Mornin Pages- 31 Day Challenge Day 7

Ok, this might be one of those days when I have absolutely nothing to say.
Interesting, because I feel the same way in my prayer.
Maybe I will practice silence today and use less words and room for more quiet. 

Morning Pages - 31 Day Challenge- Day 6

I failed.
I was going to spend an hour in prayer yesterday but I only spent 15 minutes.
This got me thinking. What is prayer? How do you pray?
What is prayer?
When I was very new in exploring my faith, prayer came easy. God loves me and I would bask in His love. Distractions, doubts and a busy schedule didn't detract me. Now things seem different. Prayer can be hard for me. Or am I making it hard by my expectations.
Prayer, like Morning Pages, doesn't have to be perfect. It just has to be. It is the discipline of it that is what you need.
Morning Pages, the practice of writing one page every morning, is not for others. I have made that exception with this challenge by posting it. It should be a non-edited stream of thought and if all you can write is "I can't think of anything to write" over and over until your page is full, then you have succeeded!  (Thankfully I haven't resorted to that yet, but the month is young!)
There have been times in my prayer that all I have been able to say to God is "Dear  Lord, can you throw me a bone here. I need something to help me " or sometimes my prayer can be as simple as saying "Jesus, help me believe in you."
It helps me to recall a memory of prayer: recall prayer moments.
Today I will sit in the sun and feel it's warmth on my face and bask in the love of God.

I am a child of God. He loves me. All I do is love him back. 

Morning Pages- 31 Day Challenge - Day 5

At 3:00 yesterday Sister J, who works with me at the parish, reminded me that it was time to recite the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy. She leads it every day. I begged off siting that I was too busy. 

Really! I am too busy to pray. 

What is the quote again?  Everyone should take 10 minutes of prayer a day, unless you are very busy, then you should take an hour! 

I really need to examine my schedule and take a step away. 

When is my sabbath? I think those that work for the church, those whose lives are busy, those who work odd days and hours, those who are students, or parents, or are taking on extra work really need to ask themselves that question? When is my time for God?

Today I will take a Holy Hour. An hour dedicated to just be. To be with God - not to read, study, or write. 

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. 

Morning Pages- 31 Day Challenge - Day 4

Ok, it is day 4 and already I have nothing to write about. I slept terrible, I am tired and I am cranky.
Morning pages is about writing in graditude and prayer each day, but it is also about being real with yourself, learning about yourself and growing. Morning pages is also about writing about whatever comes to mind at the moment.

One thing I have learned is that I have to watch my coffee intake. Too much coffee, especially the high octane kind, will wreck my sleep hours later.

I wonder what other things that I do in the morning that wreck things later in the day.
There is a saying, "You got up on the wrong side of the bed."  This's might be one of those days.

I can choose to be grumpy, focus on all of the difficulties I need to work on at my job and begrudgingly get up and go on with the day or I can thank God for a roof over my head, a great family, satisfying work and a life better than most of the world. I don't have to worry about where I will get food, where I will find shelter or how to keep safe.

There is a homeless man living in a van in the parking lot of the church where I work. It is one of the problems I need to work on when I get to work. He has been talking to our pastoral care person at the church. I haven't  met him, but I have been thinking about him. We need to have him move on but as I spoke with the Sister who does our pastoral care, I realize that their is very little we can do to help.

I suppose he is thankful for his van and for not sleeping outside in the elements.

It is all on how we look at things.

Pray for your day, for those you will encounter. Just because you wake up on the wrong side of the bed doesn't mean you can't be thankful for your bed!

Morning Pages -31 Day Challenge Day 3

The trouble with looking on Facebook on a Monday morning is that everyone posts the great things they did that weekend and sometimes I can end up feeling like a slug.
I saw that friends were at the Ryder Cup, went canoeing, hiked in Duluth and one even rode an elephant. It all sounds so exciting!
Sure, this last weekend was great and I posted pictures from the wedding and even wrote about my time with family, but envy  can creep in even when you are having a great time!
Envy is a tough sin for me. I suppose it relates to my need to want to have more. Growing up in a family of six can probably train you to work for what you need and grab it quick before it is gone. Wanting more of something really good is bad when you compare yourself to others. It is also bad when you don't want others to have what you have.
One year for Lent I gave up comparing myself to others.
Gods love is endless and so is his goodness. Why should I limit my love and goodness by comparing it?
Resolve for today: Live in the moment. Love what's in front of you. Don't compare your life to anyone else's.
You are unique! (Like everyone else! Haha)

Morning Pages 31 Day Challenge Day 2

So the point to morning pages is to write every morning before you really do anything else. You are trying to capture your first thoughts in the morning.
The reason I want to combine this discipline with prayer is because all to often I start my day thinking of what I need to do instead of being grateful to God for all I have.
Yesterday I spent the day at my great niece's wedding. It was awesome that they were married in the beautiful church in New Prague, St. Wenceslaus, the church I was baptized.
Being with family really gives me a lot to be grateful for. My four sisters (and one in heaven) have a bond that has grown in different ways throughout the years.
This is always the most evident when someone is in crisis. A few years ago I was having some extrem difficulty through my workplace and was having, what I guess I would call, a nervous breakdown. I took a leave from work to work things out.
I emailed my sisters to let them know and the following week we all met for dinner. It was a different gathering than most of the time we meet. We didn't talk about our kids, but instead talked about our experiences growing up. Birth order, experiences and personalities had all made us view the world slightly differently, yet there is a deep bond that draws us together. Just this one experience with my sisters helped in healing some wounds I was dealing with.
My sister Maureen commented yesterday that we probably only all get together 5 or 6 times a year, if even that much, but the love and support is always there.

Resolve for today- make a point of spending time with those you love; family and close friends near and far.

Morning Pages a 31 Day Challenge

Today I am starting a 31 Day writing challenge. I realized that I have not blogged here for so long, that I had forgotten my log in.
For me, writing is one way in which I pray, so I will be writing my morning pages (a discipline that has helped me write and pray in the past) each day.
Morning pages are about the consistency of the writing habit but it also is about the disipline of prayer.
There are no rules in Morning pages except to write every day!
Wish me luck and follow along.