Acceptance

What is it?

What can it be?

It's always something

I'm not accepting

that robs me of my serenity.

Crucifix Meditation

Hanging there you seemed so powerless

Utter acceptance of your Father's will

Courage to conquer sin and die for us

Knowing you would rise again.

Finding True Love

I can rationalize what I do,

Saying I’m doing it for you.

Who?

You.

I’m selfless you see, despite my hidden motives of getting what I want for me.

I think that if I give you want you will in turn give me what I need.

I haven’t asked you but hope that some comment planted a seed.

But you don’t catch on and go on your merry way,

Taking what I gave and leaving me to say “Hey,”

“What happened?” I did as you asked but now

I find myself out in the cold, abandoned somehow.

You didn’t read my mind and acquiesce.

You didn’t even notice or guess

That I wanted something for in return of what I gave:

Recognition, a thank you or even just a wave.

After all, I moved over and let you pass.

You left me in the dust and alas

I finally realize I expected what you could not give--

To read my mind as if it’s a sieve

Where my needs go out from me and enter your head

I take care of you and you take care of me –but, instead

You didn’t agree to this and now I resent

What I did with a motive that was bent

I said I wanted to please you, but really you see

I was trying all along to get you to do it for me.

Okay, so if I stop this dance and instead seek out

God’s love and find out what that’s about

I’ll find that loving God means loving myself

Then I can care for you without putting me on a shelf

Then true love with you I will share

You may not return it but I won’t care

Because God will see that someone else will

Find my love fitting and return it to me in full.

Dishwasher Fix

I was struggling for weeks to figure out why my new dishwasher wasn't working properly. Glasses were coming out with cloudy spots, residue and even some etching.

I used only the best dishwasher soap and rinse aid. I tried running bleach and vinegar through the washer. We even had a repair man come out to whom my husband pointed out a clogged part and his response was, "Good, because if we didn't find anything wrong I'd have to charge you for the house call." That really stumped me since he didn't even look over the dishwasher to find a problem. Apparently the contract company is more interested in collecting money than fixing dishwashers. But I digress.

We searched troubleshooting online and in the washer manual. I checked the water temperature, water pressure and water hardness.

Finally, we called our brother in-law who installed the machine, hoping he might pull it out and find a kinked hose. He tightened the hose. Then he looked inside. He immediately spotted the problem. This is why I'm sharing it with you. There is a small arm that extends from the device that sprays water on the top rack. The arm hooks into a clip--or at least it is supposed to. If the arm is shifted by a large dish on the bottom rack, it will slip so that the circular piece is in front of the clip instead of behind it. In that case, the arm does not properly plug into the seal at the back of the dishwasher. This means the pressure is not correct coming out of the sprayer. This also affects the bottom sprayer because once you affect the pressure of one, the other is affected.

After my brother in-law moved the piece into the clip--this is very easy to do--he ran a filthy glass with no detergent through the wash cycle for 5 minutes and the glass came out sparkling! I could tell the difference right away because when we opened the dishwasher mid-cycle, water was shooting out as it used to with our old machine. It had never done that with this dishwasher because the pressure was always wrong.

So if you have spotty glasses or food particles stuck to your dishes, sit on the floor and look at the sprayer under the top rack. Make sure the round end of the arm is behind the clip and watch your dishes come clean!

The side note on the story is that I gave the problem over to God right before it was resolved. He works in big ways (see the Miracle of the Medals story below) and in small ways (like fixing dishwashers) such is his depth of love for us.

Miracle of the Medals

It had been a good Thursday. I'd given my presentation at work, asking God to speak through me, and I'd pulled it off with flying colors. I felt grateful and in alignment with God's will. It was sunny and warm. Not a day for tragedy.

The Tigers were on the TV, trying to win another game. My husband, Steve, and I had just settled on the couch when he put a religious medal in my hand. It was St. Therese. I was familiar with the saint, having just read her autobiography several months prior. Steve works at our Church and is always finding rosary beads, prayer cards and the like in his cleaning duties. I nonchalantly turned over the medal to see flowers and the words "Pray for us." I thought it was a nice medal and turned my attention back to the baseball game.

Steve said, "I found three of these at work today."

I nodded and our oldest son, Stevie, interrupted the conversation with a baseball statistic, that our youngest son, Matt, disputed in usual fashion.

I took a sip of iced tea and looked at the TV, willing Steve's boring story to be over.

"Anyway," Steve continued, "Did you know some areas flooded last night? It rained pretty hard."

"Yeh, someone said something..." I responded.

"Well, I was using this electric pump with an external motor to drain the water out of the elevator at the church. As I was pumping, the pump fell over. Without thinking, I grabbed it," he said.

I looked at him, my eyes popping out of my head. "What happened? Did you get a shock?"

"Nothing," he said.

Now he even had Matt's attention.

"After I pulled it out, I moved the pump. And there where it was were three medals like the one you are holding, all lined up in a row. Isn't that strange?"

"Not at all," I said, "It was a miracle. St. Therese saved your life. Isn't she the saint that wanted to help people on earth after she went to heaven? She said she would send flowers down after dying."

Steve said he didn't know. But he did know that those medals were not there earlier. Two other workers had been there talking to him before the incident and said they didn't see the medals. He added, "After I told them the story, they both took a medal. Father Ed said I better hold onto this one."

I gave Steve the medal back, reiterating that he should keep it with him.

Next, I thanked God, St. Therese and Steve's guardian angel for saving him from serious injury and possibly death.

I did some Internet research and confirmed that St. Therese wanted to help us here on earth after she died. I printed out her Novena and prayed it for nine days. Many miracles have been attributed to St. Therese, but this one I experienced first hand.

Feathered Friends

Robin, come closer
Open your wings and reveal
the red underneath
Show off for me
Tilt your head to
ask do I understand--
You get what you attract.
I blink and your gone
Flying over my head,
Squawking as you leave,
Saying goodbye to me.

Hope

Hope is the feeling of Christmas in Spring.

Shining, promising, on the horizon--a beacon.

What can and will be. Hope in the Lord who works all things for our greater good.

Inspiration.

Growth.

Birds singing.

Green.

Smiles, joy, sunshine, good vibes.

Hope dispels darkness, fear, anger, despair.

Hope cannot be killed

Hope Lives On.

Things are getting better.

God's love is growing. Spread God's love like peanut butter on bread.

No need to react to chaos.

All is in God's order.

God's will be done.

Love and light. Makes us light.

Today is a great day!

The Lord is my shepherd.

More will be revealed.

I turn my will and life over to God and have hope that he will give my life purpose and make it what it is meant to be. I will hope in God's will, not my fantasies or fancies. Just God's will, not mine.