Migraines and Mysterious Moments

 It's been a few days, and my migraine-hangover has finally subsided. The darned thing started while I was singing at mass on Sunday, and didn't begin to subside until well after 4pm! I haven't had one of those that bad for a looooong time, let me tell you! 

The mysterious moments that I elude to are more about the couple days that followed - I'm not at liberty to discuss them, as they're not my direct moments or interactions with the Spirit to share, but man - when the Holy Spirit takes action, you either notice or get a knock upside the head, that's for sure! 

Have you had those moments? Where things seem to line up EXACTLY as they need to in so many ways that there is just no other explanation? It never ceases to amaze me, and I love it every time, praise God! 

What's So Amazing About Grace?

 

December 26th through January 1st is always an odd time, it's post Christmas and pre New Year's Day, and there's not really enough time to recover, and not really enough time to hide from anything, you just have to sort of glide/roll/float your way through those few days and hope that you don't explode or miss someone's appointments or burn the house down before your regular routines can begin again. There's so much on everyone's minds; did that really just happen? did mom say that to me in front of everyone? did uncle Joe really just ask if aunt Judy was going to go there with that again? did my brother in law really throw away a full serving of grandma's green beans without trying to hide it from her? .... and on and on with the family drama.... 

.... add the real stressors of work, and life.... 

It was our family's first year with loved ones not with us. It's potentially the last year with loved ones with us. Some of our loved ones are going through personal physical, mental, emotional struggles that we do or do not know about. At that point, do grandma's green beans really matter? 

I went for 6 weeks without pay, courtesy of Congress, this last Fall. Their temporary continuing resolution is only good through January. A new year is NOT a time of celebration for me, it's a time of complete stress! Does January bring another 4-6 weeks of having to work with no paycheck? Does it mean we may go even longer? 

Everyone has things on their plate, but everyone also has things they haven't unpacked, things they don't want to share. It's important that we remember this with every action, reaction, and especially interaction that we have on a regular basis. We are the words, actions, and works of Christ on this earth. We are here to share His love, not to judge, not to make others feel less-than, not to scare people or shame them into following Him. We are here to give them His Grace, as He has given it to us. 

I Will Pray for You

 Colossians 1:9 tells us "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives..."

I absolutely love praying for people. I do! I love to pick people, pray for them for at least 30 days, and watch the Lord work in their life. Have you done that before? Sometimes there's something specific that I will drop into the prayer for a day or two, but usually it's more of a "Please let them feel You working in their heart" or something along those lines... I mean, it's not like I know how that person needs God to move them. That's between the OG and them. 

One of my friends has a running-list she opens up every month, and I give her MAD props! It's a lot to take on, committing to devote time to every person she asks for every month! Not everyone is willing and able to keep that up on the regular. I wish life gave us time for our paths to cross more frequently, so often my soul longs for the connections with women of Faith that I had in college - it's so hard to find that connection in the "real world". 

Gentle Reader, I challenge you to pick one person - start with just one person - you see in your daily life, and pray for them. Don't tell them. Watch how your devotion, your conversations with God, your relationship with Our Father, Our Brother, the Holy Spirit, help to shape others too. 

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 

Amen.

An Experiment in Daily Posting....

 ... and other bits of word-vomit... 

It's been so long since I've written anything, I'm not even sure how to get started again, but here we go. 

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I have decided to try writing every day - be it a little, a lot, a haiku, a novel, random bits and pieces, lyrics to a song that got stuck in my head, SOMETHING that inspired me, helped me get through what I'm facing, or something I witnessed to or with someone else. Because, you know what, God happens all around us every day, whether we know it or not, whether we see it or not, whether we acknowledge Him or not - I'd rather be recognizing Him and knowing He is present than not! 

Where have you seen God, Jesus, and/or the Holy Spirit lately?