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Yesterday, many churches honored Our Lady of Sorrows. Which reminded me of Mary’s many great sorrows and also reminded me that many of us also have many “sorrows”. Suffering is an unfortunate part of life. But suffering is not something to be feared. For us, suffering will always end! And we have God to help us through it!

When we suffer, Jesus walks with us in a special way. And Mary has given us a great example of what walking through suffering in grace looks like. As in any difficult time, prayer is a huge help. And it will help not only if we pray, but if we ask others to pray for us!

I always find it helpful to remember the Footprints poem:

“One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord. Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.

In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.

So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,

“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand, is when I carried you.”

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“If the Apostle Paul was able to influence government for God’s purposes and God’s designs in Rome, where they were literally killing Christians for being Christians”, he said, “I believe we can still influence government for Christian values in America today.” -Daniel Degner

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

I still vividly remember 9-1-1.  I was in the car with my daughter, I had dropped my son off at school (Royal Redeemer).  We were driving home and I heard the new report break on the radio.  At first I thought it was a story (not even true), but slowly I realized it was true!  I turned around and we drove back to Billy’s school to get him and and we all went home.  I prayed, in Jesus’s name, that I would be able to bring my children home safely.  I immediately called my husband and told him what had happened and that we were all home safe.  No one knew at the time if this was to be one attack or many.  At the time, many in Cleveland were being evacuated.  Boy was I grateful to be home!  

All of Mom and Dad’s family lived in New York City.  Two of them worked in the towers.  I remember watching the news and seeing all of the people walking across the bridge and wondering if my cousins were among them and praying for them.  One of my cousins was in the Tower, but made it out, but her whole company was killed and she was the only survivor.  My uncle worked in the Tower as well.  But thankfully, he was at the dentist!  We didn’t learn that they were safe until the next day.  My Uncle and I later became very close and he was a real help to me when I helped to found Moms for Ohio.

Planes constantly flew over us to make sure we were safe!  And although it was comforting, it was also scary.  A plane flown by our enemies had flown through Cleveland and crashed in PA.  They had intended to attack somewhere.  Many were evacuated. Everyone I knew kept their children home a couple of days.

Bottled water kept running out.  People bought water, food, gas, flashlights, lanterns, batteries… The stores were all full, for we were all determined to protect and provide for our children. No one knew if there would be another attack.  We were all frightened!  But we didn’t show that to our children, because we didn’t want our children to be afraid! And so we all, turned to God and asked Him to help us be the parents our children needed us to be!

It was truly the best and worst of times and they lasted quite a while.  Christian music played on every station!  People prayed and the Churches were filled to overflowing. Husbands and wives sat at the kitchen table talking until late.  And whether it was in our neighborhood or in the grocery store, people reached out to one another and were kinder to each other.  We were a kinder, more compassionate country and it seemed that everyone turned to prayer, asking God, and especially Jesus to help them and others!  People started and ended their day with prayer, because they knew what really mattered!

The Christian music continued to play on all the stations.  And a number of them had the President and Mayor Giuliani speaking during the radio songs.  We were all greatly comforted.

But the country did not return to their normal activities until President George W. Bush through out the first ball at the Yankee’s game (President Bush throws the first pitch of Game 3 of the 2001 World Series).  No one could believe he was actually going to do it, because it was considered so dangerous.  The entire country held it’s collective breath as President Bush strode out to the pitchers mound and only released it when he was safe.  After that, I think that many of us felt that if he could do it, so could we!  And Mayor Giuliani was a true hero! He helped pull everyone though!  Mayor Giuliani was a hero that day and all the days that followed ( 09.28.01: Giuliani’s leadership)

Today, do we really remember 9-1-1 as it was?  Did we truly learn from the lessons that 9-1-1 taught us?  Are we truly prepared for the next one?

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Our Blessed Mother Mary’s birthday was yesterday and I can’t help but think just how grateful I am for her amazing example.

I was reading a book about Mary and was struck by the poverty that she and Joseph lived in. The circumstances of Jesus’s birth. Joseph’s desperate search for an inn for Mary to have their baby and Mary’s patient hope!

I was reminded of how they fled to Egypt to make a home for Jesus which reminded me of just how obedient they were! When Joseph awakened to hear God tell him to flee to Egypt, he did not hesitate. He immediately got up and began to get ready. Mary also immediately got up and got Jesus ready. And they left that night. In the middle of the night; they did not hesitate to obey God!

And I was reminded that no matter the poverty of their circumstances, no matter how difficult or hopeless it seemed, Mary and Joseph loved their child and sheltered Him in all of their love. And God provided all of their need in every circumstance. God was their Hope and their Refuge, always!

Would we obey God? Is our faith strong enough that we would obey God’s commands immediately? Do we understand that no matter our circumstances, we can shelter our children with our love? With God’s love?

If not, we can simply ask God to help our unbelief and help us to Love God with “our whole heart and soul”. God will be so happy that we asked 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Where is the hope? I meet millions of people who feel demoralized by the decay around us. The hope that each of us has is not in who governs us, or what laws we pass, or what great things we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people. And that’s where our hope is in this country. And that’s where our hope is in life.”-Chuck Colson

We live in scary times. One has only to read the headlines or turn on the news to see that. Wars, the presidential race, school shootings, crime, affording food…The list is endless! There can be no doubt that we live in dangerous times and we naturally worry. We worry about our own circumstances and we worry about the world we may be forced to leave our children!

That is why it is so important that we shift our focus! We need to focus on our Relationship With Go and how much He loves us! We need to focus on Loving Our Neighbor. We need to focus on what Kindness We Can Do for Someone Today!

And we need to focus on the fact that this is NOT our forever home, HEAVEN IS!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Sometimes something happens to us that is bad and we wonder where God was. Why did He let something happen to us that is so difficult or even really bad.

For example, I fell last night. It was a bad fall and I could not get up without help. To say that was painful, is to say the least. And it would have been easy to wonder why God let me fall.

But what we really need to focus on is the worse things that God prevented from happening. For example, I could have hit my head. I could have been knocked unconscious. I could have broken something. And so much more… But I didn’t. I had no lasting effects other than being sore.

The other thing we need to focus on is that this earth is not Heaven. Bad things happen, even to good people. But the difference is God is here to walk though them with us. God is here to help us – if we let Him!

We can walk with Jesus through our difficult days and the Holy Spirit will Comfort us and our Father will help us 🙂

That’s the Good News! We can Trust that God will walk through each day, bad and good, with us until we come home to Heaven 🙂

Because God loves us that much! 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“The will of God will never take you, where the grace of God cannot keep you”

“The will of God will never take you, where the grace of God cannot keep you!”

Because God Loves Us That Much!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

If we are truly praying that God’s Will, will be done in our hearts, soul, lives and spirits, than we can Trust that when God opens a door, He opens it so that we can walk through it! Just as we can Trust that if God shuts a door; it is truly shut.

God loves us and He will only open the doors that are good for us. The challenge is figuring out which ones God is opening for us :). One of the ways to recognize the doors that God opens is that it can be easy to walk through.

Another way, is that although the door may seem difficult to walk through, if all of the doors keep opening, it’s really not.

Remember the story of Job? Perhaps a person may go through a very difficult time. And then, all of a sudden, they appear completely restored. All that they appear to have lost, and sometimes even more, is given back to them!

The best prayer we can pray is to ask God that His Will, will be done in our hearts, souls, lives and spirits. God loves us so much that His answer will always be far more generous than anything we could imagine 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Have you been there, the moment rose petals expanded into a full blossom, Experienced the hummingbird’s wings, stopped in motion mid-air, awesome, Or the breath of a moose, in the winter, frozen in the air, that you can touch, Felt baby’s creation at conception, God’s Spirit given, you known that much.”

“Such is your Heavenly Father’s Calling to you, so important to prepare, see, For He gives you this, sometimes in a whisper, ordinary made extraordinary, He may use person beside you, in front of or behind, His Holy Spirit Stirring,”

“Even one of His angels, taken another form on this earth, you not realizing. Would be a shame, to miss His Blessed Opportunity, because of distraction, Not walking with Him, living in His Will, maybe not reacting due to hesitation, For the only way to prepare is to be humble, ask God repentance of your sin,”

“Request Jesus Christ in your heart, seeking His Ways always and Direction. God will even cross your path, with event for wake-up call, when off-course, Perhaps using His Word as the Tool, with a very specific chapter and verse,”

“So many chances He gives you, His Love for you surely knows no boundary, His Mercy and Grace, His Need for you to share Him, so others able to see.”

A friend of mine wrote this; we must pray we don’t miss our chance 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!