How God Loves Us

I left morning Mass yesterday feeling a little lonely.

I get to communicate with my siblings often as we text and talk and work out a schedule to help our parents.  I get to see our two oldest daughters frequently as I am blessed to watch their children a couple of days a week.  I get to see my parents almost daily.

Still something was missing.

I told God all about it in very few words.  God works with what we give Him, no matter how small.

Yesterday turned out to be a very blessed day.

Two friends that live in separate cities, miles apart, in Massachusetts sent me elaborate heart emojis just to let me know they were thinking about me.

My Florida cousins (husband and wife) both texted me about totally different matters, but I knew that they were thinking about me.

Wayne and I got to have dinner together at the Lenten Fish Supper that our church hosts.

After the fish dinner we went to Stations of the Cross and a couple we are friends with sat behind us.  After the stations we were able to catch up a little bit. Wayne and I shared our date night journaling with them.

Turns out there was a talk for married couples that we and our friends stayed to hear.

The talk was very uplifting and each couple was given two notecards.   We were told to write a prayer for our spouse on the notecard and then pray the prayer over our spouse. It was lovely.

God sent all these people into my day to let me know He heard my prayer and was concerned about my needs.

Then He gave me a little something extra.

There was a give-away at the end of the talk.  The couple with the notecard that matched the card the presenter held up was the winner.

That was us!

We won a heart shaped box of chocolates (Ferrero Rocher-the good stuff) and a $75 gift card to Andiamo (a very nice Italian restaurant close to home)!  I see another lovely date night in our future.


All this to say, take your needs to the Father who loves to love us in so many ways.

Oh! The Pain

The other day, as I was contemplating Christ's passion and death,  I was moved to wonder, 'how many of those wounds that tortured His precious body were caused by my sins?'

Instantaneously a number popped into my head.   I will not share what the number was but I will admit that it surprised me.

Over the next several days, with that number floating around in my head, I tried to see if perhaps I had made it up myself.  Nope, that was the firm number the Lord kept giving me.

Last Saturday at confession, my penance was to stand before the image of the eleventh station.  The 11th station is Jesus being nailed to the cross.  The priest told me to put myself in the scene and choose which person represented me.

As much as I wanted it to be the pure and sinless Mother Mary, it wasn't happening!!

As I looked at the other people in the scene I saw a soldier with his hand in the basket of nails pulling out the next one to be used.  I saw the soldier in charge diligently watching his charges.  There was one soldier with a hammer ready to strike and the last person was a woman standing with the Blessed Mother.

With tears streaming down my face, I put myself in that scene, and I thought about that number.  Wow!

Christ died for our sins, before we were even alive to commit them.  As for my number, He knew that before He walked the road.

It brings new understanding and thanksgiving for the verse:

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5) NIV