Homemade Wreath

Directions:

Find a bunch of vines and interweave them together to make the structure. Next find or buy some flowers to weave them into the structure. That is it! Super easy!

Your Cloud of Witnesses

I have felt alone.
I have feared loneliness.
It is better to be in the company of someone than to be alone where I will be attacked.

I see now that I am never alone.
Your cloud of witnesses are all around me.
You are always with me.

Pumpkins !

In my attempts to decorate for the fall season...

I suppose a friend was hungry.

Exposure

Inside of You I see it.

You are the result of something that seems

beyond the bounds of possibility.

I once held myself too open. I forgot

that dark exposure is outside of You.

Inside of You I see it.

You are the healer of our exposed 

minds.  You can close the window that 

was once exposed.  Make your

 home there, teach me your gift of 

giving thanks. I find You amidst it.  

Confronting and Controlling Thoughts

Where are your thoughts today?

"The mind is the battlefield where man first meets with sin.  It is the frontier wherein mankind encounters its grim archenemy, the devil.

           It is not strange that the enemy should choose man's mind as the battlefield for waging his ferocious struggles.  Psychologists say that the mind is the crown atop the human body which directs our actions and behavior whether we are awake or asleep; it controls feelings, awareness, emotions, the will, and thoughts as well.  Thus is man's mind the center that controls human behavior.

             Therefore if man is defeated in this battlefield, it is the devil that is then in possessions of all man's talents and capabilities.  Along with this the devil, as we know him, is a mental force with powers that are extraordinary and varied.  However, in spite of all this, he still does not have access to us except through our minds.  This is an important fact that many of us need to be aware of - especially those struggling in the realm of virtue, righteousness, and chastity.  For although the devil is a formidable spiritual power, the sphere of his activity against man is quite limited.  He cannot approach anyone except through the mind, the only part of our nature that is susceptible to doing battle with him - the mind is the target of his attacks."

                         -Orthodox monk, Father Matta El-Maskeen

Guard your thoughts and be freed from the devil.  That is why God commanded us:

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."  Phillipians 4:8

Receiving Joy.

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.  

A joyful heart is the inevitable result of a heart burning with love." 

-Mother Theresa

Love is selfless.  I have found that once I lose my self-love and realize that this life is all about the One who created me, I usually begin laughing.  

A joyful laugh.  

I laugh because once I come to the realization that I am not the center, a burden comes off of me and I am immediately filled with 

JOY.

Joy comes from His love.  

My mother in this picture is a perfect example.  I am dressed in my baptismal dress and my mother in her selfless love...gave everything to her children....all while exuding

JOY.  

We must just now receive this Joy, by submitting our selves to the One who first loved us.

Love.

Love says:

I will love you always.

I will not count your wrongs.

I will still be here for you even if you leave me.

I will cherish you as my enemy.

I will not speak badly of you.

You are more important than myself.

There is nothing that you can do that will make me stop loving you.

I will love you always.

-This is a picture of a very important community that I met in college and this is where I began to practice unconditional love.  We must at some point in our lives begin loving everyone around us, despite how they treat us, despite how we feel, and we must love with our whole heart.  

We receive this love from our Father in Heaven.