Walk Boldly With Jesus

God is talking. Are you listening?

1 Kings 19:12-13  After the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? 

This verse takes place on a mountaintop. Elijah, a great prophet of the Lord, is hiding in a cave when the Lord appears to Him and asks him what he is doing in the cave. Next is 1 Kings 19:11-13 "Then the Lord said: Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will pass by. There was a strong and violent wind rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord—but the Lord was not in the wind; after the wind, an earthquake—but the Lord was not in the earthquake;  after the earthquake, fire—but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire, a light silent sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. A voice said to him, Why are you here, Elijah? 

At the end of Friday’s episode, I said I would talk about hearing the Lord’s voice more on Monday. I think this is a good verse to show us what it might be like to hear God’s voice. Elijah was told to go out and stand on the mountain, and the Lord will pass by. Then there was a strong wind, but that was not the Lord. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord wasn’t in the earthquake. After the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. God was found in the sound of silence on that mountain. That is where you can find the Lord too. 

When we think about hearing the Lord’s voice, we tend to think of something like the scene in the movie “The Wizard of Oz.” We picture this big booming voice coming from the Lord. We also tend to think if the Lord was talking to us, there is no way we would miss it. This is not often the case. First, the Lord is talking to each and every one of us every day. If we can’t hear Him, it is because either we aren’t listening or because the sounds of this world are too loud. Only you can know which of these is most true for you. Are you spending time in silence, waiting for the Lord to speak to you? How often are you doing this?

I think it is amazing that God revealed himself in the silence. God is almighty, He is powerful, and He could have come in the fire or the earthquake, and yet he chose to come in the silence. I love that. I love that God doesn’t scare us when He talks to us. He doesn’t do something that would frighten us. How scared do you think you would be if you were just sitting down at the kitchen counter and all of a sudden you heard this big booming voice from the sky? What about if every time you went to make a decision, a booming voice from the sky told you which decision you should make? Life would seem pretty weird if that happened.

My experience has been something quite different. Whenever I have experienced the Lord speaking to me, it has been in a few different ways, but never a booming voice from the sky. The most common way for me to hear the Lord is through my thoughts. I ask the Lord to speak to me, and then I write down anything that comes into my mind. I do not question what I think He is saying, I do not let myself analyze it while I write it down. I just write down whatever comes into my mind. After I am done writing, I will re-read it, and if anything looks strange or makes me feel funny, I will talk to the Lord about it.

Another way we can all hear the Lord talking to us is that still, small voice inside. Do you know the one I am talking about? Have you heard that little voice inside of you that warns you when you shouldn’t do something? That voice that tells you when you should do something. I had that voice just yesterday telling me to check in with someone about coming to the retreat. I almost ignored it because I had already asked her, and she had already said she was busy and wasn’t going to come. I didn’t want to bug her or make her feel guilty for not coming, so I almost didn’t reach out. However, I knew it was the Holy Spirit telling me to reach out, so I did anyway. It turns out her plans changed, and she was now free to come next weekend. I am grateful I listened to that small voice inside that told me to reach out.

Another way God can talk with us is by visions. When you ask the Lord to talk with you, or you sit quietly in silence, you might close your eyes and get a vision of something. Sometimes it can just be a quick something, and other times it can be a whole scene. I remember one of the first times I went to a retreat. I was sitting in adoration, and I asked the Lord to let me feel His presence. I just wanted to know He was there with me. When I closed my eyes, I saw this white light bouncing around off the back of my eyelids. It is so cool. I remember not wanting to open my eyes because I feared it would go away, which it did. However, I did get to sit with that vision for a few minutes. Other people have really vivid visions where they can see a whole scene unfold before their eyes.

The last way I have experienced this is when I am sitting in a prayer group, and we tell the Lord that we are listening. I tell the Lord if He wants to tell me something, I will share it with the group. When I am in this situation, I get words that come into my mind. They are words that are not really spoken. It’s not as if I hear a voice dictating them to me. It is more like as I speak, the words just seem to keep coming. It is truly remarkable.

If you do hear an actual voice in your head from the Lord, it will most likely sound like your voice. The Lord is not trying to scare us. If we had this strange voice talking to us in our heads, we would think we were going crazy. So, God is gentle, and when He talks to us, He uses a voice we are used to hearing our own voice. This way, we can focus more on listening to it and less on what it sounds like or who is saying it.

I hope this helps you understand a bit more how God tends to talk with us. He truly does want to talk to each and every one of us each day. Where in your day can you take a few minutes to just sit in silence and give the Lord some time to talk to you? I promise if you start giving the Lord a chance to talk with you, you will be amazed at what He has to say. He is a good and loving Father who wants to talk with you. Won’t you give Him a chance?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we would love to talk with you and have you talk with us. Please show us how. Please show us where in our days we have the time to sit in silence and just be with you, to just listen to you. Lord, we want to put you first. Show us how. Lord, we are sorry we tend to fill our world with so much noise that we can’t hear you. Please help us change this, Lord. Help us get our priorities back on track. 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. Last call for the retreat. CLICK HERE for retreat info. I will be sending in my numbers later this afternoon. I am so grateful to all who have signed up already. I look forward to meeting you in a few days! I look forward to meeting you all here again tomorrow. If someone has a witness, they would be willing to share. Please reach out today or tomorrow so we can get that recorded. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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Episode #587 A Conversation With The Lord About Mercy

Isaiah 55:6-7 “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”

Today I have something a little different for you. Yesterday at prayer group, my good friend Louise did a teaching on God’s mercy and Justice. She talked about something she had heard in a sermon years ago. The priest said something his spiritual director told him, “God’s Justice is God’s mercy.” After the Lord brought the sermon back to her mind, they had a little back-and-forth conversation, and I am going to share that conversation with you as I feel God was giving us a glimpse into how He thinks and who He is. God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. So, when He gives us a glimpse into his ways, I feel we should all pay attention. Here is what she shared with us.

“I am merciful. I pour out mercy and forgiveness in torrents upon all of you, my children. I rain down mercy on every one of my children with no exceptions.” At that point, I found myself getting an image and looking at torrential rain. We've all seen torrential rain, and when it comes down, it comes down in buckets. It is heavy, and the Earth doesn't really have time to soak it all in. What can happen if it's a lasting rain is that things will accumulate, and it can create a little river and start really moving with a swift current. That is what I was picturing when the Lord said to me, “My children who love and praise me, honor me by their lives of holiness, know how to flow with the swift current. By the power of the Holy Spirit, they abandon their attempts to fight this current. And flow freely with it. Its power and speed may seem frightening, but they remain afloat by practicing the gifts of the Holy Spirit." The Isaiah gifts can be found in Isaiah 11:2-4a. “The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth.” and the charismatic gifts can be found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;  and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord;  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.  To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,  to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.  All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.”

Then after I looked at those scriptures, the Lord said to me, "Those who don't know me or refuse to accept my existence. Those who no longer have faith in me, those who believe worldly philosophies are the way to live, and those deeply embedded in sinfulness struggle in this river. They fear they will drown. They fight the current of mercy and forgiveness, trying by their own strength and power to stay afloat. I need you to help them, my children." So I asked the Lord how do we do this? What are you asking of us? And he gave me two things. First, he said, "Be an example of them of how to float in this current. Show them lives abandoned to God and his love and power, especially in your interactions with them." Then second thing he said to me was, and this I found way more challenging was, "Reach out your hand to them as they pass by you in this current. Help them to stop struggling in this current of mercy and forgiveness. Help to steady them by companioning to them as you float together to the large lake of my calming love that is the river's end."

Wasn't that powerful? There is more I want to say about listening to the Lord’s voice, but I don’t want to detract from His message on Mercy, so I will talk about hearing the Lord’s voice on Monday. Today and this weekend, I hope you re-listen or re-read the Lord’s word and really let it sink in. There is a transcript of the message in the show notes so you can read through it slowly and really absorb what God is telling us about His mercy.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless each and every person listening to this episode today. Lord, I thank you so much for the blessing Louise is to me personally, to our prayer community, and to all who know her. I thank you for her faithfulness, not only in listening to your word and writing it down but also in sharing it with others. Lord, help us all to hear your message today. Help us to take this message to our hearts and to apply this message in our lives. Lord, help us to reach out our hand to those drowning in your mercy. Help us to steady them. Lord, show us how to be an example to them. Help us to be an example of your calming love. We love you, Lord, and we are so grateful you don’t give up on a single one of us. We are grateful for your mercy for each and every one of us. Lord, 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. Just a reminder that if you want to join me on retreat next weekend and learn more about God’s love and how to hear His voice, I need to know by this Sunday night (Oct. 1st) as I need to send in the numbers to the retreat house on Monday morning. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Chocolate Milk

John 20:21-22 “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit."

This verse takes place after Jesus has been crucified. The apostles are all locked up in the upper room because they are afraid if the Jewish people knew where they were, they would be crucified, too. I am sure this was a very confusing time for the apostles. They had been living life with Jesus for the last few years. Every day extraordinary things happened. Then they find out that Jesus is going to be crucified. I mean, they knew Jesus had enemies, but I don’t think they understood what was truly going on. How could they? How is it possible to comprehend the man they had been following, the man they knew was the one true king, was going to be crucified? The Messiah was supposed to come and deliver them from their captives. Yet Jesus hadn’t defeated the Romans yet. How could He be leaving them?

I am sure this thought was going through so many people’s minds at the time. It must have been very confusing. They had read or been taught that when the Messiah comes, He will save them. They assume this means He will save them from the Roman occupation. They don’t realize that Jesus is here for much bigger things. Jesus has come to save their souls.

The apostles are locked in the upper room, and Jesus appears to them. I wonder if they were frightened at first. I wonder if they asked Him if it was really Him. Take a minute, close your eyes, and try to picture what it was like for them in that upper room. The man they thought was the Lord was crucified, and then they felt they needed to lock themselves in a room for fear of death, and then Jesus appeared to them in this locked room. I wonder if they thought He was a ghost? I wonder what they were thinking, what was going through their mind.

It says in the verse above this one that Jesus showed them his hands and feet, and then they rejoiced that He had risen. The first thing that Jesus did, even before showing them His hands and feet, was to impart peace to them. The first thing He said in that room was, “Peace be with you.” I think this makes perfect sense because they probably weren’t very peaceful. They were scared and unsure of what to do next.

After Jesus shows them his wounds, and they rejoice that He has returned, Jesus talks to them. “Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” Jesus knows they are confused about what just happened and what is going to happen. They had been following Jesus. That was their job, their life for the last several years. They had to have been wondering what they were going to do now that Jesus was gone. Then Jesus appeared and told them what to do. He told them that He was sending them out to do the works that He did. This gives them some direction and some guidance.

However, how could they go out and do the things that He did when they were scared of persecution? The next line answers this. It says, “When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus gave them the Holy Spirit to build them up and give them strength. The Holy Spirit gave them a holy boldness to go out and proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ. It gave them the courage to come out of the locked room and say all the things they had been taught to say. They witnessed all they had seen and heard over the several years they were with Jesus. They had the courage to leave the room, and that very same day, they baptized 3,000.

This is the same Holy Spirit that each one of us has living inside of us. We each, you and me, have the Spirit of Christ living inside of us. We have the potential to have this same holy boldness that the apostles exhibited. We have the potential to do all the signs and wonders that they did. The reason for this is that they were only capable of doing signs and wonders because Jesus gave them the authority, and He gave the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn’t just give these gifts to the apostles, and then they died with them 2,000 years ago. When Jesus gave them to the apostles, He was giving them to all those who were to follow after them as well.

If you have been baptized, you have received the Holy Spirit. This means you have all the power and all the courage that the apostles had living inside of you. You just have to access it. There is an analogy that I heard in Encounter Ministries, and I have also heard it at the Life in the Spirit seminars. I am not sure exactly how it goes, but it basically compares our lives to a glass of chocolate milk. Our life before the Holy Spirit, before baptism, is just plain milk. However, when you add the Holy Spirit, it is like you are adding chocolate sauce to the milk. Now that we have added the chocolate sauce, do we automatically have chocolate milk? No, we need to stir the milk to spread the chocolate sauce all around. This is similar to the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit can give you the power and the courage to do many things, but you need to call up it. You need to step out in faith and believe that it will be there to help you. Once you start calling upon the Holy Spirit to help you, then you will begin to see extraordinary things start to happen all around you. All you have to do is read the book of Acts in the Bible to see all the amazing things the apostles accomplished once they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them. Check out the book of Acts and then decide what amazing things you are going to do with this beautiful gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave us.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening today. Lord, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit. You are amazing. Thank you for giving us the authority to do the works that Jesus did and even great works now that He is with you in Heaven. Lord, we ask that you help us to see the ways you want us to use the power of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. Help us to see what you want us to do. We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with our will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If you want to come to hang out with me next weekend at the retreat, I need you to sign up by tomorrow. CLICK HERE  to register for the retreat. Thank you to all those who have already signed up. It is going to be an amazing weekend! I can't wait to do life with you next weekend and talk all about how much God loves you! Retreats are such a great way to get filled up! I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

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We have all seen God working in our lives. However, we might not all be aware it is God who is working in our lives.  This is why it is so important we start talking about it more.  The more we share our experiences, the more people understand how God works and how much He truly loves us.  If you would be willing to share any experience you have had of how God has worked or is working your life, please email me at [email protected] or click here.  It won’t take up much of your time, and your story could be just the story that someone needs to hear today.  Prayerfully consider sharing.  Everyone has a story, and the world needs to hear them.  I look forward to spending time with you again tomorrow, and I will have another witness for you next Wednesday.  Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!

Answered Prayers

Today, I want to witness to you the power of prayer. I am very grateful because my parents are devout Catholics. They both grew up in very Catholic homes, and their parents passed down to them the importance of our faith. They both went to Catholic schools growing up. Sometimes I wish that I lived back when they lived, and it seems like being Catholic was easier. Although, I am not sure it was easier. Sometimes I think that is just what we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel better. My mom and dad started dating when they were in High School. My parents, while in High School, used to meet at 5 or 6 in the morning so they could go to daily mass together. Nowadays, kids don’t even want to go to mass on Sunday morning. They don’t want to be up early on a school day, and they certainly don’t want to be in mass before school.

Maybe the same was true back then. Maybe my parents were different from all those around them. Maybe it wasn’t “cool” to go to daily mass back then, and yet they wanted to. Maybe they didn’t want to be at mass necessarily, maybe they just wanted to see each other, and that was the only way they could. I honestly don’t know, although I should ask them. The fact that they were waking up early to go to mass together before school is an answered prayer. Actually, it is probably many answered prayers. It is probably the answer to the prayer, please let me child know you. It is probably the answer to the prayer, please let my child meet a spouse who is Catholic. An answer to, please let my child meet someone who knows the Lord like they do.

I know my grandparents prayed a lot for my parents. and I can see the effects of those prayers, even after my grandparents have gone to meet Jesus. I am sure they are still praying for our family. I am sure they are up in heaven praying blessings and prayers of protection over us as we speak. Isn’t that awesome to think about? When our loved ones die, they don’t stop praying for us. Actually, their prayers probably increase because they don’t have the worldly distractions that we have here on earth. They can devote all their time to praising God and praying for their loved ones left here on Earth.

The reason I say I can see the results of their prayers is because my parents found each other. These days it is more and more rare to find a couple where they are both Catholic. And even if you are lucky enough to find a Catholic spouse, it is rare you are both as excited about the faith as my parents. My mom is the oldest of 10 children ranging from 80 years old down to about 60 or so. All of my mom’s siblings are alive to this day. It is not as if they have all had easy lives. It is not that they have never been sick, they have, and yet they are all still alive and well. That is the answer to so many prayers that probably seemed unanswered at the time. My mom and several of her siblings have had skin cancer, and yet through it all, God has protected them. That is so many answered prayers!

My parents had 11 children. When they got married, they wanted to have 12 children, a whole dozen. The reason for this is that my dad only had one brother, and they didn’t get to play together too much when they were growing up. My dad’s house was always so quiet, and there wasn’t much going on. However, when he went to my mom’s house, it was the opposite. It was never quiet, and there was always something going on. So, they decided to replicate that in their house and have a dozen kids. The fact that I have 10 brothers and sisters is another answer to prayers. Actually, probably several answered prayers as my parents said if they were unable to conceive, they would say a novena, and at the end of it, she would be pregnant.

My mom and dad are both in their early 80’s and are doing great! They are more active than most of their kids are, as they go out square and round dancing three nights a week. They are very involved in the church and run the prayer group there. My mom does the daughters of Isabella at the state level. My dad is the chaplain for the Knights of Columbus and another organization in town. They are healthy enough to remain busy, and I know that is the answer to many prayers.

Another way I can see so many answered prayers is the fact that myself and my siblings are all alive and well. It is not uncommon for large families to lose some of their siblings along the way. It is not uncommon in any size family, actually. However, all my siblings are doing great. I will say we have some close calls. My sister had a mysterious illness when she was younger, and we almost lost her. My brother was pulled through a big machine that makes chicken wire. We definitely could have lost him then. There have been a few suicide attempts in our family. There have been really bad car accidents. My sister had open heart surgery in the 8th grade. One of my brothers jumped out of a plane with the army and hit his head on the side of the plane on his way down.  There have been plenty of opportunities when things could have ended very differently, and they didn’t, and I am so thankful for all those answered prayers of protection and healing.

I say all of this to let you know that your prayers are being answered. It is important that you continue to pray, even when you don’t see the results you want. I don’t know if my grandparents knew how important their prayers were. I don’t know if they got to see the fruit of their prayers while they were still here on earth. I don’t know if you will always see the fruit of your prayers either. Sometimes, we don’t recognize the fruit of our prayers. For instance, when Tony lost his job in the military, it didn’t look like an answered prayer. It looked like God had abandoned him. Yet for at least five years before he lost his job, he had been searching for a government job that was not in the military, and nothing was working out. It was a catch-22 because you got military preference once you were out of the military, but he didn’t want to get out of the military until he had another job. Well, God took care of all of that when he had Tony leave the military and then found him a higher-paying civilian job at a military base that he loved so much. It was definitely years of answered prayers, and yet it really didn’t look like it.

Our prayers matter. Keep praying for your kids to come back to the church, even if you don’t see any results. Keep praying they meet someone who loves Jesus. Or if they are already married to someone who doesn’t pray for that person’s conversion. Our prayers are so powerful. God has told us in our prayer group that we, the world, don’t understand how powerful our prayers are. Don’t give up. Keep praying, even when you don’t see results. I bet if you sat down and looked back over your life, you would also see so many answered prayers. God is good, and He does answer our prayers. All we need to do is look for the answers, and we will find them!

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I Desire Mercy, not Sacrifice

Matthew 9:13 “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

To put this verse into context for you, I will read the few verses before this verse. Matthew 9:9-12 “ As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” Then this is when Jesus said, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

I was unsure what this verse meant, so I looked it up. I found a good article that explained what is happening here. The article is called “Mercy Not Sacrifice,” and it is on the webpage of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish in Pennsylvania. CLICK HERE for article.  Let’s start with the definition of mercy. According to the article I read, Jesus “was quoting the prophet Hosea, who, centuries earlier, had condemned the Jews for attempting to excuse their idolatry and their oppression of the poor by offering the prescribed animal sacrifices. 

What Jesus is saying in this verse is that it is not all about the laws and what we can do or what we can give up so that we can look holy or we can look religious. The Pharisees looked around Matthew’s house, and they saw a bunch of nameless sinners and tax collectors. Jesus wants us to know people's names. Jesus wants us to get involved with our hearts and not just our heads. The article gave the example of someone who joins a service project to help out around someone’s house. When she is done working, she talks with the owner and finds out the owner is very lonely. Now this woman has a choice to make. Does she head home so she can get the long list of errands done that day? Or does she accept the invitation for a cup of coffee and visit with this person? 

The woman in the article goes in and has a cup of coffee. They have a great conversation, and they talk each week when they see each other at mass. The woman even stops by occasionally to see how the owner is doing. She prays for him in her personal prayer time. They have formed a relationship. The article says, “When we view what we do in Jesus’s name as simply nameless, faceless sacrifices, we have missed the whole concept of “love as I have loved you.” It’s all personal with Jesus. It is all about relationships.

Since we are talking about mercy in this verse, I think this is a good time to address why Catholics feel like we are required to do works of mercy. Let me preface this by saying I am not an expert in this area. I am learning just as you are. If you have questions you want me to answer or if you think I have gotten something wrong, feel free to email me at [email protected] and let me know. The works of mercy are a chance for us to give witness to Christ. Jesus entrusted his followers with the responsibility of caring for others. He identified himself as the one whom his disciples would love and care for: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me” Matthew 25:40. Jesus asks us to see him in every person we meet, especially in those who are suffering in need. He asks us to care for each person in a spirit of loving service, knowing that we are really loving and caring for Christ, who, through the Holy Spirit, lives on in every person.

There are two different types of works of mercy. The Corporal Works of Mercy are acts of love that address the physical and material needs of others. The Corporal Works of Mercy are: Feed the hungry, Give drink to the thirsty, Clothe the naked, Visit the imprisoned, Shelter the homeless, Visit the sick, and Bury the dead. Then there are the Spiritual Works of Mercy, which address the needs of peoples’ minds, hearts, and souls. The Spiritual Works of Mercy are Admonish, the sinner. (Give correction to those who need it.) Instruct the ignorant. (Share our knowledge with others.) Counsel the doubtful. (Give advice to those who need it.) Comfort the sorrowful. (Comfort those who suffer.) Bear wrongs patiently. (Be patient with others.) Forgive all injuries. (Forgive those who hurt us.) Pray for the living and the dead.

The works of mercy are practical ways to live out our Catholic faith. Even just one work of mercy can make an impact on the world. Performing Works of Mercy also prepares disciples for the Last Judgement, when Jesus Christ will come at the end of time to judge all people on how merciful they have been and how well they have treated those who are poor or in need. Jesus invites his followers: “Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food, I was thirsty, and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me” (Matthew 25:31-32)

Jesus is asking us to take care of the hungry, the thirsty, the lonely, the naked, and those in prison. There are other places where Jesus asks us to take care of the orphans and the widows. Jesus does not want us going through this world being concerned only with ourselves and with our salvation. We might be fasting and praying and doing all we can to get ourselves into heaven, and yet if we are not taking care of others as well, we are not doing what he is asking us to do. We are told to see Christ in each person. Think about how you treat people. Do you treat each person you meet throughout the day as if they were Jesus? Jesus’ spirit is inside each one of us. Would Jesus be proud of the way you are treating the people that you meet? How could you change this?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, let your words sink into our hearts. Show us how you want us to help those in need. Show us what needs to change in our lives. Show us where we can make changes to live more in alignment with how you want us to live. We love you, Lord, you are amazing. We want to love others like you love us. Show us how. Help us to see you in everyone we meet. Remind us that you are calling us to do that. 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. Reminder the retreat registration closes in a few days. If you have been procrastinating, hurry, you won’t want to miss out! I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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What To Do About Anxiety, Fear & Worry

Matthew 5:9  “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

I think it is kind of interesting that this is the verse of the day today. I was searching for good scripture verses for anxiety. I woke up this morning to a Facebook message from a friend asking for prayers because her anxiety was really bad, and she couldn’t sleep. This, unfortunately, happens to more people than we know. While looking for a verse, my phone buzzed with the verse of the day. I think it is interesting because this was the verse for my small group at the retreat. We have a group chat with all of us in that group, and it is called the Peacemakers. So, when I saw the verse, I knew that was the one I was supposed to use. 

Then the Lord showed me that peace is exactly what those with anxiety need. Anxiety, worry, and fear are happening more and more these days. There are so many young people suffering from it, and yet it is affecting the older population as well. It seems no one is above the grasp of worry, anxiety, and fear. I imagine one thing that makes it so hard is that you don’t always know what you are anxious about. If you knew what it was, if it was a specific thing you were worried about, you could talk yourself out of it. You might be able to reason with yourself. However, when you have these feelings, but they aren’t about something specific, you aren’t sure what to tell yourself. 

In my book on Anxiety, I have a chapter on what to do at the moment when you are having an anxiety attack. I am not a counselor, so what I am sharing with you are things I have learned by researching anxiety as I have a lot of friends and family who suffer from it, and I have tried to help them over the years. If you are struggling with anxiety, you may want to talk to a counselor about it. I have talked to a counselor for years for various reasons, and I find them so helpful!

I have heard when you are having anxiety, you should try to get back to the present moment. Anxiety is usually when we are thinking about the past or the future. However, in the present moment, there isn’t anything to worry about because it just is. Trying to get yourself back to the present moment when you are anxious can be just the trick you need.  However, how do you do that?  There are several different activities that you can quickly do when you are noticing that you are starting to worry.  Actually, even if you are in a full-blown panic attack, you may be able to do these activities to calm yourself down.  I will go over two of them 

1.) The first and probably easiest to explain is to count numbers out of order or backward.  When you do this, you are shifting focus from one part of your brain to another, and it is harder to be anxious when you are using this other part of your brain.  Let's all practice this now.  Everyone counts down backwards from 10.  Awesome, nice job!  You can also count numbers out of order.  For instance, 3, 10, 15, 4, 8, 22, 17. Again, this forces your focus to start using another part of your brain.  

2.) The next one is to enlist the help of your senses to pull you back into the present moment.  The Mayo Clinic calls it the 5-4-3-2-1 Countdown to make anxiety blasts off.  Here is how you would do it.  You take a moment and look around at your surroundings.  Now you would list:

 5 things you can see: Your arm, a pen, your computer, the rug, the window.  

4 things you can physically feel: Your face, the ground, your hair, your shoe

3 things you can hear: The rain outside, a car passing by, your fridge buzzing

2 things you can smell: your feet, a plant

1  thing you can taste: your chapstick, your drink, gum. These will obviously be different for everyone.  It depends on the room you are in or the place where this occurs.  It depends on what you are doing and what your surroundings are.  However, this is something you can practice and get good at when you are not in the middle of an attack.  You could silently do it in various familiar surroundings. For instance, when you are in your car on the way to work, or anyway, you could quickly run through this exercise.  When you are making breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you could run through it.  The more you practice it when you are not in the middle of a panic attack, the more likely you are to think of it when you are.  

Counting backward or out of order is something I think you could easily practice when you are not in the middle of an attack.  Just maybe try once or twice a day to count backward or to count out of order.  If you have anxious thoughts a lot, but they aren’t to the level of a panic attack, then try to implement this technique right when you realize you’re thinking about something that is making you anxious.  This doesn’t have to be something you do out loud.  It doesn’t have to be something that anyone else is aware that you are doing.  If you can get in the habit of recognizing the thoughts that are causing you anxiety, that would be the first step.  Then, try counting backward or out of order to distract yourself from those thoughts.  

The third one is extreme sensations.  For instance, eating a fireball or a lemon head.  This shock to the senses might be just enough to bring you back to the present moment.  Also, the sensation of touching ice.  This would be one that I am not sure you could practice when you are not in the moment.  However, it would be one that you would need to prepare for.  If you have tried the other two techniques and you have not found the relief at the moment that you are looking for, you may want to try this one.  In order to try this one, you would have to have something on hand.  If you are at your house, you likely have access to ice.  If you are thinking that you would like to try one of the other things, you would have to buy those ahead of time so that you have them on hand when you need them.

This is another way we can help ourselves in the moment.  We can be prepared for them when they come.  If we know we are prone to panic attacks, what can we do to be prepared?  What if it happens when we are out with others? What can we do in that situation?  How would we want to handle it if we could plan in advance?  What about if it happens when we are alone? What will our plan be?  What if our kids are around?  There are many different circumstances where panic attacks can come about.  Is it possible to come up with a plan for the different circumstances?  Is it possible to run through these scenarios in your mind ahead of time so if you find yourself in one of these situations, it won’t be the first time?  Almost like you are doing a dress rehearsal in your brain so that you can practice the best way to respond.  

I have been told that our brains believe what we tell them and that the reason visualization works so well is that our brains can’t tell the difference between what we are visualizing we are doing and what we are really doing.  For instance, the best athletes run over their plays or their movements in their heads, even when they are not at practice.  A golfer will visualize holding the golf club. They will visualize swinging it, hitting the ball, and then the ball going into the hole.  They do this over and over again in their mind, and even though they are not actually doing it, when it comes time to do it on the course, their mind thinks they have been here before.  Their mind feels like it has done this tons of times before, and it acts as if it has.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could train your mind to react to these anxious thoughts in a more productive way?  Wouldn’t it be great if your mind automatically started one of these techniques when you felt a panic attack coming on?  Wouldn’t it be great if you were prepared for these attacks before they came?   I believe these things are possible.  It won’t be easy, and it will take work, but it can happen.  You can gain some control in the midst of these attacks if you do the work to prepare ahead of time. If you are struggling with anxiety, know that there are things you can do. Don’t just accept that you are someone with anxiety. Pray to God and ask Him to take it from you. Practice some of these techniques so that when the anxiety comes on, you are prepared. You can do this! The evil one is not more powerful than the Lord is, and He is the one protecting you!

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we ask that you help those who are listening and who struggle with fear, worry, or anxiety. Please let something I said here help ease their anxiety. Please put on their hearts what would work for them. Help anyone struggling with anxiety to know that they can count on you to fill them with peace any time they ask. Help them to know they can turn to you and that there are things they can do. Help them in the moment, Lord, to see that you are there with them. Help them to feel your presence. Help them to know deep in their heart and minds that the darkness will not overtake them and that you would never let that happen. Be with them, Lord! We love you, 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 put a link in the show notes an article titled 20 Prayers for Anxiousness to Trade Your Worries and Fears for God's Peace. Click Here I just want to remind you that this is the last week to sign up for the retreat. If you have been thinking about it and just haven’t signed up yet, please do so, as I have to turn the numbers in to the retreat center very soon. CLICK HERE for retreat info. I look forward to meeting you here again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Strive For Holiness

Hebrews 12:14 “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Striving for holiness is something I have been hearing a lot about over the last few years. It is an interesting phrase that I don’t think many people think about. If you were to ask people if they were striving for holiness, I am not sure they would say yes. I don’t think this is because we don’t want holiness. I think it is because we just never really thought about it before. Another reason might be that we have thought about it, and yet we discounted ourselves because we could never be holy. Who are we to think we could be holy? 

I remember going to a talk once by Jon Leonetti. He is excellent, by the way. You can find short videos on YouTube where he talks about all things Catholic. You can tell just by listening to him how much he loves his Faith. In his talk, he asked the audience how many people sitting there wanted to go to heaven. We all raised our hands. Then he asked how many of us wanted to be saints. I think there might have been 3 of us that raised our hands out of a couple hundred people in the room. He then said, “You know only saints are in heaven, right?” It’s true. Nothing unclean gets into heaven. This is why we go to purgatory. However, wouldn’t it be better if we started working towards holiness before we died? Wouldn’t it be better not to have to spend as much time getting it right after we die?

This verse tells us that we are ALL called to strive for peace and holiness. It says without this, we will not see the Lord. I don’t know about you, but I want to see the Lord. I want to do whatever I have to do to be able to not only see the Lord but to spend eternity with Him. Holiness is not something we will be perfect at, and I don’t think God expects perfection from us. It doesn’t say in this verse that we must master peace and holiness. It says we should strive for it. So, how do we strive for it?

Let's start with what holiness even means. From what I can gather, holiness means being set apart. Being holy means, we are set apart from the things of this world. It means we are set apart from sin too. One way we could strive for holiness is to ask God for the grace to follow Him in His ways. We can ask the Lord to put on our hearts the various ways we are falling short of holiness and then give us the grace and the strength to change those things. We can take all those things that the Lord put on our hearts to confession, and we can confess our sins and try to sin less next time. Going to confession can help us sin less because it brings our attention to our sins. The more you examine your conscience, the more you will begin to think about it even when you aren’t meaning to. Also, the more aware you will be of what is right and what is wrong. The more you start to look at the Examination of Conscience, the more the Holy Spirit begins to point out things. First, He will point out the big ways we are breaking our relationship with the Lord. However, as we continue to grow closer to Him, we will start to notice even the small ways we offend the Lord. It is gradual and gentle. The Lord is not going to put all the things in your heart at once. He meets us where we are and walks us in slowly.

Another important factor of being holy is having a personal, intimate relationship with our Lord, Jesus, and /or the Holy Spirit. They are three people in one, so it doesn’t matter which you have an intimate relationship with. A lot of people feel more comfortable talking to Jesus as we can relate to Him. He was human. He walked the earth. We have stories about those He hung around. He has a mom and a dad like we do. Others love to talk with the Holy Spirit living inside of us. Some like to talk to God the Father. Any of these are good. Whatever feels the most comfortable for you. You might start talking with one and then as your relationship grows, you might find you are talking to all three depending on the circumstance.

In order to have a personal relationship with any of them, you need to spend time with them. Imagine you wanted to have a relationship with your children, and yet you never had time for them. You wanted to, you meant to, and yet it just never happened. Things kept coming up, and you would get distracted. What kind of relationship do you think you would have with your kids if you never had any time to put into it? Would you know your kids? Would they know you? The same is true with the Lord. If you don’t spend any time with Him, then you won’t know Him. It says in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’  And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

It is not enough to know who Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are. It is not enough to read about them in the Bible. It is not enough to admire them or even worship them from afar. We need to spend time with them. We need to talk with them. I know we are all busy, and I know we feel we don’t have any time. Yet, can we really afford not to? Do we really want to risk being one of those who Jesus says, “I do not know you?” We are talking about where we get to spend eternity.

It seems to me the stakes are pretty high, and even if we have tried in the past to have a relationship with Him before and we weren’t able to maintain it, we need to try again. If we ask the Lord to help us, he gladly will. Sometimes not in the ways we would like, but He will always help us. One of my teachers was saying that she had an assignment to spend the day with Jesus, and she thought there was no way she had the time to spend the entire day with Jesus. She went on vacation and got vertigo, and had to spend the whole day in bed. She was on a mission trip with several people, one of whom was a priest. He left the blessed sacrament with her while they went out for the day. She got to spend the whole day with Jesus. Maybe not how she had thought she would, but He made the time for her.

There are other ways to increase holiness. These are just two out of many. Ask the Lord what ways He wants you to grow in holiness, and then sit and listen to what He tells you. It won’t be something so extreme you could never do it. Someone at my prayer group just said yesterday, “God won’t ask you to go to Africa unless he first put Africa in your heart.” He is a loving Father. We don’t have to be scared to go to Him and ask Him what He wants us to do because He knows us better than we know ourselves. He will be gentle with us. He will stretch us and maybe take us out of our comfort zone, but not so much that we need to be scared. Spend time with the Lord each and every day, and He will guide you to holiness. If you feel your schedule is way too busy to add anything else to it, go to my website, walkboldlywithjesus.com, and click on the link to an audio teaching I created titled “Invite Jesus Into Your Every Day.” This will give you ways to talk with Jesus and connect with Jesus without adding anything new to your day.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you. We are so sorry that we don’t make time for you. We are sorry we don’t talk with you and cultivate our relationship with you. Lord, please put on each of our hearts at least one way we can grow closer to you. Put on our hearts one way we can grow in holiness. Lord, what we want more than anything in the whole world is to get to spend eternity with you. Please guide us, please show us how. We don’t want to get to the end of this life and have you say, “I never knew you.” 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 want to remind everyone that you just have one more week to sign up for the retreat. CLICK HERE for retreat info. Many people have checked out the webpage with the information and yet have not signed up. I want to encourage you. If you are thinking about it and yet are nervous or scared, sign up anyway. If you have never done a retreat before and don’t know what to expect, listen to Episode 580, Witness Wednesday #78, or you can listen to Episode #577, The Power of Retreats.  There really is something very powerful about taking a weekend away and spending it with other faith-filled women. I hope you have been thinking about it or considering it, I pray you will take the leap of faith and sign up. I pray you will do that for yourself. You do so much for others. When was the last time you did something for yourself? I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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Keep asking! Nothing Is Too Big or Too Small!

1 Samuel 9:16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines, for I have seen the suffering of my people because their outcry has come to me.”

What stood out to me when I read this verse was the very last line. In this verse, God is talking to Samuel right before Saul shows up. God said that He will save His people from the hands of the Philistines because He has seen the suffering and because their outcry has come to Him. That is the part that stood out to me. He heard their outcry. I have been encountering more and more people who don’t pray for what they need unless it is a huge deal. If they don’t need a miracle, they aren’t asking God for anything.

I understand this sentiment. I mean, God is busy, He is doing important things, and we don’t want to waste His time with our small issues. When we do this, we are saying that God has a finite amount of power. We are assuming that He won’t have enough time or enough power to deal with the bigger issues and our smaller issues. God’s time and power are infinite. There are no limits to time or power for God. We never have to worry that our request will take God away from someone else. He is with each one of us 100% of the time.

Not only can God take care of the little things, He wants to. He cares about every aspect of our life. When we ask Him to help us, to take care of things, we are showing Him that we trust Him. We are showing Him that we want Him in all aspects of our life. There are so many areas where I see people suffering, and they aren’t asking God for help. I understand and believe that redemptive suffering is a thing. I believe that our prayers can be more powerful when we are in the midst of great suffering. I believe that if we can offer our suffering up for others, that is a powerful and beautiful thing. I don’t believe that God wants us to suffer for the rest of our lives. I don’t believe that if we have asked God for healing once or twice and it hasn’t happened, then that means that God isn’t going to heal us.

I don’t know why some people have chronic pain and have been suffering for a very long time. I don’t know why it seems like God heals some people, and yet it seems like He doesn’t heal others. His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I do believe God wants us to ask for healing. I do believe He wants to hear the words come out of our mouths. God believes in free will. If we aren’t asking Him for healing, He is probably not going to be healing it. From all that I have learned, God wants us to be actively engaged in our relationship with Him. He doesn’t just want us to sit back and have a hands-off relationship with Him. I don’t believe He wants us to hold anything back from Him. I don’t believe He thinks anything is too big or too small for Him.

We have been told in our Encounter Ministries class that God cares just as much about our hang nail as He does about someone else’s cancer. It is not one or the other with God. It is everything. At the Encounter summer intensive, there was a woman who was saying that she had pain and stiffness in her hips. When she sits for any length of time, she has a hard time getting back up and a hard time walking afterward. For a year now, she hasn’t been able to wear shoes with laces because of the stiffness in her hips. She couldn’t bend down to tie them. She was prayed over at the end of the healing night for the summer intensive, and the next day she could bend down and tie her shoes again. Do you see? God even cares about what kind of shoes you want to wear.

In the verse above, God sent Saul to save His people from the Philistines. He did this because He heard them crying out. Are you crying out? Are you asking God for help? I am not saying that we need just to sit around and cry out to the Lord all the time. I am not saying we should be complaining about our pain or our circumstances either. What I am saying is that we don’t have to be afraid to ask God for something. We don’t have to feel like we are bothering Him. When we don’t ask Him, we are depriving Him of the opportunity to help us.

Think about how good you feel when you help someone out of a difficult situation. Think about the satisfaction and the joy you get when you help others. Now, think about how God might feel when He gets to be your savior and when He gets to save you from whatever it is you are going through, big or small. If you have chronic pain, you may be praying to God all the time, and yet you are not seeing healing. If this is the case, I am so sorry. I wish we could understand why God does what He does. However, if you are in chronic pain and you used to ask for God to heal you and now you have given up asking, I ask you to start again.

I don’t know why He hasn’t healed you yet. I don’t know what His plan is or when He wants to heal you. I do believe with all my heart that He does want to heal you. I do believe He wants you to keep asking for the healing. I believe he wants you to keep believing that healing is possible, that you are deserving of healing, and that He loves you more than anything else in this whole world.

I am not sure I believed healing of chronic pain was possible. I mean, I think I truly believed it in my heart, and yet there was still doubt. I mean, if He wanted it healed, He would have done it already, right? Then I prayed with my aunt. She had pain in her legs for over 5 years. She couldn’t walk without pain. It had gotten so bad that she had to quit her job 9 months earlier, and she was basically bedridden as when she walked, her pain was level 11. I told her we could pray together and that I believed God wanted to heal her. This was true, and yet I didn’t know what it would be like. I mean, she has had pain for so long. Surely if God wanted to heal her, He would have. We prayed, and she saw no change. We kept praying for a while. She didn’t have much change that night or the next day. However, a few days later, she got out of bed and was completely pain-free.  How amazing is God? Yes, he could have healed her at any time, and yet He chose that specific day. We don’t know why, and we may never know why this side of heaven. We are just happy that my aunt kept asking Him and didn’t give up and just accepted that as her fate. She could have said no to me praying with her. She could have thought there was no point. But she said Yes, and God came through for her.

He can do this for you too! Please don’t stop asking. Please don’t think things are too big or too little for God. Please don’t feel like anything you ask would ever be an inconvenience to God or that you would bother Him. I don’t think anything makes Him happier than when we turn to Him, and when we show Him, we trust Him by entrusting our petition to Him. Another important piece to this which I won’t go into but I do want to mention, is that we should not just ask God for things, but we should praise Him daily as well. Thank Him for all that He has done and continues to do for you. Show God you are thankful for what He has done, and He will continue to do more. God loves you. He wants to be there for you. Trust Him and share everything with Him.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, we want to bring things to you. Please help us. Help us get rid of our feeling of not enough and our feeling that we would be bothering you with our requests. Please help us to see that you are there for us in the big and the small ways. Please help us to see that you care about all the details of our lives, even the little ones. Lord, give us the strength and the courage to keep asking, even if it is something that we have asked for many times before. Help us to keep asking, Lord. We love you, 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 seeing you again tomorrow. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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CLICK HERE for retreat info.

Today, I will give my witness about the ACTS retreat I went on this weekend. One of the things that makes the ACTS retreat different and special is that you don’t know what to expect, and everything is a surprise. So, although I will be witnessing my experience, I won’t talk about what we did at the retreat as that is a well-guarded secret that I will keep out of respect for the ACTS community and out of respect for those who may be listening that want to go on an ACTS retreat someday.

I was very excited when I signed up for this retreat. I had been wanting to go on one for several years now, and the timing never lined up. The first year I saw the flyer just after it had happened. The next year I am not sure what happened, and then COVID happened. This year, my friend invited me in July, and it worked out that I didn’t have anything planned for that weekend. I signed up and was excited about getting to experience one of these weekends.

ACTS stands for Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service. I don’t think I knew this before going. I don’t think I knew very much at all before going. I remember the flyer I had seen years ago talking about helping you live out the Acts chapter in the Bible. However, I think that may have just been the theme for that retreat. The theme for last weekend was Forgiveness. I love this theme, as forgiveness is so important. There are so many ways unforgiveness can block us from God and from His graces, and even our eternal salvations. I am all for more teaching on forgiveness.

As I said, I was so excited for this retreat. I was really looking forward to it. Then, as it got closer, I started to get nervous. I was happy because I did know 3 other ladies from my prayer group who were coming, and I knew two ladies on the team putting the retreat on. I knew I wouldn’t be alone. However, when I usually go to a retreat, this is not the case. I started to remember how strange it felt to show up and not know anyone. In most cases, I have a schedule so I can see what is going to happen at the retreat. However, for this retreat, there was no schedule given to us in advance. This was a good thing because it let you be in the moment without constantly thinking about the next thing to come. However, it didn’t help calm our nerves before getting there.  Sometimes the unknown is scary.

We met at the church and took a bus to the retreat location. This was nice and yet also a bit intimidating as we weren’t sure what we would be walking into. However, there were a few team members on the bus to welcome us. Getting off the bus, you could tell no one really knew what to expect, and everyone was a bit nervous. We were all shown to our rooms to drop off our stuff and then down to the dining room to eat some dinner. That is something I think I can tell you, we ate a lot of great food throughout the weekend. Especially as a group of women, we are used to providing meals for our families, and it is really nice when we go away that someone else does the cooking, and we just get to show up and eat. We even get to eat our food while it is hot, which moms of little ones don’t always get to do because they are usually feeding the children and then eating their meals afterward.

Over the next three days, we got to know most of the ladies on the retreat weekend. There were over 60 ladies on the retreat between the team and the people registered for the retreat. Unfortunately, I did not get to talk with everyone on the retreat, but I did meet a good number of new people. What I saw on this retreat is what I see on all the retreats that I go to. Everyone comes in a bit nervous, not really sure what to expect, and yet by the time they leave, they have a bunch of new sisters in Christ. They have more people to walk with on this journey of faith.

What I love most about retreats is that a lot of our preconceived notions get blown away. For instance, we tend to think everyone is more holy than us. We tend to think everyone else has things all together, and we are the only ones who don’t know what we are doing half the time. We think that everyone has this faith journey down pat, and we are the only ones who struggle. We think we are alone on our journey, and no one could possibly understand what we are going through. We look at those around us, and we see how strong their faith appears to be, and we are sure they never struggle. What do they have to struggle with anyway? Then we talk with them. Then we get to know them. Then we understand what the saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover” really means.

The reason it seems like you are the only one struggling is because we don’t like to talk about our struggles. We don’t like to admit that we are still trying to figure out our faith journey. We don’t want to talk about issues in our marriage and issues with parenting because we know we are the only ones going through it. We assume because others aren’t talking about their struggles, they aren’t having any. However, you aren’t talking either. While I got to know people this weekend, I met extraordinary women who have battled the same issues I have with my kids. I am not talking about similar things, I am talking about some of the same exact scenarios, so much so that the words they were saying could have been coming out of my mouth as well.

This is the biggest, most amazing thing about retreats to me. Yes, I love the time with God, and I love the brief break from reality. However, what I think I love the best is the way God sets up this time for us to get to know people that we might not have met otherwise. God creates opportunities for us to talk to those on the retreat that He knows we need to talk to. If you have been on a retreat before, no matter the type of retreat, you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t been on a retreat, think of some times when you have gone to a gathering of a group of ladies, even if it was just for a few hours. Did you wind up talking to someone that you really liked? Did you talk with someone who you just connected with immediately?

I definitely left the retreat this weekend with some new sisters in Christ that I can walk with along my journey. More people I can turn to for prayers, support, and strength. You also meet people who are further along than you are on your journey, so they can guide you, and you meet people who aren’t quite as far, and you can help guide them. I remember the first retreat I went on, and I haven’t looked back since. I have never once regretted going on a retreat. I have never once been on a retreat where I haven’t met other amazing women. Every retreat, I leave a better person. Every retreat I go to, I get a renewed love for God and for my faith. Every retreat is a stepping stone in this journey called life. Every retreat, I leave with new sisters in Christ along for the journey. If you haven’t been on a retreat, I highly suggest you find one. If mine is not the right retreat for you, look for one closer to you or one that fits what you are looking for. If you want to go on a retreat where you can meet a lot of amazing ladies, and yet you don’t have all the religious things at a traditional retreat, you can check out biglifehq.com Pamela plans adventure retreats for Christian women who want that time together. They are amazing as well. We are not meant to do life alone. We need community. If you don’t have a community, try to find one. You will be much happier. I am actually going to be starting a group coaching community for those of you who want a place where you can grow in your faith with other like-minded individuals. It will be a group where we will come together each week, and I will teach on a topic, and we will have time for small group discussions. We will all grow in our faith together. I will have more details in the upcoming weeks. It will start after the retreat. I hope you all have an amazing week, and I pray each and every one of you finds a retreat you can go on in the next few months. Your life will be changed.

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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We Have Redemption and Forgiveness of Sins!

Colossians 1:13-14 “ He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Original sin came about when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.  This means sin entered into our hearts. The power of darkness had more of a hold on us, and our hearts were more attuned to sin.  However, when Jesus came and died for us, He rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of God.  Jesus redeemed us.  He died for our sins, even when we didn’t deserve it.  That is the part that gets me.  It is not as if we deserved that mercy.  It is not as if we were all loving God and treating Him the way He deserves to be treated. God loved us even after all the years of rebellion.  If you look back at the Old Testament, you will see the people of God turning away from Him time and time again.  Yet, He still went through with His plan to save them.

The people of the Old Testament did not have a Baptism of repentance. They had the Lord looking out for them. However, they didn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside of them, and they didn’t have Jesus yet. Jesus hadn’t yet died on the cross, so they weren’t saved from the original sin.  Sin had more influence over them because they didn’t have the Spirit of God living inside of them, helping them make the right choice.  They didn’t have the power and authority that we have from Jesus.  This is not to excuse their behavior, but it does explain it a bit.  It does help us to have a bit of empathy for them.  

Look how much we mess up even with the Spirit of the Lord living inside of us. Now, imagine we didn’t have it.  Imagine what life would be like if we couldn’t go to confession when we mess up. Imagine we didn’t have the gift and grace of forgiveness of sins.  Imagine if every time we did something wrong, we needed to bring an animal to the temple and sacrifice it. When we look back at the Old Testament, we, or at least I, struggle to understand how and why God’s people were always turning away. It seems like if I saw a miracle, like the parting of the Red Sea, I would never want to turn away from the Lord.  I would know without a doubt He was the one true God and would want to do whatever I could to please Him. I wouldn’t complain about what I was eating because what I was eating was a miracle from God each and every day. I love to think I would do things differently if I lived back in the Old Testament times.

However, would I really? I have seen God do extraordinary miracles right here in my lifetime, and yet I don’t always put Him first. I can eat whatever I want to eat, and yet sometimes I still complain. I have the Holy Spirit, the one who raised Jesus from the dead, living inside of me, and yet I still sin, I still doubt at times, I still complain. Why is that? Why is it that I know how amazing our God is? I have the power of the Spirit living inside of me, and yet I still mess up? Imagine if we didn’t? Imagine if we didn’t have the opportunity to go to mass daily.  Imagine if we didn’t have the Eucharist to be providing us strength and fortitude each day or each week. We are very lucky that Jesus came and died for us. We are lucky we receive His Spirit when we are Baptized and again when we make our Confirmation.

The verse above says, “ He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” There is a caveat to this redemption and forgiveness.  The caveat is that we accept it.  It says in the Bible that Jesus gave His apostles the power and authority to forgive sins in His name. It says in John 20:23, “ If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Your sins can be forgiven, but you have to accept that forgiveness, and this is hard for many of us.  We believe that this can happen to other people, but somehow we believe that our sins are too big. God couldn’t possibly forgive me. If He knew what I did, he would hate me forever. These are the types of thoughts that go through our minds. We think forgiveness is for others.

This is not the case. Forgiveness is for every single person on the planet who will accept it and is ready to repent for what they have done. It says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church #1864, “There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation offered by the Holy Spirit. Such hardness of the heart can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.” Jesus died for our sins. Why is that so hard for us to accept?  This verse from the CCC says that if we don’t accept this forgiveness, it can lead to final impenitence and eternal loss.  I don’t know about you, but that is not anything that I want. I just looked up the definition for final impenitence. I had a pretty good idea of what it meant, but I wanted to make sure of the exact definition.  Here is what I found: Final penitence means dying unreconciled with God, whether through loss of faith, or through despair, or a blasphemous rejection of God's love.

I am 100% sure I do not want that for myself or anyone else. Dying unreconciled with God would be awful. If I want to make sure this does not happen, the answer is found in the definition. I need to make sure I do not lose my faith. I need to make sure I do not fall into despair and that I always remember there is always hope in our Lord and Savior. I also need to make sure I do not reject God’s love and forgiveness. I need to accept it with open arms. The stakes are pretty high. If you struggle to accept God’s forgiveness, I urge you to try and work on that. God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He did all the hard work. Now all we have to do is accept this forgiveness and love. I know it is not easy to accept it at times, and yet the alternative is hard as well. We must find a way to accept his forgiveness so we don’t end up separated from God for eternity.

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, you are amazing, and we love you so much. We are so grateful you sent your one and only son to rescue us from the power of darkness and to transfer us into Jesus’ kingdom. You are the best! You are always looking out for us. We are so grateful. We are sorry when we struggle to accept your forgiveness or your love. We live in a broken world, and sometimes it is hard to believe someone could love us as the enemy tells us constantly that we are unloveable. It can be hard to believe we are forgiven when the enemy tells us no one would ever forgive us. Forgive us, Lord, for believing the enemy over you.  Give us the strength to believe you above all else. 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. Thank you to those who have signed up for the retreat and those who couldn’t attend but wanted to donate money so someone else could attend. I really appreciate all of you! Registration for the retreat closes soon, so make sure to get registered if you want to attend. CLICK HERE  for retreat info. I look forward to meeting you here tomorrow with another witness. Remember, Jesus loves you, and so do I! Have a blessed day!

www.findingtruenorthcoaching.com

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