Hope – Women Who Walk By Faith

The roller coaster of life

“I command you be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Have you ever rode a roller coaster? Have you stood in the line watching it go up and straight down, twisting and jerking those riding, while they scream to the top of their lungs? Did you stand there in excitement or a part of you fighting fear of the sudden drop?

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I think life comes at us often like a roller coaster. As we watch from the sidelines, we anticipate what may happen and some emotions begin to form within, most often fear of what may happen on the ride. Once you are strapped in your seat, you are secure by that of mankind. Then the ride begins and you build yourself up with excitement as you begin to climb to the highest point. Then it hits as you are at the top for a split second, fear of the unknown of what may happen as you descend rapidly. Once you reach the bottom, you realize it’s not so bad and your safety belt held. You are secure. As the ride continues, you get twisted and jerked here and there and continue climbing steep tracks and descending. After the ride is over, you are exhilarated. You did something very daring, but most of all you placed your trust in the security of your safety belt and the human engineering of the roller coaster. You can also look at it from the perspective of freedom. On the coaster, you let go and felt freedom from your own control as you had no where to go but where it took you once it started down the track.

One can compare this to life and our relationship with God. On the roller coaster, we are placing our life in the security of man, the designer, construction crew, the quality control and maintenance of the coaster and not ourselves. In life, through FAITH, we place our life in the security of God. Of course, we have to hop on the coaster of life and let God be in control of the highs and lows, the twists and jerks. Sometimes we may be challenged greatly as the descend takes us directly into a twist and flips our world upside down. Even in that moment, He still has you on the track guiding you through to the next. As you are at the bottom, He begins to prepare you for the ascend to the top, to the space freely created to accomplish His will in you, to trust Him when you begin to descend again. The wheels will remain on the track. As you trust in the security of His love and His Word, you will remain planted, grounded in Him.

I find myself often faltering from my trust in God. Usually it is in that split second that I realize life has just challenged me and I’m about to descend into a twist and turn, I begin to rely on my human nature of taking control and doing everything on my own. Sometimes, it’s not until I get halfway down the sudden drop when I realize, God is in control of this and as long as I place my trust in Him, I will stay on the track and life will not fall apart. I know I will falter that is my nature. But if I realize at some point down the slope, that God has this and I’m in the security of His hands, then I have still won the battle. God will always be there ready to keep me on the track and safely secure in the seat of the roller coaster of life. When He delivers His message of assurance through His Word or another’s reflection, it is overwhelmingly exhilarating.

How does God’s thrill ride compare to man’s? How exhilarating is it? Do you want to ride it over and over again?

Fruit in the Silence

“Attend to the sound of my cry, my King and my God” Psalm 5:3

Have you ever been in a place or a state when all you feel like doing is crying, hoping that it will bring you solace? What about prayer – have you sat down in silence and struggled and found your self resting, being consoled and comforted?

I found myself today practicing being present to God in silence. I must say this is a total struggle for me at times. My mind tends to wander all over the world and back. As I sat in the chapel in Adoration, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, I settled my mind and engaged in silence and total presence. As I sat there, an image popped into my head. The image, at the time I found to be intriguing. It was the ocean washing ashore. At first there was a wall present and then I realized the wall was gone and the water was just washing away the sand before me as it came ashore. Because I was centering myself in prayer, I didn’t want to analyze this too much but felt that the wall was a blockage for me to be present to God and as the water washed ashore, He removed it so that I could center myself. Then I realized as the sand began to wash away, that God was washing away the top layers of my being and revealing my inner self, my center in Him. At that moment, I don’t think I realized the impact this would have later in my day. This created free space for me to be present with God, in preparation for what would come later.

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Later as my day emerged, more things began to surface affecting my peace and I found myself crying out to God and found myself centering my inner being in His presence unveiling a greater peace and comfort. As I am faced with a challenge ahead of me, this presence and act of centering my soul in a cry to “my King and my God,” prepares me with great strength, with peace, and with trust. These are the moments when my prayer life struggles yet strengthens and my faith grows leaps and bounds. It is where my heart meets the heart of Christ, and my pains, His wounds.

So I asked myself and I ask you, have you sat in silence lately, centering your being in Christ, crying out to Him from the deeper core of your heart, allowing Him to comfort, hold and whisper His will for you? Silence can be scary in a world of noise, but it can also be comforting and restful to heart that is in need.

Will you allow God to shape and form you?

“If God sends you many sufferings, it is a sign that He has great plans for you and certainly wants to make you a saint.” St. Ignatius of Loyola

Ever wish life were simple, everything worked out, there was no pain, no suffering? Do you think if you had no pain and suffering you would be the person you are today?

So often I wish God would take away all my pain and suffering, just put me in a bubble and protect me from all inflictions. If only each piece of sin and suffering would bounce off the wall of the bubble and I can watch in peace. When I sit and dream of such a beautiful, perfect life with no heart ache, no unhappy tears, I’m reminded of all that I have gained in the midst of pain and suffering. If I had not suffered pain and inflictions, I may not have the relationship I have with God. It is through these trials that I have grown the most in my faith and relationship with God. It’s in these moments that I cry out to God and seek His love and guidance the most. It’s in these moments that I learn to trust God more and more because I know there is much more greatness God has in store for me.

As a parent, I am always wanting to place my girls in a bubble, protect them from all things in the world that can inflict pain, hurt, heart ache. But being a parent, I also know that putting my kids in a bubble and not letting them experience these things is not good for them. In order for them to grow, I have to step back sometimes and give them space to experience situations.

God does the same for us in so many ways. He knows what we need and He allows us to go through these moments so that the happiness He designed for us through love for Him is pruned and blooms.

What masterpiece can be created when you fire up a slab of metal and mold and shape it? What can you create when you twirl around a piece of clay, guiding its formation? Is God not the artist and the potter? Will you let Him shape and form you today through your pain and suffering, because you are His perfect work of art?

Has your veil of darkness been lifted revealing the love of Christ?

“Faith widens our lens of our limited human understanding, giving us the graced view of eternal perspective to see that all is well in God. It’s the veiled revelation of living faith that allows us to see Christ in the midst of our pain, as our hearts open up to anchor themselves in the promise of life beyond the grave, which is the ground of hope.” Mary’s Way The Power of Entrusting Your Child to God, Judy Landrieu Klein

Have you had moments when your faith was weak? Moments when you were in the valley or in shear darkness? Perhaps, you couldn’t see past the circumstance you were dealing with and you were just fighting to survive, to keep your head above the water?

There was a time in my life when my lens was very narrow. All I could see was the storm I was in. I bobbed in the ocean I was swimming in, just trying to keep my head up and above the surface. Physically I was surviving but spiritually and emotionally I was drowning. Then one day, this little spark of faith widened my lens and opened my heart. I began to anchor myself in the love I found.

I found this man, who was human and divine. His eyes looked upon me with love and sadness at the same time. He knew my pain because He had felt an enormous pain of His own. He was rejected no matter how He loved. He was stripped of His clothes, beaten and spit upon for His love. He endured the greatest level of humiliation. Yet, His love remained. It was unfailing and unwavering. When I came face to face with Him and saw His enormous love radiating towards me, I knew my life was transforming. No matter my rejection, my humiliation, my brokenness, He loved me.

Have you ever felt this love – truly experienced it? Have you felt it in the midst of your pain and suffering?

If you are struggling in your marriage, your health, with addictions, parenting, loss of a loved one, any relationship or brokenness, try embracing it. Allow the veil of darkness to drop and see Jesus looking right at you with love and sadness. Give thanks for your cross and allow Jesus to be your Simon of Cyrene lifting the greatest weight of your cross so that you can complete the journey of hope and glory that is beyond the grave, in the light shining in the midst of the darkness.

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Discover the power or prayer in these darkest moments. Embrace His gaze upon you as you kneel before Him, praying for those who hurt you, for His will in your health and addictions, for comfort through your loss, or to mend your brokenness. He loves you to the “heavens” and back, even in your weakest, darkest moments.

Understanding in why we are asked to carry these crosses is beyond our limited view. In all things, God is good. When our FAITH is tested and strengthened, we are given a greater perspective revealing this goodness of God anchored in the center of our circumstance. May your faith be strengthened when the storms of life test it the most.

Love a deeper force of attraction

St John of the Cross, “soul is in God like a stone buried in the earth. The soul is attracted to the deepest center of God like the stone is attracted to the deepest center of the earth. This attraction is mutual. The force of attraction between the soul and the center of God is not gravity but love.”

Where is the anchor of your heart? What about your soul? Do you feel an attraction to something that is unexplainable? A deep desire for something bigger than your physical life?

St John of the Cross’ metaphor of our soul’s attraction to God by love being similar to a stone attracted to the earth by gravity is a beautiful image. It reminds me of Margaret Silf’s road map of our lives in the book Inner Compass. She explains that our lives are comprised of layers: Where I am? How I am? Who I am? The deepest center – I am.

Where I am is my connection to circumstance, the things in my environment I cannot change. This is my past. It is my family, where I come from, the outer part of me.

How I am is how I respond to the environment, my circumstance and to others. I can love. I can be angry. I can be afraid. I can be merciful and compassionate. I can accept things or not. This is where I make choices and affect changes within in myself and the world.

Who I am is my true being. It is who I truly am, where I face my indifference. It’s the comfort and peace of my being and it is the challenges I face as I see the differences between the outer me and the person created by God. This is my spiritual being in the I am that lay at the deepest part of my soul. This is where my relationship with God is, where my seed of God’s love grows and produces fruit. This is where I journey through prayer, the very essence of my journey.

In our lives, we will move between each of the layers – back and forth. Some people may never move into the who I am because of the risk and the challenges they may face by approaching a relationship with God. Those of us who do move here may be faced with challenges by seeing the gap between life in the where we are and the person God created us to be. In this space we gain wisdom, strength, and love. We begin to find acceptance with joy to circumstance that we cannot change. It challenges us to see the things where God is calling us to transform to be resurrected from. This is where our intimate relationship with God fuels a trust in Him.

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As we continue to dive deeper the love of God attracts us to the center, to the deeper core of us. This is where our deepest desires lay. Where we are most in touch with who God is in us and who He created us to be. This is where our anchor is. And everything else should be centered and directed from this point as we transition through each layer of ourself back and forth. Processing circumstance into our action based on who we truly are in the one who created us.

Through this movement, there are times we may have an experience that is not explainable, that is providential. It is something that is tangential to all the layers of our being. It is a moment when we have truly been touched by God and he has moved and united all layers fusing our where I am to the how I am and the who I am, driving roots to the center, anchoring our total being to Him. When this happens His light shines around us, glowing from our center for all to see. This is a point of spiritual freedom, the top of the mountain in our journey.

Have you allowed yourself to be open to move into the who I am, allowing God to anchor Himself from your where I am to the center of your being, to your heart?

Do you wrestle with stillness?

“Be still and know I am God.” Psalm 46:11

Do you struggle with stillness? What is God saying to you when He says “be still and know I am God?”

A couple of years ago this verse danced in my head and I questioned what it really meant to me, what was God saying to me when He said be still and know I am God?

A few weeks later, I had gone to see my eye doctor just for a regular exam so I could get some contacts. As I’m sitting in the chair, my doctor looks at me concerned and began asking me a series of questions. He asked if I was dizzy and having headaches. I looked at him very confused and slowly stated, I was fine and no I hadn’t been having any issues with headaches or dizziness. He explained to me that my optic nerve looked swollen. He said it could be one of two things, it was swelling, which would indicate neurological issues or there was calcium deposits causing it to look like swelling, which would affect my peripheral vision. He referred me to a neuro ophthalmologist to run further tests. Of course, like most people, I go home and search the internet, not very wise. Everything bad under the sun comes up, heightening my anxieties. I made an appointment to see the specialist. I spent an entire day undergoing several exams on my eye and was becoming very concerned through each exam. After all the tests, she still could not make a determination what was going on with my eye and made me an appointment at another facility to have an ultrasound done on my eye. I was alone and frightened as none of these tests revealed a definitive answer. I had a couple of hours before the appointment for the ultrasound. I found myself longing to go sit quietly in a church. I found a church just down the road from where my ultrasound was scheduled. When I walked in, I noticed they had Adoration in a small chapel. I went in to sit, to “be still,” with Jesus. Being there brought about a calmness and tranquility and all my anxieties on what could be wrong with my eyes were gone. I was in a state of stillness and I knew that God was in control. I knew that no matter what the doctor found, this was part of God’s plan in my journey.

Now, when I read that verse and contemplate its meaning, I know that God is telling me, “relax, I have this figured out, you are mine and I am your God, your Heavenly Father who loves you, who has a plan for you and all things in your life.”

Being still and allowing God to be God, does not mean you have to go to a church or a chapel and find complete solitude or quietness. You can find this stillness in your home or outdoors. God is all around you and anytime you find yourself needing to be still, find a comfortable spot, pause and allow Him to reveal to you that He has everything under control because He is God. This stillness is a moment of focus on God in all matters in your life.

Have you been kissed by God or heard His heartbeat?

“There is an ancient legend that holds that when an infant is created, God kisses its soul and sings to it. The legend says God’s kiss and His song, as well as the song of the angel, remain in that soul forever – to be called up, cherished, shared and to become the basis of all our songs. But to feel that kiss, to hear that song, requires solitude…. The sound of God’s heartbeat is audible only in a certain solitude and in the gentleness it brings.” Prayer Our Deepest Longing

Have you been kissed by God lately? Have you heard Him tell you He loves you lately? Have you sat intimately with Him, allowing His embrace so that you could hear His heartbeat.

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I think the quote from the book “Prayer Our Deepest Longing” is such a beautiful image of the love of God as our creator and how intimate His relationship has been with us from the time we were formed.

Today, as I contemplated that image in the solitude of my heart, I realized that not only do I long and desire this intimate relationship with God but I also long and desire it with my earthly relationships. I realize that no one on this earth can possess the unconditional love God has for me but I also recognize that there are people in my life that imitate this intimacy of God through Christ in them.

As I have matured in my life and embraced my journey with Christ, I realize how important each person in my life is. Discerning my friendships and those that help guide my direction in my life has become very important. When a doctor performs surgery or any procedure for that matter, he has a set of instruments that are necessary to do the task that he needs to accomplish. The same is the case with an orchestra. To play a certain melody that resonates beautiful sound, the orchestra has to have certain instruments that precisely play certain notes at particular times. I think our friendships and other relationships are instruments in our lives that help guide us in directions that resonate with the very heartbeat of God and “His song” in us. Perhaps, it is in our solitude that we can truly hear the sound of His heartbeat, hear that song and embrace His kiss.

In my life, discerning the relationships that are healthy, the instruments in my journey, has been critical for me to ascend to this summit of solitude where I can lay on the chest of my Lord and hear His heartbeat and embrace His kiss.

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After reading the excerpt of this ancient legend in “Prayer Our Deepest Longing,” I know that His song and His kisses that remain in my soul have been called up, cherished and shared in the intimacy of my dear brothers and sisters I have connected with in my walk with God. Each of my sisters and brothers are the instruments in the song God played for me during my creation as His beautiful daughter. And each of your brothers and sisters that are in your life guiding you along your journey with Christ are the instruments in the orchestra God created just for you to hear His harmonious heartbeat in the beautiful song they play. Embrace your sisters and brothers that guide you closer to God along your faith journey. Share the kiss of the Lord with each of them.