Last night I gave my faith share to my Christ Renews His Parish team. Initially when they told us that we shouldn't talk for more than 20 minutes, I thought to myself "Don't worry, there is no way I could say that much". As I started typing, I realized how many twists and turns my life has taken to get me to where I am today. Some of those were events that are nothing but happy, like meeting my wonderful husband, Jim and some of those make me feel sad, like experiencing deaths in my family, especially the unexpected ones. I had over 6,000 words and then realized I needed to be around 3,000 to stay under the time limit. I had to prioritize and figure out what has impacted my faith journey the most and ended up mainly addressing the last few months of my life. I talked about how my life before Madelyn always seemed rushed and chaotic (even when I wasn't that busy), but since then, I am able to really live in the moment and enjoy life's blessings.
This is not something that I consciously did or forced myself to do. I used to dread going to mass and didn't enjoy reading anything about my faith or religion. Now I thirst for it. If I go a day without praying or reflecting on a Bible passage, I can tell that my day just seems a little off. Losing Madelyn taught me that I'm not really in control of my life. Yes, I can make wise choices and choose to be positive instead of laying in bed all day, but in the in, God has it all mapped out for me and I'm along for the ride.
I encourage you to start each day with prayer or reflection. Here are some ideas:
1. Listen to a song that inspires you. Check out www.klove.com for some Christian songs.
2. Find a website that has a daily reading or reflection. I use pray.nd.edu.
3. Find a Bible passage that relates to something that you are going through. Here is a good place to look: www.bibleyp.com
4. Pray. This can be a formal prayer or just a conversation with God. This can be spoken or silent. I usually ask God to help me with at least one thing that particular day such as patience, compassion, gratitude, etc.
5. Read a chapter from a faith-filled book. I suggest One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.
6. Write a letter to someone that you are praying for him/her. Knowing that someone is praying for you is very powerful and shows that you care.
7. Go to church.
8. Tell your child about Jesus or say a prayer with him/her.
A few months ago, I would watch the Today show every morning. While that left me knowing more about current events and the latest material possessions I should apparently have, it did nothing to do make me a better person. My relationship with God is the same as any other relationship, I get out of it what I put into it. Starting each day with God helps me to focus and appreciate my blessings so much more.
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you." -John 15:7
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