March 17, 2010 Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Verse of the Day
"Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me." St. Patrick

Song of the Day
The Lord's Prayer by Andrea Bocelli
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIh2gnlHP-U

Food
This shouldn't be a surprise, but the kids seem to be eating a lot more. The truth is they are just eating more good food and less garbage.

"Stuff" Detachment
I threw one of Race Car's many Race Car shirts. It really needed to go. Also, got rid of a baby squish book and some cheap brand of Legos. Seeing Joke-A-Lot struggle just to get them to click together didn't look like too much fun.

Spiritual Growth
Artsy brought another heart to give Jesus today at Mass. I continue to struggle with patience and doing everything with love. I think I need accountability. Anyone out there want to do the one day challenge? Let's see if we can make it one full day with only kind, patient, loving words. Even discipline must be done with patience and love. Hmmmm. Any takers? I'll let you know how I do tomorrow.

I am also struggling in handing out all of the worries to God. I keep grabbing them back and trying to figure out what I can do to make things work out. I have a lot of fear, fear of missing an opportunity with the kids, missing pictures or video at a certain special event. My memory isn't always the best, so I have fear that I will forget and I believe pictures and videos will help me to remember.

Book Discussion
Title: Searching for and Maintaining Peace
Author: Fr. Jacques Philippe
Section: God Asks For Everything, But He Doesn't Necessarily Take Everything and What to Do When You Are Unable to Abandon Yourself?

"Faced with certain goods that we possess (a material good, a friendship, an activity that we enjoy, etc.), the devil, in an effort to prevent us from abandoning ourselves to God, causes us to imagine that if we put everything in God's hands, God will effectively take everything and "ruin" everything in our lives!"

" . . .the Lord asks only an attitude of detachment at the level of the heart, a disposition to give Him everything. But He doesn't necessarily "take" everything."

"The proper attitude then is simply to be disposed to give everything to God, without panic, and to allow Him to do things His way, in total confidence."

So, if you are at all like me, you are thinking "Yah, right." I couldn't even make it one day letting go. What do you do when you simply have a hard time abandoning yourself to God? Thankfully, the subsequent section was about just that, and this is what he said.

"Abandonment is not natural; it is a grace to be asked of God. He will give it to us, if we pray with perseverance: Ask, and it will be given to you (Matthew 7:7)."

"Abandonment is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but the Lord does not refuse this Spirit to those who ask with faith . . ."

So, the answer is simple, but not easy. We must persevere in our prayer life, continually asking for the ability to abandon ourselves to God.

Tomorrow: The Lord is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want

Prayer
Dear Lord, please bless all those reading this blog. Help them on their spiritual walk that they may continue to grow closer to you. Please bless all of us with the ability to abandon ourselves to you with complete and utter trust Lord. You are trustworthy. We have nothing to fear. Amen.

Today's Menu
Breakfast: Flour tortillas with scrambled eggs and cheese, oranges

Lunch: Chicken, brown rice, and broccoli stir fried in olive oil and soy sauce, fruit cup (grapefruit, oranges, and grapes), still hungry so, triscuits and cheese, still hungry, so peanut butter bagel

Dinner: Hamburger on a whole wheat bun with reduced sugar ketchup, tortilla chips (we were late for religion)

Snack: Artsy had another hamburger, Race Car had an orange, Joke-A-Lot had the whole wheat bread mentioned in earlier blogs with butter, and Curly had plain yogurt sweetened with four drops of Stevia.