A nest to put her young...

"Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest in which to put her young--
Your altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God!"
Psalm 84:4

One special joy I experienced this summer was watching a nest of robins, built in a tree in Sam and Allen's backyard. The nest was surprisingly low and could easily be seen from the patio.  Watching the nest became quite mystical...first it was just there, then there were signs of activity, then one could even see little beaks poking up as the parents flew all around gathering breakfast, lunch and dinner for the new little lives. Finally the nest grew too small and soon after, the little tenants moved on, leaving the bare nest.  It was mystical because it was such a window into the Divine for me. I'd never really seen a real nest with real birds before and it was enchanting. And yet, it is so normal and happens all over the place, all the time. So it is with God. God happens all over the place, all the time, and yet, we too often miss it as we busily go about our lives.  It is said that nature is the first bible. I totally saw that this summer, watching a little robin's nest. Love, heidi

A better question...

"Instead of asking 'What does God want me to do?' Ask 'What kind of person does God want me to be?'"
Fr. Radmar Jao, SJ, Sunday homily 9/4/16

This is an amazing discernment tool given by Fr. Radmar at St. Paul's at BSU this last Sunday. I will post the link below for all the homilies from St. Paul's...you can listen to them on Soundcloud and they are WELL worth your time! So often, when we are faced with too many things to do we try to discern what would God want us to do. Fair enough. But this question, "What kind of person does God want me to be?" may be a better discernment question.  Then we can filter the activities or tasks through that lens and ask ourselves, "Does this activity lead me to be the person God wants me to be? Does it support my transformation? Or not?" First, it causes us to sit down and really ponder what the person God wants us to be looks like. That's worth prayerful exploration right there. Next we can ask God for guidance and help in becoming the person God knows we are deep inside and wants us to show to the world. And maybe, some of the things we are doing or activities we are choosing are not the best for us.  I've been thinking about this since I heard the homily and it really is an amazing process!  I encourage you to check out the St. Paul's Preaching page here:
http://www.broncocatholic.org/preaching
This series is called "You Got This," and Fr. Bentz and Fr. Radmar are knocking it out of the ballpark!  Love, heidi

Happy New Year!

"Halleluiah! Sing to the Lord a new song..."
Psalm 149:1

For so many years it felt like a brand new year, the day after Labor Day. The kids usually began a new school year this day and it had a sense of freshness and newness to it. It was a day to begin new healthy eating habits, get to bed at a decent hour, meeting new friends.  It was like New Year's Day in the fall.  Even all these many years later, it still has a sense of newness to it, even though I'm still doing the exact same thing I did last week! I can begin again today, maybe mustering up a new zeal for what I have done for so many years.  I can begin today to eat healthier (certainly healthier than I ate this past weekend!) I can get to bed earlier with the earlier darkening of the change of seasons. Maybe I can even begin to add some prayer time to my day that, for some reason, I didn't have time for during the summer.  Let's think about today as a new beginning for us, even if we are doing much the same thing as before. We can always begin again and invite God to help us do it all better.  Love, heidi