Let Go...and Let God!

How do I adequately explain what CRHP is and what it has begun to do in my life in a short 2 weeks? Especially expected to keep the CRHP secrets…

Growing up in my Oklahoma hometown in a family that wasn’t predictable often gave me anxieties about the lack of stability. My grandparents were the constant I needed and helped to provide a Christian base for me. When I left that hometown in search of a life, I landed in Norman, OK. Home of the Oklahoma Sooners. I was where I was supposed to be.

College life was great and throughout I began to see that as a growing adult, life wasn’t always predictable. As sheltered as my grandparents tried to be with me and as steady as their love was, there came a point where naturally life takes control and protection isn’t something a parent or grandparent can do much of. I; however; graduated successfully with an Early Childhood Education degree and decided to plant some roots in my new great state of Texas. Yes, there were a lot of Longhorns around (both mammals and fans), but I had decided to allow my love with my now husband to grow and start a family.

As any family, we all have our highest of highs and lowest of lows. And in those lowest of lows, we all feel alone. As if we are quite possibly the only people suffering and having such lows. It’s easy to see that life can temporarily lose meaning and ordinary things become meaningless. I had definitely reached this point in the last couple of years and have often had a difficult time of getting back to the meaning of life. The pizzazz it once held and the hopefulness that used to fill my heart.

Back in January of 2012, I began to hear more about CRHP and that women and men were experiencing such wonderful things that could only come from committing some time with God. I knew it was such a sacrifice to shut off the busyness of life and truly commit that time to God, allowing Him to fill our lives with that meaning again, that pizzazz and hopefulness that had been lost.

Fast forward to January 2013, I knew it was time. There was a pulling on my heart that said, “Channan, it’s time to heal. It’s time to Let go….and Let God.”

As I arrived bright and early for my CRHP retreat on Saturday morning and after dragging my feet out the door to kiss my children a million times, I felt such a rush of excitement for what was to come. I immediately knew I was in good hands and felt the presence of God.

Without going into too much detail, the weekend was filled with testimonies on God’s love and faith in Him. I was shown that not only am I not alone, but I am in great company with any of the lost hope I have often felt. I was shown that in the darkest times, that God’s strong arms are the one’s carrying us to a safe refuge where hope and times of healing begin.

As I sat at a table of women whom I didn’t even know, I felt such love for them. They each had a story. Every woman, every man, every child has a story. I now look into the faces of complete strangers and have such a strong compassion for each person, not knowing their story, but sure there is one to be told.

Throughout the weekend, the love from the women, the faith that was shared, I felt us all being held by God. The times we are not able to carry ourselves any longer, He does. And I am so incredibly grateful for that. This retreat taught me the undying love of our Savior. The times I felt alone and defeated, I wasn’t. He was there, holding out His hand and waiting for me to take hold so He could lift my heavy burdens. That CRHP weekend allowed me to surrender some of my most heightened anxieties which I obsessively pray for numerous times a day. It was a moment that I recognized these anxieties further and literally handed them over to Him. It was the first time in my life I truly felt I was able to be delivered from the heavy lifting and trust in what was ahead. The very first time I have Let Go…and Let God.

I highly encourage each of you that reads this, if you haven’t already, please sign up for a CRHP retreat should you feel called to do so. It truly is life changing and I promise, you won’t regret it.

Christ Renews His Parish a Male Perspective

 It was after weeks of gently pushing, kindly suggesting, and politely begging that my wife convinced me to attend a “church retreat”.   I decided to trust her. (Sometimes those closest to us know what we need better than we do.)  I was on a business trip in Seattle, when I stepped out on the hotel balcony to enjoy the night air and stare at the stars over the bay when I decided I needed to go to CRHP.   I stepped outside that night to think about my life, my job, my family, and my faith.  All of those generic esoteric questions that I was pondering would soon have an answer.

A lot of the men who have experienced the greatness of a CRHP retreat have similar stories. 

Even though I agreed to go, when I arrived, I was still reluctant to participate.  Who wants to go grunt and beat drums, and share feelings?  Besides, I go to Mass every Sunday with my wife.  I have plenty of great friends. That’s enough, right?  I mean, it was during football season. . . .

So much in this life will always remain a mystery, our Church unabashedly calls them Mysteries, and as such, parts of CRHP should remain a mystery, until you experience it. I will say all of this is available to you, but you have to say “Yes”.

Let’s fast forward past CRHP at what I have gained because I said “Yes”.

I  have friends.  I have real friends, in almost every seating section at nearly every Mass.  Most of them are older than I am.  Most of them grew up in different eras, and different parts of the country.  Some of them have had similar struggles as me.  Some of them are converts like me. Some have had to go through annulments like me. Some have had much tougher struggles than I have. I respect them all.  They aren’t the same generic parishioners to me when I was just going to Mass; they are Charlie, Keith, Chris, Bob, and Ryan. I know their names.   They are great men that I respect and value in my life.
I gained perspective.

I gained a renewed confidence in my faith.

I have a renewed understanding of my relationships.

I have a renewed sense of Whose I am.

I have an even better marriage.  (If your wife has already attended, she will understand)

I didn’t have to grunt, or beat drums, or really even share my feelings, but what I did find was a renewed energy and desire to deepen my faith.  I didn’t know that night in Seattle what I was searching for, but it was simple. . . all I had to do was say yes to CRHP.

 I encourage everyone to go to CRHP.  If you doubt me, then go ahead and sign up,  I dare you.

-Joshua

And the Oscar goes to....

I am a huge movie fan.  Rom-com, action-drama, tear jerker, political thriller, classic.  Love them all.  My taste seems to favor the quirky off-beat feel good movies like Little Miss Sunshine, Juno and Big Fish.  So, a movie fanatic like myself, looks forward to this season—you know, Movie Awards Show Season which kicks off with the Golden Globes and culminates with the pinnacle of awards shows, The Academy Awards.

The Academy Award nominations for Best Picture were announced last week and I was thrilled with the selections. 9 out of a possible 10 films were nominated for the highest film honor and as of today, I have seen 5 of them. 

I have seen Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Argo, Django Unchained, and Les Miserables.  That leaves Amour, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Zero Dark Thirty and Life of Pi on my must see list. I read the book Life of Pi and know the movie follows the book’s ending.  (Semi spoiler alert) That ending drove me insane, so I am not looking forward to reliving that frustration, but I hear the cinematic feats of this movie are worth the surprisingly frustrating ending. 

From a faith perspective, the movie with the best message, religious symbolism and focus on triumph over evil, undoubtedly, is Les Miserables.  Christian themes in Les Mis abound:  forgiveness, redemption, grace and hope to name a few.  If you are not familiar with the novel by Victor Hugo or the award winning Broadway play, the main character, Jean Valjean, played by Hugh Jackman, is a sinner who transforms himself after receiving kindness from a priest.  In the film version, the priest sings, "By the Passion and the Blood, God has raised you out of darkness; I have bought your soul for God!"  Through this encounter with grace, which is far more beautiful than I can portray, Valjean is reformed and transformedI   In turning his life around, Jean Val Jean extends his love and compassion to others by answering a dying woman’s plea, owning up to a crime that he committed that was mistakenly placed upon another, rescues a dying man from war and receives forgiveness and contentment at the end of his life.   The famous line from Valjean’s final scene “to love another person is to see the face of God” sung by Hugh Jackman’s Valjean is reminiscent of the scripture verse from 1 John 4:7,  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is of God; everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.”  In this final uplifting scene that depicts Valjean as prepared to die, asking God to take him to his glory, we see that Valjean is surrounded by his loved one and is received, by angels, into heaven.

Les Miserables certainly is a film that I would recommend for the entire family.  Be prepared, however, there are probably two lines of dialogue and the movie is 157 minutes.  Go to the bathroom beforehand and be ready to leave the movie theatre singing.

Post-holiday “blues”? Bah, humbug!

I’m a procrastinator.  You know the type…you may even be one of these…  Our excuses for this type of behavior range from, “I work better under pressure,” to, “I just can’t seem to stay ahead of everything.” However, in this case, I had mulled my topic over and over in my mind during the holidays, made some notes over the last few days, and tried my best to distill it all down to something worth sharing.  My deadline is end of day today, and I hope it doesn’t show!

Hopefully, something in my posting will strike a chord with some of you.  And I invite you to please post a comment if you react to anything in particular.  In fact, in preparation for this blogging exercise, I went back and read all of the postings since our GSCC blog began.  I had already read some here and there, but I wanted to be sure to read over what all of the contributors had shared.  So many of the postings were very personal, and I was struck by the enormous outpouring of faith and commitment to sharing that precious gift of faith with others, in a word:  Evangelization.  I was disappointed in myself for not ever taking the time to comment on postings that truly touched me.  It seems only three comments have been posted to a single entry, so far.  Sure, we have been moved, and have silently reacted to many, but we just haven’t taken that next step of posting a comment.   Let’s change that!  Let’s inspire our contributors to further sharing, by responding to their thoughts and generating a discussion. 

I would like to begin some commentary by telling Lauren, who most recently shared true inspiration in her “Breadth of Life” posting, that I was so spiritually uplifted by her contribution.  Her wish for us, that we always find the strength to say “yes” to God’s will for us touched me deeply, since this is something I think about almost on a daily basis.  In fact, this very topic of accepting God’s will for us will be receiving renewed attention in my life in this New Year.

The Christmas holidays are now over, kids have gone back to school, families have retreated to their daily lives, and the dreaded process of taking down the tree and storing of ornaments is behind us.  Maybe what many of us feel, in the aftermath of such a glorious season, is a mixture of both let-down (gosh, it’s all over!) and relief (how long could the frenzy go on?)  But what remains, really, is the life-asserting knowledge, that while all the secular signs of holiday cheer have been put aside, the gift of our salvation endures forever and demands our ongoing awareness all throughout the year.  So while we hear terms bantered about like January “blues”, “blahs”, or “doldrums”, there is actually much to focus upon and many reasons to continue celebrating the true meaning of our Christmas season.  Post-holiday “blues”? Bah, humbug!

New Year’s resolutions, per se, constitute a hackneyed exercise:  every year it is somewhat incumbent upon us to work up a list of those areas of our lives that “need work”.  Some of these are the usual:  lose ten pounds, get more exercise, become more tech-savvy (depending on your age group!)  My experience has been that by about July, I convince myself that it can all still be accomplished, and by January, I am disappointed by my lack of success in most of these endeavors!  Then there are “heavy-duty” resolutions requiring feats of character, personal improvement, spiritual growth, and outreach toward others.  These are the ones that sometimes keep me awake at night throughout the year,  as I review my daily actions at the end of the day, and realize that not only have I not stepped up, but may have actually backslid.  And so, another year has come and gone, and like most of us, I have experienced a measure of success in some areas, and failure in others.  But a New Year gives me renewed hope and determination to continue on my journey, albeit imperfect, to grow in my faith, to have the strength, as Lauren wished for us, “to say ‘yes’ to God’s will,”  and to discern how I can best utilize the gifts I have been granted.  I am always reminded of God’s reassuring and unconditional love for us in the words: 

 “Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.  IS 41: 10

May you all be blessed by a year of health, of strength, of faith, and of joy in the knowledge that Christ has enabled our salvation.  ~Cyndy G

Breath of Heaven

My name is Lauren. I am married to Joshua and have two “bonus daughters,” Madison and Emma. I have been a member of Good Shepherd Catholic Community for 4 years and am involved in the Flock, a Small Church Community, CRHP Team 3, and the music ministry. (You may have seen me recently as a cantor for the 11 and 4 o’clock services.)

Music has always been a huge part of my life. I grew up playing piano, singing songs with my sisters, and listening to a very eclectic collection of music with my parents. To me, Christmas and music go hand-in-hand. As a child, I always looked forward to the day after Thanksgiving when we would pull out all the Christmas CDs and fill our house with joyous music. My two older sisters and I would create musical shows in which we would dance around and sing carols while my mom played the piano and my dad played guitar. It was such a treat to perform as a family for our grandparents and relatives, and I will cherish those memories forever. Songs like “The Little Drummer Boy,” “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer,” or anything from John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together were some of our family favorites. (Seriously, if you haven’t heard their version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” you are missing out!)

As I grew up and my faith walk matured, I began to really focus on the meanings and lyrics of some Christmas songs. Suddenly the words to “Oh Holy Night” could bring tears to my eyes thinking of God’s revealing promise in the birth of our Savior.

“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,

‘Til he appeared and the soul felt its worth.”

These words humble me to the core. I think about a world in turmoil patiently (or not so patiently) waiting for the birth of a child who will come to save the world and wash away our sins.

And then I think about Mary; a fourteen-year-old girl who said yes to God. This humble, immaculate, graceful girl agreed to fulfill a promise.

Isaiah 7:14

“Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

As much as I try to imagine what it must have been like to be in Mary’s place when the angel of the Lord appeared to her, I simply cannot. I cannot imagine how scary it must have been to face Joseph, her parents, or her family. I cannot imagine how scary it must have been to journey to Bethlehem, a place without family or a familiar face, and give birth to the most Holy Child. Yet Mary completely trusted God by saying yes to His will for her.

Luke 1:38

“And Mary said, ‘Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.’”

I can’t help but wonder: was Mary scared of what was being asked of her? How did she feel about taking on such an amazing and critical role? Did she know the importance of her role in Jesus’s life?

Whatever the answers to the questions, I feel Mary is such a strong, graceful, faithful woman, and one I hope to model my life after. My love for our Most Blessed Mother and my longing to live my life as she lived hers is exactly why “Breath of Heaven” is my favorite Christmas carol of all time. I cannot hear the song without it stirring my soul and bringing tears of joy to my eyes. I feel that the song truly expresses what Mary must have been feeling throughout her life; from the time the angel appeared before her until her assumption into Heaven.

“But I offer all I am

For the mercy of Your plan”

My hope for you is that this song will touch your life this Christmas season as it has touched mine. May God bless and keep you always…. and may you always find the strength to say yes to God’s will for you, just as our Most Holy Mother was able to do.

The Gift of Time

Who doesn’t feel the time crunch this time of year?  So many things demand our time: holiday parties for school, church groups, employers; shopping; baking; cleaning for relatives to visit or packing to travel to see family; keeping family traditions alive and starting new ones—shall I go on?  Yikes.  It wears me out just to think about it!  So when someone mentions the idea of spending time at a nursing home, shopping for a gift for an angel from the angel tree, volunteering at a homeless shelter, spending extra time in daily prayer, or committing to an hour of Eucharistic Adoration, it probably puts you over the edge, huh? 

 

Do you remember the Gospel reading a few weeks ago about the widow who gave 2 coins amidst the wealthy who were giving so much more?  Jesus called his disciples to him and pointed her out, saying she had given more than the wealthy because she gave from what little she had. Well, what if we think about our time as the 2 coins the widow was holding out?  We don’t have much extra time this month.  So, if we spend even a small amount of it in service to others or in prayer, Jesus will treasure our gift of time; perhaps the most precious commodity during this Advent season!

 

Abbie is a happy wife and mother who is busy trying to practice what she just preached!

Advent Traditions

As parents of four small children, my husband Ryan and I learned very quickly that starting family traditions can go one of two ways.....fun and chaotic, or just chaotic. Images in our heads of our children sitting around creating the perfect Advent wreath translated into a scene from a horror movie as someone grabs the wrong end of a glue gun, someone knocks over the glitter and someone else is eating the candles, while mommy huddles in the corner thinking “why do I do this to myself?”

After several years of “failed” expectations, I learned quickly that the problem was not my children being out of control and wild. It was us (Ryan and I) having unrealistic expectations for creating that perfect kodak moment. Looking back at pictures from when the kids were “really” little, my favorite moments are not the ones that look perfect. My favorite moments are the ones where glitter is everywhere, a kid has wax in his teeth and our wreath is less than perfect. Some how along the way, even though we stumble through, get sidetracked and desperately try to avoid ER trips, our kids “get it”. While we may not do EVERY craft Mom pins on Pinterest, those we do are done with few expectations and LOTS of laughter; all the while stressing the story of Jesus and his birth. Here are a few that we have incorporated into our celebration of the birth of Jesus:

Making a wreath

Good Shepherd has provided a wonderful opportunity for families to come together and make a wreath that can be enjoyed for years to come. There is also a book called Advent Begins at Home . I use this every night during advent. It is full of prayers, crafts and ideas for things to do as a family.

Sing

We are always singing songs about christmas during the advent season. We have a song book and our oldest is very good about finding the Christmas songs and leading the younger children.

Attend a concert

We have been attending the Good Shepherd Choir Concert for years and the children look forward to it every year. They even believe that some of the singers are famous because of how beautiful their voices are.

Adopt an Angel

We save our change in a jar throughout the year and with the money we adopt a family. We also go through our things and donate what we don’t use to charity. There is a fantastic book by Dave Ramsey for kids that speaks to the spirit of giving called The Big Birthday Surprise. It really drives home the act of giving in a way the kids understand.

Advent Calendar

This is a great way to focus on Jesus during the Christmas season. This, for us, is not the commercialized calendar that you see in the store.  While those are great, the Advent Begins at Home book provides a daily activity for you to do as a family or individually. Each day provides an opportunity to do something for someone or reflect on what Christmas means to you. For example, my kids’ favorite activities are the ones that have them draw a picture.

Of course these activities are not all perfectly played out.  The effort is there and the kids look forward to them every year. While in the trenches of parenthood these opportunities of sharing and talking about our faith really make the days of tantrums and tears all worth while. I leave you with my favorite “Kodak moment” and yes this went on the Easter card......

                

Bio-
My name is Leslie. My husband Ryan and I are high school sweethearts from Colleyville. I went through RCIA at Good Shepherd in 2003. Ryan and I were married at Good Shepherd in 2004 and have four children, Cameron (7), Riley (5), Bradford (3) and Elijah (1).