HEART OF MY OWN HEART

If you greet sunrise with God in your heart and a prayer on your lips, there is a better chance that your day will reflect God's love, mercy and justice, and you will be better able to treat others the way God would. —~ From: When Did I See You Hungry? ~


There are four things that you cannot recover in life:

(1) The Stone...........after it's thrown

(2) The Word...............after it's said

(3) The Occasion......after it's missed

and

(4) The Time............after it's gone.


So, keep God in YOUR heart...a prayer always on YOUR lips...and...a smile for EVERYONE YOU meet!

Not only will YOU become a blessing to those around YOU...YOU will be bountifully blessed in return!!



Heart of my own heart...whatever befall...still be my vision...oh Ruler of all!

THE CARPENTER'S HOUSE

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. He told his employer-contractor of his plans to leave the house building business and live a more leisurely life with his wife enjoying his extended family.

He would miss the paycheck, but he needed to retire. They could get by. The contractor was sorry to see his good worker go and asked if he could build just one more house as a personal favor. The carpenter said yes, but in time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He resorted to shoddy workmanship and used inferior materials. It was an unfortunate way to end his career.

When the carpenter finished his work and the builder came to inspect the house, the contractor handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "This is your house," he said, "my gift to you."

What a shock! What a shame! If he had only known he was building his own house, he would have done it all so differently. Now he had to live in the home he had built none too well.

So it is with us. We build our lives in a distracted way, reacting rather than acting, willing to put up less than the best. At important points we do not give the job our best effort. Then with a shock we look at the situation we have created and find that we are now living in the house we have built. If we had realized that we would have done it differently.

Think of yourself as the carpenter. Think about your house. Each day you hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall. Build wisely. It is the only life you will ever build. Even if you live it for only one day more, that day deserves to be lived graciously and with dignity. The plaque on the wall says, "Life is a do-it-yourself project." Your life tomorrow will be the result of your attitudes and the choices you make today!

~Author Unknown~

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"I BELIEVE GOD HOLDS THE BRUSH"

Not long after we joined our new parish, there was an evening of prayer and conversion talks. When we entered the parish hall, there was a large display of paintings in the front of the room. We took seats in the back, (it is my habit to always sit as close to an exit as possible, should the panic rise within me), and listened as one by one people stood to talk about their struggles...their faith...and...their struggles...with...their faith.

At one point, a pretty blonde woman in a wheelchair began to speak. A terrible skiing accident many years earlier had left her quadriplegic and despairing. She spoke about her trials...her road to recovery after the accident...and, how she came to be an artist.

YES, THE PAINTINGS...WATERCOLORS....WERE HER CREATIONS!

This remarkable woman was Sylvia Geoghegan. The life story she told that evening was an inspiration...an invitation...to a new way of living...of being...for all of us gathered in that room...for me.

Sylvia spoke about learning new ways...about making deals with herself to go outside the house...to go to the store...even though she disliked the way people stared at her. Though mine was a different problem, her fears and how she had overcome them struck a chord deep inside me!

After the talks were over, I went to the display of paintings. One in particular caught my eye. I was just staring at it...feeling the words gently caress the pain...the constant panic...in my own heart...when Sylvia came over to me. She told me the words on the painting were what had saved her...become her motto for life...

"And the day came when to remain tight as a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

I told Sylvia that those words touched me right to my very soul.

I asked how much the painting cost.

When she told me the price, I knew we could never afford it...my husband had only been back to work a short time and I was back to just medical billing jobs since the short term high paying contract had ended. Even as these thoughts were running through my mind, Sylvia...this incredible woman, who had never laid eyes on me before in her life...said: "Here take it...you can pay me twenty-five dollars a month, until it's paid for."

I couldn't believe what was happening!

That night, I wrote her a check for twenty-five dollars, and brought my treasure home.

Each month, I faithfully made my payment to this incredible woman who gifted me with so much more than a pretty painting...she gave me hope, faith, and the way to get my life back.

To this day, that painting (along with a smaller one of an angel I had purchased later) hangs right by my front door...a constant inspiration...reminder...every time I leave the house.

Sadly, Sylvia Geoghegan passed from our lives...tragically and accidentally...much too soon on November 7, 1999...yet, her enthusiasm...her love...her inspiration...live forever in those who were blessed to have been touched by her indomitable spirit!


So, the questions are these:


What has YOU painfully twisted..."tight as a bud"...today?


What risk must YOU take...to blossom?



To read more about the remarkable Sylvia Geoghegan visit:

A HANDICAP IS TURNED INTO AN INSPIRATION ~NY TIMES-JUNE 8, 1997 ~

LIFE IS LIKE A CUP OF COFFEE

So, how about YOU?

In YOUR life, is it the "coffee" or the "cup?"

Are YOU savoring YOUR "coffee," or struggling to get YOURSELF a better "cup?"

Are YOU coveting someone else's "cup?"

Whose?

Why?

Because YOU really need it, or because YOU just don't want THEM TO HAVE IT?

How are YOU going to change YOURSELF, so YOU can savor YOUR "coffee," without a second thought to someone else's "cup?"

WHOSE "ANGEL" WILL YOU BE?

You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them. ~ Saint Therese of Lisieux ~


Today, who needs YOU to be their "angel?"


We are each of us angels with only one wing, and we can only fly by embracing one another. ~ Luciano de Crescenzo ~


Today, who will YOU help to "fly?"