101). Never Too Late

As I blew out the 80 candles on my birthday cake, my thoughts were filled with gratitude for all these many good years! At the same time, I couldn’t help but ask myself how best to use whatever years were left for me to serve the Lord well. My heart’s desire has been to meet my Lord in the company of an army of souls that I’ve invited to join me! Not being a very extroverted type, most of my words have been in reflective writing that I’ve shared with a few friends and a lame attempt at blogging. “Yea, two people read something today!” let me know that my army was going to be pretty small. A little voice (the Holy Spirit?) had been whispering in my ear lately, to encourage me to find a way to reach a larger audience with the fruit of my many years of following Jesus. I bit the bullet, and signed up for Praise Writers’ on-line writing class, hoping to gain some help in reaching my dream before my time was up! It was geared to help writers learn the basics of how to write and where to go with it.

What struck me first was the reality that the gift of writing the Lord had blessed me with was indeed a mandate, to be cultivated and broadcast, spreading the seeds that had been sown in my heart that they might land and take root in others’ hearts, to produce the beautiful garden the Lord envisioned. I didn’t want to stand before the Lord on judgment day with my talent buried in the ground.


The course offered many great practical points, from time blocking to the need for community. My random and sporadic writing reflections needed to be trained, and given much more of a priority than I had ever allowed them. A highlight of the course was a half hour time with the director, Claire Dwyer, who offered some concrete suggestions and encouragement for moving forward. Access through Praise Writers to great interviews with established writers provided more direction and inspiration.

Today, moving toward 81years, I remember that Moses only began his main ministry at age 80! It’s not too late for me, as I’m committed to making the time to share the goodness of the Lord with my new tools that have been tried and proven by others before me.


Lord God, thank you for not giving up on me, but rather offering the grace of a new day, a new approach, and a fresh outpouring of Your Spirit to bring to fruition the gifts you’ve blessed me with. May Your grace not be given in vain, but rather nourished and cultivated to achieve the end for which you sent it! Anoint the words given me to share, Lord, that they may bring blessing to all who may read them, and encouragement to others who may think it’s too late to follow a dream 🙂

100) Lenten Loneliness

It’s been a different Lent this year (2018), with many ups and downs, and woeful failures in my attempts to stick to my Lenten resolutions. In the first few weeks blessings abounded as I was swept from glory to glory with lots of good time in reflection, and a mini-retreat at home in Wisconsin. There I was able to make many connections with friends, visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help (now Our Lady of Champion). and make a trip up to the cabin with a friend where we were blessed with blue blue skies and fresh snow fall. Consolations were everywhere, and I was embracing them with all my heart 🙂

The return trip to MN led me to a place of loneliness, bombarded with memories of loss that were stealing the joy I had experienced. The remedy I had learned from Linda Schubert was a five step process which I sought to implement as an antidote to discouragement.


First step was to acknowledge the pain of loneliness that I was experiencing – to embrace it and lean into it gently. Step two was to really allow myself to feel the pain. It was deep, and I found my self recognizing it as a sacrifice I could offer to the Lord, and I leaned hard into it, not just gently, but pressing my very inner self into this emptiness and desolation, to console the heart of Jesus. I remembered the prayers of St. Bridget, the fifth prayer where she witnessed the sadness of the Lord’s own heart from the cross as He looked at humanity and saw all those who turned away and rejected His gifts of love and mercy.

A prayer rose in my heart, that somehow my little pain might be as a drop of balm to Christ’s own immeasurable thirst for souls. One tiny drop was all I could offer, but I gave it to the Lord from the bottom of my heart, in profound gratitude for the life I had been given. The desire to live the remaining days of Lent at a very deep level, not passing by the gift I was being offered, but rather to unite my little sacrifice to the fathomless sacrifice of the Cross, in reparation for my sins, for those of the ones I hold in my heart, for my church, for my village, for my country…. This was step three in the process, uniting my suffering with that of Jesus on the Cross. I recognized that this gift I could offer, though small, is precious to my Lord, and is a gift that only I can give…

Step four is to extend blessing to any who may have been a part of the pain or suffering I was experiencing. Offering a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s grace in leading me through this process and seeking His blessing to those I may have felt hurt by, always with the desire for sincere forgiveness, was another step toward bringing me back to a place of peace and joy.


I determined to bring this all to Jesus in Adoration, in prayer, and to carry it in my heart throughout the up-coming Holy Week. I would bring it to Stations, and beg the grace to enter in to the deeper intimate relationship to which the Lord was calling me. I wanted to gladly receive the invitation, the gift ~ not to leave it on the shelf to admire, but to fully unwrap it and allow it to consume me…

The last step was one of gratitude, to leave the process at the foot of the cross and enter in to the new spiritual freedom the Lord desired for me. Acknowledge the hurt, feel the pain, lean in to it gently, unite it to Christ’s sacrifice, extend blessing and forgiveness, and leave it all at the foot of the cross with gratitude to Jesus for His healing grace. This process has been a blessing for me over and over again as an antidote to discouragement and desolation. How grateful I am for the many ways the Lord draws us back to Himself, to restore our peace and fill us once again with His Light!

Lord God, thank You for Your gift of Redemption! When we come to You in our brokenness with repentant hearts, You never fail to offer us the free healing gifts of Love and Mercy. May I never forget to turn to You, that You may restore Your peace within me so that I may extend that peace to others. Peace in our hearts, one by one, to bring Your peace to the world