Be You Very Well

Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.

–St Thomas Aquinas

Happy feast day, Hon!

The steps of a man are from the Lord, and He establishes him in whose way He delights; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord is the stay of his hand.

Ps 37:23-24 RSV

As I’m treated for ongoing health issues I periodically meet with members of my team (doctor, therapist, priest, and of course my dear husband!) to tweak my comprehensive treatment plan. After almost nine months of trying a combination of protocols that has definitely brought improvement–but not nearly as much as we thought was realistic–I’ve been pondering my options. In order to do my part to best live out my vocation as a wife and mother within my limitations I have–no doubt like many if not most of you!–challenging decisions to make. This morning I read these words and wanted to share them with you, dear reader. No matter what others may say we know that He who loves us more than we can ever comprehend has our best interests not only at heart but well in hand. All we have to do is discern His will and then put one front in front of the other, trusting that He will stay our hand and direct our steps.

And don’t forget the words of a wise man who walks the talk:

God is always good, and we are in His hands.

Everything is a grace…everything is the direct effect of our Father’s love –
difficulties,
contradictions,
humiliations,
all the soul’s miseries,
her burdens,
her needs,
everything,
because through them she learns humility, realizes her weakness.
Everything is a grace, because everything is God’s gift.
Whatever be the character of life, or its unexpected events – to the heart that loves, all is well.

–St Therese of Lisieux

For all the unexpected events and difficulties I meet in life it is good for me to remember that everything is–if I’ll acknowledge and accept the reality of the sacrament of the present moment–a grace, because it comes to me through God and is present in my life for my good and His glory.

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow.

The same loving Father who cares for you today

Will care for you tomorrow and every day.

Either He will shield you from suffering,

Or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it.

Be at peace, then, and put aside

All anxious thoughts and imaginings.

–St Francis de Sales

These are extremely encouraging words of wisdom that I benefit from while considering the future and all its unknowns, especially big decisions…heck, any size decisions on days when my anxiety is being extra persnickety!:-)

Happy Feast Day, Patron! Thank you for helping us through your prayers, along with those of our beloved departed family, friends, and other special friends in High Places. It will be so great someday to be able to thank everyone in person for all their help!

True contentment is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it.

–G.K. Chesterton

God remains in you in order to hold you up.

You remain in God in order not to fall.

–St Bede the Venerable

Good words we all need to hear (or at least I do)…and pretty much all the time!

The everlasting God has, in His wisdom, foreseen from eternity

the cross that He now presents to you as a gift from His inmost heart.

This cross He now sends you He has considered with His all-knowing eyes,

understood with His loving mind,

tested with His wise justice,

warmed with His loving arms,

and weighed with His own hands, to see that it be not one inch too large and

not one ounce too heavy for you.

He has blessed it with His holy name,

anointed it with His grace,

perfumed it with His consolation,

taken one last glance at you and your courage, and then

sent it to you from Heaven,

a special greeting from God to you,

an alms of the all-merciful love of God.

–St Francis de Sales

(Yes, more words of wisdom from my patron whose feast is Monday but having just reread this felt it was too good to wait for his special day to share it with you!)

Wife and husband must be more than lovers. Must be comrades, soldiers fighting side by side for same great cause. Ming’s mother say, ‘Wife and husband should not only lie down face-to-face, but stand up shoulder to shoulder.’ They must face together the worst Mogui [Satan] can do to them. And when they draw the strength of Yesu, he bind them together…We depend on each other, need each other. Quan tell me couples in America speak very openly of love. But also that they lose love and move from person to person. This I do not understand. Ming miss Quan as lover…but especially as friend and comrade.

Minghua on being separated from her imprisoned husband Quan in Randy Alcorn’s gut-wrenching Safely Home

The Christian life–and especially the contemplative life–is a continual discovery of Christ in new and unexpected places.

–Thomas Merton

Here’s to the unexpected discoveries that 2012 holds for all of us; may they bring us closer to Christ and each other.

Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.

— Isaac Asimov

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Here’s to more “thinking through my fingers” in 2012!