Easter

Jesus Christ has risen.  Alleluia!

Our Easter....in picture form:

Sporting the Unknown

We’ve ventured into some new sports territory this spring.  Last year, I was on Grace’s case a lot about getting involved in something, ANYTHING at school.  It was her first year in high school and I thought it was important for her to be involved.  Well, it took her a full year to actually do something, but she did it.  She joined the newly formed Lacrosse team.  Quickly in the pre-season she was tagged for goalie.  Which I think is good.  This week, she had her very first game.  In what I am sure will be a season full of ups and downs (emotionally and physically) she did manage a shut out during her first time in goal.  Although we don’t know very much about the sport of Lacrosse, I’m just so happy that she chose to go out for it.  I’m proud of this girl!

In another first, Alex is playing on a select baseball team.  I don’t know much about this team either since his dad originally searched it out.  He had his first tournament today.  The weather couldn’t have been any better.  Sure, it was a little chilly for baseball, but I was able to back the truck up to the field, pop the trunk and watch the tournament tail gate style.  Also, the ball park served Blue Moon for $5, so day made!

Alex doesn’t get much playing time right now, but in just the few short weeks he has been practicing with this team, he has made great progress.  I look forward to the strides I am confident he will make through this season. And if the group text messages from the baseball team don’t drive me over the edge, I predict a fun baseball summer ahead.

His team, the St. Louis Sluggers, took first in the Opening Day tournament.  And Alex honestly couldn’t be any happier than being on this team…even if he does sit the bench to start with.

Pre-Official Uniform for STL Sluggers

Congrats, Alex!  Mama loves you!

An Hour of Power

You can learn more in an hour of silence than you can in a year from books!

This is good news to me! I love silence. I love to sit outside in nice weather and just let God direct my thoughts.  I love to be alone and to just reflect.  To sit silently and absorb what God has planned for me.  I always thought I was a little weird for craving silence and alone time so badly.  So, to know how enlightening this time really is and that it is encouraged, is fantastic news!

So many of us are afraid of silence and petrified by solitude, be we need that time to sit with God and work out who we are are, what we are here for, what matters most, and what matters least, so that we can make great decisions in our lives.  I need that.

Jesus, give me the courage to let down my guard.

Amen.

People of Possibility

Throughout history, over and over again, when someone has wholeheartedly embraced Jesus and his teachings, that person has been transformed from a shadow of his real self into a shining example of what the human person is actually capable of when we allow God to direct our lives.

As Christians, we are called to be the ultimate people of possibility.  God wants to fill us with a great hope so that he can send us out into the world as person of possibility.

It is time to refocus on the essential invitation of Christianity that is found in the Gospels.  It is an invitation to complete joy delivers by Jesus Christ.

It is time to rediscover Jesus!

Lord, help me to see the possibilities.

Amen.

What If

What if it is all true?

We are constantly grabbling with the question of what is the best way to live.  The gospels tell the story of Jesus and present the best way to live.  What if it really is all true?  This would confirm that this really is the best way to live.  He teaches with great wisdom and lives with a compassion that is magnetic.

He rose from the dead proving he truly is God and has power over all.

It is all true.

What an amazing thing!

Jesus, guide my words, thoughts and actions so that I can live my best life and become the best version of myself.

Amen.

The Holy Moment

Holiness is possible.  And it’s not to be confused with perfection.  The path to holiness starts with a single moment; doing what God is calling me to do in that moment.

Here are some examples of holy moments:

• Begin each day with a short prayer of gratitude, thanking God for giving you another day of life. This prayer can be short and simple. But turning to God in the first moment of the day is a great way to start and a fabulous way to set the stage for other holy moments throughout the day.
• Offer the least enjoyable tasks of your day to God as a prayer for someone who is suffering. This person’s suffering could be physical, but suffering comes in an infinite number of disguises. You may know someone who is miserable at work, you may know someone who is struggling in his or her marriage, you may know someone who has an addiction. Offer your suffering for those people just as Jesus offered his suffering on the cross for us.
• Control your temper.
• Patiently coach someone who doesn’t know how to do something or did something wrong.
• Go out of your way to do something for someone that you would rather not do, as an intentional act of love.

Opportunities to create holy moments are everywhere.  Every moment is an opportunity for holiness.  Learning to grasp these opportunities one moment at a time is central to living a Christian life.

Lord, never let me forget that holiness is possible.

Amen.