Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

I am honored to be included in a blog co-op called Sunday Snippets-A Catholic Carnival. Thank you for checking me out and thanks for great insight of other bloggers. Please check out the network: http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2013/09/sunday-snippets-catholic-carnival_14.html#links


Something Old Something New



We are told in Ecclesiastes that there is nothing new under the sun. Eccl. 1:9

But with Fall approaching, it is appropriate to say, "I'm turning over a new leaf."

Because the Word of God is what it is... is Who He Is... because the Bible is living and active, I argue with Ecclesiastes, but with utmost reverence.

I am referring to John the Baptist, when he said, "He must increase, and I must decrease."

John 3:30.

You know how it is, when you read or remember something you've thought about before and now it contains something relevant to your life, right now?!

I took a walk last week and fought with this verse.

I've reckoned with this truth before.

This time was a new circumstance, a new reason to question God.

My children are growing up fast.

I am in transition. Again.

The only thing constant is change, right?

Transition is uncomfortable, even disorienting.

How can I decrease when I already feel small?

There are less dirty dishes in the sink.

The grocery bill dwindles as the tuition bill grows.

Laundry heaps are less heaping.

I avoid descending into the basement. There are too many empty rooms.

My house's square footage increases.

I feel alone.

Even though I still have three kids at home.

"So what does that mean Jesus, that you increase and I decrease?" I ask aloud as I kick a stone downhill.

I don't want to explore that truth.

It seems lonesome and boring.

Yet that is what I am now.

I reason. Maybe then, to increase my focus on Jesus and lesson my gaze on myself, means things can only get better, bigger. God promises to enlarge my path.

A friend of mine quit smoking. She did it because her husband didn't like her habit.

She decided that she didn't want smoking causing fights and getting in the way of her relationship with her husband.

I said, "Good for you."

She explained that she is grumpy sometimes. She's a bit edgy.

But at the same time, she doesn't want cigarettes. The yearning for them is gone.

She's noticed that her breathing is better.

She realizes from other smokers that it stinks, and how she hates the thought of how she might have had bad breath or reeking odor.

Then I realize that to give up self, to decrease desires that are fleshly, will inevitably serve the self.

My friend gave up smoking for someone she loves, and in the end, it will be good for her also.

She will benefit most of all.

So initially I think I am giving up freedom, feelings, wants, and desires, but really God gives them back to me in the right order, with balance and perfection.

It is really for me that I decrease and Jesus increases.

That is how much He loves.