hugsnblessings

And it hurts.

Published on November 17, 2015 by Dawn Marie2 Comments

It is a sad time in the World.

The recent events in Paris give us cause to pause in our lives and consider the effects of evil and our response to it.

One of the dangers of going through periods of distress, hurt, and heartache is that we’ll begin to doubt God’s goodness, and to think that He doesn’t care. Nothing could be further from the truth. And this is one of the reasons why it’s essential for us to spend regular time in God’s Word. Scripture says: “In all their suffering He also suffered, and He personally rescued them. In His love and mercy, He redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them through all the years.” (Isaiah 63:9)

God hurts when we hurt. Remember Jesus weeping when He saw Lazarus’ family grieving? (John 11:35) The Bible clearly states that the Lord sympathizes with us. (Hebrews 4:15) But He doesn’t stop there. As Isaiah says, He personally rescues us, lifts us up, and even carries us in times of hardship and pain.

God allows believers to experience adversity…but…Contrary to what the enemy would have us believe, God does not enjoy the hurting of His children. Jeremiah wrote: “For the Lord does not abandon anyone forever. Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion according to the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not willingly afflict or cause them sorrow.” (Lamentations 3:31-33) Just as God allows pain to enter our lives, He sends healing and restoration. Is there anything you and I can do to help this process along? Yes, there is. We can cooperate with God by earnestly seeking Him in prayer, praise, and the study of His Word. And we can ask Him to speak to our hearts, and to help us learn whatever lessons He has for us in our struggles. As we faithfully follow His lead, we will minimize the intensity and duration of our trials.

If you love God with all your heart, you have His promise that He will cause your hard times to profit you. (Romans 8:28) Claim that promise in faith today, and watch for His hand of favor and blessing right in the midst of your trials! J.M Farro

Our parish priest, Fr. Larry Richards, reminded us during Sunday liturgy this past Weekend something very important.

“Hatred never has the last word.

God will always win!

We know the end of the story.”

(Click here to listent to Fr. Richard’s Homily in its entirety regarding our Christian response to the evil events in Paris.)

May you forever

keep your eyes always on Jesus.

And remember…

Love always wins!

hugs n’ peaceful blessings!

jumping jacks & toe touches!

Published on November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 by Dawn Marie6 Comments

it’s the monday giggles:

At morning Mass today

the first reading had much to say!

“In those days there appeared in Israel men who were breakers of the law, and they seduced many people, saying: “Let us go and make an alliance with the Gentiles all around us; since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us.” The proposal was agreeable; some from among the people promptly went to the king, and he authorized them to introduce the way of living of the Gentiles. Thereupon they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to the Gentile custom.” 1 Maccabees 1

Hmmmm…Breakers of the law

built a gymnasium.

(And that’s when it hit me!)

I now know why my body is adverse to exercise…

It’s Breaking the Law!

(giggles!)

hugs n’ blessings & morning walks that change the world!

What Kind of Tree Are You?

Published on November 15, 2015November 15, 2015 by Dawn MarieLeave a comment

My Sunday Reblog (as part of the NaBloPoMo challenge,) comes from one of my blogging HEROs!! I discovered Bill during my first Blogging101 course through WordPress. Bill was kind enough to “Like” one of my posts and moved by this stranger’s extreme kindness & encouraging words to me, I looked into his site as well. It has been a blog-loving-affair ever since!!! I cannot get to his site fast enough once I’ve received a notification of a recent post and I know when you go there you too will immediately understand why!

In late October of 1996, just weeks after his 36th birthday, Bill was diagnosed with a terminal disease called Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. (ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” after the famous New York Yankee’s player who brought this Disease to the public light in a very poignant way.)

Bill’s motive for starting his blog is to pass along some of the lessons he has learned through the course of this trial and hopefully help others avoid some of the detrimental (hope-stealing) mistakes he has made. These are important lessons for all of us to learn because, as Bill points out, “If you’re not going through a trial now, a trial is coming. I know that’s not good news, but it’s the truth. But, as I hope to show, we don’t have to fear trials because God can handle anything that this life throws our way and we can handle them too if we see the trials through the eyes of Christ!”

I am rebloging today one of my favorite posts from Bill and I just know if you take time to read it too you will be just like me & the other 2,700+ believers…in Bill’s Unshakable Hope!

Unshakable Hope

Some might be disappointed, but this is not one of those quizzes like I see posted on Facebook. (There actually is one of those quizzes with this same title, but I didn’t take it because I was afraid that the results would show that I was Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree).
Ten or twelve years ago, let’s just say eleven, Mary and I were shopping at Home Depot. After finishing our shopping in the store, we wandered out to the garden department to look for some small trees. It was November, and most of the plants were marked down because they were making room for Christmas trees.

Mary got hung up looking at wreathes and other boring items, so I cruised my wheelchair over to go look at trees. As it turned out, there were not many trees left, and I didn’t see anything I was interested in. Just when I was…

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