John 2: 5

St. Francis of Assisi

7 Quick Takes:: A week Full of God's Blessings!

--- 1 ---

I find some apps more entertaining than others, so, when I'm bored,

this is what happens.

 There are a lot of ways to play!

Praise God!

Who needs to be bored? 

I guess, in truth, you can't be bored, if you pray.

  

--- 2 ---

This was a spectacular 

Sunrise,

this week.  Of course, it was a precursor to the

Snow

and 

Cold.

Oh, well,

more of God's Blessings this week.   

 --- 3 ---

This memory was hidden in a drawer I cleaned out.

I love finding treasures I had forgotten.

This picture was taken in New Mexico

many years ago.  

We were wading in a stream.

I'm not sure if there was enough water to wet our feet, but we thought it was fun. 

--- 4 ---

Angel clouds.

They meant snow was coming,

and it did.

The air got very cold.

However,

these beauties were another bit of

God's blessings for this week!

 --- 5 ---

These etchings by

Fuentes de Sqlqmqucq

(I'm not sure about the last name, but this is the way it is signed.)

are finally hanging on my wall.

The etching of the Blessed Mother touched my soul in such a way,

I knew that I had to make these mine.

 

 --- 6 ---

Yes, our snow is back.

That's okay.

It's winter and it's Minnesota.

It's easy to forget that and complain.

What else do you have to discuss here?

As you can guess,

the weather is always a big topic here.

 

--- 7 ---

The greatest blessing I have received this week is that this beast has a name.

De Quervain Tenosynovitis.

It's been a long and very painful stretch with these tendons.

The doc injected me with a cortisone and lydicane combination.

It has helped, however, today, my wrist is very sore again. 

This is the third day.  He said the third day would tell a lot.

If this doesn't get better in, approximately,

11 more days, they will schedule a procedure to slice the covering of the tendons that are inflamed.

The doc said that the post surgical pain would be nothing compared to what I have been experiencing so far.  

So now, we wait.

Yet, this is a wonderful blessing to know that if this doesn't work, there is still something we can do that has a 92% success rate. 

Another HUGE blessing from God!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

She laughs...

Photo borrowed from Melanie Jean Juneau                          

She laughs, her God is near,

In spite of her broken soul,

She laughs,

 He embraces her,

Pulling her to His Sacred Heart,

Saturating her with His healing balm of love,

Holding the fragments of her tears and pain

in His Bleeding palms,

Healing her broken heart.

She laughs, her joy is complete.

Her Savior holds her near.

They dance across the midnight sky,

Angels worshiping Him with joy,

 

He laughs.  She absorbs His joy.

His joy pours into the heavenly skies,

 Heaven rejoices that a lost one has come home.

 She laughs.

She cries.

Tears of love pour through the streets of heaven,

Joy, unknown, becoming real.

"Welcome Home," they cry.

She laughs.

She burns with love consuming,

Love she never knew. 

She cries.

She laughs.

 He holds her in the palms of His Hands.

 Joy complete.

Love unending.

Finally home.

She laughs,

Home.

 

God was Especially Good to me Today and a bit of math for Patience and Healing :: All for the Greater Honor and Glory of God!

 "And wherever He went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed."
Mark 6:56

 Day before yesterday, I was convinced that I would be enduring another month of sharp pain coming from my thumb and any movements of my palm and hand.

3 doctors told me I had tendonitis of the thumb.  We had tried everything.  I had done everything.   No relief.

The last doc wanted me to see the orthopedic docs in our town.  I was willing.  The next appointment with  the orthopedic doc  was on February 11.  I cried. 

I was pretty sure I would not make it that far, so yesterday, after the clinic opened, I called to see if I could be put on a cancellation list.

"Let me check," she said.  "How about January 23rd?  That would help, wouldn't it?"  I'll take it.  The night was difficult.

Today, a  friend who works in another clinic suggested, today, that I call and make sure I am still on the "will call list."  I did.  The person on the phone said, "Let me check."  She came back, "He's here today.  If you can be here by ten, he'll see you." 

I was there by ten.  Even though I had to wait a half an hour to see him, I knew I would not complain. God is good!

 I have some relief.  I was diagnosed with De Quervain  Tenosynovitis.  The cortisone shot I had begged for from the other doctors was injected, and my wrist feels better.  I have to practice the virtue of patience.  If my wrist is not much better in 2 weeks, I have to call, but I have to wait two weeks.  He will schedule surgery.  That will take about another two weeks, but it's an office procedure.  It takes about ten minutes.  Then you go home.  It's done with a local anesthetic.  If needed, that is an option.  Two weeks later, the stitches are removed.

Patience and math.  Jesus and Healing.

God is good.

I had to make another appointment today with my cardiologist.  God is good.  What I thought would be another 2 week wait turned in less than a 24 hour wait.  I see her tomorrow at 1.

Ordinary blessings for some, for me extraordinary.

"When the woman saw that she could not remain hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before him, she declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed."
Luke 8:47


Thank you, Jesus! 

For the Greater Honor and Glory of God:: Prayer at Adoration

At this moment and the rest of my life

I pray to be unseen and ignored.
I pray to be hidden from the world.
I pray  silence envelops my soul
That I might hear Your voice.

I pray that You fill me with Your graces
So that with Your love piercing my heart,
I become less, and You become more.
I pray that nothing is left of me, but You, Oh, Lord.

I pray that when others see me,
They see only You.
I pray that my words be Yours,
 My actions be those of Your Love.
I pray that my pain join Yours for souls.
I pray that Your Love pours forth from me, even to those I do not love,
Those I do not want to love.

Yours are the words of eternal life.
Yours are the words of the Father.
Fill me with Your Spirit, Lord!
Bring me into the flames of Your Sacred Heart.

Without You, I am nothing.
I cannot be anything without Your grace.
I sought not You, but You waited with Love for me.
I heard You not, but You whispered my name in love.
When others  hurt me, rejected me, ignored me,
You surrounded me with Arms of love.
When no one heard my cries of pain,
You lifted me to the safety of Your heart.
When I was frightened,  attacked and beaten,
You covered my wounds with Your healing balm.
You protected me from the evil one.
When he attacked, You gave me strength.
You did not desert me.  You showed me the way.

When I sinned,
You forgave me.
Thank You, Lord,
I am nothing without You.

I beg to melt into the caverns of Your Sacred Heart
Consumed by the fires of Your love.
Unending fires of love
That cannot be quenched.
Unending fires of love in which I may burn,
Fires of  Your Eternal love.

Your love is all I need.
You are all I need.


Lord, I am not worthy,
If I but touch Your cloak,
I am healed,
And
Lord, I am not worthy.

 Yet, You love me.
The gaping wound in Your side was opened for Me.
You gave all,
That I might live
And die immersed in the Gift Your Precious Blood,
Saved by Your death,
Your gift of Love to me.

Lord, make me less, that You may be more.
Let my life be one of
Adoration, 
Praise,
And
Thanksgiving
For
You!

Lord, no longer let me be seen,
But only You.

Lord, make less.
I am Yours.

Everyday Miracles

Last night, I went to sleep and you could see the confused grass beginning to turn green, but not sure if it should.  You could see the roots on the trees, and you could see daisies starting to sprout.  For Minnesota, we've had a warm winter with very little snow, so far, and it's been in the 30's!  That's not normal, but no one was complaining.  There was no white Christmas. We made it through.  No snow meant that traveling was so much easier for families who traveled.

Last night, out of the clear blue sky, not really, it had to be cloudy, snow fell.  When I woke up this morning everything was different.  Nothing was the same.  The grass was covered with the white stuff.  The tree branches were weighted down with snow.  The confused daisies were covered, and, hopefully, they went back to sleep as infants do.

I sat at the table looking at the ravine behind our house.  I don't drink coffee, so I sipped my diet coke.  What a miracle had happened last night!  Everything changed!  God worked a miracle, and we had snow.  I would have preferred staying home, but it was getting late, and I needed to go to Mass.  Driving would be easy.  The salt trucks had been out all night.  No worries there.  Then, as I looked at a bush that was bursting with snow, I realized.

I had nothing to do with this miracle, yet it happened.  God simply took over and gave us this gift.
I looked at the blue sky.  I knew this would make everything colder.  Clouds help to keep us warm.  The blue sky was a beautiful contrast to the white of the snow.    God, the great artist, curator, and creator did this without my help.  I had nothing to do with this beauty, but God did.

Everyday, blessings and consolations from God are poured out from His Love to us.  His gifts are unending, like His love.  Whether it be that the sun gives us warmth and light, or that the sun stays put and we remain in it's orbit.  We are blessed.  Each beat of our heart means that we have life.
Each joy or sorrow helps to shape us into the person we are.  Gifts.  Miracles. 

Think of your heart.  Your heart beats without your control.  Each thump comes from your involuntary nervous system.  You cannot control the beats yourself.  There are devices that might help control the number of beats per minute or devices that open arteries.  Knowledge comes from God.

Thump!  Thump!  Thump!  Thump!

"Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!"