Do Not Worry

"Do not worry"

This article is taken from the Meditation of the Day for Saturday, June 23rd in the Magnificat. It touched me, as I hope it will touch each of you.

Never look toward the future with anxiety. "Be not solicitous. Consider the lilies." The present is the will of God. Therefore no over-compunction for past faults, no worrying over the future, no anxious peerings into the darkness. "Watchman, what of the night?" We can safely leave all that in God's hands. They are the hands not only of a clever, but of a wise architect, and all power is in them. In our Lord's last hour, when He seemed utterly forsaken, and gave that cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" Even then He yet realized that it was by His Father's will that He suffered, and presently, when dying, again cried out, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
Whatever happens to us through God's will is always the best possible thing for us. God is not only good, very good, supremely good, but the only good. Therefore His will is and must always be the best for us ......
So we see that all circumstances, however adverse they seem to be to us, are always favorable to God's plan, always, always, as to the blind man, the best for us.
His hands are strong and powerful hands and we can confidently rest there. Can we not sometimes see in the hands of a clever artist, or surgeon, the strength and deftness expressive of the mind that directs their action? But with God, they aware not only the hands of wisdom, but of love, and it is only when we leave all things in His hands that we find complete serenity; and then a great peace shall come into our souls.
Father Bede Jarrett, O.P.

Jameson Clare

          On Thursday morning, June 14^th at 8:40 AM, God sent one of His prettiest little angels down to Mark and Sara Jarding at Bellevue Hospital. That is when Jameson Clare Jarding came into this world. She has lots of dark hair, a perfect little nose and smile, and little eyes that smile at you.

          She got to meet Grandma and Grandpa Jarding and her big brother about midmorning that day. Her brother wasn’t quite sure what to think, but he was curious about her enough to touch her, hold her for a few seconds, and move her head around a bit.

          Grandma Jarding knew what to do with a new granddaughter right away. She held Jameson Clare and cuddled her like the treasure that she is. This is Grandma Jarding’s first little girl in 32 years of marriage to me, so Jameson will fill a special spot in Grandma’s heart. I assume she may become a bit spoiled before it is all finished.

          Now it was Grandpa Jarding’s turn to hold this little bundle of joy. You may have noticed a similarity in our names. Jameson was born on June 14, and my birthday is on June 18^th. I am moved by her name, and the fact that she is named after me. She will break a few hearts in her later years, but I will rely on Mark and Sara to regulate her suitors a bit. I asked Mark what he would think about a tattooed suitor with big ear rings coming to the front door and asking for Jameson. He didn’t think that would be too good. Isn’t it funny how these things work out?

          When little babies are sleeping in your arms, they often make little squeaks and quick little smiles. We always said those were angel kisses on the new babies face. Jameson got lots of angel kisses while I held her.

          We had a great few days in Omaha, watching our oldest grandson, Kolbe, while Jameson was deciding to join us. Kolbe was a good boy and a lot of fun. He is pretty sharp and a busy guy. It is pretty easy to figure out what he wants, and he was fun to be with for those few days.

          God, thank you for grandchildren, for new babies, for moms and dads, for grandparents, and for all the beautiful gifts you give us each day of our lives. Thank you especially for sending us one of your angels!

Potato Chips

This story was sent to me by one of my cousins, and I loved it. Here it is:

Potato Chips

A little boy wanted to meet God.  He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six-pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man.  He was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons.  The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase.  He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him some chips. He gratefully accepted it and smiled at him.

His smile was so pretty that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.  Again, he smiled at him.  The boy was delighted!
They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave; but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the old man, and gave him a hug.  He gave him his biggest smile ever..

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face.     She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?"
He replied, "I had lunch with God."  But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what?  He's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"

Meanwhile, the old man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked, "dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied "I ate potato chips in the park with God."  However, before his son responded, he added,  "You know, he's much younger than I expected."

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime!  Embrace all equally!

Have lunch with God.......bring chips.

Send this to people who have touched your life in a special way.  Let them know how important they are.  I did!!!!

God still sits on the throne.  You may be going through a tough time right now but God is getting ready to bless you in a way that only He can.
Keep the faith!

June 12, 2012

          

June 12 today – what a nice day once again! Everything is pretty green around here, and we have had some nice days. A bit windy, but not too bad overall. We are supposed to get rain now in the next day or two.

The boys and I have one bird feeder ready for the auction, and the roof is going on unit number two. If that granddaughter holds off for a day or two, and I have a good day tomorrow, we should get it completed. This round of chemo is making me pretty tired for some reason. I have to have naps to keep up the pace.

We had some old friends stop to see us today, Don and Donna Neises, and their daughter Deanne. I worked on their farm way back in the early 70’s. Don is a saint for putting up with the dumb stuff I did. I got equipment stuck, didn’t know how to run things, and had to be one great farm hand, but Don never raised his voice. He is one of the most patient guys I have ever known. I learned a lot those two summers, and had a lot of fun working on their farm. It was great to see them again.

Margaret and I have been going on some walks and some bike rides. I am getting a little work done in the garage, and working with Tom now to train him a bit in the business of construction. We have a bag ready to go when we get the call that a baby granddaughter is on the way! Sounds like she will enter this world no later than June 18^th, Grandpa’s birthday! The 19^th is grandma’s (and great grandpa Jim’s) birthday as well, so we have two possibilities for double birthdays there.

I have been hearing the cardinals and seeing them almost daily, many days several times a day. God is good, and His eye is on the sparrow! Take care.  

June 8, 2012

Today was a nice June day. Kind of hot and a bit windy, but for South Dakota - about average. Do any of you remember wooden umbrellas come from knotty pine forests – or Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord? I told you there would be a test.

Margaret and I went to the oncologist today to get the info on our next round of chemo treatment and to get evaluated a bit on how I am doing. I believe I passed the test for now. I get to start taking twice the dose of chemo I had taken before, but only for the first five days. I still take the mayo treatment drug every day. We are starting a series of 28 day treatment cycles now. We meet once per 28 days with the oncologist and the research nurse to evaluate the course of treatment and how I am doing. After 6 of these cycles, we may be done with the Temador, but I am not sure on that yet. I am scheduled for an MRI of the brain on July 5^th and a meeting with the Dr. Tolentino on July 6^th to see what they find. Hopefully they find a brain and not too much more, but time will tell.

We saw Phyllis and her daughter Teresa today. Please say a prayer for Teresa and her family as she gets through her treatments. She is a pretty positive young lady, and she can use our prayers.

I have been feeling pretty good. I have lost some taste for some foods, but I need to drop those twenty pounds anyway.  I sleep really well, and have been gaining some energy this last week. Tonight we went for a walk, and I heard a red cardinal most of the way. We saw him sitting on the upper branches of a tree quite a ways away on the way back home. When I got home, I saw a male cardinal eating at our feeder – I figured that was a hint to sit down and blog a bit. God is telling me that He is there for me and watching everything I am going through. He is always at my side, I just need to look for him.

Make it a great day, and look for God in your life – He is there!

Fear of the Lord

Fear Of the Lord is the seventh and final gift of the Holy Spirit. This is probably the most misunderstood gift of the Holy Spirit. To Fear the Lord is to have a desire not to offend Him in any way. A part of this gift is the certainty that the Lord will provide us with the grace we need in order to keep from offending Him. A true Fear of the Lord allows us to not offend God because we love Him and we fear offending Him because it hurts him.

That is the final Gift of the Holy Spirit. Now we need an acronym that helps us to remember the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in their proper order:

Wisdom

Understanding

Counsel

Fortitude

Knowledge

Piety

Fear of the Lord

Wooden Umbrellas Come From Knotty Pine Forests.

The test will be next week. Work on memorizing these gifts. Make it a great day!  

Piety

Piety is the sixth gift of the Holy Spirit. Piety is a gift that allows us to worship the Lord in our best capacity. This gift sounded to me like the gift of purity of heart, which maybe it means as well. The information I have read on it describes it as our wanting to worship the Lord out of the fullness of our hearts rather than from a sense of duty.

Piety gives us a willingness to worship and to serve God beyond it being something we are supposed to do. Piety makes these things something we live for and long to do each day. We want to worship and serve God out of our love for Him because of the gift of Piety.

It was a great weekend. We had nice weather for a couple of bike rides. The bike paths on this side of town are getting finished and make a nice place to ride without the danger of getting hit by a car. They are such a treasure that this City provides for all of us. I know the construction along the paths gets people a bit excited, but the finished product is just great. We get to ride along the river and Skunk Creek in some really nice areas.

I spent a couple of days working with Tom and John to build some bird feeders. They both have expressed an interest in learning more about woodworking, so we are taking on a project together. I had sent for some plans for a nice bird feeder and a bird house made of either redwood or cedar. We have opted for cedar. These are not beginner type projects, but they are good for the boys to learn about the different aspects of woodworking. John was running the router like an old pro, and Tom learned the intricate art of cutting curved pieces on a band saw and sanding them into shape. These feeders have a lot of small detail that makes them look nice, but also makes them more difficult to build. They will like the finished product, and they will be proud of what we have built together. If we stay on track, two of them will be auctioned off at the upcoming Jarding Family Reunion on June 16^th. That gives us 12 days to get them finished and to get them finished with a coat of finish. Jarding family members will want to get their bidding numbers early!

Make it a great day! Tomorrow we learn about the gift of Fear of the Lord.

Knowledge

Knowledge is the fifth gift of the Holy Spirit.  This information is copied from an article by Scott Richert:

“Like wisdom, knowledge perfects the theological virtue of faith. The aims of knowledge and wisdom are different, however. Whereas wisdom helps us to penetrate divine truth and prepares us to judge all things according to that truth, knowledge gives us that ability to judge. As Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ, writes in his Modern Catholic Dictionary, "The object of this gift is the whole spectrum of created things insofar as they lead one to God."

The Application of Knowledge:

Knowledge allows us to see the circumstances of our life as God sees them, albeit in a more limited way, since we are limited by our human nature. Through the exercise of knowledge, we can ascertain God's purpose in our lives and His reason for placing us in our particular circumstances. As Father Hardon notes, knowledge is sometimes called "the science of the saints," because "it enables those who have the gift to discern easily and effectively between the impulses of temptation and the inspirations of grace." Judging all things in the light of divine truth, we can more easily distinguish between the promptings of God and the subtle wiles of the devil.”

          Make it a great day! Tomorrow we learn about the gift of Piety. 

Fortitude

Fortitude is the fourth gift of the Holy Spirit. Counsel is the perfection of virtue. Fortitude is a virtue in that it gives us the strength to follow through on what counsel suggests that we do.

Another name for Fortitude might be courage, although Fortitude goes beyond ordinary courage. Fortitude is what gave the martyrs the strength to suffer death rather than renounce their Christian beliefs. 

Fortitude is what we need in today’s society to stand up for what is right and renounce those things that are against our Christian beliefs. We need to defend life from the moment of conception until the moment of a natural death. We need to defend marriage and the family. Marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman that is meant to be blessed by God. It is not meant to be only a legal agreement that allows insurance and social benefits to both parties.

Go out there and use the gift of Fortitude to defend your Christian rights and beliefs!

Make it a great day! Tomorrow we learn about the gift of Knowledge.

Counsel

Counsel is the third gift of the Holy Spirit. This one is a little tougher to understand. We will need to use the gift of Understanding to figure this gift out.

What I read said that Counsel is the perfection of the cardinal virtue of prudence. Prudence can be practiced by anyone, but counsel is supernatural. Through the gift of Counsel we are able to judge how we should act almost by intuition. We need not fear to stand up for the truth, because the Holy Spirit will guide us in defending those truths.

To quote Scott Richert, “Counsel builds on both Wisdom, which allows us to judge the things of the world in light of our final end, and Understanding, which helps us to penetrate to the very core of the mysteries of our faith.”

From what I understand of Counsel, with this gift we will know the right thing to do without spending a lot of time deciding what is right or what is wrong. The Holy Spirit will guide our choices and our actions when we keep ourselves in a state of grace and prayer.

Make it a great day! Tomorrow we learn about the gift of Fortitude.