Let the walls come crashing down!

I often hear prayers for the Lord to put up a hedge of protection around people, schools, neighborhoods, and I get it – I long for my loved ones and friends to be safe too, but when I hear this prayer something in my heart remains unsettled.

I heard it again last week when a very sweet friend prayed for a hedge of protection to be placed around our children’s school.  As I spent time mulling it over once again, I think His sweet whispers finally came through, and the thought came to me…

We have too many walls!  We should instead let the ripples of love flowing out from our hearts unite with His infinite tsunami of love as it spreads out and breaks down the walls within the hearts of all who come near!

My sweet Lord – I pray for all who come near our loved ones, our friends, our neighbors, our schools – any child in the whole world – to have the walls they have built in their hearts come crashing down allowing their hearts to once again be fully open to Your Mercy and Grace.

Hebrews 11:30
By faith the walls of Jericho fell…

Holy

This morning I woke up struggling with a conversation I had yesterday regarding my belief and thoughts on a topic that I had prayed, read and thought about for quite some time.  I woke up wondering if I was being closed minded, hard hearted, and proud.  In search of an answer I prayed, “Sweet Lord, please align both of us with Your Holy Will and please lead me to what You would like me to read this morning.”

After this prayer, I looked aimlessly through the books scattered around our house, and then finally decided to complete a few questions in my Bible study.  After looking for my bag, I remembered that I had left it in the car.  When I opened the door to retrieve it, I found page 16 from my disintegrating copy of The Joy of Full Surrender by Jean-Pierre de Caussade laying beside my bag and Chapter 8 jumped out at me.

It read…

Who is the Most Holy?

The will of God gives a supernatural and divine value to everything of the soul that is submitted to it.  All the duties God’s will imposes, all those contained in it, all the matters it touches, become holy and perfect, because the will of God is unlimited in power and makes everything it touches divine.

Thank You my Sweet Lord – I submit myself again to You and pray to continually submit myself every day, every hour, every minute, every second for the rest of my life.

Thy Kingdom Come, They Will Be Done

Intersections

When two opposing lines, a vertical line and a horizontal line, intersect they create a cross – just like the cross our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was crucified on.  On that ancient cross, at that intersection, heaven and earth collided, yet we forget… opposites and intersections are a part of our everyday lives and I think heaven can be found at these intersections.

My friends – seek the intersections, seek the opposites and when you find them fall to your knees in worship, prayer and gratitude as if you were before that very first intersection, the cross carrying our sweet and precious Lord, Jesus.

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.
– 
Luke 23:46

Aligned

Isn’t it funny that when waves are perfectly aligned they become bigger, or when a mirror is aligned with a light source the light is doubled, or when a compass is correctly aligned it can be used to find the way.

Sweet Lord, please align the ripples flowing from my heart with the tsunami of Your love , please align my mirror so that I may reflect Your perfect light, and please align the compass of my heart with Your Will so that my path will be straight and clear!  Please let me be an infinitesimal addition to the Your infinite goodness!

Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth.
Luke 3:5

A Perfect Prayer

Sometimes during my workout, I take the word “neighbor” literally as the person on the machine next to me.  Yesterday someone was there and as I was working out I started praying for him. I prayed for him, his family, his friends, and his job, but it felt jumbled and messy, and not quite right.

I stopped myself for a moment and thought…

Holy Spirit, please give me the words to pray for this man.

I think I was hoping for specifics about him to better pray for this one man, but the next thoughts that started flowing through my mind were…

Let him Glorify You with his life,
Let him Glorify You through his marriage,
Let him Glorify You through his children,
Let him Glorify You through his job,
Let him Glorify You through his family,
Let him Glorify You through his friends.
Let him Glorify You in all aspects of his life.
Let him Glorify You with his life.

Halfway through this prayer I realized that these words were not mine, they did not come from me. I realized this prayer had been given to me.

I am still in awe of this perfect prayer.   It’s beautiful simplicity and it’s perfect logic that both allow it to be prayed over everyone while keeping it always aligned with His will.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
– James 1:17

Talking

If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth.
– Jeremiah 15:19

My Lord as the school year begins and we reunite with friends, catching up, sharing, talking, talking talking –  please let only Your precious words escape my lips and let my lips fall silent for all else.

Encapsulate

Time goes on, never to return again. Whatever is enclosed in it will never change; it seals with a seal for eternity. 
– Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska

Each moment of our lives we are slowly building our own time capsules, sealing in each moment, every thought, every word with a seal for eternity that will not be broken until we stand trembling at the foot of His Glorious Throne.

Oh my Lord, all seems lost when I think of the muck I have encapsulated up to this point, but then I am reminded through Saint Maria Faustina’s beautiful dairy of Your infinite Divine Mercy!

Oh my Lord, I long for LOVE to pour forth from my capsule when You break the seal!  Please help me fill it with LOVE!

Come, come and see…

When I first began writing this blog, I didn’t realize I was searching for Jesus, but now that I have found Him (through His infinite Mercy and Grace alone) how I long to take EVERYONE by the hand and say,

“Come, come and see…”

And then in His infinite kindness and gentleness He whispers – patience my love, they are coming, they will see, they too will find me… theirs is a different path, just as painfully beautiful as yours, but different.  Keep praying, keep loving, and keep listening so that you know when the time is ripe for you to take someone by the hand and say ever so gently and full of My love,

“Come, come and see!!!”

Blessed are the eyes that truly see…

On New Year’s Eve we had dinner with our family.  I love going around the table and giving everyone a chance to give thanks for something from the year.

As always when it was my turn, my eyes welled up with tears, my throat became tight and my sweet girls lovingly said, “There she goes again… Mommy’s going to cry.”  We all started laughing and as I was wiping away my tears and getting ready to speak, my sweet husband quietly spoke and said, “Sarah is thankful for the wind as it blows through the trees, a leaf that falls in her path, a bird that soars past our kitchen window, a caterpillar she finds in the backyard… she is thankful for everything.”

Sweet Lord, I love the little reminders You place in our paths.  My sweet love truly sees me more than I realize and in that moment I felt so deeply understood and loved.  Oh my Lord… I am so blessed that he is mine, I am his and we are Yours!

Thank You, thank You, thank You… in every moment and in everything – Thank You sweet Jesus!

Faithful in the little things

“He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
Luke 16:10

When I think of being faithful in the little things, I am reminded of “The Little Way” of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.  I am reminded of the image of seeking holiness of life in the ordinary and the everyday.

Recently I have been trying to be faithful in the little things by acknowledging that He is guiding me, directing me and teaching me through the little moments of my everyday.  As music plays in the background of my day and a specific song catches my attention, I acknowledge that He chose this song for me in this specific moment  and I thank Him and quietly listen for His message.  When my soul is pricked by a moment that has passed or something that has been said, I immediately turn inward to thank Him and attempt to understand the lesson buried within.  These faithful little moments have been such a blessing to me as I find myself thinking of Him, turning towards Him, leaning on Him, loving Him more and more throughout my everyday life.

I pray to continue growing in faithfulness in very little things so that someday He will grant me the grace to be faithful in much!