Help me to...

Dear God, I know that you are there for me. This difficult season of life has me worn down, but You are still good. Help me to...

Thank you God for all things especially....

Where did October go because today is November first already! There have been months this past year that felt like they were going to last forever; however, October was one of the fastest months for me because of our packed schedule. November is a great month to sit back a moment and take time to be grateful.  Life of a Homeschool Mom has made a fantastic 25 Days of Thankfulness Challenge, which started today. I am going to use her email devotional and bible verse suggestion to journal my way through the next 25 days. Since I am getting closer to my due date, crankiness and an ungrateful attitude is bound to start sneaking in, so I am hoping this will help to keep me focused on the things that matter and have an attitude of gratitude in my life.

33 Days to Morning Glory- End of Week 4

With only a few days left until my Consecration to Jesus through Mary, I wanted to post another little update. This past week I read about Mary through Pope St. John Paul II. The week before this I read about Mary through St. Teresa of Calcutta's eyes. Both of these saints are Marian powerhouses and helped me to see Mary clearer.

33 Days to Morning Glory- End of Week 2

I am almost halfway through my preparation to Marian Consecration. I am proud of myself for not missing a single day or reading, reflections, or prayers in the past 14 days. One of the biggest changes I have noticed in my life is a rearranging of my priorities. I  have made my prayers a priority, and they haven't been a hassle to get in. A little done in the morning, at lunch, and before bed. I just need a couple minutes each time and then I let myself ponder the rest of the day. I don't have time for long, extended moments of prayer or reading right now in this season of my life, so I am enjoying these nibblets of time I am carving out here and there. I have to thank Mother Mary for helping me find these times and also inspiring me to keep on trucking, even on those stressful days.

33 Days to Morning Glory- Day 7, end of Week 1

Today marks the end of week one. Woohoo! I did an entire week! Sometimes I give up before the first week is up, so I am glad to still be trucking along. One of the habits I created was saying the Angelus prayer at noon (or close to it) every day. It isn't a very long prayer, but it helps establish a habit that I hope to expand upon in the upcoming week.

33 Days to Morning Glory- Days 5 & 6

Day 5 and 6: Should we really give everything to Mary?

33 Days to Morning Glory- Day 4

Day 4: De Montfort's Consecration (Part 2)

Yesterday we read about renewing our baptismal vow and today's reading was about offering ourselves to Mary. Why should we offer ourselves to her?  For me, I feel comfortable knowing she was fully human, living and toiling on this world. She understands us and has compassion for us because she is one of us. The fact that she never sinned doesn't make her any less approachable because she is our mother, and mothers always want what it best for us.

33 Days to Morning Glory- Day 3

Day 3: De Montfort's Consecration (Part 1)

In today's reading Fr. Gaitley talked about baptism and our vows that were made on our behalf and how we renew those vows each Easter. What do those vows mean? Unfortunately, these days, it seems many people don't see a vow as the unbreakable promise that it is. With divorce rates at 50%, our society sees vows as inconsequential and insignificant. A vow is a promise that cannot/should not be broken. My husband and I understand the importance of a vow in our marriage and have pledged ourselves to each other. Divorce would never be an option on the table for us.

33 Days to Morning Glory- Day 2

Day 2: St. Louis' Influence on the Church

In today's reading, we read about how St. Louis's community spent 18 months working together to build a monument that was then destroyed on the day it would have been dedicated. Losing something you worked so hard on would be disappointing and frustrating. Instead, St. Louis told them to build the statue in their hearts. He so easily blessed God in the situation where I would have cried and screamed. It gives me something to think about and strive toward in my daily life.

33 Days to Morning Glory- Day 1

Day 1: The Passionate Saint of Brittany

In my family, most of us tend to get obsessed about things. We will dive in to a new hobby or school year with 110% enthusiasm. Unfortunately, we also tend to have short attention spans and lose interest part way through. We give up or leave projects half finished. I, myself, have a hard time finishing books I have started reading. Knowing this is part of the battle. Right now I am 110% ready and willing to finish this preparation, but I know is a week or two, that enthusiasm will wane and I will want to put the book and prayers to the side.

33 Days to Morning Glory - Intro Day

I am very excited to begin a new journey tomorrow- a journey to Total Consecration to Jesus Through Mary!!  Tomorrow I will begin reading 33 Days to Morning Glory which will prepare me for Marian consecration on October 7th, the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I have attempted this consecration before, but this time I have a group of friends and we are doing it together. 

September's Word: Renew

It has been a few months since I picked a word of the month. So much has happened this past summer and I let myself get away. It is time to refocus for the fall, and I thought RENEW would be a great word for a fresh start.

May's Word: Joy

This year I have gone from Trust, Surrender, Hope, and then Replenish. Now, as my life makes some more twists and turns, I have decided to focus on Joy.

April's Word: Replenish

Over the past few months, I have focused on the words TRUST, SURRENDER, and HOPE. You can read my recap of the last three months here. In April I am shifting my focus to REPLENISH.

I am looking to replenish my health, my spiritual mind, my mama heart, and my creative meter.

Word of the Month: Recap

I have had my challenges this year, but I have also had many blessings already. One blessing in my life has been intentionally focusing each month on a word for growth. By changing my word monthly, I have been able to change my focus based on what is active in my life.

January

In January I decided to focus on TRUST. In December I was feeling anxious about letting God have final say in my life. It is so hard to hand things over to Him, and I knew that I needed to let Him in and let myself just trust that He knows what is best for me. It sounds easy, but this was not an easy task. I prayed every day for trust. Little by little, I felt my heart change. January started off strong, but by mid-January everyone was getting sick and now hindsight tells me that I was beginning to have a flare-up. By the time we got to the end of January, I realized I had a new task on my heart.

February

After finally beginning to trust, I knew that the next step to grow spiritually was to SURRENDER to God's will. It is one thing to start to trust God, but to surrender completely? Oh, man. February was a rough month for a few reasons. We were sick pretty much the entire month. I started feeling worse and worse. Winter was never-ending and then we were hit with some financial struggles. I was feeling like I was backed into a corner! The only thing I could do was surrender. There were no other options. I was despairing and knew that God was the only way out of it.

March

Now that I hit rock bottom, I had to focus on HOPE. Hope that spring is around the corner and we won't be sick so much. Hope that my flare-up will get under control. Hope that we can get out feet under us financially. "Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer." ~St. Padre Pio.  Honestly, right now hope is hard when you feel so terrible, but then I remember: this is only temporary. Jesus is the living hope, and in heaven there will be no worry or misery.

As I look back on the first quarter of the year, I can see God's hand in my life. He is guiding me somewhere. I have no idea where, but I trust Him. I surrender to His will. And I hope that it will be good.

March's Word: Hope

I am enjoying picking a new word each month this year. It feels more personal and I know that I am improving with my attitude. This way of focusing is so much better than a word for the year.

In January I focused on TRUST.

In February I focused on SURRENDER.

This month I will focus on HOPE.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy gave us a new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by the power of God are safeguarded through faith, to a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the final time. In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials." ~1 Peter 1:3-6

Lent 2018 Scripture

This Lent I have been working on a Scripture Study entitled, The Bible and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is done by the St. Paul Center. The study is great, and I have been enjoying everything I am reading and learning. Here are some of the memorization verses for the lessons. I made these pictures to help me remember the verses better. I don't have much scripture memorized, and these are great quotes to put on my heart.

February's Word: Surrender

Last month I focused on the word TRUST. I can honestly say that by focusing on that one word for a month, I made huge strides in my trust and faith. I think it is time to kick it up a notch in February and take it one step further. From TRUST comes SURRENDER. I want to surrender my plans, my ideas, my expectations, and my desires.  One of the biggest roadblocks in my spiritual journey is trying to maintain "control" of my life. I am not talking about being in control of my children. I am talking about making plans for my life without even consulting God. I just say "this is what I want" and assume I am going to get it. God tends to have completely different ideas for me, so giving up this control and surrendering to him will be difficult.

"If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful, and great. No! Only in this friendship are the doors of life opened wide. Only in this friendship is the great potential of human existence truly revealed." — Pope Benedict XVI

I think fear, a little stumbling in trust (still!), and laziness is what keeps me from completely submitting to God. I am afraid of what He has in store for me. Can I handle it? Do I even want to deal with it?  I am a sinner, and these are the thoughts that keep me from releasing myself completely.

"I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me." ~Galatians 2:20

I have already shifted my focus. I was hung up on "losing weight" and exercising HARD daily in January so that I could "get healthier." Let's be honest. I wanted to lose weight for vain reasons. Instead of working myself to death in order to lose weight, I need to find a balance where I am doing everything for reasons that glorify God. That means surrendering my ideas of losing weight, getting "fit", how homeschool looks, and how my relationship with God currently looks. I am giving it all up to Him so that He may make the transformations in my life where He wants them.

January Word: Trust

For the last two years I chose a word of the year. Last year it was consistency and the year before that it was shine. I wasn't consistent with either word. (Go figure!) I thought about the word and verse for January and then by February I had forgotten about the word. This year I decided to focus on a different word each month.  My life changes so fast that this was a good way to focus on what might be happening in the now.

Encouraging Bible Verses

When I need encouragement, I like going to my Bible. There are so many verses that lift me up when I need it. Here are a collection of some of my favorite encouraging Bible Verses that I feel God handpicked for me.