Miracle Moments

The last couple of weeks have been rough. Things kept going wrong, challenges kept coming and I was continually blindsided by the unexpected. I could name everything, but in the end, what happened doesn't really matter so much. How I coped, does. I scrambled to find solutions, but the doors kept slamming in my face. Every time I thought I had one problem licked, I got the wind knocked out of me and had to start all over again. So I hung on, asked for help and prayed for the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit to do God's will and not my own. I hung on tight, because as I've said before, just when you want to let go, that's when the miracle is about to happen. Walking through the desert of uncertainty is a scorching experience...Feeling alone, is a human weakness...Clinging to the God we cannot see is a test of our faith. I moaned countless times, cried incessantly-slept very little, but in the end-I made it through the darkest hours and into the dawning light. As a

Some special women I pray with every week surprised me with an amazing Christmas gift. Delivered by the ring leader of Santa's little do gooder elves. I have been thinking about their kindness since last Friday evening when the delivery team arrived at my home and the true meaning of Christmas came alive. The richness of their gift really lies in the ladies themselves...Full of Love and laughter, faith and hope...They are brimming with the kind of humble faith that is infectious...As I sit in our circle of prayer, listening to their comments, watching their faces and feeling their joy-and their pain...I am gratified at being a part of this community of honesty, that is honestly inspiring a sincere devotion to all the things that really matter in this life and in the next. The spirit of the Christmas season is all about the gift of life that gave us eternal life...The birth of a Savior who saved us from our selfishness by seeing to it that we saw in him the sensational spirit of unc

As we walked outside our home tonight, my ten year old Zack says, "Look at the beautiful light coming through the trees!" I walked straight into it and said, "Beam me up Jesus!" Didn't happen...but a girl can hope. I could have used a short vacation upstairs for a refresher course in what it's all about Alfie...But I settled instead for a quick trip to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel with my youngest son. We sit against the wall, I pray, he studies...He prays, I pray...and we snuggle in the warm embrace of this safe and serene cenacle of prayer. It's a wonderful gift-living so close to this sanctuary. Zack and I have become regulars...Reveling in the quiet...absorbing the energy...and Loving the simple, soulful sunshine. It rained hard all weekend...flooded my car, and tons of other cars and homes and businesses-once again...But-we prayed for blessings received...not challenges delivered, because sometimes trials and tribulations come our way...but God al

It isn't so much that she bore the baby Jesus...That he quietly entered her womb...and then slipped into the world much like sunshine slips through the clouds. It's just that-she said yes, even when she faced the unknown, the odds were against her and man's rules had been broken. This young girl, conceived without sin, would save the rest of us a lot of pain and suffering, by simply saying yes. She would become the new Eve while her son would become the new Adam...and together, they would change the face of humankind, from here to eternity. But imagine never having the stain of original sin...Never feeling the same judgements or outrageous indignation-even when your son is being horribly crucified. It is a lot to comprehend...especially for the rest of us, who see the world through a foggy lens-our sinful nature. Today-the day Catholics attend Mass, to celebrate the Immaculate Conception...It's a subject worth examining...Because whether you believe it or not...It's

Our eyes met as she rolled her husband into the basketball game...I smiled, mouthing the words, "He looks great." Nearly a year ago a tragic ski accident, paralyzed her husband from the shoulders down...But I could see, several months later, after hours of excruciating physical therapy, that he had some hand movement. Suddenly the thought occurred to me to tell her about the healing services I've been attending...Not because her husband would be healed, but because she might benefit from the healing power of the presence of God at this very special service...That maybe, like me, she may need an extra nudge, a pat on the back, a few words of encouragement from the master engineer. As she listened to me babble on, she breathed a sigh of understanding saying, "I really do need that." Tonight, two days later, as I sat watched my son play basketball, she walked toward me smiling with her hand outstretched. "Thank you for what you told me the other day...It reall

God has been coming up roses for my kids. I spent four hours with Ben yesterday at the heart doctor...making sure his Loving heart has all the life of a normal 16 year old. Everything looked fine...and the cardiologist seemed puzzled...because she couldn't see any problem-other than his low heart rate. I guess she's so used to seeing patients with heart disease or defects. The good news is that his eating disorder hasn't done any damage to the heart...and if we keep on track, our worse fears will never materialize. Recovery from any disease is two pronged...acceptance and action...Keeping the momentum going, even when a few snags and snafus throw you off balance. Picking yourself up with a hopeful heart means a strong chance of making it through the challenges...Clinging to your higher power means you've got all the backing you really need. Life has a way of throwing us curve balls that smack us in the face when we are looking the other way...But God has a way of cle

Sometimes God makes us small before we can be big. Sometimes he reels us in, before he lets us go out. Sometimes we just need the time to get to really know God, before we're ready to introduce him to others. It's been my experience that if our world is too wide, before our relationship with God is strong and secure-We fall...into that frenzied free fall where the vortex of activity around us swirls so swiftly that we lose our balance, plummeting into the dark abyss of nervous energy and never ending nonsense. It is important to learn true intimacy with our higher power...to feel the Love, to accept his acceptance and to understand that there is nothing more important in this world or the next-than the unconditional Love of God. I know it's hard for some people to truly get that-It was hard for me. Our own insecurities and fears, our wounds and our worldliness often sabotages the simple truth...That God Loves us just as we are...right where we are...without all the fanfare