Happy Feast of St Jude

Please take some time today to celebrate the Feast of St Jude and to give thanks for all our blessings.

St Jude, Patron Saint of many things in many countries but well known as the Patron Saint of Hopeless, Desperate and Lost Causes, is an amazing resource and source of strength for many in times of trial and in real dire circumstances.

Saint Jude was one of Jesus' twelve original apostles, so we can conclude that he was also at the Last Supper.

Saint Jude is also known by the name Thaddeus, which means sweetness and gentleness of character.

He is not the traitor Judas Iscariot.

Saint Jude, rather, followed Jesus faithfully until His crucifixion, and then later worked on evangelization.

Very little is known about his life, but we do know that he died as a martyr — some say around 65AD, giving his life to Jesus Christ.

He is now one of the most invoked saints for intercession in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stressed the importance of a faithful person persevering in the environment of harsh circumstances.

Find the Original Here: http://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-jude-novena/#ixzz3HRHHkHiv

Pray the St Jude Novena 9 times each day for 9 days and your prayer/request will be granted.  All that is also is that you publicize this miracle work so others may benefit from his intercession.  

This Novena has never been known to fail.

"St. Jude, holy Apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, you are honored and petitioned by the universal Church, as the patron of desperate, hopeless and impossible cases.

Pray for me. I am so very helpless and I feel alone.

Intercede for me that Almighty God may bring swift aid where it is needed most. Come to my assistance in my great time of need!

Pray for me that I may be given the comfort and help of Jesus. Most importantly, I ask that you pray that I may one day join you and all of the saints in heaven to praise God in consolation, rest and joy for all eternity.

I will remember your prayers, O Holy St. Jude. I will honor you as my patron as so many have before me because of the graces God deigns to give freely at your request.

Amen"

Find the Original Here: http://www.praymorenovenas.com/st-jude-novena/#ixzz3HRHfMNkX

"May the Sacred Heart of Jesus be adored, glorified, loved and preserved throughout the world now and forever.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Pray for us;
Saint Jude Worker of Miracles Pray for us;
Saint Jude Help for the Hopeless Pray for us."

Learn More?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jude_the_Apostle

Stay Strong!!!

Re: [Stay Strong] The Key

"Try to make at least one person happy every day.

If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word.

If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought.

Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!"
 
  - Lawrence G. Lovasik

The secret to happiness and peace lies in the words above - and it begins with others.

When we lose ourselves in our own worries, problems, and daily challenges, it becomes even more difficult to see the forest for the trees.

Simply by shifting our focus on helping others with their daily challenges and making other people feel stronger and supported, our own problems seem to diminish and pale in comparison!

Now I know many of us are going through some hard challenges and often it is extremely difficult to escape the quicksand that comprises our grief, anxiety, fear, anger, disappointment, loss, and worry.

However, the more we can take our minds off what is troublesome to us and redirect our efforts to help others, the stronger and quicker our healing begins.

One amazing fact about our minds is that we as humans can hold only ONE thought at a time.

We cannot think of two separate thoughts at the exact same time.

If we can succeed at making sure that our one thought is positive - or at the very least NOT focused on what is troubling us, we stand a fighting chance!!!

If we don't leave any time in our day to lament and worry over our own issues, challenges,  battles, and storms - instead we fill our thoughts and days with trying to help others with their storms and trials, our lives WILL improve on a daily basis!!!

It is the key to the right path!!!  And it works like a charm!!

Give it a shot today.

Happy Monday - Stay Strong!!

Life is Pain....

"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who tells you different is selling you something."

     - Wesley, "The Princess Bride"

A terrific and funny movie indeed but so much truth in that one line!

Life is often filled with pain, suffering, loss and hurt and all of those things we have come to fear and try to avoid at all costs.

But guess what? 

These are all facts of life and the sooner we accept that we will without doubt meet these struggles, meet pain, meet loss, and encounter hardship on this journey, the sooner we can work on solutions to these problems and move past them!

If we know what to expect, know that at some point these things will confront us, and accept that as a fact, the better we can prepare to fight through them and be ready when they do rear their ugly heads!

And they will eventually...and that is ok!!

Now, a life without struggle and some hardship is something we can and maybe should aspire to obtain, but to let these tough things completely take over our lives and make us miserable is foolhardy on our part!!

Some have more pain, more struggle and complications than others.

Some of us are in battles for our lives on a daily basis - dealing with illness, tragedy, and painful loss.

However, we all must see the VALUE AND BLESSINGS that come with overcoming hardship, loss and pain - as difficult as that can be at times.

Never lose faith in the FACT that no matter what what we encounter, things will always get better, that everything passes eventually, and that through this test by fire we always emerge stronger, better, and more certain of why we are here  in this life!!!

We need to use each other, be there for each other, and help each other navigate this landscape of uncertainty and anxiety and useless fear!

It is each of our duties to help each other weather these storms of life!!

Remember this - YOU are never alone!!!

Embrace this life and make the best of this short time we have here! 

Use the right measurements of what "success" and "happiness" really means and think about what you want the world to remember about you and what you are doing here when it is our time to move to the next station!

Focus on building your Faith and rely on the Hope that we all are blessed to have in our souls! 

Replace your fear with Faith and Hope!!

These will get you through ANYTHING that troubles you today!

Stay Strong - the Tide has turned in your favor and the waves are receding!  

And so many of us are here to help you!!   :)

Fear is what we make it ...

"In my ministry, I meet so many different people who are struggling with fear in all its varied forms.

There are widows, for example, who feel so alone since they lost their husbands. Typically, these ladies have so many fears— the fear of being alone, the fear of the future, financial insecurity, health issues, and other real threats they face on a daily basis.

Losing a spouse brings up many fears, both realized and hidden.

My heart goes out to them, and I try to let each one know that they are not alone.

I share Scriptures with them, showing that Jesus is with them, and He promised to never leave or forsake them.

I've discovered that there are passages in the Bible that give God's answers to every fear that exists to humanity.

I try to encourage God's children by speaking His words of comfort to them, such as, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you."

This assurance of God's presence enables us to say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?" (Heb. 13: 5-6).

And in the Gospel of John Jesus said, "I am not alone, because the Father is with Me" (John 16: 32).

And the same is true for us.

This is a solid answer that we must stand on if we are going to defeat fear.

Here are some other specific Scriptures that speak to common fears:

The fear of uncertainty—
" God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride" (Ps. 42: 1-3).

The fear of losing everything—
" And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4: 19).

The fear of death—
" I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die" (John 11: 25-26).

The fear of the devil—
" Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world" (1 John 4: 4). "Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you" (Luke 10: 19).

The fear of failure—
" Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing" (John 15: 4-5).

For every fear we may face—
" Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go" (Josh. 1: 9).

Beloved, in these Scriptures and so many more throughout the Bible we find the revelation and strength we need from God's Word to overcome fear.

He wants us to believe His promises, and walk in them every day of our lives.

As we do this, the devil and his fears will be put to flight. We don't have to suffer from fear any longer.

The Lord says, "Seize My Word and don't let anything else in."

As we discipline ourselves to seize God's Word, not letting anything else in, we will become free!"

- "Be Not Afraid"

Stay Strong

Do not Fear

"Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
surely I will help you,
surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand"

(Isa. 41: 10).

"Turning Sh÷# into Gold"

I am cutting a corner today as I came across a very interesting and thought provoking article on negativity and the effort to overcome it in our lives.
 
I hope you enjoy it!

Stay Strong!

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡>>>>>>

THE BLOG

How to Turn Your Negative Mind Into a Positive One

Ed and Deb Shapiro 10/14/14 08:28 AM ET

Have you ever wondered how amazing it is that a water lily doesn't grow in a pure mountain lake but in murky, muddy and dank pond water thick with weeds, and yet its beautiful flower appears on the surface totally pristine? All life starts in the dark, either in the earth, mud, or in the womb: The darkness contains the nourishment needed for life to emerge.

This is important as it shows how all the mud in our lives -- all the difficulties, fears, concerns, doubts, insecurities, hurts, conflicts, everything that seems so impenetrable and difficult to wade through -- is actually the very stuff needed for growth. Without it we would have no ground, no strength, no nourishment. That's why we can't just make the darkness disappear or deny its presence.

The choice is to get stuck in the mud or to use it as nourishment; to let our lives go by in a dream or to awaken with awareness; to wallow in self-pity, hopelessness, failure, procrastination, and the longing for things to be different; or to find a deeper acceptance for things just as they are.

Our ability to use the mud as our means for growth will determine the strength of our plant, for the stem of the lily symbolizes our intention -- a pledge to our sanity, to our awakening. When our intention is inner peace and unconditional happiness then we will slowly emerge from the mud, our roots always being fed by it, the bud of the flower heading for the sun. We need never be concerned about the flower opening, for that happens by itself as a natural response to the light.

Just as the stem uses the mud to produce a beautiful flower, so the transforming power that can take a difficult or negative emotion and turn it into something positive and uplifting is within us all.

Tibetan teacher Chogyam Trunpa called it the power to turn shit into gold.

A peacock eats poisonous snakes and transforms that poison into beautiful of iridescent feathers. It is the irritation of a grain of sand that causes an oyster to make a pearl: no irritation, no pearl.

Can you transform your irritation -- all the doubt, fear, anger or frustration -- into pearls of wisdom?

We were sitting in a coconut grove, the sun shining through the broad, flat palm leaves. "Are you happy today?" As the monk spoke he broke into a wide grin from ear to ear, white teeth glistening in his crinkled, brown face, illuminated by his orange robe. "Are you happier today than you were yesterday?" 

Despite his humorous tone his question was a genuine one.

A group of us were in retreat and had been practicing meditation all that day and all the previous day and there were eight more days to go. If we weren't beginning to feel happier as a result, then what was the point of being there?

Every day for 10 days he asked us the same question. And each day it drew us deeper into looking at ourselves while also highlighting our concerns, doubts and conflicts, how difficulties can actually feel more real and meaningful than joy, how hard it was to trust happiness, even that we had forgotten what happiness meant.

What our Thai monk was telling us, in his own way, was that the very nature of life includes change and unfulfilled desire and the longing for things to be different from how they are, all of which brings discontent, sadness, and even mental illness, but that happiness was our birthright.

"What is this nature?" Achaan Maha Dharma Tam asked. "Look at how the rain falls to the ground and makes muddy water. And how the coconut tree takes that muddy water all the way up its long, long trunk to make sweet coconut milk. What is this nature that can take muddy water and make sweet coconut milk?"

No one can change your negativity for you.

We can change the way we look, where we live, even who we live with, but unless we connect with who we are inside then none of those external changes will make much difference.

The commitment you make is not to anyone else -- not to a teacher or even to your family -- but it's a commitment to a far deeper joy and happiness within yourself.

That has to be made by each one of us.

Can you turn muddy water into sweet coconut milk?  :)

Faith

"I know God won't give me anything I can't handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much." 

    - Mother Teresa

1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 

You may think you cannot get through this storm, that the day will not break, that your struggle and challenge may not end - but it will and you can handle anything that is thrown at you - IF you keep your Faith and Hope in your heart!

- Stay Strong and Happy Saturday

"Three 'fer Tuesday.... "

"It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy.    It is what you think about."
  
     - Dale Carnegie

"Instead of dwelling on negative thoughts, cause your mind to dwell on peace and joy."

   - Ernest Holmes

"Let Go, Let God."

     - Anonymous

Three terrific quotes to begin and guide our blessed day today!

There is no denying or rebutting the fact that in order to move closer to peace, we need to identify "what we let" our minds think, reflect upon, and dwell upon in order to understand what defines our moods and consequently defines the amount of stress,  worry and fear we  deal with on a daily basis.

"Thought is Supreme" is an understatement! 

If you feel crappy, fearful,  anxious, depressed,  lost, helpless, hopeless,  or fearful,  you can bet that you are ALLOWING that creep of negativity - the storm of negative thoughts - seep into your head and it is running roughshod all over the place!

The second you feel these emotions,  stop yourself and identify what you are dwelling on immediately!

Now what is ailing you may be legitimately bothersome and may be a real hard issue that you are struggling through daily.

Regardless,  we must work to replace these negative thoughts with a prepared, handy, positive thought or concept.

Ask yourself what is the worst that can come of this situation!

Remind yourself that no matter the pain or loss you feel today, it will pass in time and you just have to keep hold of the rudder and weather the squall a little bit longer!

You are never alone in your battle!

Put it all in perspective and realize that no matter your concern or worry, it will not matter 1, 10, 30, 100 years from now!!!

So why are you beating yourself up over it now? 

Why are you letting it run your life and ruin your peace??

You know it will pass as everything does and you know you will be STRONGER as a result of riding it out - confidently - with Hope and in Faith!!

Take back control now!

You hold all the power necessary to do so!

I will close with one of my favorite pieces of inspiration that my bro in law showed me years ago - I recommend you keep it handy and make it a daily read and mantra! 

It certainly can shape and frame your day - it shapes mine every morning!

God Bless and Stay Strong!

"Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost;  drink in the sunshine;

Greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every handclasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood & DO NOT waste a minute thinking about your enemies.

Try to fix firmly in your mind what you would like to do; and then without veering off direction, you will move straight to the goal.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid things you would like to do, and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing upon the opportunities that are required for the fulfilment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the element it needs.

Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought you hold is hourly transforming you into the particular individual…

Thought is supreme!!!!

Preserve a right mental attitude — the attitude of courage, frankness, and good cheer.

To Think RIGHT is to create.

All things come through desire and EVERY sincere prayer is answered.

We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.

Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high.

We are gods in the chrysalis."

    — Elbert Hubbard

[Stay Strong] Transform Fear....Now!!

"Can you imagine a life with no fear? What if faith, not fear, was your default reaction to threats?"
  ―Max Lucado

Fear is such a huge and often debilitating aspect of all of our lives that it is really tough to imagine an entire day without some sort of fear surfacing.

It is a shame because normally the things we fear most never even transpire, yet the time spent worrying about something that never comes to fruition is so large and disproportionate in many of our lives.

Therefore, today's quote about replacing fear with FAITH is so fascinating and exciting to me!

If we can succeed in creating a habit of identifying fearful thoughts and in turn replace them with FAITH, imagine how much more peace we would have in our lives!

We can do it!! 

Resolve to do it today!! 

Key on every thought that appears with which you can identify as having fear associated and ask yourself "what is the worst thing that can happen if that thing did occur". 

Chances are no matter what that conclusion is, it is not as bad as the trembling fear that accompanies it.

We can Stop that fear by believing and understanding that we are here to struggle, to be challenged, and to battle through tough times!

None of us is immune to these storms in our lives.

Do not wish for them, but certainly embrace them with strong feelings of courage,  hope, faith and trust!!

Because IF we have FAITH and Believe that whatever it is will always pass, we will without doubt come out on the other end of it Stronger and our Fear will be reduced to what it deserves - nothing!!

Just imagine the feeling if you had a proven GUARANTEE at your disposal that no matter what you were worried about, no matter what challenge or crisis you face or fear could be taken off your plate and handled by someone else instead. 

How sweet would that be?

Well I truly Believe and Know that this GUARANTEE already exists - and each and every one of us has it at our disposal every minute of every hour of every single day!

All we need to do is summon the courage and ASK for it and simply CLAIM it!!!

The choice is ours - Fear or Faith??

Enjoy the weekend, Count your Blessings, and Stay Strong!!

* Photo of The Redeemer - Rio de Janeiro Brazil - Celebrating Pink October - Breast Cancer Awareness Month