Distractions

Oak Tree Forest
Originally uploaded by sonykus

Amy Welborn reminded of how hard it is for me to pray "peacefully" sometimes. It seems like my mind wanders to every "corner of the room. So I offer this for your reflection.

"O Lord, you have searched me and know me"
~Psalm 139:1~

Distractions during prayer can be hard to deal with. Our instinct is to push them away because they're interfering.

Sometimes distractions truly can be idle, but other times they're not. We forget that God knows us completely and wants us completely. If concerns about a child, a relationship, or another personal issue insists on entering our thoughts during prayer, perhaps that is not a distraction at all

Perhaps that is what we're supposed to e praying about.

~~~

Lord, I present my whole life to you today in my prayer.

From A Catholic Woman's Book of Days

***+***

And so it is that I must learn to listen to the clues He offers me, for He knows how "clueless" I can be.

~~~~~~~

THANKS BE TO GOD!!

Ash Wednesday, 2008,

On this first day of Lent I offer you this reflection taken from John Shea's Daybreaks, Daily Reflections for Lent and Easter.

Now Is the Time

Many Ash Wednesdays ago, my mother and I received ashes in the afternoon and headed directly to the mall to shop--real American religion. as we passed the permanent convention of teenagers gathered at the center of the mall, one of them saw the smudged foreheads and announced in a megaphone voice. "Hey! The Catholics are giving our ashes. Let's go."

There is something universal about Ash Wednesday. Although it is primarily a Catholic ritual, it appeals to many people. Even the unchurched may find themselves in line waiting to have someone's thumb blacken their forehead.

There are many reasons for this attraction, but I favor the explanation that ashes are a gentle reminder of our death and we welcome that gentle reminder. Although death is a constant companion, we do not have to think about it every day--but neither can we totally deny it. In the brief ritual of Ash Wednesday, we acknowledge our mortality in a way that does not debilitate us. Harsh reminders we push aside; gentle reminders we accept.

In fact, this ritual can embolden us. We are jolted out of drift, realizing our present life does not go on forever. It will end; and so we must make the most of it now. Time is the opportunity to love and we must seize it.

And so let us begin this holy season of fasting and prayer in JOY!!! We live because we have been saved. We can walk these Forty Days with family and friends knowing that our goal is the same, the continued celebration of our Salvation!

~+~+~+~+~

Thanks be to God!

There are a couple of things I want to do...

before Lent arrives. I think I have been blessed since I started blogging with many who have given me such positive reinforcement and, I think, genuine and considerate responses to my posts. I am really grateful for this as it encourages me to continue.

And so it is that I have been given this lovely gift by Suzy at Sailing by Starlight ( though I must add that during Lent her site will be unplugged) and so I want to send it on. I have been asked to offer this to 5 others and link to Ukok's Place.

Here are my nominees:

A Catholic Mom in Hawaii
A Daily Grotto
Therese's Roses
View from the Pews
~A Truckers Wife~

~~~~~
For these and all who have visited me here,
Thanks be to God!


AND

Because I had been tagged days ago I thought it would be best to respond to this.

1. Pick up the nearest book ( of at least 123 pages)

.2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people.

Book: Radical Grace by Richard Rohr

So revelation and faith are correlative: There cannot be faith without revelation. We cannot believe in a person who has not shared himself or herself with us. To the degree that person has shared with us, we can believe in that person. ("Self-revelation of God")

I then invite those who visit this site to accept this as an opportunity to share where you are in literature.

~~~~~
And again, Thanks be to God.

I changed my mind...

I was going to do something playful and funny tonight but after I opened the mail when I got home I changed my mind. I mentioned Shannon in one of my earlier posts but tonight I think I will let her speak to you. I give you Miss Shannon Walsh.

January, 2008

Peace In Christ!

At the end of 2006, I took over the running of a small organization called China Little Flower. It has been exciting (and terribly challenging) to try to develop this small organization into a beacon of light for Christ in china.

On February 1, 2007, we (China Little Flower) opened Loving Heart Hospice, a home to care for dying orphans. We have had 23 children pass through the doors this year, 10 have gone home to Our Heavenly Father, and 2 have "graduated" form our home after becoming healthy enough to survive. Each of them is so special, it's hard toshare about one without feeling I am doing the others an injustice by not mentioning them. But, I will, for the sake of brevity, share about our first little saint to go Home...

Chun Xin was the first baby we received and the first one to die inour home. She was just two weeks away from her first birthday. I was with her, holding her hand as she took her last breath. Chun Xin had sever hydrocephalus, her head was 20 cm around. It took two people to lift her up-one holding her head, another holding her body. To feed her we had to life her out of bed and place her head on a large pillow resting on a stool while someone sat on a low chair to hold her body. The first time people would see Chun Xin they would stop and gasp. Her head was so large, it was hard for people to take in. But those who took the time to be with her fell in love with her. IT didn't take long for Chun Xin to soften hearts and help people to see that she was a beautiful little girl in need of lofe and affecteion. We all really missed her presence in the home after she passed away. She had a way of speaking to hearts and drawing people in that was truly inspiring.

This year we had also worked with several women in crisis pregnancies. These women have been incredible witnesses to me of strength, courage, and faith. Three women have stayed with us and we have offed counsel and financial assistance to several others. One of these your women has become a very dear friend. She is single. When she found out that she was pregnant, she was pressured by her family to abort. She was so fiercely pressured, that she found herself in the hospital preparing for an abortion. She did not want to abort, but her mother threatened suicide if she wouldn't go through with it. She was to stay overnight in the hospital and in the morning the abortion would be performed. Her mother stayed with her to make sure she didn't run away. But she waited and waited for her mom to drift off to sleep, and as soon as she saw her chance she walked out the door, to the elevator, and out of the hospital. She came to stay with us for the remainder of her pregnancy and her baby girl was born in June. This beautiful daughter fills her mother with great joy. The ourn woman is now working with us to help promote the beauty and dignity of life and help other women in similar circumstances to choose. life.

We recently started a program to educate your people on life issues. This work is quite new, and much needed her. Our pro-life apostle recently spoke at a pre-marital conference about chastity and abortion. Many of the unmarried women had already had abortion and were touched deeply by what they heard. May priests, religious and lay people want to learn more about life issuers and we are hoping to gain more opportunities to go out and teach.

Lastly we are preparing to take a group of about 20 young adults to World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia, this summer. This will be such a great blessing for each of them to see so many faith-filled young people from around the world gathered together in one place to praise God. Many of them in our group are in the infancy stage of their faith. This trip will give that budding faith the boost it needs for them to continue to work to bring their friends and families to Christ also. The joy and zeal they bring back from Australia will bee a blessing for the Church in china. We are working on getting visas processed and raising the funds for the flights. There are many road blocks that the government of China could place on this trip. Please pray that our preparation process continues to go smoothly and everyone who wants to go will be able o go.

Thank you so much for your love, prayers, and financial support. Please continue to pray for us as we work to bring about a Culture of Life rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ in China.

May the Christ Child fill you with His joy and peace throught out this year. God Bless you!

In Christ,

Shannon

~~~~~~~

And so it is that I thank God daily for Shannon and all those Spirit filled people who daily risk their lives in the name of Jesus Christ and his Holy Gospel. We are truly blessed by those Holy Saints in our midst!!!

~+~+~+~+~+~

Thanks be to God

Urgent prayer request...

I would ask you all to visit Kathleen at The Daily Grotto for the entire story but needless to say this young lady, Melissa, is in need of our prayers. If you believe at all in the power of intercessory prayer I would ask you to pray heartily for her. What a privilege it is to be called on to share in the life of Melissa this way.

~~~~~~~
Thank you and Thanks Be to God!