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“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6: 19-21

Removing our children from public school is costly! And having to discuss how our families will afford this choice is a necessary family conversation. But a conversation that needs to start with the idea that “God gave us these children. They are a Gift from God, and our first and foremost responsibility in this life is to do our very best to raise them to know Jesus Christ and to Follow Him”.

No doubt, private school have become very expensive! And if churches actually hope to have future congregations, then they need to return to making attendng a Christian school-affordable. But attending private school is one available option, albeit an expensive one.

In past years, homeschooling was very difficult. That is not so now. There are many inexpensive internet programs available. Some of these programs even offer associate college degrees upon graduation from “their” high school.

There are also many home school groups that help! And they offer a number of opportunities for kids to socialize 🙂

So the real question is, how do we afford it when they are young? Does one parent need to stay home, because they can not stay home alone, nor can they home school themselves! And this is when it can become very difficult because the choices can become very difficult. Does a family need to give up their house and rent somewhere cheaper? A difficult decision, but sometimes a needed one. Do we choose to have one television, instead of two? Do we have to choose used furniture instead of new? Do we need to have one car, instead of two? None of these are easy choices.

But if it means being able to protect our children, if it means they will never be forced into the bathroom with a person of the opposite sex, if it means they will stay innocent a while longer and live a faith-filled life in Jesus Christ-then it is worth it!

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” – Matthew 18:6

Recently, CBN wrote an article about the new common core standards for sex education in public schools.  I have put two excerpts from their article below and the entire article can be read with this link:  CBN

“The new standards advocate for abortion, requiring teachers to tell sixth graders about it. It also compels ninth-grade teachers to provide information about local abortion clinics to their students.  The transgender agenda plays a strong role in these lessons which urges that children should be allowed to choose their own gender identity, and any pronouns they select to be identified by must “be respected by the adults in their lives.”—CBN

“The standards require that children as young as kindergarten should learn about gender identity. Third graders are taught that gender is on a spectrum. Other topics include lessons about hormone blockers for transgender youth and how to “explain” masturbation”-CBN

Clearly, these standards violate God’s Teachings!  The question really is, “can a child who is taught these standards starting at Kindergarten withstand the onslaught from teachers against their faith”.  And I think the answer is:  Doubtful.

Once a child enters first grade, they spend more of their waking hours at school then they do with their parents.  When children are very young, they believe anything their teacher says, even when it conflicts with what we are teaching them at home. 

Even when children simply mishear their teacher in, for example math, they continue to think that 2 +3=4 (if they think their teacher said that) no matter what we say at home.  Young children believe what their teachers teach them and that is why the content of what teachers teach is so very important.

A good education without faith is useless.  The most important thing we can ever teach our child is:  Faith in Jesus Christ.  All else is useless without it.  And these new standards violate what we are teaching at home and what is taught in the Holy Bible.  Period.

“Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

This is the lesson our children need to learn 😊

“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”-Matthew 7:11

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows,” 1 Chronicles 16:11-12.

But in order to receive God’s Gifts, we need to see them and accept them!

A Rainbow, a beautiful reminder of God’s Promises Kept.  An amazing sunset.  The sea, the mountains, a beautiful field…God gives us many Gifts in beauty and nature. 

A hug, a smile – at especially the right time, a chance encounter with a new friend, a visit from a loved one, someone we love returning home…

Someone healed, someone saved, someone returning from war…

A deeper Faith, to love God more, to share our faith…

The list is endless…

We ask God for encouragement, and He sends it.  We ask God for a loved one to be healed, and He heals them.  We ask Him for help and He sends a hug…We ask Him to send the Holy Spirit, and He does😊

We ask, God answers, because He loves us!  😊

“On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”-Mark 2-17:18

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law?  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”- Matthew 22: 36-40

“But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.”-Ezekiel 33:9

Despite our best efforts, we all sin.  But clearly, Jesus loves the sinners and came to help them and to save them (fortunately for us 😊).  Jesus ate with sinners and He spent time with them. He healed sinners and and He talked with them. And perhaps most important, He shared the Truth with them.  He didn’t just love them; He showed them that He loved them!  Just as He does for us now 😊

Notice Jesus showed them how much He loved them AND He shared the Truth with them.  He didn’t tell those that sin, that they could do whatever they felt like, but He also did not stop loving them if they failed to obey.

And in this, Jesus gives us a great example to follow.  The Bible says what it says.  We can’t change it just to be more popular with others or make others feel better about and justified in their sinful choices.  In fact, to lead them astray that way is just wrong! We are obligated to share the Truth of God’s Word.

On the other hand, it is up to the Holy Spirit to Convince them of the Truth of the Bible and it’s up to the sinner to accept the Truth of God’s Word.  And It’s our job to keep loving them, whether they accept the Truth or not.  For Christ’s command to us did not say “Thou shalt love thy neighbors as thyself”-if they do as we say 😊

In the recent movie, Our Lady of Fatima, we hear Mary talk about the need for penance. She says that “God is much offended”. In Her final message, Mary said,  “Do not offend the Lord our God anymore, because He is already so much offended.” (1917)

Can you imagine how much God is offended now?

In Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary’s clear message was the need for penance. Not just for ourselves, but for all sinners. (1858)

But as human beings, we don’t like penance. Sometimes we don’t even realize – we need penance. It seems so old-fashioned, so “out of style”. But it’s not. Better to do penance now, then suffer later!

And we may suffer now more than we realize, for sin creates distance between us and God, and creates guilt-whether we realize it or not.

And that is why Repentance & Penance are so very important. They brings us back to God and free us from guilt, but we need both!

Repentance is simply a sincere regret for sin and a willingness to change. And penance is simply “any act or set of actions done out of repentance for sins”. It could be prayer, selfless acts, fasting…

Jesus did indeed already pay the price for our sins, without His Great Sacrifice, we could not enter Heaven. However, Repentance and Penance are still required.

But one thing we all need to realize? We all sin. Repentance and Penance are truly gifts. Gifts that free us from guilt and brings us closer to God once again. Something we all want, so thank you Jesus for providing us a way and thank you Mary for always pointing the way to your Son 🙂

At sometime, we all struggle with self-confidence. We just do.

But life is much easier and happier when we put our Faith in God instead of ourselves. We may not be able to do anything, but God can!

Whether it is a certain relationship or obtaining a certain job, driving accross country or dealing with illness…We may not feel confident in our own ability, but we can feel confident in God’s abilities. And whether we do everything right or do everything wrong, if it’s God’s Will, it Will happen-no matter what 🙂

So here is the key: simply ask God, in Jesus’ Name, that God’s will be done in our life.

For what in what appears to be a crisis in self confidence, is more often an unwillingness to accept God’s Will for our lives. And that, with prayer, we can “fix”.

So if we are struggling with that, all we need to do is to remember that God loves us and knows all our tomorrows 🙂

A friend of mine sent me this photo. It was just so perfect! What’s really interesting about this Rainbow in particular though is that it clearly separates what is dark from what is light.

And that is exactly what will happen at the end. If we are following Jesus, we will be filled with the light of the Holy Spirit. But if we are not, we will be filled with darkness.

Only those who believe in Jesus and follow Him will be filled with the light of the Holy Spirit and enter Heaven.

It’s our choice, given to us by God Himself 🙂

We all have them. Sometimes they are big concerns like finding the right job to support our families or the suffering of someone we love who is ill. Sometimes they are little ones like spiders or snakes, lol.

But whatever our fears, they are real and sometimes loom very large. So how do we deal with them? The first step is asking ourselves, “Do we trust God”. Really Trust Him. Because if we do, then we know that God loves us and will not give us more than we can handle. There is a famous quote from Billy Graham, “God’s Will will not take us where His Grace can not sustain us!” And it won’t.

But we do have to focus on that! For me, after I pray, I also ask myself a second question. Is what I am anxious about uncomfortable or unsurvivable? And if I think about that, it helps. Because most things we can think about are surviviable. And I remind myself that if for any reason I don’t survive, I’m going straight to Heaven 🙂

There’s a third question I sometimes ask myself, “how long is this really going to last?” Really? 10 minutes? Three days? A week? Most things that cause fear or anxiety don’t seem to really last that long.

Fourth, a doctor or medicine is sometimes needed. Sometimes short term and sometimes long term. This is NOT something to feel badly about. God gave us doctors for a reason. There is a story about a man who was drowning. Three ships stopped to save him, but he would not board them. He said “God will save me”. He drowned and went to Heaven. And when he got there he asked God, ‘why didn’t you save me’. And God said, ‘I did. I sent you three ships’ :). Sometimes we need a doctor, and if that is the way God chooses to Help us, we need to take that Help and not be ashamed of it. Instead, we need to choose to be grateful that God made doctors.

There is another step that helps me tremendously when I am afraid. I picture God our Father, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit or Mary in my mind’s eye. And I focus on that picture and ask for Help. By putting all of my focus on God, there just isn’t as much room for my fears. And you know what else? After I have done whatever I needed to do or survived whatever I needed to survive, I feel free! When we face our “Goliath”, God rewards us with freedom and light 🙂

With God Anything IS Possible 🙂. It always will be. Short term, long term, God is in for the long haul, and He will give us what we truly need in this world. And when we get to the next world, there just won’t be any fears or anxiety 🙂

Jesus has us, don’t worry 🙂

Praying the Rosary has helped my faith to deepen and grow immeasurably.  And I am deeply grateful to Mary that this is so. Just as I am deeply grateful for The Rosary :)

On October the 7^th, we honor Mary and The Rosary.

How did The Rosary begin?  In 1208 The Rosary was given to St. Dominic by Mary in the Church of Prouille  (France).  The original Rosary had 15 decades.  Each decade had an Our Father,  followed by ten Hail Marys and a Glory Be To God at the end.  People who said the Rosary used Prayer Beads, Rosaries, their fingers…To learn more about the Biblical basis for The Rosary, please visit Dayton University : https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/r/rosary-biblical-basis.php

There has been some controversy surrounding The Rosary, with Catholics honoring The Rosary and some Protestants saying it’s wrong.  However, in recent years, many Protestants have adopted The Rosary as well.

Some of the Protestants who object to praying The Rosary site reasons such as “only Jesus is God”, but asking Mary to Pray for us is not treating Her as a God, but rather we are just asking someone very close to God to pray for us.  We miss a very real opportunity to strengthen our faith when we fail to ask Mary to Pray for us 😊

As for Jesus loving Mary, many of us are mothers, and many of us have sons.  And our sons love us so much and we love them! Does anyone really think that Jesus did not love His mother at least as much as our sons love us?

There is another thought we might want to consider.  Everything that Mary did and does – points the to the way to Jesus.  Even the mysteries of the Rosary are really about the important life events of Jesus.  And when we pray The Rosary, we get to meditate on Christ’s Life.  Could there be anything better?

Mary loves us as a mother loves her children, as we love our children. Only more! And better! Our journey is a difficult one, we need all the Help and Love we can get!

Thank You Mary, for giving us The Rosary 🙂