Wondrous Wednesdays (11)



In the spirit of gratitude, I’m listing wondrous things happening in my world every week on Wednesday.  If you are a blogger and want to list what you are grateful for, feel free to do the same on your own blog every week and please be sure to link back to my blog.   If you are not a blogger, feel free to comment here on my blog with your own three wondrous things you are grateful for on Wednesday. 

(1)

My parents are back from Italy.  It is nice to have them home again and it was just so sweet seeing both of our girls keep repeating memere and pepere over and over again the first few days.  I just love watching our girls play with them.

(2)

Ahhhhh.... I went to reconciliation again.  It had been two and a half months, which was definitely too long.  Our new priest is a wonderful confessor and had some really great tips for me!  I truly think most people don't understand how beautiful reconciliation is!  What an awesome sacrament Jesus gave us. 


(3)
Wondrous giggles at the dinner table!  Both the girls had a case of the giggles Tuesday night.  They laugh at the strangest things, but such joy from little ones is contagious.  They had me and memere in fits of giggles too!

Below is a linky list if you’d like to add a link to your own Wondrous Wednesdays. (1) Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your post and not your main blog URL. (2) Include a link back here.

It's Ok to Fall, and It's Ok to Receive Assistance.

So, I went to reconciliation again  last night.  Ahhh, that feels better...  AAHH wait!!?!  I forgot to confess some things!  Have you ever done that?  Gone in with an idea of what you're going to confess, then get really focused on one or two things and then draw a big blank and only get through some part of your "list?"  Maybe I should have turned right around and gone back, but I guess those failings will have to wait until next go 'round.  I'm sure there will be more sins I can list in another couple of weeks.  Maybe it is time for me to go more regularly than the two or three times a year I go.  I could certainly use his mercy and grace more often these days!

At any rate, the recommendation of the priest tonight made so much sense to me, that I'm not sure why I didn't think of this myself.  Going to confession tonight not only gave me God's great mercy, grace and love, but it also gave me a fresh perspective on how to work through my current difficulties.  He simply said, "Don't piggyback everything on top of each other.  Take it one day at a time.  Deal with what you HAVE to."

"Don't piggyback!"  Ok, he probably knows me better than I think he does.  I definitely do this.  Maybe a lot of us do and that's why he recommended this for me.  One bad thing happens, then I worry about other things it could potentially lead to, and what may happen from there and on and on and on.  The freeflow thinking can be limitless when your mind gets rolling.  Stress abounds.  If I were to stop piggybacking, maybe I wouldn't exponentially increase my stress levels and get so angry or upset.  What a good recommendation! 

"One day at a time!"  Isn't that all we really can do?  While we can try to plan ahead, things don't always work out how we hope they will.  We have to learn to deal with the here and now.  Just take it as it comes.  Meet each day with it's hope and potential and do the best you can with it.  Another home run!

"Deal with what you have to!"  Let everything else that is non-essential just roll right off your back.  Sometimes taking such a limited approach seems like you are doing only what you have to in order to get by without going above and beyond.  But sometimes, even just doing only what you have to is what helps you to get through it all.  Sometimes taking on more than what is essential can be just too much.  Less is more.  I definitely like that one!

We all have our moments when we we fall.  Even Jesus did!  Think about that - Jesus who was truly God, but also truly man, fell under the burden of his cross.  Jesus has walked our walk, felt our pain, endured suffering, been tempted by the devil.  Yes, He IS God, but He knows what it is to be human.  We need to remember that when Jesus was carrying his cross up to Calvary, he fell, not once, not twice, but three times.  He got back up, and, perhaps more importantly, he received assistance - Simon helped him carry his cross - after the first time he fell.  I think sometimes our pride is hurt when we have to rely on others for assistance.  We like to feel like we can do it all.  Our society tells us that we should do it all.  But sometimes, we have to be humble enough to admit that it's ok to fall, and it's ok to receive assistance. 

Not only is it a good lesson for us - this learning that it's ok to fall and it's ok to receive assistance - but if you have children, as we do, it is a good lesson for them as well.  Our children learn from us, like it or not.  When they see us fail, they will see how we cope with that failure.  They will see us humbly admitting our faults.  They will see us learn how to get up again, pick up the cross and continue on.  They will learn how to accept the love and compassion from others who help us in our time of need.  They will learn that failure does not equal defeat.

So, don't feel like you to have to go it alone.  If there is a Simon in your life ready to assist you, don't be afraid to humbly take him up on it.  He may be able to lighten your burden.  And if you see no personal individual assistance at the ready, go to God.  Take it to Him and he will assist you, maybe in ways you never thought possible.

Knock it Off!

When I checked the temperature gauge in my minivan this afternoon it read 78.  What a gorgeous day it was today in NH!  A perfect day for going to confession.

Yes, confession!  This is a sacrament that is maligned.  I think that sometimes it keeps some people from returning to the Church, when they learn that we haven't done away with this one.  And contrary to what some people may think, it is a beautiful sacrament.  Yes, that's right, beautiful.  Some of you may be thinking, "Confessing my sins, beautiful?"  Yes, the mercy of our God is beautiful.  Going to Him with a humble heart, admitting our faults is beautiful.

We all have our reasons for not going to confession; some people feel they can go directly to God, others aren't even ready to forgive themselves; still others feel they are confessing the same things every time.  I fall into the last category: there are things I struggle with time and time again, but at least, most of the time, I'm not adding new shortcomings.  The last time I went was just before the birth of my now seven month old daughter.  Which is FAR too long ago for me.  I'm not going to get into listing my sins here, that's between me, the priest, and God.  (This is actually a good place to point out that part of the reason for going to a priest is because we don't just hurt God when we sin, but we hurt the community, the Body of Christ, when we sin.) But I do write this blog trying to give witness to living out my Catholic faith.  I hope that my writing conveys how I am trying to live my life.  I am in no way trying to be showy or believe that I am better than anyone else who does not go to church, or to confession for that matter.  But I have to say that going to confession today has left me feeling free, unburdened.  His mercy can work wonders if we let it.

The problem is that sometimes we try to hide our true selves.  We say something that is only a partial truth to look good.  We don't tell it like it is.  Take Lent for example:  I could say that I've been doing everything I set out to do, but that wouldn't be the truth.  I took on a lot this season; I'm not sure why I didn't focus on just a few things.  But I have failed (should have confessed this tonight but I had other things on my mind - maybe I will have to go back again later this week). 

• I intended to take my girls to mass one morning a week and one evening every week in addition to Sunday mass.  Hasn't happened. 
• I intended to read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church on the Creed.  I started to do this during the evenings, but find the material dry and difficult to read at night, so this is something I will have to find time for during the girls' naps as time allows.  Instead, I did start reading the Matthew Kelly book, "Rediscover Catholicism" which is a more light read and very interesting. 
• Other things I took on: Writing Wednesdays (it doesn't always happen on Wednesday but I have been blogging once a week),
• no TV Thursdays (when Alicia was sick I renegged on this one for her, but she's been doing it every Thursday since) and
• no FaceBook Fridays (ok, so once I completely forgot I was logged in and one time I forgot it was Friday - it is such a habit!). 

The point I'm trying to make here is that trying to "look good" with God, doesn't work.  He knows it all.  The reading from the Gospel a few weeks ago was John 4: 5-42 the story of the Samaritan woman at the well.  As Jesus is conversing with her he says "Go call your husband and come back."  The woman answered and said to him, "I do not have a husband."  Jesus answered her, "You are right in saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.  What you have said is true." (Jn 4:16-18)  Jesus doesn't mince words here.  He speaks the truth back to her plain as day.  He's basically saying, "I know you've had five husbands and the guy you're shacked up with isn't your husband.  Knock if off lady!"  God knows all, so there's no reason to be cute and play games with God.  He knows the truth.  Confession allows us to go own up to it.  "Knock it off!"  Jesus says.  Are we open enough to answer him with the truth he already knows?