(Hi Friends! Hope y'all had a great weekend!)
Good Sabbath Everyone!
It's been awhile since I've posted one of these. It's hard to believe January is half-way through, hold on to the seat of your pants!!!! The year's just getting started!
This week, I wanted to share with you 7 life changing moments that occurred within the past 7 days: (and no for your curious little minds, I did not meet anyone).
1. I am truly blessed to have some very wonderful coworkers. In fact, one of which is always passing on information he and his wife come upon, shared with me the 8 questions for Making A New Year's Resolution that Lasts. It's written by Jeff Cavins and is flippin' wonderful. Seriously.
2. In diligently following my New Year's resolutions, I lay in bed the other night and came to this conclusion, "From this moment on, my life can never look the same." I have that weird intense athletic mind at times, where it's all or nothing (don't get me wrong, if I mess up, I'm not going to quit) BUT as my dear Spiritual Director has said, if we want to follow Christ, we have to be serious about taking up our crosses and following Him. So that's what I'm doing. And if you could say some prayers for some extra grace I would be most appreciative.
(Photo Courtesy of ME a St. Peter's Basilica in Roma)
3. Through my radical perspective of DO or DIE, I have also been reminded that I cannot do any of this without begging God for the grace to guide me in accomplishing my goals. It's humbling and refreshing to have to turn to HIM for basically everything. And yet funny and annoying at times, because it seems one moment I'm turning to Him for everything and the next I'm freaking out to then be reminded if I ask for grace, He'll give it to me... He's a good Papa and I'm so grateful for that.
(Photo from ME at Basilica of St. Catherine & Dominic in Sienna, Italy)
4. I just finished reading this book. It was recommended to me by a dear friend about a year ago, when he actually gave me the book to read within the near future.... Finally after a conversation with another friend this morning (ironically his sister), I read it front to back in a matter of hours. It's written by a Protestant who talks about fasting and how important it is in the Christian life (as well as references other religions who uphold fasts and how God works in their lives). Anyways, I found it to be a great read that will hopefully transform your heart and mind and see the importance and awesomeness of fasting. (NOTE: if you are Catholic and reading it, take a large Catholic grain of salt to some of the things he says.)
(Photo from here)
5. This week I received 2 packages from sweet friends. Have I ever told you how lucky I am to have the friends I do? Seriously. They are truly remarkable people, and I praise the LORD for the opportunity to know and love them! They are simple reminders of love, peace and all the good stuff God has always intended us to share in and know. To K & A; I love you gals and will be calling you soon to verbally thank you for the treasures you have sent to me!
(Some friends from my SPRI YAM Bible Study)
6. What would a post be without talking about my family whom I love and miss dearly??? First Praise be to God for the internet and phones that send & receive pictures!! As I have said before, I am blessed to have 2 sweetly beautiful nieces and 2 dashingly handsome nephews. These 4 little people are constant reminders of the love God has for each of us, as well as the precious gift life is. My Sister and B.I.L. have done such a great job with raising such good little people with hearts of gold who call their Auntie to sing her the newest song they've learned, talk to her about the weather (as all good Mid-Westerner's do), and just overflow their little hearts of love through their giggles, smiles, and funny little jokes....(insert 2 minutes conversation with my 4 year old nephew in which we went back and forth saying.."what did you say before that"). Life is so stinkin' precious, and I am honored to witness to the graces their little hearts pour forth in the world. What a privilege!
7. Rich Mullins. My college Newman Center chaplain, boss, and friend, loved this Christian music artist, who tragically died in a car accident in 1997. I never really understood why my Chaplain thought he was so great. I mean he wrote 'Awesome God' and had some other good tunes, but it just never clicked until this weekend. I was speaking with another coworker about evangelization and he shared with me how much he LOVED Rich Mullins. 'Hold the Phone' I thought! And then proceeded to ask him, 'why did Catholic men his age love Rich Mullins?' I mean I knew he went through RCIA right before he died and had a great devotion to St. Francis of Assisi (HOLLA--St. Frankie-A!!!) and was a genuinely neat guy, but I just didn't get it. His response 2 DVD's. My response now: Rich Mullins was far ahead of his time in evangelizing Christians and calling them to a life of Holiness and just frankly blows my mind. It's so weird when questions you've never really voiced find an answer and all starts to become clear and the pieces fall together. AHH!!! Rock On'! But don't you worry, I'll be writing about my findings another time.
So that's my week. I pray you all had a beautiful week and will pray that God will bless you abundantly this week. If you wouldn't mind keeping me and a specific intention of mine in prayer, I would be most appreciative. Don't you just love being part of the Body of Christ and lifting each other up? It feels so early Christian!!!!
Much Much Love!
Rach
Love these Sunday Seven gems :) Praying for you!
ReplyDeleteI have also been returning to Rich Mullins. His song "hold me Jesus" plays constantly on my playlist. I always think of Fr. Hummel and the stories he would tell about Rich. Ha, so glad someone else remembers those and shares the love of Rich. I also feel special because Caleb and Abigail will both be born at St. Francis where Rich died. Good ol' Francis, he takes care of us!
ReplyDelete