Miracle Moments

Sometimes I think too much...So that's when I know I have to start praying harder. Immersing myself in the spiritual tools that work for me is the best solution to the traveling mind. Believe me, my mind can go to far away places and different time zones up and over reality into foolish fantasy faster than yes-how corny-a speeding bullet. I was thinking today about all the things that have gone wrong for my son Mac. All the unsettling maneauverings by someone. Then the thought occurred to me-instead of dwelling on the obvious-I need to pray...Conscientous, consistant prayer...At morning Mass, with my prayer group, before the Blessed Sacrament and moment to moment. When I communicate with God, opening my heart and my soul to the power of the Holy Spirit, I get answers...and I intuitively know what God expects of me...My whole attitude changes for the better...I become hopeful and happier and my external and internal vision becomes clearer. Inspired wisdom calms my mind and dri...

I believe in giving back...So nearly every week I spend one hour reading for Radio for the Blind. I can't imagine what it must be like to not be able to read...So it's really the least I can do...Especially since reading is one of those God given gifts that I'm pretty good at. From week to week I never know what manuscript they're going to hand me...and truthfully, that's just fine by me. Three weeks ago when the audio man handed me the magazine article I laughed out loud, "Is this a joke or a bad dream?" I received a long article on the "merits" of the booming "marijuana" industry in California. Young entrepreneurs are working diligently to push pot and all the support props into mainstream acceptance. Yes-this is happening in America...However, after all the family chaos it felt like the joke was on me. Then last week I got an ugly look at life in Haiti...and the alarming increase in rape inside Haiti's earthquake camps. It...

Our kids are as different as night and day. With five sons, I know this all too well. However, as I prayed for my son Mac today, I began thinking about his older brother Johnny who has been in Comunita Cenacolo for the last 21 months. Johnny, four years older than Mac, entered community on a six month commitment before deciding to stay longer-thus far almost two years. I guess Johnny's journey in community has seemed much too easy for those of us watching from the outside. He has stuck it out even when the going got rough...Like right now. I recently received a letter from him in which he wrote, "I'm now three months into this kitchen, and I have to be completely honest, sometimes I feel like I'm suffering like a dog. The cooking, the cleaning, the late hours, no free time whatsoever, washing in a sink late at night, little sleep. It's heavy." Does that sound familiar to anyone? Hello mothers! Johnny went on to say that he knows he'll be a better, st...

"Don't question in the darkness what God tells you in the light." It's a tough one, however I'm trying to keep that thought front and center as I move through the moments. My second son Mac left Comunita Cenacolo this week after entering just one week ago. He's not ready to surrender his will completely to the will of God and to those who have come before him and made the long difficult journey through recovery. Mac wants to do it his way, which by the way, has gotten him locked up in jails, institutions and more dangerous scenarios than I would like to remember. Over the last few years we have tried inpatient, outpatient-everything humanly possible...So now, I will pray and completely surrender my child to the Lord...to the belief that there is a power greater than any demonic darkness that is hovering over his heart and holding him hostage to this very cunning, baffling and powerful disease. I choose to believe that my God can do for my son what he c...