A Secular Wedding

Posted on June 4, 2015 by Patricia Ann

It was different for me to observe a wedding where everything was of an earthly nature only. The bride and groom expressed their own written vows. This in itself is not unusual. The bride’s uncle performed the ceremony and expressed his love for his niece, spoke about the bond she was making with her husband-to-be, and the commitment the two young people were making to one another for the rest of their lives. There were tears and laughter, embraces and smiles, the exchange of rings, and the much loved matrimonial kiss. And then an officiant oversaw the signing of the documents, adding her own signature to legalize the marriage.

The bride and groom were radiant in their happiness and the venue was filled with jubilant celebration.

It was a very lovely wedding. Family and friends enjoyed a sumptuous meal, clinking glasses, lively music and dancing: a wonderful time was had by all, and I especially enjoyed the festivities because it was my first-born grandson’s wedding.

Did I miss God at the wedding? Not in the least, for two reasons: the first is that I believe God is with me wherever I go, and I am certain that he was there at my invitation. Secondly, love abounded and God is love.

Here are some thoughts on love, written by St. Paul himself.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

My prayer is that my grandson and his lovely bride’s secular marriage be forever blessed with heavenly love.

Seeing the Signs

Posted on May 3, 2015 by Patricia Ann

God can sometimes be found speaking to us in the most unusual places. On Sunday, while lunching with friends in one of my favourite tea rooms, I read this sign posted over the sink in the ladies room:

Good Morning,

This is God. I will be handling all your problems today and I don’t need your help.

Have a great day.

And do you know what? My usual digestive problems were non-existent that day! TYG!

A Time to Love

Posted on April 2, 2015 by Patricia Ann

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:8)

Is there ever a time not to love? There are many kinds of love and many people to love. We love our families, our spouses, our friends; we love babies, our pets, our jobs; we love to sing, to dance, to play, to eat, to sleep; love encompasses a myriad of things. And hate? I even hate that word! There should never be a time to hate unless it’s all the things that go against the grains of humanity. I strongly urged my children to intensely dislike something or someone rather than entertain the emotion of hate.

War and Peace…a great book by Leo Tolstoy! There have been many times of war, both in Biblical times and in our world today. Does there need to be a time of war? Some say yes and I guess it’s true, but a time of peace is to be sought after, longed for, and I suppose…fought for.

The way I see it, love begets peace, and hate begets war. But Solomon says, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

Everyone Needs a Hug

Posted on September 25, 2014 by Patricia Ann

Living alone, I often go without a hug for days on end. Two weeks ago, a church friend, knowing this, gave me my usual Sunday hug. I responded by saying, “I don’t need a hug today because I had so many yesterday.” “Yesterday” was the day of my book launch. It was filled with hugs and well wishes.

The following Sunday, my hugging friend approached (reproached) me, saying, “Last Sunday you said you didn’t need a hug…but I did.”

Ouch! How often do we overlook the needs of another simply because our own needs have been met?

Another life lesson learned. TYG.

Have You Seen God?

Posted on September 8, 2014 by Patricia Ann

We have been told that no one has ever seen God.

Well, I’m here to tell you that I saw Him on Saturday at My Precious Life’s successful book launch!

I saw Him in the faces of my church family who worked for hours setting up tables and chairs, food and drink, and nourished me with the gifts of flowers, words of encouragement, and a cuppa tea and a plate of goodies after the books were signed and sold.

I saw Him in the faces of my dear and lovely family, rearranging their day to come to my launch; and in the faces of three of my little great-grandchildren who gave up their play time for GG.

I saw Him in the faces of friends who came from far and near; friends from bygone days who nourished me with warm hugs and loving memories.

I saw Him in the faces of those who lined up to buy copies of My Precious Life.

Have you seen God?

Look closely at those whose lives touch yours in any wonderful way, and like me, you will say, “I saw God today.“

Counting the Days (One)

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Patricia Ann

Today’s the day I tie up all the loose ends of the long awaited book launch of My Precious Life.

I don’t know how many people to expect but I do know that a wonderful group of friends is going to feed the people who do come.

These friends are going to arrive early enough to set up tables, chairs, food platters, tea, coffee, and cold drinks.

How wonderful they are, and how blessed I am.

Some of my family members are also contributing and helping in other ways as well. Again, how blessed I am.

Thank you to those bloggers who have supported this effort with their “likes” and prayers.

And now I’m counting the hours….

Let’s Face It

Posted on August 15, 2014 by Patricia Ann

Life gets busy and we don’t always fit in everything that we set out to do in a day. For some of us, a daily time of devotional is very important, and if we don’t find the time to make it happen, somehow our day seems incomplete.

Yesterday, over lunch with a very interesting friend, this plight came to the fore. She mentioned that her daily activities (and she has many) seemed very compartmentalized, including her devotional time, and she wasn’t comfortable having God in a compartment. She would prefer to have everything flow nicely together, with God in the midst of it.

That conversation made me think of Brother Lawrence and his book, The Practice of the Presence of God. This Carmelite Brother had such a profound personal relationship with God that there was nowhere he went, or nothing that he did, but God was with him like a second skin.

So I’m thinking we can do that. We can carry our devotional time with us throughout the day by simply acknowledging that God is in everything we do. We need only become aware, and simply let him know that we are aware.

We have time when we’re driving to thank him for being with us. We have time when we’re visiting and praying for others to tell him we love him. We have the opportunity in our brief periods of relaxation to feel his abiding presence, whether we are reading or watching television, or just plain vegging out.

So let’s not fret if a morning devotional doesn’t happen in its entirety. Let’s face it…God doesn’t. He would rather have us nice and relaxed so that he doesn’t have to pry his way into our day…or our lives.

What Would You Do?

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Patricia Ann

You are having a dinner party. You have invited friends, family, acquaintances; and you have invited Jesus as the guest of honor.

Well, upon hearing this, many of the guests begin making their regrets. A party of fifty-odd is now whittled down to a mere half dozen or so people. My question is this.

Do you say, “I’m sorry, Jesus, there are some people who don’t know you, or understand you, or where you are coming from, and I can’t afford to ruffle their feathers–would you mind taking a rain check?”

Or do you graciously accept the sudden declines, and enjoy the company of your Guest of Honor, along with those who are delighted to accept the invitation because He is the guest of honor?

I would enjoy the dinner party if Jesus was the only guest!

What would you do?

Songs of Friendship

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Patricia Ann

Hello and welcome to Blog Day Six and Chapter Five of My Precious Life. I always associated music with friends when I was growing up because music made me happy when the end of a friendship made me sad. So here is a blurb from that part of my life.

Chapter Five – Songs of Friendship

Before long, I became accustomed to my new surroundings, and made a new friend. She was a little older than I, acted kind of tough, but was very nice. Her name was Jean Braid, and she gave me my first cigarette when I turned twelve. I’ll tell you about that later.

Our teacher that year was Mrs. Deville. She was tough. She had glaring eyes, and her tongue was always jammed into the inside of one cheek or the other. If you didn’t understand what she had written on the blackboard, her inch long, scarlet nails screeched down the slate from top to bottom. It still makes my skin crawl remembering that sound.

You never chewed gum in Deville’s class. I know, because the one time I forgot to spit mine out, I wrote five hundred lines of, I will not chew gum in school. I get writer’s cramp to this day. “Cow Cow Boogie” was the song of the time.

It was difficult to choose an excerpt from this chapter because of the many people, friends, and connected songs it portrays. It was fun writing the chapter, as each friend and song came to mind.

My Precious Life

Lessons in Living

Tag Archives: Friends