To Be a Shining Example of a Holy Family

My husband and I were given this beloved Holy Family figurine on the occasion of our 35th wedding anniversary when we resaid our wedding vows. It is one of my dearest treasures and though it’s displayed right now with my poinsettia floral piece, you’d find it displayed somewhere in my home year-round. It reminds me of Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus -- our original “Holy Family” and how much I’ve always desired that my family was a shining example of a holy family too. The second outdoor Holy Family was a gift from my daughter and her "holy" family.

On this first Sunday after Christmas, while we are still immersed in the joyful atmosphere of the celebration of our Lord’s coming to this earth to be one of us, we celebrate His Holy Family. We ask God, Who gave us the shining example of the Holy Family, to help us imitate Jesus, Mary and Joseph in practicing the beauty of family life -- in strength, in faith and in love.

In the family life of Mary and Joseph, God is truly at the center — Jesus is at the center. Their lives breathed with faith -- the faith that gave them the will and determination to face difficult challenges, like the difficult ordeal of the flight into Egypt that we see in Matthew 2. I love Joseph as such a loving and devoted husband and father to Jesus. What a shining example he is for fathers today!

We are called to be families of faith with God at the center of our lives. I can vouch that because of our faith we have been able to endure challenges and difficult ordeals, too! And, I’m sure you can say the same thing. This faith is evident when a family prays together regularly and when it is not just an obligation, but a joy, to be fully devoted followers of God and His Word.

Another essential lesson we can learn from the Holy Family is love. We think about their bonds of love -- the love of Mary and Joseph for each other and for their son, as well as Jesus’ love for His parents. This loving harmony is a model for every family. I’d like you to think my family was the picture of the "Holy Family". We strive to be, but sometimes we disagree about something so incidental and sometimes we say something that we really didn’t mean it to cause pain, but it did. But, as this third photo shows – this is how we play – we forgive, love, share, laugh, listen, help, respect and we PRAY a lot.

Today, I encourage us all to strive for being the shining lights of holy families like the Holy Family of Nazareth -- the true model of a Christian home, an icon of faith and love. And may we pray for those families who are in difficulty, including broken families and so many refugee families in the world today. Let us turn with trust to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in whom we contemplate the beauty of faith and love -- God’s plan for every family!

Whatever it is -- Let’s Face it Together

Have you had that kind of friend who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. You may have said, “No, I can do it myself” or “No, I’ll be okay” or “No, I’ll figure out a way to handle this myself.” But, they would not leave you or forsake you. They were relentless in their efforts to help you. Don’t we want that kind of friend -- even though we don’t want to put them out or take their time? Well, I have friends like that – especially since I’ve been here in Tulsa the last couple of weeks. They have been relentless in seeing after me, bringing me meals, taking me to the doctor, and checking in on me. I’m okay -- nothing serious on my part – but they are friends who don’t take “no” for an answer.

It is a reminder to me of the story in the Book of Ruth of Naomi and her two daughter-in-laws, Orpah and Ruth. All three women had recently suffered the loss of their husbands. In the depths of Naomi’s grief, she encouraged the girls to go back to their people, and to start a new life. It didn’t take much convincing for Orpah to leave. But Ruth saw right through Naomi’s pain. She refused to go, doubling down on her commitment to Naomi. Ruth was blessed with generosity, compassion and empathy. Even though she had no obligation to Naomi, her love for her mother-in-law and friend made her fiercely loyal.

“‘Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God." (Ruth 1:16)
I have read that story many times and my husband and I even said Ruth’s words to Naomi in our wedding vows. “Ruth” means compassion for the misery of another; empathetic, and “ruthless” means without ruth; not empathetic.

So, the question is: Do we have a Ruth in our life? Do we have someone who won’t let us have a pity party? In reality, we may want grievers with us but what we need is a Ruth -- someone who refuses to leave us when we’re down-and-out. We all experience moments of disappointment, great loss, grief, and despair. Our human nature wants to recoil, to withdraw, to turn so inward that we lose sight of the Light.

But, what we need are good friends who refuse to leave us. We need good friends who encourage us to just keep swimming, telling us that they will not abandon or forsake us. Remember Dory in the “Finding Nemo” movie? She kept saying to Nemo "just keep swimming", meaning "don't give up." We need good friends who love us like they love themselves. The Lord brings so much healing to our hearts through the Ruths in our lives.

Maybe today, you are a Naomi, and you need a Ruth. We pray that God brings a Ruth to you – but maybe your way of rebounding is to be a Ruth in someone’s life. You can either be ruthless (bad and not empathetic) or a Ruth (good and empathetic).

Friendship is supposed to be entering into a relationship not because of what we can get out of it but because of what it is. We are called to be examples of Christ’s love to the world. When we break free of the selfishness that poisons so many of our relationships and focus on giving our time, effort, and love to those around us, we portray a beautiful image of Christ’s own self-giving. No matter where we are in life or where we stand with our faith, we have the opportunity to bring others (and ourselves) closer to God by being a Ruth to someone today. Thank you to all the “Ruths” that have blessed me in my life so much!

July 8th, 1966 -- Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary to Us!

50 years ago today, I married my best friend and the love of my life, and I am grateful for every second of it. I miss him today – more than ever. This day is one we looked forward to -- to get to celebrate the commitment we made 50 years ago to love and cherish each other until death do us part.

Those two young kids, so in love, had no earthly idea what was ahead for them. We loved and we cherished for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health and though the words said “until death do us part”, the “until” part is incorrect. Beyond death, I still love and cherish that beautiful man that loved and cherished me for the 44 years, 4 months and 8 days we had together (plus the 5 years we had together from ages 12 and 13 – we married when I was 17 and he was 18). There weren’t many things we would do without the other, but this time, God’s plans outweighed our plans. One of us got their “early departure ticket” for heaven. He earned it, and God was ready to give him His best!

Yes, we came upon the “in sickness and in health“ part sooner than we could have imagined. Was it 44 years of wedded bliss? Heavens, NO! It was 44 years of a whole lotta beautiful times, but also a whole lotta tough times. Much of this young girl’s dream for “happy ever after” went by the way side – probably in the first week of marriage. LOL! My sweet husband worked a full time job, carried a full load of college hours and I worked at a $1.25/hour job to help make ends meet. Then at 3 months of marriage, my Sweetheart – the daring, bold and audacious risk taker that he was, announced, “I think it’s time we should start our family!” Bada bing, bada boom – 9 months later we had a beautiful baby boy that added to the mix of our young, naïve “happy ever after” world.

Probably the most challenging part of our first year of marriage was that we were two kids, flying by the seat of our pants, learning each day what love and forgiveness were all about. We’d argue about some of the craziest things. Oftentimes our quarrels were more like siblings than husband and wife. Our two kids learned the word for those quarrels was “discussions”. LOL! Oh how I remember the many times when I had to go to God for help with being a gentle, loving and sweet wife. I remember well, sleeping as close to the edge of the bed as I could get because I wanted him punished for something so insignificant. We had so much to learn.

As I posted a couple of weeks ago, however, our CENTER was God. We were always (eventually – sometimes later than sooner) drawn back to His words about LOVE in 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”

Heads up for the newcomers, and those who have made it for several years, bottom line – marriage is NOT easy. There are some really serious issues that come with the territory. That’s why we needed divine help. The vows that we said on our wedding day, 50 years ago, were real to us. We made vows before God, and we continued to call on Him for strength to make it through those times. We found that whatever the situations were that we faced, God was ALWAYS there to help us through it. None of our issues fazed God in the slightest. And best news of all – He could handle it. So much so, that our journey became sweeter and sweeter as the years went by. The depth of our love and respect for each other became pure gold. And, gold is the symbol for 50. I like to think that while my sweetheart walks on streets of pure gold today in heaven, my life continues to be filled with so many golden nuggets that include my family, friends and most of all, God’s love and peace that keeps this girl cherishing this GOLDEN journey of faith!

So, today, July 8th, 2016, I’m thanking you, Father God, for loving me so much that you showered your blessings upon me to the fullest. Knowing how our story together would end….I’d do it all again….and I’d say “yes” again and again. And to show how thankful I am…..I’m going to continue strong on this amazing faith journey, make more memories with our family and friends and continue writing many chapters in my journal that celebrate LIFE on this side of heaven…..until the day I get to join my Honey at HOME!
Happy 50th Anniversary, My Darling!

It Was So Good -- We Did It Again!

Day 363 of Photo Inspirations -- It Was So Good -- We Did It Again!
These photo inspirations are near and dear to my heart.  This day, 14 years ago, my Sweetheart and I resaid our wedding vows during our 35th year of marriage.  I'd like to say it was 35 years of wedded bliss -- all sweet, rosy and delightful times that caused us to want to repeat our vows, and there were plenty of those, but in reality, there were plenty of ups and downs, times we were just not on the same page. There were lots of challenges and struggles.  So on this 35th year of marriage, we were celebrating that we were two tough cookies that believed when we said our vows....."To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part", we meant it.  We stuck together like glue.....and as the years passed by, the bond we had became more precious.

Some of the vows I said were Ruth's words to her mother-in-law, Naomi, when Naomi told her to return to her roots after her husband, Naomi's son, had been killed.  But Ruth said to her, and I said to my husband, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God." Ruth 1:16.   Who knew (we sure didn't) that I would follow my Sweetheart as he fell in love with the Catholic Church after having been a Protestant evangelist, pastor and teacher for most of his life and having had parents who were Protestant pastors for over 50 years.  Those vows rang true as  where he went, I went.   His love became my love.  The beautiful and loving Catholic people became my dearest friends.  The spiritual renewal that ignited the Charismatic Catholic Renewal in the 60s, and continues today, caused our hearts to burn with love for all of God's kids like never before -- wherever they place their love and commitment to Christ.  Today I am more active in evangelism and spiritual renewal than ever before.  Honestly, leading people to Christ and the abundant life He promises and gives, is my greatest goal in life.

These photos were taken at the "resaying of our vows" in a lovely Catholic chapel in San Diego, CA -- where we had just opened a Food Pantry to feed the hurting and broken people in that area.  The icing on the cake after that, was our sweet and tender time of recommitting to those beautiful vows we had spoken 35 years before -- this time we did it in full knowledge that the roads could be very bumpy ahead, but it didn't matter because our devotion and love for each other was worth it all.

I shared all this with you, my dear FB friends and family, before this year ends, to share with those of you who are married and are experiencing some tough times -- challenging times, but I urge you to be TOUGH and steadfast to your vows before God, because tough times don't last, but tough people, tough marriages, and taking tough stands on what commitment, love, trust, and devotion are all about, do.  It is worth every effort, because the toughest journeys make the sweetest victories....even greater.   Trust me. We proved it!