This Reflects Who I Was As A Writer When My Son Created This Picture In My Journal

November 1, 1996 @ 11:15 AM

As I sit in the living presence of the Lord at St. Paul's Shrine I wait to attend 1st Friday confession. I was blessed once this day with receiving the Lord Jesus Christ in the eucharist this holy day, All Saints Day.

Are we not all called to be a saint? To live with and be amongst the saints? The answer My dear and precious children in Christ is "yes." Shout this from the rooftops with gladness in your hearts and voices. Above all things on this earth you walk upon-give praise and honor and glory to My Almighty Father now and forever. Amen.

Come children that thirst and hunger for new life a life in the spirit of God-come, come, come-have not no fears lift them up to Me-Me being Christ Jesus. I can and will take all from you that blocks your road to live the life of a saint, do we not all have this calling let Me set you free...

At this point I then created an image in my journal. In this illustration I was guided to place upon the paper it is explained to me that the 1st figure is that of the Holy Spirit the Paraclete of God, in which light and splendor are blessed upon us all. Below the Holy Spirit is the cross in which our Lord Jesus Christ died upon. "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." (INRI) Surrounding the cross above, below, and on each side are droplets of water. Cleansing and healing all for Christ Jesus suffered and died upon this cross to wash away our sins. To cleanse our souls. Let Him into your heart to do great works. Works that can only be accomplished through the blessings of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all united as one. Praises to our King on high. I love you trinity, I trust you trinity, I believe you trinity, I praise you trinity, and above all, I adore you trinity.

I then signed it: In peace I write this day.

My Writing Style May Change A Bit Here And There

You may see a different side of me here and there. I feel led to start sharing a bit of my "raw" journal entries to give you a flavor of who I was when I started to write. I was very much Catholic and very devoted to the Catholic faith when I began my journey. I would say I was a bit mixed up also back then. I use to go and have my tarot cards read; I would attend a monthly cleansing/healing event at the woman's home where I would go to have my cards read; and my former husband also gifted me with a past life regression session with a person. You need to know that I regressed to no where and that was a total waste of his money. How could I regress to somewhere I never was? Satan is very sly and clever, take warning so as to not fall for his traps. Even though I was very religious so to speak I also had angel cards of my own that I read. Another deceitful trick of the enemy. You think they are OK because it says Angel in the title. Remember, there were 1/3 of the angels that fell from heaven with satan. Do not fall for another sly trick of the enemy.
I was never told by the Catholic Church that I wasn't suppose to do that. I was also never told by them or encouraged back then to read my bible. It was when the Holy Spirit prompted me to start reading the bible that I began to question doctrine's of the Catholic faith, i. e. that there is no purgatory or you cannot pay or burn candles or pray for a deceased person once they die. I later came to realize that once you take that last breath of life your decision you made while you were on earth alive is the determining factor of where you will be for all of eternity.
At that point in my life I prayed the rosary frequently and the Divine Mercy Chaplet, fasting, and at one point I received daily communion for one year. It was at this time in my life that I frequented a local shrine and found peace there. It was not the priests per say that told me to not have my tarot cards read, etc. It was a concerned nun that one day asked me what I was going to do for the weekend. I replied that I was going to go to a healing session at the lady's home that read my tarot cards. I will never forget the stern look on her face and the tone in her voice when she told me to go right to confession and to never ever go back there. I did what she told me to do and I never went back. God used her in a mighty way to get me off of the beaten path and onto His path. I will periodically visit there in the gift shop and chat with Sister a bit if she is there.
You need to know that at that point in my life I was searching for more than what I had in my life. Be very cautious because that is when I was deceived in thinking that doing tarot cards and reading a book like The Celestine Prophecy was all good. It was not and when I received knowledge I began to clean out my home of all of that bad stuff. I remember purchasing a scarab bracelet from a jewelry store and it had gemstones in it. The Holy Spirit dealt with me about that one day to throw it away. I was going to just throw it in the trash and he reminded me to dismantle it so no one else would find it and get lured in by it's beauty. I dismantled it and out in the trash it went. Once I received knowledge I wanted to live a true life with the leading of the Holy Spirit. I do believe I am where I am today because of the obedience I chose to follow back then.
On occasion, you will see a drawing from my journal. Today, you see a picture my daughter drew in my journal entry that I will share today. I encouraged my children to draw and be a part of my books. You will eventually see a drawing that my son drew of an angel. I look forward to sharing these with you. Let your children be a part of what you do. My son drew more than my daughter did. This may be the only picture she drew now that I think of it. It does not matter to me if there is one or twenty pictures drawn in my journal books, it is the idea that they were drawn and they are now a part of who I am through my writing. Again, I encourage you to let your children be apart of what you do if they have an interest.
This is how I wrote on 6/9/1996 @ 3:20 PM:
Ah, what a glorious day to be alive and living a most beautiful day in he eyes of the Catholic Church. Corpus Christi, the feast of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. If I'm not mistaken we as Catholics celebrate this feast day. Other religions do not partake in this particular day of celebration. My heart wants to jump out and shout 'praise be the Lord now and forever,' but my mind becomes saddened for this glorious feast is only shared within my religion. I have friends That are of different faiths or I should say religions and my heart becomes burdened with the thought, why cannot they share in this wonderful day of celebration?
It makes not sense to me dear and gracious Lord for we are many parts-we are all one body and one body being the key to all of this. When you look back in the bible it does not speak of 200 and some different religions in which our world has to date. It is of one religion, one religion I repeat again... why so many where there is one Lord our King of Kings our Lord of Lords?
When you come again I know in my heart and in my mind there will be one religion again. All religions will blend together as one. All religions have many qualities, all will come together and "blend together." Praise be the Lord. All religions also have negative problems and concerns it will be as though they melted away. For we all come together for one reason to give praise to the Lord not only my Lord or the Lutheran Lord, oh no, our Lord, the Lord that loved us so much He humbled himself to send to our world His Son to save us all. To set us free. He wasn't just sent to one group He was sent for all. All that opened their hearts to hear the word of God and repent and to live a Christian life.
Different religions evolved because of not liking or not wanting to go along with the true teachings of the bible. So many men/women so many different thoughts and ways of doing things. Letting our humanness take over and not giving up total will to the Lord has brought about all of this. How unfortunate for coming together as one united is what will bring the peace in the world and in our hearts and beings. Not toys, or jobs or vacations will bring about all of this, oh no, united worship and taking and sharing of the true bread and drink of life. The eucharist, the living presence of our Lord. To embrace and take with us as we leave the church. Allowing Christ Jesus to totally consume you so that the peace can truly flow. Praise be the Lord. The Father, Son & Holy Spirit all in one, this glorious day as I write this by the Great Lake Erie May peace fill troubled hearts this day and always.
The picture you see was drawn the next day by my daughter. I still remember the excitement in her for the Olympic Torch was coming past our street in our very neighborhood. We went up to the top of our street to witness as the runner went past with the torch in their hand. Imagine that, in Euclid, Ohio.
I trust you will enjoy getting to know a different part of my life as a Catholic writer many years ago. I will share this with you. I was raised and attended Catholic grade school, an all girls Catholic High School and then to a Catholic University. Being raised in Catholicism taught me to follow order and have discipline to a degree and to respect men and women in the religious order. I know others look upon the Catholic religion as a bunch of rules and ritual practices so to speak but I will tell you that they have a respect for holiness and they are devout. It was my upbringing that allows me to be a determined follower of Jesus now. I am thankful of my upbringing and for the many sacrifices of my mother to allow us to attend the schools that we attended. She sacrificed so we could be raised with discipline, respect, and morals.

Here's A Great One From 10/13/1996

10/13/1996

On this glorious day the Lord has called upon me to write. To remove my ego, opinion, and thoughts. To let them rest for a few moments. To let the words and wisdom of the Holy Spirit pour out onto the paper that this pen so graciously flows upon.
This day My children in the Lord, open wide your hearts, minds, and lives. Turn them over to Me. Open up more; many have started on this journey with Me. Let Me touch your lives, let Me fill them with the tender love and peace, a peace deep within your being that only can be obtained by Me, with Me, and through Me. Give all to Me. I died upon the cross so each and every one of you may live and walk upon the earth. Treasure the love that reigns within your heart, for a heart filled with love comes from pureness and beauty.
If you walked down a path that was filled with darkness and despair, it was lonely and bleak. I can bring the light, the true light of healing and love back into your life. For as you walk down this path the brighter the light shall become just open your hearts, minds, bodies, and lives to Me. Let Me through the healing power of the Holy Spirit touch your being. Go forth now My children in Christ to spread the good news “Christ the Lord has risen on high.”

Don't Look Back, Leap Forward With Joy

A few short years ago I had a dream. As I revisit this dream I am reminded to not look back on things in my life but to look forward and advance forward. It is OK to remember things of the past that the Lord did for you or touched your life in a special way. It is not OK to yearn to go back and live where you lived a day, month, year, or years ago. Do not be tempted with that for it is far greater to walk on the journey that leads you closer to the goal or destiny for your life. Things may have seemed like they were much more fun back then. In reality the best is truly yet to come if you continue to advance forward and not creep backwards. Does that make sense? Equate it to this...say you are a photographer and you are very talented and considered an expert in this area. You must have had the desire inside of you since you were a young child to take photographs more than likely, right? Well, if you look back on your childhood years they probably seemed to be much more fun than maybe your life right now is that fair to say? As children we play and dream of what we will do when we grow up and then play some more. You may have even had a camera that you received as a gift and took a few pictures of people back then. Now, in the present season of your life you cultivated that natural talent of taking photographs and now you are walking in that destiny or on the path to the destiny. If you look back and yearn for those childhood days filled with fun and worry free it would take you away from what you have achieved so far in your life. It is OK to look back with fond memories but it is more exciting to look forward with anticipation of what the next day holds for you and your life. Another new opportunity to capture someones smile, a somber moment, the stillness of the leaves in a tree when the day is lacking of strong winds. What about that most beautiful rainbow in the sky or the very moment when the light streams though a break in the clouds? The talent you have today far surpasses the raw talent you had as a child photographer. So why would you want to look back and yearn for those days when truly the best and most perfect days are just ahead of you. It is so close to you that if you reached out a hand you would almost be able to grab onto it. Hang in there and keep advancing forward because when I look into the sky and see a break and stream of light come forth in the midst of clouds that is when I say to myself that must be grace. Remember what I told you grace stands for:
Gods
Royalty
Administered
Creativity
Encountered
Prophetic Dream From 12/26/05
The early morning of Christmas Eve Day, I awoke from a prophetic dream. I was uneasy about the nature of the dream until the Holy Spirit gave me the interpretation…
I appeared to look like I had wealth, but I knew the dream was of my current time in life. My situation now. A man followed me and I ducked into an apartment building. There was a wood frame door with a glass window as the inside part of the door. I was on the side of the door on the stoop of the inside entrance way of the apartment. The man was on the outside of the door. I was able to see his profile, messy, sandy, light brown hair. The only thing between us was the door. I had a choice to make, either take a chance and go past this man outside or go up 7 steps to an all white door to let you into the apartment complex. I took the chance and went outside because I was afraid of the unknown past the white door, not knowing the people there was fear.
The man robbed me and I said to him I only have $262.00 and that was my rent money. He gave me something back and I don’t remember what it was. The next thing I knew he was behind some news stand outside the apartment and I distinctively saw a man with dark hair peak around the corner and I know he saw the incident. I went into the agency where he was and I had to walk through stuff that reminded me of muck to get to him. When I reached him, he told me he didn’t see anything and he couldn’t help me.

The Holy Spirit then showed me what was behind the white door if I would have went forward instead of behind me…
There was floral wallpaper and a woman with blonde hair approached me with a smile. Then there was a tall man with dark hair that looked like Ted Danson approach me with two bags of gifts for me…

The Holy Spirit showed me not to go back but to move ahead, forward. There are gifts waiting for me, not to be afraid of moving forward. It’s not good to go “back.” The man was from an agency that’s suppose to help people i.e. Department of Jobs and Family Services. I had to go through all kinds of muck to get to the employee and even at that, he couldn’t/wouldn’t help me.

A dear friend gave me further interpretation of the dream:
Giving me courage in the dream to let me not miss things that God has for me.
2 witness Father/Son
6 human, man
2 witness Father/Son
10 God’s government, the government is on God’s shoulders
The number 7 is perfection

My daughter has always loved taking photographs. She recently sent me a photograph she took with the comment on the back stating that it almost looked like a post card. I am going to include this photograph today to give you a peek at hope.

Make Sure That The Voice You Hear Is That Of The Shepherd.

John 10: 1-13: "I can guarantee this truth: The person who doesn't enter the sheep pen through the gate but climbs in somewhere else is thief or a robber. But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep respond to his voice. He calls his sheep by name and leads them out of the pen. After he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They won't follow a stranger. Instead, they will run away from a stranger because they don't recognize his voice. Jesus used this illustration as he talked to the people, but they didn't understand what he meant.
Jesus emphasized, "I can guarantee this truth: I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before I did were thieves or robbers. However, the sheep didn't respond to them. I am the gate. Those who enter the sheep pen through me will be saved. They will go in and out of the sheep pen and find food. A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came so that my sheep will have life and so that they will have everything they need.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. A hired hand isn't a shepherd and doesn't own the sheep. When he sees a wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and quickly runs away. So the wolf drags the sheep away and scatters the flock. The hired hand is concerned about what he's going to get paid and not about the sheep."
I believe that says it all and there is no need to write anymore than what is already written.

My Prayer For Pastors In This Region

Pastors, my hearts cry to you at the end of this day as it is closing out to the dawn of a new day is to continue to reach out to the lost and dying. Stay strong in the Lord. Keep strong in the word of God and do not let cheaters get away with cheating you or others in your congregations. We are about to embark on a new day dawning and the fruit of the Holy Spirit must be much more pronounced now than days of before for what is about to hit the earth as we know it. Not a bad thing but a thing that will bring the church to stand and rise up to walk in their destiny. How exciting is that?
My prayer for pastors in this region is: Heavenly Father I come to you this day with a song of praise in my heart for this is the day that you have made and I have and will continue to rejoice and be glad in it. I thank you that I arose this day and the breath of life was inside of me to go forth in another day to be a blessing to someone. You are faithful. I lift up pastors in the region today. Lord I ask you to be a blessing upon them and give them incredible wisdom, guidance, direction, and protection. Let them guard their hearts and minds against the random yet daily thoughts of the enemy as he searches and roars frantically to find one that he can empower with negative thoughts . Keep their hearts guarded from wicked things and people and place around them people that truly love the Lord and are true followers of Jesus. Not just in deed and action but also their hearts are full of the love of God. Let the weary pastors be strengthened and refreshed. Restore the house of the Lord and let the church be a blessing within their communities. Restore the hearts of pastors in which they may have become a bit hardened and renew that tender heart in them. Let peace fill and flood their sanctuaries and altars. Again, I say peace to all. Amen.

I Received A Valuable Piece Of Wisdom The Other Day

The other day I had a conversation with an older person from New York. We started the conversation and it was interrupted by him because he had to complete a task and he asked me to call him back. As we conversed I knew there would be more to this conversation than the purpose of the telephone call. I called him back on time when he asked me to call back. I kept hearing the Holy Spirit nudging me to ask him if his profession was that of a lawyer. Did you ever have a refreshing and intelligent conversation with someone in which you just knew they were refined in culture and in their ways? That is what I experienced the other day. I wish I had lots of time to let this conversation go on longer because it was so refreshing to talk with this man.
The main purpose of our conversation was completed and I asked the question of him, if he was an attorney before he retired. His response was no. Since I learned about "probing" the other day at work I continued on to ask him if he was then a professor. His response was he inquired why I asked of these two professions. I told him it was a pleasure to speak with him and to have such a wonderful and intelligent conversation with really good insight. He began to share a bit of his story with me. I believe his heart was touched that I would hold him in the classification of both professions in my inquiry. This is what he shared with me. He did not finish high school. He was in the fashion industry in New York City. He started out in manufacturing and worked his way up the ladder in the industry. He was a part of all different price structures of various lines of clothing.
This is the valuable piece of information he gave to me...when he would hire someone or work with them he did not base his hiring just alone on their grade point average or if they had schooling credentials or not. He told me he went with his gut instinct and if they had that "spark in their eyes." He was looking for the creativity in the person that he would be able to pull that out of them and work with them. You know what I am talking about. The type of person that when you are having a conversation with them you can just see their mind racing and the wheels of creativity are turning while you speak. Thoughts just keep pouring out of them and it is as if their thoughts are rapidly coming out of them because the creativity button so to speak has been turned on inside of them and it flows out of them so quickly that it is probably hard for you at times to keep up with their conversation . They are the type of person that also sparks the creativity in you to come forth and you find yourself wanting to create when you are around this person. That is a good business connection. That type of person is someone that you can work with because they are flowing in their area of gifting and they at times just need someone that recognizes this to temper them and draw it out of them and release them so to speak to create. Those creative ideas could be the next great artist or writer or sales person you could ever have working, with you as their mentor.
When you think of it like that it is pretty important as a hiring manager to really take the time in the hiring process. If they are of soundness of mind and you see the spark of creativity inside of them and they are a person of integrity then do you not have an obligation to give them a try as an employee? I do not know the answer to that question only you can be the judge of that. Creativity in some people not only needs to be cultivated you will probably have to work with them to get more structure in their life at some point because a creative mind wants to just do, do, do. Doing is fine don't get me wrong, it just needs to be tempered so they are not spinning their wheels so to speak and your job is to funnel the "doing" so it works for them and not against them.
The conversation continued and I shared with him that a former boss of mine (which is an executive of a very large organization) once told me his knowledge he accrued throughout the years in the hiring process. He found it to be that the most successful people were the employees believe it or not that had grade point averages in the "C" range from college as opposed to the "A" range. He went on to tell me that they were the better employees that worked for him throughout the years. Please do not misconstrue what I am saying and only hire people with 2.5 gpa's, it is a gut instinct that you need to follow also. There are unfortunately a lot of con artists out their that fudge their resumes and even their schooling credentials. If a person is honest and sincere they will carry along with them when they interview a copy of their transcripts with the official school seal on it. It is also prudent and wise to possibly do a credit/background check on a potential employee. In some instances it will reveal a lot more information on them. If there is something that is questionable in their check then give them the opportunity to explain what was going on in their life during that time.
When my father owned properties and I managed an apartment complex I always did a credit check on the person. If a person experienced hardship in their life due to a divorce or illness or some valid reason I would let them explain to me and I would take that under advisement along with my gut instinct. The people that brought the "red flag" warning to me were the ones that owed the government back taxes from years ago that never paid them or student loans they skipped on, etc. Those are the kind of things that you should pay attention to. If they don't/didn't feel it was important to meet those obligations or attempt to make them right then how will they treat you and your company? Do you see what I am saying? Follow the pattern. Only once did I get burned so to speak with allowing a tenant to move in when they conned me with their sob story and I went against my gut instinct back then. The lesson learned was it was much harder to get rid of them once they moved in. I would have not had to deal with that situation if I would have just followed my gut instinct to begin with. A part of growth is the learning curve in which each one of us have to experience. There will be hits and misses in life. Let me share this with you.. of all of the misses you may experience it just takes the one hit you take a chance on and it is so worth it that it seems to wipe out all of the past misses in life.
Lesson learned...follow your gut instinct if you are vacillating on hiring a person. Now the even bigger lesson in all of this is that you better have a really good prayer life and are reading your bible because it is the Holy Spirit that sometimes will give you the knowledge you need and to ask a particular question of the person that you would have not normally asked to get the information you need. Does that make sense?
You see, I would not be able to write on this subject today if I did not follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit to probe and ask the questions at the almost seeming end of the conversation. Just by asking the right questions it took the conversation in another direction in which I was able to leave the conversation with wonderful knowledge/wisdom given to me. I then thanked the man and said that I will hang onto that wisdom for I will need to use it in the future one day. He also thanked me for thinking he was the caliber of an attorney or a professor. It was a true pleasure to speak with such a man that was refined in the words he chose to speak with and the perspective he gave when answering my questions.

Hang Onto HOPE It Is Here

This is short and sweet today. I was listening to a song about the birth of a child. You probably know by now with how I write that the child was not just any child it was Jesus. In a brief moment the Holy Spirit reminded me that Mary was just about to give birth to the son of God and do you not think that she may have had a doubt or two in her mind that she is about to give birth and there was no place for her to give birth for this child that would save the world?
It is natural to have these thoughts now and then just do not hang onto them. The place was already prepared for her where she was suppose to birth the child. God was faithful and on time and He delivered to them a place to birth the child, our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Hang in there OK. It may not look like it in the natural when you look through the eyes of man that it is suppose to be this way. TRUST and obey for it truly is the only way. In a moment of doubt ask the Holy Spirit to show you something through His eyes and not through your natural eyes does that make sense? I have done this before and when you take your eyes off of the situation and place them on Jesus He is faithful and will show you it in a different perspective. When you get the revelation you will sit back in amazement and wonder of how creative the Holy Spirit really is. He has good and lovely plans for your life. Don't let go now. Hang on and see before your very eyes the wonders God has in store for you. Far greater than you can even imagine.

God Is Faithful, Ever SO FAITHFUL

Wow! What a glorious morning and start to my day. I was up early creating a bracelet for someone as a thank you gift. I created a bracelet for a woman that blessed me with a pasta machine. I guess I am going to make homemade pasta. I have made homemade noodles before but that was with rolling out the dough with a rolling pin and then hand cutting the noodles. Now, I have a machine that will roll the dough and then cut it to whatever my hearts desire is in making. That is wonderful. I then was vacillating whether or not to go walking this morning. I almost didn't but then something inside of me said go and walk. I did and was surprisingly blessed with what I saw.
My all time favorite things to see in field country are the planting in the spring and the harvesting of the crop in the fall. I live by a farm and I was becoming quite concerned that the corn was not harvested yet. I kept thinking to myself why would anyone invest the expense of planting a field and then let the crop wither away and lose the harvest.
At work this week I learned the importance of "probing" for answers when having a conversation with a person. The definition of probing means to examine or investigate thoroughly. That is what I did today. As I walked I was blessed with seeing the corn being harvested. I saw a man that worked for the farm and asked the questions I always thought about when I would drive past farms. It was not too late to harvest the crop, last years crops were being harvested throughout the winter into March. It is very costly every aspect of farming, I was told also when I commented that the big machines they use to harvest are expensive. I inquired about the huge tires that are on the machines. It was explained to me that the way they are made is because there will come a point when it is important for them to float on the ground so to speak when later on the ground may become wet and you do not want a tire sinking into the ground. This corn that was harvested will be used for a variety of things such as corn meal. The best part of this experience was as I stopped to talk with this man the big harvest machine, I think it is called a combine, was coming in from the field to unload the corn. I got to watch the corn be released from the combine and pour into a big truck. It was the neatest experience to see this. As I was standing there and the corn was being fed into the truck it was as if little flakes of corn so to speak were raining down in the sky. As I walked back home I was so thrilled that the Lord remembered me and how I wanted to see the harvest this year and I did!!!
As I write this I still have a few flecks of the corn flakes (not the stuff in the box that you eat for breakfast) in my hair. Did you know that it does not produce a better crop if you do not till or turn the soil over after the harvest? There are apparently two schools of thought when it comes to this. I always thought that the farmers that turned the soil over after the harvest would have better crops the next season. Not so, from what I learned today. Again, all I can say is that God is faithful. He really does listen to the desires of your heart it is a matter of you being willing to listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to get to where you need to go and do what you need to do to be placed in the position to receive those desires in your heart. Are you willing to follow the promptings of the Lord today? I did and I am glad that I did.

Remember To Pray For College Students This Week

If you have a child that attends or know of a student that attends a college that is on semesters, you may want to pray for them this week. It is quite possible that it may be Finals Week for them. Think back on when you were in college. Finals week can be hectic and filled with a lot of last minute reports being completed, cramming for that last final test to close out the semester, and lack of sleep to fulfill all that needs to be done.
If you have a child in college at this time this is a great suggestion. If you are local and within driving distance to where your child attends college why not prepare a great home cooked meal and bless them with it. Who doesn't like Mom's cooking especially when it is prepared with love? Now, don't let me exclude Dad's cooking also. There may be some Father's out there that enjoy cooking also. If they have a roommate or two don't forget to prepare enough for them also. You never know if that roommates parents are not physically able to prepare a meal for their child so why not bless them for their parents. Remember, that kindness you extended to a college student could be the very thing they needed to encourage them for the week. These are the children that are being raised up in universities across our land to be the decision makers of the future. If you show them kindness now they just may remember that kindness when they are in a position someday to make and put into effect laws that will either benefit or hinder us. When you think of it on that scale it would definitely cause you to seek out college students you know within your family circle and bless them.
Even a gift card to Starbucks or other local coffee shops would be a blessing also. What about that homemade care package you create for your child and bless them with it during finals week. Most colleges offer pre-made care packages designed for finals week. If you are not creative or in a position to make one on your own then go ahead and take advantage of the universities package and send it. They usually allow a note card to be written by you and send it to encourage your child. Whatever the option is that you choose follow through with it and call your child today and tell them that you love them and you are cheering for them and encourage them that they can do all things through Christ who strengthens them.
You may be scouting out colleges/universities for a child that is about to attend a school in the Fall. I would recommend searching for the right school for your child by asking the Lord to let you see each university/college you visit through the eyes of Christ. In the natural we may just see a beautiful campus with a lovely neighborhood surrounding it. A great list of professors on staff and the roster. There is more to seeking out a school for your child than the obvious things. Seek the Lord for wisdom to see what the talent is in your child. He will show you where the best opportunity for your child to go, advance, grow and receive what is needed in their life to equip them for their journey. At times, if you have a very mature child they may already know where that location is. In most cases though it is up to the parent to make the final decision as to where to send that child. The Lord really does speak to parents in this respect. He sees the bigger picture when it comes to the safety of your child and even the children that will live in the very dorm your child lives in. He knows already of the temptations that are out there that may cause your child to stumble. Do not underestimate the wisdom of God that He will give to you if you just ask Him for it OK.
I have very fond memories of my college days and still keep in contact with a few friends that I met while attending college. I was one of those children that would have been lost at a very large state college/university, I needed a smaller campus setting where there was more of a personal touch in the student /teacher ratio. Each child requires something different for their personality and nature of study. One of my children chose a large university and the other chose a smaller university. Remember, each child will not fit into the mold of the sibling per say. Let them be who they are called to be. Now, that is not the general rule of thumb though. My sister and I both attended the same university. We had a choice given to us. It was either to attend a state school and get a car and commute to school or attend the smaller, private university and live on campus. The choice was quite obvious to me, live on campus and have the opportunity to grow up. Whatever the choice may be enjoy the experience of scouting out schools with your child. It is even OK to take siblings along for the ride when you scout out these schools. You know, through the eyes of a child they may see something totally different than that teenager or parent sees. Don't forget this also, when your child is at college it is OK to let your younger-age appropriate children attend a siblings weekend with their brother or sister. Make sure that the child you are sending them to be with for the weekend is responsible and will look out for the best interest of their little brother/sister, that is just as important.
Be a part of your child's college experience, you'll be glad you did. They may think they are adults when they leave home to attend school but the reality of it is that they are still a child and love to hear that their parents are thinking of them and love them and are their biggest encourager's/fans.

Happy Hanukkah

Well, it feels like it has been an eternity since I have been at the computer writing for this blog. I have had several distractions that kept me from writing. Guess what? I am back on track again. Praise God. Let me tell you about something that happened to me today. If you look at the picture of the bracelet that I have posted on this page you will know what I am referencing OK.
Several weeks ago my mother told an acquaintance that I was going to make a bracelet for her. At the time I piped up and said 'I only make bracelets for those that the Holy Spirit prompts me to make them for.' I never thought anything of it since then until today that is. As I was driving into work today I felt the Holy Spirit asking me if I would give it up and give it away to the woman I referred to earlier. I remember saying 'not that one, I love this bracelet.' As I was driving I looked down at it briefly and remembered that the two seed pearls in the bracelet had a special meaning to me. My father gifted me with a beautiful necklace that was a strand of seed pearls from Hawaii. He purchased it for me when he was on a trip in Hawaii. The strand broke and I strung it and put a beautiful clasp on it and gifted it to my mother. As I strung the pearls, a few I kept for myself to create in this bracelet. I think I said to the Holy Spirit "No, not this bracelet I love this bracelet. It has in it the pearls my father gave to me.' I think I even got tears in my eyes and said again 'please not this bracelet." It still is a little tender for me as I write about this I even have tears in my eyes now.
I know my heavenly Father's voice and the prompting of the Holy Spirit and I said OK I will give it to this woman as a blessing. Before I went into work I looked at it in my car and the way the light was streaming in it caused the Swarovski crystal to shine so beautiful. I then took a picture or two of it to have as a memory. I made it to match an outfit and a blazer that I wear with this particular outfit. I remember when I created this bracelet just looking at it in wonder of the beauty and how creative the Holy Spirit is when He inspired me in the creation of this. I went into work and shared with this woman that I was right when I said I would not make a bracelet for her because it was already made for me to give to her and bless her. She did not want to accept it at first and I explained to her about receiving a blessing and that the Lord showed me to give it to her. The Holy Spirit already knew the day that I would give it to her because it was just the other day that I made notice that she wears black and pink a lot. I was already starting to think to myself that I do not have enough stones in those colors to make a bracelet. I did not have to because it already sat in my jewelry box.
When a person holds onto an object their hand is postured in a position with the hand clenched close. How can that very hand be in a position to receive if it is closed. So, with the act of giving to another you just opened your hand to let go of it. Your hand is now free and open to receive. Does that make sense?