Today’s witnesses are from an email my friend in the Prayer Group received. She gets a daily email from www.dailyrosarymeditations.com Every day, it gives five snippets, each to encourage reflection on praying one mystery of the rosary. She found this day’s snippets particularly powerful and wanted to share it. They are all about how Mary will conquer, and they are written by Mike Scherschligt.

One - The Bishop 

I have become friends with Bishop Oliver Doeme Dashe, the Bishop of Maiduguri in North East Nigeria. In 2009 the Muslim terrorist group Boko Haram, which means “Western Education is Evil” began to attack Christians in his diocese.  In 2014 Boko Haram completely overran his diocese. The Nigerian military dropped their weapons and fled like children. Thousands of Catholics were killed, two hundred Church structures were burned, and one hundred thousand Catholics fled for their lives to neighboring countries. Fr. William, a priest from the diocese, told me as he drove from parish to parish to celebrate Mass, that the roads were littered with dead bodies. At any moment, he could be surrounded by Boko Haram, dragged from his car, and shot. 

In October of 2014 Bishop Oliver went before Our Lord Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, traumatized and trembling, and began to pray the Rosary. Suddenly, Jesus appeared to the Bishop in a vision, holding a very long sword in his hands. When he saw Jesus, the Bishop said, “Lord, what is this?” He didn’t answer, but he stretched out his arms and put the sword into the hands of Bishop Oliver. When he received the sword, it turned into a Rosary. Then Jesus spoke these words three times: “Boko Haram is gone! Boko Haram is gone! Boko Haram is gone!” And the vision ended. 

The message was clear, with the Rosary we shall conquer!

At that time Boko Haram had complete control of the diocese. If anyone was seen or caught in public as a Catholic, Boko Haram would instantly kill them. Yet, despite the danger, Bishop Oliver began to go village to village and organize public Rosary processions. From the moment the people began public Rosary processions, Boko Haram has been driven out of his diocese. The Churches are being rebuilt, all of his parishioners have come back, and 97% of his diocese go to Mass every Sunday. Most importantly, the Church in his diocese is growing from strength to strength. At one parish alone, Bishop Oliver brought five hundred new adults into the Church. 

Mary came down through the Rosary and sent Boko Haram packing!

Two - Austria  

As we sat together and Bishop Oliver told me of these miraculous events, he said to me, “Michael, this is not the first time Our Mother has sent evil forces packing by the power of Rosary processions. Do you remember what took place in Austria after World War Two? Did you know that much of Austria was under the Iron Curtain after World War Two?” I did know, but I loved hearing it again from Bishop Oliver, so I didn’t let on. 

After World War Two, Austria was divided up by the Allies. The Eastern half of the country and Vienna came under the control of the Soviets. Until 1991, the Soviets never lost a nation, but something different happened here. Fr. Petrus Pavlicek was inspired by the words of Our Lady at Fatima. She asked us to pray the Rosary every day because only she could help us.

From 1947 to 1955, Fr. Pavlicek began gathering people in villages, towns, and cities across Soviet controlled Austria on the 13th of each month to pray the Rosary together in public. He called it the Rosary Crusade. Many people gathered at first, but they could not sustain their spiritual practices, so the Rosary Crusade ebbed and flowed. But Fr. Petrus persevered in his confidence in Our Lady. 

By 1955, eight years later, half a million Austrians had pledged to pray the Rosary, begging for the conversion of sinners, peace in the world and freedom in Austria. The Cold War intensified as the Soviets crushed the Hungarians. However, on March 24th, 1955, Eve of the Annunciation, to the world’s surprise, the Soviets announced they would withdraw their troops from Austria in just three months. On May 15th, 1955, the Soviets signed a treaty guaranteeing the independence of Austria. In October of 1955, the month of the Rosary, the last Russian soldier left Austrian soil.

Mary came down through the Rosary and sent the enemy packing!

Three - Brazil

In 1964, the president of Brazil, João Goulart, wanted to make Brazil a Communist country. The archbishop of Rio de Janeiro, Cardinal de Barros Camara, in an address on national radio, called the people to resist publicly by praying the Rosary. President Goulart was so enraged that he insulted the people of Brazil in a public speech. He ridiculed the rosary, saying that it was his Marxist ideas that would reform and save Brazil, not the rosaries of simple women. That was a big mistake!

Twenty thousand women hit the streets with their rosaries. They marched right into the midst of the Communist rally and prayed the rosary so loudly that it shut the rally down. On March 19th, more than 600,000 people marched through the streets of São Paolo praying the rosary in the famous “March of the Family with God toward Freedom.” President Goulart was so intimidated by the Rosary that he fled the country! 

Once again, Our Mother came down through Rosary and sent the enemy packing!

Four - Philippines 

Ferdinand Marcos was an evil dictator who oppressed the Filipino people for twenty years. In 1986, hundreds of thousands of Filipinos rose up in a non-violent protest against the dictatorship. They filled the main highway and knelt before tanks and soldiers to pray the Rosary. President Marcos commanded the soldiers to run over the people with their tanks. Then Our Lady appeared to soldiers and to the entire crowd. She commanded the soldiers to stop their tanks and to do no harm to the people because she was the Queen of Heaven. That night, President Marcos fled the country.

Once again, Mary came down through the Rosary and sent the enemy packing.  

Five - The Danger of Comfort and Complacency

Bishop Oliver said, “Michael, you must come to Nigeria!” But I said, “No way! It’s too dangerous, you might be dead before I get there.” Then I said, “Bishop Oliver – we are facing a more dangerous enemy in the West. We are not facing an enemy that can kill the body, but an enemy that is killing the souls of our loved ones with Materialism, comfort, isolation, and loneliness. We have everything we need, so we think we don’t need God or each other.”

Then Bishop Oliver said to me, “Let your people know that being close to Mary is the solution to all their challenges in this world. They should consecrate and reconsecrate themselves and their families to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Did not Mary say at Fatima, “God wants to establish in the world devotion to My Immaculate Heart – wanting to save it by this means.” Pray the Rosary every day and invite someone to pray with you, even if it means you have to change your routine. Finally, live the First Saturdays of Reparation as Mary requested, that on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Mass, pray the Rosary, and go to Confession.”

Bishop Oliver ended by saying very passionately, “Mary will conquer! But she needs your cooperation.”

If you would like to receive these daily emails, you can go to www.dailyrosarymeditations.com. I will place a link for this specific day in the show notes in case you want to go back and read it again. https://www.dailyrosarymeditations.com/p/mary-will-conquer-september-1-2025

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Come As You Are: Gideon

Judges 6:12-16 “The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.” Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.”  Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” He responded, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” The Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike down the Midianites, every one of them.”

I really like this story because it is one that most of us can relate to.  Well, not the first verse probably.  I doubt too many of us have been visited by an angel.  The verse starts off by telling us that an angel appeared to Gideon and told him the Lord was with him, and then called him a mighty warrior.  I find it interesting how Gideon answered the angel.  I feel that I would be in shock and probably speechless if the angel of God were to speak to me.  If he told me that God was with me, I think I would say thank you or be in awe.  Gideon is not speechless, and it doesn’t sound like he is in awe.  He questions the angel.  He says, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has cast us off, and given us into the hand of Midian.”  

Those are some pretty gutsy things to say to an angel.  The angel said The Lord is with you and Gideon basically said, “Oh yeah, how?  We don’t see it. What has He done for us lately?” With this being written text, we don’t know the tone or volume this was said with.  I picture Gideon being angry and almost yelling it at the angel.  However, I could be wrong; he could have matter-of-factly stated it to him.  Either way, Gideon did not believe what the angel said, and he wanted an explanation, or some sort of proof that God was for them.

Next the angel says, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian; I hereby commission you.” The angel does not answer his question as to where God has been.  The angel looks at Gideon and then tells him to go and lead the fight with Midian to deliver his people.  Gideon’s response is a response that I think most of us have when God commissions us for a task.  We question it, we tell Him we aren’t ready, we aren’t good enough, we don’t know how, we aren’t strong enough.  We question God as if He, the one who created us, did not know all these things about us when he commissioned us for that task.   When Gideon was told that he was commissioned to defeat  Midian, he said, “But sir, how can I deliver Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Gideon was counting himself out before he even got started.  He looked at his family and his place in that family and judged his abilities on that.  He felt God must have made a mistake.  How could he be a mighty warrior when his family was the weakest and he was the least in his family?  Does this sound familiar?  Do you ever count yourself out of things because of your family or your history with your family?  I can understand a bit of what Gideon was feeling.  I am from a large family, and we didn’t have a lot of money growing up.  When I was in school, if there was a big field trip, I immediately counted myself out.  There was no way my parents could afford the cost of the trip when they could barely afford their bills.  In seventh grade, my French class was taking a trip to Quebec for a few days.  I think the cost was $450 or something like that.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to go.  I am not even sure if I asked my parents or if I just counted myself out.  One day after school, the French teacher talked with me and asked if I wanted to go on the trip.  I explained I did, but my parents couldn’t afford it.  She said there was a scholarship, and so if my parents could afford some of it, the school could pay the rest.  Somehow, my parents were able to pay whatever part they had to pay, and I was able to go.  

Another way I can relate to Gideon is when he said he was the least of his family.  I don’t think I was the least of my family, and yet, having a large family, you are bound to be compared to your siblings. Others are bound to compare you as well.  I remember one Christmas Eve party at my aunt's house, one of my uncles saw me and was trying to figure out which child I was.  My mom is one of 10 children, and I am one of 11, so you can imagine how many kids were at this Christmas Eve party.  He said Oh, you are the smart one who is going to Yale, right?  Nope, that is Virginia.  Oh, you are the one who just got that cheerleading award, nope, that is Elizabeth.  Got it, you are the one that is having open heart surgery, nope, that is Theresa,  Oh, who are you then? He said.  I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that one.  I didn’t know which distinguishing characteristic might have been used to describe me.  

We can all get stuck thinking we are who our family says we are.  We can get stuck thinking we can’t do certain things because of our history.  We know God is calling us to something, and yet we don’t answer that call because we don’t think we can do it.  Instead of giving God our whole-hearted yes, we give Him a list of reasons why we are not the right person for the job.  In the very beginning of this verse, the angel of God addresses Gideon as a mighty warrior, and yet he questions that.  What name is God calling you that you are dismissing?  Is it son/daughter of the one true King?  Is it Beloved?  Is it Mighty Warrior?  Is it Gifted Healer? Is it Disciple?  Is it Preacher/Teacher?  Is it Worthy or Enough? What name do you hear God calling you, and yet you struggle to accept?  God does not make mistakes.  He is the Lord God Almighty.  If He calls you something, it is because that is your name to Him.  That is who you are in His eyes!

What task is God commissioning you for that you are resisting?  Is there something you feel called to do, and instead of telling God yes, you are giving him a whole host of reasons why you cannot do it?  Is he asking you to do something, and you are explaining to him why anyone else would be better for the job?  I get it, I do the same, and yet God is telling us here in this story of Gideon that we need to believe what the Lord says about it and just go out and do it.  Stop trying to tell God who you are; He knows who you are better than you do.  Stop trying to find all these excuses why you can’t do the thing God is telling you to do.  Start trying to figure out how to do the thing God is leading you to do.  Stop and ask God, What would you like me to do today?  If you don’t know how to do what He is calling you to do, then ask Him how He would like you to do it.  Our God is a wonderful God, and He will answer us when we ask.  Answer the call God is placing on your life today with a resounding Yes!  Trust that if He gave it to you, He will help you fulfill it!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode.  Lord, we are so grateful that you know us better than we know ourselves.  Thank you for loving us so much and being the best dad out there.  Thank you for calling us by our true identity, even when we struggle to see it.  Lord, help us to see ourselves and the world through your eyes.  Father, thank you for commissioning us to certain tasks.  We are sorry we don’t always say yes.  It is not because we don’t want to, it is because we are afraid.  Please replace that fear with courage and strength.  Make us bold so we can say yes to whatever you ask.  We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I am starting a new series for the next 31 days. It is called “Come As You Are” and we will take a look at 31 different characters in the Bible who did not look like anything special to the rest of the world, and yet the Lord used them powerfully. I keep telling you, at the end of almost every episode, that Jesus loves you, just as you are. Yet, if you are like me, it can still be hard to believe that at times. Often we feel we have to change first before Jesus loves us. I am hoping that after this series, you will be able to believe me more when I say that each day. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in May 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “My word, Jesus, is my power, a power of grace, of goodness, of forgiveness, of mercy, and of great peace. Call upon my power in the name of my son Jesus.”

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Keep Waiting, Your Answered Prayers Are Coming

James 5:7-8 “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.  You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.”

When I read this today, I thought it was a good verse because, let’s be honest, who doesn’t need more patience? However, I also thought it was a good word because so many of us are going through something that we wish we weren’t. We wish God would take it from us, or heal us of it. We are tired of waiting, and we feel ready to move forward.

This verse says to be patient until the coming of the Lord. It can also apply to your situation. Be patient, beloved, until you are healed from whatever is ailing you. Be patient, beloved, until I answer those questions for you. Be patient, beloved, until I find you that job or approve the disability claim. Be patient, beloved, until your loved one is healed. Be patient, beloved, until I make you healthy enough to answer my call.

Did you know that God calls you beloved? Did you know that you are the one that Jesus loves? In the Gospel of John, he refers to himself as the one that Jesus loved, or the beloved apostle. Did you know you can refer to yourself this way as well? You are beloved in the eyes of the Lord. You are the one that Jesus loves. John was not being conceited when he said this. He was just that sure of Jesus’s love for him. We would all be in a better place if we were all that secure that we are at the one that Jesus loved.

I think this verse is a beautiful illustration of what it looks like to have patience. Imagine how hard it is for the farmer to plant a crop and then just wait for it to grow. Imagine planting a seed in the ground and then watering it and just waiting with patience, even though you can’t see anything growing. Seeds typically take a few days to a couple of weeks to germinate and start growing, depending on the type of seed and the conditions provided. After germination, the growth phase can last from a few weeks to several months before the plant is fully grown. Can you imagine having to wait that long to see something grow?

Some of you have been waiting a lot longer than a few months for God to answer your prayers. Some of you have been waiting for years. You have been waiting so long that it's hard to remember a time before you were sick, depressed, or injured. You can barely remember a time when you weren’t struggling with money or having enough food to eat. I understand how frustrating this is. I struggled for over 10 years with my kids and my husband. There was constant fighting and anger in our home. Every day, there would be at least one fire to put out, and some days, most days, there were many. It was exhausting, and patience was something I didn't always have.

I didn’t know how long this would last. I didn’t know how much more I could take. I felt like I was at the end of what I could handle many, many times. Yet the Lord always helped me to keep moving forward. He helped me to get up each morning with renewed strength. A strength I needed and one that was always enough, even when it didn’t feel like it would be. The Lord is with you in your situation as well. He is right there with you. He is protecting you and comforting you. He is giving you untold strength.

I heard a testimony yesterday at a prayer group that is an excellent example of what God can do for us in difficult situations. My friend was in a lot of pain, and she was offering that pain up to the Lord. For an hour, she was talking to the Lord and letting Him know that she wanted to offer up this suffering for anyone who needed it. After an hour, she cried out to the Lord and told her that she couldn’t take this pain anymore. She wanted to endure it for those in need, but the pain was too great. Immediately, the Lord helped her to fall asleep, and when she woke up, the situation causing the pain had resolved itself.

He has done this for me, too. About 6 weeks after Noah was born, my appendix burst, and I needed to go to the Emergency Room. After they discovered it was my appendix, they said I would need surgery. This occurred around 3 am, and the surgeon was not scheduled to arrive until 5 or 6 am. I started to have what I think was a panic attack. I wasn’t sure how to describe what was happening, but I knew I needed to stop thinking about the surgery. I prayed that God would help me fall asleep until it was time for the surgery, and that is precisely what happened. I fell asleep and did not wake up until right before they wheeled me into the surgery.

God sees you. He knows what it is you need. He hears you crying out. He hears you telling Him, “This is it, this is all I can take. I can’t go on anymore.” God hears you, and He knows it is not true. You feel you can’t go on, but he knows how strong you are, and He knows you can do all things through Him. He knows the perfect time to lift you from this. He knows the consequences of rescuing too early. He knows what will happen if he pulls you out of a pit that you were meant to climb out of on your own.

I know it is hard to have patience and that it feels like God has abandoned you. He has not. Just keep crying out to Him. Just keep believing that He will bring you out of this. He will save you. He will give you the strength to make it to another day. He is in this. You can do this! You can hold on. You have the power of the Holy Spirit, the one who raised Jesus from the dead, living inside of you. You can hold on!!

Dear Heavenly Father, please give each person listening the courage and the strength to keep moving forward. Lord, help us to wait with patience, just as farmers do. Help us to know and believe that you will answer our prayers at the perfect time. Lord, give us renewed hope. Help us to remember all the times in the past that you have answered our prayers. We love you, Lord. You are so faithful. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you have not checked out the details for my retreat in October, please CLICK HERE for all the info. I look forward to seeing you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in May 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Words are not all I have to give you, my children, though my words have power. My word, Jesus my son, has great power. Call upon his name in every circumstance. Call upon his name for he is standing there beside you to lead you, to guide you, to help you, to fill your heart with his love.”

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Matthew 6:34 “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”

Wow, this is a great verse for all of us to write down and place around us.  The thing is, when we read this, it sounds so simple.  Don’t worry about tomorrow, you will have time for that later; you have enough to worry about today.  Don’t you wish it were that simple?  Don’t you wish you could just tell yourself not to worry, and then you actually don’t worry?  Life would be so much simpler if it worked that way.  I don’t think this verse is telling us anything that we don’t already know on some level.  We know that we don’t need to worry about the future because we don’t even know what will happen in the future.  We also know that there is plenty to worry about in this moment without borrowing worries from another day.  So, if we already know all of this, why do we still worry about tomorrow?

We still worry for the same reason that we still eat candy and drink soda, even though we know eating vegetables and drinking water is better for us.  We still worry for the same reason that we watch TV instead of working out, even though we know working out is better for us.  We worry because that is what we have trained our brains to do.  We worry because that is what we have done in the past.  We worry because that is our habit.  We worry because it is an automatic response, and changing automatic responses takes work.

Is it possible for you or me to change how much we worry, yes.  I know this is hard for some of you to believe.  I know so many people who identify with the identity of being a worrier.  They say things like “It’s just who I am,” or “I have always been a worrier, I can’t change it now.”  Is this you?  Be honest with yourself, have you said these things?  Do you believe that you are a worrier and that will never change?  I get it, if you have always done something, then you assume you will always do it.  You don’t know anything different.  However, this doesn’t need to be the case.  You may be a person who worries, but that is not your identity.   I used to be someone who hated to get up in the morning, and then I started to get up at 5:30 in the morning so I could get prayer time and workout time in before the kids woke up.  Was it easy to make this switch? Not at all.  Was it worth it? Absolutely.  You can change.  Who you are is not set in stone.

There are two different mindsets that we can have.  If you have a fixed mindset, then you believe that intelligence, talent, and other qualities are innate and unchangeable.  Basically, you are who you are.  If you are not good at something, you typically believe you will never be good at it.  However, a growth mindset means you believe these things can be developed with practice.  You believe that just because you can’t do something yet, it doesn’t mean that you won’t ever be able to do it.  I think if you look around you, there are a lot of examples to prove that just because you are not good at something, it doesn’t mean you will never be good at it.  Did you know that Michael Jordon was cut from his high school basketball team before he went on to win 6 championships, 5 MVP awards, and 2 Olympic gold medals?  Did you know that Steven Spielberg, the only director to have made over 10 billion dollars at the box office from his films, was rejected 3 times from USC’s film school.  Michael Jordon was not born an amazing basketball player.  He had to work hard to become an amazing basketball player.  He made a goal of getting 100 free throws in a row.  This meant if he got to 75 and missed one, he would start all over again.  He also spent the entire summer doing two practice sessions a day, six days a week, shooting at least 500 jump shots in each practice. That's more than 6,000 practice shots each week!

I know many of you listening to this may not be basketball fans.  I am not a basketball fan either.  I tell you this story to show you that just because you can’t do something now, it doesn’t mean you will never be able to do it.  Also, just because you do something now, like worry, doesn’t mean you always have to do.  Hopefully by now, some of you who were skeptical at first are starting to believe that you can change if you want to.  It was pretty simple for Michael Jordon to become an excellent basketball player.  He knew what skills he needed to develop, and then he practiced them over and over again until he got really good at them.  It wasn’t easy, it took a lot of work, but it was simple.  

In this same way, worrying less is simple, but it is not easy.  If we want to worry less, then we need to take control of our thoughts.  It says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  You can take your thoughts captive.  You can be in charge of what you think and what you don’t think.  This may seem impossible, and I understand why you would think that.  We live in a society where we don’t really have to think for ourselves if we don’t want to.  There are news networks that tell us what to think, there are movies and TV shows that influence how we think, and there are social media “influencers” that tell us what we should and shouldn’t like.  If we look at commercials, magazines, books, radio shows, and podcasts, we are constantly being told what to think.  So, I get that you don’t think you can help how you think or what you think about.  However, it is possible.

I read an article titled “Radical Trust” by Laura Fleetwood (Seeking the Still).  Laura mentioned that a friend sent her this verse in an email, and it was a much-needed reminder.  She said that although there is so much in this world that we can’t control, we CAN control our thoughts.  After reading this verse, every time her mind wanted to worry about something, she would take captive that thought and hand it over to Jesus.  This is what she said, “Literally, in my mind, I snatch it and give it to Jesus.  And then I tell myself, I trust you, Jesus. I trust you. I trust you.” She also says, “Take this fearful thought, Lord.  Take the what-ifs, should haves, and could haves.  I give them to you again, and again, and again.”  When she gets a fearful or worrisome thought in her head, this is what she does, “Snatch…Hand it over…I trust you, Jesus. Snatch…Hand it over…I trust you, Jesus. Snatch…Hand it over…I trust you, Jesus.”  

If Laura can do this, so can you.  It won’t be easy, but if you get in the habit of doing it then it will become easier.  Starting a new habit is always difficult; however, isn’t worrying all the time hard too?  Do you like how you feel when you spend so much time worrying?  What would you give in order not to have to worry so much?  If it feels like you worry about everything all the time, know that you are not alone.  It is pretty common.  Do you have one thing that you always worry about?  One situation or topic that you worry about more than others?  For instance, your children, your car, your abilities?  If you are someone who seems to worry about everything, then even just thinking about capturing your thoughts may feel overwhelming.  This is why I just asked if there was one thing you worry about more than the others.  Maybe just start with one area.  Try to pay attention and listen to yourself saying things about that one topic.  When you do hear it, snatch the thought, hand it over, and say Jesus, I trust you.  Once you get that area down, you can move on to another.  You can do this!  We can do this!  

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, please bless them.  Lord, we ask that you help us control our thoughts.  When the enemy starts whispering his fancy lies into our ears, help us to snatch the thoughts and hand them over to you.  Lord help us all to worry less and trust more.  Lord, even if we are worried, help us to still move forward with faith in you.  Lord you are truly amazing and we are so lucky that you love us and do so much for us.  We thank you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your scripture and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow. Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Patience Is A Virtue

Sirach 1:23 “Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment, and then cheerfulness comes back to them.  They hold back their words until the right moment; then the lips of many tell of their good sense.”

Have you ever heard people say, Patience is a virtue?  I have heard it frequently, and it is usually said when someone is struggling with patience.  What is a virtue?  According to my quick internet search, virtue has been defined as “conformity of life and conduct with the principles of morality.” The virtues are thus the practical attitudes and habits adopted in obedience to those principles.  It seems there is much discussion online about whether patience is actually a virtue or not.  However, most agree that it is not a virtue. The saying patience is a virtue " shows how important and good having patience is.  Have you ever known someone who seemed to have an unlimited amount of patience? That was my mom.

She was the oldest of 10 children growing up, and being the oldest meant that she had to help raise them.  It also meant that if my grandmother was sick, she needed to step in and take care of everyone until she got better.  This happened one time, I forget how old she was, although I know she was still in school.  My grandfather was away as he was in the Navy, and my grandmother got very sick.  My mom had to miss, I think, about 3 months of school so she could take care of the kids while my grandma was sick.  You might think, after being the oldest of 10 kids, she wouldn’t want any kids, or maybe she might want one or two, but definitely not too many.  You would be wrong.  My parents got married, wanting 12 children.  Now, I can see how a Catholic couple could have 12 kids, but going into the marriage wanting that many, after having just helped raise 9, is beyond me.  My husband thought I was crazy wanting four kids.  My mom and dad had 11 kids.  

Now, you would think that after helping to raise 10 kids and then raising 11 kids of your own, you would be done with children by the time your kids were grown.  You would think my mom would be kinda tired of kids at that point.  Not that kids are bad.  I love children.  I just know how much work it is to raise children, and I have no idea how hard it is to raise 11 children, but I can imagine it is harder than raising 3.  My mom did not take a break.  When my youngest brother was in school, I’m not sure what age, she went to work at a Montessori school for 3-5 year olds.  She was in her glory.  She just really loves children.  The reason I am telling you all of this is that my mom had so much patience.  Now, I am not saying she never lost her cool, because she did, she is human after all. However, she could be faced with immensely difficult situations and stay very calm.  Because we had a lot of kids growing up, we didn’t really have a lot of money.  Thankfully, my dad had a very good job; however, it still wasn’t enough money most of the time because of the number of kids they had.  My mom would see that we had more bills than money, and she would stay calm.  I am sure it probably stressed her out, but some people get really angry when they get stressed.  She did not.  She remained calm and just called the places and set up payment plans.  

I was a child who did not like to get up in the morning, which is funny to me now, as I was up at 4 am this morning.  However, when I was in school, I hated waking up.  Oftentimes, I would not get out of bed until about the 6th time of being woken up.  Yet, I can’t remember my mom yelling at me once for it.  Even if I was late to the car, she was just patiently waiting for me.  My siblings, not so patient, but who could blame them?  I wasn’t intending this episode to be about my mom, although I am not surprised that is where the Holy Spirit took me, because I have always admired my mom’s patience.  I have had to develop a lot of patience over the years.  Well, I guess I didn’t have to, but I chose to do that instead of being angry and frustrated all the time.  Do you know that you have a choice?  You can choose to develop more patience.  It is not as if there is a finite amount of patience, and it is not as if you either have it or you don’t.  You can work on it, and you can become more patient if you want to.

The verse says, “Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment, and then cheerfulness comes back to them.  They hold back their words until the right moment; then the lips of many tell of their good sense.”  There are two parts to this verse.  The first one is “Those who are patient stay calm until the right moment, and then cheerfulness comes back to them.”  This is so true.  Can you picture a time when you stayed calm in a situation? Didn’t it feel less stressful?  Were you able to be happy in the difficult situation?  When there is at least one person who is being patient and remaining calm, then it usually helps others to do the same.  We tend to mirror other people's emotions.  This is why they say not to make a big deal when your children are little and they fall down.  If you freak out, they freak out.  If you remain calm, they may remain calm.  The mirror reflects our emotions, especially when we are younger.  

Another reason to become more patient is that being impatient never helps a situation.  It usually has the opposite effect.  Have you noticed that when you are in a hurry, everything goes wrong?  You can’t find your shoes, your keys, your jacket, whatever it is you need.  Or you walk out of the house and forget things because you were in a hurry.  Also, if you are in a hurry and you are waiting on others, being impatient usually starts a fight, and there definitely aren’t those cheerful feelings the verse is talking about.  When we are impatient with those we are trying to get out of the house, they often get angry, and then it slows us down even more.  This was a big lesson that God showed me over and over again when my kids were little.    If we were late, rushing the kids, nagging the kids, and being frustrated with the kids, it was not going to get them out of the house any faster.  I had to learn to remain calm, patient, compassionate, and helpful.  Instead of yelling at them to get their shoes on, I would place their shoes by the door, ask if they needed help putting them on, or sometimes, just put the shoes in the car for them so they could do it in the car.  When I was able to be patient and remain calm, we definitely had a more cheerful car ride.

The second part of this verse says, “They hold back their words until the right moment; then the lips of many tell of their good sense.” Have you ever noticed that when we are impatient, we don’t always say the nicest things?  Even if they are things that need to be said, we don’t say them at the right time if we are not remaining calm.  For instance, it would have been completely appropriate for my mom to sit me down when I was younger and talk with me about how important it was to get up in the mornings and how if I got to the car late, I was making everyone late.  And she might have, I just don’t remember.  However, yelling at me in the morning when I am half asleep and when we are trying to get out the door is not the right time.  I know when I was impatient with my kids because we needed to get somewhere and we were late, I would slip into lecture mode.  You have to get up earlier, I told you to make sure you had everything the night before, we are going to be late now because you can’t be bothered to hurry, and whatever else I used to say.  Those were definitely not my finest hours.  Although I know we all have those moments as parents.  It would have been appropriate after the fact, not in the moment, to talk about why we were late and what we could do differently next time.  The verse doesn’t say they hold back their words forever.  It says they hold their words for the right moment.  This is so important.  There is a time and place to say things, and learning to know when that is will serve you well.

There is a challenge that I learned about in my mentoring group.  It is called the Zip It Challenge, and it is based on a best-selling book by Karen Ehman.  You can look it up online, and you will find the book.  I haven’t read it, but it looks really good, so I may have to get it.  She said she covers eight major topics: taming our tempers, sarcasm, gossip, gracious speech, sweet and salty language, asking for forgiveness, whether to speak up or remain silent, and how God’s word can alter our words. I could use some help in all those areas.  However, the zip-it challenge is when you are more intentional with your words.  It is where you spend the next 40 days, or 20 days, or even just one day, realizing that you don’t have to say every thought that comes into your mind.  Before saying something, stop and ask yourself, Does this need to be said?  Will this still matter to me in 5 years?  I have heard of numerous people taking this challenge, and they are reporting that it has really helped their relationships, whether with their kids, spouse, or parents.  There are lots of things we say that just don’t really need to be said.  We think we are helping our loved ones, but many times, we are just nagging or telling them something they already know.  Maybe this week, we could all try to be a little more patient and a little more intentional about our words.  Being patient may not be easy, but it will make you happier.  Being intentional with your words is also not easy, but it's really worth it when you see the change in your relationships.  Words are powerful.  Choose them wisely.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, you are amazing, and we love you.  We ask that you help us grow in patience.  Please help us learn to be calm in difficult situations.  Help us to be patient with our loved ones.  Help us to guard our tongue and to hold back our words until the right moment.  Lord, help us discern what needs to be said and what doesn’t.  Help us be more intentional with our words and to think before we speak.  Lord, we are so grateful that you are always with us.  We are also grateful that you are so forgiving, as we mess up a lot.  We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Road Trip

Psalm 144:7-9 “Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you.” 

When I read this verse, I thought it was appropriate as I talked with a friend this morning, and she is going through a difficult time right now.  I wish I could say she was my only friend going through a hard time right now.  I wish I could say that those I know who are suffering right now are in the minority.  Unfortunately, it is hard for me to think of someone that I know who isn’t suffering in some way or another right now.  I know so many people who have asked for prayers because they or a loved one has cancer.  It is out of control how many people have cancer right now.  Also, after a year and a half of staying inside, a lot of families are struggling.  Children don’t want to be back in school, or they are more anxious or more depressed. 

I don’t want to be all doom and gloom, and I’m not meaning to sound like that.  I just know that there are so many people suffering right now.  I am on a few different prayer lists, and the requests for prayers are non-stop, and those who need them are really suffering.  I long for the days when the worst people have to worry about is whether they will pass their English or Math test at school.  However, I don’t know if those days will come.  I think as long as we are on this side of heaven, there will always be tough times, and we will always have struggles.  I do think that we get a break from it.  I don’t think the struggle is constant, although I know it can feel that way when we are in it.  I think we just truck along doing life, and sometimes we encounter circumstances that are really difficult, and then sometimes we don’t.  

I view it as a long road trip.  If you have ever been on a long road trip, you know that some stretches of road are easy.  The traffic is flowing, the road is well taken care of, the weather is nice, and maybe there is nice scenery to look at out the window.  There are some parts of the road trip that you really enjoy.  Then there are some parts that are not great.  There are parts of every long road trip that aren’t fun; there might be more traffic than we like, it might be a really long and boring stretch of road without much to see, or you may even have weather that is not great.  Then there are times in a long road trip that can be awful.  You can be stuck in traffic for hours and not move far at all, or you can be stuck in a torrential downpour or a snow blizzard.  Your car could even break down while you are on a road trip.  

This is similar to our journey through life.  Sometimes, time is going to go by quickly, and you are going to enjoy the ride and the view.  Other times, life will feel like it is crawling by, and you aren’t getting anywhere.  And sometimes nothing great will be happening, and also, nothing bad will be happening.  You will just be coasting through.  Thinking of my journey through life like this has helped me to remember, in the hard times, that they will not last forever.  This is just a season I am in, and brighter days are coming.  

I think our attitude and our thoughts play such a huge role in how we feel during the difficult times.  When we are going through a difficult time, we get to choose what we focus on.  We may not know that at the time, but we always get to choose what we focus on.  In every scenario, there are many different things happening, and which you decide to focus on, or what you decide to tell yourself about that situation, will play a huge part in how you feel and your attitude towards it.  For instance, if I am struggling with my boys, there are many things in that struggle that I can focus on.  Let’s say I am unhappy that my son got a D in algebra.  I can focus on the fact that he got a D and that he may fail that class for the semester if he doesn’t try harder this quarter.  I could focus on the fact that he attended school more this semester than last.  I could focus on the fact that he did really well in his other classes.  I could focus on the fact that last year was really hard and he is doing better this year.  Do you see how there are numerous things that I could focus on?  

I get to choose which one I am going to focus on.  I can choose to focus on a negative one that will make me angry and keep me upset, or I can focus on one that is more positive and will help me to see that this one D is not the end of the world.  I am not saying that you can’t care about the problem you are facing.  Of course, you can care, and I am also not saying don’t think about it.  What I am saying is that if you are going through a hard time, try to find something positive in the situation and focus on that instead of obsessing about the negative things in the circumstance.  This is especially important if you can’t do anything about the negative things.  If I chose to focus on my son’s D, what would that change?  Would my being angry about it change the grade?  Would my being angry at him make him want to study harder?  I can think of many reasons why focusing on something that makes me angry will hurt me, but I can’t see how it will change the situation.  

The verse above says, “Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false. I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,”  This is something that I think we have all been praying for lately.  At least all those that I have been talking to.  They would love for the Lord, our God, to stretch out His hand and rescue them to set them free.  I have several friends who feel like they are sinking in the mighty waters and are waiting and praying for God to save them.  I like how in this verse, immediately after they ask God to stretch out His hand to save them, they then say they will sing a new song to Him, and upon a ten-stringed harp they will play to Him.  Immediately after they ask for help, they start to praise Him.  This is where a lot of us struggle.  We wait for God to help before we praise Him.  We wait to see God show up and fix things before we begin to praise.  

What if we began to praise immediately after asking?  What if we thanked God and praised Him for helping us before we saw Him help?  I wonder if anything would be different?  I wonder if we would see help sooner?  I wonder if we would feel any different?  In John 20:29, “Jesus said to him, 'Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”  I wonder if we would strengthen our faith if we not only believed that God would answer our prayers, but we thanked Him and praised Him before we saw any proof that He was going to?  I am going to try this and see what happens.  I invite you to do the same.  Let’s join together and thank God and praise Him for answering all the prayers we have asked Him to answer right now, before He has answered them.  Let’s not wait until after our prayers are answered to thank the Lord.  Let’s show Him that we believe in Him as He believes in us.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray for all those listening to this episode today.  Lord, we ask that you help us to know that we will make it through this difficult time.  Lord, give us a supernatural sense of peace and comfort, knowing that you are here with us always and that you will help us through whatever we are facing.  Lord, we ask that you help us to see that we can choose what we focus on.  Help us to focus on the good and the positive in each situation.  Help us to remember to thank you and to praise you, Lord.  Help us not to wait until we see your answers to our prayers.  Help us to thank you and praise you now, while we are still waiting for those answers, because we trust that you will answer them.  We love you, Lord, and we know that you are amazing.  We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow.  Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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God’s Mercy Is Endless

Psalm 36:7-9 “How precious is your mercy, O God! The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.  They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”

I love the imagery in this verse.  I love how it talks about God’s mercy.  This is something I don’t think we talk about enough.  We talk about God’s love, but not always His mercy.  I think the reason for this is that we have a hard time believing in His mercy.  We have a hard enough time believing that God loves us. Believing that and believing that he forgives us for our sins, all of our sins, is just too much to believe for some of us.  Why is it so much easier to believe these things about other people than it is to believe them about ourselves?  I can believe that God will forgive my kids for all their sins.  That comes easily to me.  I can believe he loves them with his whole heart, no matter what they do.  I find that easy to believe because I know I love them with my whole heart, no matter what they do.  If I can do it in my broken state, surely God can do it.  

I know that God’s mercy is endless.  This made me think of a prayer that is part of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  Here is the prayer, “Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.”  I think the Holy Spirit brought this to my mind right now because it talks about God’s mercy.  Is this something you believe for others, but not yourself?  Is it something that you think you believe, but then when you examine your actions, you realize you are not quite there yet?  This is where I am at most of the time.  I know God is merciful.  I know God loves me and forgives all my sins, and yet at times I act like I am not forgiven.  I strive to do all I can to earn God’s love when, in actuality, there is nothing I have to do because I already have all His love.  Do you do this too?

The beginning of this verse says, “The children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”  Isn’t that a beautiful image?  When I hear that verse, I picture a giant Eagle just standing on the ground, and I am standing next to it.  I am holding on to his little leg, and He has His giant wing wrapped around me in protection.  We can take refuge in the Lord. Did you know that?  There are many places in the Bible where it talks about God being our refuge.  When you need protection, when you need a safe place to rest, rest in the Lord; He will be your refuge.

The next line says, “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.”  Sometimes we can think of God in terms of giving things up.  We can think that if we want to be a good Christian, then we have to sacrifice all we have.  We think we need to go without.  This is not the case.  God is a God of abundance.  Yes, we are called to give and to sacrifice, but God will not be outdone in generosity.  The more you give, the more God gives to you.  God knows what things you like, He knows the things you need, and He is taking care of them for you.  He is a God of abundance. He is not just taking care of the things you need, but the things you want as well.  It says, You give them drink from the river of your delights. God is so good.  He isn’t just in the big things in life, He is in all the little details of your life too.  He shares His delights with you.  

This verse ends with, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” God is our fountain of life.  Everything we have flows through Him.  We would have nothing without Him, and we are nothing without Him.  God is also our light.  He lights the way for us, and He is the light in the world that we see.  What would be great is if we could get to a point where we can shine light for others.  If we got to a place where God’s light shone so brightly through us that we could be that light for others.  Now that I am saying that, I think we can be a light for others, even if we aren’t quite where we want to be.  I am not sure we will ever be at a place where we think we have finally arrived.  I don’t think this life is all about getting to the perfect place in life.  I think this life is more about our journey to become the best versions of ourselves.  I am not sure we ever arrive at that destination while we are here on earth.  I think it is something we can continually work towards.  

What came to my mind just after I wrote that we could be a light for others is all the ways we help to spread God’s love around this world.  When you are talking about God or Jesus to those you meet, that is spreading God’s light.  When you pray for someone, you are being a light to them.  When you do something kind for someone, you are spreading God’s light to them.  I know we probably don’t think of ourselves as spreading God’s light to others.  We don’t think of ourselves as being a light to others, and yet, that is exactly what we are doing when we are talking about God, spreading His message, spreading His love.  Sometimes we can spread God’s love without even opening our mouths.  There is so much darkness in the world, so much hatred and division.  When we are the opposite of that, when we are love and light, people can’t help but notice.  We can be the light to others just by being different, just by being positive and not letting the world take our joy away.  If we can do that, others will notice and they will want what we have.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today.  Dad, we want you to be our light, we want to drink of the river of your delights. Dad, please help us remember that you are a God of abundance.  Help us not to be afraid that if we give to others, we will be left with nothing.  Help us to remember that you will not be outdone in generosity.  Father, your mercy is endless, and we are so grateful.  Please help us to remember and to believe this in our day-to-day life.  Help us to believe that you truly do forgive our sins and that you love us always.  We love you, Dad, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.  

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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I Know Waiting Is Hard!

Psalm 138:7-8 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.”

I read this verse at a prayer group yesterday, and it reminded me of all those I know who are struggling right now. The devil is having a heyday with so many people right now. There are so many I know that are struggling with health issues, money issues, addiction, or a place to live. Those that I know who are struggling with health issues are so tired of struggling. All they want to do is work for the Lord. They want to be able to attend Mass and participate in adoration. They want to be able to evangelize to everyone they meet. Yet, because of their illnesses, they are stuck in bed or in their house. Due to their illnesses, they are unable to attend Mass or participate in adoration. Or, maybe it is not the illness, but they don’t have a working car to get to mass.

Everyone I talk to these days is struggling with something or another. I believe the Lord is bringing these people into my life so I can pray with them and for them. I think there may also be a lesson in here, as I am really struggling to understand why He is not healing them already. I mean, we said the things you are supposed to say and do, and yet they are still sick. I struggle with the parts in the Bible that say, “Whatever you ask in my name will be given to you,” and then I ask in the name of Jesus, and it is not given to me.

The thing the Lord is trying to show me, or at least I think He is, is that just because it is not given to me immediately, it does not mean it will not be given to me. I am discovering that I tend to be a bit impatient when it comes to the Lord answering my prayers, especially if they are prayers for others who are suffering. I want answers now, and I don’t want to wait. I realize I probably sound like a child right now, and yet, I doubt I am the only one who thinks this way. You know you want answers to your prayers immediately, too.

What the Lord is showing me is that His timing is perfect, and just because I don’t understand it does not make it wrong. He is the Lord of the universe. I think He probably knows better than I do. The how and the why are not always for us to know. This morning, the thought that he gave me was that of taking silver or gold out of the fire too early, before it has been fully purified. Well, I have no idea what happens when you do this, so I had to look it up. Here is what I found. “If silver or gold is removed from the fire before it is fully purified, impurities will remain in the metal, affecting its quality and appearance. This can result in a less valuable product that does not shine as brightly or reflect the desired image of the goldsmith.”

God does not want us to keep our impurities. He wants us to learn the full lesson so that we can shine as brightly as He made us to shine. We can’t have all these impurities messing up our shine. God knows what He is doing. He knows the exact right point to pull us out of the fire. I love the last thing the explanation said. “Or reflect the desired image of the goldsmith.” Guess who is our Goldsmith? Jesus. So, when we accurately reflect Jesus, then God will pull us out of the fire. Trust in His timing. Yes, I am definitely saying that to myself too because I know it is hard, and yet He will give you all you need to wait and trust if you ask Him to.

So, while we are all waiting, as I am sure everyone listening is waiting for some prayer to be answered, then we have today’s verse to give us comfort and encourage us. “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me. The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” God is preserving us against our enemy. God knows we are walking in the midst of trouble, and He is not worried because He is walking right next to you. He knows you are feeling lost, abandoned, ill, tired, frustrated, angry, and so many other things. He knows because He is right there in the middle of this whole mess with you.

His right hand will deliver you. It is delivering you. I know you want deliverance now, so do I. I know you want healing now, and I want that for you, too. I don’t know why God is not saving you now, why He is not lifting you out of this now, but I do know He has a plan, and it is much better than my plan or your plan. Trust that He is there preserving you from the wrath of your enemies. He has got this. While you wait for Him to save you, ask for all that you need to persevere. Ask Him what you can do to serve Him in the circumstances you are in. He will tell you if you ask.

I also don’t want you to forget the last part of this verse. “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.” God will fulfill his purpose for you. If you wonder why you are so sick and yet feel a calling to help others, just know that God will fulfill His purpose for you. Just because you can’t do it today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to do it ever. When I first moved to MA, I asked the Lord why I was the only one in my family who couldn’t write. Now I write almost every day. Trust that if the Lord put it in your heart, He has every intention of fulfilling it when you are ready in His timing, not yours.

God’s steadfast love will endure forever. We talked about this on Monday’s episode. God couldn’t love you any more than He does right now. He loves you completely and perfectly in every moment of your life. Actually, probably before you were even born and long after you are gone from this world. The verse says His love endures forever. Not just for a little bit, not just when you are doing and saying the right thing, not when you are a good boy or girl, forever. Like forever forever. Like never-ending. It is always there. So, when you feel like He has abandoned you or left you in this mess alone, remind yourself that His love endures forever. He is still loving you through all of this! Keep leaning into Him because He has not abandoned you and He knows the exact right second to pull you up out of this fire.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening. Lord, help us to be patient and wait for you to heal us. Please help us to continue to trust that a healing is coming. Please help us to believe you will fulfill the purpose you have for our lives. Please help us to feel your love, as sometimes it feels so far away. Please help us to believe that your love endures forever. Please help us, Lord!! We love you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. Remember to CLICK HERE for all the retreat information. I promise it will be an amazing time, and you will love it. People are always nervous to go on a retreat; however, I have yet to meet a single person who regrets going. The enemy will try to tell you all the reasons why you shouldn’t go because he knows how powerful it will be for you. I look forward to seeing everyone on Monday. Remember how much Jesus loves you and so do I! You are loved!! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “During my greatest trials, the word was all I needed. It defeated the devil. Despite how hungry and thirsty I was, the word rescued me. When you speak it out loud, my angels gear up to come to your aid. Use it in your daily lives. Always speak it. There is power in the word.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Godly Friends Speak Truth, Even When It's Hard

Ephesians 4:15 – “ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”

On Tuesday, I talked about Godly friendships and how they are faithful. Today I want to talk about another character trait of a Godly friendship. It is Honesty in Love: Godly friends speak truth—even when it’s hard. This is something that can be difficult for all of us. Well, maybe not all of us. We all know at least one person who does not have a problem saying that thing that needs to be said. However, for many, it is hard. I can think of at least two ways this could be hard. First, we don't want to hurt someone's feelings, so we refrain from telling them the truth. Second, we do tell them the truth, but we don't do it with love.

I struggle with the first one. I don't want to hurt someone, and so I don’t always say the thing I know I should say. Even though I am coming from a place of love, this is not helping my friends or my loved ones. For instance, it might be not very comfortable for them if you tell them they have spinach in their teeth. However, how much more embarrassed do you think they will feel if they find out by looking in the mirror at the end of the night?  Also, sometimes we can see things about what others are doing that they can’t know because they are too close to the situation.

You might not want to tell a friend what you see in the way they are acting, but they might not realize how they are sounding or the effect of what they are doing. Sometimes, we are blind to the impact of our actions. Sometimes we can’t see that the job is wrong for us because we are so excited about it. Our emotions can cloud our judgment, and it is helpful if someone who is not emotionally involved can help us see what we can’t see.

Ephesians 4:15 tells us that we need to speak the truth in love so that we can grow, and our friendships can grow as well. I remember I felt embarrassed to tell a classmate in high school that her period had leaked through her pants. I thought she might be upset with me or I would embarrass her. However, looking back now, I am sure she was much more embarrassed walking through the hallways like that. If I had spoken up, she could have gotten a change of clothes before walking through the hallways, as we were in gym class when I noticed.

We do our friends and anyone we interact with a disservice when we are not honest with them. If we want Godly friendships, then we need to be a reflection of Christ to all those we meet. Jesus told people the truth, and yet he did it without judging them or condemning them. I do not think it is our job to go up to everyone we know and tell them when they are doing something God doesn’t agree with. I am not someone who believes that nagging our children will get them to do the things we want them to do. This is not what I am talking about.

However, if you have Godly friends and you are all trying to point each other to God and help each other be holy, and you see that one of your friends is doing something that could hurt their relationship with God, you can tell them with love. It doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t be in a way that hurts them or makes them feel shame. It can simply be a gentle shift in another direction.

I recall a story my mentor shared about when her friends came to visit. She went to pick them up at the airport and couldn’t wait to tell them all about the fight she had gotten into with her husband that morning. She was ready for them to join in and agree that she was right and he was wrong. However, they had a Godly Friendship. Instead of joining in with her in talking badly about her husband and agreeing that she was right and he was the worst. Her friends gently reminded her about her commitment to him and to the Lord. They reminded her of the kind of relationship she wanted to have. They asked her which was more important, her relationship or her need to be right?

They were not mean; they were not calling her out or condemning her for talking badly about her husband. They were just reminding her of the person she wanted to be. That is a great example of Godly friends. If you have a close relationship with your friends, then even though they may say something that might sting a bit, you know it is coming from a place of love, and that makes it easier to hear.

We all know those people who can’t wait to tell you what you are doing wrong. Their goal is not to try to help you get to Heaven. Their goal is to act like they are better than you or to make themselves feel better. If you have people in your life like this, they are not acting like Godly friends. Jesus had every right to act as if He were better than everyone else because He truly was. However, He never did. He washed the feet of his friends. If your friends are acting as if they are better than you, then they are not reflecting Christ to you.

I still remember when I was going through a hard time with my husband, I would think about how there were some things I didn’t feel I could talk to him about. Or there were some things I would be embarrassed to do in front of him. Then, one day, I got to thinking about it. This is the man that I chose to spend the rest of my life with. He should be the person I trust above all else. I realized that I should be the most confident around him because he chose to spend the rest of his life with me, too. He loved me, and if I couldn’t be myself around him, who could I be myself around?

These same principles should also apply to your Godly Friendships. You should be able to be yourself around them and know that they will love you anyway. You should be able to tell them the truth and know that even if they don’t like it, they will still love you for being honest. They will be grateful that you felt you could be honest with them. Speak the truth, and always do it with love!!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those listening. Lord, please help us to examine our friendships and see if those friendships are honoring you. Please help us identify any friendships that we need to work on and any that we should let go of. Lord, please help us to be a Godly friend. Please help us to be a reflection of you to all we meet. Please help us to show more love and acceptance than judgment. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. 7 more weeks until my retreat. It may be the last retreat in this beautiful location. You won’t want to miss out! It will be held at the Holy Cross Retreat House in Easton, MA. It is only $200 for one night’s accommodations, 5 meals, retreat talks, and fellowship! CLICK HERE to see all the details. I hope you can join us. It will be an amazing weekend!! I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember how much Jesus loves you, just as you are,

and know that I love you too! Have a blessed day!

Today’s Word from the Lord was received in January 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email [email protected]. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “The devil would bind you if he could. But you all have the power of my word. Use it like I did in the desert.”

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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