Resting on the observation deck, (or lawn!) Giggles.
It is obvious we love our dog, Helen.
And her smile continues to show us, “I love you, too!”
Love helps us to feel valued.
And safe from harm.
But do we guard the love we’ve been given?
Do we protect it from harm?
Eagle-eye Helen found a surprise visitor to our backyard the other day as she watched over the grounds we dwell upon.
A delightful feathered friend,
who helped to remind us just how much
GOD LOVES US
as He watches over each of thee in this very same way!
A visitor to North Star, the red-tailed falcon.
The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun will not smite you by day, Nor the moon by night. The Lord will [a]protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul. The Lord will [b]guard your going out and your coming in From this time forth and forever. Psalm 121: 5-8
God is always watching over us!
He is our guardian and His eyes never miss anything that is going on in our life.
God’s eyes are always glued to us!
He never grows weary from observing us.
(And nothing He sees is going to make Himstop loving us.)
He will only watch all the more, in eager anticipation that we might see the love He desires to share, and choose (ourselves) to protect this endless-love from harm!
Today, may we take comfort in this truth and rest in His watchful eye!
And remember to be grateful for those He sends to watch over us with Him!
hugs n’ blessings to all, as you place your trust in Him!
“I have opened My Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust” (St. Faustina’s Diary, 1520).
But rarely do I take the time to do so for pleasure anymore.
(Heavy sigh….)
So rare are these occassions that I’ve actually made ‘read more for pleasure‘ an item on my Bucket List!
Really?
Yes, really. (#7)
(Pathetic sigh…)
I’ve not (ever) abandoned the love I have for reading nor the time I take to do so; however, the content (most times) falls into the following categories: faith, religious teachings, self-help, & cooking. Ultimately, these are categories which offer something to be learned, which I suppose helps me to rationalize the time still spent with my nose buried between the pages.
I’m not complaining about the categories because truthfully, I do enjoy the content immensely!
But, gone are the days when I’d climb a tree or curl up in a favorite chair to enthusiastically re-read a summer favorite…just because I found comfort in every page turned! Instead I find I must rationalize my time spent reading with the prospect of learning in mind, habitually tossing-aside the comfort ‘reading for pleasure’ provides.
(Affectionate sigh…)
My childhood favorite and dog-eared copy of, Island of the Blue Dolphin.
But every once in awhile a book comes along which tugs at my heart so much it is enough to pull me away from being taught something (or so I think…) and reinvigorates my passion to ‘read more for pleasure!’
(Oh, Happy-Day! sigh, at last.)
I discovered this book several years ago via a video-clip.
I was initially drawn to read Ian & Larissa’s story as a result of our mutual life-experiences. My father also suffered a debilitating brain-injury when he was struck by an automobile while crossing the street in the early 1980’s. Sadly, he passed away not long-after from complications due to an infection. However, it was much more (than this) which compelled me to choose their book as a catalyst to work on my bucket list!
Ian & Larissa Murphy co-authored Eight Twenty Eight: When love didn’t give up and tenderly share with us their story of love. I quickly discovered, that it’s not just their love story they were telling. (As even the back book-jacket so eloquantly pointed out.)
Really, it’s all of ours as well!
Ian & Larissa seek to serve God together, all while dealing with the implications of life in a world marked by suffering. And in a world that so easily gives up on love when it becomes difficult to love, their love-story definitely brought great peace to this battle-worn heart!
Reading about their triumph helps one to gain a picture of a love that will challenge all you think you know about what is true and what persists. Quickly, within mere pages of their book I surrended & acknowledged that although I desired to read the book with the intention of ‘pleasurable reading’ in mind; I was about to be ‘taught’ (& remind of) very valuable lessons, as a result of the obvious deep-commitment which they share.
“With courage we write this, in hopes that we all move forward together in loving God more than loving comfort.”
Ian & Larissa Murphy, Dedication page.
There is so much wisdom & joy contained on the pages of this book! It indeed takes courage to move forward. It takes courage to love God. But it is in this courageous act of loving Him most, that we find the comfortwhich sustains us through all things.
(Joyous sigh...)
Recently, I purchased a painting done by Ian through his personal Etsy site. Ian paints to help fund the physical therapy he must receive daily. It was a difficult choice; however, I chose this particular painting not only for the the incredible subject matter, but mainly because I was comforted & wooed by its title: misunderstood cat.
It also reminded me of an endearing compliment my brother-in-law paid me this past Christmas while playing a Christmas game, when his one-word-description of me was: misunderstood.
Which was a far better word-description than the one he chose for my sister, his wife, which was: “O.C.D.”
(Giggles.)
But more importantly, Ian’s cat reminded me of how often I misunderstood what it is my heart truly desires.
I entered into reading Ian & Larissa’s story with the comfort of knowing that I would be ‘reading for pleasure‘, at long last!
And yet, I discovered by the end, I misunderstoodALL the comfortI AM offered…even as God continues to ‘teach‘ me in multifaceted ways!
(Pleasurable or not…)
I am so very grateful my Godunderstands me!
hugs n’ blessings to all those purrrfectly ‘misunderstood!’
(Meow sigh.)
“He’s still accomplishing, still gaining, and God is still working in him. We can’t accept the “nots,” the assumption that Ian is unable to do things. Because nothing is ever accomplished by not trying.”
Larissa Murphy, Eight Twenty Eight: When love didn’t give up.
“O my God, I am overcome with great longing for You today. Oh, nothing else any longer occupies my heart. There no longer contains anything for me. O Jesus, how strongly I feel this exile, how very prolonged it is for me. O death, messenger of God, when will you announce to me that longed-for moment, through which I will be united to my God forever?”
St. Faustina’s Diary (1573)
Today is the Feastday of my gal-pal-hero, St. Faustina Kowalska!
Picture taken at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
I love this day.
I love the opportunity to be especially mindful of giving thanks for a Saint who has touched my heart, strenghtened my spiritual walk and lovingly taughtme: “Jesus, I trust in You.” I long to sit alone at some point today, with my God, and feel the smooth pages of St. Faustina’s Diary between my fingers; as my eyes rest in the words she left for us to comprehend God’s Mercy.
My copy of St. Faustian’s Diary
This past August I visited the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. First class relics of both St. Faustina & Pope John Paul II are there.
The peace & joy I felt while praying before them is still with me.
Saint Maria Faustina Kowalski (1950-1938) was a young member of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. Born into a poor farming family, she had only two-and-a-half years of basic education, and so was assigned the humblest tasks in the convent, usually in the kitchen or garden. However, she received extraordinary revelations from the Lord Jesus, proclaiming God’s loving message of Divine Mercy, which he instructed her to record.
To celebrate her feast day, may we all reflect on these beautiful quotes from her diary:
“I have found that the greatest power is hidden patience. I see that patience always leads to victory, although not immediately; but that victory will become manifest after many years.”
“O inconceivable goodness of God, which shields us at every step, may Your mercy be praised without cease. That You became a brother to humans, not to angels, is a miracle of the unfathomable mystery of Your mercy. All our trust is in You…”
“O Lamb of God, I do not know what to admire in You first: Your gentleness, Your hidden life, the emptying of Yourself for the sake of man, or the constant miracle of Your mercy, which transforms souls and raises them up to eternal life.”
The Divine Mercy Shrine Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
Saint Maria Faustina, you told us that your mission would continue after your death and that you would not forget us. (Diary, 281,1582.)
Our Lord also granted you a great privilege, telling you to “distribute graces as you will, to whom you will, and when you will.” (Diary, 31.)
Relying on this, I ask your intercession for the graces I need, especially…
(here mention your special intentions)
Help me, above all, to trust in Jesus as you did and thus to glorify His mercy every moment of my life. Amen.
hugs n’ blessings to all those with great longing in their hearts!
Helen Kowalska, the best golden-retriever in the universe, would like to wish everyone a blessed & holy feastday of her namesake St. Faustina, (aka Helena Kowalska!)
hugsnblessings 