Nine Days That Will Change You

A novena is nine days of prayer for a particular intention.

The very first novena occurred between Jesus' ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  After Jesus ascended into heaven, the disciples "returned to Jerusalem…went to the upper room…[and] devoted themselves to prayer."  (Acts 1:12-14) Nine days later was Pentecost.

Those nine days of prayer not only prepared them for the coming of the Holy Spirit, it prepared the disciples to carry out God's will for them.

When we enter into prayer, our goal should be to do the will of God not to have God bow to our will.  Yes, we come with our own petitions and how we would like our prayers to be answered, but we have to understand that God knows what we need far better than we do and He will only do for us that which will draw us closer to Him (if we let it) and that which is He knows is best for us.

I will tell you from experience, novenas work!  I have prayed novenas since I was a child.  Do I always get what I ask for?  If I unite my will to God's than yes.

Does it always look the way I think it should or hoped it would?  No.

Does it always turn out the way it should? Yes, because, again--God's will.

Are my prayers always answered immediately? No.  The key is to trust and not give up the prayers.

There are LOTS of novena prayers out there.

One must understand that to pray a novena you are asking the Saint to whom you are directing the prayer to intercede for you, not to answer your prayer.  They pray with and for you;  God does the answering.

A  novena to  St. Therese of Lisieux will almost always yield roses for you.  You can even specify a color and she will come through. (When my sister was ready to conceive her first child I prayed specifically for blue roses.  Boy did I see blue roses-in winter!  They were grave blankets but they were blue roses!  She had a baby boy the next summer!!!)

A novena to St. Jude is said for intentions that seem impossible.

Novenas to St. Gerard are said for conception, a healthy pregnancy and a safe delivery.  Nine out of 11 of these novenas were answered with a "yes" for us.

I don't know if there is a novena to St. Anthony of Padua because lost things are found pretty quickly when you ask him to intercede for you.

Many single people have turned to St. Anne and St. Joseph when they are ready to find their spouse.

Google can help you find any number of novenas.  I typed in-novena for- and the first four options were cancer, anxiety, marriage and healing.  Look up your specific request and find a new Saint friend.

If you already pray novenas and would like to pray more of them, here's the site for you: www.praymorenovenas.com  If you sign up you will get novenas sent to your email several times a year.  You will have the prayer power of over 200,000 other people praying with you for your intentions and they will have you praying for them.

The couple who started the site found each other after each had done a novena to find a spouse.

Give a novena a try.  We all have something on our heart that requires intense prayer.  Invite the Saints to intercede for you.

Are You Available?

In his book, Beautiful Mercy,  Matthew Kelly, makes the following observation:

"There is only one type of person God has used powerfully

throughout history: He does incredible things with the 

people who make themselves available to Him."

What is your availability? 

How does one go about making oneself available to God?

A few suggestions:

1) First thing every morning, offer your whole day (prayers, works, joys and sufferings) to God to use however He wishes.  

2) Make all your movements a prayer: 

• Pray for your family while you do the dishes instead of grousing that they left the kitchen a mess AGAIN!  ( I was talking to my sister last night and she told me her daughter explained that she leaves her dirty dishes in the sink because she knows she is being prayed for while her mother washes them! ) 
• Pray for the owner of the gas station while you fill up.
• Take walks and pray for the people who live in the houses you pass.
• Pray for you boss and co-workers while you are doing your daily tasks.
• Pray for those with whom you share the road (or airplane) while you travel around. 

3) Turn off your devices for a while everyday and just listen.  You may be surprised! 

4) Ask God what He wants of your day.  Be prepared to have your plans change as you let God shake things up! 

God wants to use us to further His kingdom, but often we are so busy doing what we think is important that we forget to leave room for what He knows is important. 

God will do amazing things with us if we make ourselves available to Him. 

#amillionformegan Surgery Update

As many of you know,  this beauty is my niece and Goddaughter, Megan.  

Before I give you the update, I just need to share my thoughts on what these past 5 months have taught me about this amazing child of God. 

I have been blessed to see faith in action watching Megan as she patiently and gracefully fought the cancer diagnosis that blindsided the family 2 days before Christmas.  See that gentle smile?  That is the smallest one I've seen through all these months.  Usually she is grinning from ear to ear and holding out her arms for a hug. 

Case in point: this is Megan just before major surgery that could have taken up to 10 hours and had a major impact on several organ systems.  

Though her freshman year of college was rudely interrupted, I have never heard a complaint.  

Though she has lost the muscle mass that allowed her to be a cheerleader and a runner, her inner strength is stronger than ever. 

She is still the cheerleader, making sure everyone else is okay and letting us know she is fine.  

She offers her sufferings and her prayers to those who are praying for her and now being her cheerleaders. (And there are a LOT of you!!!!) 

She teaches joy in the face of adversity.

They celebrated Thanksgiving in the hospital,

they celebrated Christmas in the hospital,

and they celebrated Easter in the hospital.  Joyfully!

And now for some good news:

Treatment Update: #1

This morning at 7 am, my doctors began surgery to try to remove the tumor. Surgery was quicker than anyone expected and went very well. They believe they were able to remove the tumor entirely. My other organs looked clean and healthy, so the procedure didn't require as much work as had been expected. They did have to remove my uterus and right ovary because they were somewhat sticking to the tumor. They also removed a few lymph nodes just to be safe.

Once again, thank you so much for all the prayers and support for my family and my self. The next step will be chemo/ radiation to make sure every last cancer cell is really gone!

Update: #2

The pathology report on my tumor came back with very good results. 80% of the tumor was dead and all 22 lymph nodes came back negative for cancer! The doctors believe they removed all of the tumor. From this point forward, we will be doing treatment for cells that could be left behind. The next step is 3-5 more cycles (3 weeks each) of the same chemo regimen before reevaluation.

Also, I'm healing extremely well after surgery. I haven't needed pain medication for over 2 weeks and the incisions are healing even better than expected. I'm not gonna lie, I have a pretty sick scar. 👍😍

Thank you all for the prayers. I'll try to keep you all updated as much as possible. God bless.

Tomorrow begins the first of the new rounds of chemo. I know Megan and family would appreciate all prayers.  They are getting pretty good at this and hopefully what they learned with the former rounds will help keep Megan feeling pretty good throughout these next rounds.  

She will loose her soft, new hair but she was beautifully and  boldly bald last time around and will do just great this time too!  

Love you, sweet Megs.  

Praying that the next update says: CURED! 

www.thatslife12.blogspot.com

Soap for God

I sat at the kitchen table this morning trying to figure out what to do with my day.

Michael was at work, the high schoolers were at school and Liz and Amanda took our tenacious one to the zoo

 and so the day stretched out before me, full of possibility.

I am a person who likes to finish what they start without having to clean up parts of a project and have to bring them out another time - be it the same day or a week later.  (Hence, the reason I do not sew!)

Being a wife, a mom of nine, homeschool teacher for many a year, and now a grandma, I've gotten used to starting only small, easily do-able chores, projects, phone calls etc., knowing that someone was going to need my attention very soon.

And lo and behold, as I sat this morning having several hours ahead of me contemplating what to do, my Dear One called and asked if I was free for lunch.  Of course I was free for lunch, all the children were gone for the day!

Now my day had a chunk taken out of it, so no big project was going to get started or finished.  So I decided on the smaller, much needed project of folding laundry.  It was nice to have that off the list.

I also came up with what to make for dinner and took the meat out of the freezer, so that helped, too.

In the afternoon, I did what any sane mom does when she has a couple of hours and the night-time routine still to get through, I started a new book and then I took a nap!

Sometimes, I get frustrated when I look at my day and wonder how others are able to accomplish so many things and I "only" take care of the family, immediate and extended, and the house.  I know in my heart, this is right where God wants me and so the majority of the time, it's all good.  I've written about this in the past: The Kids Are Not The Distraction

Today, though,  God had a special message for me.

I opened my email and had received my monthly newsletter from Catholic Heritage Curricula.  In it was a gem of writing by Rita Munn, a homeschooling mom of 10, taken from her A Family Journal that put everything into perspective again:

Many years ago I read an article in a Maryknoll magazine about a beloved and elderly

Maryknoll priest serving in Africa. Upon his death, he was eulogized by those people

whose lives had been enriched through his tireless work among them. He was described

as “going like a block of soap.” For these native people this was a very high

term of endearment and respect. “To go like a block of soap” meant that his total embracement

of his vocation was fulfilled until his death. His life was used by the Lord until

his earthly life was taken from him by the Lord. His life was like soap in the Lord’s

hands.

Imagine for a moment a large cake of soap, perhaps resting next to the kitchen sink.

Soap is not extraordinary yet always necessary. Soap does not apologize or lament for

what it is not but is available for what it is and means to others. Soap waits to be used

and then performs its service without fanfare. It is efficient and helpful no matter its size

or condition. Soap quietly works until it is all gone.

If I can be a block of soap in God's hands, ready, willing and able to do what He wants and needs of me then I am right where I am supposed to be, doing what He wants me to be doing.  I doubt if I'll ever take up sewing, but maybe there is a novel in me that will find it way to paper one of these days. 

SOAP has another meaning for Rita:  It stands for Send Out A Prayer. She explains: "Each time I wash my hands I offer up a Hail Mary for all homeschooling families."

While prayer is already a big part of  my day, soap and SOAP will help me add a few more prayers for those I love while being soap to God for them.