SoulFull Week Thirty-Eight

 

All of my heirloom roses are in bloom.

Happy Friday and autumn, Friends!  I think Monday was officially the first day of autumn, and it has been slightly cooler here in Central Alabama.  We've also had a few thunderstorms this week, including yesterday morning.

Didn't y'all love the lesson this week!  I have seen beautiful examples of kintsugi in museums, and I think it is a lovely allegory for brokenness and healing.  Here is an example I found on the internet, and if you haven't googled it yet, I suggest you do and look at more kintsugi pottery.  I have included a link below the photo to a site that explains all about it.

via

I have been struggling with my mom's situation quite a bit lately.  I have felt broken emotionally.  This week she got a new roommate, and she is an angel.  M is an artist, and she loves to color.  She is trying to encourage Mom to color with her, but Mom doesn't want to do anything.  While I was talking to M, I discovered that she is the sister-in-law of one of our sweet priests at St. Stephen's.  Talk about a small world!

I don't see my mother ever getting better.  She doesn't want to.  She is giving up, and she isn't getting the help she needs for her mental illnesses.  Her care has monopolized my week, and I even had to miss my art class on Wednesday.  I take the class for my mental health, and I do hate to miss.  So you can imagine how much this lesson has meant to me this week, and I loved the Litany for Healing.  I think I might continue reading it every morning for the foreseeable future.

Speaking of mornings, I have found that I truly function better when I start my day in prayer and in God's word.  On days when I have my time with God later in the day, my day seems off.  I know someone who always has her devotion time after lunch, and that's what works best for her.  I think it depends on when you are at your best, because I think it's important to give God your best when you can.

I also want to share with you a sweet morning meditation from Macrina Wiederkehr.  She is reflecting on this verse from Psalm 143:

The angels came at dawn bringing news of God's faithful love.

They woke me early for a change. They unplugged my ears so I could hear the glorious

song of the birds. 

They wiped the sleep out of my eyes so I could see the silhouette of trees celebrating the dawn and the first rays of sun shimmering through the clouds. 

My nose was then unclogged so the aroma of dawn ---- from crisp autumn leaves to fresh morning coffee---- could delight me. 

The air at the tip of my fingers reminded me of the gift of touch. 

My hand clasped around my coffee cup felt warm and welcoming. 

I began my "morning watch" (my morning prayer). 

The touch of my knees on the floor felt right. I knelt with joy. 

My heart, now fully awakened, sang praises to God's faithful love.

Oh, Beloved One in the heavens and in my heart, always ---- always, please, send angels at dawn, for life is not always so good as it tasted this morning.

~Macrina Wiederkehr

Prayer:

Please, God, send your angels to prepare me every morning for spiritual kintsugi.  Please strengthen me and help me to do your will!  Thank-you for these Christian women who are prayer warriors.  As the Prayer Litany from our lesson says:

Allow me to see a glimmer of hope breaking through my darkness.

Show me the way.

In Jesus' name I pray,

Amen!

Here is this week's Bible verse:

We all feel broken at times.  I hope this lesson has meant as much to you as it has me.  

Thoughts?

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for our blog friend Emily (McGriff) and her husband Jim because they both have COVID.  Emily's blog is The French Hutch.
• Please pray for our blog friend Jenna Meon.  She is currently in rehabilitation for her walking.  She is still struggling with her standing.
• Please keep Rita's neighbor Chris in prayer as she battles her cancer.  She is recovering from a 2nd surgery to remove what is believed to be another cancer on her lung.
• Kitty's son Mike and his friend are working on a game for a company and need to have it done in three months and have a verbal agreement for another game. Prayers that they can get this done.  Also, pray that they will get good news on a proposal (a separate project).
• Keep Rita's daughter Megan in your prayers as she delves into her 3rd and final year of Nurse Practitioner program. Her anxiety is pretty high with the new schedule of work, school and home life balance.
• Pray for my best friend Barbara who is battling cancer.  She is struggling, y'all.  UPDATE:  She had a bad fall, and broke a tooth, jaw, and nose.  Please pray that she will monitor her strength, blood sugar, and blood pressure to help minimize her chance of falling.
• Kris has a praise and a request:  Her little grandson and daughter and SIL are loving their new home in Michigan. Her daughter landed a great job running a huge 9 practitioner clinic in Michigan. Hoping the learning center that her grandson went to will open the new one very soon near their new home in Michigan so he can go to the same daycare and structure.
• Carla's prayer request is for all the young people entering the military, the love they feel for the USA to become warriors to fight to keep us free. She is so thankful, as we all are!
• Pray for the victims and families of the Minneapolis Annunciation Catholic Church who were attacked in an act of despicable hate by the young man this week.  Please pray for the safety of our Christian children in this country.
• Please pray that the violence from trans activists will end, and that they will get the mental health help that they so desperately need.
• Pray for the victims of the Colorado school shooting.
• Pray for Charlie Kirk's family, friends, and our nation as we heal from his assassination.
• Pray for one of my daughters.  She is struggling spiritually right now.
• Carla and her husband has decided to stay in their home and not sell it and move.  Pray that God will give them peace in their decision.  
• Pray for my mother.  Pray for God's will concerning her placement, whether she should stay in the facility she's in now, or whether we should pursue having her committed to a long-term mental health facility.
• Rita asks that we pray for her oldest daughter's Jewish friend. She dropped out of her 2nd masters' program at Michigan due to the anti-semitic tension she experienced last year, and is planning to move to Israel in October (she has dual citizenship) to see if a budding romance will work over the next 1-2 years. Please keep her in your prayers for her safety, relationship fulfillment, and eventual safe return to the US (with, perhaps, a soulmate for life).
• Travel mercies for Kris as she is traveling with a friend to Seaside, Florida.

I am planning on giving myself a little break today.  After I do a couple of hours of chores, I'm going to a favorite coffee shop of mine, order a PSL, and look at a few autumn-themed books.

What are your plans for the weekend?

Until next time...

Blessings!
Ricki Jill