Sunday Snippets

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by RAnn at This That and The Other Thing. It gives bloggers a chance to share their favorite posts with other bloggers. Check it out, there are some wonderful posts each week! This week I am sharing the following posts:

1. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/10/perfect-love.html
2. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/09/wisdom.html
3. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/08/there-is-certain-flaw-that-is-so.html

Thanks to all who visit this site, I have met many wonderful people since I started blogging. May God bless each and every one of you  : -)

Oh No! Orange hair?

Yep. That's what I get for being vain. Day-glo orange hair. I guess I'll offer it up in reparation for my vanity;) I can swear that I hear my guardian angel snickering again.

Lord, it's been a rough week. Have mercy. I love you dearly, but the box said "Honey Blonde", Lord, not pumpkin. Well, the good thing is:
If there are any lice left at least they'll glow in the dark.

Sabbath Moments

Today I am joining Colleen at Thoughts on Grace for her Sabbath Moments meme. Sabbath moments are moments we rest in God and just be rather than do. I seem to be always doing, doing, doing lately. Even the thought of resting in God makes me smile :)

We are having a cold spell here in New England right now but earlier in the week it was quite warm. I enjoyed the little break from the frigid temperatures. A few days ago someone hurt my feelings and I was feeling downcast. I stepped out onto my deck and sat in a chair and started telling the Lord about it and praying for the person who had inadvertently hurt me. I don't think she meant to; it was just an oversight I think. Anyway, I like to deal with these things right away if I can, so I spilled my heart out to the Lord and then started praying for the person that hurt me. As I was praying, the churchbells from a church near my house started ringing and they played a beautiful song. I didn't recognize the song, it wasn't a Catholic Church but soon I found myself smiling, hurt feelings forgotten. It was just so pretty to hear the bells as I was praying. I had never heard these bells before, I didn't even know that they had bells at that church. The beauty of it stuck in my head for the rest of the night and touched my heart. Such a little thing and yet so wonderful, even now it is bringing a smile to my face. Who has time for hurt feelings, anyway :)

In His Presence - Rick's Story

Imagine this:
One second you are on earth going about your business and the next second you are in the presence of  a   Light so pure and holy that you are instantly aware that this is the Holy Spirit. Every thought that you have ever had, every moment of your life is made present to you all at once. The great, the good, the bad and the ugly, every action and deed is known clearly in the light of truth. There are no ands, ifs or buts about it, you have just died, you are in the presence of Truth Itself and are about to be judged by Jesus.

Why, you may ask am I writing this? Well, I was thinking of a conversation I had with a man named Rick years ago. His wife worked for my mom's company and she kept on telling me that I had to hear her husband's story. One day Rick came over and proceeded to do just that:

Rick was riding his motorcycle one day, got in a terrible accident, died and found himself in the presence of Jesus. He was surrounded by Love but was also made aware of how far from Christ he had lived his life. Every single second of his life was shown to Him. He also met, "A beautiful lady dressed in blue." Rick said that he thought this was Mother Mary. After his life review Rick had no words but these, "I'm sorry Lord. I'm just a little guy from Minnesota." The Lord sent him back to earth after this and Rick was a new man. He was in the hospital for 7 months but cherished every day that he was alive. It was very hard on his wife, Carol, because she had a hard time understanding the new Rick. If she made even the slightest negative comment about another human being he would get up and walk away. She told me that his ears couldn't take it :) Rick  had a powerful conversion, he also came away from the experience with a great devotion to Our Lady. He calls her his mother.

I was touched by his story but it also made me realize how imperfect I was and still am. Still...what an amazing story. I have no reason to doubt it. As Carol put it, "Something sure happened to him because this Rick is nothing like the Rick I knew before the accident!" It makes one wonder doesn't it? I ask myself if I would be ready for this and the answer is: No, not yet. I have my work cut out for me. His story lingers in my mind, though. God was very merciful and gave him a second chance. I do like to pray for the dying, who knows what kind of grace our prayers obtain for them. Rick said that he was rotten before this happened. I think his next review will go much better :)

Pulling no punches

The warnings have been coming at a fast and furious pace. Not that the Lord is furious, but there is a gravity to the warnings that continues to grow. I am not frightened by this, but I am concerned. I am constantly being called to prayer, more so than ever before. Intercessory prayer for our nation and the world. I wish I could share my eyes with everyone. Please listen. The Lord wants us to "Open our eyes" and "Pray for the light of His Truth to shine on this world" so that people may clearly see the trouble we are in. Pray for conversion and "Stand in the gap" for our brothers and sisters who are far away from the Lord, spiritually. Even now the words "Warn them" are sitting upon my heart. I know that all will be well but I think we are going to have to walk through some extremely tough times with the emphasis on extremely. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/09/standing-in-gap.html

Lord, please pour your Holy Spirit upon us. May the light of your Truth shine in every heart and may all souls accept the mercy and love which You long to flood the hearts of your children with. Amen

Utterly Thine, O Lord!

On a more serious note...

Though I have been cracking jokes about nitpicking and lice, I have to be honest: this doesn't really bother me. How could it? Haiti kind of puts everything into perspective. The truth is-I would pick nits for the rest of my life if it would save one soul from hell. And I would do it ...joyfully. Am I serious? Yes, very. Those who have read some of my posts may recall the glimpse of hell I received . This has changed my outlook on life's little irritations and big ones, too. There is nothing - no suffering, no illness, no interior suffering that can compare to the suffering in hell. I remembered to thank the Lord for the gift of nitpicking. Am I crazy? Yes...crazy in love with the Author of Life, the great I AM. Remember to offer up everything. It really does matter. Everything matters.

Utterly Thine, O Lord

Something is really bugging me, Lord

Something is really bugging me and making me feel quite lousey [oops! I mean lousy! ] We have put men on the moon and yet no one has invented a product that removes those sticky nits from hair. Oh, Yes! It's the ongoing saga of the Licewarner household [ did I really just print that?]. It has been kindly suggested to me that Noah may be to blame for this, that he jarred 2 of these critters and brought them on the ark with him. Two of everything, right folks? Says so right in the Bible. I have my own take on this, however. Since there were no glass jars back then I believe the Lord allowed them to cop a ride on Noah's bushy white hair or beard. From there they multiplied at a phenomenal rate [this is fact] and soon the entire ark was infested.

Nurse Ratchet has been helpful enough to tell me that these are simply "people fleas". Oh, please! I have 2 dogs and let me tell you you cannot compare the two. Forty loads of laundry later I can assure you that "people fleas" is a misnomer. Assuming it's against the law to boil a child, I have taken many other steps to "RID" my household of this problem. I'm simply boiling everything else :)

Speaking of boiling... "Horton Hears a Who" is now banned from my household as the endless refrain "boil that dust speck, boil that dust speck" plays over and over in my head. I also owe my patron saint for the year, St. Francis of Assisi, my heartfelt apologies. St. Francis, you may call me "The Exterminator" and I will not take offense, I promise you. I love poetry but the words, "Brother nit, sister louse" just don't have a pleasing ring to it. May you be consoled by how many people left purgatory this past week ;)

One last comment:

Lord, I love you
I tell you each day
But when I asked you to knit
I meant knit with a K!

I often ask the Lord to knit my soul to Him :)

Sunday Snippets-- In Defense of Life

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival is a weekly meme hosted by RAnn at This That and The Other Thing where bloggers can share their favorite posts with others. If you would like to read these posts or join in ,please visit RAnn's blog. It's also a great way for new bloggers to get their blogs launched into the blogosphere. During this week devoted to ending abortion in our world I have decided to share these posts:

1. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/11/silent-void.html
2. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/10/glimps-of-hell.htm
3. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/06/jesus-wept.html
4. http://stumblingtowardheaven.blogspot.com/2009/10/choose-life.html

I know some of these posts sound harsh, but please understand how wounded America has been through the sin of abortion. The Land of the Free has failed in their duty to protect the most innocent of all, the unborn, who are unable to protect themselves. Apathy has invaded the hearts of many in our country.

Father of all, in your immense mercy, I ask you to free the hearts of all your children caught in the grip of apathy. May the voices you have given us rise true and strong in the defense of the unborn and the oppressed. Forgive us, O Author of Life, for allowing the sin of abortion to scar our country and world. Heal us, O Lord, and free us in the name of Jesus, who died  for us that we might live. I offer you the wounded Heart of Your Beloved Son in reparation for our sins. Pour the fire of Your Holy Spirit into our hearts, that our nation may be lifted out of it's apathetic stance toward abortion and once again be proud defenders of life, with LIBERTY and JUSTICE for ALL. Amen

Sabbath Moments- Praying with the Saints

Sabbath Moments is a weekly meme hosted by Colleen at Thoughts on Grace . It helps to remind me that I am always in God's presence and helps to prepare my heart for Sunday by taking time to rest in God and just be. These moments can be planned or sometimes God  may surprise us with moments of grace that can take one's breath away. I had today well planned. I knew that I wanted to pray with all my heart for the end of abortion, attend Mass between jobs, and offer my whole day to Him to help end this stain on the heart of America and to heal the wounds of those who have had abortions. I started with my morning offering and prayers before getting my daughter ready for school. After the bus picked her up I had 45 minutes before I had to be at work and decided to do The Chaplet of Divine Mercy. I love praying this chaplet and I asked the saints and angels in heaven to pray it with me. The odd thing is, whenever I ask them to join me,  I can often feel their presence. Seriously. In spirit I pray with them and they pray with me. We are all part of the body of Christ and it pleases them and God when we ask them to pray with us. Whenever I do this I feel encompassed by the love and mercy of God. Prayer is powerful when you pour your entire heart into it, it fills me with joy. Most of the time I feel God's Finger touching my soul, I lose this feeling when I lose my peace or when I feel rushed and pressured. I have been trying to draw my mind and heart back to God whenever I feel this happening but it's a work in progress :)

I attended Mass at noon and then spent a few extra minutes in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament [they had Adoration and 2 Masses at my church today in reparation for the sin of abortion]. The rest of the afternoon I offered up my work for this cause. I long to see the day when hearts are softened enough to see the truth of what abortion really is and put an end to this blight on our country.

Father, You are the Author of Life. Shine the light of your love into all hearts that abortion may come to an end and  life may be seen as the beautiful gift that it is. I ask for the conversion of my brothers and sisters in this world who do not understand that a person is a person no matter how small. I praise you for your infinite mercy and I thank you for sending your beloved Son to save us. Amen

Update

I just spoke with my sister. My poor niece is aching from head to toe. I thought she had just passed out once but it was three times. Hitting the floor three times left her bumped and bruised from head to toe but her blood pressure is better and she can walk. It took three liters of IV fluids to rehydrate her enough to stand without fainting. Goes to show that a stomach bug can be dangerous for adults as well as children. I am thankful for your prayers :)

Prayer request

Please pray for my niece. She has such a bad stomach bug that she passed out and hit her head hard on the floor. My sister had to call the ambulance and she needs a Ct scan. Thanks, everyone. I am awaiting news.

Nitpicking

Literally. Lord you owe me big on this one. I was hard pressed to keep from gagging. For love of you I offered it up, but I kid you not Lord.....one soul for each nit. I have never been so horrified in my whole life. Sure, Lord, I love creation, but I am not a bug person and you know that. Clouds, trees, stars, the moon. Gorgeous. But when my daughter said, "Mommy, why did God make headlice?", I was struck dumb. "I don't know honey. I don't know why."  "But, Mommy, you said everything has a purpose?" Yeah. That's right. I did tell her that. Maybe their  purpose is to drive mothers crazy. Of course, I didn't say anything except, "It's not your fault, sweetheart." I got a big magnifying glass. "Mommy, if you find one, I DON'T want to see it."  Right, the mommies get that honor ;)

This is the first time this has ever happened to us, thankfully. Every year there are outbreaks and my daughter has managed to escape it. Not this time. I got a call from the school nurse yesterday telling me that Michaela had headlice. Poor baby. Blond hair and lice just don't mix. The combs that come with the kits don't work either. So, I treated everyone's heads just in case and then spent six hours nitpicking. I scrubbed my house from top to bottom, washed everything in the house with hot water, boiled all the brushes and combs, vacuumed carpets, couches, chairs, and bagged all stuffed animals. Poor kid's the cleanest kid in the country, bar none. I can vouch for that... 5 baths later.

St. Therese, I got you beat on this one. Clicking teeth is nothing compared to nitpicking. God have mercy....once is enough. My guardian angel was snickering over this one I'm sure, I guess I needed to eat some humble pie :)

Another good reason for homeschooling kids if you ask me.

God's little helpers :)

I wonder if God has a big refrigerator in heaven where he hangs all our baby scribbles :) I wonder if they make Him smile? My daughter's pictures are all over my refrigerator and perfect or not, I always love them and am proud of her. So often I ask, "Why, Lord? Why do you want me to write for you? There are great theologians out there who can explain things much better than I. My grammar is horrific. Why, Lord?"

I didn't expect an answer. But I got one anyway. The Lord says that more are drawn through simplicity and love than theological expertise. Love draws, love heals, love... converts hearts. So, if all you bloggers out there who are on fire for the Lord wonder why you feel such a strong pull to write for Him, it's because of this. It doesn't matter if our posts are perfect or not, God knows the love with which they are written and He knows the plans that He has in mind for us. All we have to do is listen and trust Him. We are not writing for nothing. The value of a soul is infinite. If  the Holy Spirit uses our writing to convert even one soul then every second was worth it. The Holy Spirit knows what He is doing :) We might be little helpers...but we are GOD'S little helpers and that makes all the difference.

Spiritual storms and upheavals

All seems relatively calm on the American front. Despite the rough economy things don't look too bad. Well...don't believe everything you see; things are pretty bad indeed and people won't be complacent for very long. Mark my words. This is simply the calm before the storm. On a spiritual level, America, is having the equivalent of a tsunami. It is on the brink of a cliff. Teetering. Teetering. It doesn't take much to see this.  Other countries are in an equally precarious position.

There is always a tipping point and we have reached ours. I am receiving warnings on a daily basis that this has reached the emergency point. WE MUST CHANGE. NOW. The Lord has blessed our country immensely and saved us from so much because there are powerful prayer warriors in our country. Despite this I am receiving an alarming increase in warnings. I have learned over the years that the Lord is very merciful and generous. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that the Lord would allow anything terrible to happen here, I am an optimist when it comes to these things. Yet, I feel a strong nudging in the spirit to warn people. The Lord WANTS me to write these things. Why? My guess is: To prepare people for some major changes. He is always with His people. Leading them. Guiding them. And so...once again I am doing as the Lord asks. Please remember - justice and mercy walk hand in hand; there cannot be one without the other or pure havoc would encompass the world.

Pray. Love. Simplify.

Utterly Thine, O Lord

Blog or pray

I can either use an hour to blog or pray. Easy choice. Please remember our brothers and sisters in Haiti. They really need our prayers and help. Many charities are taking donations, the devastation is terrible and they need our support. See you soon.

All work and no prayer makes Mary a cranky girl

We have been redecorating my daughters bedroom and what a chore it's been. Randy and I had to move all Michaela's stuff [and she has ALOT of stuff ] out of her room, tear out the carpet and pad, paint, redecorate, etc....My brother-in-law put in the floor which came out beautiful. We are just about done, but I don't think that I have ever felt so cranky in my life. I guess I just can't work, run a household, take care of a child and redecorate at the same time. I need prayer and quiet time everyday. Plus, I keep falling asleep during my rosary. I know, I know....my guardian angel will finish it for me. Poor guy drew the short straw in heaven let me tell you, he hates it when I'm grumpy. Hopefully things will run smoother this week. If only I could sneak a few of Michaela's things into the trash, she doesn't even let me throw rocks away. I did go to Mass today, and I pray while I work.... but I still need daily quiet time with God.

Can you guess the theme she chose for her room?

If you guessed cats and fairies you would be right :) I somehow managed to work both in. The Pooh Bear days are over. "Mommy, Pooh Bear is for babies not big girls!" Right. I knew that... baby girl.

Sunday Snippets

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival Once again it's time to join RAnn for her Sunday Snippets Meme. Sunday Snippets give bloggers a chance to share their posts with other bloggers. This week I'd like to share the following posts with everyone. The first is a recent post on the charism of prophecy : http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2010/01/prophetic-words.html . The second post is an older post that I feel drawn to repost at this time: http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/09/love.html. Sometimes we forget how all-encompassing God's love is. The very fact that we sit here breathing and moving is proof in itself that we live in Love. Life is a gift. Life is good.

Thank you, Father of all, for the greatest gift, life itself.

Sabbath Moments

Today, I am joining Colleen at Thoughts on Grace for her weekly meme, Sabbath Moments. These are moments we take to spend with God; to rest in Him and just be. They can be planned or may just come upon us. Two special moments with God this week come to mind. The first was planned. I have Wednesdays completely off from work so I always get to Mass early on this day to join my fellow parishioners for the Rosary. I love when I get to do the Rosary, Mass and the Eucharist one right after the other. I always try to do extra Bible reading on these days and the Mercy Chaplet also. This always floods me with grace, especially on the days when I go to confession first. I try to go once a month to keep my soul clean.
The second moment was unplanned. I often meditate on the Passion of Christ and this never fails to move me and inspire me. Most of my poetry is written during meditations. This week as I was meditating I wrote a new poem called, One Came Back. I was thinking about St. John and how he ran away in the Garden of Gethsemane, but though he was the youngest, a mere youth actually, he came back and was with the Lord during His last moments. Out of all the disciples only one came back. I am putting it up on my poetry site this week. It's by far not the best poem that I have written but it deeply touched my heart to write it. I have overwhelming God-moments whenever I write poems. It brings me great joy and peace.

My post is a little late, but better late than never :)

Prophetic words

It seems that the Lord may be nudging me a tad to speak a little about the charism of prophecy. While at mass today, I opened the missalette and there,again, right on the page I opened up to, was Jeremiah. The Lord hounds me about the book of Jeremiah constantly. In my last post on charisms, I wrote a passage from the book of Jer. that started "But do you gird your loins...."  and of course that was the page it opened up to at Mass. Coincidence? Nah....happens too often. Hints, perhaps? Divine nudges? Yes, this is more likely. Why do I say this is more likely? Because those divine nudges come with fire. A good fire, not the kind that comes with brimstone; those brimstone burn like crazy let me tell you. Good thing many dreams are symbolic. In one, I was in a field and brimstone started falling from the sky. I ran and took refuge in "The Immaculate Conception Church". The Lord really wants us to trust Our Lady in these times and that is how I interpreted this dream. Plus, I think He was saying that our world is like Sodom and Gomorrah in its sinfulness and needs conversion. Not all prophetic dreams are symbolic; some can be very clear and concise. I have written posts about some of the dreams I have had, others I have not simply because they were either about somebody or were too frightening. In general, I have to say one thing: We should be very concerned about the times we live in and use this time of grace wisely. Pray. Abortion is one of the biggest problems facing America today. God is the Author of Life and considers abortion murder. The sins of this country are really piling up. We have become a trash heap with pockets of goodness here and there. Look at the big picture.

A prophetic word is when God speaks through one person  to another person or a community. God may give a word concerning the times  or may even speak of  a current or future event.  These can come in the form of dreams, words, or sometimes a vision. It can be a warning, a knowledge of events on the spiritual level or even a word concerning the physical world. I wrote about a number of these in earlier posts. One word that I am given on a consistent basis is that the Lord is calling people out of Egypt [slavery, bondage] and out of Babylon [worldliness]. Another example is : http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/08/do-ye-gird-your-loins-stand-up-and-tell.html .  Many are warnings, the Lord is calling his people to change their ways: http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/08/enemy-at-gates.html. Some are dreams that are blunt: http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/10/read-signs.html. These are just a couple examples, I have written about other words also.  The warnings do not come with a spirit of fear, I am encompassed with love and peace when He gives them. Some words are given with a time such as the prophetic word concerning the birth of Michaela. This word was given to both me and my mother at Mass one day. One time the Lord told me I would come down with the flu the next day and so it was. I had secondary complications and had to go on antibiotics. Often I will go for a period of time without any words from the Lord and then suddenly receive many in one week. It's all in the Lord's timing, not mine.

Everyone who is baptized and confirmed has charisms, this is made clear to us in the bible and I will get to that in my next post on charisms.

Sisters in Faith Award

A big THANK YOU to Karinann at Daughter of the King for designing and sending me this blog award. I also thank Nancy at Be not Afraid and Judy at BENMAKESTEN for sending it to me, too. After Karinann sent it to me I was going to send it to Judy and Nancy, but they were too quick for me :) Nancy beat me to Therese and  Sarah-Kala also. That's what I get for being so slow :)

These are the requirements for passing on the award. You must pass it on to several sisters who have been with you on your blog the longest, pass it on to at least one new sister in faith and be sure to give links to their blogs. Having said that, I pass this on to:

1. 
   
   Theresa at Carmelite Mom
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Rachel at Soliloquy
   
   
   
3. 
   
   Shadowlands at Living in the Shadowlands
   
   
   
4. 
   
   Tima at Living Water
   
   
   
5. 
   
   Allison at A Broken Fortress
   
   
   
6. 
   
   Elizabeth at Blest Atheist
   
   
   
7. 
   
   Rebecca at A Solitary Bird
   
   
   
8. 
   
   Elena at Fountain of Elias
   
   
   
9. 
   
   Julia at Thou Art Jules
   
   
   

Thank you all for your wonderful blogs, they inspire me and help me in my walk with Christ. There are many others that I would like to send this award to but they have already received it. I would like to give a special mention to a new blogger:
Barb at Suffering with Joy http://www.sufferingwithjoy.com/   I hope everyone will drop in and welcome her. I am sending this award to Barbara because of her deep faith and love for God. May the Lord bless you all! I am honored to be your Sister in Faith!

Don't ask me why this post is so messy. Blogger is not cooperating with me. Or maybe I should rephrase that....I am not cooperating with Blogger? I think the links work though :)

Bless me Lord, for I am stumped.

Can someone tell me how to copy a link to a person's blog name without having to cut and paste their blog URLs, also? I see people do this all the time but  "Blogging for Dummies" doesn't seem to cover this. Please?
Every button I've tried to click on doesn't work and I need to have a few hairs left on my head. This is how I have to do it now:
Judy at Benmakesten http://benmakesten.blogspot.com/  [Sorry Judy, I needed an example.] This takes forever as you can imagine, especially for a one-fingered typer. Well, I have more than 1 finger but the others refuse to cooperate. If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it :)

Dear sweet, kind, loving , merciful, patient and helpful Father in Heaven,
Do you infuse computer knowledge, too? Every hair on my head is counted
and I'm running short.  If so, here I am!
                              Your loving daughter,
                                               Mary

Think I buttered Him up enough? :)

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival  Each week RAnn at This That and the Other Thing http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/  hosts a meme called Sunday Snippets where bloggers can gather and share their favorite posts. You can find some great blogs here and also share your own. I really didn't post very much this week, so I'll just share 2 posts that I have written recently:

1. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/12/confirmations-in-spirit-and-holy-dreams.html  
2. http://openingthefloodgatesofmercy.blogspot.com/2009/12/if-anybody-tries-to-lay-there-hands-on.html

I started a new blog recently, also. It is called Two Hearts Entwined http://twoheartsonesong.blogspot.com/ and I have started copying some of my poetry, prayers I love and favorite quotes from a few of my favorite saints. I hope you will enjoy it. I wish a happy and blessed 2010 to all :)

Sabbath Moments

Colleen at Thoughts on Grace http://colleenspiro.blogspot.com/  hosts a weekly meme called Sabbath Moments. Sabbath Moments can be planned or may just come upon us. It is taking time to just be and rest in the Lord and reminds us of God's love and presence in our lives. Thinking about these moments on Saturday prepares my heart for Sunday, the Lord's day.

This week was filled with moments of grace. From meditating on the birth of our Savior to watching the joy on Michaela's face as she opened her presents. There was time spent with family, we all gather at my parents house on Christmas morning for brunch, and quiet time, also. Despite a stomach bug that ran through our house it was a wonderful grace-filled week. Randy, Michaela and I all watched a Disney Movie together on the couch one night. It was wonderful! Just the three of us, snuggling, and watching , "Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure". It wasn't the movie that got to me [though I did enjoy it], it was simply sitting there with the two of them, with our arms around Michaela. With my other hand I was holding hers. There is something so holy about holding a little hand, I can't explain it. It never fails to fill my heart with wonder and joy :)

I hope everyone had a great week and may God pour His graces upon all this year.

The Circle of Friends Award

Thank you, Colleen, from Thoughts on Grace http://colleenspiro.blogspot.com/ for this award! I have really enjoyed meeting many new friends through blogger and I want to thank all who follow my blogs and all whose blogs I follow. Every blog that I follow, I follow because I enjoy them so much.  I have learned so much from each one. This time I am cheating and giving this award to each one of you. Please copy this award onto your blog and list 5 things about yourself.

5 things about me that you probably don't know:

1. 
   
   One of my dogs is completely deaf, we use sign language and facial expressions to speak to him :)
   
   
   
2. 
   
   I hound the Lord constantly and He usually gives in :)
   
   
   
3. 
   
   I have 8 blogs. Yes, I am serious.
   
   
   
4. 
   
   I hate dressing up in dresses and heels and do it only if necessary.
   
   
   
5. 
   
   I think about God day and night.