Holiday travels

I am not a fan of airplanes. But compared to driving 14 hours with three kids in the car, an airplane ride is nothing. I still don’t like the traveling. Last year Christmas travels included driving 2 hours  to Kansas City, flying to New Orleans, fighting with Enterprise about not being able to take the rental I booked with my debit card (because I didn’t have a credit card on me), then driving two hours to my moms.  

This year, we flew from Manhattan to Dallas, then Dallas to Lafayette. I thought it would be much easier. I learned a bunch more lessons on this trip. First: don’t bring powdered protein mix in a plastic bag in carry-on back pack. Since we usually carry our suitcase on the plane when we fly Southwest nonstop to New Orleans, I didn’t think any different this time flying American. I packed all our liquids in 3 Oz bottles, had them all in a quart size bag as required by TSA. I didn’t think twice about my protein powder. My backpack went through security and was pulled to the side. No problem! They used the wipe to check for explosives and it set off the alarm. Well dang it. So then I had a pat down and all of my luggage was wipe down and tested. Including the other items in my back pack (my Bible, Isaiah study book, 2 calendars with pictures of kids for grandmas, and iPad). My 4 year old laid out on the floor of the security area asking when I would be done. Did I mention it was 5:00 AM?  The security guard was very nice about the whole thing, and I did my part by not fussing or making a scene. It’s my fault for bringing the powder.

We make it to the plane and fly to Dallas. We arrive at 8:10 AM at gas E37. I receive a text that we have to go to B38 for our connecting flight, boarding at 8:25. So we retrieve our bags (AA gate checks small luggage, and doesn’t let you carry it on the plane with you), and rush to get to the Skywalk train. The 4 year old tries to jump on the up escalator, misses the step and scratches her legs. Of course there are lots of tears, but we don’t have time to stop. We have to get to the gate! We get on the train and ride to gate B area. She the proceeds to panic and scream as we try to get on the down escalator. My 6 year old also panicked and so I took 3 small suitcases and tried to get on the escalator to calm my kids. But I couldn’t! A stranger came and offered to help me get the luggage down while I hurried to get to the kids (bless him!). Second lesson learned: take an elevator.

We finally made it to the gates, and the kids have to use the bathroom. We sit down right around 8:25. I don’t see a sign for the Lafayette flight, but I figure they will call us in a minute. At 8:40, I realize they never called the plane to be boarded, and went up to the desk asking about the plane. I was told the flight was leaving from gate E38, and the doors were already closed. They would not be able to hold the plane for us to get back to that side. I started crying. The next flight wasn’t until 12:20. I explained about the text I received showing this gate. The gentleman proceeded to tell me that I should check this specific website for the flight an hour before it’s set to board. I told him (rather loudly, I’m afraid) that an hour before, I was on the flight heading here with my three children. Third lesson learned: take a second to check the big screen monitors for correct gate. In my defense, I was fearful that we would not make it across to B, and didn’t waste time looking at the monitors.

We made it back to E (we took the elevators this time) with plenty of time to spare. We found some food and sat for 2 hours until boarding time. All of this back and forth was done while toting 4 suitcases with us. Fourth lesson: check 1 big suitcase on plane instead of 4 carry on when having a lay-over. Once we finally got on the plane, I learned this plane (as well as the one we were on to get to Dallas) lacked running water and had no coffee. I also learned my stewardess was on day 4 of a 4 days straight work schedule, and was finally able to get back to her family to celebrate Christmas once they flew back to Dallas. I realized my situation could always have been worse. We made it to Lafayette without any other issues, and my parents were there to pick us up. Alls well that ends well I guess. And we still made it to Lafayette well before we would have if we would have flown to Nola and driven in.

If I would have taken the second to check to monitor when we landed, lesson 2-4 would have been negligible. Because we were right next to our gate. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas, and I apologize for lack of posts lately with the holidays.

Love

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - JOHN 3:16 

That’s sometimes hard to fathom, the love God has for us. He loves us so much, he gave his only Son to the world, only for the world to put Him to death. 

Abraham showed that kind of devotion and love to God, when he brought his son Isaac to the offering table as instructed. Abraham has prayed for Issac for so long, and was willing to give him up to show God that he loved God more than anything. That’s the same thing God was doing for us! He wanted to show us He loved us more than anything, so he offered up his son for our love. 

Jesus gave us unconditional love. He willingly followed God’s plan in his life to be able to take away our sins so we may have a chance to be with God in heaven. And that love is for everybody! It doesn’t matter who you are, what condition you come from or how much money you have. If you allow Jesus to give you his love, you will have it!

Jesus gave us his love unconditionally and wants us to do the same for others. He wants us to show others love without strings attached. Not because of who or what they are. But just because of Him. There are conditions where it is hard to give love away. As a mom, I’ve been in most of situations where it is hard to show love at a moment. I know I can just ask Jesus to give me love so that I can pass it on, and I am overwhelmed by it, and it settles my emotions so I can love my children as I should. The same goes with people who have hurt us. We should still offer them love as Jesus did for us. We just may go need to pray for the strength to do so.

This is Christmas week, and there is no better time to give our hearts away to others. Christmas is about giving, loving, putting others before ourselves and expecting nothing is return. Ask Jesus to be with you with every person you meet this week. Smile at strangers. Say hello to those you normally wouldn’t. Hold the door open for others. Show Jesus in your actions. It’s the best way to show His love. 

Father God, Thank you for Your generous love to me. Thank you that You see the abundance in my life rather than all the shortfalls I have. Help me to offer that same gracious love to those I mingle with this Christmas season. Pour Your love into my heart so I can give it away. May they know I am a follower of Jesus by my love. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

 

Joy

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came to her and said, ‘Rejoice, favored woman! The Lord is with you.' But she was deeply troubled by this statement, wondering what kind of greeting this could be. Then the angel told her: ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Now listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.'

 Luke 1:26-33

I love this scripture reading. I think I love it more now being a mother, knowing the joy of learning you are pregnant, the joy of feeling those first movements, the joy of holding the baby for the first time. Though there were lots of pain, tears, frustration, confusion in between all that joy, seeing my children just makes the joy shine brighter.

This week, while adding the pink candle on Gaudete Sunday, we added a new fun tradition to help us is Advent. We made pink “hot chocolate” , though it was strawberry milk and no chocolate was used. The kids loved the pink milk and pink and purple sugars to resemble the Advent candles. 

https://www.catholicicing.com/advent-hot-chocolate/

A very important thing to understand about joy is that it is different than happiness. Happiness can change in an instant. Joy is a choice. God offers us joy in the presence of a newborn baby, who grew up to be our Savior. We can choose to accept that joy or not. Accepting the joy of Christ as our Savior doesn’t mean we have to accept everyone’s burdens as Jesus did. We just need to trust and accept the calling, as Mary did. 

We will have many forks in the road in our lives. And making decisions will be scary. If we put our trust in God, telling Him we accept His will, the ending will always turn out for the better. And then we can relish in the joy of the life God has planned for us, keeping Jesus in the center of it. 

What is something you need to trust God in handling this Advent season?

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is discard, union.

Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

— Prayer for Peace of St. Francis of Assisi

~Ada LeDoux~

Joy

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10-11

The shepherds were afraid when they first saw the angels. Can you imagine if you are out, minding your own business and your sheep, and an angel just pops out of nowhere? The scariest thing before this may have been watching out for wolves. Then after this angel speaks, there is a whole multitude of heavenly angels singing "Glory to God in the highest!" What a night! And these shepherds aren't even the ones who had the baby.

Months before this, Mary accepted God's call. An angel approached her, also saying 'do not be afraid,' and told her she would be the mother of the Savior. A young girl, her whole future changed in an instant. Though she didn't know she was designed for this future from the beginning. Her reply? “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) She was filled with joy. 

As Christmas comes nears, the "joy" is dependent on things: lights, festivities, presents, etc. Even young children who aren't taught the true meaning find joy in the idea of Santa Claus, reindeer, how many presents they will get, etc. And how long do these presents suffice? A month or two before the next super cool item comes out? About 3 months after Christmas, most toys and presents are no longer in use, if they lasted that long. And the "joy" from Christmas is done.

Our joy in Christmas is about that young girl who said "yes" 2000 years ago. Our joy should be our continual "yes" we say each week at Mass. Our joy should be today, as God asks us to continue that "yes" and spread the good news. 

Here are some questions to ponder as we begin this third week of Advent:

• Joy means happy, delight or rejoice. What are some things that bring us joy at Christmas? (family, gifts, parties, etc.)
• Why did the angels say that the news of Jesus’ birth is great joy? (Because he came to be the Savior of all people.)
• The Christmas carol Joy to the World includes the line, “let every heart prepare him [Jesus] room.” Have you prepared room in your heart for Jesus by trusting in him as your Savior? Have we prepared room in our Christmas activities for him?

Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of your son Jesus who came to be the Savior for everyone who trusts in him. Help us to remember that Jesus came to save us and help us to share the great joy of this good news with one another. Amen.

Peace and preparation

In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.” (Isaiah 40:3-4)

We read Isaiah 9:6, we know Isaiah foretold “a child will be given.” God was giving us a present- His son. Each year, in Advent, we get to experience the joy of waiting and preparing to celebrate. Part of this joy is the Advent wreath. We light ours at night, before dinner, and review scripture and questions for my kids to think about. This week, as we look into peace, here are some questions to consider:

What are some areas we don’t always have peace in our lives?

What are some things that keep us from having peace with God?

We need to prepare our hearts for the celebration of Christ. Just as we should prepare our hearts each Sunday before Mass to receive Him. We also need to prepare our hearts and minds for the new year, and how we need to allow more time for God. Here are some more questions we can consider in preparing for our new year to come:

1. How have I delighted in God this last year?
2. What ways may I increase my delight in God in 2020?
3. What books might I think about reading to stretch my mind and heart on the things of God?
4. What are my plans with God’s Word in this coming year that I might fuel my delight in God?

Peace

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6

In Genesis, the serpent tricked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. This deception brought havoc into the world. Because of their choice, sin and death entered the world. But, God told the serpent, “[Her offspring] will strike at your head.” 

Well, over 1400 years later, Jesus was born, Eve’s offspring, and brought peace against death. He crushed Satan, crushed death, and gave us salvation. 

People can struggle with peace in two forms, inner peace and peace with others. Anxiety is a big crusher of inner peace. People who struggle with forms of anxiety don’t always feel Satan creeping in, and then can’t get him out. I would tell someone struggling with anxiety to reach their hand out for God. He is there. Grab His hand and take one step out of the darkness at a time. Inner peace begins with a connection to God, when we allow Him to fill us. 

Peace with others is also a choice. God has called us to be peacemakers in the world. Maybe there is a strained relationship that needs mending? An apology to be made to break the top long silence? We can bring peace by making the choice to listen to God’s calling this Christmas. This is not to say you should put yourself in a toxic relationship or situation. But if you can bring peace back to the table, then try. 

Let us pray the prayer of St. Assisi this week, and be the peacemaker in our home, our jobs, our family this Christmas:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; and Where there is sadness, joy… Divine Master; Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Hope and endurance

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

I don’t like watching the news. I used to be an avid news watcher, needing to see what was going on in the world. When I worked at the crime lab, I began to realize every crime I was seeing on the news would be coming into our workplace the next week to be solved. And I was seeing just how evil people could be. So I stopped watching the news to know ahead of time what I would be working. I just let it fall on my desk.

On the news, we can see just how much humanity has failed each other. The struggles, lack of empathy and compassion, the brutality of nations can really bring your soul down. And I think it’s because we put too much hope in other people. Even in daily life, we hope that our car can be fixed. We hope that the doctor can help our child. We hope that our children don’t suffer at school. We ask family and friends for advise in our personal situation. And then sometimes we are let down when those things don’t come to pass. 

Psalm 33:20 says We put our hope in the Lord, He is our help and our shield. Instead of putting hope in a broken world or in other humans (because we are all humans and will fail each other), we should put our hope in God. Our disappointment in our situations might just be because of our misplaced hope. 

It was pointed out to me that a synonym for hope is faith and endurance. So hope is the faith or expectation.  Endurance means the ability to withstand hardship. I’ve noticed more often lately that the people of the world want things now. We don’t like to wait. I recently wrote a blog post  (http://aworkingmotherssoapbox.blogspot.com/2019/11/a-life-of-ease.html?m=1) about how easy we want things. It’s much easier to shop online than suffer and endure the time it takes to go through a store for what we need. We don’t want to have to suffer to get the things we want. It’s easy to just think about giving up and going with the flow of the world instead of being looked down upon because of our faith.

If we switch our word in the above verse, “We put our endurance in the Lord” that makes it a bit different. Or what about Psalm 39:7 “What do I hope for?” Becomes “what do I endure for?”

Jesus hope and endured for us. He suffered the greatest when he laid down his life for us. We need to focus our hope on God in our greatest and weakest needs. We need to endure in life, because this is not our forever home. 

Hope

Verse to read: Isaiah 9:2, 6-7
“The people walking in darkness
have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned. […]
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
    will accomplish this.”

This week's Advent topic is hope. Hope is a feeling of expectation and a desire for a certain thing. The people of Israel were hopeful, expecting a savior. They were walking in darkness, hoping to find the light. I don't think they were thinking their savior would be born into the world. I don't think they realized they would have to wait for the Savior to grow up. I imagine all those years of wait and hope consisted of them with an image of a man coming to save them. So, the birth of Jesus, the birth of a baby, didn't seem so important to some. They had no idea...

In preparation for Christmas, we prepare to celebrate the eternal life of our Savior. We know he was born a baby, raised, suffered and died on the cross for us. Our hope now lies in much smaller matters (though we may not see it that way). Hope for tomorrow to come. Hope for an end to pain, an end to suffering. Hope to make it to the next paycheck. Hope that we can find the answers we are searching for. Keeping our hope in Jesus can free those expectations we hold in our hearts. 

We must come to Him to ask for help. If we don't open our hearts to Him and tell Him our needs, do we truly need it? If we can't confidently say, "Jesus, I broken. I am searching. Please help me keep hope," we may not find ourselves. With hope in Jesus, we can overcome great obstacles that we see in our way. With hope in Jesus, we can find the strength to finish the journey that feels to much for us to take. His grace is sufficient for us! Hope in Jesus can also give us hope in our afterlife. 

"Dear God, I have gone my own way and have put my hope in so many things that have disappointed me. Thank you that you sent Jesus, that first Christmas long ago, to be my Savior. I believe He came for me. Forgive me and lead me today. Show me how to live in the confident expectation of how You can impact my life, my character, and my circumstances. I place my hope in You right now and ask You to make Yourself known to me in my life right where I walk. I thank you. I pray this in the name of Jesus, Amen." 

What is your Advent hope? Pray this week that you can find your hope in Jesus. 

Blessings!