BEN IS 18!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

By -
Today is a day of celebration and Thanksgiving as my middle son Benjamin turns 18 years of age!

I am so grateful for the gift of his young life because as he told me yesterday, "I've been through a lot in my 18 years!" That he has, and yet he continues to impress us with his extraordinary strength of character and beautiful persevering heart.

This gifted young man has been through more tearful trials and tribulations than anyone deserves at such a young age. Yet he is the kind of human being whose divinely anointed soul has inspired the rest of us to believe in things that are beyond our human comprehension. Last week the Lord reminded me of that through a chance encounter with a teacher at Ben's High School.

This lovely gentleman told me he had recently interviewed Ben about his senior year service project in the Appalachian mountains this past summer. As he struggled to find the right words he paused before saying, "I have never heard a student describe his experience in such a profound way. I couldn't help but wonder why I did not have the opportunity to teach this young man."

I know exactly what he means. Sometimes I wonder why the good Lord has allowed me the grace of being Ben's mom. He is nothing short of amazing!

So yes, today we will celebrate and give thanks, because as I watch my son grow into adulthood, I stand in awe of his spiritual integrity and the wonderful wisdom that is a living witness to what really matters most...

Life, Love, Family and the radiating joy that flows from our heavenly Father straight into our very human hearts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN-WE LOVE YOU!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa
Read more

HRUSHIV UKRAINE: APPARITIONS OF THE BLESSED MOTHER

By -
Image
Twenty four years ago today, April 27, 1987 the Blessed Mother allegedly appeared in Hrushiv Ukraine with a warning and words of consolation. She came on the Feast of the Ascension, exactly one year after the nuclear reactor disaster at Chernobyl saying "Do not forget those who have died...Chernobyl is a reminder and a sign for the whole world." In 1990 while producing a television documentary in Ukraine, I visited Hrushi and interviewed a handful of people who had witnessed the apparition above the church of the Holy Trinity. In all, some five hundred thousand witnesses claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary over a four month period. Mary apparently told them she came to thank the Ukrainian people because they had suffered so much at the hands of a raging lion who had been prowling around seeking whom he could devour. She said their suffering would come to an end and one day Ukraine would become an independent state. She then urged disciplined, Christian fortitude, "
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward..
Read more