Faith is Seeing Light ...

This morning during my prayer time, I was reminded that my faith in God is what has gotten me through all of the tough times in my life. Trusting that he was working behind the scenes to help everything work out for the best. Trusting that He knows what is best, not me. I pray for this peace for anyone who needs it today.

Revitalize Your Walk with God at Women's Retreat

Are you looking to revitalize your walk with God? Want to feel more of His presence and guidance in your life? Then join me at the Seeking God in Fresh New Ways Women’s Retreat on October 17th at St. James Parish!

The purpose of the retreat is to help participants revitalize their walk with God. Artist TamaraPeterson and Life Purpose Coach Liz Lassa will teach women two fresh and fun new ways to connect with God.

In the morning session, Liz will share her shorthand approach to seeking God through Spiritual Circle Journaling. This format will help participants get deep quickly, using bullet points and circles. It's simplicity helps even non-journalers deepen their prayer life. The result is a closer walk with God, a more focused quiet time, and a life more clearly guided by the Spirit.

After a break for lunch, participants will take what they learned from the morning session a step further as Tamara teaches Spiritual Art Journaling. Participants will capture on a canvas the word, verse, or phrase from their morning session with papers, clipped images, textures and paints. “In the end, you will leave with your very own, ‘one-of-a-kind’ canvas to remind you of His message for this season in your life,” Peterson said. “The only experience required is Kindergarten!”

When: Saturday, Oct. 17, Light Refreshments: 8:30 Retreat: 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Where: St. James Parish, 820 N. Arlington Heights Rd., Arlington Heights (Enter through the school’s West doors.)

Cost: $65 (Includes lunch)

RSVP Deadline: Oct. 12, 2015

Sign Up Online: Click here.

For More Information: Contact Tina Haisman at (239) 292-2882 or tina@haisman.net or visit www.stjamesah.org.

You're Not Scared of the Dark

Canstock/tolokonov

The reality of fear is an eye-opener. Ponder on these a few minutes. It might change how you perceive situations with yourself and others.

Life Lessons from Cinderella

Photo credit: Disney

Couldn't help but put this one out there ... Have courage and be kind.

So simple, but true.

In life, we need courage to overcome fear.

I'm not talking about fears of heights, spiders, monsters or anything like that. I'm referring to fears that impact us on a daily basis.

Here are a few common ones:

• intimacy -- this fear keeps us from fully receiving love from others
• loneliness -- this fear causes us to never have healthy silence in our lives
• failure -- this fear causes us to not take risks and live fully
• rejection -- this fear causes us to not be ourselves
• commitment -- this fear keeps us separate from others
• abandonment -- this fear causes us to act in controlling ways to keep people near us

So, take some wisdom from Cinderella's mom -- have courage, take a risk to live and love fully, and always be kind!

In God We Trust

Today at Mass we heard from our priest, Father Gilbert, about the significance of the 4th of July to him. This year was only his fifth 4th of July in the US. He is originally from a village called Bwanjai in Tanzania.

He wanted to share with us what he thinks is the most unique thing about our United States. He said it is not our big buildings or big cities or big highways that make us unique -- he believes any country can build these things.

What makes the U.S. so unique is that our country was founded on FAITH -- so much so that our formal currency says, "In God We Trust."

He pointed out there are five references to God in the Declaration of Independence -- two in the first paragraph, one in the middle and two in the last paragraph.

It was a great reminder on this 4th of July weekend that our country was founded on Christian principles. I pray those in leadership positions in our country will remember this.

Be Bold! Be Brave!

I heard this quote twice yesterday, so that's my signal to share it with you! Hope it inspires you in whatever you have been called to do.

We Need More Silence

The key to finding God is through silence. But it takes courage and devotion to yourself to retreat from the ways of the world to find that silence. What can you do today to bring in a little more silence?

Do You Believe in Miracles?

I believe in miracles! Do you?

Let Go of the Past ... and See a More Beautiful Future

There comes a time when you must let go of the broken pieces from the past ... and recognize that God is using them to create something even more beautiful and unique in you.

Just as in this picture, every broken piece is beautiful. Imagine if you put them all together in a totally unique design. It would be awesome!

That is what God is doing in you right now if you will only just let go and watch the beauty unfold.

Changing Schools Need Not be a Hair-Raising Experience

"By the way, your children are going to be just fine in their new school." These are the comforting words my doctor said to me as he looked me in the eye before leaving the exam room. It made me smile, because I knew he was right.

I "know" my children are going to be fine there. They will be fine almost anywhere, because they are very adaptable kids, but somehow this worry affected me so deeply that it has caused me to lose what feels like an enormous amount of my long locks (hence the visit to the doctor).

I've been through this before. Stress brings it on. Or shall I say, "makes it fall out."

But I thought I was dealing with the stress better, so it came as a surprise when the strands of hair just kept falling and falling and falling. My hair feels noticeably thinner now.

What happened to cause all of this shedding? We found out last April that none of the other four boys in my son's fourth grade class were planning on returning to the school for fifth grade. It's a smaller school -- his grade only had 16 students, five of whom were boys.

Although it was small, it worked with five boys. But, to think he might be the only boy or one of only two or three boys was unacceptable to my son, my husband and myself. Especially since he is at the height of his tween years -- he needs the influence and camaraderie of other boys.

After prayerful consideration and much research, we decided it was best to make a move. Luckily, we have many great schools in our area and found no problem with discovering a school with a larger population of boys that met all of our other criteria. That was the easy part. So, why the stress?

We had just changed schools when we moved across the country three years earlier, so I was worried that another school change so soon might be difficult for them.

• I worried if they would be OK in a larger school.
• I worried if they would get lost in the shuffle.
• I worried about them making new friends.
• I worried if the kids at the new school would be nice.
• I worried about the old school -- about the impact of five children leaving one grade.
• I worried about what other people were saying about our family's decision.
• I worried I was letting people down -- even thought I knew our decision was right for our children.

But now that school has started, and I have seen that the kids are doing just fine, I think what is happening with my tresses is the release of this worry.

I think my hair is giving me the signal to shed the worry -- like the trees shed their leaves in the fall. They die for the winter so they can live in the spring. It's time for me to put an end to the worry so I can live in the bountiful harvest of "now" ... which, by the way, is a really wonderful place!

Is there really a God?

Since the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I have heard a couple of people wonder out loud if there really is a God. They say, "If there really is a God, why would He let this happen?"

Wow. I feel so bad for the people are asking this question, because they are in such despair. Without hope.

I believe my faith in God is what gives me comfort in times like this. I believe God is there. That he loves me. That he will take care of me. That when I do leave this earth, I will be in the happiest, most magnificent place imaginable. No more pain. No more suffering.

I do not believe God "allows" tragedies to happen. Rather, bad things happen because people have free will, and they go against God's will.

After a tragedy, God comes in to grieve with us and support us in our recovery. If we allow it, tragedies, such as these, can actually grow us closer to God. How? By focusing our minds on the good.

Even though this situation is tragic, there is beauty happening in and around it. More than we know at this point, because it's too early. What we do know is about all of the first responders and spectators who immediately rushed in to offer help to the wounded and all of the runners who ran straight from the race to the hospital to donate blood. I'm sure many more stories of heroism will come out over time.

Sometimes when I find my mind is mired in the muck of a tragedy like this, I try to remember Philippians 4:8, which says, "In conclusion, my friends, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honorable."

Through this passage, God is telling us not to dwell on the evil, but instead to focus on the good.

How do we do that? Instead of dwelling on the heartbreak, let's look for the good. Instead of talking about the evil doers, let's offer up our prayers for the victims.

I know it's not easy -- especially with the media covering it 24/7. But try. Just try to find the good. It is there.

Trusting God

www.steveangrisano.com

Last night, I attended the first night of our Parish Lenten Mission with Steve Angrisano, a singer, songwriter and storyteller. Boy, is he a great storyteller!

One of the best parts of the evening was when he told this hilarious account about eight nuns taking him out to lunch and driving him to the airport after a performance. Eight nuns. Wow.

Many things happened along the way, and Steve had us laughing hysterically. They started out being on time for the flight, but as they kept stopping to help others, Steve's nerves began to fray -- he was worried about missing his flight.

The culmination of the story occurs when the nuns decide they need to stop at the grocery store on the way to the airport. Steve understood the logic in this, based on geography, but he was very worried he would not make his flight. "Nuntheless," he was not in charge!

As luck would have it, the stoplight at the entrance to the store's parking lot was broken. So it took quite a long time to inch through the intersection ... one ... car ... at ... a ... time. 

When they finally got inside the store, the nuns discovered a woman in a desperate situation. She was crying because she had no money to buy her groceries. After listening to her tale, they gave her assistance for that day and told her where to go for more help the next day.  

Back in the car, the nuns prayed and thanked God for the lights being out at the intersection. Steve was perplexed by this and asked about it. They explained to him that if the lights had been working, they most likely would not have discovered the woman who needed their help. The timing would have been off. They knew they were in the right place at the right time.

So, even though Steve spent the entire afternoon worried about making his flight, the nuns were at peace, knowing God had everything under control. And, by the way, Steve made his flight!

The message here is that God has things perfectly timed and perfectly in control. If only we could live our lives like the nuns -- one moment at a time. Trusting God. Never worrying about what is coming next. Just doing our best to help others along the way. Wouldn't that be beautiful?

The Subject of Trust

In a recent moms radio show I co-hosted with Life Coach Mir Lynne Pietrzyk, we talked about the job of raising children as mothers filled with faith and trust.

During the show, I mentioned a recent experience with trust, and I wanted to expand upon it in writing.

For some reason, I have been confused about the actual date my children were going to start school this year. I knew it was a Wednesday. But I couldn't remember if the date was the 22nd or 23rd. Quite honestly, I wasn't fretting about it. I knew I'd get them there!

It turns out the correct date was Wednesday the 22nd of August. However, that morning, I thought the date was Wednesday the 23rd, so when I got up to work on my devotional, I opened up to the date of August 23rd.

Here's what my devotional said on my children's first day of school, "Entrust your loved ones to me; release them into my protective care."

Imagine my surprise. I thought, "What are the chances my devotional says that on the first day of school?!" That devotional gave me such peace. It was exactly what I needed to hear, and I knew it was right. I need to let go and trust God to protect my children when they are away from me.

I am grateful to God for that message, and as I thought about the situation, I realized there was another message for me.

I realized it wasn't an accident I was confused about the date. God knew I needed to read the devotional for August 23rd, so, he allowed me to be confused about the date, so I would read the message he wanted me to read. The message I most needed that day.

So, not only did I learn to trust that God will take care of my children, but I also learned to trust that God will provide for me exactly what I need when I need it.

It's taken me some time in my life to get to this point, but it's such a wonderful, peaceful place to be. I am learning to go with the flow more in life, because everything happens for a reason -- God's reason.

I could be saying, "WTF"

When I moved back to Illinois, I thought I was going to enjoy a lot of time with my family -- I had visions of family bar-b-que's, adventures to area attractions and lots of snuggle time with my new nephews. I am certainly doing that, but it's not turning out quite how I imagined at the moment.

I am sharing this story to teach what I am learning about how to deal with life and hopefully inspire others who might need to hear a positive message.

There are several things causing stress, but two that are pretty big. My sister is pregnant, and her baby has been diagnosed with the same disease that took her first-born child up to heaven less than two years ago. The doctors said it most likely wouldn't happen again and seem to be as shocked as the rest of us that it did. This time around Kara and baby are getting much better care -- unfortunately the specialists are in Philly, not Chicago, so she is experiencing stress surrounding the extra travel and time away from work.

The other biggie is that my dad is fighting lung cancer. He was diagnosed just before Thanksgiving. I know he will beat it, but I also know we have a battle ahead of us. 

So, when we are faced with stressful life experiences such as these, what are we to do? 

I choose to look to my faith. Although I very much feel the stress from these two events, I know what to do to help reduce it -- pray, meditate and live in the moment. I also need to have a positive attitude.

I have learned to never underestimate the power of prayer, that sometimes I need to stop talking and listen and that living in the moment is the only answer. If I were to crumble to the ground from the stress and not enjoy the time I spend with my family, I would be missing out on life -- my life.

As far as my attitude, it is tempting sometimes when the stress feels so overwhelming to wonder, "What in the world is going on?" I didn't anticipate any of this happening -- maybe my move from Florida brought it on, because ever since I've gotten here, "bad" things have been happening. 

But I know better, and the thought I most often have is, "Thank God I am here." Could you imagine if I was in Florida and all of this was going on up here? It's validation to me that God has a plan for everything, and he made sure I would be here right now. Thank you, God.

--Written with love and devotion for my family ... xoxoxo