It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas I said to my husband as we drove to the store for an evening purchase.  Many of the neighborhood homes were lit up and decorated. I couldn't help but think how quickly it all had come about. We slipped in a CD by Robert Bubley and enjoyed our first Christmas music of the season.   Little by little the Spirit of Christmas begins to invade my very being and the excitement of giving takes hold.  Jesus came to give up his life for me and you so that we may have eternal life.  He set the supreme example of giving!  I like the idea of giving something of myself. Something I have created and hopefully enjoyed by others.  I also like the idea of giving monetary gifts to those who need it and in these difficult times it becomes increasingly harder to discern which appeal to give to.
 I know money can be tight this time of year, so I am  offering you my Blog readers a special price of $10.00 each for my two books:  "Living Waters:Writings from the Heart of a Christian and Living Waters Volume II: A Message of Hope." If you e-mail me at:  http://livingwatersauthor@gmail.com. and state you read my blog and would like the special price I will mail you a signed copy.  Shipping would run $3.00.  This is the first time I have offered a special price for my books, but in the spirit of giving I would like to provide you with an opportunity to give a good spiritual book to someone for an affordable price. Have a Merry Christmas!

In a few weeks we will be sitting down with family or friends to enjoy a Thanksgiving Feast.  Turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, salads, pumpkin and pecan pie, etc. will be eaten by most of us. I love the smells that surround the kitchen as I prepare this meal. I love having my family come and enjoy it together and the varied conversations that ensue as we all overeat and enjoy this once a year feast.  We start the meal with a prayer of thanksgiving and sometimes invite anyone who wishes to say a prayer of thanks to join in.  It is a wonderful day and one I look forward to each year.  This year I have made a list of what I am most thankful for and spent some time with the Lord thanking him.  Some of the things on my list are:  Thank you Lord for choosing me to follow you. Thank you Lord for dying on the cross so that I may have life - life abundant. Thank you Lord for the beautiful, warm home you have provided for me. Thank you Lord that my daily necessities are provided and that I never have to go to bed hungry.  Thank you Lord for the very special family you have given me. Thank you for my parents who gave me life and for my dear wonderful siblings.  Thank you Lord for friends and the neighborhood you have placed me in.  Thank you Lord for the freedoms I enjoy and that I am able to express myself because of freedom of speech.  Thank you Lord for my country and city that I live in.  Thank you Lord that I was able to grow up on a farm and enjoy the good life that it provided, and also to learn how to work. Thank you Lord for the talents you have given me and that I enjoy expressing myself through them.  Thank you for a kind and loving husband! Thank you for my church and that I can receive you in the Eucharist every time I go to Mass.  Thank you for dwelling within me and for speaking to me with your still small voice in the silence of my heart.  Thank you Lord that I can get up each new day and praise you for another day and the beauty of it.  Thank you Lord that I can write this blog to allow others to see some of the many things that I am most thankful for.
 HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  

Discussing the debates

There seems to be great diversity among us when discussing the Presidential debates.  You may find with certain people it is best to avoid the topic.  We each have our own favorite candidate and naturally stick up for him and defend him.  I am no different, but basically my desire is to see our country become a moral and God fearing land.  We have strayed so far from the ten commandments that I am afraid the lessons of old will be repeated and we will be allowed to wander in the desert.  We have all heard the old saying "your sins will find you out"!
So, I don't feel we can continue on the path of immorality and not pay the price.  However, our God is merciful and forgiving and we can pray that He will forgive us and heal our land.  I also pray that we are all guided as we go into the booth to cast our vote. I also love the fact that we can have our own opinions and freely express them as long as we stay the home of the brave and the land of the free!  God bless you all! 

Pray for the election

I watched the Presidential debate this week, along with millions of other Americans and am now convinced more than ever that I need to pray harder then ever for our country.  I am praying that truth will prevail and that the evil darts of the enemy will not be allowed to be part of the next debate.  I believe that America is still in God's heart and that he desires the very best for all of us, so we need to do our part and pray for God's choice to be elected.  A Godly President will lead the American people back to being a moral nation that follows God and his laws.  An ungodly President will divide and lead the people into diversity and immorality. Thus, it is so very important that all who are called by God's name cry out, full-throated and with repentance on their lips and in their heart for God's choice to serve the next four years.    Good things happen when Godly people pray with a sincere heart and pray for our country to become a Godly nation.  We cannot afford to sit idly by and let our country be taken over by foreign gods.  We can learn a lesson from scripture where God's people were led into debauchery and evil and then had to wander in the wilderness for forty years.  Let us come before the throne of grace pleading for mercy for our country and the Lord will hear our prayers and heal our land.

Changing seasons

Is summer on the way out and fall on its way?  I certainly hope not, because I have enjoyed these wonderful, warm days. I love it that the flowers are still in all their glory and I can sit outside soaking up the fresh air and sunshine.  It is also a great feeling to not have to put on a jacket or sweater when you leave the house and sandals are still the order of the day.  Yes, I do love summer and that song that states so amply: "I love those lazy, hazy, days of summer"  Perhaps it is because winter seems to last so very long in Wyoming and often extends until the end of May.  I didn't forget about fall, football games, hot chocolate, turning leaves and the crisp air in the morning which I really like too, however there is just something about summer that relaxes me and refreshes. Nothing lasts forever and I thank God for giving us these past months of warm, wonderful weather. What is your favorite season?  The Lord knows us inside and out and the changing seasons help us not to get bored, but to be ready for the challenges they offer.  So, Lord God I thank you for the Fall Season  that is about to usher in and also Winter that will be close behind it.  Help me to be like the changing seasons and not insist on staying the same.

Article in the news

I am most grateful to Adam Louis a reporter with the Torrington Telegram for writing a very nice article about my new book "Living Waters Volume II: A Message of Hope"  As an author, I am most appreciative of any publicity that my books get, because in today's market the majority of authors have to do their own marketing.  I feel my first book "Living Waters: Writings from the Heart of a Christian" and my new one are books that I was called to write and so getting them into the hands of many readers is also a calling from God.  You have probably heard many times in sermons that we need to be God's hands, feet, voice, etc. so that is why I am out marketing and doing what I feel God has called me to do.  It all takes time and effort but then anything we do, and do well,  takes our time and effort.  This has been an exciting time in my life and as you know life has many surprises.  I have been married fifty six years and during most of those years I was a stay at home mother raising our six children.  I worked as a secretary the first nine months of our marriage and then later worked in the State Senate as a Secretary.  My husband retired when our youngest daughter was still in high school and we settled into retired life.  However, that was also when I began to work on getting my writings published and the result has been two books that I know will help many as they read the messages that helped me in my life's journey.  Please be open to whatever you are called to do ,for it may surprise you what turn in the road God has prepared for you!  Have a great week. 

New book just published!

My second book has just come on the market and it is titled: "Living Waters Volume II: A Message of Hope."  It follows my book "Living Waters: Writings from the Heart of a Christian"  So far the feedback I have received has been: "I really like the book, I like this one better than the first one, I love the cover and design, etc."  To me, it is hard to say which book I like better for that would be like saying that I liked one of my children better than another one.  Writing a book can be compared to birth as you struggle through some pain before it arrives.  My two books can be compared to one's children in the respect that they are alike in some ways, yet each has its own personality and content.  Volume II will give you hope for whatever you are going through and as you read how the Lord helped me through many struggles you will have the faith to believe he will do the same for you!  God loves us all so very much that it is almost too hard to comprehend, yet he wants us to have that deep abiding love in our awarenss so we can count on it to see us through everything.  I know you will enjoy and gain much from Volume II and also the first book of Living Waters if you haven't already read it. You can e-mail me at: livingwatersauthor@gmail.com or look it up on Amazon.com. May the Lord richly bless you!