It wasn't just Jesus died on the Cross... but it was love...

And as we end the month of the Sacred Heart and enter into the month of the most Precious Blood, let us remember that His wounds are the most powerful weapon of Love that exist...

A Summer Saint I love.. a little early (July 14th Feast Day)...

Did it early because I think I'm going to shut this down permanently... looks like no one comes here anyway...
Oh Sweet Jesus... I trust in You. +

Ave Maris Stella

A prayer I say daily, although I admit I almost always stop at 'SHOW THYSELF A MOTHER!' and simply keep repeating it like a crybaby... somehow its an easy line to cling to... 

The hymn Ave Maris Stella (Hail Star of the Sea) printed below in English is a wonderful tribute, both in prayer and song, to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The original Latin text dates back to around the 8th- 9th centuries although it has been attributed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153). It was a particular favorite of those chanting it as part of the Divine Office (the Liturgy of the Hours) in the Middle Ages.

Hail, bright star of ocean, 

God's own Mother blest,

Ever sinless Virgin,

Gate of heavenly rest.

Taking that sweet Ave 

Which from Gabriel came,

Peace confirm within us,

Changing Eva's name.

Break the captives' fetters,

Light on blindness pour,

All our ills expelling,

Every bliss implore.

Show thyself a Mother;

May the Word Divine,

Born for us thy Infant,

Hear our prayers through thine.

Virgin all excelling,

Mildest of the mild,

Freed from guilt, preserve us,

Pure and undefiled.

Keep our life all spotless,

Make our way secure,

Till we find in Jesus,

Joy forevermore.

Through the highest heaven

To the Almighty Three,

Father, Son and Spirit,

One same glory be. Amen.

Promises To Those Who Sing:
“Ave Maris Stella”

During a riot at Rome, a mob came to the house where St. Bridget lived; a leader talked of burning Bridget alive.  She prayed to Our Lord to know if she should flee to safety.  Jesus advised her to stay:  “It doesn’t matter if they plot Thy death.  My power will break the malice of Thy enemies:  if Mine crucified Me, it is because I permitted it.”  Our blessed Mother added:  “Sing as a group the AVE MARIS STELLA and I’ll guard you from every danger.”

Love is not pompous, it is not inflated,
 it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.

Although on the Cross, it sure felt to Jesus like He was failing.

Only Love transforms the world.

Love is Never Rude...

It just isn't.

Only Love transforms the world.

Love Is Not Jealous...

Only Love transforms the world.

Love is kind...

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2008

Love is kind...

Kindness can be really powerful. 

Pope John 23rd was known throughout the world for his kindness. He was ordained an archbishop and sent to Bulgaria for 10 years to work among people in a country that was mostly Orthodox and highly hostile to Catholics -but he broke right through the barriers because he was so kind to them. Then he was sent to Turkey to work among the Muslims who also were very hostile to Catholics, but he somehow broke through their hostilities with the same weapon of kindness. Then he was sent to Greece -a country that was an arch-enemy of Turkey, and when a famine broke out in the country he used the tool of kindness to convince the Turks to give the starving Greek children over the equivalent of $100,000 of aid. During WWII -through his witness of kindness -he convinced a Catholic Nazi to help him save 24,000 Jews from Turkey. And when he was sent to an atheist Paris after the War, he was able to connect with the post-Christian era elite simply through the words of kindness. The single virtue of kindness itself -lived out fully by Pope John 23rd -did wonders to change the world.

Love is kind. Do one extra act of kindness today for each person you work with, meet, live with -or for a person who is especially difficult for you. Do one act of kindness, and you will be doing an act of love that can change the world.

Only Love transforms the world.

Love is Patient...

originally WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2008

Love is Patient...

A priest once looked at this icon I painted and simply stated, 'Jesus was incredibly patient on the Cross.' He was simply tortured and waited to die loving us. We must be patient like Him.

Embrace one situation today with extra patience -show your love through the silence, the listening, the sacrifice, the waiting that this act demands. And offer this patience up for the person you know needs it most in life.

Only Love transforms the world.

Skip the schedule and read the quotes... "The Pilgrim"

originally: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2006

"Strannik" -The Pilgrim

As most of you know, I leave again November 1st. It has been such a blessing to be at home for such a long time -watching Bobby's kids, helping with retreats, and just being available to people. I first will be traveling to Ireland to give some parish mission talks next weekend at Fr. Tom Ryan's parish (some of you remember him as our 'Irish Missionary' at St. Thomas for about 10 years). After that I will be traveling to England for a few days to meet and speak with some University students. Then it is on to Poland where I will be serving for a few months -praying, meeting with people for spiritual direction and giving retreats (I especially ask for prayers for my retreat over Christmas/New Years for 60-80 students on the vocation of men and women). Hopefully all will work out with my visa and I will be able to then spend 3 months or so in Russia (February-April?) serving the people who I grew so close to those 2 years I lived in Siberia. And after returning to Poland I will most likely be returning home again sometime later on next summer (although that all must be planned out yet).

As always, I entrust all my work to your prayers, and I want to promise you that you all will be in mine as well. In Jesus, we are always united as one.

Strannik" is the Russian word for a holy pilgrim. As I re-read some writing of Catherine Doherty the past few weeks (see the link), I saw how my life which seems very strange to some, actually makes quite a bit of sense to her. When people ask what I do, I often answer that I am a 'pilgrim hermit' -one who tries to live the contemplative life in the midst of the world, bringing Jesus to people one heart at a time. I thought I would share with you a few quotes from her book:

“Out of some depth unknown to them (pilgrims) hear a voice. They may not see Him who called, but they know. They know who it is who called and they cannot resist. They have to arrive. They have to go out of big cities, out of beautiful surroundings, out of rich houses with soft and downy couches, away from wine, song… they had to go. They had to go and nothing could hold them back…Those pilgrims have a strange way of listening… Half the time they don’t know where they are going, and many in the beginning don’t even know why. But this persistent strange voice, that was no voice at all, spoke distinctly, though it wasn’t audible.”
“A pilgrim goes to preach the gospel with his life –person to person –to anyone at any time. There is no rush. There is no rush at all...

"...It is a strange pilgrimage. It is utterly unhurried. It is a pilgrimage whose only goal is the heart of God… It seems, therefore, that the pilgrimage of such people is formless. It is formless! Now he is here, helping somebody build a house. Then when the house is built he moves on, walks long stretches, until God places before him another (work). And the pilgrim stops again. And again he performs that which is of need to someone else. Maybe it will take him weeks. Maybe he appears to settle there wherever it is, but he never settles. He is always on the march. His particular task finished, he moves again. There is no settling down for such a pilgrim. Sometimes it may take him years to do what God asks of him…but his heart is always waiting for the next call..."

“The pilgrim has a heart that must encompass the world.”

Love you all, in Jesus. Amen.

Fiat.

Pleasant Place and Hope

originally WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2008

Pleasant Place and Hope

Those of you who visit Mom and Dad's house will notice a great increase in 'baby security.' Cupboards now have locks, doors have 'baby proof' handles (how did Mom do it with 13 kids without such great inventions?), volume control is in effect during nap time and after 8pm (I think Dad likes that one, since he's an early sleeper too) and the fridge is FULL of fun, colorful food. BJ, Ali and the four little ones have brought new life to the house. 

Things at the Kloska Headquarters are crazy and joyous. And the sudden 'mood-lift' is greatly appreciated by all, I believe, after such a downer week last week. Yes, the world may seem like its going to hell in a handbasket, BUT, when you have those little footsteps, little knocks at your bathroom door, little breaths on your face as you cuddle a sleeping baby... those things can't help but remind you that God has hope for this world -and His hope, His answer to all of our prayers, is right within the souls of these little guys we trip over daily (BJ actually ended up on the kitchen floor this morning as Oliva played dinosaurs under his feet). 

So just a note on this Wednesday night: The answers to our prayers are little seeds of grace, which God has sent His angels to plant in the hearts of many little ones in this world. Who knows, someday abortion may be ended by President Abe Swick and an explosion of vocations may be ignited in the Church by Mother Superior Anna Marino. Jesus told Mother Teresa once that He sent someone with the cure to AIDS and this child was aborted. Maybe all of our prayers and fasting have saved that one child's life who will then be instrumental in saving and changing the world. That's what I've been thinking about while doing Lexi's hair and changing Luke's diaper. Hidden in their lives is great hope -for through them God will answer our prayers. He already is. 

Children show us the face of God -and His Presence with us is enough of a reason to rejoice. Last night Sarah kept calling her new baby cousin Noah 'Baby Jesus' -and that is exactly how God wants for us to care for and love all children. If it breaks my heart to hear Noah cry and I sacrifice everything to simply serve and love him -this love in my heart is actually God's Love in my heart. He created me to run to Him, crying through Noah's voice. And just as a baby's cry is the voice of God, calling forth His love from my heart, so our cry to God is actually the Holy Spirit praying within us, calling forth His answer of Love and Mercy. And if one drop of God's Love is so powerful in my heart (where I suffer if I cannot console the baby crying in my arms), how much more powerful is the totality of God's Love which IS listening to our cries. Just as a mother hears and runs to her crying child, so much more does God love us, hear us and run to console and help us. He does not abandon us. He does not leave us crying. He is here, speaking gentle words of love to us -it is just that sometimes we look in the wrong places to find and hear Him. He is speaking to us through the littlest ones we care for everyday. And His word to us is HOPE.

Anyway, these were just a few thoughts I had tonight at the end of a long day and I thought I would share them with you. Children are such a joy for this world -and a gift -even when they cry (especially when they cry), for through our love and care for them, we can see a reflection of God's love and care for us. God will hear our cries in this dark world -He has heard our cries -and you all (as parents) have the grace to be God's hands, forming the little souls which will carry His medicine, light and resurrection into this world.

This is the lesson I have been reminded of this week through BJ, Ali and the kids. And I think that remembering this is something all of us can benefit from. Sunday is the day when everyone comes to visit Mom and Dad -and there are sometimes 40 little 'beacons of hope' running around here. Well, yesterday I said to Kathy that life with BJ, Ali and the kids is a perpetual Sunday. And as I think about it, it is a beautiful truth. Children are a perpetual Sunday -as we remember Jesus' Resurrection on Sundays, children give us the same hope. 

Welcome back to the neighborhood, Kentucky Kloska's! Its great to have you home. And if any of you readers are needing a little hope, you can come visit us for dinner -there are enough little footsteps in this house for everyone!

ps. I'd post some pictures (because there is nothing more fun to see on the blog than family pictures), but my camera went to the Philippines for a year to do some missionary work.

Sometimes you've gotta look 'Up'!

originally THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2009

Sometimes you've gotta look 'Up'!

So often this is what we see in life...

When THIS is the true Reality!



(The same house, different perspective.)

There are Divine Realities taking place in all circumstances of our lives much greater in the heavens than what we see (or focus on) on earth.
Sometimes, we just have to 'look up.'
Just a thought...

A Baby's 'Need' for Love

originally TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2008

The Importance of a Baby's Cry, The Gift of a Parent's Love and Russian Orphans

When a person looks at a very new child who has just been born, one can see that this child is so delicate. Something as delicate as a tiny infant God asks parents to protect, care for, nurture and love. A child is totally dependent upon his parents for everything he needs. Imagine what it would be like to be a sick adult, who could do nothing for himself. You are lying in a hospital bed and you need someone to feed you, someone to clean you, someone to warm you, someone to change your diaper. And the only voice you have left to explain your needs is a cry. That cry would be seen as the greatest gift you have -for without it you would be totally incapable of expressing your needs to others. Someone who loved you dearly -who stayed by your bedside to care for you night and day -would come to understand the differences in your cries -what noise you made when you were hungry and what noise you made when you were in pain. This scenario is the predicament of every baby. And God entrusts a child to the most sensitive and powerful love of a Mother and Father. Yet a parent's love has a responsibility -for if they do not respond in love to their child's cries, the child will stop crying and could slowly fail to thrive (begin to die) from a lack of his physical needs being met or from the depression resulting from the lack of emotional needs being met.

An experiment was once done in America with new babies. It was a very bad experiment. A group of researchers took two groups of children who had just been born. To one group they gave all that the children needed physically, but they did not allow for them to be held or cared for emotionally. They would be fed by bottles being propped up and never touched or spoken to during the day or night. The other group of children were given the same physical care as the first, but also had an additional thing –someone spent a few hours everyday holding them, especially when they were being fed. The first group of children almost died and they had lots of medical problems simply because they had not been given the physical and emotional responsive love that they needed. Love is so important for a little child.

I remember hearing another similar story about the orphanages in England after World War II. There were many orphans left from the war and so numerous ‘Homes for Children’ were opened throughout the country. There was a great epidemic in that most of the infants in these orphanages died. The cause of this death was very simple. Although the caretakers at the home were physically caring for these children’s needs, there were not enough people to simply hold them, talk to them and give them physical love in that way –and so they began to die. This was true in all the orphanages in England –all the orphanages except one. What was different about this one orphanage? It was a cleaning lady. In this one particular orphanage there was a very sensitive, selfless, maternal cleaning lady. And after she worked her 8 hours everyday she would spend another 6 hours or so going from room to room and spending a few minutes holding each of the abandoned babies. She was not able to give all her attention to all of them, but she tried to at least give all of her attention to each one of them as she held them for a few minutes. And in the end not one of those babies died.

It is very important to always give both physical and emotional love to children, whenever they need it. It is a parent's responsibility to answer their children's cries in great love -day or night. And such a response -whether it be a soft word or song or prayer spoken by the parent or whether it be the simply touch of their presence in the night -can not only affect the physical thriving of a child's development, but also deeply affects how they learn to trust people, and ultimately God later on in life. It has a spiritual aspect on a child as well. If a child had a parent who always responded to his cries for help in love, then he will later more easily trust that God (in whose image his parents are) also will care for him in all of his needs. And the parent, sometimes exhausted from responding to so many cries (especially in the night) is able to offer this as a sacrifice (and the time holding their baby as a midnight prayer for his little soul) and greatly affect, protect and help their baby’s soul through such prayer of selfless love. This is the way that our Father in Heaven loves us.

But not all babies are born into loving, Christian families with parents willing to live their duty of self-sacrificing love -responding to their baby's cries at any time, day or night. Some babies are born into families who do not know God and His call for us to love our children as He loves us. Some babies are abandoned by their parents and placed in orphanages all over the world -and having worked in some of these I know that because of the great number of children left to one or two caretakers, these children are simply left crying often and eventually turn inward and stop communicating. How does this emotional wound look?

Dr. Sears -a father of 8 and pediatrician for 40+ years explains the 'Shutdown Syndrome' that can happen to children when they are left to 'cry-it-out':

Parent tip: Babies cry to communicate – not manipulate.

"Out" What actually goes "out" of a baby, parents, and the relationship when a baby is left to cry-it-out? Since the cry is a baby's language, a communication tool, a baby has two choices if no one listens. Either he can cry louder, harder, and produce a more disturbing signal or he can clam up and become a "good baby" (meaning "quiet"). If no one listens, he will become a very discouraged baby. He'll learn the one thing you don't want him to: that he can't communicate.

Baby loses trust in the signal value of his cry – and perhaps baby also loses trust in the responsiveness of his caregivers. Not only does something vital go "out" of baby, an important ingredient in the parent- child relationship goes "out" of parents: sensitivity. What happens if you "harden your heart," view the cry as a control rather than a communication tool and turn a deaf ear to baby's cries? When you go against your basic biology, you desensitize yourself to your baby's signals and your instinctive responses. Eventually, the cry doesn't bother you. You lose trust in your baby's signals, and you lose trust in your ability to understand baby's primitive language. A distance develops between you and your baby. So, not listening and responding sensitively to a baby's a cry is a lose-lose situation: Baby loses trust in caregivers and caregivers lose trust in their own sensitivity.

THE SHUTDOWN SYNDROME

Throughout our 30 years of working with parents and babies, we have grown to appreciate the correlation between how well children thrive (emotionally and physically) and the style of parenting they receive.

"You're spoiling that baby!" First-time parents Linda and Norm brought their four-month-old high-need baby, Heather, into my office for consultation because Heather had stopped growing. Heather had previously been a happy baby, thriving on a full dose of attachment parenting. She was carried many hours a day in a baby sling, her cries were given a prompt and nurturant response, she was breastfed on cue, and she was literally in physical touch with one of her parents most of the day. The whole family was thriving and this style of parenting was working for them. Well-meaning friends convinced these parents that they were spoiling their baby, that she was manipulating them, and that Heather would grow up to be a clingy, dependent child.

Parents lost trust. Like many first-time parents, Norm and Linda lost confidence in what they were doing and yielded to the peer pressure of adopting a more restrained and distant style of parenting. They let Heather cry herself to sleep, scheduled her feedings, and for fear of spoiling, they didn't carry her as much. Over the next two months Heather went from being happy and interactive to sad and withdrawn. Her weight leveled off, and she went from the top of the growth chart to the bottom. Heather was no longer thriving, and neither were her parents.

Baby lost trust. After two months of no growth, Heather was labeled by her doctor "failure to thrive" and was about to undergo an extensive medical exam. When the parents consulted me, I diagnosed the shutdown syndrome. I explained that Heather had been thriving because of their responsive style of parenting. Because of their parenting, Heather had trusted that her needs would be met and her overall physiology had been organized. In thinking they were doing the best for their infant, these parents let themselves be persuaded into another style of parenting. They unknowingly pulled the attachment plug on Heather, and the connection that had caused her to thrive was gone. A sort of baby depression resulted, and her physiologic systems slowed down. I advised the parents to return to their previous high-touch, attachment style of parenting—to carry her a lot, breastfeed on cue, and respond sensitively to her cries by day and night. Within a month Heather was again thriving.

Babies thrive when nurtured. Every baby has a critical level of need for touch and nurturing in order to thrive. (Thriving means not just getting bigger, but growing to one's potential, physically and emotionally.) Babies have the ability to teach their parents what level of parenting they need. It's up to the parents to listen, and it's up to professionals to support the parents' confidence and not undermine it by advising a more distant style of parenting, such as "let your baby cry-it-out" or "you've got to put him down more." Only the baby knows his or her level of need; and the parents are the ones that are best able to read their baby's language.

Babies who are "trained" not to express their needs may appear to be docile, compliant, or "good" babies. Yet, these babies could be depressed babies who are shutting down the expression of their needs. They may become children who don't speak up to get their needs met and eventually become the highest-need adults."

Now what does all this have to do with Russia? The orphans of Russia -with the lack of proper caretakers -are left swaddled in cribs and rarely cared for by personal contact day or night. They do 'cry-it-out' all the time and this has resulted in the Shutdown Syndrome. Many adoptive parents have reported the negative impact this has had even on their adoptive children as they grow older. As all of you know, it is very difficult to restore trust once it is broken... and that is all the more true when the trust is broken in one's childhood. At the urging of adoptive parents, some missionary priests from Eastern Siberia have began to program to help children -babies -so that they will not be left to cry and fail to thrive in the orphanages in their city. With the grandmothers in their parish not receiving a livable pension, they put together a program where Americans can 'sponsor a grandmother' who will receive $60 a month and be sent into these orphanages 12 hours a week to simply hold, speak and respond to and be with these babies and children. This program can not only be the difference in their physical survival, but the love of these grandmothers will be the basis of these children learning trust -and ultimately will help break the barriers that otherwise would be built between them and the possibility of knowing, loving and trusting God in heaven. The greatest argument for atheism that I heard in Russia was, "God never heard my cries as a child, so why should I believe in Him now?"

If you are interested in donating to this important mission, please click here.

Why I Love Spring...

originally SUNDAY, MAY 04, 2008

Why I Love Spring...

I've always considered Fall my 'favorite season,' but I've noticed the past few years that when Spring rolls around I seriously consider changing my mind about that. On the 'beautiful scale', the purples, whites and pinks of Spring are serious competition (in my little mind) to the yellows, oranges and reds of Fall. As I walk around our block praying everyday, my soul finds a rare joy in the amazing beauty our Father paints around us, which so few stop to thank Him for (yes, Bobby, I ended my sentence with a preposition). I feel so close to His loving Hands as I see Him transform the world of nature around me each Spring. He is so creative -who ever thought of purple trees? When I was little and I read Dr. Suess books about fish on purple and red trees I always thought he was so silly, but our Father in heaven is a little silly too -because every Spring He paints our trees purple and pink and white.

All this beauty leads me to spiritual thoughts as I walk and pray. First, I think about how each flower and bud on a tree is a sign that our Father in heaven thinks that the world should go on. He is constantly giving life around us and constantly 'making all things new.' Here sin has destroyed our world in so many ways, but He is always healing the world by making things new. The harsh winter seems to kill all life outside in Northern Indiana, but secretly, hiddenly, in the early months of Spring the Father is already giving new life where old life has died. Little buds (imperceptible to most people rushing and running through life) begin to appear on trees, then flowers and leaves -the Father makes all things new in a very beautiful way. It reminds me how God did not create the world just once, but how He is continually creating it over and over, in new ways. How patient He must be to continually heal and fix His beautiful creation that gets destroyed. Just as how during the night, when we sleep, God creates new cells in our body to replace the old ones that died -during the Spring He reaches down from heaven and replaces all that died in nature another time -year after year. This beauty in the trees and bushes, animals and flowers simply reminds me how close God is to me as I sleep -smoothing out the wrinkles on my face and smoothing out the wrinkles on my heart. Day after day -He remains close -holding me, forming me, making me new. His work is not always visible at first -just as the buds are missed by most people in our busy world -but they are there, they are flowering, and in His time they will bear fruit.

Secondly, when I walk and pray and watch the trees turn colors, I think about the 'seasons of the soul' -and how these change in seasons are like our spiritual lives. There are moments in our spiritual lives like the Spring -full of life and flowers, full of grace and God's presence. These set our hearts on fire with love.

Then comes the 'Summer' -the graces of Spring carry us into the Summer -it is hot, but life is full, days are long, and graces abundant. We may have crosses, but we also feel the grace we need to carry them. We want to be martyrs, perfect wives and mothers, holy businessmen, willing to endure all we need to in order to be saints spreading His Love.

After the Summer 'Fall' arrives in our soul. The graces of Spring are beginning to die and the heat of Summer takes it toll -we become weak and begin to 'die' under the weight of the Cross. We still have glimpses of God's presence in our memory and the beauty of the fruit of our work in Summer is before us. But day by day, the leaves fall off, we are naked -we are cold -we are weak -and suddenly we feel like we are alone.

This is the season of Winter. At first the snow and ice may seem pretty. At first we don't panic too much in our souls when things freeze over, for we know that Jesus told us we would suffer in this way if we follow Him. We feel dead, but we have hope because we remember that this is His will and that this kind of season will bear a great harvest of graces in Spring and fruit in the Summer. But then Winter drags on... the snow gets heavier, the nights seem longer, and the cold goes deeper. It is not just our feet that are frozen anymore -the cold moves up our bodies and finally, right before Spring, it seems to even overtake our mind. We can't remember anymore why we suffer as we do. We can't remember God's love, His touch, His graces from the Spring so many months before. We simply feel pain, confusion, abandonment and at times teeter-totter on the precipice of hopelessness. We feel we can do nothing and we see no purpose of our lives. We are lost and our heart and soul seem dead. Dead and forgotten. This happens in every person's spiritual life -it can happen in every relationship of love (in marriage, in deep friendship, in families) -this deep, cold winter is where our Love is tested and purified. All God wants for us to do is try to endure... try to be faithful... try to breathe fiat.

And then Spring comes again. Our hearts are so frozen that we might not at first feel the first drops of rain that fall upon us to melt us. Our hearts have become so limp in the darkness that we might miss those buds that start to grow forth. But suddenly -like the first warm sunny day after a long Winter -everything seems beautiful. The grass is green, the trees turn purple, pink, yellow, white and red. Things aren't as we expect, but they take our breath away. And we realize, that we had not died abandoned in the night -instead, Christ took us so close to His Heart pierced open on the Cross that we simply felt the cold suffering pain pouring from its water and blood -and through this gesture of His, we were brought closer, deeper, more one with Him, more in His image, more able to receive the new graces of Spring again. It was His death that kissed us, and just as we 'died' with Him -He enters in to share His resurrection with us too. Little deaths, little resurrections -that is how the seasons of the soul go.

That's why I love Spring. And that is why I get so happy when I see beauty like the trees in these pictures. There is hope after the winter, after the storm. God is daily reaching into our lives, our hearts, even into our bodies to create them anew. Stop for a moment today and feel that touch of His Fatherly Love -that touch that we so often miss because we are running around too 'busy.' And thank Him for that Love. Thank Him for that beauty. And thank Him for purple and yellow trees.

Amen.