Really???

I just read in the paper that my church's air conditioning units were disassembled yesterday in the hunt for copper, causing a total of 20,000 dollars in damage to our air units!! Stealing is bad, stealing from a church??  I don't even  know what that is......

Keep Hope in Your Heart

I opened a box my grandmother gave me full of rosaries and prayer books. The first prayer book I saw was titled "Keep Hope in Your Heart". Sometimes keeping the hope in your heart for the things we desire the most is really hard, especially when we face adversity while trying to achieve these dreams. I read on, because despite feeling no hope at times, I really want the hope to remain in my heart. I think it would be a really sad day that there is no hope in my heart.  I figured any prayer or poem that helps remind me of this is a good thing. There were several prayers so I decided to post one that touched me today.

Precious Hope

Oh, precious hope that fills the heart with music,

That gives the downcast spirit wings,

To rise above defeat and circumstances;

To treasure  blessings each new dawning brings.

Hope in despair, how welcome the assurance,

God is alive, and He knows what is best.

Though dark the hour and lone the road before us,

 In every storm there is a place of rest.

Regina Wiencek

Open Letter

Dear Loved One,

I know right now is a very stressful time for you. Your time and energy is being consumed with worry and stress as you work to achieve your goal. You worry that all you time and energy will be wasted and your goals not achieved. Please know that I am confident that your dedication, love, and faith will pay off and that you will achieve your goals. Your foundation of knowledge and faith will sustain you and help you to rise to any challenge you will face. Know that I walk with you and I am here to catch you if you fall. In your journey do not forget your compassion and empathy. These are the qualities that will set you apart and help you to truly heal others.

Love,
Loribug

The Island

Part 2 of our trip found us visiting my brother and his wife on the island. They were extremely busy with school and work but we spent some quality time with them in the evenings. In the meantime, Mom and I hung out, went to the strand, went to an art gallery, bought some fresh seafood, ate some good food, and had a very memorable nice day. I have a little photo essay of the events and people I met along the way.

My new favorite relative, LIL the CHI. 

Mom's Old place of employment 

Bro with his new and improved hair-do

LIL pretending to be a Cat

My new friend!(A little anorexic if ya ask me)

A man told me this was his girlfriend and I should be nice to her....So I was

I stopped here and had a conversation with the stork. I had some unfinished business with him. I checked to make
sure he had my address correct!!

Just so darn cute!

More cute

I left a little graffiti 

Mom and I

Ky and I(Bro was studying!)

I thought this was an interesting perspective on gossiping!!!

 This happened to the car on the way home to remind us that vacation was over! :(  THE END

Lunch in Old Town

Mom and I are on our Texas tour to take a break and see some people we love. We had a great lunch with my M-I-L, S-I-L, and lovely niece(who is growing into such a beautiful and talented young woman). After a nice lunch in Old Town, we stopped by the casa and said hi to my F-I-L. We even snapped some photos. We have headed further south to see some more people we love and I will update later on that.....

Me, S-I-L, F-I-L, M-I-L, Niece
We are sitting on colorful chairs that were refinished by F-I-L. They bought them
in my neck of the woods and they were rusted pieces of metal. I wasn't sure the beauty in them, but MIL and FIL did.
LOOK AT THEM NOW! Colorful and beautiful. I wish I had before pictures.

The E girls!

All the Girls! Mom and I coordinated!!

Confirmation

Yesterday I was honored to be a confirmation sponsor for a nice young woman from our church. It was a special ceremony where a young adult reaffirms their baptismal vows and receives the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Now the quiz part, who can name the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit?

These gifts are:
Wisdom
Understanding
Counsel(Right Judgement)
Fortitude(Courage)
Knowledge
Piety
Fear of the Lord

As I sat and listened to the Bishop reflect on these gifts and what they were going to mean in their life, I couldn't help but look back on my life so far and contemplate what the gifts have meant to me.
I guess the one I really struggle with is the understanding. When I take some of my life's biggest struggles and try to understand, that is when I feel I understand the least. But if you look up understanding as a gift of the Holy Spirit, it is not understanding my own life, but understanding how I need to live as a follower of Christ. Wisdom is not about being smart, but about seeing the work of God in our lives. Fortitude is about having the courage to stand up for God in our lives. These are the gift given to us by the spirit and once we have these gifts we will be able to celebrate the fruits of the spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, and chastity. I know I have received some of these fruits, so I deduce that I do have the gifts. I also know that it is something that I have to work on in my life on a daily basis but the reward is great.

Stairs

I have never posted twice in a day, but today I guess I am chatty. I am now on the stay-cation part of my vacation. J went back to work and I am confined to the house. You may ask why, and I would tell you that my car is in the shop getting fixed.  So anyway...I'm bored.  I was watching bad reality TV and decided I needed to get some exercise. Its yucky outside and I can't drive to the gym so I decided I would go up and down my stairs.  Its cheap, but I was huffing and puffing after just a few flights. Something strange happened once I started...Sadie started doing stairs with me!! After one flight she stopped in the middle and just watched. The moral of my story is this, "When you set a good example, you never know who you may inspire."

Viva Home!

I am back after a well needed vacation to Vegas! I wish I could say we came back with a pocket full of money, but that would be a lie! I did come back relaxed and happy (and maybe with a couple more pounds!) J and I had the opportunity to see Viva Elvis. It is a Cirque Du Soleil production to the music of the King of Rock and Roll. It was incredible combination of music, dance, and acrobatics. 

We stayed at a new hotel called the Aria. It is located at a mall called City Center and connected to several new hotels. The Cosmopolitan was a new hotel across the street that had a 2 million dollar chandelier that took 6 months to install. It was something else! 

I would post some pictures, but we only took about three! Yes you read that correctly. We had 2 cameras, a video camera, 2 phones with cameras, and we didn't take any pictures. I think that is an indication of how much fun we were having. We weren't worried about taking photos, we just were relaxed and enjoying the moment. I don't think it gets any better than that! 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day is coming up and  I thought it would be nice to wish a happy day to everyone I know who is a mother. Mother's come in all shapes and sizes, but one thing remains the same....Their great big hearts!!! I know for some, mother's day is hard because it is a reminder of something they are not yet...a mother. It is interesting that I don't feel sad on Mother's day because I am not a mother. I choose to remember all those who have been special to me; my Mom, my Mother in Law, B, Grandmommy, Mama, my Aunts. God has blessed me enormously with great women who have shaped my life. I now have friends that have graduated to the role of mother and they are shining examples and role models.  I relish in the joy of doing something special for all the mom's I know, because lets face it...364 days of the week they are doing for others!!

May is also a month we celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus. What better way to celebrate mothers and Mary then singing(or praying) her pray found in Luke 1:46-55. The song of Mary or the Magnificat:


My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.
 Jesus.