Say Yes... (no, not to the dress)

^{Jesus Birth Foretold to Joseph}

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus ^[a]Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been ^[b]betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned ^[c]to send her away secretly. ²⁰ But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for ^[d]the Child who has been ^[e]conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for ^[f]He will save His people from their sins.” ²² Now all this ^[g]took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name ^[h]Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.” ²⁴ And Joseph ^[i]awoke from his sleep and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took Mary as his wife, ^25 [j]but kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus.~ Matthew 1:18-25 NASB

 

Jesus’ Birth Foretold to Mary

²⁶ Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin ^[a]engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the ^[b]descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was ^[c]Mary. ²⁸ And coming in, he said to her, “Greetings, ^[d]favored one! The Lord ^[e]is with you.” ²⁹ But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. ³⁰ The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. ³¹ And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.” ³⁴ Mary said to the angel, “How ^[f]can this be, since I ^[g]am a virgin?” ³⁵ The angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the ^[h]holy Child shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and ^[i]she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. ³⁷ For ^[j]nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸ And Mary said, “Behold, the ^[k]bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. ~ Luke 1:26-38


Imagine that.  How strong a faith must be to just accept what God has asked of you and do it. To Let Go and Let God. 

Just the other day, in chapel, I was thinking of how incredibly blessed I am. Relatively speaking, God has given me quite a lot of years to stop what I was doing and to actually listen to Him and to do what He wants me to do. In all honesty I have come a long way and I know that people can and do change themselves. The calm, God-centered, person that I am today is light years away from the carousing, silly, canoodling (okay it was way more than that), crude, thief, liar and sometimes just downright mean person that I was. I'm not saying that I'm a saint now, I'm still very much a work in progress (who isn't) but if you knew me then and know me now I am sure you see a difference (maybe I should HOPE they see a difference?).  I do still have that silly streak in me and that raises its head quite often but then I know God has a sense of humor so that's okay. (how do I know he has a sense of humor? Well he made this for starters.....)

My life of  way too many guilty pleasures is a footnote in my book of life today and my new way of life sneaked up on me when I wasn't expecting it. Little by little I started to listen to Him and the direction He was trying to tell me started to sink deep into my psyche. The more I listened, the more I prayed. The more I prayed the more I read His word and He opened my eyes and I understood what He was trying to get me to do. Just as Mary and Joseph did, I then simply said yes Lord; Not MY will, but YOUR will be done Lord. The closer you get to Him the wiser you become. Some things you cannot change and sometimes you just have to accept them as His will. I have found that there is usually a lesson in there somewhere if you look deep enough though. You can pray to Him for guidance and wisdom. The Serenity Prayer is a beautiful one to say. I'll add that at the end here. St. Therese had a beautiful prayer that said that you are exactly where God wants you to be. Accept that fact and trust that it is His will. Common sense, though, tells us that if you are doing something that is not Christlike, you need to change course on that. Capisce?

When God comes a calling say yes. If you don't hear Him calling you, or are confused by His message, seek Him. While the world is seemingly spinning out of control and becoming more chaotic find peace in prayer and in the Gospels. Take time out of your busy schedule to listen to what God is trying to tell you and recognize the blessings that he has given to you. Time is very fleeting. Life beyond this moment is not a guarantee. Let Go and Let God into your life and don't wait 40 years like I did.

Peace, Joy and Love to you all.

Mare

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
Amen.