How's Your Driving?

God requires that we obey His Commandments.
He who obeys the commandments he has from me, is the man who loves me; (John 14:21)
 Part of being obedient to God is obeying the speed limit when we drive. It's important when we drive by ourselves, but even more important when we are driving our family. Driving within the speed limit is part of our responsibility to care for our family.

Only a Mother?

A mother is a teacher—the first and most important teacher; teaching her children how to speak, read and write; teaching them faith, values, morals; a good work ethic; compassion for and service to others. 

A mother is a nurse—bandaging up wounds and broken bones; caring for her sick children; taking them to doctors, getting up in the night to give medicine, clean up vomit or soothe a feverish brow. 

A mother is a judge—helping siblings to sort out their disputes; refereeing arguments and disagreements with friends; deciding what’s right and wrong. 

A mother is a guardian angel—watching over her children day and night; child-proofing their home; a safety inspector; warning them of possible dangers; teaching them to drive safely. 

A mother is a chef and nutritionist –planning, buying and cooking healthy meals for her children; providing healthy snacks; watching their weight so they don’t get overweight. 

A poet once wrote “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.”  No job has a greater effect on the world than being a mother. 

Most important the time and energy invested in raising a child is an investment that will live forever.

Sexuality

  We in our country (U.S.A.) and in many places throughout the world, have a distorted understanding of sex and the relationship between a man and a woman. (I do not refer to homosexual sex here because that in itself is distorted.)
  Many people mistakenly believe that sexual intercourse is a bodily need like eating, sleeping, drinking; that not having a sexual relationship makes a person deficient in some way.
  Some think sex was intended for pleasure. Actually, the reason for pleasure in sex is to get people to do it! If it did not cause us to feel good, we would avoid it.
  God created our sexuality.  In the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, it says that everything God created was “good”. Therefore sexual intercourse is good. But the Evil One and sinful people pervert the good things God created.  For instance, eating is good and we need to eat to live. But over-eating is bad and harms our bodies. Rest and recreation is good, but too much rest and recreation makes us lazy and unproductive. Exercise is good and healthy for our bodies.  But some people become obsessed with exercising and bodily appearance.
  There are two purposes for sexual intercourse: it is procreative and unitive.  The main purpose of sexual intercourse is the creation of children. This fact is very obvious to anyone observing the animal world. Our bodies were designed to create and bear children.  Sex is unitive in that it bonds a man and a woman together emotionally and psychologically. That’s one reason why it was meant to be exclusive to married couples.  It causes much emotional and psychological damage to both men and women when they have sex with multiple partners.
  What do we do if we have no sexual partner? We live!  There are many people in this world who live happy, fulfilling and productive lives without a sexual relationship. And even some of those who do have a husband or wife will find that a time may come when they can no longer have sex due to illness, disability or old age. We would all do well to remember that although having a sexual relationship is a blessing, it's not a necessity.

On raising children

In raising children remember:  “All men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Romans 3:23.  We are all in need of a Savior.  Therefore, if your children sin, it’s not necessarily because you didn’t train them correctly.

A Reflection on 1 Corinthians 13

LOVE is…
Patient – bears trials, steadfast despite difficulty
Kind – affectionate, loving, sympathetic, friendly, gentle, agreeable, pleasant
Not jealous – envious, malicious, begrudging

LOVE does not…
Boast – put on airs, brag, glorify self

LOVE is not…
Conceited – proud, snobbish, arrogant, overbearing, insolent
Rude – vulgar, forceful, lacking delicacy, uncouth, offensive in manner or action, discourteous
Selfish – thinks of self first, ambitious, disregarding others needs or desires
Easily angered – indignant, rage, wrath, irritable, does not take offense
Resentful – holding grudges, brooding over injuries, malice
Not happy – not contented, not pleased
with evil – offensive behavior, disagreeable behavior, something that brings sorrow, suffering

LOVE…
Rejoices in the truth – takes no pleasure in other peoples sins, does not gossip
Thinks no evil – intends, plans, remembers, expects, imagines

LOVE does not…
Rejoice in – delight in
wrong – mistakes, injustice, sin, immorality

LOVE…
Believes all things – is ready to excuse, looks for the good in others
Trusts – depends on, relies on, has confidence in
Hopes – desires with expectation of fulfillment, expects
Perseveres – endures, never gives up, persists despite opposition or discouragement
Has forbearance – leniency, tolerance, mercy
Never ends – fails, weakens, fades, stops, disappoints, neglects, deserts

Holiness

You can’t strive for holiness.  Holiness is a gift.  You walk with God through prayer, receiving the Sacraments, studying the Bible, belonging to a Christian community and serving others. Holiness is the result.

War and Peace

  I find it difficult to understand the stupidity of people (like President Obama and other progressives) who think you can negotiate with evil. Or that if we reduce our military or our weapons, evil will just give up and go away. It's like "burying your head in the sand."
  Peace comes through strength, not in wishing evil away. There will always be evil people. We will never have peace on this earth. The only peace on earth comes from controlling evil. We will never eliminate it.
  As Bob Dylan wrote in the song "When He Returns", "Wars won't cease and there will be no peace, until He returns."