Celebrating Lent and new puppies...

Just when winter has gotten the best of us and we're longing for the warmth and color of spring, along comes Lent with its challenging message: Turn away from your sins. Fast. Pray. Change is always painful, no matter the weather. And yet conversion or "change of heart"-the most challenging change of them all- is what Lent is really about.

What, then, is Lent about? What is the central goal of our fasting, praying and almsgiving- the three traditional Lenten practices that have proven to be effective over centuries? The goal can be summed up in the idea of rebirth and renewal. The same gifts we receive in our Baptism are those we seek in our Lenten journey: fullness of life, reconciliation with God and neighbor, and the grace to follow Christ's example of love in every aspect of our lives.

We journey to God as a people.  And so we do well to be conscious of others during our Lenten journey.  Change is often better when we do it together.  

Lent: A time to turn in the right direction.  Take an honest look at your life.  In what ways are you headed in the wrong direction?  Where do you need to turn your life around?  At the very beginning of Mark's gospel, Jesus proclaims the heart and soul of his message: "This is the time of fulfillment! The kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe the good news" (1:14-15). To repent simply means to change your mind, change your behavior, change your life, turn around.

Make more time to pray.  "Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen."

Lent is a good time to think about our bad habits.  Our need for renewal.  Lent is a time to fast from certain things and to feast on others.

Fast from judging others, darkness, gossiping, anger, worry, complaining, self-concern, anxiety, lethargy, problems that overwhelm.

Feast on the healing power of God, patience, optimism, appreciation, unceasing prayer, forgiveness, compassion, enthusiasm, prayer that strengthens.

Lent is a good time to cultivate a spirit of gratitude for what we have.  Our most precious commodities- health, friendship, love, the beauty of creation- are pure gifts from God.  Without these our material possessions are worthless.  Gratitude for what we have prompts us to do something for those in need, not out of guilt, but out of compassion.  Compassion and generosity towards others involve giving not only from our surplus, but also from our substance.

Bring food or money to a food pantry or a local food bank.

Volunteer at church, homeless shelter, or a nursing home.

Give clothing to the poor or a local charity.

A Prayer for Healing

O God, we come before you with a desire to be healed. 

We may not be fully convinced that you will heal us today or that you even want to.  

Help our unbelief.

Help us to enter into this time of prayer so that we really can experience your healing spirit.

Lord, let us look toward a brighter future, a future with more hope and less worry, a future free of bad memories and hurt feelings.

Amen.

Affirmations

As I forgive myself, it becomes easier to forgive others.

I love and accept my family members exactly as they are right now.

I forgive myself for not being perfect. I am living the very best way I know how.

I forgive everyone in my past for all perceived wrongs. I release them with love.

I am ready to be healed. I am willing to forgive.  All is well.

It is no fun being a victim. I refuse to be helpless anymore.  I claim my own power.

When I make a mistake, I realize that it is only part of the learning process.

I know that old negative patterns no longer limit me. I let them go with ease.

I am responsible for my own attitude.

I am responsible for my thoughts, my beliefs and my actions.

I choose not to project my past onto my future.

I release myself from all guilt.

I resist the temptation to judge others.

I send compassionate thoughts and healing loving energy to those in need.

I serve others by living happily, and radiating happiness and joy to those around me.

I choose to live a life of gratitude and joy.

My life is for living, not for worry or doubt.

Today is my day to laugh.

I treat myself with care and compassion.

I radiate kindness.

I see the miracle in all of life. I am thankful for all creation.

I shine my light of happiness into the darkness of negativity.

I am a blessing to the world.

Lord, grant comfort, joy and health to those I call friend, to those I call enemy, and to those I have cursed by my indifference.

Lord, I ask my heart to be open to receive all abundance I seek. I ask that any obstacles in my way be taken away so that my Divinity shines in all that I do. Thank you.

(All Lenten material is from St. Anthony Messenger Press)

Our new Jack Russell Terrier puppies, Ava and Angus, are a joy.  We love them so much.  Rose, our lab, loves them too.  We are happy, happy, happy!

Clearwater, Florida and a Prayer

Because it is getting close to Christmas and also it seems that some of us have been a little "under the weather" I thought I'd share some prayers.

A prayer for family

Lord Jesus, be with my family.  Grant us Your peace and harmony, an end to conflict and division.  Gift us with compassion to better understand each other, wisdom and love to assist each other, and trust and patience to live peacefully together.  Grant that through the intercession of your mother, Mary, and St. Joseph, our family may become a holy family accepting each other, working together in unity, selflessly dedicated to one other and to You.  Amen.

A prayer to Mary, the Beloved Mother

Call upon Mary for help with healings and guidance.

She comes to anyone who calls upon her, regardless of that person's religion or past behavior.  She's all-loving and all-forgiving.

Beloved Mary, Queen of the Angels and Mother of Jesus, I ask for your help.  [Describe the issue.] Thank you for showering this situation with your blessings and giving me insight, so I may learn and grow from this experience.  Thank you for showing me God's will so that we all may have peace.

A prayer to Archangel Raphael

Anytime that you, or another person or animal, experience physical distress, call upon Archangel Raphael for angelic treatment.  He is a healer and he also aides in safe traveling.

Archangel Raphael, I need help with [describe the situation].  Please surround and infuse my body with your powerful healing energy of Divine Love.  I now surrender this situation entirely to God, and know that through this releasement, I'm open to revealing my God-given health in all ways.  Thank you for the energy, wellness, and happiness, God and Raphael!

A prayer to Saint Padre Pio

He helps with healing of all kinds.

Beloved Saint Padre Pio, please help me to [describe the situation].  I admit that this problem has stirred up disturbing feelings such as [name whatever emotions you can].  I'm willing to completely forgive myself and the others in this situation, and I ask that you help me do so.  Please help me reveal light, love, and forgiveness.  Thank you, God. Thank you, Jesus.  Thank you, Saint Padre Pio. Amen.

For help with holiday stress, call upon:

Archangel Michael 

for strength and protection

Archangel Raphael

for health

Archangel Gabriel

for loving conversations

Archangel Uriel

for compassion, patience and understanding

Love always, 

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Sarah

Clearwater, Florida continued...

Clearwater Beach, Florida

Hello everyone!  I thought I'd share pictures from our trip to Florida that we took in November.  It was lovely!  We went to Clearwater Beach.  Clearwater is situated along the west coast of Florida on the Gulf of Mexico.  It's just a jump away from Tampa.  In fact, we flew into Tampa and got in our rental car and hopped on the freeway that takes you right to Clearwater.  It was so easy!

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort and Spa.  I would go back again.  We got an ocean view suite.  Livin' in luxury!  It was wonderful!  Our room had an extra bonus because we also had a view of the beautiful pool.  

We are the kind of vacationers that don't like to have an itinerary.  Sure, maybe someday we'll be more adventurous, but this trip wasn't.  Ha!  We went to the beach everyday and ate really good food.  That's important to us.  

The weather cooperated.  We had two cloudy days.  On those days the temps were in the 70's, otherwise it was sunny and in the 80's.  Perfect.  Of course, it doesn't feel that hot when you're next to the ocean. 

There is something about the ocean that is magical.  It draws me like a magnet to it.  The minute I'd wake up I'd go outside to look at it and just stared in amazement all day.  I couldn't get enough.
  

“‎I have always been fascinated by the ocean, to dip a limb beneath its surface and know that I'm touching eternity, that it goes on forever until it begins here again.” 

― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

This was a view from the balcony of our suite.  Our suite was situated perfectly because we could see basically all around us.  

Here is the view of the pool to the right of our suite.  Our suite was on the 9th floor and the pool was on the 8th floor.  I loved it because I liked all the people around.  It felt like "city life" to me.  Lots of people hung out around the pool and there was a bar called Swim close by where people could get drinks and appetizers.  Kris would run down to the bar and grab us a couple drinks.  I loved all the action going on.  And the bar closed by sunset so there wasn't any crazy stuff going on!  he he

Here's another view from our balcony looking to the south.  If you keep going south along the coast you'll run into St. Petersburg.  We attempted to drive down there one day.  That was the worst part of the trip.  Ahem.  We had driven about 30 minutes and all of a sudden Sophia starts screaming, "I'm hungry!  I'm hungry!"  Um....ok...I think....more like h-a-n-g-r-y.  State of anger brought on by hunger.  So, in a state of frenzy we pulled the station wagon (not really) into the nearest restaurant possible.  Big mistake.  Huge.  "Oh, this looks fun!"  "It's a boardwalk with a bunch of places to eat!"  Let's just say we took two bites of our food and ran.  That bad.  Sophia said, "Mom, dad, why are we running?" "I'm still hungry!"  Luckily, a little pizzeria around the corner redeemed our decision to stop at this boardwalk from circa 1983.  Seriously.  
By the way, yes we did pay for that horrible meal.  You pay before you get your food.  very tricky.

I can't complain because honestly that was the only bad part of the whole trip.  We just stayed put at the resort the rest of the time.  In the morning we'd walk up the street to Dunkin Donuts (best ever), then on our way back we'd let Sophia play at the park while we sipped our coffee.  Coffee is so, so important by the way.  The first two days of our stay we suffered through bad coffee.  It was hell.  I'm just saying.  When we discovered Dunkin Donuts I swear I saw a unicorn and a rainbow appeared in the sky.  We skipped to the park that day we were so darn happy!
The rest of the day we spent at the beach.  There was a store adjacent to the hotel where we bought groceries.  To be honest though we ordered room service every single dang day.  It was fabulous.  The food was great.  We did eat at the restaurant in the hotel twice.
I have more pictures to post on here from our trip. I think I'll stop here for right now.  Enjoy!

Love,
Sarah

Holiday Road

The Hess family cabin near Loveland, CO where we spent the night with cousins Kim, Bill, Brad and Colton. Wow is it awesome! No phones, running water, although it was pretty luxurious.

The old outhouse on the right, the new double seater on the left. Storm clouds brewing above.

Side view of the cabin.

Altitude causing the potato chip bags to poof up with air.

The meadow at the cabin.

More of the view of the meadow and mountains. Can you smell the pine?

A cow "lady" moose eating a snack. She was big!

The lovebirds posing in the outhouse.

Cousin Bill bear-proofing the cabin. 

Big Thompson Canyon, Hwy. 34 headed to Estes Park, CO. Three days later it flooded and washed out the highway, yikes!

Katie white knuckling it up through the switchbacks. Driving skill level: professional.

A view of the switchbacks, can't see over the hood.

Our condo at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. This is my kind of camping!

Did somebody say granite kitchen?

A view from the loft.

The Historic (and supposedly haunted) Stanley Hotel. It's actually georgeous inside, although I didn't get any inside pics, darn! The Elderflower Mule I had and the F.O. Stanley drink Chris had were top shelf drinks at the bar.

Elk just as we entered Rocky Mountain National Park.

Katie standing at the top of a who knows how tall mountain because we couldn't see down 10 feet for the fog. It was called the "tundra", not enough oxygen for trees to grow. And not enough oxygen to cure my Elderflower Mule hangover.

Christopher deciding which way we should go.

Ah the glorious Mount Rushmore! Tourists, fanny packs, cameras, flip up sunglasses, you name it.

Katie and Chris in front of the heads. It was really kind of an honorable sight considering today's government situation, shut down and all.

George from below.

South Dakota scenery.

The Iowa flag and the year it was considered "Iowa".  The end.