Advent Challenge, Day 19 Actions (sometimes) Speak Louder than Words We are a prayerful people. I know, that Daily Mass is like salve to my soul. I can pour out my heart to my God, be still and listen to Him. When I hear something tragic or difficult my frequent response is, "I'll pray for you!" There are times, however, that prayer is not enough. Sometimes our prayers must include actions. For example, my adult daughter had a doctor's appointment this morning. Nothing serious, but she was a little nervous and she asked if I was able to go with her. She didn't really need me there, but she wanted me there. The appointment was at the time I would normally go to Mass, but I chose to show my daughter Christ's love by going with her. A friend has been suffering with her husband's illness. I pray for her daily, but the occasional meal prepared for her is a more tangible way to pray through action.
Today's challenge is to, through your actions, BE the Gospel someone will read. God bless.
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Advent Challenge, Day 18 Make a Sacrifice My daughter was stressed! She has dance class tonight and they are having a party, but her younger brother is singing in a concert tonight. This has created a huge conflict for her. She just stopped in my room to tell me that she will go to dance late (after the concert) or not at all. She is making the sacrifice to support her brother! What a wonderful gift she is giving him. She is replacing her interests and sacrificing for her brother's. Today's challenge is to make a sacrifice for another. Give it as a gift to God and the other person. God bless. Advent Challenge, Day 17 Give the Gift of Prayer Tomorrow is my best friend's birthday. Every year I struggle with what gift to give her to show her how very much she means to me. This year, I took her to a Magnificat Women's Breakfast. We ate, sang, worshipped and listened to a wonderful conversion story. Best of all, we did it together! Tomorrow I will offer my Rosary, Mass, prayers, sacrifices and time in Adoration for her. What better way could I honor our friendship on her special day. I will make sure she knows what a blessing she is in my life. Today's challenge is to give someone a spiritual gift of prayer! God bless. Advent Challenge, Day 16 Come Let Us Adore Him We are so busy getting ready for Christmas! We are wrapping gifts, making cookies, buying more gifts. An important question to ask ourselves is, "How have I prepared my heart for Christ?" Today's challenge is to spend some time in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Imagine you are in the manager gazing upon the beautiful Christ child, because, well, you are! It is easy to forget that we have the opportunity to 'see' our Lord anytime we want to. So come and let us adore Him! God bless. Advent Challenge, Day 15 Rediscover Childhood One of my favorite things about Christmastime is that I feel like a kid again. Truth be told, I actually feel giddy when I spy Santa at the mall, see the lights everywhere or hear carols on my car radio. Today's challenge is stop and smell the Christmas cookies! Slow down and rediscover something about the holidays you loved as a child. If possible, share that joy with someone else. Take a break from all the preparation of the season...enjoy! Advent Challenge, Day 15 Rediscover Childhood One of my favorite things about Christmastime is that I feel like a kid again. Truth be told, I actually feel giddy when I spy Santa at the mall, see the lights everywhere or hear carols on my car radio. Today's challenge is stop and smell the Christmas cookies! Slow down and rediscover something about the holidays you loved as a child. If possible, share that joy with someone else. Take a break from all the preparation of the season...enjoy! Advent Challenge, Day 15 Rediscover Childhood One of my favorite things about Christmastime is that I feel like a kid again. Truth be told, I actually feel giddy when I spy Santa at the mall, see the lights everywhere or hear carols on my car radio. Today's challenge is stop and smell the Christmas cookies! Slow down and rediscover something about the holidays you loved as a child. If possible, share that joy with someone else. Take a break from all the preparation of the season...enjoy! Advent Challenge, Day 14 Go Outside your Comfort Zone Today's challenge is to try something new. Do something you wouldn't normally do. Plan to take a cooking class, jump out of a plane, take a train to a new city! Something, anything! New experiences open our hearts, minds and imaginations to new possibilities! Today's challenge is to grow. God bless! Advent Challenge, Day 13 Are you Projecting? Ever notice that we often attribute our own negative characteristics and attributes to others? If we gossip or judge others, we think others gossip or judge us. If we worry too much about money we think everyone does the same, and so on... Unfortunately, this habit of projecting can keep us from seeing people for who they really are. Today's challenge is to take a step back and try to see our friends, family members and acquaintances for who they really are and not who we expect them to be. God bless. Advent Challenge, Day 12 Bring Someone to the Manger A few Christmasses ago, my daughter invited her (then) roommate to go to midnight Mass with her. As a result, a year later, her friend was confirmed in the Catholic Church! Consider inviting someone to Mass for Christmas. You can be the person that brings them to the manger so that Jesus can be born in their heart! Sometimes all it takes is an invitation. God bless. Sorry we are a couple days behind! It has been a little crazy over here in CFBC land! One of the 'kids' had a baby girl yesterday and she is still in the NICU! We have been tree trimming and fast food eating...so look for updated Advent Challenges later today! Thanks for understanding. God bless! The truth is, I don't know how many kids I have. Someone pointed out to me recently, that several of my kids are not 'my kids' at all. Technically, I guess it's true. I gave birth to six children. My youngest was supposed to be a twin, but the only evidence was an empty second embryonic sac on an early ultrasound. My oldest son is actually my stepson (although I've never like that term), but I married his dad when he was only five and I wrote it into my wedding vows that I would be a mother to him. I have never called him anything but my son. Then there are the others! A plethora of young people who have come in and out of our house on a daily basis. Some used to eat dinner with us almost every night. Others needed our support during a difficult time. Some moved into our home, all of them moved into our hearts. We call them our 'unofficial foster kids' for lack of a better way to explain that our bond is that of family, not friends. Sometimes we get our hearts broken and other times we are filled to overflowing with the joy they bring us. When our 'foster' son left with the army on deployment to Afghanistan, you couldn't tell my anguished mother's heart that there was no physical bond between us! Speaking of physical bonds; I thank God everyday for these kids and for their REAL parents who have shared them so graciously with us. If you ask my kids about the others, they will simply say, "Oh, that's my brother," or "That's my sister." My children have given up their privacy, sometimes shared their rooms and (often) their limited bathroom time to accommodate the kids we have brought into our home. They have even sacrificed their birth order on many occasions, so that we could include someone in our family. Can you imagine that one minute you are the oldest child at home and then in the next you have a 'sister or brother' above you? We believe it has taught them that we are blessed and we should share those blessings when we can. They know that hearts and families can grow to fit in all those who need them. I have never been a person who knows how to love by halves. I'm all in, all the time. Some of these additions to our family call me mom, some call me Cookie, but I guess I'll just keep on calling all of them 'my kids!' God bless. |