My knees have been bothering me this past week. Fierce! Painful and annoying. I try to just live my normal daily life. I try not to complain or make a lot of noise about it. Very challenging!

But this got me to thinking about those that have it worse than me. People that live with chronic pain. How challenging life must be?

I also got to thinking about those that live with mental anguish as well. We all have baggage. Those issues, very deeply buried, that we don't want to deal with. This adds to the challenges of life.

Sometimes the cure or treatment can be worse than the issue. Especially when dealing with mental issues. So imagine you have a wound or cut. It heals on the outside. It looks like its fine. But it was deeper than you realized and underneath is a festering infection. After awhile you realize it isn't healed and have chronic pain. The doctor's remedy is the cut open the wound. He opens it and cleans out the infection. Very painful!!! In the end you are better off. The key is seeing it through to the end, having faith that the end result will be better.

Those with chronic physical pain have a different challenge. Sometimes there is no cure. No treatment that will make it go away or return it to normal. This can be very upsetting, distressing. I know my knees will never be the same. I know that I will have to deal with it the rest of my life. To be quite honest, that sucks!!!!! But I also know that God is with me. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come. Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will bring me home.

A couple of things I have learned. One exercise makes it better not worse. So I will keep moving. Two I am afraid if I stop exercising, it will get worse. Three, doctors don't have all the answers. We have to be educated. We have to be our own advocates.

To those of you dealing with physical or mental issues, I pray you find peace and comfort. I pray you find good physicians and practitioners. I pray that you are surrounded by the love and joy of great family and friends.

True genuine sacrifice is about Love. If you give up or do something because you feel obligated and do it begrudgingly it isn't true sacrifice.

This was my thought during prayer at church this morning.

Also, when I recognize I have failed in this true sacrifice, again it shouldn't be about me. It's not about having a pity party or beating myself up. It is about recognizing how I failed and making it right.

I love my family. They are my first priority. Sometimes my own selfish desires get it in the way. My own selfish wants and needs distract me.

Now don't get me wrong. Don't miss my point. We should take care of ourselves. We should have dreams, wants and desires. Those are valid.

I'm talking about making a choice to put someone else's needs first. Not disregarding my own.

When we choose to enter into a relationship and create a family. That choice is going to require some sacrifices. And sometimes what you give up is what's best anyway. We, especially me, hold tightly to those things are aren't always best for us. I don't realize that letting go is for the best. Change is hard but it is sometimes good.

My kids will and should always be a priority. Lovingly sacrificing in the best interest of them is truly joyful.

Lord help to be focused on other's needs before mine. Help to recognize what is best for me and how to best care for the person I am. Help me to become the person you meant for me to be.

Lenten repost

"Through many dangers, toils and snares...
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far...
and Grace will lead us home." 
verse from Amazing Grace

As we sung Amazing Grace in church this morning, this verse stood out. How much I have been through in my life. God's grace has always been there. I know many of you have been through some dangers, toils and snares. I know some of us are going through them right now. I know there are probably more to come. This verse is so powerful in that regard. The grace of God will get me through as it has already. All He is our acceptance.

He wants nothing more than our faith. He asks nothing more of us than love. Which if you think about it, faith and love is everything. So He asks everything of us. But it isn't as hard as we lead ourselves to believe. With God's grace it is so easy. We start by simply saying "Jesus Christ come into my life". How simple is that. We trust him from that point to lead us home. And lead us home He will.

As we approach Ash Wednesday and lent I will use this verse. As I am deciding how to use lent to draw closer to Christ, I will pray this verse. As I am living my lenten promises of fasting, abstinence, alms giving and prayer, I will remember this verse.


The awesome power of God's Grace. It is nothing we have earned, nothing we can earn. It is freely given. Christ's love and grace is ours for the taking.

Lent can be a very powerful time. A time of preparation before entering into the holiest of seasons, Easter. A time to recognize our mortality, acknowledge wrongs we have committed. We also prayerfully live out our love and faith in Christ.

Prayer, fasting, abstinence and alms giving. Prayer, spending time with God, mostly listening but also sharing what is in our hearts. Fasting, to abstain from eating certain foods or minimizing consumption, as a way of recognizing that all we have comes from God. Also remembering those who don't have all the comforts we do. Abstinence, to do without certain comforts. Again to recognize all we have comes from God and eliminate things that distract us from God.

Last year I gave up listening to the radio in my car. If you know me, you know that was a big deal for me. I found it to be incredibly powerful. To have quiet time alone driving with my own thoughts was amazing. Sometimes we let the world drown out our thoughts and quiet times. We have forgotten how to sit quietly.

This year I am not sure what I will be doing along those lines. I will continue to pray and meditate on the verse of the Amazing Grace. The amazing grace of God will lead me.

May the Grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ fill your hearts with joy!!!

I don't agree or disagree with Santorum's comment on women in combat. I have never served in the military. But I think his point is something that should be considered and discussed among the troops and commanders. Men and women treat each other differently. It is a fact of life. How that will play out on the battlefield if at all, is a valid question. Although it shouldn't be played out in the media with it sensationalism and spinning.

Figuring out the roles of men and women in today's American society is interesting and challenging. Generalizations are tough because we are very diverse. Some women prefer more traditional roles, some more non traditional and lots in the middle. Also, as we grow and change, our opinions and ideals also grow and change. As a young girl growing up without a father, I had a strong desire for a traditional family home. As a young women, I would have preferred a more non traditional rolls. Now I see the value in both.

There are some things that our society promotes regarding men and women that I disagree with. Movies make men look like bafoons, who only want sex. Men are portrayed to be stupid and uncaring, driven my sexual desires. I get that they are trying to be funny but an over abundance of this message affects us all.

I understand that we need humor. We need to be able to laugh at ourselves. I enjoy great jokes and funny movies. There is nothing like a good laugh to eliminate stress. I just wonder about the redundancy of the message.

We want our men to be bad boys who die to protect us. But not treat us like weaklings who can't do for ourselves. We want them to love us endlessly but give us our freedom. To be a free spirit artist or musician who makes lots of money. Someone who is comfortable in his own skin.

Women don't make it easy for men. The whole men are from mars, women are from Venus thing. We speak in innuendos, some men can't decipher innuendos.

They are sometimes trapped. Damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario. Land mines and all. If they say " I believe pms is real and how can I help you", we bite their head off for being condescending.

We want them to know what we want and desire without having to tell them. It's a tricky situation. If I tell you what I want and you do it, then you didn't do it out of love. You did it because I told you to.

Men don't make it easy for us either, but that is a another blog another day.

To all the women out there, give men a break. To all the men look out for land mines and enjoy the ride. (no double entendre intended)

I am a Christian, I am Catholic and I am Pro Life. I believe in the sanctity of life from conception through natural death.
I just wanted everyone to know where I stand. No confusion.

The new HHS mandate about contraception and abortive drugs is wrong and offensive. The government has no right to tell religious organization they can't live out their faith. That is a slap in the face to the right to practice religion.

The Susan G Komen foundations inability to stand up to the all powerful planned parenthood is also offensive. I have not and will not donate to them until they no longer support planned parenthood's assault on life. 330,000 thousand abortions every year. 330,000 babies denied the right to life. That is horrendous.

The fight to find a cure and support those with breast cancer shouldn't be so tied into planned parenthood. There are other avenues, but we aren't allowed to discuss those. Access to mammograms and treatment is extremely important. But I don't buy for a second that it has to be through abortion clinics. My prayers to those struggling with breast cancer.

I consider myself to be a conservative democrat. On balance I agree with the democratic party but not on life issues. I have never voted based on one issue. This year may be different. I am feeling like my only voice is my vote. Everything else is drowned out by media bias and the strong arm of planned parenthood. Their lies and mistruths make fox news look like wimps.

I have seen it with my own eyes. Doctors forced out of their jobs for asking questions about the effects of abortion on women. The dialogue can't even happen. Where is the justice in that? We all buy into the word choice. We think our freedom is tied up in it that word. That is a lie.

I have seen with my own eyes, women who choose life being ridiculed by those around them and the media. If someone chooses to let God choose and control their life, they are looked at like weirdos. Those young people who choose to wait for marriage to engage in sex are also scorned and ridiculed. Why is that? Why are we telling our young people that choice means promiscuity and don't worry about any recourse. If you get pregnant we will just "terminate" the pregnancy. How is that doing our kids justice? Is there true freedom in promiscuity and abortion?

Those that try to speak for Life and Christ' message are scorned. We are topics for fodder.

I am Pro Life. The supposed want or need of child should never determine if they have the right to life. The idea that a handicapped child, either physically or mentally, have nothing to offer our society and should be terminated is genocide. Why do we buy into these lies?

Am I to harsh here. If I have hurt anyone's feelings that is not my intention. I don't judge people, I know people make choices in there life and have to live with those choices. I have made choices in my life that I would change. I understand given where I was at that time in my life it was what I thought was right. I thank God I was never in the unfortunate situation where abortion was considered. I pray for those in desperate situations.
But for any of us to make valid choices there has to be a clear understanding of what is really at stake.

Let's have true dialogue. Let's have true freedom to practice our religious beliefs.

If you have read this whole piece. Thanks. If you disagree but read the whole thing anyway, Thanks. If you would, please join me in praying for a world of peace and love.

God Bless us all.

Why I love Jesus and the church

First of all, Let me say, Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. He is God incarnate, born of the virgin Mary. He is true God and true man. 

This subject has been covered by many theologians and doctors of the church. I am speaking from a very personal place, my heart, where my blogs always come from.  I highly recommend that if you want to dig deeper, go for it. You will be amazed at what you find. I was!!

I am catholic, have been my whole life, cradle catholic as some would say. But about 13 years ago, Steve and I had a conversation about choosing to be catholic. We decided to dive in and become involved in church. Learn, grow and be active members. Then decide if being catholic is what we choose to be. Thanks be to God we both found that being catholic is what we choose.

Is the church perfect? Yes. Are the humans involved in the church perfect? No, absolutely not.  I would challenge you to find any organization run by humans to be perfect. I would say that the sins of the humans don’t negate the truth. Jesus called out the Pharisee and Sadducees as hypocrites and sinners. He didn’t abolish or condemn the Jewish religion. God’s covenant is eternal. He doesn’t break His promises. 

When I profess my faith on Sundays at church, I try to focus on what I am professing. I truly believe in all I profess. Christ established the church and said “the gates of hell will not prevail against it”. (Mt 16; 16-19) 

The church has struggled because of the sins of man. Many from the inside and out have railed against her. It is but by the grace of God that it still stands, 2000 years later. I heard a story once of Napoléon telling a bishop that he will bring down the church.  The bishop replied simply, good luck, even those of us on inside haven’t been able to. I don’t know if this story is true or not. But it makes the point. 

Have there been horrible abominable sins done in the name of God and by those who serve God. Yes! Man, unfortunately has great propensity to sin and does truly horrific things to each other.  Those who have sinned should be held accountable and will be held accountable to God.   I, in no way, am denying this. These sins, as horrific as they are, don’t negate the truth of Jesus. 

I know left to my own devices, I would be lost. I would be fallen and beaten by this world. When I stand, kneel and pray in church I make things right and start over. I am egocentric and selfish. If I decided I could do it on my own and don’t need religion. I would be fooling myself. I would create an egocentric, selfish life. I would not challenge myself to be better. I would make things easy for me. Where is the growth and learning in that? This world would pull me away from Christ, it would drag me to indulge in my own selfish desires that would not satisfy nor make me feel fulfilled. 

 I go to church every Sunday to receive the precious life giving Body, Blood, soul and divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I go to worship, praise and honor God with one measly hour of my life. I go to draw support from the community of Christ that surrounds me. I go to pray for me, my family, loved ones and friends. I go because God wants me to go. 

 I recognize my need for God and His church to guide me on the right path. I don’t go blindly. I go by choice with my eyes focused on the Lord.

Thoughts that overwhelm me;
1. I have lived in Ann Arbor 23 yrs this coming Aug. I will have lived here as long as I lived in Detroit. (not counting 2 brief 6mos stays in San Antonio)

2. Steve and I have been together for 28yrs, married for 26 going on 27. Wow!! We have been married longer than half my life!

I don't feel old enough for either of these. The old saying "life happens while making plans" is very true. I'm amazed at how my life has played out.
Given where I came from.

But even that doesn't sum it up. I bet it wouldn't for anyone. I came from the city of Detroit. Very poor and exposed to more than any child should be. Raised by a single mom in a large family. Getting pregnant at 18, then marrying my high school sweetheart.

Statistically, I should be a divorced single mom with 5 kids living in the city.
I am truly blessed to have a strong marriage. Marriage is work, it is a choice to make it work. Not always easy but usually fun.

Living in Ann Arbor has been a blessing also. I have made some great friends. It is strange because I am just now starting to feel like an Ann Arborite even after all this time.

If you read this post all the way through, which I hope you did, you are probably thinking "mid-life crisis". I know right!!!!

I just can't wait to see what the next 45 years have in store for me. Betty White at 90 and my mom at 70 are my inspirations.

Hope you all had a Blessed Christmas and I wish you many laughs in the New Year!!!!!