Wearing the veil

God come to my assistance. Lord make haste to help me. Oh Sacred Heart of Jesus I trust in You.
I learned something today that I did not know. I can honestly say that in my almost 51 years I did not know that the church did not ok the non-use of the veil. I learned it from someone who is very knowledgeable and he gave me a paper on it. I told him that I have struggled with this for years and no one has been able to answer my question on the matter. It would seem that the powers that be have said nothing because they don't think the matter is worth the fight it would cause. According to my source it would be better if we the women of the church just quietly began to wear the veil and educate others quietly.
I am all for wearing the veil after the reason for doing so was explained to me. In fact I have one that I found at a thrift store hanging up with the pillow cases and place mats and I have a small one called a veil cap that I am planning to wear for prayers in side and out side of the church when Mass is not being said. Why this renewed interest you might ask? I'll explain; yesterday while participating in the Mass I was over come with such a feeling of love that I began to weep. The type of weeping that comes on all of a sudden and streams of tears just run down your cheeks. This morning I was asked to help distribute the Holy Body of Christ and as I did that feeling came again but the tears did not instead I found my self trembling ever so slightly. Then I attended a meeting for the Militia Immaculata of which I am a member and during the reflection time many things came up and one was centered on the veil. Now I have been struggling as I said for years about this should I or shouldn't I and one of the wives at the diaconate always wore hers at Mass and she was a convert from Mormonism. The rest of us cradle catholics didn't think anything of it and we neither questioned her about it or commented on it.
I was told that the misunderstanding came during the time of Vatican II when a reporter asked a Bishop about women wearing the veil and he commented that the subject was not discussed so the reporter then printed his story stating that women no longer had to wear the veil and women began to abandon the custom. Actually my mother never believed she should get rid of her veil so she did continue to wear it. It would appear that when the radical feminist became vocal the the veil became a symbol of servitude in the negative sense and when word got around that it was no longer necessary they felt that they had one a small victory over the male dominated church. Another misconception as well. They felt that it made women second class in the church. In fact NOW was recommending that all head coverings should be burned publicly in protest. Oh what a tangled web we weave. One of my favorite songs is called "The Servant Song" well actually there are two The Servant Song and just "Servant Song" but the words are similar. The ones I am thinking of are -- Won't you let me be your servant let me be as Christ to you pray that I may have the Grace to let you be my servant too.--- Now don't you see the irony. We are called to be servants of Christ a high honor we are not worthy of and yet the symbol that shows our obedience and servitude is no longer a part of our lives. It isn't about being less than a man or about not being good enough. A women was chosen to be the New Arc of the Covenant because no man could do it. We each have our part to play and if we can't be servants to each other how can we ever hope to be servants to God? It's goes back to what I wrote last night it isn't about us it's about Christ and his Church of which we are the body it is about a LOVE so strong and so big that it can't be understood unless we were to die on a cross the way Jesus did. Yes I am going to wear my veil again and my prayer cap and I have six more prayer caps if anyone wants them? I put it to my group we should put caps and veils in the gathering space just like we do the rosaries so if someone should see us wearing a veil and would like to do so they will be there for their use. Thank goodness I am still open to learn and re-learn the beauty of my religion. So if you see me with my veil on and you ask me why I am wearing it I will tell you with all my heart because I love Jesus and I want to show him that I am not afraid to belong to him and when I say I love the Lord with my whole heart, my whole mind and my whole soul it will be more than words it will really mean something.

Your Will Be Done Not Mine

May the Lord Protect us from evil and may His face always shine upon us and may He deliver us from harm.

My thoughts for this evening are along the lines of the title of this entry. I had a discussion with my husband not too long ago about natural family planning you see it is my theory that the church allows it for two reasons; one it doesn't involve any unnatural means of preventing pregnancy and two it does promote a loving bond between husband and wife by teaching them that there are other ways to enjoy each other besides sexual intercourse. The problem that I have with it is that it still lets the couple be in control of how many children they will have and when they will have them. Now when a couple marries they are asked in the ceremony if they will accept any and all children that God sends them and they respond yes. Then they proceed to do it their way. They maintain control over their reproductive organs and God well he understands after all who wants to end up with 20 or so kids and at the wrong time in a career or whatever else they are into. See I think the situation is just like back in Moses' day when the people wanted to be able to divorce their wives and Moses's gave directions on how to do so but the problem was that when Jesus was on the scene at a much latter date he tells the people that Moses' should never have allowed divorce because as we find out there is a direct correlation between the relationship of man and women and God's relationship to us. Husband and wife are the living example of the oneness and unity that God wants to have with us. Now don't get me wrong I used NFP to let me know when I was most fertile then I let God do the rest and I have stories about the importance of letting God tell me when a child would be born and why it was important that the child come into the world. God and I had a special bond that way because I was listening to him. You see when I was a teenager I almost lost my ability to have children because of a Doctors neglect. God saved me from that fate because as I came to see latter the children I was to bring into the world had and have a purpose of his design. This hit home hard when we were visiting St.Padre Pio's center in P.A. last week. A lady at the information desk told me a story about how Pardre Pio could read into a persons heart, how God told him things about each person who went to confession to him. This story was about a women who went to confession and at the end she was asked if she had told Padre Pio everything and she said yes. He sent her away to think and pray about her answer and come again the next day. For three days this went on finally Padre Pio told her that she was holding back the fact that when she was younger she had an abortion. The woman was astounded and respond with a how did you know it was a secret that only I and my mother knew about. To which the Padre answered God knows. Then he told her the child was to become a Cardinal. Now you might think that he just made that up but there is another story when Padre Pio met a young priest from Poland and told him he would be Pope. So you decide if he made it up or not. The point is that God has a plan for each of us and if that plan includes marriage and children then we really should leave it in his hands to do what he will with us. I don't know how many times I have heard the argument about planning a family so that the mother isn't pregnant every year and ends up with 12 kids. God wanted five for me and that is what I had. One did not live long but he too had his purpose in his short little life. Because with God nothing and no one is wasted. A beautiful woman that I met recently told me another story about a little six year old girl who ended up in the child welfare system in her state. And since she happens to work in that system she experienced this story first hand. It goes something like this; It was part of her job to pick this child up from school and take her back to the center. On the way from school the little girl saw a church and said out loud as children are wont to do, That is where God lives. Then she asked the lady if she believed in God. The Lady said yes she did indeed believe in God but she knew she couldn't say to much more about it because there are rules about that. The little girl then went on to tell the Lady about her encounter with God. It happened before she was born, she said that God held her and told her, her life would be a hard one but not to lose hope because he would always be with her. Now the Lady knew that this little girls mother was a meths addict and the child had been pushed around the system for most of her short life and she didn't think that the child had much exposure to religion or church yet she could tell that the child was sincere and believed strongly in what she said. It sent chills down her spine. This Lady believes that each of us are sent on our journey with a message from our creator. Some of us don't need to hang on to it so eventually it is forgotten, others hold on to it longer because there is a need and some hold on to it forever because there is a bond of love that exist between them and the creator. We always think that God is all powerful when we need him to cure us or help us in some way but we don't think of trusting him with the little things the every day life experience things. We don't think he has time or can handle what we can control ourselves. This type of thinking limits God and we miss out on having a relationship with the one who Loves us best. The Priest today talked about our relationship with God in the Eucharist, he talked about how we dress when we come to Mass, how we act. People always say oh he doesn't care what you wear as long as you show up. Ok. Say that was true after you showed up a few more times don't you think you should adjust your attitude a bit and come more reverently? Who is the most important person in your life if not God and as Father pointed out if you were invited to the White House for dinner would you show up in your workout attire or would you go right from a soccer game? Or would you show up in soccer attire and leave early to get to a game?
This then brings me back to my original thought; If you truly accept God in your life and receive the Eucharist why then don't you trust him enought to guide you and lead you where he wants you to go?
Nothing in this life is perfect. And sometimes I struggle with the way my children act and the fact that they stopped going to church. But I found out that no matter where I go in my travels I am not alone. The number of people who are praying for their children to return to the church is astounding. The evil one has his hold on them and we have to flood heaven with our prayers so he won't win and trust that God will collect all his way ward children.
Well I've got to go for now so until next time.
May the Lord Bless us, protect us from evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen

Let the Holy Spirit take over.

Dear God, I am ready to let you take control of my life. Come Lord Jesus open my eyes and heal my heart. Amen
On March 17th my choir group held a mini retreat at the house of one of our members. A good time was had by all and a lot of growth took place. we talked about what music ministry means to us and how important being apart of something outside ourselves was important to our spiritual growth. This is a group of people who came together as strangers and bonded to become more than friends. This is a group that likes to sing and likes to sing with one another there is no competition among the members and that in it self is refreshing. We come together with a common purpose and that is to give back to God and share with our fellow christians the Love that we feel for our Lord and Savior. This group keeps me grounded and strong in my faith because they are such positive examples in my life. I was chosen to give a talk about our theme for the retreat which was based on the song Open My Eyes, I like this song very much and often use it as a prayer meditation so I was elated when I was asked to give the bible part of the day. I found that the song was based on the Gospel of Mark and I began my search for the deeper meaning of the text. What I found was truly an eye opener. And I will share what I discovered here; Mark wraps his presentation of Jesus in the robe of Christological significance already in the opening line of the Gospel: The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, The Son of God, as it was written in the prophet Isaiah. . .
Mark was concerned with Jesus' identity, the meaning of his person and work against a backdrop of the story of Israel, especially the proclamation of the prophet Isaiah. The message that Jesus proclaims is nothing less than "The Good News of God" Mark was concerned with God's intervention in history to bring to fruition the promise of Scripture and to inaugaurate God's reign and rule, his kingdom. So the Gospel of Mark is about God.
Marks view is that the ministry of Jesus cannot be understood apart from the cross.
The importance of discipleship; disciples rarely present themselves in any fashion that would invite emulation instead they show themselves to be concerned with issues of status and boundry drawing as those who have not banded together with Jesus. At the point of their travels together into Jerusalem their relationship with Jesus has deteriorated significantly. Mark shows us through the healing of the blind man that this healing takes on parabolic significance within the Gospel. Touched by Jesus, this blind man is able to see somewhat, but he mistakes human beings for walking trees. He requires further intervention on Jesus' part, just as the disciples will require more if they will be able to see clearly the nature of God's activity in the ministry of Jesus. Discipleship is organically related to Christology, Peter knows who Jesus is but misunderstands his divine destiny.
"The son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."
The suffering of the church in history is intimately related to the birth pangs of the coming of God's dominion.
Zech 13:7 cited in Mark 14:27
Narrative of Mark in 3 discrete sections; the first 8:27-10:52 is bordered at the beginning and end by accounts of the healing of blind persons. Before the beginning of the journey, the blind man from Bethsaida is healed-from him we learn of the need of a second touch if genuine insite is to be achieved-end Bartimaeus both recieves his sight and joins Jesus "on the way".
The disciples too, require a second touch if they are to lose their fuzziness of perception and recieve eye-opening perceptiveness into Jesus' identity and the nature of discipleship. Through out the Gospel the followers have repeatedly fallen short in their own practices as disciples, how will the reader react to the message?Like the disciples did in fear, or will they embrace it with confidence and boldness and invite others to do the same.
Is 61:1 giving sight to the blind will mark his days
Is 35:5-6 then the eyes of the blind will be opened the ears of the deaf be cleared;
Is 29:18--Is42:7--Is 32:3 references to the blind,deaf,and lame
The little people of Mark's Gospel who exercise insight into Jesus true station and mission: The least, the lost and the left out; the woman who anoints his body for burial 14:3-9
Simon of Cyrene, who "takes up his cross" 15:21f
women who remain at the cross after the disciples have fled 15:40-41
These that belong to the company of others;
A gentile demoniac 5:19-20
an unclean woman 5:25-34
a syrophoenicain woman 7:24-30
roles that are relatively minor, yet who have flashes of insight that mark them as Jesus' true family 10:46-52
And then there is my favorite passage 10:51 Jesus said to him in reply "What do you want me to do for you?" the blind man replied to him, "Master, I want to see."
This is the crux of the whole text. I want to see. It doesn't get any better than for us to see the truth and know and understand it.
Unlike the first blind man who did not follow Jesus Bartimacus does immediately the bible says he sprang up. Sprand up! you can't get more immediate than that.
The healing of the deaf man in 7:31-37
7:33 he took him off by himself away from the crowd,he put his fingers into the man's ears and, spitting touched his tongue; 34 then he looked up to heaven ----
immediately the man's ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed.
My references for this material came from the following sources;
Introducing the New Testament; It's Literature and Theology by Paul J. Achtemeier, Joel B.Green, Marianne Meye Thompson
The New Jerome Biblial Commentary
New Testament reading Guide "The Gospel of Saint Mark" by Gerard S Sloyan
and the RSV Catholic Bible
I hope you enjoy what I have discovered and that it is as meaningful to you as it is to me.
Lord Jesus Open my eyes,ears,heart,and mouth to your word and let me proclaim it boldly and without fear. I ask this in your name.
May the Lord Bless us, Protect us from evil and bring us to everlasting life.
Amen

What does Feminism have to do with God

As always I begin my blog with a prayer; Dear God, help me to understand my fellow human beings even if I do not agree with them. Amen
That was short and sweet but it speaks volumes. I was looking through the news paper the other day something that I almost never do and I saw an obit for a nun it ran on the top of the obit section and was a brief story about her life and accomplishments. Frankly I was disappointed that it did not speak of her humility or of her obedience as a religious. To be honest I wonder why she remained a nun at all when her whole focus was to change the church into what she wanted it to be. Sadly she is not alone many people think that they know better than the Pope or even Christ himself how the church should be run. I think they forget it isn't about us or me or I it is about God, Jesus and the Holy spirit. We learned in Biblical school that God took the time to set up the way the people were to worship and he provided detailed plans of how the worship space was to be built and who was to lead the worship for the people that the Jews were set apart from the pagans in that woman were not apart of leadership and worship ceremonies. There was a good reason for that and it was more than cultural. Times haven't changed all that much. We still have non-christian religions that honor the female far and above the creation of God that she is. I read once that woman was the closest to God in that she shared with him in creation. I beleive that God in his wisdom has created a plan for each of us humans and other creatures we are told it is a divine plan so why then do some of us deem it necessary to tell him what to do to exalt ourselves for to me that is what feminism is all about. Oh look at us poor down troden women the men are running every thing and we capable and smart and every bit as good as the men are left to be nothing more than baby incubators. Give me a break! Am I the only one who wonders what would have happened if Mary thought like a feminist? Or if she said,"Ok God I'll have the baby but..... No I shudder to think. On the feast day of Saint John the Baptist we should heed his words. I must deminish so he can increase. If Christ had wanted woman to be Priest he would have set things in motion after all as christians all are equal men and women are treated the same in God's eyes. Just because we do not understand God does not mean that we are being put down. Another case (I was going great guns and my computer glitched and I lost a lot of my thoughts) Not even the Pope believes he has the power to second guess God and change his will. Peter Creift(check spelling) a convert and defender of the faith once said that as Catholics we deliver the mail, Protestants edit it. I was taught that the Hebrews had a complicated way of worshiping God there were many rituals and in the book of Exodus we see that Moses is given clear directions on what to do and how to do it. Jesus did not abolish these things but rather he came to fulfill them. The first followers of Jesus were Jews just as he was they still went to the Synagogue to read and be read too from the scroll containing the first five books. We know that Jesus himself quoted Deuteromy more than any other book. They were drivin away but they did not change their habits we can see this in history because we can trace the origins of the Mass back to the first century.
Ok I just published two other posts one doesn't have anything to do with this one the other does. So I am just letting you have it all and I will await your comments.
Lord may my words be union with your will. As it is your will not mine. Amen
And that is why I believe Feminism has no place in our faith or our church.

Dear Saint Monica, I ask you now for your assistance in the healing of Baby Dominic. I do not know this child nor do I think that I will ever meet him but he needs your intercession for healing. Please Saint Monica I implor you as a Mother, add your prayers to mine so Baby Dominic will experience the miracle he needs. Thank you with all my heart. Amen
It just came to my attention last night that a man with whom my husband works with has a 1 week old grandson with a rare skin disorder that causes a great deal of pain and suffering. His skin is so fragil that his body has to be kept wrapped so that it won't rub up against anything and cause an open wound. This effects the mouth and esophagus as well so that the child can not eat anything that is not liquid or soft and mushy. He will not outgrow this condition and could possibly die from it. I have been thinking about the suffering the parents are going through as well watching their child go through this and not be able to protect him. As a parent we try so hard to protect our children sometimes even when we should stop because they are too old for our protection but we do it because we are parents and we love them. I learned a long time ago that once my children were teenagers they were also out of my reach and I had to rely on the training and upbringing, what I had done right and what I had done wrong it was a scarey time. They for their part told me that they were making their own decisions and it had nothing to do with me. The experts were wrong about so many things. My children were and are good people and that guides their decisions more than anything. They make choices that I may not agree with or feel that it is the right thing to do, but I have come to accept the fact that, that is the way it is and I have no control over them. As a mother I am concerned but not worried. I discovered that worry did nothing but make me sick and miserable, and who needs that. I put it in God's hands and choose to pray for them rather than worry about them and it seems to go much better for the both of us. When my husband gets upset because I am not in control I just tell him that is the way things are and leave it at that. Now in the case of Baby Dominic his parents won't even have the luxury of being in a littl control because the disorder will control everyone. I can not imagen what it will be like for them to see him cry and know they can't even make it better. They will spend his life time just trying to make him comfortable.
Dad said that this morning when he was praying for the baby that he felt as if he was having a heart attack it hit him in his chest and spread up to his shoulders. He said he knew it wasn't because he felt the presence of Jesus so strong and it was coming from the healing cross that he wears around his neck. He told me that he felt he needed to go to the hosital and pray directly for the baby or over the baby if it was possible. I just felt a calming peace come over me while he was telling me his story. I believe him when he tells me things like this because he is a holy man and he feels so close to the Lord. I know he has the Spirit in him because once during a prayer meeting in the 70's he spoke in tongues. He doesn't remember but it is something I will not forget. Then as I was driving to my friends house I saw a church bill board that said "Some things have to be believed before they are seen." I felt like that was an answer to my prayer it just hit me that way. Then I felt calm and peaceful and very tired because it was such an emotional drain.
I left these thoughts for the time being because I did not have the emotional strength to finish them. At this time the baby is home and the parents are taking care of him the best that they can. I know that my prayer and the the prayers of others will be answered and over time the baby will get better. I believe it with my whole heart. So all I can say is Thank you Lord Jesus, Thank You.
So ends this thought.

Thoughts of Holy Week

Let's start with a prayer: Come, let us worship Christ the Lord, who for our sake endured temtation and suffering. Amen

Well here I am again pouring out my mind in what I like to think of as my personal pensive. I am getting that from story that I won't name in case it is offensive to someone.
Someone gave me a cd set on a lenten journey but I could only get one to play so I haven't been able to unlock the secreats of the others yet. Someone else gave me a transcrpt of a lenten mission that they went to at their church and I read that and found it very enlightening, but the thing that has got my juices really flowing is what my biblical instructor told us at class last tuesday night. That is what I am thinking about now. We have been studing Ephesians and chapter 5 verse 21 is one of the most controversal because it tells us to be submissive to our husbands but a better translation would be to be subordinate. My instructor told us that Paul was speaking in some what military terms. In the sevice you have a chain of comand. This is necessary because without it there would be choas. So we also have in the church a chain of comand because that is the way Christ set it up and serves to keep us from choas. I know that a lot of us don't understand why this has to be but that is a topic for another time. Getting back to Paul, what was so exciting was the fact that he goes on to tell us that we are fighting a spiritual battle and we need to be united to win it hense the military lingo. The subordinate part is crucial because we as married people are representives of the model of Christ and the church. You have the model of Christ being the head of the chruch the church being the body right so we in marriage model this with the husband being like Christ at the head and the wife and children being the body. Actually this is a very beautiful image if one can drop the ego and see it the way God intended. The next part is so profound and beautiful that I think that if we really understood it from the beginning of our realationships we would enter marriage with a whole new outlook and our marriages would not end in divorce. Paul tells the husband to love his wife he is a model for Christ's love for the church then he tells the wife to let the husband love her. That's right by telling us to be subordinate he is really telling us to let the husband love us. Think about it. If we are always trying to be equals or being over baring and wanting control we are not allowing our spouses to love us they way that Christ is telling them too. The same is true with our relationship to the church if we are always fighting it always demanding to have our own way we are not allowing Christ to come to us because we are saying not now God not till you fix what I think is wrong with "The Church" then maybe we can talk about it once I have things the way I want them. We divorce ourselves from God in much the same way that we divorce ourselves from each other. Husband and wife, friend to friend, parent to child. Whatever our relationship we refuse to become the subordinate. When in reality if we become the subordinate and let the chain of comand happen we are free to be who God intended. And if we return the love that we are given measure for measure we start to understand the power of God's love for us. Now we are all human and not one of us is perfect but we can try to be just as the saints before us tried. It is in the struggle that we learn what to discard and what to hold dear.
My husband was one of those men that thought the world revolved around him. He was brought up that way so I expected it but not to the dregree that I experienced it. I spent a lot of time and energy tring to live up to his unreal expatations and you can imagen that their was a lot of conflict. I am speaking of this in past tense because over the last year he has had more than one revelation that has improved the quality of life for all of us me especially. Praise God! It isn't easy over coming your faimly of origin's behavior pattern even when you know that it is seriously flawed. It happened generations ago and no one even is aware of it because it is so ingrained in their make-up. That is the way it is with a lot of us becuase we never really understood the original plan that God had for us and having all the different religions only muddling things up doesn't help either.

I did not post this when I wrote it and I think that is because it goes so well with what I am trying to say today Wednesday, August 30 2006. So I am going to just put it out there as it is. Here goes

Thoughts on Saint Particks Day

Hello Saint Monica followers if there are any. Well I know there is at least one beside myself, thank you Kris.
I usually start with a prayer but today I need a little help Let me see Psalm 103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits.
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life form destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion.
Amen

I was just thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up. I have done many things in my life and found some of them rewarding. I just don't know where it will lead me. I guess I am thinking in terms of success as the world understands it and not as success as God understands it. Isn't that the problem many people face? We always view our lives in the wrong terms and then become disallusioned and depressed because we don't meet the criteria. Especially when it comes to having a career and making money. I have always felt that I was a failure in this area and that I was less than I could be because I didn't fit the super mom mold. The world did not treasure being a stay at home mother as important instead it viewed it as a drain on society because I was not contributing to the economic structure of the system. So I worried about what I could do to add to the family income and how I could be a more productive member of society. I would worry day and night and I would feel more and more usless as time when on and I could not find a job that could pay me a living wage. My two years of college seem to count for nothing even though I had a degree. I wasn't much better off than someone with a GED or high school diploma. It was always frustrating to be turned down for a simple cashier job and watch it go to someone who wasn't even out of High School. Then to finally get a job only to be treated poorly and paid next to nothing. What was I doing wrong? Why was I hearing stories of people who found good jobs with hardly no skills and going places with the money they earned when I could have done those jobs as well as they and yet I never got one and even they could not figure out why. There was one time when a job did come up that I was well suited for and it was something I liked doing but my family obligations did not permit me to take it. The oppertunity never came up again. Sometimes I kick myself because I didn't try to work things out and go for it anyway, after all what was the harm in trying.
I am adding to this at a much latter date, it is June 26th and I am just getting back to the thoughts I started in March. A lot has happened in the time between now and then. One of my good friends and God sister Kris has been trying to help me find a job that I would be suited for. Bless her heart. And I do have my non-paying work which I find rewarding which is my storytelling and one of my great loves. My dream job would be where I could incorporate my storytelling into it, that would be wonderful. But in the mean time I will with the help of my friends still try and fit in and help to pay so of the bills that keep pileing up. In the mean time summer is here to be enjoyed so I am going to do my best to do that as well.
Oh before I go I have to tell you that my daughter who just graduated from high school got a job at Sears and we are very happy for her but they can not let her start until she is 18 which will be the first week in July. See noone believed me when I told them she was looking and could not get hired because she was not 18. People do not realize that the times have changed and unless you know someone or get a job through a school program or fall into some other special catagory you just have to wait. I was talking to another mother of a teenage boy who was going through the same thing so I felt vindicated. Can you believe that people thought I was making it up to cover up the fact that my daughter was lazy. Sometimes people without information can be so cruel, can't they. Now she can work on getting a car and going to Red Rocks Community College. Yea!
Now I can close with a prayer of thanksgiving.

Dear Lord, thank you for your many blessings that you have bestowed on my family. May we be ever mindful of the fact that they are blessings and that they come from you and not from anything that we have done. Thank you Lord for loving us so much.
Amen