest in the outcome, invest in the process.
It’s ok to have goals, but I need to approach things differently…to just enjoy the journey. If the steps themselves are taken side by side with God then the final destination will be reached without so much struggling.
Matt Maher – Lord, I Need You
I Give You My Heart | Hillsong
Hard wired for happiness (audible)
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Stepping into it…
I need a brand new start. I like the idea of blogging, it allows me to coordinate my thoughts and organize my steps. It also allows me to share a little bit of myself and my journey with others who may be on a similar path.
My latest struggles have been with my health but I now have new doctors and new hope. So even though I’m far from where I’d like to be (in fact this weekend has been an all time low for me.)…I think I’m finally on my way.
We’ve found out that my thyroid is low and if you are one of the many suffering with hypothyroidism, you know how debilitating this in itself can be. But it’s now looking like my adrenals are in a state of exhaustion also. This usually comes about after several huge stressor events. Hmm lets see…both parents passing away after lengthy illnesses, dealing with infertility issues, and then the adoption process(twice). A child critically ill in the hospital for several weeks and then a diagnoses of autism (all within one decade)…and those are just the tip of the iceberg. So I think yes, my adrenals could very well be completely depleted by this point. I went into survival mode at some point and haven’t quite made it back out yet.
But I’m ready…I’m taking my life back! I’ve tried several times, but without healing the root causes, I kept falling back into a pit. It’s humbling for sure. I think things will be different this time around. For starters I’m putting together an amazing team of both professionals and friends to see me through. So thanks for reading this far and please pray for me and stick around and see how this all turns out.
Week 3, Day 5: Don't Count the Cost
Mark 14: 3-9
“Costly genuine spikenard”
“It could have been sold for more than three hundred days wages.”
-The Son of God is deserving of our very best high quality “product”.
-Something cheap and shoddy is not more virtuous.
-When she bought it, she paid good money for it because she valued it and how she would use it. Meanwhile by doing so, she was also supporting the provider and his community.
Wk 3 Day4: He uses our cooperation, but He does the work
Luke 17:11-19
“Now as they were walking away, they were cleansed.”
-I need to obey even when it doesn’t make sense, even when it initially feels like rejection.
-He provides healing as I step out in obedience and faith.
-This is how Jesus chooses to work, to use my cooperation.
-The one that came back to thank Him realized this. The others became puffed up at how well they followed orders.
week 3 Day 3: Obedience is the Currency of Love
Mark 12: 28-34
“Love the Lord your God…with all your strength.”
-Put some action into the ‘feeling’.
-Give it all you’ve got.
-Obedience is the currency of love in action.
He’s not asking me to love beyond my strength, or to do more than is humanely possible. He’s asking me to do ALL that I can and then allow Him to take it from there.
Week 3 Day 2: Don't be bothered when others don't treat you right.
Luke 6: 27-31
“To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic.”
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-God knows my needs and He’s the One in control of every situation.
-If the person is not in tune with Him to offer me the love and respect that I deserve, I need to trust that He will somehow provide it Himself.
-By allowing them to proceed, I am essentially giving them enough rope for them to hang themselves. They have free will.
-So no need to go into defensive mode and lose peace over it or allow them to drag me down with them.
-He’s not saying for me to make it a habit of associating myself with these folks though. In fact, there’s a good chance that once they’ve taken what they want they will flee from my life anyway. I need to let them go! He goes on to say that I shouldn’t even demand back the stuff they take. In other words, no further communication is needed.