Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving

“We give thanks to our Heavenly Father, who, through so many friends and through so many means and channels, has allowed us to construct this wonderful edifice of the spirit in which we are now dwelling—this cathedral whose foundations already rest upon the corners of the earth.”  From: “As Bill Sees It” pg. 155

From Third Chair Spiritual Direction and Molly LaFond, we wish you blessed Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Molly LaFond is a spiritual direction and is now taking new clients. She can be reached at 920.793.3530. For more information see: mollylafond.com

A Full And Thankful Heart

A Full And Thankful Heart

             

“One exercise that I practice is to try for a full inventory of my blessings and then for a right acceptance of the many gifts that are mine—both temporal and spiritual.  Here I try to achieve a state of joyful gratitude.  When such a brand of gratitude is repeatedly affirmed and pondered, it can finally displace the natural tendency to congratulate myself on whatever progress I may have been enabled to make in some areas of living.

I try hard to hold fast to the truth that a full and thankful heart cannot entertain great conceits.  When brimming with gratitude, one’s heartbeat must surely result in outgoing love, the finest emotion that we can ever know.”   From: “As Bill Sees It” pg. 37


Molly LaFond is a spiritual director and can be reached for an appointment at 920.793.3530. For more information also see: mollylafond.com

Experiences of Prayer

"One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens. But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of prayer, you suddenly realize that something has happened." Henry Nouwen, THE GENESEE DIARY

Let Us Pray!

Dear God,

We lift up in prayer all those affected by the horrific Paris situation, for all killed, injured, their families/friends, for those in government, the military as well as for the nation and world. We pray, too, for the attackers, for those still planning attacks, for a conversion of their hearts, that they will be guided by God's grace and not by the evil one. 

 Amen

So much...

So much to see and just as much time to see it in! It's been a wonderful morning, even it it is only 2 am at night. I decided to do some things in the kitchen and happened to look out the window.  I saw a deer just leaving the yard.  I finished the cooking and dishes and decided to go to the porch to just sit and watch the "outdoor channel."  

Pepper, my cat, crawled up on my lap for a long zen moment and within minutes three flying squirrels glided to the oak trees. One

From Sialis.org

began playing "ring around the rosy" on a suet holder and finally clung on for dear life as he ate the suet.  As small as the spaces were between the wires on it, I couldn't figure out how that little rascal could get anything out of it because it really is for the birds, not the squirrels!

Then, one by one, five deer walked in to feed. I had corn out. Two of the deer were momma does and both had young ones from spring with them.  They stayed the longest time, lingering, eating, and many times perking up to listen and look.  Winds were very, very strong; my wind chimes were really playing. It had poured cats and dogs earlier. A cold front was coming into the area. The weather channel was certainly correct with the predictions of when the wind, rain and cool down would occur. 

I got to thinking that many times watching for deer, squirrels or anything remotely exciting outdoors is like watching, waiting and experiencing God's presence.  Have you ever experienced this at all? Sometimes it just feels like dry bones or a dry desert time in life; no matter what prayers or talking to God I do, I come up empty. 

Thank goodness those times don't last forever.  Rather than fretting and getting bent out of shape and upset I just sit here, watching the outdoors, then bingo...characters of creation come to life:  flying squirrels, deer, wind, falling leaves, swaying trees, and the wonderful sounds that go with it! The strongest rainstorm preceded all of this about an hour ago, pelting the roof and windows. 

Have you discovered that when you just sit with the present with no expectations, but with full awareness of surroundings and "life," that the world opens up in magnificent ways?  This night the more "present" I was with the present, the outdoor channel came alive with all of God's creation! Now I think I'll go back to bed and see if there is anything on the "dream channel." Thank you, God, for a wonderful display of your love and beauty and presence! 

Nite John Boy...Nite Mary Ellen! 

Old Dogs

Have you ever needed a new "set of eyes" for a situation in order to give you renewed energy and optimism?  I have.  This past week I just met with a person who has good experience in social media situations.  I explained some things to her in my world which she validated but then explained and showed me some new considerations. It was exciting but then even though I shake my head "yes" that I understand it all, I can walk away and not be able to explain a thing of it! 

Simon

I think of the saying, "like trying to teach an old dog new tricks!" However, once this old dog learns the new stuff, I do have it! Electronics and social media are not the only things that sometimes baffle me; sewing ranked right up there, too, for quite a while. 

Then I experienced the word "patience". There really are people willing to take the time to sit with us as we ask our questions and are vulnerable with what we don't know.  Not everyone is as impatient as me but trusting there are others out there to help us is another thing. This is where I must "listen" to other folks who might refer me to a source but on a deeper scale, sometimes it is actually listening to God speaking through others.  The more I am open to that "small, still voice" of God, the more it amazes me how it is right there for each of us. 

This journey is not always a straight line.  It is more like a sail boat on open water with winds that get us off course but with persistence we "tack our sails" and keep going in the right direction.  I guess it's true, "life is a journey, not a destination!"


For a spiritual direction appointment with Molly, call 920 793.3530. For more information, see mollylafond.com