Thoughts Along the Journey

Thanks for all the prayers for Fr. Joe. He had developed some complications (internal bleeding) due to a medication he was given. He is now in critical condition, but stable. God is working! Please continue to pray! THANKS!

Our pastor is being taken by Life Flight to another hospital. He had improved to the point they were planning to send him home. Then, last night, he had a major setback. Please pray!!!!!

Memorial Day is full of, well, memories for me. The graves of my closest relatives are located in two small cemeteries, which are both close to the home where I grew up. One was almost across the road from our house. My dad's relatives are buried there. The graves of my mother's relatives are in a cemetery about 12 miles from my parents' home. Every Memorial Day, we would go to the closest one and place flowers on graves. The other cemetery had an annual flag ceremony, in which flags were placed on the graves of all the veterans. Stirring music would be played over the loud speakers, and a short speech given by a local dignitary. It was always a challenge to hurry and put flowers by head stones before the ceremony began. The wonderful things about this tradition were, first of all, that I learned so much about my ancestors. Who was married to whom. Whose parent was this? Whose child was this? How am I related to this person? Another great thing was that we oft...

I would like you to keep our parish pastor, Fr. Joe, in your prayers. He had a bad cough last week, and eventually ended up in ICU. He has double-pneumonia, and is improving, but still very ill. In a church with close to 1,500 families, and only one priest, the man is seriously overworked. We do have two deacons, but still...Fr. Joe certainly has a workload beyond your imagination. Thank you in advance for keeping him in your prayers.

Well, it's an event for my hubby and me! Next month, we will celebrate our 20th anniversary. Yes, it's true! We are going to Michigan, and will spend the night here . And if you think that's great, wait until you see the room we have reserved ! In addition, we will make a day trip over to Mackinac Island , one of our favorite places to visit for an anniversary!

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.' " John 14:6 I read this quote today, and wanted to share it with my readers: "Jesus, our Savior, true God and true man, must be the ultimate end of all our other devotions; otherwise they would be false and misleading. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and end of everything. 'We labor,' says Saint Paul, 'only to make all men perfect in Jesus Christ.' For in Him alone dwells the entire fullness of the divinity and the complete fullness of grace, virtue, and perfection. In Him alone we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing; He is the only teacher from whom we must learn; the only Lord on whom we should depend; the only Head to whom we should be united and the only model that we should imitate. He is the only Physician that can heal us; the only Shepherd that can feed us; the only Way that can lead us; the only Truth th...

My oldest son recently posted a piece about abortion on his blog. I am so proud of him! (Way to go, "Harry"!) Check it out here...

After posting every day for over a month, I feel like I've been on a blogging fast! The truth of the matter is, my oldest son has been playing volleyball, and our younger son just started baseball. Between practices and games, plus church activities thrown in there, life has been a whirlwind over the past few weeks! We only have one car, too, so that just adds to the craziness of life! My niece and I were recently having an "e-mail discussion" about how so many people have this warped idea that once that Christians do not face the same temptations that worldly people do. (So what does this mean for worldly Christians??? That's a subject for another post!) People who are not serving Christ look at Christians like: you just don't face the same things I do. You just don't know. When the truth of the matter is, Christians often face even tougher temptations and trials. Those who are trying to really serve Christ and desire their lives to reflect His life ...