3 Trees

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing
their hopes and dreams when the first tree said,

'Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver
and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone
would see the beauty.'

Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take
kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world.
Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'

Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and
straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top o f the Hill and
look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to
them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will
always remember me.'

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of
woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This
looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a
carpenter, 'and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he
knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I
should be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The s econd tree was happy
because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because
he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the
Woodsmen said, 'I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this
one,' and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box
for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not
at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of
being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left=2 0alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.
Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they
placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree
The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger
would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew
that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second
tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the
water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to
keep the20men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said
Peace' and the Storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had
carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the
streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to
a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the
top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong
enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was
possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way,
always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God
will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had
imagined.

We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways
are not our ways, but His ways are always best

Please keep this moving... pass it on, so God may inspire more people on the
way.

May your day be blessed. And until we meet again, may God cradle you in the
palm of His hand.

Just So We're Clear...

Obama is not God. And I wish everyone would stop portraying him as if he were.

There has to be something seriously wrong with these people. They are either completely delusional, or just plain mean. Either way I'll stick with my comment that there is something wrong with them. It in some ways reminds me of Obama as St. Martin de Porres before the election, but much worse. I have yet to see Obama portrayed as an important figure of another faith, perhaps they can stop with the Christian imagery and try for something else. I'm sure the Muslim world would be thrilled if he were shown as Mohammed (on multiple levels).



Mary and Obama?: Help protest desecration of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Icon in Bend, Oregon

H/T A Catholic Mom in Hawaii

Thank You Jesus

We have this tradition in our family when we're driving or doing little things and we catch a break to say, "thank you Jesus" or "thank you Lord". I mentioned the habit to my friends once, but they weren't very impressed by it. They said that Jesus wouldn't be too interested in the little occurrences in everyday life and that He didn't have anything to do with those little breaks we catch. I happen to be one to believe that God's hand is in everything, but I told them even if He wasn't involved, I'm sure He likes to be thought of anyway.

I just had a big "thank you Jesus" moment, earlier. Nothing monumental (like the plane that went into the Hudson earlier - that's a big Thank you Jesus moment), but it mattered to me.

Since the New Year the bus schedule that I catch seems to have changed. It used to pick me up somewhere between 5:08 and 5:12. But the past few weeks its been picking me up more like 5:20 and every time the bus is packed and I'm jammed up against the doors. I got out of work at 5, but with the weather being so cold (-10, -29 windchill) I decided it would be prudent to hang around and talk to my coworkers a little. I waited an extra 5 minutes or so, but I figured I'd better get out there to start waiting. So I walked to my stop which is in front of a church. I had brought my camera with to take a couple photos of the pieta they have out in front. I took a couple shots (although I think some of them are shaky) and put my camera back into my purse. I turned around and before I could even get my gloves back on I saw the bus coming. It was 5:10 and I had only been outside for 3 or 4 minutes instead of 20 like I have been the past two weeks. I was never so happy to see a bus in my life and the first thing I thought was 'thank you Jesus'.

Maybe CTA figured on sending out more buses today because it was so cold, or maybe the traffic was lighter today, but whatever the reason I wanted to thank Jesus who is Lord of everything.

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Christ the King

The Good Shepherd

Psalms 23: 1 - 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2 he makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

5 Favorite Parables

Athanasius contra mundum tagged me for an interesting meme. Here are the rules...

1. You name your five favorite parables
2. You tag one blogger per parable.
3. It would be nice if you linked back to this post.

My five favorite parables of Jesus:

1. The Arrogant Guest (Luke 14:7-11)
2. The Wedding Guest (Luke 14:15-24)
3. Mustard Seed (Matthew 13:31-35)
4. The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)
5. Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

I tag: Lounge Daddy, Esther, Chris, Ma Beck, and CCG.

Viva Cristo Rey!

Blessed Miguel Pro

On the day of his execution, Fr. Pro forgave his executioners, prayed, bravely refused the blindfold and died proclaiming, "Viva Cristo Rey", "Long live Christ the King!"

I'm a Mathetes!

Joey at Catholic Homeschooled Teens has nominated me for the Mathetes award. Now I had to read his blog over a few times to get the idea through my thick head that it really DOESN'T have anything to do with math. I just just stuck on that word and thinking it was math related and all I could think was boy his trust is really misplaced! - I'm terrible at math. But when I actually read it mathetes means disciple.

Of course when I realized that I was now being given the award for being a good disciple I got worried that his trust might be misplaced again. But I'm really honored that he would mention me as a one of the 5 that he is tagging with this.

As per the rules I'm including the original post, and 5 (6) blogs I would like to honor.

"Mathetes is the Greek word for disciple, and the role of the disciple (per the Great Commission) is to make more disciples. I'd like to take the opportunity to award five other bloggers with this award and badge for acting in the role of a disciple of Christ. These five all share the message in their own creative ways, and I admire them all for what they do.

In the spirit of this award, the rules are simple. Winners of this award must pick five other "disciples" to pass it on to. As you pass it on, I just ask that you mention and provide links for (1)this post as the originator of the award (Dan King of management by God), (2) the person that awarded it to you, and then (3) name and sites of the five that you believe are fulfilling the role of a disciple of Christ. If you know of other deserving recipients of this award, and would like to start a new string, then please post a link to where you've started in in the comments to this post. I would love for many deserving bloggers to be blessed with this recognition."

In no particular order...

causa nostrae laetitiae
Ward Wide Web
50 Days Later
Awaiting and Expecting in Joyful Hope
Lounge Daddy

I'd also like to add Ruminations of a Christian Conservative Geek and Friends to my list (yeah I know it says 5, but we all know how I have a hard time doing that). They don't blog on religion very often, but I know they're good Christian men, and I want to include them too.

5 Top Reasons I Love Jesus (Part 2)

Ok, its been almost a week, I need to get cracking on this.

1. His love.


Sometimes it just amazes me that Jesus loves me. I try to be a good person, but lets face it I fail a lot - but he loves me anyway. That love also makes me look at others in a more kind way because Jesus loves them too.

2. Sacred Heart

3. Divine Mercy

4. His Mother

5. The Eucharist

6. His Church

Ok thats 6 and I could try to expand on them, but I think they are generally self explanatory.

This was by far the hardest meme I've had to do. And I did sort of take the easy way out, but this is the best I feel like I can do at this time.

I believe...

I believe in God, the Father, the Almighty

maker of heaven and earth,
and all that is seen and unseen.

I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,

begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he was born of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;

he suffered,

died,

and was buried.

On the third day he rose again
in fulfilment of the Scriptures;

he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and His kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son
he is worshipped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

Good Shepherd Sunday

Jesus said:
“My sheep hear my voice;
I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.
No one can take them out of my hand.
My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,
and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.”