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Book Details

​Book Title: The River of God’s Presence by Jeannine Rodriguez-Everard
Category: Adult Non-Fiction (18+),  316 pages
Genre: Christian Spiritual Life
Publisher: Images of Light Publishing, LLC
Release date: October  2022
G Rating

Book Description:

One night, Jesus caught up Jeannine in the most vivid dream of her life. In this dream, Jesus flew her around the world and revealed how His presence is like the river of God. By contemplating the rivers in Scripture with Him, Jeannine began to understand what happens when we encounter His presence. From Genesis through Revelation, Jesus revealed to her how the rivers in Scripture can metaphorically depict what happens in God’s presence and how Jesus invites us to commune with Him.

As you read this book, you will become more aware of the river of God’s presence in your life, and you will learn to live from the place of His presence. As this occurs, the beauty of His presence will flow out from your relationship with Him in such a way that it affects every aspect of your life.

Book Review

Most people have heard the phrase, “God ways are mysterious.” For those committed to developing or deepening their friendship with God, this book is an excellent read. The author explains how a mystical experience of God showing her the rivers of the world led to her resisting, procrastinating, and finally opening her gifts of writing, understanding, and faith to serve Him as He was asking. The result? A seductive read that draws you into the currents of God’s love and pursuit of you, His child.

When I started this book, I noticed a certain reservation in my mind. Who was this author? On what authority was she speaking? Find the answer to the first question below (see Meet the Author and my interview). The answer to her authority is the same as mine when I wrote my memoir and faced the same internal question: she’s a daughter of God who listened when God spoke to her, and obeyed. I respect that and the difficulty in doing so.

Despite my reservation and desire to skim a few chapters, I found Jeannine’s voice gentle on my soul, as soothing as a lullaby, and as reflective of the light of God as is the moon. The structure of each of her thirty-three Invitations (the word she uses for chapters) bears a comforting solidity like the banks of a river. She ends each invitation with a meditation to draw the reader into an opportunity to encounter God.

I sank into her pages and quiet questions in each meditation section, not at first, but gradually, the way one gets used to water when you first wade into it. God gets absurdly close, so close we can see the face of God in all creation, or feel him, in the living waters she invites us to enter. She achieved her goal of pointing a way to discover God’s presence to this reader.

My book mark remains on a page I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants me to journal about and ask Him the question she proposed. Jeannine drew me closer to the God who loves me and all of His creation through her personal stories and Scripture reflections. The fact she surrendered from writing for God to writing with him reveals itself as subtly as a flower opens to the light and encourages me to do the same.

First Line (Introduction):  The place God originally intended us to live was in His presence. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed are solely mine.

Book cover: THE RIVER OF GOD’S PRESENCEMeet the Author:

Jeannine Rodriguez-Everard is an author, teacher, and international speaker. She is gifted in understanding the supernatural and how God speaks to His children. Jeannine seeks to help people know God and how He uniquely created them to reflect His Light and love to the world. Through her understanding of the ways of God and the importance of communion with Him, Jeannine helps people encounter God personally, while understanding their ability to bring Heaven to Earth through friendship with Jesus. Jeannine and her husband, Ian, live in Idaho with their two beloved dogs, Jimmy & Johnny.

Jeannine Rodriguez-Everard

Jeannine also enjoys connecting with God and others through art, singing, and storytelling.

connect with the author: website ~ facebook ~ instagram 

Interview

WHAT MADE YOU WRITE THIS BOOK GOD’S PRESENCE?
In 2007, I had a dream while sleeping. In my dream, Jesus came to me and flew me around what felt like all the rivers on the earth. I knew we were in different parts of the world because I could hear different languages in the distance and see different swatches of clothing. However, my focus the entire time was the rivers Jesus showed me. At the end of our flight, Jesus spoke to me and said, “Jeannine, there is a reason I liken my presence to the river of God. If you study the rivers in Scripture, I will show you what happens in My presence.”

So, I went from Genesis to Revelation and studied everything that happens in, through, by, and over rivers. In 2009, I felt God nudging me to write a book about what I had studied. It took me a long time to answer the call to write. I’m so grateful I finally obeyed as I’ve been hearing from readers that it is drawing them into deep places with God.

WHY DID IT TAKE YOU SO LONG TO WRITE THE BOOK? (asks the author who took ten years to write hers)
At first, honestly, it was complete lack of confidence. I didn’t see myself as a writer. Then, it was the busyness of life and allowing other things to take a higher priority. After that, when I finally did start to write, it felt like I was striving to make it good.

It wasn’t until two things happened that I finally hit a stride:
God answered my prayer when an opening pop up with a writing coach I dearly wanted to work with. Though she didn’t know I wanted to work with her, one evening in December 2021, we were at a mutual friend’s home for dinner. She asked me how things were going with my book as I had taking a workshop from her. I answered, “Not good,” to which she responded by hitting both hands on the table and exclaiming, “This is the time. I’m going to help you. I’m going to be your coach, and this next year it will be published.”

WHAT WAS THE WRITING PROCESS LIKE? WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE YOU WROTE A CHAPTER? DID YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL RITUALS, PRAYERS, OR SCRIPTURE YOU USED?

Once I started working with my writing coach / editor, the process began by setting aside three days a week to write. Having that commitment on my calendar provided a framework for the discipline of writing. When I sat down to write each time, I would first pray, then worship to a song or two, and then turn to the Scriptures that were inspiring my writing for the day for contemplation. I also found some inspiring worship leaders on YouTube whose music I listened to every time I wrote. They were such a huge part of the writing process, I wrote about them in the Acknowledgements section of the book.

IN YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, YOU MENTION WRITING IN THE KOZAK’S HOME. HOW DID YOU ENTER GOD’S PRESENCE THERE?

Jim and Kathy Kozak are dear friends of mine. It wasn’t hard entering the presence of God in their home because they themselves have such beautiful hearts of worship that you can feel God’s presence in their home. Each time I went to write, I began my time with worship and prayer and would then just close my eyes, breathe, and ask God to help me sense His presence.

WHEN DID YOU FIRST SENSE YOUR HEART’S LONGING FOR GOD’S PRESENCE?

I am beyond grateful to say that my parents taught me about Jesus from the womb. Some of my earliest memories are of the prayers my mom and dad would lead me in at bedtime. I remember feeling great comfort from them and loved praying prayers of my own. At age 15, I started longing to really know Jesus personally and my heart’s longing for Him grew even more. I am grateful for the love and mentorship of my church youth choir directors who helped me grow in my relationship
with God.

I LOVE YOUR PRAYER SUGGESTION EARLY IN THE BOOK: “YOU ARE ALWAYS WITH ME. MAKE ME AWARE OF YOUR PRESENCE.” YOU TEACH US THAT BEING IN GOD’S PRESENCE IS BECOMING AWARE THAT HE’S ALWAYS PRESENT. WHAT DO YOU SAY TO READERS WHO LONG TO HEAR HIS VOICE AND SAY THEY DON’T? WHO SAY THEY SEEK HIM BUT CANNOT FIND HIM? (BESIDES READING SCRIPTURE?)

This is a difficult question and one about which I’ve had hours-long conversations many times with people of
all different backgrounds. The answer isn’t simple, but I’ll do my best to answer succinctly:

Firstly, it’s important to receive by faith Jesus’ words in John 10: 14 & 27, “I am the good
shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own … My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me.” The Greek word for “known” in verse 14 means “to know,
especially through personal experience”—so, we are designed to experience God personally.
(The Bible study, Experiencing God, comes to my mind. It is an excellent Bible study for
helping people come to know God intimately and how to recognize His voice.)Secondly, it’s beneficial to study the different ways God speaks to people in the Bible. I list some
excellent resources in the Recommended Reading section of the book. I have often found that
once people learn the different ways God speaks, they come to understand how He’s already
been speaking to them, and they just didn’t know it.Thirdly, in my experience, sometimes when people have experienced hurt and / or trauma from
people in positions of authority in their lives, they can transfer the judgments and expectations
that were sown in their hearts from those experiences onto God. Once that pain processes
and heals, they often experience breakthroughs in being able to hear God and experience His
presence personally.

WHAT IS YOUR PROCESS FOR DISCERNING GOD’S WORD OR MESSAGES TO YOU? DO YOU EVER NEED / DESIRE MORE THAN ONE CONFIRMATION?

Firstly, and foremost, whatever I sense God speaking to me must line up with Scripture for it to be a true message from Him. The Bible is the plumb line. I also acknowledge that some things I hear Him say don’t require confirmation. For example, if I sense Him saying how much He loves me, I already know that to be true based on the Word of God. Same goes for all His promises in the Word.

I also discern God’s messages by the ways He communicates to me. That’s why it’s important to learn how He speaks. For example, one way God communicates is through dreams and visions (Job 33: 14-17). He communicates with us according to His ways—and we learn these ways from the Bible. An excellent, encouraging, and easy-to-read book on this subject is Spirit Talk by Larry Randolph.

Another important thing to consider is how important it is to recognize that sometimes we can hear the voice of our own souls thinking that it’s God’s. This happens when our soul (our mind, will, and emotions) gets attached to a particular thing, idea, outcome, etc. I find it important and helpful to include wiser and more mature believers in the process of seeking God for answers to such things for confirmation. I also find it important in such situations to pray and submit my will to the will of God as seek Him.

Finally, when I am making weighty decisions (taking a new job, moving, taking on a new responsibility, etc.), it’s important for me to receive more confirmation because such decisions directly impact resources God wants me to steward well and whose sphere of influence I will be in (people who will influence me and people who I will influence).

YOU TELL YOUR READERS YOU PROCRASTINATED SEVEN YEARS ABOUT WRITING THIS BOOK. HOW DO YOU ADDRESS GUILT, REGRET, OR SHAME THAT MAY ARISE FROM DELAYING OR RESISTING A PURPOSE / MISSION YOU KNOW GOD REQUESTED?

In the early years of delay, I would go through cycles of experiencing guilt, regret, and shame and then repentance for not having written the book. That is when I would once again pick up the writing again. As I matured in God and understood more of His amazing love for me and my identity in Him, I did not experience shame anymore, but still had waves of guilt and regret. In these times, I would talk to God about it and ask Him to help me respond to His call. I would then go to write, but for many years experienced blockages.

This last year, when I began working with my writing coach / editor, it was an incredibly healing experience. Even though I had delayed for so many years, I experienced God’s grace and love in powerful ways as I wrote. I came to understand that I could write the book with Him instead of just for Him. I came to understand that I could write it in His presence. Pretty funny when you think about it, that it took me so long to figure that out considering the title of the book! Words can’t express my
gratitude to Him for helping me fulfill His call to write the book.

NOTE: If you are interested in learning more about biblical dream interpretation, Jeannine has a free teaching podcast available on  www.imagesoflight.org . It is called, “Dreams: God’s Night Parables and can be found in the resources section of the book. The podcast is in two parts and nearly 4 hours in length.

BUY THE BOOK:
Amazon ~ B&N ~ BAM
Indiebound ~ Bookshop.org

Enter the Giveawayhttps://gleam.io/iudzk/river-of-gods-presence-book-tour-giveaway (ends January 27, 2023)https://gleam.io/iudzk/river-of-gods-presence-book-tour-giveaway

The post How to Discover The River of God’s Presence: BOOK REVIEW & Giveaway first appeared on Chris Manion.

An Epiphany meditation based on a sermon I heard at Mass on the feast of the Epiphany.

When we read Scripture, we should ask ourselves what is it saying to me? How does it pertain to me?

In today’s Epiphany readings (Mt. 2:1-12), the wise men know how to read the sign of the times. We call that discernment of the Spirit. How am I discerning the Spirit today? Do I ask God to bring clarity to my thoughts about what I’ve just read in Scripture? Jesus promised us His Spirit would come to bring us understanding.

The Magi followed a guiding star. What’s my guiding star that guides my words, deeds, and thoughts? Am I allowing my past, or God, in order to guide my future?

Does Scripture disturb you?

We see Jerusalem disturbed in Matthew 2:1-12. Does Scripture disturbed me? Should I allow it to?

The Magi sought counsel. Who do I seek counsel from? Do I seek Scripture to guide me?

A Different Kind of King

The Magi arrive in Bethlehem to see a king. They go to the palace but he’s not there. This is a different kind of king. God’s answer to our misery and sin is a Child. God allows a Child to be born. The most powerful Being itself becomes a Child. Do I believe this? Do I see how incredible this is? God, who cannot be contained, gives Himself to us in a Babe. Do I believe?

They give him gifts then leave. Where do I leave God? What do I hope to see at the end of my journey? What do I have to offer Him? What do I really want to give Him as a gift? What is my treasure to offer?

Warned by a dream, the Magi went home a different way. What needs to be changed in my life? What do v I need to do or think differently to draw closer to God? Do I pay attention to my dreams? Does God speak to me there?

Take Advantage of the Eucharist

Jesus becomes present in little pieces of bread for you and me at Mass. The Eucharist is an earth-shattering event. Christ in the host is mind boggling. Take advantage of it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little meditation. Take a moment to write your thoughts to one of these questions in your journal. Open your heart to the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Note that any doubts you have may be the evil one trying to discourage you from drawing closer to Jesus

The post Epiphany Meditation first appeared on Chris Manion.

A road to beginning again.

The older I get, the more I appreciate history and what it teaches me of who I am and how I’ve been taught, what I’ve learned, and what I never knew or have forgotten or have not been taught.

Why We Celebrate Thanksgiving in the USHistorical fact:
On October 3, 1863, while the deadliest war in our nation’s history raged around him, President Abraham Lincoln declared a “Proclamation of Thanksgiving.” Inspired by George Washington’s words 75 years prior, President Lincoln officially declared into law Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Lincoln sewed giving thanks and gratitude into the fabric of our society. His angst about the divisiveness in the nation is the source of the values we hold dear as Americans.
 
Lincoln’s message of harmony and union are relevant now more than ever, says Ben Carson, former Presidential candidate and founder of the American Cornerstone Institute. Today, as in Lincoln’s day, we are a divided nation, reflected in the narrow majorities in our legislature.
 
During this season of Lincoln-inspired gratitude, history challenges us to remember that differences, especially political differences, do not define who we are. At the end of the day, we are all Americans. Most of us are just working to create a better life and country for our children and our grandchildren, no matter what side of the argument we find ourselves on.  
 

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Here are the words Lincoln wrote in his Thanksgiving proclamation.

 “I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.”  

Abraham Lincoln

A United Challenge to Begin Again

I love the name of our country. The UNITED States of America. Our name states a goal that points to the same message Jesus Christ delivered in John 17:21: “May they be one Father as you are in me and I am in you.”

Jesus

Goals point us in the direction of our desired future. Gratitude opens us to stand in hope and grace instead of discouragement and despair.

We are responsible for choosing whatever is true and noble and pure (Ephesians 4:8). I choose gratitude, especially for the hard times like now. I choose dignity and justice for all. I choose an identity as an American and a sister of our Lord Jesus Christ and all the hard sayings he taught us.

“Responsibility cannot be lost, it can only be abdicated. If one refuses abdication, one begins again.”

James Baldwin

Thank you for reading. Check out the books tab for more of my writing.

The post Lincoln, Thanksgiving, and Beginning Again first appeared on Chris Manion.

We’re all afraid of something — spiders, failure, isolation.

Rather than face one of my fears, I’ll procrastinate by doing housework, laundry, gardening, etc.  Last week, I polished a silver pitcher, for crying out loud.

I heard a creative once describe how he tries to do one really scary thing each year. I mean really scary. Shaking in your boots stuff. It’s part of how he feeds his creativity.

You see, he feels he needs to experience what it’s like to be really scared – like jumping from a plane (with a parachute, of course) – so that he can remind himself no matter what he faces, he can make it through. He can face his fears and survive them.

Fear is one of the big pitfalls in the creative life and the spiritual journey. It stops us from moving forward.  If we can somehow make it through the thing that scares us, we exercise the muscles we need to repeat facing fear again. That muscle strengthens every time we use it and although we still are afraid of the next scary thing, we now know (from experience) that we can persevere and emerge stronger from the experience.

Forcing ourself to face our fear and move through it is part of the creative process. I know if you’re not a writer, writing probably doesn’t look scary to you. Trust me, it is. And putting our personal work out into the world, that gives us a real ache in the pit of our stomach.

Fear is one of the great weapons Satan uses to keep us away from connecting with our heavenly Father.

He knows if he can conjure up some image of a judgmental God or get us to believe we are never going to be worthy enough to be loved by God, or forgiven by God, he’ll succeed in keeping us stuck in darkness for a long, long time.

So, these days most of us feel like we’re facing something really scary with the pandemic. Others just don’t believe it exists.  For those of us facing our fears, we are living history. If we’re reading a World War II novel or another themed historical book about people who’ve had to hide for fear of being found or infected, we have a whole new appreciation for the fear they dealt with.

Anne Frank’s diary has a fresh feel to it these days. Check it out.

Tip: do you know you can add a link to your public library to check if they have a book you want in stock?

Facing your fears helps you in your spiritual journey as well. Recognize that fear is one of the Enemy’s greatest, most effective tools. When you sense fear, make the sign of the cross or some other outward action to train your brain to recognize a subtle attack from the enemy. Refuse to allow the devil to scare you.

When I’m afraid, I place my trust in you.

Psalm 56:3

Woman’s Day magazine has 16 more verses on trust. Click here.

The light that we carry as children of God will always overcome the darkness of fear. Someone will surely not like you. Be yourself anyway. Write your story anyway. Talk to your Father in heaven and seek His peace. He’s longing to give it to you.

What scary thing can you do next to help you practice the art of facing your fears? I’d love to hear from you and support you in my prayers.

Read more about overcoming fear:

Facing Your Fear: Creative Meets the Spiritual

Calming End of Life Fears

 

 

The post Overcoming Fear appeared first on Chris Manion.

We’re all afraid of something — spiders, failure, isolation.

Rather than face one of my fears, I’ll procrastinate by doing housework, laundry, gardening, etc.  Last week, I polished a silver pitcher, for crying out loud.

I heard a creative once describe how he tries to do one really scary thing each year. I mean really scary. Shaking in your boots stuff. It’s part of how he feeds his creativity.

You see, he feels he needs to experience what it’s like to be really scared – like jumping from a plane (with a parachute, of course) – so that he can remind himself no matter what he faces, he can make it through. He can face his fears and survive them.

[image error]Fear is one of the big pitfalls in the creative life and the spiritual journey. It stops us from moving forward.  If we can somehow make it through the thing that scares us, we exercise the muscles we need to repeat facing fear again. That muscle strengthens every time we use it and although we still are afraid of the next scary thing, we now know (from experience) that we can persevere and emerge stronger from the experience.

Forcing ourself to face our fear and move through it is part of the creative process. I know if you’re not a writer, writing probably doesn’t look scary to you. Trust me, it is. And putting our personal work out into the world, that gives us a real ache in the pit of our stomach.

Fear is one of the great weapons Satan uses to keep us away from connecting with our heavenly Father.

He knows if he can conjure up some image of a judgmental God or get us to believe we are never going to be worthy enough to be loved by God, or forgiven by God, he’ll succeed in keeping us stuck in darkness for a long, long time.

So, these days most of us feel like we’re facing something really scary with the pandemic. Others just don’t believe it exists.  For those of us facing our fears, we are living history. If we’re reading a World War II novel or another themed historical book about people who’ve had to hide for fear of being found or infected, we have a whole new appreciation for the fear they dealt with.

Anne Frank’s diary has a fresh feel to it these days. Check it out.

Tip: do you know you can add a link to your public library to check if they have a book you want in stock?

Facing your fears helps you in your spiritual journey as well. Recognize that fear is one of the Enemy’s greatest, most effective tools. When you sense fear, make the sign of the cross or some other outward action to train your brain to recognize a subtle attack from the enemy. Refuse to allow the devil to scare you.

When I’m afraid, I place my trust in you.

Psalm 56:3

Woman’s Day magazine has 16 more verses on trust. Click here.

The light that we carry as children of God will always overcome the darkness of fear. Someone will surely not like you. Be yourself anyway. Write your story anyway. Talk to your Father in heaven and seek His peace. He’s longing to give it to you.

What scary thing can you do next to help you practice the art of facing your fears? I’d love to hear from you and support you in my prayers.

Read more about overcoming fear:

Facing Your Fear: Creative Meets the Spiritual

Calming End of Life Fears

 

 

The post Overcoming Fear first appeared on Chris Manion.

Thought for the Day: I will trust and obey my Lord and my God.

The year felt hard. My work as an author overwhelmed me. My shoulders and spirit sagged under the burden of what I felt called to do.

Long sighs forced air into my lungs after my thoughts pressed it out of me. Christmas neared and my heart hung heavy, not like the light-hearted child of God I am.

God spoke to my heart through a friend. “Your body is telling you that you’re doing too much. You need to rest.”

I heard the truth and embraced it with the grumpiness of a child being told it’s time for bed. Despite my “I don’t want to” attitude, I went to bed early and slept nine hours, more than I’d slept in one night all year.

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

I recalled my husband’s words as we looked at the flowering bush in our yard one December morning.  When he said, “It continues to bloom,” I realized my faith blooms as I obey God and control every thought to conform to His will.

Praise you, God, for your daily encouragement. You are the Creator of all beauty and life. Praise you, O wonderful Counselor, for your wisdom and truth that blooms in my heart.

When I finished praising Him, I noticed I was smiling.

My heart lifted like a joyful child. I analyzed what just happened. I’d been obedient to His word of truth spoken through a friend. I rested my body, the temple of the Lord. The morning light filled that temple with grace and beauty. My spirit sang its praise. The overwhelm and exhaustion and my focus on my shortcomings disappeared with the dark of night.

This practice of obeying God as He directs my life confirmed this Corinthians Scripture of taking captive everything thought to make it obedient to Christ. I heard Isaiah’s proclamation in my soul: “See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV).

More Scripture verses bubbled up in my mind like sparkling water.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.” Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

His directive to rest my body shielded me from my burdensome thoughts and gave me strength for this new day. Praise God and His blessings! If you trust Him as a wise teacher, He shows over and over how His directives are for our own good. Make the effort to give Him your ear and obedience, even if it’s grudging like mine. When God shows me my childlike need to trust and obey Him, I learn once again to surrender my will to His.

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

PRAYER: Dear God, help me control my thoughts by obeying you and enjoying your gifts of peace and joy that continue to bloom. Amen.

To read another devotion, click here and here.

The post Take Captive Every Thought; Make it Obedient to Christ appeared first on Chris Manion.

Thought for the Day: I will trust and obey my Lord and my God.

The year felt hard. My work as an author overwhelmed me. My shoulders and spirit sagged under the burden of what I felt called to do.

Long sighs forced air into my lungs after my thoughts pressed it out of me. Christmas neared and my heart hung heavy, not like the light-hearted child of God I am.

God spoke to my heart through a friend. “Your body is telling you that you’re doing too much. You need to rest.”

I heard the truth and embraced it with the grumpiness of a child being told it’s time for bed. Despite my “I don’t want to” attitude, I went to bed early and slept nine hours, more than I’d slept in one night all year.

[image error]

We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)

I recalled my husband’s words as we looked at the flowering bush in our yard one December morning.  When he said, “It continues to bloom,” I realized my faith blooms as I obey God and control every thought to conform to His will.

Praise you, God, for your daily encouragement. You are the Creator of all beauty and life. Praise you, O wonderful Counselor, for your wisdom and truth that blooms in my heart.

When I finished praising Him, I noticed I was smiling.

My heart lifted like a joyful child. I analyzed what just happened. I’d been obedient to His word of truth spoken through a friend. I rested my body, the temple of the Lord. The morning light filled that temple with grace and beauty. My spirit sang its praise. The overwhelm and exhaustion and my focus on my shortcomings disappeared with the dark of night.

This practice of obeying God as He directs my life confirmed this Corinthians Scripture of taking captive everything thought to make it obedient to Christ. I heard Isaiah’s proclamation in my soul: “See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV).

More Scripture verses bubbled up in my mind like sparkling water.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.” Psalm 28:7 (NIV)

His directive to rest my body shielded me from my burdensome thoughts and gave me strength for this new day. Praise God and His blessings! If you trust Him as a wise teacher, He shows over and over how His directives are for our own good. Make the effort to give Him your ear and obedience, even if it’s grudging like mine. When God shows me my childlike need to trust and obey Him, I learn once again to surrender my will to His.[image error]

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

PRAYER: Dear God, help me control my thoughts by obeying you and enjoying your gifts of peace and joy that continue to bloom. Amen.

To read another devotion, click here and here.

The post Take Captive Every Thought; Make it Obedient to Christ first appeared on Chris Manion.

Writers and gardeners have much in common. I know because I am both.

I love growing things from seeds, both as a writer and as a gardener. My husband and I experimented with a patch of mostly green weeds that pretended to be grass in 2020. I decided to plant a wildflower garden instead of mowing weeds. The idea bloomed at the start of the pandemic. It was perhaps my greatest, certainly happiest, achievement during the pandemic besides surviving.

Writers and Gardeners Do a Lot of Waiting and Digging

Before working the soil, I ordered wildflower seeds from Eden Brothers. I highly recommend them. My husband rototilled the front patch of weedy grass several times. Just as writers discover new twists to characters or plots, he discovered, just beneath the surface, buried asphalt remnants left behind years ago by the wonderful workers who paved a road in this little piece of paradise in which we live.

When the soil was finally fine enough and free of most rocks, I tossed the seed mixed with sand. We stomped it in place. For writers, the first draft is where we toss our rough ideas and stomp them into place.

We waited.

We waited some more.

Gardeners and writers do a lot of waiting.

In March 2020, everyone learned to wait. We’re still waiting, however, our waiting contained a promise of flowers that year.

The neighborhood walkers in 2020 watched and waited with me as they passed by the dirt field each day on their daily walks. It seemed like months before the seeds sprouted, then grew and bloomed.

“I see some flowers!” neighbors finally announced to me of their private discoveries. The flowers waved at us each day. First the little candytufts. Then lovely gloriosa daisies, lance leaf coreopsis, lupine, blanket flowers, and black-eyed Susans. So much happy yellowness popped their proud heads to be noticed.

One subtle thing I love about flowers: they don’t discriminate. They smile upon everyone.

Our neighborhood priest, Fr. Tom, makes the flower garden his minimal turnaround point while walking Grace, his golden lab. “Gotta get to the flowers.”

“Next year will be even better!” I promised to those who stopped to compliment the wildflower garden and spoke of how much joy the flowers gave them. We all needed some joy that first year of the pandemic. The work of building that garden produced a double joy within me of making my neighbors happy.

The following year produced an improved field of flowers. Shasta daisies showed up while the candytufts were nowhere to be found.

“Did you plant more flowers?” several people asked.

“Nope, they just reseeded themselves,” I said, a short answer for the truth. Some perennial wildflower seeds take two-to-three years to germinate and flower. The same holds true for writers and their books.

Their comments gave me an idea. I loved those flowers so much that I removed some of the dried blossom heads and scattered their seeds on a cleared area in my backyard. I spend more time looking out the backyard, so why not enjoy them there, too?.

Parallels: Seeds and Stories

If you’re a gardener and a writer, you already know the parallel association of seeds to stories.

An article, story, or book takes more than a little work to bring to life. Rototilling is research. Purchasing seeds is similar to purchasing books or magazines which often give us seeds of ideas for new stories to write. Stomping the seeds into the ground is perhaps like outlining or scratching out the beginning of a story or plotline.

Watering is writing. You can’t grow a garden without water and you can’t grow a book or a screenplay without writing.

Weeding and pruning is editing.

And dead-heading spent blossoms is how we reseed our stories into new articles, blog posts, and future writing essays or books. Repurpose each story or article you write. When you do this several times in new periodicals with creative twists and refinements, you grow your own garden of published works from the hard work of that first imagined piece where you broke ground and grew an idea.

Gardeners and writers. We do much of the same kinds of work. If you’re lucky like me, you get to do both. After all, a writer needs to get off her duff from time to time.

I have a new bloom in my book garden. My first picture book for children. It grew almost the way some flowers show up in my yard from a seed a bird dropped. A true gift from God to bless all who love a little child in heaven.  Look and see if you can find the hidden dove on each page of The Light We Cannot See.

Click here to view all my books.

Read more articles like this.

Why Writers Need a Book Launch Team: We’d Rather Hide

Unexpected Wonderfuls Part 1: Ballast in Quarantine

Facing Your Fear: Creative Meets the Spiritual

 

The post Writers and Gardeners: Promises of Flowers and Books appeared first on Chris Manion.

Writers and gardeners have much in common. I know because I am both.

I love growing things from seeds, both as a writer and as a gardener. My husband and I experimented with a patch of mostly green weeds that pretended to be grass in 2020. I decided to plant a wildflower garden instead of mowing weeds. The idea bloomed at the start of the pandemic. It was perhaps my greatest, certainly happiest, achievement during the pandemic besides surviving.

Writers and Gardeners Do a Lot of Waiting and Digging

Before working the soil, I ordered wildflower seeds from Eden Brothers. I highly recommend them. My husband rototilled the front patch of weedy grass several times. Just as writers discover new twists to characters or plots, he discovered, just beneath the surface, buried asphalt remnants left behind years ago by the wonderful workers who paved a road in this little piece of paradise in which we live.

When the soil was finally fine enough and free of most rocks, I tossed the seed mixed with sand. We stomped it in place. For writers, the first draft is where we toss our rough ideas and stomp them into place.

We waited.

We waited some more.

Gardeners and writers do a lot of waiting.

In March 2020, everyone learned to wait. We’re still waiting, however, our waiting contained a promise of flowers that year.

The neighborhood walkers in 2020 watched and waited with me as they passed by the dirt field each day on their daily walks. It seemed like months before the seeds sprouted, then grew and bloomed.

“I see some flowers!” neighbors finally announced to me of their private discoveries. The flowers waved at us each day. First the little candytufts. Then lovely gloriosa daisies, lance leaf[image error] coreopsis, lupine, blanket flowers, and black-eyed Susans. So much happy yellowness popped their proud heads to be noticed.

One subtle thing I love about flowers: they don’t discriminate. They smile upon everyone.

Our neighborhood priest, Fr. Tom, makes the flower garden his minimal turnaround point while walking Grace, his golden lab. “Gotta get to the flowers.”

“Next year will be even better!” I promised to those who stopped to compliment the wildflower garden and spoke of how much joy the flowers gave them. We all needed some joy that first year of the pandemic. The work of building that garden produced a double joy within me of making my neighbors happy.

The following year produced an improved field of flowers. Shasta daisies showed up while the candytufts were nowhere to be found.

“Did you plant more flowers?” several people asked.

“Nope, they just reseeded themselves,” I said, a short answer for the truth. Some perennial wildflower seeds take two-to-three years to germinate and flower. The same holds true for writers and their books.

Their comments gave me an idea. I loved those flowers so much that I removed some of the dried blossom heads and scattered their seeds on a cleared area in my backyard. I spend more time looking out the backyard, so why not enjoy them there, too?.

Parallels: Seeds and Stories

If you’re a gardener and a writer, you already know the parallel association of seeds to stories.

An article, story, or book takes more than a little work to bring to life. Rototilling is research. Purchasing seeds is similar to purchasing books or magazines which often give us seeds of ideas for new stories to write. Stomping the seeds into the ground is perhaps like outlining or scratching out the beginning of a story or plotline.

Watering is writing. You can’t grow a garden without water and you can’t grow a book or a screenplay without writing.

Weeding and pruning is editing.

And dead-heading spent blossoms is how we reseed our stories into new articles, blog posts, and future writing essays or books. Repurpose each story or article you write. When you do this several times in new periodicals with creative twists and refinements, you grow your own garden of published works from the hard work of that first imagined piece where you broke ground and grew an idea.

Gardeners and writers. We do much of the same kinds of work. If you’re lucky like me, you get to do both. After all, a writer needs to get off her duff from time to time.

[image error]

I have a new bloom in my book garden. My first picture book for children. It grew almost the way some flowers show up in my yard from a seed a bird dropped. A true gift from God to bless all who love a little child in heaven.  Look and see if you can find the hidden dove on each page of The Light We Cannot See.

Click here to view all my books.

Read more articles like this.

Why Writers Need a Book Launch Team: We’d Rather Hide

Unexpected Wonderfuls Part 1: Ballast in Quarantine

Facing Your Fear: Creative Meets the Spiritual

 

The post Writers and Gardeners: Promises of Flowers and Books first appeared on Chris Manion.

I grew up as a cradle Catholic yet have not memorized the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God. I can’t explain it. Mary is even my middle name. You’d think I’d do better.

The Holy Spirit calls me to continue to learn about her. In this blog post, I share some of what I’ve learned with you, suspecting you may be like me—Mary plays too small part in my daily life.

Sister Ann Shields, SGL

This is a “mistake” that needs to be corrected according to Sister Ann Shields, a renowned author and member of the Servants of God’s Love. So here I am correcting it in my wee way for my wee life.

The History of Mary’s Birthday

By long tradition, the Byzantine Church celebrated the birthday of Mary, the Mother of God, the Blessed Mother of Jesus, on the first day of their liturgical year, September 8. (The Catholic Church places Mary’s Divine Maternity at the beginning of the fiscal year but still celebrates her nativity on September 8. See the list of feast days below).

By the 7th century, her birthday made it to the western church and its liturgical calendar. September 8 is nine months after we celebrate Mary’s conception without sin, the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8.

The Church honors its saints and holy ones by commemorating the date of their death or martyrdom. The only birthdays the Church celebrates are those of Mary and John the Baptist because their birthdays are so intimately connected with the birth of Jesus.

John, the last of the prophets, was so sensitized to the Presence of Jesus that he did uterine somersaults when pregnant Mary approached her cousin Elizabeth in her sixth month of carrying her long-prayed-for-son about whom the angel Gabriel prophesied.

John’s mission was to announce the coming of Jesus. Mary’s mission was to bear Jesus in her womb and give birth to Him. Tradition and the Bible state both sets of their parents were not fertile. Their conceptions and births to women beyond their prime were notable and celebrated, and in John’s case, promised by the angel Gabriel. Both John the Baptist and Mary always point to Jesus.

He who loves the Immaculate will gain a sure victory in the interior combat.

Maximilian Kolbe, martyr

 

Mary, the Mother of God—We Celebrate Her Life Almost Every Month

The Church dedicated the month of May to Mary. I remember that much growing up. We had a May crowning of Mary, Queen of Heaven, each year in elementary school and the teachers chose some special boy and girl to place the crown on the head of the church’s statue of Mary as we sang the hymn Immaculate Mary. This tradition continues in my parish today at St. Rita Catholic Church in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida.

I did not realize that except for April, the church celebrates some part of Mary’s life to honor Our Mother. Some of Jesus’ last words were to His Mother and beloved disciple, John. “Woman, behold your son.” Jesus gives His mother to John and the entire world. “Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother.'” Jesus wants us to go to Him through Mary, just as He came to us through Mary.

Her Special Feast Days

Mary, Mother of Sorrows

One way to improve your relationship with Mary and honor her as one of your teachers—she’s always pointing to Jesus—is to choose a few of these special days and on them, ask her to lead you closer to her Son. She wants nothing more than this.

Jan. 1: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (holy day)

Jan. 8: Our Lady of Prompt Succor

Feb. 2: Presentation of the Lord in the Temple

Feb. 11: Our Lady of Lourdes

March 25: Annunciation

May 13: Our Lady of Fatima

May 31: Visitation

June 27: Our Mother of Perpetual Help

Aug. 15: Assumption

Aug. 22: Queenship of Mary

Sept. 8: Birth of Mary

Sept. 12: Most Holy Name of Mary

Sept. 15: Our Lady of Sorrows

Oct. 7: Our Lady of the Rosary

Nov. 21: Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dec. 8: Immaculate Conception (holy day)

Dec. 12: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Some of Mary’s Titles

Mary, the Mother of God, is known by many titles (Blessed Mother, Madonna, Our Lady), nicknames (Star of the Sea, Cause of Our Joy), invocations, (Mother of Mercy, Mother of Hope, Mother of Good Counsel), and names associated with places (Our Lady of Loreto, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Fatima).

Mary is the Mother of Christ, and Christ is head of the Church, so Mary is the Mother of the Church.

We also see Mary as the model of the Church, for she agreed to God’s will to give birth to Jesus despite the possibility of being stoned to death for conceiving a child outside of marriage. She supported and displayed her faith in her Son throughout his ministry.

Some of her titles include:

Ark of the New Covenant. (The original Ark of the Covenant contained the man

na of the Holy Eucharist, Moses’ tablets of God’s Laws, and Aaron’s staff. Jesus called himself the New Covenant at the Last Supper, forgiving all sins and restoring the path to eternal life with his Father in heaven. Mary, who carried Jesus within her, therefore bears this title as the new ark.)

Mystical Rose

Tower of Ivory

Refuge of Sinners

Comforter of the Afflicted

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

My mother-in-law had a special devotion to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. She kept an image of her on the fireplace mantel and lit a votive candle before her image whenever she prayed for a special request or when my husband and I were travelling. Whenever she got mad at Mary, she’d blow the candle out.

Click this five-minute video on the Litany of Blessed Mary for more titles.

Prayers to Mary, the Mother of God

Besides the Hail Mary, my favorite prayers involving Mary are songs.

Hail Holy Queen

Immaculate Mary

Luke 1:46-55/Magnificat: Holy is Your Name

 

Mary, Mother of Jesus,

help me be humble, patient, pure of heart

and obedient

to the will of God.

 

I love that Mayr’s last recorded words in the Bible are “Do whatever He tells you.” May we always follow her counsel and instructions.

Read another post on obedience and how God’s reaching out to you in everyday moments. Click here.

 

The post About Mary, the Mother of God appeared first on Chris Manion.