In junior high, I was invited to go to bible study by my cousin Gracie. Oscar and Eva were two young Catholic souls who put their whole minds, heart and soul in rejoicing in the Lord. Even at 13, I learned to grow to love the Lord with everything. I even started to pray for my future husband and kids. Looking back almost 20 years later, I have come to understand why, even at an early age, that God comes first.
Luckily, my parents took us to mass weekly when we were younger. That is where I believe my foundation and love for the Lord was established. As I grew up into an excited* teenager I came to understand that I could color within the lines and depict a prized perfect Diana, or I could color outside the lines and illustrate an unsuitable flawed Diana. Instead I chose to do both. I followed the rules to a certain extent but did so with enough caution and included some improper teenage behavior. As a prime example, I may have consumed in underage alcohol intake but you sure did find me in mass on Sunday to repent for my wrong doings. *By excited I mean: inspired to have some freedom, flustered by puppy love, worried about what other's thought about me, influenced by peer pressure, curious of the unknown, and altered by my faith
After I graduated high school and proceeded to college I continued in securing my faith by attending mass weekly. Conveniently, the Catholic Student Center was just next door to my dorm. And after graduation I continued to attend mass as a young, single women living in the high maintenance, fast pace city of Dallas. Now as a wife and mother you ask, are you a practicing Catholic? The answer is No.
I hate to air my dirty laundry but the truth is I don't attend mass weekly, but that doesn't mean I don't practice my faith at home. We have instilled in Ethan to say his prayers nightly and saying grace during supper. And most recently I've decided to join a Mom's Bible Study Group.
--> Ethan's nightly prayer: Thank you Jesus for mommy, daddy, ethan & dylan, Tasha, Aaron, Sissy (Alyssa), David (sissy's BF), Grandma Gonzales, Grandma Rangel and Grandpa. Angelo (Greg's co-woker who has throat cancer) and The Texas Rangers (even though they lost a couple of weeks ago he continues to pray for them) AMEN.
--> Ethan's saying grace: Thank you for our food and all the colors of the world and help me to make good decisions. AMEN.
So I write this blog to help me, as a Mother, offer the water of life to you (1 John 4:7, 10). I will take what I have obtained from God's Wisdom for a Mother's Heart (Wolgemuth, Bobbie. 2010) and give you an opportunity to read about my own personal spiritual journey, sharing God's given guidelines, and provide some parenting challenges to engage you to live in the life of the Lord.
Now that I've explained a little about me, today's reflection is about priorities.
- What is a priority?
- Who is a priority?
- Do you wake up in the mornings and praise God?
- What do I need to keep in life and what should I delete?
Remember the first commandment, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22: 37, 38).
- How is loving God with all your heart going to make you a better person today?
- parenting,
- working,
- abiding our marital covenant with our spouse
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Heavenly Father, thank you for this day. I want to be a better person in loving you first and unconditionally, appreciating my spouse, and understanding & having patience with my kids. Help me to decipher what's important and what is insignificant in my daily routines. I recognize that I fall short in praising you whole heartedly, and reaching parenting goals but ask for your grace, love and support as I figure it out.
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