Heroes Do the Hard Stuff

Sometimes life is harder than it should be. The burdens are too heavy; the suffering is too great; the fear is too real; the worry is too consuming.

Right now, every area of my life is causing stress - and it feels too great to bear. It's easy to be angry - even at God. It's hard to understand and trust Him... so hard. I realized yesterday that the way I am reacting and thinking (a way I often unknowingly slip into, but am starting to become more aware of), is that I'm not asking Jesus to walk through the difficulties with me; I'm not just 'being' with Him, trusting Him, knowing that He is taking care of me and will continue to do so; I'm not asking Him to stay with me in the storm - I am just asking Him to fix it. And then I get mad when things don't change. Sometimes we have a really hard time accepting our circumstances and recognizing God's presence. As I say to myself "Lord, I want you to be with me, but right now, I don't just want you to be with me, I want you to fix things! I want you to act! Why does it have to be this way? Can't you just DO something? I know you can, but why won't you?!"

The answer is still one I usually don't like. The answer is that He's not changing things because He wants us to rely more completely on Him, less on ourselves, and less dependent on circumstances to make us happy, so that our contentment comes from HIM. A beautiful concept... but it doesn't feel so very beautiful.

We look at the saints' lives and are captured by the romanticism in a sense... we are intrigued by the level of their intimacy with God - an intimacy that requires serious heroic virtue. Heroes do the hard stuff, make the tough sacrifices, fill the role no one else will. Saints are God's heroes. Their intimacy with God is indeed beautiful and romantic; their lives a seemingly perfectly orchestrated symphony of love, suffering, and holiness. When we see all the facets of their lives come together and can read the whole story, we see that panoramic beauty of their walk with God. But it didn't always feel beautiful. It wasn't always easy. They didn't always like it. But they focused on the LORD, and not on their circumstances (something I have an exceedingly hard time emulating!), and that's what gave them their strength.

They kept their eyes on Jesus. They trusted Him. Their circumstances were hard. Their suffering was real, and awful, and hard to bear. But instead of pointing the finger at God, somehow blaming Him, or accusing Him of not loving them enough to intervene (which is what I like to do), they just kept loving Him. And BELIEVING that He had it all under control; accepting the knowledge of His love for them, and that He was their rescuer.

Heroes do the hard stuff. Heroes take action when it feels the least beautiful. And out of it comes huge reward, immense beauty. I'm working hard today - and in the days ahead - to look at Jesus and not at the stuff in my life that I want Him to fix before I will give Him my all. I may have to give Him my all over, and over, and over again, each time I get distracted and downhearted with life's chaos, and it's HARD. Life is harder than it should be! But heroes do the hard stuff.

Winds of Change, Fighting Back, & Fighting For

I was getting on a roll. I was keeping up. Writing new posts every Saturday for weeks in a row. I went on vacation, so I missed the 22nd of September. No problem, will just pick up again the next week. I came back from vacation on the 24th, and was honestly having a really hard time that very night just jumping back into real life, prepping for work the next morning, feeling kind of empty, and like I wasn't quite grounded. I left the house to go to a favorite place to pray. It helped me reset a little, and I returned to that favorite place again the following night for a bible study that a friend invited me to just the day before. Little did I know that the severe storms passing through that night would cause three tornadoes to develop in my area - and the southern-most one, went right through my yard as it finished its path and dissipated in the cornfield across the street. This all happened while I was at bible study and I had no idea until I returned to a home that I couldn't even get to because of the trees, debris, and power lines all over the road. Super long story made short, I walked my property with the fire department, made the way through the obstacle course into the house, packed a couple of bags, and headed to my parents' for the night - where I am still residing as I wait for the repairs.

I've been praying for a while (quite desperately) for a change in my life, just feeling kind of stuck and unhappy in a variety of ways, but boy!! This was not the kind of change I was expecting! It brings the term 'winds of change' up to a whole new level! I realized immediately - and continue to realize - how blessed I was not to have been home that night, and how providentially everything worked out so quickly to keep me safe. I certainly got my game-changer! (The saying is true by the way - be careful what you pray for!!)

God never moves in expected ways. He's like the super secret agent with more tricks up His sleeve than anyone is aware of. Sometimes He can really catch us off guard - but that's a good tactic of someone who can really get your attention, make you think, and cause a reaction. The reaction He is always aiming for is that of our reaction to rebound back to Him. The reaction He seeks is for us to seek Him. 

Though God is the supreme mover of the unexpected, our enemies have sly and cunning tricks that tempt us to the opposite reaction of turning away from God. We have to remember that our enemies are not of flesh and blood, but they they are the principalities and powers of darkness. They have tricks up their sleeves too, but they are far from unexpected like the ones God uses to draw us to Him. They are very predictable, very deceitful. They take our focus off Jesus. How do we fight back?

"The Lord says to my lord: 'Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies your footstool.'" (Psalm 110:1)

The answer? Cling to Jesus. Stay seated at His right hand, keep running to Him, and it is He who will slay our enemies. I know Jesus wants me to write. I know he wants me to keep on keeping on with what He's called me to. He is showing me much and causing me to learn much through this time of trial with being displaced (and having to practice PROFOUND amounts of patience with insurance and contractors, etc!). But my enemies try to convince me to have God's plan take a backseat because my life right now is 'too busy, too exhausting, too overwhelming, too darn CRAZY' to carve out more time that I don't have, to do what He's asked. But I'm fighting back. I'm doing my best to keep Jesus first, to kick the enemies to the curb, I'm not even sort of close to always succeeding at this, but I absolutely will keep trying.

Lastly, today is All Souls' Day, so there's something we are fighting for. We are fighting for our brothers and sisters who have gone before us, awaiting their time in Purgatory, to see the face of God. Today, we pray for them, that they might be able to gaze on the loveliness of the Father, to rest in perfect union with their King & Creator - with Our King and Creator. I challenge you to offer a particular prayer today for the Holy Souls in Purgatory who have no one else to pray for them; who have no believing family on this earth to think of them and desire their final salvation. Maybe you are having a hard time fighting back against your enemies today - draw close to Jesus, choose to let him fight with and for you, and offer that suffering today for a soul in need of your prayers to see the face of God this day. And that soul in turn, will pray for you and help you on your journey this day and all the remaining days of your life. Be blessed my friends!

Photo source: https://tsnra.wordpress.com/articles/articles-by-editor/the-winds-of-change/ 

Raised Powerful

Today’s first reading is a powerhouse of hope and glory!

1 Corinthians 15:35-37, 42-29:
            Brothers and sisters: Someone may say, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come back?” You fool! What you sow is not brought to life unless it dies. And what you sow is not the body that is to be but a bare kernel of wheat, perhaps, or of some other kind. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible. It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual one.
            So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven. As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly, and as is the heavenly, so also are the heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one. 

One of my favorite lines in this passage is: “it is sown weak; it is raised powerful.” Of this line, the Magnificat said in the short reflection for today’s Mass:

“That is, it enables us today to live the very life of God with a hundredfold intensity.”

I re-read this line at least four times in my prayer this morning. The seed of weakness that we are sown in this life, if put to death, is raised to power – the power of God. We die to ourselves, to our worries, our fears, our sinfulness, our insecurities – or rather we put them to death, so that Christ can reign in us. Our weakness raised to power is what ‘enables us today [and everyday!] to live the very life of God with a hundredfold intensity’. No matter what you have planned in your day today, and whatever happens unplanned, we are all enabled to live the very life of God with intensity. I LOVE that word intensity; we aren’t called to simply live the life of God, but to do so with intensity! That is, with our whole focus, our whole being, our whole life. How can you keep God as the center focus of you day, and live his life with intensity in your journey this day? What might need to change in your day to be more pleasing and honorable in the sight of God? What can you add to your day, or how can you adjust your outlook or attitude to be more intensely fulfilling God’s life within you?

Claim the power that God promises! “Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one”, by denying ourselves and aligning our day with the promises and power of God, we are enabled to live the very life of God with a hundredfold intensity, so that “we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one.”

A hundredfold…. another powerful word that alludes to the way God goes above and beyond to increase our gift back to him. Like the parable of the mustard seed: we give the little that we can, and God makes it glorious. We don’t have the power ourselves to live the life of God with a hundredfold intensity, but it is possible to do so because if we offer what we have to God, He gives it back a hundredfold; he fills to overflowing the cup, the shell that we offer, and makes it glorious. Be raised powerful today.

Happy Moments

Sometimes you have to create happy moments. Sometimes you simply have to recognize the happy moments you have and just let yourself absorb in alllll the goodness; to truly appreciate it. For example, I’m cherishing this moment: sitting at a friend’s house for a much-needed weekend getaway and change of scenery, sitting at the table late at night, with decaf pumpkin spice coffee in a Zakopane mug from Poland, with my favorite flowers (daisies) in the background. What a cool moment! And I’m cherishing every second of it.

As we navigate through the twists and turns of life, the ups and downs, shifting gears, and even the curve balls, we are never (contrary to popular opinion) devoid of happiness. Maybe we only find it for a moment at times, but there’s always something, at some point, that we can find joy in. And when multiple simple little things come together in a nice little package of joyousness, that’s even better! (Like my spontaneous getaway, PSL, late-night quiet, daises and a BFF).

Happy moments happen, but sometimes we also have to work for them. I knew I needed a getaway. I needed a change of pace, a cheesy chick-flick, and to enjoy coffee in good company. So I did it. And the little things fell into place.

Trust in God. Trust in His plan for your happiness. Trust that He wants you to be happy and that even in all of the crazy, you are entitled to happy moments. Look for them, make some happen, and thank God for the things that He gives you to remind you that you are worthy of happiness.