Month: September 2016

Motherhood 

I am thinking of all the beautiful women in this world that are mothers. How they have been part of the miracle and gift from God that life is. They are the instrument in bringing life into this world. How special is the gift of motherhood. How wonderful it is that there are women who also love children that they didn’t give birth to but love just as dearly as their own. That’s one of the most beautiful things about Love. Love knows no limitations. Motherhood is love.

I speak from the perspective of feeling the abundant love from the adopted mother God has placed in my life. It is a beautiful thing to know and feel a mother’s love.

I have always tried to comprehend what a mothers love would feel like as she watches her child grow. I imagine the joy and wonder in the smallest of moments, in the first word, first step and the beauty of everyday moments…as I am not a mother, I can only imagine. I have witnessed many moments where I see a mother interacting with her child and it touches my heart. As I observe, I look with wonder and awe at this beautiful bond that exists between two souls. I have asked friends of mine to describe their love for their child. The most recent response I got was : “It is pure love…the purest love you can imagine.” My mind has often wandered in contemplation for those women that have always longed for a child but for whatever reason or circumstance their lives didn’t get to experience that beautiful gift.

All I know, is that that all women are called to love. It is something innate within the fabric of our beings and it is what fulfills. To all the beautiful women in this world, the mothers in all ways, in distance, in prayer, in their unending love to those they call their children and to those who never were blessed with the gift of motherhood you are in my prayers and are a beautiful gift of love to so many in uncountable ways..your love is infinite and for that I thank you.

Trust

Have you ever asked someone you know to pray for you? Maybe it is someone who you know from church, maybe you have asked a close friend or family member to pray for you to do well on a job interview. When you ask someone to pray for you or even when you submit a prayer request to your faith community there is trust. Trust that your prayer request will be lifted with faith in prayer and hope in God’s will that your petition may be answered. There is great power in prayer.

This trust is why we catholics call upon in faith the intercession of Saints, those who have gone before us and now enjoy eternal life in heaven. A common misconception is we Catholics pray to dead people. How far from the truth that is, but in reality we don’t see death as an end. We believe that our brothers and sisters in Christ are cheering us on praying for those of us on this side of the journey, as we walk on this earthly life. So just as you may ask your friend to pray for you in faith at times as an intercessor on your behalf to God, we call upon saints to do the exact same thing with the exact same faith and trust whether that soul is on earth petitioning for my cause or in heaven and trust that our good and gracious God will hear all prayers.

St. Therese of Lisieux, has been one of my favorite saints since childhood. I was drawn to her by her beauty and the images of her holding a bouquet of roses. How I have always loved roses! She was a beautiful example of a soul who truly trusted in God. After recently reading a beautiful book titled: The way of TRUST and LOVE by Jacques Philippe, I learned more about this beautiful saint! I was surprised to discover that she had a great love for St. John of the Cross. “She found nourishment in the writings of the great Carmelite Saint. Although the two of them seem very different from one another.” There was a great similarity between the two in certain aspects. “St. John says we can obtain everything from God if only we knew how to take hold of him by love. We must approach him in the right attitude-love-expressed mainly in humility and trust.”

To love and trust completely, takes great strength and faith. It is all part of the struggle of being human, my hope is that you never doubt God’s Love for you. To have no limitations to your trust in God is the path to a more intimate relationship with him. St. Therese loved this quotation from St. John of the Cross: “One obtains from God as much as he hopes for.” Why is it so hard for us to trust then? It is because we live in a damaged world with wounded people and fears, doubts and worry so easily creep into our hearts and minds no matter how unwarranted they may seem at times. Remember anything that makes you doubt God’s love is not of God.

“It is trust and nothing but trust that must lead us to Love.” In one of St. Therese’s letters she writes: “What offends Jesus, what wounds his heart, is lack of trust. God does not first expect of us that we be absolutely perfect (that will come little by little) but that we give him our trust-trust that has to be total.”

Trust that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and reflect on his love…As we become the image we reflect. Be an instrument of his love to those in your life. Let Jesus love you and know he will lead you to all the solutions to the troubles of your heart and the struggles in this life.

 

Virtue

At the Catholic Women’s Conference this past weekend in San Antonio, TX there were many wonderful and inspiring speakers. I am thankful to the pilgrim center of hope a non-profit organization founded by a beautiful couple who have dedicated their lives to Christ and serving his church and his people. I encourage you to visit their website at: http://www.pilgrimcenterofhope.org

Last year was the first conference I attended and the confirmations I received at that particular conference gave me hope and strength in the dignity of women. It’s amazing how close to three thousand women can be attending and yet I feel like some talks were specifically just for me. Even this year, I experienced that same intimate connection with the messages of some of the talks. The message this year that spoke to my heart is in the virtue of women.

Our God is so loving and so intimate he is always speaking to our hearts. It is through silence and prayer that I have received many answers and then there are signal graces. You may be wondering what is that? Signal graces are signs from God that are very personal and have meaning to you in a very unique way. For example, I have my dear spiritual companion and adopted Mother Madolyn and last year during our trip for the Catholic women’s conference I shared with her the song “It is well with my soul” by Bethel Music. This song had given me a very special comfort during times of my personal struggles. As I played her this beautiful song from my cell phone, the beautiful melody began to fill the air and captured in my memory forever is that moment as we sat in our hotel room with the beautiful views of San Antonio’s down town skyline. We just soaked in the moment. A beautiful moment between a mother and a daughter.

I ponder on how good God is. How he is always with us. Now when I hear that song it brings to mind my dear and beloved Madolyn. I feel that is a signal grace or sign at times she is thinking of me and I know she is praying for me. Those are the moments in my life that bring my heart such comfort. I have had so many signal graces in other relationships in my life especially one that is so dear to me. Yet I still find myself doubting and not trusting God. I struggle with this and I know he knows I am trying.

Among the many speakers was a young woman named Sarah Swafford she is a speaker and an author and her website is : http://www.emotionalvirtue.com, she has different nicknames, A.K.A. “Mama Swaff”, “Swaff Mama” and is just a doll!  She shared how our true beauty is not physical and is in our virtue. She revealed that she had polled men to ask them what was the most attractive thing about a woman. Their answers may surprise you. They answered, “Holiness”, or “The striving to be holy”. It wasn’t about losing ten pounds or having great hair. It was about the beauty of the heart and all that we as women have been gifted with by our creator, our kindness, our gentleness… So even in moments when you don’t feel virtuous, in moments where you feel you have failed in temptation, struggled with vice in this world, know you are not alone. We are all sinners and as disappointed as I feel with myself at times I remember this quote by Saint Teresa of Calcutta: “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

So I remind myself,  remember you are striving… and today is a new day. Today is all we have. My prayer for you is that you grow in your spiritual journey with the Lord, our Mama Mary and all our beautiful saints. Call on them in your moments of trial, despair or weakness and NEVER stop striving.

Let us begin, and let us pray for one another for strength on this journey.

With great Love,

Amanda

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