Happy Mother's Day

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.        - Washington Irving

It'll be All Over In the Morning

Ain't No Need to Worry by BeBe and CeCe Winans is a song that plays through my head many of nights when I've had a challenging day. Some of the lyrics are...

Ain't no need in worrying what the night is gonna bring, it'll be all over in the morning. There's a fear of night fall, when darkness comes and covers all the day. Sometimes we feel pain, but there are things that we can change,  just pray.

I guess it's my mind's way of trying to soothe my soul. Well, it is morning and things don't seem as bad as they did yesterday. Even though my toddler refused to eat his breakfast, he's still just as cute as a button. It's a gorgeous sunny morning. The temps are supposed to reach the low 70s and I have a lot of work to keep me busy, and in business. So from my calculation, the outlook on today is not to shabby.

In Doubt....In Faith

Doubt - to be uncertain about something; be undecided in opinion or belief. To be apprehensive about. Fear; dread... 

When a little bit of doubt seeps in, a little bit of hope seeps out.~ Moni

Faith - Belief that is not based on proof. Confidence in a person or thing. Belief in anything, as a code of ethics, standards of merit, etc. A system of religious belief.

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)

"In faith" is defined as, in truth; indeed. 

In faith, In Truth, Indeed

Moments of Clarity

My most important moments of clarity occur in the wee hours of the morning, before the sun comes up and the hustle and bustle of the day begins. My former Bishop advised the congregation to use the time you can not sleep to talk to God. I think this is great advice because you never know, this might be the time God wants to talk to you too. In fact I thought it was such a great idea, I implemented this into my life and it has become a time of peace and clarity for me. Sometimes solutions to things I've been pondering are placed in my mind with such ease I can't believe I didn't think of it the week before. It's just amazing to see the paths cleared.

When I imagine this process, I visualize a traffic jam. During the course of a week, we are exposed to so much information from home, work, friends, the media, our minds shut down preventing anything helpful from flowing in and blocking anything that is useful from flowing out. We are at a mental standstill, yet our lives are still moving forward. In essence, we are in a mental traffic jam.

Have you really thought about when your moments of clarity occur? Maybe they come late at night, or while you are on a nature walk, or maybe walking beside the ocean as the rhythmic sound of the waves allow you to soak in the tranquillity. Whenever or where ever your moments occur, I pray that you really embrace them and listen to that inner voice. You might have been dismissing it as a fleeting thought but I say following it through. Have that conversation and take the time to live in that moment. It might be worth more than you know.

Chick Flicks

I love going to the movies, always have, probably always will. But as the mother of a toddler, I don't get to the theatre as much as I used to. As a result, I've embraced the benefits that come with watching a movie at home. No you don't get the energized atmosphere of all the people, the over-priced yet tasty popcorn, the sights, the sounds. But you do get to cuddle up under the covers, press pause to get a snack or restart the dryer, and you can rewind when you didn't understand what someone said.

My husband knows he'll get a reaction of pure delight when he brings home a movie I've been wanting to see or even something he thinks I might like. I get excited by just the anticipation of being thoroughly entertained. There are a couple of movies that just came out that I hope to get to the theatre to see, and they are true chick flicks. Not always at the top of the list for the guys, but every man knows, there are times in life when you have to take one for the team!

For They Know Not What They Do

Today I wonder how life would be, if I could understand you, and you understand me.

Yes we are different but yet we are the same. Both children of God granted grace in Jesus' name.

Yet you look at me and you see less, then I look back at you and know that I’m blessed.

For God knows all his children and he watches from on High. He walks with me when I struggle; he dries my eyes when I cry.

We are all made in his image, black, white, red, and brown. Remember the cross he carried all bloodied through town?

They mocked him, they beat him, they treated HIM as less, those blinded by civil disobedience, self-righteousness and unrest.

Still some hang on to their prejudices, their hatred, and their fear, it is a recipe for disaster from which History makes clear.

So I continue to pray for you, for peace, and God’s love made anew. As the voice of the lamb still echoes,

Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
~Moni

Close the Door

I've always liked the saying "one thing about your past is that its over". I think this is a very wise and insightful point of view. There are times when we don't have the opportunity for true closure. In a "perfect world" closure would always be an option, but in reality we can't let holding on to our pasts hinder our future. There comes a time when we must make the decision to just close the door on a situation. Release the power this "thing" has over you by closing the door on that troubled space and truly leaving it behind.

What might surprise you is that after leaving that dead weight behind, you have no desire to look back, even when the opportunity to get the closure you once desired arises. You might find that you have allowed yourself to grow so much, it's no longer worth your time.

Checkmate!

The moment we start believing our success is all about us, the moment the devil says "checkmate!" When God rewards your faithfulness, remember the source. ~Moni