Friday, February 25, 2011
More Pokes from God
Today I went to my final class at Lila & Claudines yarn shop in Mahtomedi on Fair Isle knitting technique. Conversation at the table ranged from good restaurants, ethnic dining, and more. God Poked me on two subjects. My son and my business. I'll share more when I can. I have work to do. Thank you God for inspiring me. After knitting I went to church and said a decade of the rosary to give thanks and ask for continued guidance.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Why go to church?
I did not write this, but it is OH SO TRUE. I received this from an email, author unknown. Maybe it was a POKE from God?!?!?!
Why go to Church?
If you're spiritually alive , you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead , you won't want to read it.
If you're spiritually curious , there is still hope!
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing..... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
All right, now that you're done reading, pass this along. Share it on Facebook, email, wherever!
"When Satan is knocking at your door , simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"
If you're spiritually alive , you're going to love this!
If you're spiritually dead , you won't want to read it.
If you're spiritually curious , there is still hope!
A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them.. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this.. They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!" When you are DOWN to nothing..... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!
All right, now that you're done reading, pass this along. Share it on Facebook, email, wherever!
"When Satan is knocking at your door , simply say, "Jesus, could you get that for me?"
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Questions for you to ponder
Have you ever wondered about your faith? Have you ever been Poked by God? If God was one of your friends on Facebook, how would it change the way you use Facebook or other social media? Are you feeling disconnected in our fast paced electronically CONNECTED world? Are you Catholic, past or present? Are you Christian? Are you happy? What makes you really happy? Do you really understand your mission in life? If you want to discover these answers, you only need to ask yourself and turn to God. To help you discover these answers may I suggest a book that may help? First, let me tell you how I happened upon this book. I WAS POKED BY GOD!
I have been trying to get more connected with friends and have been asking them to join me at various events. The answer more often than not, is a polite no, I have other plans....etc. Well one day, one of my friends asked me to join them to go to Mass and then out to eat with a few other couples. Little did I know, that this meeting and Mass and dinner would change my life. I worked that Saturday and I needed to meet the entire group, including Jeff at church as I would be coming directly from work. The Mass started at 4p, but because this parish was not so set upon rules, they often times didn't start Mass until 4:15p. Great, I thought. I won't really be late. I left work at 4p and drove to church with a fervor like no other. I was going to be spending time at church celebrating my faith with good friends and my husband. I was excited to have this experience. When I arrived, Mass had already begun and I found my friends seated near the front so without making too much of a scene I sat down with them. Jeff, was no where to be found...I thought he may have changed his mind, but no, after several minutes I discovered he was sitting on the other side of church with his ailing Aunt. When it was convenient to do so, I joined Jeff on his side with his Aunt. The service was Mass as usual, but the most profound thing that happened that day was not the sermon, but the invitation by the Priest at the end of Mass to pick up one of the books that had been donated (by someone?) to parishioners. It may have been announced at church before I arrived, I'm not really sure how this Parish received these books. I also was not sure if it would be appropriate to take one, not being a regular parishioner and all, I hesitated...but then saw some of my friends take one, so I did too. I brought it home and promptly put in on the counter along with all the other collections of papers, mail, tax documents, recipes, Christmas cards and such. Yes, my counter is a collection spot for clutter. Now that's another blog story.
Week 1 goes by...book remains unopened. Week 2...dust is gathering. Week 3...I decide to give it a try...What the heck...having more time on my hands these days...what will it hurt? Not only did I open the book, I opened my eyes and heart to some of my longings. The longings for guidance of my faith and my life journey. Oh oh....did I open Pandora's box? What have I got myself into? I was stunned, surprised, enlightened, soothed, inspired and glad as heck I read the book. It is not the end all of my journey, but it is pointing me in the right direction. It is opening up possibilities for me to become the "best-version-of-myself".
I was at the right place, at the right time to receive God's POKE. For every action, there is a reaction, for every choice we make, there is a consequence. My reaction to God's poke is to POKE others. Spread the the information, let the eagles and angels soar. I choose to share this information with you, so what is the consequence? You may turn away from me in fear, fear that I will try to evangelize you or be drawn to me to seek out more information. I leave the consequence in the hands of God.
Your life is your own journey. May you find happiness and contentment in the spirit of God. Ponder this verse from the bible.
Oh yeah, the book is titled "Rediscover Catholicism" by Matthew Kelly. He is not associated with the Catholic church, other than he is Catholic. He is not a Priest, Bishop, Archbishop or the Pope. He is just a regular guy who has journeyed around the world observing and studying the Catholic Church and Christianity.
For more information on this book and the author go to his website http://www.matthewkelly.org/.
You can get a free copy of the book on this site for just shipping and handling costs.
You have been duly POKED.
I have been trying to get more connected with friends and have been asking them to join me at various events. The answer more often than not, is a polite no, I have other plans....etc. Well one day, one of my friends asked me to join them to go to Mass and then out to eat with a few other couples. Little did I know, that this meeting and Mass and dinner would change my life. I worked that Saturday and I needed to meet the entire group, including Jeff at church as I would be coming directly from work. The Mass started at 4p, but because this parish was not so set upon rules, they often times didn't start Mass until 4:15p. Great, I thought. I won't really be late. I left work at 4p and drove to church with a fervor like no other. I was going to be spending time at church celebrating my faith with good friends and my husband. I was excited to have this experience. When I arrived, Mass had already begun and I found my friends seated near the front so without making too much of a scene I sat down with them. Jeff, was no where to be found...I thought he may have changed his mind, but no, after several minutes I discovered he was sitting on the other side of church with his ailing Aunt. When it was convenient to do so, I joined Jeff on his side with his Aunt. The service was Mass as usual, but the most profound thing that happened that day was not the sermon, but the invitation by the Priest at the end of Mass to pick up one of the books that had been donated (by someone?) to parishioners. It may have been announced at church before I arrived, I'm not really sure how this Parish received these books. I also was not sure if it would be appropriate to take one, not being a regular parishioner and all, I hesitated...but then saw some of my friends take one, so I did too. I brought it home and promptly put in on the counter along with all the other collections of papers, mail, tax documents, recipes, Christmas cards and such. Yes, my counter is a collection spot for clutter. Now that's another blog story.
Week 1 goes by...book remains unopened. Week 2...dust is gathering. Week 3...I decide to give it a try...What the heck...having more time on my hands these days...what will it hurt? Not only did I open the book, I opened my eyes and heart to some of my longings. The longings for guidance of my faith and my life journey. Oh oh....did I open Pandora's box? What have I got myself into? I was stunned, surprised, enlightened, soothed, inspired and glad as heck I read the book. It is not the end all of my journey, but it is pointing me in the right direction. It is opening up possibilities for me to become the "best-version-of-myself".
I was at the right place, at the right time to receive God's POKE. For every action, there is a reaction, for every choice we make, there is a consequence. My reaction to God's poke is to POKE others. Spread the the information, let the eagles and angels soar. I choose to share this information with you, so what is the consequence? You may turn away from me in fear, fear that I will try to evangelize you or be drawn to me to seek out more information. I leave the consequence in the hands of God.
Your life is your own journey. May you find happiness and contentment in the spirit of God. Ponder this verse from the bible.
Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7
Oh yeah, the book is titled "Rediscover Catholicism" by Matthew Kelly. He is not associated with the Catholic church, other than he is Catholic. He is not a Priest, Bishop, Archbishop or the Pope. He is just a regular guy who has journeyed around the world observing and studying the Catholic Church and Christianity.
For more information on this book and the author go to his website http://www.matthewkelly.org/.
You can get a free copy of the book on this site for just shipping and handling costs.
You have been duly POKED.
Friday, February 11, 2011
In search of excellence
January 1st I began my journey to become "the-best-version-of-myself". It is totally about working from the inside out. Here are just a few things I'm working on, not necessarily in order of importance.
More to come.......stay posted.
- Daily inspirational reading
- Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly
- The Bible
- My Sunday Missal
- When God Winks at You by Squire Rushnell
- The Catechism of the Catholic Church (May use for reference only)
- Journaling
- This blog is a start
- Private hand written journal
- Praying
- Went to Church today and prayed for 10 minutes, 5 minutes of which I let God speak to me. It was a very emotional experience, very humbling and comforting. He did speak to me. Now the hard part, listening and acting.
- Exercising
- Daily walk with dogs
- M/W/F - 30 minute bicycling, strength training bands, sit-ups & stretching
- T/TH - 1 hour intense workout with JT, personal trainer, and two close friends
- Mindful eating
- Less sugar, salt and fats
- More fruits, vegetables and fiber
- Service Project(s)
- Chemo Cap Knitting (1 down, 1 to go)
- Organizing a discussion group for the book "Rediscover Catholicism
- Friendships
- Social gatherings
- Life experience dialogue
- Reconnecting with old friends
- Staying in touch
- Being accessible
- Family
- Connecting and interacting with Sons
- Date night with Husband
- Staying in touch with extended family
- Being accessible
More to come.......stay posted.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
What I've Been Up To
Knit one, purl two. I just finished a tea cozy. Felted it and am waiting for it to dry so I can use it. See below.
Next project is a service project. I'm going to knit two chemo caps for the Minnesota Knitter Guild project.
The service committee has set a goal for the Guild to submit 400 hats – 100 each for the 4 cities (Duluth, Minneapolis, Rochester, and St. Paul) we’ve chosen to be recipients of our knitting this year. We are working with the American Cancer Society to donate the chemo caps. The ACS will be handing out the caps at their local offices, their sponsored Hope Lodges (Rochester & Minneapolis) and SMDC in Duluth, HCMC in Minneapolis, Mayo Clinic in Rochester and United in St. Paul.
Look for the finished products in the near future.
Next project is a service project. I'm going to knit two chemo caps for the Minnesota Knitter Guild project.
The service committee has set a goal for the Guild to submit 400 hats – 100 each for the 4 cities (Duluth, Minneapolis, Rochester, and St. Paul) we’ve chosen to be recipients of our knitting this year. We are working with the American Cancer Society to donate the chemo caps. The ACS will be handing out the caps at their local offices, their sponsored Hope Lodges (Rochester & Minneapolis) and SMDC in Duluth, HCMC in Minneapolis, Mayo Clinic in Rochester and United in St. Paul.
Look for the finished products in the near future.
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