Sleep

Even though I am off of work for the summer, it seems like I have even less time to pray the liturgy of the hours than during the school year with a Nancy, 5-year-old Claire, 3-year-old Sarah, and 1-week old Emily bouncing off each other inside the house. So even though it may not always be said in the formal way that the book presents, I still take the time every 4 hours or so to offer some sort of prayer even if I can't get to one of the Christian Prayer books. Nevertheless, one of the psalms from this morning, Psalm 63:2-9 read: "On my bed I remember you. On you I muse through the night for you have been my help; in the shadows of your wings I rejoice." Indeed, night time, or even nap time, is a blessed time in my house.

Patience

From 2 Peter 3:13-15a, "Consider that our Lord's patience is directed toward salvation." I never thought of directing my patience. I know patience is a virtue and I am a relatively patient individual, however, patience may not be the end I should focus on. My kids try my patience often, and I don't feel that I lose my patience with them (because they are so much better than some of the kids I work with at school), but perhaps my patience should be more focused on helping my kids in those moments rather than just not blowing up at them. Just because something may not be sinful doesn't necessarily make it virtuous by default.

Parenting Decisions

I thought I knew what kind of parent I wanted to be, in terms of what I would do, but that was based on what I did as a kid or what I saw other kids doing, so the problem is that my kids present me with situations that I have never seen before, which means I sometimes have to decide what to do on the spot. If possible, I delay the decision until I have time to think it over. Then even after having time to relect on what to do or reflecting on what I did, the answer isn't always clear. There are certainly worse ways to have handled it, but that doesn't mean that I handled it the best way possible. How do you know when you have the best possible answer in such unique situations like that? As smart as I think I am sometimes, it's amazing how often I rely on thinking and not enough on prayer, which I know has to go hand in hand with thinking and is often more useful than thinking alone because prayer allows you to pick God's brain and let Him do the thinking. If it's an important decision, a decision that I have my attention focused upon entirely, my subconscious will usually provide with what I am confident God wants me to do, but that answer doesn't always come quickly, or quickly enough before I am distracted, despite my original intentions. Psalm 51 includes the line: "Indeed you love truth in the heart; then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom." It's hard to let what my heart is telling me overrule what my head is saying because I always want to have the reason why this is the right decision and know how it's going to turn out, but I am getting better at giving up control and following my heart, what God wants me to do, instead of doing what my head may be telling me.

God the Mother

Although God the Father is understandably the image now emphasized in scripture since Jesus gave the Our Father, the Bible also provides motherly images of God to more fully describe God, whom words can never fully describe. Isaiah 66:10-14a includes: "As a mother comforts her son, so will I comfort you." This image stood out to me from seeing my wife comforting our newborn baby daughter these last six days since she's been born.

Peace.

Images of God

I personally like the image of our relationship with God as a spouse. Today Isaiah 61:10-62:5 includes: As a young man marries a virgin, your Builder shall marry you; and as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride so shall your God rejoice in you." However, I have known people abused by their fathers or other men, who have had trouble with the masculine image of God the Father because they never had a good understanding of how fathers are supposed to treat their children. Likewise, not every one marries young, not every bride is a virgin, so this image may be difficult for some to appreciate. Fortunately, God's love is so great and all encompassing that those searching for Him will find in through the many images of Him provided in scripture (and perhaps come to a better understanding of how those other figures are expected to act).

Peace.

Confidence

My wife and children are relying on me more than usual after our third daughter Emily was born Friday during a C-Section. I sometimes feel like I can do it all, but need to remember that it is really God that brings about any good from what I do. Today, a passage from Proverbs 9:1-18 stood out to me: "If you are wise, it is to your own advantage; and if you are arrogant, you alone shall bear it."

So how is wisdom defined? "Wisdom is fear of the Lord." Just like a healthy amount of confidence is good, a healthy fear of the Lord is good. I have heard this before, but need to be reminded of it often.

Peace.

Jess and Larry Marry

I went to Jess and Larry Ganni's wedding today. Nancy was in the wedding, so I had a lot of time on my hands before the actual wedding. When I was in the back of the church I found a couple of incredible prayer cards/books and contact information to find out more like the Divine Promise, the St. Gertrude chaplet (whose revelation has since been proven false 7/4/2016), the green scapular, etc. It was a big turning point for me.