Today, my family and I are marking the one year anniversary of my mom’s passing.
In one sense, its stunning to me how quickly these months have rolled by.
The memories of last March and early April are still vivid in my mind. Maybe they’ll fade over time, but maybe not…
Four years ago today, I wrote my first post for Making All Things New. 🙂 I certainly didn’t know what I was doing back then, but the post isn’t too bad, so I included it below. Today’s post is the 651st post. Hard to believe.
2014 is going to be a busy, but also transformative year for me. So much is happening, on multiple fronts, it’s hard to keep it all straight. Things are really coming together with my doctoral studies, and I’m looking forward to sharing it all with you.
Look for lots of stylistic changes to this blog. They’ll be coming soon, and I know you’ll like them. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by today, and I hope it’s a great one for you.
March 14, 2010: I’m embarking on a new adventure! For the last eleven months, God has been doing some amazing new things with me. It’s been a radical transformation of my body, mind, and spirit. I want to share with anyone who will listen what’s happened to me, with the hope that maybe they will find some good advice and make some changes for themselves.
photo credit
After what seems like forever, the snow is almost gone from my backyard. Beginning yesterday, I started my annual clean-up process, and I continued it this afternoon. Since we had such a crazy winter, it’s going to take me some time to get it all done.
Just as I was finishing up for today, I noticed that my little patch of snowdrops had begun their annual bloom. If you have to know, the correct name for these little gems is Galanthus Ikariae, and they were originally planted long ago by the former owners of my house.
A week from today, we begin the season of Lent, a time of prayerful preparation that leads to Easter.
It’s always nice to have some helps during these 40 days, and my friends at Loyola Press have created an on-line retreat called An Ignatian Prayer Adventure that will keep us focused.
After a very snowy day and evening yesterday, I was so grateful to see the sun peaking through the spruce trees in my back yard.
That bit of cinderblock you see running through the snow is my retaining wall, which is about four feet high. Yes, I may have snow lingering till Memorial Day.
Wow, I’m just settling back at home from a wonderful time on retreat. It was a powerful weekend for everyone. Thanks to all who came, and don’t forget to email me so we can start the next part of our spiritual pilgrimage.
This was the sunrise that greeted me and my fellow retreatants this morning. What a spectacular way to start a day.
Throughout the generations, people have been able to get out of their normal surroundings in their quest for a deeper relationship with God.
The group that I’m with is no different, and so far, they have been soaking in the experience. What a joy to be with them.
Over the past several days, I’ve been getting myself ready for my upcoming retreat. It’s all a bit overwhelming, with lots to do and lots to think about.
What are we going to do? What am I going to say?
A reoccurring challenge found in St. Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises kept coming up in my mind as I prepared my talks. I was thinking about what it might mean to those who will be listening to me, but I was also thinking about what it means to me. Since it keeps coming up in my head, I guess that means I needs I need to take a pause and pray about it.
St. Ignatius asks three simple questions:
What have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ?
Something for us all to think about in the week ahead.
Funny how life is. This morning, I woke up from a dream, and the weather I was experiencing in that dream looked something like this picture.
In reality, however, the Polar Vortex had finally come to Maryland, and it was about 4 degrees outside, but with the windchill, it felt like -20. I wanted to go back to bed and try to rejoin that dream of mine, but it wasn’t meant to be. Oh well.
It looks like Maryland will luck out and not get hit too badly by the big freeze that’s gripping the country. Just some freezing rain and a little snow later tonight. I’m looking forward to spring 🙂
But before the warm weather comes, I’m going to be leading my first Making All Things New Retreat at the end of January, and I have a lot to do to make it a powerful experience for everyone coming.