I woke up Mother’s Day morning with a dream holding me captive. I had my Eziekel toast with coffee and sat in my usual nook in the kitchen and cried. I wondered why God had not answered my prayers. Mike walked in and asked, ” Are you all right?” I answered “What do you think? I’m tired of praying for the same thing and still no answers!” I believe a dream set the stage for my Mother’s Day Pity Party, or getting off on the wrong side of the bed, either way, I did not feel like celebrating that day. I mopped the kitchen floor, and dragged myself upstairs to get ready for the day. I had planned to wear a linen top with black pants but when I tried the outfit on, it was all wrong and uncomfortable. Plan B required Spanx’s and that is never fun. My dress was made of thin nylon material  and it was a tad chilly, so the navy blue sweater was perfect, covering all the right parts of my body.

When we arrived at brunch, I still had that weird spirit that was on high alert and sensitive to any remark. It took a good talking from Mike to shake it off.

The brunch at Tap’s was excellent, and as much as I tried different dishes, for once I felt that I did not overdo my eating. My grandsons ate so many chocolate-covered strawberries that I worried that we might get complaints from the management. At one point William got tired of walking back and forth to the chocolate fountain that he filled a bowl with chocolate and brought it to the table. After the Bananas Foster, we exchanged our gifts and headed back home.

I ‘d missed morning Mass so I decided to attend the one at 5:30 P.M. I always parked the car a distance to allow for extra walking. So as I walked toward the church I felt a cool breeze moving my dress. I looked at my shadow and marveled at the flirty waves the dress was making, but it felt really breezy. I made all the way to the steps of the church when I heard the voice of a lady with a heavy Mexican accent saying, “Miss! Miss!” As I turned around, she said, “Your dress!” Boy, did I know what that meant! My flirty dress was caught up in my undergarment! In a panic I readjusted the problem dress, and I prayed no one else noticed, then quickly made my way into the  church.

Father Bruce was officiating the service, in which we were celebrating the Ascension of the Lord. That meant that we would be sprinkled with holy water to remind us of our Baptism. As Father passed me, it was as if God had revealed to him that I needed an additude adjustment. Father dipped the sprinkling brush into the water, and I got soaked! I smiled and said to myself, “Okay, Lord, I get it, You wanted to make sure that the holy water really washed away all the dross.”

Atfer Communion all was well, and I left with the peace of God.

The closing hymn at Mass was:

My prayer:
Dear Lord  thank you for this beautiful song,  I do love to sing your praises. I thank You for answering and making me wait for provision on unanswered prayers, because everything is in Your perfect timing. Through the waiting You are strengthening my patience and dependence on You. Forgive me, Lord, for behaving so selfishly, for my blessings are many! I think of all the homeless mothers I’ve encountered and pray for their safety and a forthcoming opportunity to be reunite with their children. Amen

The only thing I can share about the dream was that the Scripture of Isaiah 2:19 was given to me. I am still trying to interpret its meaning, I woke up long enough to write down the Scripture and went back to sleep.

I was baptized, along with my sisters Jo and Norma. I remember this because we were older, and my parents gave us a big party. My father had many rolls of quarters and tossed them in the air. As children we dove after them like candy from a Piñata, this is a Mexican tradition in celebrating Baptisms. I had my First Holy Communion when I was in fifth grade and Confirmation in the eight grade. At Confirmation we are to adopt a saint that we are to carry the rest of our lives, but I do not recall the name of the saint I chose. Now that it matters, I need to investigate my saints name.

My First Holy Communion dress was beautiful. There were only two department stores in our small town of Brawley, so my white dress either came from JC Penney’s or McDonalds. McDonalds was the more upscale store and only on very special occasions did we get shop there. My mother made sure I had everything, including a small jeweled  purse, and white gloves. I wanted a blue St. Christopher medal for my necklace but that was too extravagant, so I never bothered to ask. My only regret is that all my certificates were lost in one of our family’s moves.

After confirmation I was sporadically catechized. My walk with God was the object of serious threats brought on by our mother, and I can still hear them. “Remember God can see everything you do!” Our mother instilled the fear of God, humility, and respect almost as if we were in training for a monastery. She did this because attending church on Sunday was nearly impossible. Our brothers had cars, but our mother never learned to drive, and we lived in an unincorporated part of town. We attended Mass on special occasions like Christmas and Easter.

I knew early on of my calling to serve God. It started, at about seven years-old. Our mother had purchased the most beautiful Bible. I loved perusing through these magnificent pages. The pictures of the Pope, Rome, and the Vatican. Rome was a lifetime away but I’d imagine myself there with the masses. The Bible that my mother purchased was only read to us by her because it was too elegant and big for common use. It was put away for safekeeping on a shelf. Every chance I got I would pull it out and run my fingers through the fancy red bold lettering at the start of every chapter. I guess all of us kids were doing the same thing because the ornate gold  cover finally fell apart.

Life was less complicated, as I never knew we lacked anything, and our mother made sure of that. We had food and clothing and the rest of the stuff was only left to the imagination, so at times we went without.

It is our Christian responsibility to instill the great values of God into our children. I was all over the board with this, first being Catholic,  then becoming Born-Agian, and finally retuning to my Catholic roots. Both Mikos and Sonja, along with Mike were dragged into my ambiguous walk and thankfully, both are serving the Lord and teaching their children to serve God as well.

Our grandson Lucas made his First Holy Communion this Saturday and we were all there to witness the blessed event. Maddie is part of youth group at Calvery Chapel, and recently returned from a retreat. It makes my heart sing a silent hallelujah to see her posting Bible verses on social media.  My grandson Will choosing his first Bible added another hallelujah. I know deep down in their little souls they are receiving the lessons to love the Lord.

We all have vices and many times our bad habits leads to sin. Everyday we are tempted to step away from the path that God set for us. The good news is that Jesus understands temptation better than any of us. In Luke chapter four our Lord is Baptized and filled with the Spirit, from there Jesus is lead into the wilderness and for 40 days was tempted by the Devil.

Luke 4:6-7 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.

Jesus never gave into the temptation.

Today many suffer from different types of temptation, some a lot more serious than others. Sin only leads to one road.  For instance, you maybe thinking of sinning, and  if it becomes a constance thought in your mind, by the time you sin, you are perfectly fine with it. We all justify our actions with positive self talk to minimize our offenses, but in reality sin is still sin.

I Corinthians 10:13  No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

I know the God I serve can guide me through this life of questionable doubts, but I have to do my part. I must participate in not only my will, but most importantly His will.

I know God has a great sense of humor because he uses it on me often. This is an examples of my indulgences with shopping: I recently went shopping, but when Mike asked me if I bought anything, I lied and said no. Before Mike went to bed, he mentioned that he was going to take my car to get washed the following day. I remembered the purchases I made and went to my car to get the shopping bag. The Prius is a hatch back vehicle, I opened it, but when I closed it, my pinky from my left hand got wedged into the corner hatch. It did not hurt but it was definitely stuck. I tried to wiggle it free but that did not work. I freed my other hand of the purchases and tried to open the lever of the hatch but that too did not budge. Mike is a sound sleeper, so I knew that he was not going to hear my cry of despair, I did not have my phone either. It was about 11 P.M., I wondered how long I could stand, and if I should start yelling for help, and I also wondered if I could sleep while standing. I prayed and and tried the lever again, and The Lord showed mercy on me and freed my pinky. Then I asked God why this happened to me. The answer was clear, I did not need any of the stuff  I purchased. This was God’s sweet way of dealing with my giving into temptation. God is so gentle and loving that he got my attention by allowing this to happen. This was not a life threatening situation, but nonetheless it made me recognize my sin.

As lighthearted as this message may be, I know that someone reading this is about ready to go into the sin of infidelity, I pray for you not to fall into this deadly trap and that you will listen with your spiritual heart a flee from this, God will honor your holy decision. Remember, God will provide you a way out.

My Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, you know everything about me and what cause me to sin. Lord I ask that you expose any insecurities from my past to bring healing in this area of my life. Help me to depend on you for all of my earthly needs, remove all distractions  that keep me from serving you. Amen