Friday, September 29, 2023

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael and Faith, Fortitude, and Prayer

 Good morning out there! I began writing this post at 5:12 am - I've been awake since about 1:15 am.        I tossed and turned, I prayed, I read for a little while and at 3:45 am I got out of bed and hit brew on my coffee pot. Jim gets the coffee ready for us the night before, so in the morning we just hit brew and the wonderful aroma of coffee fills the air. At 4:00 am I sat down at my computer and did some book work and drank my cup of coffee. Some days just begin earlier than others and that's okay! 

Today is the Feast Day of the Archangels; St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael -

Psalm 104:3-4

You walk on the wings of the wind, you make the winds your messengers and flashing fire your servants.

Revelation 12:7-12

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

"Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony;               love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them."

 These scriptures are in our daily devotional, "Magnificat" which is full of morning prayers, evening prayers, stories about the Saints, and scriptures for daily Mass. Another scripture for today is from    Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

As I watched: Thrones were set up and the Ancient One took his throne. His clothing was bright as snow, and the hair on his head as white as wool; His throne was flames of fire, with wheels of burning fire. A surging stream of fire flowed out from where he sat; Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him, and myriads upon myriads attended him.

The court was convened, and the books were opened. As the visions during the night continued,        I saw One like a son of man coming, on the clouds of heaven; When he reached the Ancient One and was presented before him, He received dominion, glory, and kingship; nations and peoples of every language serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away, his kingship shall not be destroyed.

I hope you all have a blessed day - Put on the Full Armor of God and remember that He is always with us! Some days I'm able to say, "Jesus, I trust in You!" and I mean it with all of my heart. But some days I say very humbly, "Jesus please, help me to trust in You." and He does!

Peace and blessings to you and yours,

near and far, wherever you are!

Bye for now, Sharla






Monday, September 18, 2023

My Blog is Full of Memories Near and Dear to My Heart

 Hello out there! Fall is almost here! Hooray!

The following blog post is from four years ago. Oh my goodness - how time flies! The seasons change, years pass, but memories, whether good, bad, happy or sad remain with us. I'm so thankful for my blog because it helps keep our family memories alive. Stories that our children and grandchildren will be able to read and pass these memories on. Stories of faith, hope, perseverance, family time, holiday traditions, meal times and Mass times - and that through all things - God is with us.

I wrote this post back in September 2019:

Good morning out there! How are y'all doing? A quick post before I dash out the
door! Alas, I have much to share but only a smidgen of time so I'm going to post
a couple of things that warmed my heart and made me laugh!
Yesterday I called Jim as I was leaving the beauty shop (cut and color - long overdue!)
I told him that I was going to the grocery store but I was going to stop and get
gas first because I was running on fumes! He told me that he was on his way to
fuel up his truck and welding machine. We hung up, I pulled into Stripes (gas station)
and Jim pulled in right across from me. I got out of my explorer and laughed. I
walked over and gave him a hug and then he immediately went and filled up my
gas tank while I talked a mile a minute. We continued the discussion as he filled
up his tanks (truck and welder) and then I went to the store and he headed back
home. We've been married for over 36 years now. Our life together has been an
amazing journey filled with love and laughter, joy and tears, kindness and respect,
thousands of prayers, and our faith in God guiding us along the way!


Have to share this also:
  I have way too many pictures on my phone! I've uploaded them, or maybe it's
downloaded them onto my computer. Anyway, I started deleting them off of my
phone. I came across a 36 second video from our oldest grandson's birthday
in January 2018. This video is hilarious - the only thing I can figure out is I must
have been going to take a picture, hit video instead, and then got distracted.                                             I have the phone in my hand and my son, daughter, two or three of the grandkids,
 and myself are all in the kitchen. There are at least three, maybe four conversations
 going on at once and you can only see the floor, tops of the kids heads, etc.
 We're pulling something out of the oven and I'm laughing like a hyena, we're running
into each other - Good memories and so "us"! I'm thankful I came across that video -
it's definitely a keeper!

                                                                      Peace and blessings to you and yours,
                            near and far, wherever you are!
                                                                                  Bye for now, Sharla

And.. it's almost fall, y'all!