Happy Birthday Terri!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Terri!!

Another Year
I’m wishing you another year

Of laughter, joy and fun,

Surprises, love and happiness,

And when your birthday’s done,
I hope you feel deep in your heart,

As your birthdays come and go,

How very much you mean to me,

More than you can know.

By Joanna Fuchs

Happy 40th Birthday to my super great friend and one of the best nurses I know!!

God Bless you!!

Blessed be God Forever!!!

Happy Birthday Matthew!!!

Happy Birthday to my nephew, Matthew!!

May your new year be filled as much joy and love as you give to all those around!!

Don't forget Aunt Kim loves you and you had better be practicing your pogo stick!

God Bless you Matthew!!

Love,

Aunt Kim

Blessed Be God Forever!

A very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my dear friend, Kathy's Gram who is 100 years old today.

Birthday Prayer
God our Father,

the birth of your Son Jesus Christ brought great joy to Mary and Joseph.

We give thanks to you for Gram whose birthday we celebrate today.

May she ever grow in your faith, hope, and love.

We ask this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We think of Gram often since we were so blessed to have a blanket she made for my Maria Rose. Thank you Gram for all you have done to bless the lives around you for 100 years.

God Bless you, Gram!!

Please say a "Hail Mary" from Gram, Elaine (her daughter), and Kathy her granddaugher today.

Blessed be God Forever!

Amen.

Teacher of the Year

Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to my cousin, Cathy on receiving Teacher of the Year. She teaches in Puerto Rico. I am so proud of her. She is an amazing person with a heart of gold. Thank you Cathy for what you do to make this world a better place! God Bless you!!

I think the St. Francis Prayer fits this occassion since Cathy is serving her students to make the world a better place to live in.

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let us sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is discord, union;where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;where there is darkness, light;where there is sadness, joy.

Grant that we may not so much seek to b consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226)

Please pray for all teachers today and don't forget to pray your rosary!

Blessed Be God Forever!!

Memorial DAy

A Memorial Day Prayer

Nothing has changed. The wounds inflicted by improvised explosive devices are appalling. Go to Walter Reed or Bethesda and see for yourself. The troops are not complaining. They never complain, and so nobody has any right to be less committed to the eternal mission of the soldier than they are.
This Memorial Day, remember that the cemeteries and physical therapy wards are full of men and women who gave their all for you, and who in many cases ask nothing more than to be allowed to go back and do it again. Pray for them. Please.
?I have eaten your bread and salt.I have drunk your water and wine.The deaths ye died, I have watched beside,And the lives ye led were mine.
Was there aught that I did not shareOne joy or woe that I did not know,Dear hearts across the seas?
I have written the tale of our lifeFor a sheltered people?s mirth,In jesting guise?but ye are wise,And ye know what the jest is worth.?
- Rudyard Kipling

Blessed be God Forever!

Don't forget your rosary!

Guppies

My 10 year old son recently got guppies. Two guppies to be exact. I must admitt that I was not excited about getting the guppies. All I could see was the care they would require; cleaning the fish tank, etc. I wasn't at all on the same train of thought as my son.

However, my mind has since changed about the guppies.

I sit and watch my son take in the guppies and their graceful movements through their water world.

His eyes fill with awe and from there I can see he is touched by even the simpliest forms of God's beautiful creation.

I have now taken to watching these guppies as well and must admitt that they are rather relaxing to watch.

My son has taught me (unknowingly I am sure) that if I continue to look only at the beauty of the BIG things, such as the waterfalls I have posted on my blog, then I will miss out on the small things God has created.

Once again, God using the what seems to be the ordinary to make me see the extraordinary.

This is how it is with Opus Dei---finding God in everyday life.

I think I need to start paying attention more the ordinary or I will miss out on some great things in life.

Thanks Joseph and your two guppies for helping me see what I might have missed.

Well, I had better get back to watching the guppies and listening to my son talk about how great it is t0 have them.

Blessed be God forever!

Maria Rose's First Dance Picture

I Hope You Dance
I hope you never lose your sense of wonder

You get your fill to eat But always keep that hunger

May you never take one single breath for granted

God forbid love ever leave you empty handed

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance

I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance

Never settle for the path of least resistance

Living might mean taking chances But they're worth taking

Lovin' might be a mistake But it's worth making

Don't let some hell bent heart Leave you bitter

When you come close to selling out Reconsider

Give the heavens above More than just a passing glance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance (Time is a real and constant motion always)

I hope you dance (Rolling us along)

I hope you dance (Tell me who)

I hope you dance (Wants to look back on their youth and wonder) (Where those years have gone)

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

Dance

I hope you dance

I hope you dance (Time is a real and constant motion always)

I hope you dance (Rolling us along)

I hope you dance (Tell me who) (Wants to look back on their youth and wonder)

I hope you dance (Where those years have gone) (Tell me who)

I hope you dance (Wants to look back on their youth and wonder) (Where those years have gone)

Update on Merrily Harrison

Pray of Thanksgiving Almighty Father, you are lavish in bestowing all your gifts,and we give you thanks for the favors you have given to us.In your goodness, you have favored us and kept us safe in the past. We ask that you continue to protect us and to shelter us in the shadow of your wings. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

I am so happy to report that all went well with Merrily and from what I understand to be true the situation with the cancer is now a nonissue. The surgery has taken care of it all and our prayers have been answered. Thank you to all who have been praying for her. I know her daughter, Shari and her family also appreciate all your prayers!

God is an AWESOME God!!

Blessed Be God Forever!

Don't forget to say your rosary!

Jogging

In the small village I live in, there is a young woman who jogs religiously each day. She jogs the same route each day-- rain or shine. From how she holds her body while running, she appears to have a physical handicap. However, she does not seem to let this get in her way despite her slow pace.

In fact, the pace has not seemed to pick up even slightly in the four years that I have observed her jogging.

One day, a friend said to me that she wonders why this young woman jogs daily when she is slow and has not made any progress at all.

I could see my friends point; however, I told her she should not be so quick to judge. We may not see the progress in this young woman, but obvioulsy this young woman could because she kept at it day to day.

Isn't that like each of us in some way? I know for me it might be praying for someone who has strayed from their faith. I might not see the progress in them, but slowly they may. I may continuously be working on my spiritual life day after day and feel I am not making any progress; however, God can see how hard I am working.

From this, I have learned not to judge. We can not fully understand what is going on inside a person nor were we meant to be able to see that. This is only for God to know, to see, and to judge.

Today, when I saw this young woman jogging I thanked God she was able to each day get out and continue what she does.

I also thanked Him for the reminder that I should always try to do my best no matter what barriers I may have and NEVER to judge because it is not my place only HIS

Blessed Be God Forever!

Don't forget to say your rosary!

Photos taken by my 17 year old son!

Our God is an AWESOME God and my 17 year old son captured how Awesome God's creation is.

The pictures are taken at Taughannock Falls State Park located outside of Ithaca, NY.

My husband and two sons all share the hobby of photography.

It is a great family builder and fun to see what types of beauty they capture.

I am thankful for their hobby together; a true blessing from God!

Have a blessed day and remember to say your rosary!

Blessed be God Forever!