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| Quote for the Day: Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can. Lowell Thomas |
Bit by bit the stories are coming in - I wanted to tell you.. that I have extended the date of submission to January 15th. As Christmas gets closer and closer and more and more things get packed into one's day - I decided I needed to do that.
Of course I hope you won't wait until January to send in your stories .. but if time gets away from you... there is a bit more time! One thing I am hoping to get more stories from religious priests, deacons, brothers and sisters. I value all the stories, I really do, but I hope that some of you who have committed to religious life more deeply will share an experience or two from your walk with God and prayer.
To get you started and to show they don't have to be super duper over the top stories I will share a memory of mine.
As many of you know, I've always been a little hung up on miracles. Nothing turns me off faster than someone saying, "Well, you know, God needed to use miracles in his day...because people didn't have the faith we have now!" Well, I may get some disagreement with this.. but from what I can see... there is certainly enough "lack of faith" in these times to sink a few battleships! And personally - I don't believe God ever made the decision... "That's it folks. I'm done with miracles. You're on your own. I've given you everything you need to make a go of it. Just swim now and you'll make the shore."
To that, I say, "Bah, humbug!" I believe God is as ready and willing to do miracles each and every day. And we don't have to deserve them either. Just a simple, "Ask and you shall receive" will be enough.
I also have no problem asking for miracles just for myself. I don't feel greedy at all... since God is the creator of everything I think we do more insult to his goodness and generosity by not asking! Years ago I wanted a little green parrot. I prayed every day. I went outside after dinner and walked in the garden and I often would tell whoever was listening, "Well, I'm going out to pray for my little green parrot." I would pray my rosary and look in all the trees and the sky for my little green parrot to show up.
This went on for two and a half years. Finally, the sisters decided if I wanted a parrot that bad, they would allow me to get one. So one day when we were out shopping and we had to get some supplies for the fish, I went over to the bird section of the pet store. There I found a little green parrot. He didn't look like much. He had been passed around from store to store because no one wanted to buy him. And each time he was moved he would get more unsettled, till finally he had started plucking out his own feathers.
When the clerk saw me looking at this little green parrot he said to me, "If you want to buy him, we will give you a very good price, because we think he needs to find a home soon as he is so stressed."
I walked quickly to the part of the store where Sr. Mary Rita was and told her about the little green parrot and the special price they would give me for him. She said, "Okay, you can get him!" So I did.
And guess how old Mikey was? Two and a half years old. The exact same length of time that I had been praying for him. For two and a half years my little Mikey had been in store after store with no one to take him home until he came to our home!
Mikey has gone to heaven now... and now I have my dear Pi (another answer to prayer), but I still remember how God answered my special prayer for a little green parrot.
Blessings,
Sr. Patricia
5 comments:
loved your story about the little green parrot as I too have a little feathered friend that got loose fom God knows where she is on my shoulder and I love her to death
I will have to write more as I do get to this page every day
I believe 100% in miracles we just don't realized that they are already there for us. Just pray for God's protection, leadership in all that we need in this life because we are totally blind for what is the big picture. We may ask for the small picture that we think we need and I am sure that God will give them if it is good within the big or bigger picture of our lives. All we need to do is to get in touch with him by praying everyday like our breathing in spirit, mind in all situations, in our conscious actions. Every minute as we work we can talk to Him not only in a formal formulated prayer but also in all our waking time. I will share my true story happening to me on a wet snowy day in December when I was about to go to my work. Just on that day was the first day that I had decided to move my three children to the school near my house.I found it too burdensome for me to drop my children to two schools before I went to work myself. It was so happened that in the middle of the road on Eglinton Ave. close to Mavis Rd. in Mississauga, Canada, my car stalled because the gasoline tank was empty. I was too much in a hurry to prepare my children to their new school I didn't realized there was no gas. I drove a small blue Tempo car and usually all three children sat at the back seat. It was almost my work time, it was dark and freezing rain. Luckily it was not too far from the house of my retired big brother, so I stuck my thumb up in the rain and someone nice picked me up and brought me to my brother's house. I told my brother who had severe heart illness to rush to help get the gasoline for my car. Of course my kind hearted brother was clumsy as usual due to his impaired movements and deep inside my heart in my nervousness I thought : " Oh God, could this man be bit faster,didn't he know that I need to rush, rush, rush before my school started! Oh my God, give me patience to understand and endure why he is so slow... Yes God, I know he is not well....but please, please, please make him speed up a bit more" So he slowly got to his car and finally we got to a gas station , then he took out his jerrycan from the trunk and waddled. To my surprised there was a car budding in from the front and.... with the can in his hands allowed that car to take his turn. I was so impatient and boiling in his car waiting; in my mind I thought this time I really was going to be very late; I only had a short lesson plan, my students would be waiting for me. After all the slow motions, my brother drove back to where I left my car. It was dark because of the rain but all of a sudden he saw a car approaching my stalled car without slowing down and had dented the whole back seat. The driver was a new person from California, he didn't see the open hood of my stalled car. He got out of his car shaky but it seems he was fine, other than the after shock. That accident happened right in front of our eyes when we were about to turn from the midline of Eglinton Ave. The man was a very nice gentleman and had admitted that he was too tired from driving and didn't see clearly that there was a stalled car. My late brother who was a very religious man told me imagine if we were in the middle of filling the tank because my brother was about to stop our car in the midlane and went across to fill in the gas. So for sure the gentleman would not see him too. As I reflect of the miracle, I said to God that I will try not to be so judgmental and impatient anymore. Imagine what my life would be if I didn't decide to put my children to the new school the day before my children must be waiting in that car while I try to find help to fill in the gasoline. All the back part was flatten. Oh God, thank you for protecting me in your knowlege of the big picture. There is no words to describe how grateful am I to God in His Wisdom to make me learn to be patient and allow people to be first. May my brother's soul be happy with my mom and dad in Heaven seeing the vision of God. Amen.
I believe 100% in miracles we just don't realized that they are already there for us. Just pray for God's protection, leadership in all that we need in this life because we are totally blind for what is the big picture. We may ask for the small picture that we think we need and I am sure that God will give them if it is good within the big or bigger picture of our lives. All we need to do is to get in touch with him by praying everyday like our breathing in spirit, mind in all situations, in our conscious actions. Every minute as we work we can talk to Him not only in a formal formulated prayer but also in all our waking time. I will share my true story happening to me on a wet snowy day in December when I was about to go to my work. Just on that day was the first day that I had decided to move my three children to the school near my house.I found it too burdensome for me to drop my children to two schools before I went to work myself. It was so happened that in the middle of the road on Eglinton Ave. close to Mavis Rd. in Mississauga, Canada, my car stalled because the gasoline tank was empty. I was too much in a hurry to prepare my children to their new school I didn't realized there was no gas. I drove a small blue Tempo car and usually all three children sat at the back seat. It was almost my work time, it was dark and freezing rain. Luckily it was not too far from the house of my retired big brother, so I stuck my thumb up in the rain and someone nice picked me up and brought me to my brother's house. I told my brother who had severe heart illness to rush to help get the gasoline for my car. Of course my kind hearted brother was clumsy as usual due to his impaired movements and deep inside my heart in my nervousness I thought : " Oh God, could this man be bit faster,didn't he know that I need to rush, rush, rush before my school started! Oh my God, give me patience to understand and endure why he is so slow... Yes God, I know he is not well....but please, please, please make him speed up a bit more" So he slowly got to his car and finally we got to a gas station , then he took out his jerrycan from the trunk and waddled. To my surprised there was a car budding in from the front and.... with the can in his hands allowed that car to take his turn. I was so impatient and boiling in his car waiting; in my mind I thought this time I really was going to be very late; I only had a short lesson plan, my students would be waiting for me. After all the slow motions, my brother drove back to where I left my car. It was dark because of the rain but all of a sudden he saw a car approaching my stalled car without slowing down and had dented the whole back seat. The driver was a new person from California, he didn't see the open hood of my stalled car. He got out of his car shaky but it seems he was fine, other than the after shock. That accident happened right in front of our eyes when we were about to turn from the midline of Eglinton Ave. The man was a very nice gentleman and had admitted that he was too tired from driving and didn't see clearly that there was a stalled car. My late brother who was a very religious man told me imagine if we were in the middle of filling the tank because my brother was about to stop our car in the midlane and went across to fill in the gas. So for sure the gentleman would not see him too. As I reflect of the miracle, I said to God that I will try not to be so judgmental and impatient anymore. Imagine what my life would be if I didn't decide to put my children to the new school the day before my children must be waiting in that car while I try to find help to fill in the gasoline. All the back part was flatten. Oh God, thank you for protecting me in your knowlege of the big picture. There is no words to describe how grateful am I to God in His Wisdom to make me learn to be patient and allow people to be first. May my brother's soul be happy with my mom and dad in Heaven seeing the vision of God. Amen.
I believe 100% in miracles we just don't realized that they are already there for us. Just pray for God's protection, leadership in all that we need in this life because we are totally blind for what is the big picture. We may ask for the small picture that we think we need and I am sure that God will give them if it is good within the big or bigger picture of our lives. All we need to do is to get in touch with him by praying everyday like our breathing in spirit, mind in all situations, in our conscious actions. Every minute as we work we can talk to Him not only in a formal formulated prayer but also in all our waking time. I will share my true story happening to me on a wet snowy day in December when I was about to go to my work. Just on that day was the first day that I had decided to move my three children to the school near my house.I found it too burdensome for me to drop my children to two schools before I went to work myself. It was so happened that in the middle of the road on Eglinton Ave. close to Mavis Rd. in Mississauga, Canada, my car stalled because the gasoline tank was empty. I was too much in a hurry to prepare my children to their new school I didn't realized there was no gas. I drove a small blue Tempo car and usually all three children sat at the back seat. It was almost my work time, it was dark and freezing rain. Luckily it was not too far from the house of my retired big brother, so I stuck my thumb up in the rain and someone nice picked me up and brought me to my brother's house. I told my brother who had severe heart illness to rush to help get the gasoline for my car. Of course my kind hearted brother was clumsy as usual due to his impaired movements and deep inside my heart in my nervousness I thought : " Oh God, could this man be bit faster,didn't he know that I need to rush, rush, rush before my school started! Oh my God, give me patience to understand and endure why he is so slow... Yes God, I know he is not well....but please, please, please make him speed up a bit more" So he slowly got to his car and finally we got to a gas station , then he took out his jerrycan from the trunk and waddled. To my surprised there was a car budding in from the front and.... with the can in his hands allowed that car to take his turn. I was so impatient and boiling in his car waiting; in my mind I thought this time I really was going to be very late; I only had a short lesson plan, my students would be waiting for me. After all the slow motions, my brother drove back to where I left my car. It was dark because of the rain but all of a sudden he saw a car approaching my stalled car without slowing down and had dented the whole back seat. The driver was a new person from California, he didn't see the open hood of my stalled car. He got out of his car shaky but it seems he was fine, other than the after shock. That accident happened right in front of our eyes when we were about to turn from the midline of Eglinton Ave. The man was a very nice gentleman and had admitted that he was too tired from driving and didn't see clearly that there was a stalled car. My late brother who was a very religious man told me imagine if we were in the middle of filling the tank because my brother was about to stop our car in the midlane and went across to fill in the gas. So for sure the gentleman would not see him too. As I reflect of the miracle, I said to God that I will try not to be so judgmental and impatient anymore. Imagine what my life would be if I didn't decide to put my children to the new school the day before, my children must be waiting in that car while I try to find help to fill in the gasoline. Imagine if my brother didn't give his turn to the budding in person he would be near the car and go injured too because he was not agile. All the back part was flatten. Oh God, thank you for protecting me in your knowlege of the big picture. There is no words to describe how grateful am I to God in His Wisdom to make me learn to be patient and allow people to be first. May my brother's soul be happy with my mom and dad in Heaven seeing the vision of God. Amen.
I believe 100% in miracles we just don't realized that they are already there for us. Just pray for God's protection, leadership in all that we need in this life because we are totally blind for what is the big picture. We may ask for the small picture that we think we need and I am sure that God will give them if it is good within the big or bigger picture of our lives. All we need to do is to get in touch with him by praying everyday like our breathing in spirit, mind in all situations, in our conscious actions. Every minute as we work we can talk to Him not only in a formal formulated prayer but also in all our waking time. I will share my true story happening to me on a wet snowy day in December when I was about to go to my work. Just on that day was the first day that I had decided to move my three children to the school near my house.I found it too burdensome for me to drop my children to two schools before I went to work myself. It was so happened that in the middle of the road on Eglinton Ave. close to Mavis Rd. in Mississauga, Canada, my car stalled because the gasoline tank was empty. I was too much in a hurry to prepare my children to their new school I didn't realized there was no gas. I drove a small blue Tempo car and usually all three children sat at the back seat. It was almost my work time, it was dark and freezing rain. Luckily it was not too far from the house of my retired big brother, so I stuck my thumb up in the rain and someone nice picked me up and brought me to my brother's house. I told my brother who had severe heart illness to rush to help get the gasoline for my car. Of course my kind hearted brother was clumsy as usual due to his impaired movements and deep inside my heart in my nervousness I thought : " Oh God, could this man be bit faster,didn't he know that I need to rush, rush, rush before my school started! Oh my God, give me patience to understand and endure why he is so slow... Yes God, I know he is not well....but please, please, please make him speed up a bit more" So he slowly got to his car and finally we got to a gas station , then he took out his jerrycan from the trunk and waddled. To my surprised there was a car budding in from the front and.... with the can in his hands allowed that car to take his turn. I was so impatient and boiling in his car waiting; in my mind I thought this time I really was going to be very late; I only had a short lesson plan, my students would be waiting for me. After all the slow motions, my brother drove back to where I left my car. It was dark because of the rain but all of a sudden he saw a car approaching my stalled car without slowing down and had dented the whole back seat. The driver was a new person from California, he didn't see the open hood of my stalled car. He got out of his car shaky but it seems he was fine, other than the after shock. That accident happened right in front of our eyes when we were about to turn from the midline of Eglinton Ave. The man was a very nice gentleman and had admitted that he was too tired from driving and didn't see clearly that there was a stalled car. My late brother who was a very religious man told me imagine if we were in the middle of filling the tank because my brother was about to stop our car in the midlane and went across to fill in the gas. So for sure the gentleman would not see him too. As I reflect of the miracle, I said to God that I will try not to be so judgmental and impatient anymore. Imagine what my life would be if I didn't decide to put my children to the new school the day before, my children must be waiting in that car while I try to find help to fill in the gasoline. Imagine if my brother didn't give his turn to the budding in person he would be near the car and go injured too because he was not agile. All the back part was flatten. Oh God, thank you for protecting me in your knowlege of the big picture. There is no words to describe how grateful am I to God in His Wisdom to make me learn to be patient and allow people to be first. May my brother's soul be happy with my mom and dad in Heaven seeing the vision of God. Amen.
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