ForeverLOVEd

"Trust the past to God’s mercy, the present to God’s love, and the future to God’s providence."  - St Augustine of Hippo A lightsaber lay in the middle of the sandbox as I headed out to supervise the kids as they played. Only, it was not ours and at first, I could not even tell what it was. As I picked it up, I realized perhaps it belonged to the kids that lived just over the cement wall. I could hear sweet voices and giggles coming from their direction. As I peaked my head over, I sent the lightsaber above the fence and asked if it was theirs. It was. I moved on to patrol the sandbox once more.  Before I knew it, a curious blonde boy, the type of kid that watches the teacher's every move, decided that he should start throwing all of our toys over the fence. I quickly got his attention and explained to him that I was only returning what had been thrown over the fence accidentally. The giggling boys on the other side tossed our toys back along with a ball that had to hav...

You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing the plunder. Isaiah 9:3  If you do not know my friends and I, we are in almost every way CRAZY! We are beyond bizarre. We have our quirks and emotional hang ups. Some days we fight like family. Other days we giggle like a pack of teenage girls. We push each other daily and constantly try to seek Heaven. But my favorite thing about our friendship is that through it all, through everything, there is at the heart of our friendship a spirit if JOY! And maybe better put a JOY from the Spirit.  We in our hearts have the most evident joy experienced by following the Spirit. And committing our lives to following GOD. Yes, it does not mean that everything that happens in our lives is so good. But, it does mean that we recognize and love in a manner that we know everything that happens in our lives is a result of God's love for each of us....

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27  Whenever we go on vacations, my brothers and I play this game. It is kind of weird and questionably rude, but is called, "Spot the Euro"! The concept is simple, we just people watch and find those that do not dress or act the same, the ones that look like they are from Europe! There are a few giveaways that help us succeed at this game; clothes, shoes, accents! It is not a matter of worse or better, just an interesting observation that when placed in an environment that is not their own, people stand out!  We had taken a group of friends to visit one of our favorite places to go to mass! As the eight of us filled the pew, we politely greeted the people around us! I recognized familiar faces here and there, having attended mass there quite often, however the girls sitting next to me were surrounded by mere strangers.  The surprise did not hit us until we were kindly asked to brin...

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23  I had just picked up my medicine from the pharmacy and had been meaning to purchase red lipstick all week. I felt so silly standing in line for a tiny tube of red, that I made sure to grab another item I did not even need just so I would not look crazy in front of the cashier. I was dressing up as Mary Poppins for a family costume party and absolutely needed some red lipstick to match the metallic red bow tie I was wearing.  I was kind of confused as I drove home, wondering why we as woman spend our hard earned money on something so silly. I looked in my rear view mirror, and it seemed to me my lips were red enough! But regardless, an element of excitement had me eager to try on this exaggerated red!  Something in me hoped that this lipstick would somehow make me more beautiful.  I quickly ran to the bathroom and applied the red to my lips, making sure to cover all ...