We all know the old saying, “Rain rain go away, come again another day.”  When I was a child I would always sing that rhyme when it would rain and I wanted to go outside and play. But as I have grown older I had really forgotten about that rhyme until the other day. I was walking through the house and listening to the rain as it was hitting the roof, and out of nowhere I started singing, “Rain rain go away……”  I stopped in my tracks and started to laugh. There was that old saying coming back to me, but as I was thinking about those words I stopped and reflected on the rain and on God’s purpose for it.

As children we never stop and take the time to think about why God does the things He does, all we think about is what we want to do, and we want to do it when we are ready.  When something happens and we can’t we get angry, and just as the song goes we want the rain to go away so we can get out and about.

As we get older we start to see things as adults and all these things that we never paid attention to as children become things that we focus on as adults. Oh we still have things that we want to do, and places we want to go, but we have learned self control.  So when it does rain, we accept it as God’s will and we reschedule our lives around it.

God has a reason for everything that He does — you never have to question that. And He always has our best interest at heart. He knows what we need and when we need it. All we have to do is have the faith to trust Him. As easy as that may sound even as adults we still at times let our inner child show, especially when it comes to something that we really really want. But we need to show that even if it does not turn out the way we want it. (aka – when we want the rain to go away) we still need to accept whatever happens as God’s will and not question it.

Copyright 2009 Anne Chester

Being a recent convert myself I can see things from both sides.  Before I started having the desire to enter the Catholic Church I never really took the time to notice anything about it.  I came from a strict Baptist background and so knowing things about other denominations was something that you did not take the time to research.  I could tell you anything that you wanted to know about the Baptist church because I made it my life.  I would go to family reunions and hear others talking about belonging to this denomination or that denomination.  But I never bothered to pay attention to what they were saying because in my eyes there was none better then the one that I was in.  Having that kind of mind set is wrong – it is that attitude that makes people feel ill toward other churches that are not their own.

I consider myself very blessed that God helped me to see the error of my thinking and helped to open my eyes to the Catholic Church.  What a wonderful gift it is to be a member of the One True Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, a gift that keeps on giving your whole life.  And how sad it is that there are many people out there that are not able to experience this wonderful gift out of shear unwillingness to open their eyes to something that is not in their comfort zone.  They are afraid to take a leap of faith for fear of the unknown, and having that fear is preventing them from experiencing the wonderful joys that come from The Catholic Church.

Anytime that I hear someone say that they are in RCIA class I get so excited for them, because I know that they are on a road that is going to lead them to true happiness.  Oh what a great thing they are doing by allowing themselves to be open to something that they have not known before! By allowing themselves to learn about the Catholic Church they are saying that they are aware that the Catholic Church is here, and that they are willing to learn about the long wonderful history that the Church has while they pray and to ask God to help guide them to do His will in their lives.  I wish that everyone would have that kind of open mind set, because if they did they would see what they are denying themselves by not  learning about this awesome Church, the one Church that Christ himself set in motion.

So anytime that I see someone being confirmed and partaking in the Eucharist for the first time,  I know what kind of journey that they have been on.  I also know that they have finally received the many wonderful gifts that the Catholic Church has to offer.

Copyright 2009 Anne Chester

As I sat at my kitchen table writing my list of what I was going to do, I began to think and one thing that stood out at me was spring cleaning and Lent are similar.  When you spring clean you are getting your house in order, cleaning it and making it ready for your family to have a spotless home.  Well Lent is also a season of preparation, you are cleaning out your heart with prayer and  meditation on scripture and through the Sacrament of Repentance and Reconciliation.  You are preparing yourself  for the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus that we celebrate on Easter.

Just as spring cleaning can be a very hard job, so can the season of Lent.  When you spring clean you take everything down, and wash it, you look for any hidden dirt that can’t been seen easily.  You focus on any dust that may be on your precious belongings, and you take all the time that is needed to make your home be as clean as possible.

The season of Lent should be handled in the same way, with the same intensity that you have when you spring clean. Because you are cleaning yourself up to be able to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ on Easter with a completely clean heart.  During Lent you need to take as much time as is needed to stop and reflect on the past year, to think about things that you have done that you are not proud of or that you think might have offended God.   You then need to take time and spend it in prayer asking God to clean out all of the bad things that we have in our hearts and minds.   To give us Scripture that we can read to have a physical sign of what His desires for us are.   Next you need to spend time in confession telling the Priest what you have done and with a humble heart ask him to please in God’s name give you absolution.    You need to take the time to think about the pence that the Priest assigns you and as you are fulfilling it think about what you did that brought yo u to what you are doing now.  Then pray and ask God to help you to be able to refrain from doing those things in the future.

Just as spring cleaning can be a long hard process, the Season of Lent is a time to focus on what we need to do to be better Catholics. This process may not be easy, but if we are true to ourselves and to God, we truly confess what we have done, then in the end it all turns out beautifully.

One of the rituals of the Lenten Season is fasting on Friday’s during Lent, and I know that to some people this seems like a senseless thing to do, but by denying ourselves something that we normally take for granted then we are saying that we are in the very smallest sense becoming Christ like because Christ came to earth, He lived a carpenters life, He lived a life in service for God by spreading the word of God to everyone that He came in contact with, and then He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross and die for our sin’s. If He can make such a sacrifice for us, by denying Himself the very things that He was entitled to, then how hard is it really for me to give up meat on Friday’s during Lent to show God that I am willing to do without in honor of Him. And yes it might seem like a small sacrifice but it is not what you are giving up, it is why you are doing it, what it stands for, and that it is showing God that we love Him and that He is number one in our lives.

As my family sat down this evening to dinner my daughter told me that she loved fish, and that she enjoyed eating it. I told her that yes fish was good tasting food and she said no mom, I like eating it because I am
eating it for God. I ask her what she meant and she said that she knew that eating fish on Friday’s was giving honor to God and she was grateful that she could do this. As I was washing the dishes I thought about what
she had said and I had to smile, because it dawned on me that we as adults try and make everything so complicated when they don’t have to be, we try to give these long complex explanation’s for why we do what we do, when in fact it can be as simple as my daughter put it, she was eating it to honor God, and that in my book says it all without saying much at all, short and sweet. Isn’t it amazing what we adults can learn from our children?

I have often wondered if people are telling the truth when they say that they are living in seventh heaven.  To me that phrase means that their lives are perfect, and in this day and age I find that really hard to believe.  But you would be surprised at how often I hear people use that phrase.  I think that the idea of living in seventh heaven is a great one, and one that all people should strive for, but realistically that is usually not how real life is.

I was watching an episode of the TV show 7th Heaven the other day and I think that it was that show which gave me the idea for this article.  I feel that the show contradicts on purpose.  It displays the lives of a Protestant Christian family whose father is the minister of the local church.  Each episode is full of daily challenges that most families face at one point of another in their lives, In the end they show how you can deal with everyday problems as a family in a Christian manner.  I think that the reason that I enjoy watching this show so much is because they do not candy coat problems.  They work together as a family to get through anything that stands in their way.  I feel that as Catholic Christians our family lives should be handled in the same way.

I can only speak from my own personal experiences in my family, but I also have listened to other people who have shared their problems with me.  I find it funny how each individual chooses to handle these unfavorable events that pop up in their lives from time to time.  As for me and my family there is a mixture.  I am a devout Catholic Christian, my children are being raised as Catholic Christians, but my husband right now is in what I call “no mans land”.  He is a wonderful husband and father and he does believe in God and in the precepts of the Catholic Church, but for some reason he is resisting the call to come home to the Catholic Church.  So with that being said, you will understand why at times problems that arise in our home are often dealt with differently.  But they are always dealt with in love, compassion and Christian understanding.  Even though my husband is not in the Church he still runs this family on Christian values.

Everyone dreams of living a life free from all problems and stresses of this world, but in reality that kind of life doesn’t exist.  I am not saying that all of life is  gloom, doom, and dread.  What I am saying is that Satan is a very real figure and roams the earth with the intention of causing family unrest, and it is up to us to pull together as one and unite all of our love that we have for each other together so that we can fight all of the problems that Satan tries to cause us.   I have watched so many families fall apart because they choose to fight these battles on their own, without relying on each other and on God to help them through it.  I am a firm believer that without God you will be destined to fall, and without the love and strength of your family, there is no way that you can even come close to living in seventh heaven.

The love of family is a precious gift that God has given us.  It is a gift that we are to handle with the greatest of care, because even though it can be as strong as an ox, it can also be as fragile as fine bone china.  It is a gift that can continue to grow and expand if tended to and nurtured, or it can wither up and die, if it is left alone and forgotten.  I believe that when it is unattended to then it is at that point that Satan tries to enter in and stir up trouble.  In order for the family to be able to rise above and be successful to any problems that show up then we must be prepared.  The way that you prepare yourself and your family is through love, prayer, and devotion to God.

Love is a very mighty tool and it is one that is vital in order for your family to be able to function in a way that is Godly, because God is love, true love.  We are to strive to be Christ like, and in order to be Christ like we have to try and have the love Christ has for us.  Even though there is no human way that we can have as much love as God has, we still need to strive to make the most out of  all the love that He allows us to have.  We are to take that love and apply it to our families so that they can grow in a way that will be pleasing to God.

Prayer is another very important tool to use in our families, it allows us to have that one on one talk with God to be able to focus directly on Him and to tell Him all of the problems that we are having, and to ask Him to show us how to deal with them in a way that gives Him honor and glory.  Praying individually and as a family are very important, because when we pray individually we have that one on one audience with God.  When we pray as a family not only do we share our problems with God, but we also allow our families to hear our pleas and allow them to also take our intentions before God themselves.  This also allows them to know that there is something that we are struggling with and it allows them to pray and ask God to give us the strength to get through them.

Devotion to God is in my opinion is the most important tool that we can use as a family to become strong.  God is the one that put us here.  He is the one that created everything that you see around you.  He is the one that put love in your heart.  He is the one that we can go to in our time of need.  There is nothing that God can’t do.  All we have to do is go to Him with a humble heart and ask.  You have to be aware though that even though your prayer intention may not be answered in the way that you want it, it will always be answered.  It will be answered in the way that God feels would be best for that particular situation.  It is up to us to accept His answer to our request, and not question what the outcome is, because God is the one in control, and He will never do anything to His children to hurt them.

I often will hear people make the comment, ‘I can’t believe that God allowed this bad thing to happen to us,” or “Why did God not answer my prayer?”  Well, dear friend, I am here to tell you that God never leaves you alone.  He is always there with you, and He does not cause bad things to happen to us. He gives us free will, and even though we may make bad decisions with that free will, He is still always there with us, all we have to do is call out His name.

In closing I want to tell you that even though this world is not designed for us to live in true seventh heaven.  It is designed for us to make the best of all the different situations that we face.  When we truly give our all to God, and allow Him to take over the driver seat and we  follow His direction’s we can come close to experiencing what seventh heaven might feel like.

Copyright 2009 Anne Chester