Well, it's been a long time since my last post in large part due to the fact that we lost internet access after struggling for a long time with financial problems (as mentioned in a previous post). A lot has happened since that time, and we have been experiencing God's grace in abundance!
First, Randy (my husband) has told me that he feels a desire to know God and to believe in God but he hasn't figured out whether that desire is coming from God or from a desire to please me. If he converts, he wants it to be because of God and not because of me. This is a relief on my part. He has begun to pray spontaneously at moments of stress and has also taken me to adoration on his own without any suggestion from me and then sat with me, asking God for answers in the presence of the Lord.
Second, we have been given a huge financial blessing by a CRHP sister of mine, which has given us hope that we may yet climb out of the financial hole in which we find ourselves. The bank has worked against us, though, and held the check she wrote causing 2 items to bounce which shouldn't have. Those two things were groceries and rent - costing us not only $70 in overdraft fees from our bank but incurring for us an additional $155 in overdraft fees and late fees from the grocery store and the apartment complex. These are the times when I grow very weary of working with nothing to show for it, as most of what I have gets eaten up by fees before I can claim it. These are also the moments when I am utterly convinced that CLASP (Comprehensive Life Achievement Skills Program) needs to be brought to fruition. Without comprehensive help to get out from underneath the circumstances that brought them to the point in their lives where they are, those in poverty simply cannot succeed. We cannot afford to neglect helping those in poverty, for in helping them we help ourselves.
On the brighter side of life, I discovered something I believe will ultimately prove to be the answer to many of our prayers: Limu. My husband, during adoration, prayed for the restoration of my health. I have many times prayed for his healing, as he has chronic back pain and is usually completely unable to sleep through the night without waking every two hours. I have also prayed for the way to get out of our financial mess not so that we might be able to own big fancy cars or buy a big fancy house, but so that I might use the money we make to help those in poverty climb out of it. I do want to own a large house, but only so that we have a place to offer to those in poverty until they can get back on their feet. At any rate, while I was at a church festival this weekend a gentleman stopped me to introduce me to a product he was selling. He told me how it had healed his back problems, given him the ability to sleep through the night, and the energy to do things he had never had the energy to do. His wife, who was working with him, told me how it had helped her to heal from a crushed pelvis and restored movement to joints which had stiffened after a car accident. Reading the literature, I saw the sheer list of things which this product can help with. It is an all-natural product derived from brown seaweed. It is God's gift to a world in need. Best of all, they are a new company and are looking for distributors to help them spread the word and make money doing it. I signed up and just today set up my website. You can check it out at http://discoverlimu.com/setmefree! For just $25 you can get a membership which allows you to purchase the product at a low cost. For $177 (including shipping) you can get your first case of 4 bottles – a 30 day supply for one person – and begin testing the product yourself. If you’re serious and have the money, though, you will want to spend the $399 (including shipping) for 3 cases which will give you product to use for 3 months plus 30 dvds to share with others about the way in which this business can change your life and your pocketbook.
I am also a distributor of Melalecua products, but I haven’t been active on that front at all even though I’ve been a member for a year. I think I should change this, since Melaleuca’s products actually really complement the Limu benefits. Melaleuca is, like The Limu Company, a wellness company focused on creating high quality, all-natural health products. They have a wide range of products from household cleaners to beauty products such as makeup and perfumes. I have tried many of the products and absolutely love them. To find out more about the health side you can visit http://www.livetotalwellness.com/brandymmiller and to learn more about Melaleuca, like The Limu Company, can help you build an income that allows you to live the lifestyle you’ve always wanted you can visit http://www.workathomeunited.com/brandymmiller . I think these two products, working in tandem, have a strong potential to lead us out of the problems we are facing and into a new life of health and wellness both financially and physically.
All in all, I must say that I do see God working in our lives and even this financially hardship is God's way of helping us to become better people.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Saturday, August 23, 2008
World Wide Marriage Encounter
I think I may have mentioned a time or two that my husband is as devout an atheist as I am a Catholic. We were married at a time in our lives when my faith was weak, and I wasn't too sure if God really did exist. I also didn't know whether to trust the Catholic Church's teachings or not, so I wasn't really all that interested in what they had to say. I left the Church in search of the truth. The nice thing about the truth is that it is testable. You can hold it up and under examination it will be as true now as it was the first time you encountered it. The more I tested it, the more I found that the Catholic Church really did hold the truth and that yes, there really is a God and He really does love us and He really does care what we do with our lives.
When I came back to the Church, my husband was less than ethusiastic to say the least. Suddenly there was a being in competition with him for first place in my life, and it wasn't a competition my husband could win as he was neither omnipotent nor all good nor all loving nor all powerful. As God became a larger part of my life, a part which my husband told me he didn't want to hear about and wasn't interested in, we had less common ground on which to stand and found ourselves growing further and further apart. The gap between us just seemed to great for us to cross.
I spent a LOT of time in prayer on this, as it hurt my heart to lose my best friend. I had, years before, asked him to go on a world wide marriage encounter weekend, but he wasn't interested in anything that had to do with God. This year, however, I got up the courage to just mention it to him. He said he thought he would give it a try if he weren' so new to the company (the encounter weekend was advertised for June) and unable to get that time off. I looked it up, there was a weekend in August, and we scheduled time to go.
I have never, ever, been a really patient person. I like my results yesterday, please. I have been no different in my prayer time, usually, expecting God to deliver sooner rather than later. This year He has been teaching me patience. For instance, back in January He promised me that August 8th my circumstances would change and prosperity would begin to wash over our family as it has never before done. He explained to me that I would have to go through a lot of hardship before we got there, as we were in need of a lot of work. We would have to start respecting our prosperity and gifts more, using them wisely instead of wasting them and transforming our hearts and minds so that when we got the prosperity it would be used to help others in need rather than being wasted on stupid stuff for ourselves. August 8th seemed a world away for me back then, but I trusted God to be true to me. He told me one of the reasons He takes so long to do things is that He's building for eternity, and that takes time. If he built it quicker, as I had asked, it wouldn't last.
In early March, during Adoration, I receive a message that my husband believes but is not ready to admit this either to himself or anyone else and to watch for changes in behavior as signs of this new belief. I marvel at this but I do indeed watch. He backed me up when I insisted that Eddie should go to Mass, practically forced my son to attend a Mission they had at church the week before Easter, but he refused to go to Mass with us.
Later that month, I am feeling very depressed and my husband agrees to go to Adoration with me as I want both his company and the company of Christ. The next month I forgot to schedule someone to take my place in Adoration while I am on retreat. Nobody I asked is able to do it for me. The morning of, in desperation, I turn to my husband and ask for him to go. He reluctantly agrees. He knows that he must be there the whole hour, and knows who it is he will be sitting with that day and how important this is to me. I do not know that whole weekend whether or not he has fulfilled my request, or if he stayed the whole hour, or if he left the Lord alone, but I put it in God's hands. Not only did my husband show up on time, stay the whole hour, and make certain Christ had two others with him before he left but he brought my son with him as well. I was floored.
Now, July 31st comes - just weeks before we're scheduled to go the encounter weekend, and I'm thinking to myself that I cannot handle another day of our empty marriage. My loneliness has just reached an absolute peak. Furthermore, I had learned a few months ago that an unbaptized person and a baptized person cannot have a sacramental marriage - even if the marriage is recognized by the church - as a sacramental marriage requires that both parties are baptized. This broke my heart. I had begun to despair that we would ever have the marriage I had dreamt of. I tried several times that day to write him a letter saying Good bye. Each time I, who love to write and do it so often, could not find the words to say. I put the letter away, figuring that perhaps this was the intervention of the holy spirit, and turned on Catholic radio to see if God might be trying to speak to me about this matter. Sure enough, every program was on marriage and relationships that day. That night as I worked with my sister Julie on Communique, I told her about my feelings of despair for our relationship. She encouraged me to stick with it, though I didn't really appreciate it at the time. I listened as another sister gave her witness that night, and she talked about some of her own marital struggles. I knew now God was telling me to hang in there and have faith both in my husband and in my God.
Saturday, August 2nd, I am sitting in Eucharistic Adoration just writing the small things which I hear God saying to me. He whispers to me that even if my husband should leave me, He will bring him back to me. I think that's a pretty odd thing, but I write it down and reflect on it. Monday, August 4th, and I decide to write my husband a letter. I tell my husband that if he wants to find out whether or not God is real, he should know all the ways in which God has protected our family from a major fall even though my husband is not thankful for the protection. I tell him also that I am praying that God stop protecting him so that he will see that God is real and, perhaps, on his knees find his way to God.
My husband is furious. He tells me he wants a divorce, that he no longer loves me. He says I've changed from the girl he married and he doesn't love the woman he's married to. I spend all night thinking, and in the morning write him another letter. I agree that I have changed, but I remind him of who I really was when he met me and how much he really didn't like the ways in which that girl hurt him, rejected him, treated him. I also explained to him that I was only praying for God to take away His protections because the only time I had ever seen my husband pray was when he was being crushed by adversity. I told him also that if prosperity would have the same effect for my husband, I would have been praying for that instead.
The next day I am furious. I am thinking of all kinds of letters to write the man. How dare he leave me! Heh. I'm so glad the Holy Spirit intervened, as it was a really busy day and I had no chance to write anything. Around 11 am I realize that my phone hasn't rung once. I check it, and it's off. I turn it on and there are four messages from my husband. One of which says "You have some valid points. We need to talk". We meet for lunch. He tells me that he will start going to Mass with us on Sunday and that I can try to convert him all I want as long as all of our conversations aren't about God. I agree.
The Friday of the weekend, neither of us know what to expect and we are both very nervous, but my husband is a ball of nerves. I try to reassure him that things will be fine. He's worried he'll be rejected by others because of his atheism, that we won't get to spend much time together, or that others will try to convert him. The weekend is like nothing we had expected, and in the process we begin to reconnect. Saturday, though, we fight because of my misinterpretation of something he said. I confess this to the priest, who reminds me to be more patient and more loving, and admonishes me to apologize for my part in the disagreement. I do , we make up, and by the time the weekend is finished, my husband has agreed to daily prayer in addition to weekly mass. We both walk out of the weekend feeling as if we have our spouses back, and are deeply in love and deeply committed with tools to help us communication and connect on a deeper level than ever before.
Since then, my husband has been faithful to his promise of daily prayer with me and the daily dialogue exercises recommended by the encounter weekend. He attended Mass. He has expressed a desire to get "a little" involved in the Church and has made suggestions on ways to change and improve the prayer I wrote for us. He has also suggested that we start a website to help other couples like us. I am amazed every day at the little changes I find happening, and the way in which God is clearly working to transform my husband. I know that things will be brighter in our future, and I hold great hope for each new day.
When I came back to the Church, my husband was less than ethusiastic to say the least. Suddenly there was a being in competition with him for first place in my life, and it wasn't a competition my husband could win as he was neither omnipotent nor all good nor all loving nor all powerful. As God became a larger part of my life, a part which my husband told me he didn't want to hear about and wasn't interested in, we had less common ground on which to stand and found ourselves growing further and further apart. The gap between us just seemed to great for us to cross.
I spent a LOT of time in prayer on this, as it hurt my heart to lose my best friend. I had, years before, asked him to go on a world wide marriage encounter weekend, but he wasn't interested in anything that had to do with God. This year, however, I got up the courage to just mention it to him. He said he thought he would give it a try if he weren' so new to the company (the encounter weekend was advertised for June) and unable to get that time off. I looked it up, there was a weekend in August, and we scheduled time to go.
I have never, ever, been a really patient person. I like my results yesterday, please. I have been no different in my prayer time, usually, expecting God to deliver sooner rather than later. This year He has been teaching me patience. For instance, back in January He promised me that August 8th my circumstances would change and prosperity would begin to wash over our family as it has never before done. He explained to me that I would have to go through a lot of hardship before we got there, as we were in need of a lot of work. We would have to start respecting our prosperity and gifts more, using them wisely instead of wasting them and transforming our hearts and minds so that when we got the prosperity it would be used to help others in need rather than being wasted on stupid stuff for ourselves. August 8th seemed a world away for me back then, but I trusted God to be true to me. He told me one of the reasons He takes so long to do things is that He's building for eternity, and that takes time. If he built it quicker, as I had asked, it wouldn't last.
In early March, during Adoration, I receive a message that my husband believes but is not ready to admit this either to himself or anyone else and to watch for changes in behavior as signs of this new belief. I marvel at this but I do indeed watch. He backed me up when I insisted that Eddie should go to Mass, practically forced my son to attend a Mission they had at church the week before Easter, but he refused to go to Mass with us.
Later that month, I am feeling very depressed and my husband agrees to go to Adoration with me as I want both his company and the company of Christ. The next month I forgot to schedule someone to take my place in Adoration while I am on retreat. Nobody I asked is able to do it for me. The morning of, in desperation, I turn to my husband and ask for him to go. He reluctantly agrees. He knows that he must be there the whole hour, and knows who it is he will be sitting with that day and how important this is to me. I do not know that whole weekend whether or not he has fulfilled my request, or if he stayed the whole hour, or if he left the Lord alone, but I put it in God's hands. Not only did my husband show up on time, stay the whole hour, and make certain Christ had two others with him before he left but he brought my son with him as well. I was floored.
Now, July 31st comes - just weeks before we're scheduled to go the encounter weekend, and I'm thinking to myself that I cannot handle another day of our empty marriage. My loneliness has just reached an absolute peak. Furthermore, I had learned a few months ago that an unbaptized person and a baptized person cannot have a sacramental marriage - even if the marriage is recognized by the church - as a sacramental marriage requires that both parties are baptized. This broke my heart. I had begun to despair that we would ever have the marriage I had dreamt of. I tried several times that day to write him a letter saying Good bye. Each time I, who love to write and do it so often, could not find the words to say. I put the letter away, figuring that perhaps this was the intervention of the holy spirit, and turned on Catholic radio to see if God might be trying to speak to me about this matter. Sure enough, every program was on marriage and relationships that day. That night as I worked with my sister Julie on Communique, I told her about my feelings of despair for our relationship. She encouraged me to stick with it, though I didn't really appreciate it at the time. I listened as another sister gave her witness that night, and she talked about some of her own marital struggles. I knew now God was telling me to hang in there and have faith both in my husband and in my God.
Saturday, August 2nd, I am sitting in Eucharistic Adoration just writing the small things which I hear God saying to me. He whispers to me that even if my husband should leave me, He will bring him back to me. I think that's a pretty odd thing, but I write it down and reflect on it. Monday, August 4th, and I decide to write my husband a letter. I tell my husband that if he wants to find out whether or not God is real, he should know all the ways in which God has protected our family from a major fall even though my husband is not thankful for the protection. I tell him also that I am praying that God stop protecting him so that he will see that God is real and, perhaps, on his knees find his way to God.
My husband is furious. He tells me he wants a divorce, that he no longer loves me. He says I've changed from the girl he married and he doesn't love the woman he's married to. I spend all night thinking, and in the morning write him another letter. I agree that I have changed, but I remind him of who I really was when he met me and how much he really didn't like the ways in which that girl hurt him, rejected him, treated him. I also explained to him that I was only praying for God to take away His protections because the only time I had ever seen my husband pray was when he was being crushed by adversity. I told him also that if prosperity would have the same effect for my husband, I would have been praying for that instead.
The next day I am furious. I am thinking of all kinds of letters to write the man. How dare he leave me! Heh. I'm so glad the Holy Spirit intervened, as it was a really busy day and I had no chance to write anything. Around 11 am I realize that my phone hasn't rung once. I check it, and it's off. I turn it on and there are four messages from my husband. One of which says "You have some valid points. We need to talk". We meet for lunch. He tells me that he will start going to Mass with us on Sunday and that I can try to convert him all I want as long as all of our conversations aren't about God. I agree.
The Friday of the weekend, neither of us know what to expect and we are both very nervous, but my husband is a ball of nerves. I try to reassure him that things will be fine. He's worried he'll be rejected by others because of his atheism, that we won't get to spend much time together, or that others will try to convert him. The weekend is like nothing we had expected, and in the process we begin to reconnect. Saturday, though, we fight because of my misinterpretation of something he said. I confess this to the priest, who reminds me to be more patient and more loving, and admonishes me to apologize for my part in the disagreement. I do , we make up, and by the time the weekend is finished, my husband has agreed to daily prayer in addition to weekly mass. We both walk out of the weekend feeling as if we have our spouses back, and are deeply in love and deeply committed with tools to help us communication and connect on a deeper level than ever before.
Since then, my husband has been faithful to his promise of daily prayer with me and the daily dialogue exercises recommended by the encounter weekend. He attended Mass. He has expressed a desire to get "a little" involved in the Church and has made suggestions on ways to change and improve the prayer I wrote for us. He has also suggested that we start a website to help other couples like us. I am amazed every day at the little changes I find happening, and the way in which God is clearly working to transform my husband. I know that things will be brighter in our future, and I hold great hope for each new day.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Thoughts on Things
I have been thinking that I really need to focus on writing out my life story. Now that I have confronted my aunt and uncle about their part in my brother's abuse, I think it's crucial that they understand my story so they see I truly do understand them and I'm not judging them. I honestly want them to seek forgiveness and return home to the Church. I think I also want to send a copy to my grandmother, so she will see that there is nothing she has done that is so bad that God cannot forgive and use for her benefit. Truthfully, once it is written, I think I'll send a copy to each of my siblings. I just want to become an instrument of healing for our divided family, and I think that perhaps this will do it.
Of course, since it also happens to be the first chapter of my book Healing From Sexual Abuse, it can also then be used as part of the query letters I send out. I've gotten no response from the one publisher I did send a query to, but since I'm an unknown and had nothing to show them it doesn't surprise me. I'm sure they get about a gazillion posts a day with similar kinds of queries.
Of course, since it also happens to be the first chapter of my book Healing From Sexual Abuse, it can also then be used as part of the query letters I send out. I've gotten no response from the one publisher I did send a query to, but since I'm an unknown and had nothing to show them it doesn't surprise me. I'm sure they get about a gazillion posts a day with similar kinds of queries.
Hi Ho! Hi Ho! It's Off to work we go
Well, I got out of confession a few days ago for my financial mis-management, and got some very useful budgeting advice from Father Flynn as well as the admonition that if my income wasn't meeting the bills, then I had an obligation to go back to work. Fortunately, God worked things out rather neatly so that I am able to go right back to Verizon Wireless. Sophia had three interviews lined up the last couple of weeks but they all kept canceling. The temp agency told me she'd been having lots of trouble finding someone who was right for the job.
Monday, July 14, 2008
The Stars Were Made for Man
Before God created men, He created all of the planets and the stars and set them in motion. He then created the earth and all of the things that man would need to survive before, finally, creating man. Why would He have created more than just our planet if He had not meant for man to someday travel outside of it?
Not only did He create other planets, but a multitude of them, and He made certain we could see the stars and chart their courses as they moved. He knew we were curious creatures, and wouldn't rest until we had figured out what those bright shining lights in the night sky were. He built us with a desire to go up and explore. I don't think this was an accident.
You see, God's very first commandment to man was to be fruitful and multiply. Now, God being God, He knew that if we were obedient to His commands to the degree that we ought to be there would come a time when we would need more room. For this reason, He built the other solar systems and the other planets within our own solar system. So, to my way of thinking, this hype about needing birth control and abortion because we're going to run out of room to feed ourselves is a rather short sighted point of view. It presumes that the only place we have to go is Earth. Well, truthfully, we have a lot of room for expansion on Earth (think about all the land under the sea which we have not even begun to tap) before we run out of room on the earth. And, if we dumped all of the money spent on research for birth control, spent passing out birth control and condoms, and combined it with the money we spend to fund new and creative ways to kill off our own children (Darwin would be shuddering in his grave!), I think we could easily have funded such a project and been well on our way to having solved the problems we think we face while saving our souls at the same time. God never gives commands that He doesn't provide us ways to follow.
Not only did He create other planets, but a multitude of them, and He made certain we could see the stars and chart their courses as they moved. He knew we were curious creatures, and wouldn't rest until we had figured out what those bright shining lights in the night sky were. He built us with a desire to go up and explore. I don't think this was an accident.
You see, God's very first commandment to man was to be fruitful and multiply. Now, God being God, He knew that if we were obedient to His commands to the degree that we ought to be there would come a time when we would need more room. For this reason, He built the other solar systems and the other planets within our own solar system. So, to my way of thinking, this hype about needing birth control and abortion because we're going to run out of room to feed ourselves is a rather short sighted point of view. It presumes that the only place we have to go is Earth. Well, truthfully, we have a lot of room for expansion on Earth (think about all the land under the sea which we have not even begun to tap) before we run out of room on the earth. And, if we dumped all of the money spent on research for birth control, spent passing out birth control and condoms, and combined it with the money we spend to fund new and creative ways to kill off our own children (Darwin would be shuddering in his grave!), I think we could easily have funded such a project and been well on our way to having solved the problems we think we face while saving our souls at the same time. God never gives commands that He doesn't provide us ways to follow.
The ULTIMATE Green Machine
I've been reading up on advances in solar technology. I was amazed at what I found. Thanks to MIT's development of solar textiles http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/solar-textiles-0609.html and solar windows http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/solarcells-0710.html combined with solar paint http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn13424-generate-as-you-decorate-with-solarpower-paint.html, we now have the ability to create a completely solar powered electric vehicle. The paint on the car, the windows, and the upholstery could all be sources of solar collection. Combining these three things would make the entire car one giant solar cell, meaning that the car is continuously recharging whether running or not. Since the technology of solar power has improved sufficiently that direct sunlight is not necessary, this will work even in overcast weather.
This also means that homes and businesses can now easily tap into this solar technology. According to the researchers at MIT, just solar curtains in each of the windows were enough to power almost half of the needs of the home. If the windows and paint were also collecting, in addition to panels on the roof, you should have no problem powering even the most energy hungry buildings. We have the technology. Now, who's got the funding? It would be great if the US would step up to the plate here and fund this. It would end so many conflicts, especially those in the middle east. With no one needing gasoline to generate power, there would soon be no money funding terrorists. Talk about peace through environmental friendliness.
This also means that homes and businesses can now easily tap into this solar technology. According to the researchers at MIT, just solar curtains in each of the windows were enough to power almost half of the needs of the home. If the windows and paint were also collecting, in addition to panels on the roof, you should have no problem powering even the most energy hungry buildings. We have the technology. Now, who's got the funding? It would be great if the US would step up to the plate here and fund this. It would end so many conflicts, especially those in the middle east. With no one needing gasoline to generate power, there would soon be no money funding terrorists. Talk about peace through environmental friendliness.
Monday, July 7, 2008
A LOT Has Happened Since Then
Well there's a lot that has gone on in the past few months. A LOT! I have written quite a few more things, which I will go back and back-post for my own amusement and the value of having records. Yes, that's cheating. No, I don't care. :) It's my blog.
A week after my April 5th post, I attended my Parish's CRHP retreat weekend. AWESOME experience, and highly recommended for anyone who is Catholic and has it available to them. I am now dead center in the middle of my formation process, and I can't wait. My faith has grown by leaps and bounds, and I am a regular attendee at daily mass. This is something I would NEVER have imagined myself being, truthfully just 7 months ago I would have rather gone to the dentist and faced a root canal without anesthetic than set foot in daily mass of my own volition. Then I came to realize, as a direct result of studying True Devotion to Mary by St. Luis de Montfort, that the daily readings at the Mass were Christ speaking to me each day, and the Eucharistic feast provided at Mass was Christ's effort to share Himself with me in the most intimate way possible. How could I say no to that and call myself a real Christian? For those who think that devotion to Mary couldn't possibly be good for the development of your faith in Christ, I can provide a certain witness that it not only is good for it but that of all the things I have done it has been the very best.
I did leave Verizon Wireless, but not until June 6th. In fact, come to think of it, yesterday was my one month anniversary of having left them. Due to the work of the Holy Spirit, I left on very good terms and had overcome my initial personality conflicts with my manager. I wish them nothing but the best, but I know I am needed elsewhere. I have three books I am in the process of writing. I think I will begin to post blurbs periodically here. The first book is called Healing from Sexual Abuse: Reconstructing your identity, Reclaiming Your Life, Rebuilding Your Faith. It's about healing from a Catholic Christian viewpoint. I'm excited about it. It's a long time in coming. The second book is called An Extravagant Love: A Divine Romance. It's Human History written from God's perspective. Ambitious, yes, but I think the timing is right for it. The third book is called Planning Your Way Into Heaven: Authentic Christian Goal Setting and Planning.
I've also written 14 additional songs since the ones I posted in February and found one I wrote 3 years ago. That brings my song count up to 18. I've also downloaded a music composer to help me get the music for it all together. Very exciting stuff.
A week after my April 5th post, I attended my Parish's CRHP retreat weekend. AWESOME experience, and highly recommended for anyone who is Catholic and has it available to them. I am now dead center in the middle of my formation process, and I can't wait. My faith has grown by leaps and bounds, and I am a regular attendee at daily mass. This is something I would NEVER have imagined myself being, truthfully just 7 months ago I would have rather gone to the dentist and faced a root canal without anesthetic than set foot in daily mass of my own volition. Then I came to realize, as a direct result of studying True Devotion to Mary by St. Luis de Montfort, that the daily readings at the Mass were Christ speaking to me each day, and the Eucharistic feast provided at Mass was Christ's effort to share Himself with me in the most intimate way possible. How could I say no to that and call myself a real Christian? For those who think that devotion to Mary couldn't possibly be good for the development of your faith in Christ, I can provide a certain witness that it not only is good for it but that of all the things I have done it has been the very best.
I did leave Verizon Wireless, but not until June 6th. In fact, come to think of it, yesterday was my one month anniversary of having left them. Due to the work of the Holy Spirit, I left on very good terms and had overcome my initial personality conflicts with my manager. I wish them nothing but the best, but I know I am needed elsewhere. I have three books I am in the process of writing. I think I will begin to post blurbs periodically here. The first book is called Healing from Sexual Abuse: Reconstructing your identity, Reclaiming Your Life, Rebuilding Your Faith. It's about healing from a Catholic Christian viewpoint. I'm excited about it. It's a long time in coming. The second book is called An Extravagant Love: A Divine Romance. It's Human History written from God's perspective. Ambitious, yes, but I think the timing is right for it. The third book is called Planning Your Way Into Heaven: Authentic Christian Goal Setting and Planning.
I've also written 14 additional songs since the ones I posted in February and found one I wrote 3 years ago. That brings my song count up to 18. I've also downloaded a music composer to help me get the music for it all together. Very exciting stuff.
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