To Worry or Not to Worry, That Is the Question

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time.

“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
Corrie ten Boom

“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” Dalai Lama XIV

“How would your life be different if…You stopped worrying about things you can’t control and started focusing on the things you can? Let today be the day…You free yourself from fruitless worry, seize the day and take effective action on things you can change.” Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free
“Never worry alone. When anxiety grabs my mind, it is self-perpetuating. Worrisome thoughts reproduce faster than rabbits, so one of the most powerful ways to stop the spiral of worry is simply to disclose my worry to a friend… The simple act of reassurance from another human being [becomes] a tool of the Spirit to cast out fear — because peace and fear are both contagious.” John Ortberg Jr., The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You

Laughter really is the best medicine.

Try it

Laugh

And you will see.

You may like it

But you must

Laugh

In order to see

In order to see

Read more at http://www.broowaha.com/articles/16871/worry-laugh-you-choose#cKi2h6c07XDo9Iiu.99 

Interviewed by Tech talk

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This computer illiterate was interviewed for a column called Tech talk!

Catholic Blogger Melanie Jean Juneau By Sarah Reinhard

Our Catholic Blogger today, Melanie Jean Juneau, maintains two blogs: Joy of Nine9 andMother of Nine9. She’s a Catholic wife and mother who lives on a hobby farm and whose computer has lived to tell the tale. When you click through (and you should), you’ll find that Melanie updates each of those blogs regularly with insightful content.

Melanie’s a journalist, so she also writes in about a thousand other places too. Today, we’re going to talk to her about her blogging and, hopefully, inspire you to check them out for yourself!

Tell us about your blogs in five words or less.

Humourous and heartwarming, thoughtful and thought-provoking.

Why did you start blogging?

At the beginning of 2012, I started writing again after taking a 30-year sabbatical to raise nine children on a hobby farm. I closeted myself in a room to sit down and write and then I froze. Although I considered writing to be a solitary craft, looking at a blank screen or talking into thin air was a sterile exercise in futility for me. I could not translate the same creative energy that I experienced telling a story verbally to the keyboard. My intuitive, imaginative side stayed buried and my logical intellect wrote boring mummy drivel.

Blogging has helped melt my prison of isolation because now I am not writing to a wall, now I am writing to real people who respond, offer encouragement and helpful tips.

A year ago I was a complete computer idiot. My kids had to write down instructions to do anything. Many times I spent hours trying to figure out how to do something because I could not even understand the instructions. I knew, though, that writing, and on the internet, was something that God wanted me to do.

Why do you keep blogging? What’s your inspiration to continue?

I have a call and a vocation to witness to the joy of mothering. Also I love writing. I love connecting to the Holy Spirit deep inside my core self and simply allowing words to flow, words that I know come from Him. When I am writing in, with, and through Him, I experience joy.

When you think of the New Evangelization as a Catholic blogger, what excites you? What makes you want to continue?

In our modern society, the internet is the best way to catch the attention of the unchurched, people questioning their faith, or those looking to grow in their faith. Atheists tend to dominate online discussions because Catholics are reluctant to engage in heated debates on line. I don’t have to debate but I can add one more voice to the noisy clamour of secularists on the web. The more sites we cross-post on, the higher our visibility on search engines and the more likley that people who are hungry for God will discover our sites. It is exciting to be part of this New Evangelization.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your blogging?

As people comment on my articles and start to interact with me, personal relationships develope. I was surprised to discover that these relationships are strong, vital, and mutually encouraging. I know that God is using the internet to nourish and encourage His people, to reach out to others in turmoil and to spread His gospel.

In your spare time, what are we likely to find you doing?

I write, comment, or read online. Writing has become a passion. I am happiest when I garden or write. Writing is my vocation; it is not work but part of my life in Him.

7 Quick Takes Friday

•  As believers, we are all connected not only to God but to each other in the Mystical Body of Christ.  It is as if  the Lord has plugged us into an invisible circuit board where a mere thought lights up a surge of power and love that moves with the speed of light directly to the heart of God and to the soul we are praying for. Many times my parents, sister and children realized that when I mention exactly when I interceded for their needs, they had felt a burden lift.

• 

• Today I discovered a heart breaking new post from a desperate single father of  a beautiful little daughter. He has looked for  work for 14 months. A former military guy, he is hardworking and a devoted father who has finally called out through the web for help.

• His blog was a mess, thrown together at the last-minute, a panicky attempt to try one last thing to prevent eviction and homelessness. I KNEW he was legitimate but his wording and presentation would turn people off. So I offered to take a few hours to do a header, new theme, grab some pictures and blog one of his posts on MY blog. Instead of one and two views, he now has 116 within the last couple of hours but NO help= no job, no donations.

• This man is fasting on water and one small meal and day and still scouring for anything he can get. I saw his résumé months ago on the web, did not hear from him till today.

• An donations will be paid back in full, this is a proud guy. I am asking you to pray about it and perhaps, if the Lord leads you to give your tithe to a person this month and not the official parish church, because we are all one Body in Christ. When one of us suffers, we all suffer.

• God is the great “I AM” who exists  yesterday, today and tomorrow. His Spirit mysteriously unites all of us, intimately present to each soul, all at the same time. Our whispered hello to God and each other is called prayer.

10 Tips for Parents from Mother of Nine9

As a mother of nine kids, people often ask me, “How on earth did you manage without any help? “

 

So I present a list of my top ten tips for a happy family life

1.  Focus on the joy of parenting, not on everything we are giving up to raise a family

2. Mothers, remember, we have one of most important jobs in the world because we forming the next generation

  3. Accidents, mishaps and ruined plans will happen everyday, so laugh.

                                                                   

  

4. Praise works; berating  usually backfires. Give good behaviour lots of attention because children WANT our attention and will do anything to get it.

  5. No need to run around like crazy people, putting our children in every single program .                                                                                                                                                                      

6.. Listen to the baby. Read his expressions and body language. In fact become a baby whisper and life will be much calmer.

7.House work comes second; the happiness and welfare of your family comes first. Don’t fight everyone trying to run a perfect home. It is okay to leave a blanket fort or block tower up overnight, when I know they will play all morning with it.

8..Let children learn to do things on their own, like dressing or feeding themselves even if they look a little odd. Their pride will shine brighter than our need to look like a perfect mum.

9. Put our kids needs first . When I ignored their limits of endurance, I created either a clingy shadow or a screaming monster.Then nothing I did or said seemed to help the situation.

10.Slow down. Let our little ones set the pace. Stop and look at bugs and pretty weeds .                        

Our Biggest Delusion

There is a world of difference between a man who is aware of himself, sitting on a hill and looking at a beautiful sunrise and a man so absorbed in that very same sunrise that he forgets himself and becomes absorbed in the scene.I am living in a fantasy world when I see myself as the center of the universe, viewing everything as it circles around me

When I see beauty everywhere, I experience joy and a sense of connection because my eyes are not on myself. The truth is that I am simply part of the whole. Everything does not depend on me. I am free to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature and the Spirit of God which permeates all when I am in the right place in the scheme of things.

I am living in a fantasy when I see myself as the center of the universe, viewing everything as it circles around me. As believers we sing and recite prayers that proclaim that God is the centre of all but our psychological make-up screams the exact opposite. I view people, events, history and yes even God through my eyes, judging what is right, trusting my thoughts and my feelings as the final judge of what is real. When Jesus says that we must die to ourselves, He is not speaking about some pious self-sacrifice that makes us look holy, no He has something much more radical in mind. The kind of inner transformation Jesus desires literally rips the rug up from under our feet and shatters our world view.

Why is modern man so anxious, nervous, out of sorts? Part of the reason is probably many people barely see a blade of grass during their normal work day. Surrounded by concrete and glass, our innate self craves connection with the rest of the natural world, other people , the communion of saints, (both living and dead) and at an even deeper level, God Himself. Instead we live in isolated, man-made prisons which shut out other humans never mind other living creatures and God. Each person is at the centre of their little artificial universe. That means that each of us has assumed the role of king or queen of our tiny kingdoms with everything depending on us.

I was never designed to live alone like an island unto myself. Yet, in my pride, I cling tenaciously to my throne and crown. Only when I was completely depleted and shattered, only then did I resign and give God back His job.

Silly?

Definitely absurd but I only saw this fact after I surrendered and let go of control. What is really important in life is not found in self-created delusion but discovered as I learn to live in harmony with a bigger universe than the one I created.

In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, 'That is mine!' Abraham Kuyper

St. John of the Cross (San Juan de la Crux), who lived in the 16th century explains the inner process of becoming one with Christ, allowing our egos to die,

I lose myself and remain,

With my face on the Beloved inclined;

All has come to rest,

I abandon all my cares

There, among the lilies, to die.

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Our Dogs had Personality Disorders

We often took in animals, usually dogs, who were suffering in the city.

There was overweight, depressed Buster, a Springer Spaniel, languishing in a garage during the day and crated during the night. Opposite in temperament, a German Short-Haired Pointer with A.D.H.D, called Thor,  committed his last crime by grabbing the Easter ham and playing with it like a football.  Neurotic Duke sat crated in a small apartment till his owner returned. Unfortunately this young man trained Duke to play rough games as soon as he was released. Some dogs are bored and act out if they don’t get enough exercise. Usually a combination of freedom and love heals most animals.

My husband rescued a manic- depressive Siberian Husky from a basement apartment in the middle of the city. When Michael walked through the door, this husky was literally running around the living room, on the backs of the chairs and Chesterfield leaping from one to the next without ever touching the ground. His owners pleaded with my husband to take him off their hands and out to the country. We soon discovered that this strong working dog with peircing, light blue eyes, loved to run for up to 20 kilometres yet thought he was a lap dog.

Four year-old Mary named our male Siberian Husky Leisha because he arrived on her birthday. Our family animal lover was positive our new dog was her birthday present. Who were we to argue? She was thrilled with this gentle but muscular pet who patiently let her ride him like a horse and use him as a pillow. Why he even let our cat snuggle up while they both slept.

However, Leisha was not content to lay around the house like more domesticated breeds. His breed ran, pulling heavy sleds in the artic amd we do not like chain up a dog on a farm. Of course, every time we finally thought we had trained our husky to stay home, he would sneak past us and race for kilometres. Invariably, someone called the animal  control officer and the township would charge us $50.00. Soon everyone for kilometres around us knew our dog. Once he managed to squeeze in through a patio door, push open a bathroom door and frighten some poor woman as she came out of the shower!!!

Leisha was never predictable. When Daniel’s hamster managed to escape his cage, Leisha chased him up the Christmas tree and then pulled our decorated tree down on top of beautifully wrapper gifts in a cunning move to nab the tiny creature. By the time I ran downstairs, several little kids were standing on couches screaming,

“Leisha’s trying to eat Hammy!”

The oldest two were trying to hit the preditor with a broom, scolding loudly while Leisha joyfully barked, jumping up and down on the gifts and sticking his nose between the branches of our ruined tree. He might sleep with our cat but obviously rodents did not rate as fellow pets.

Our dog was not content to simply eat dog food; he loved to steal vegetables from the garden.The kids would run into the house,

“Leisha is eating our zucchini again!” or “Leisha is nibbling corn off the cobs!!”

His worst sin, though, was an inborn instinct to nab our free range Muscovy ducks. Hearing screams for help, I would run outside thinking one of my kids was hurt, only to see that once again, Leisha was trotting around, gently but firmly holding a huge duck in his mouth while the kids tried to swat him with anything handy like a tennis racket, baseball bat, hockey stick or fishing net to scoop up the duck. I swear that Leisha grinned the entire time.

Were we crazy to keep theses canine misfits? Definitely. Perhaps only a family with nine kids, farm animals and wild animal pests could cope.

When Animals Are Loved

We believe that kids need to relate to animals to grow up into well balanced, caring adults who can relate and feel connected to the natural world not just technological society.

Michael and I love animals almost as much as we love kids. That love has been a powerful source of energy that has transformed both our animals and children. Watching our children’s delight as they gently held day-old chicks sitting cross legged and giggling under the warming lamps, confirmed how important animals were to their development and sense of well-being.

Just try to come in the front door of our house without tripping over our huge, guard dog. Shadow is a humongous, drooling, black lab mix, with overgrown feet and a clumsy personality. He was part of my children’s lives for 13 years. This dog was the most quirky and annoying pet we have ever owned. He was also messy, bossy and slightly dense. His utterly hilarious behaviour would take an entire chapter in a book to really describe. After any visitor climbs over Shadow, he cannot sit for five minutes without Rebecca’s cat jumping on his lap. He will certainly be distracted by Daniel’s guinea pig squeaking for veggies every time the fridge door opens and he might become dizzy watching Iggy, Mary’s rabbit chase the dog around in circles.

Even farm animals respond to love. Everyone seems to like pigs a bit more these days, especially tea-cup pigs but our family loves real farm pigs. For twenty years we have raised meat birds, laying hens, pigs, a calf and cared for an old horse and a beautiful warm-blooded horse. We've survived many adventures with animals but some of the most amusing and heart warming have to do with pigs.

When the local hog farmer delivers our little piglets they literally leap and twist in utter bliss as they emerge from the truck because they have never breathed fresh air, seen the sun or touched the dirt or vegetation. They dive into the tall weeds, making pathways and flatten little areas so they can sunbathe, rest under a tree, make their way to the food, their mud bath and the low wooden shed with straw bedding. Pigs are very clean and they love to be sprayed with water from a hose; it helps sunburns as does a good thick coating of mud. I don't know who has more fun-the kids holding the hose or the pigs; both are squealing with delight.

Well-loved farm animals want to be part of the family, too. They they keep us entertained with their antics even more than our more traditional pets. Take Daisy. This socialized goat had a charming personality. If she hadn’t seen anyone in a long time, she’d bleat until one of the children at least poked their head out of the door and talked to her. She would have made more friends if she had quit eating my flowers or stealing little people’s’ hats and pulling on their scarves. Consequently, most of the time we tied Daisy to a post so she could see family life but not cause any problems. However, a couple of times a week we let Daisy follow us around in the garden. As long as she mainly ate the weeds.

Moonlight, our ancient but still regal Arabian stallion, also wanted company.One afternoon, this Arabian stallion was plaintively looking through the window. He looked so forlorn that all the kids begged to let him step in for a cuddle. I finally relented, inviting the huge animal to step into the kitchen to eat a carrot and soak in a bit of love for a while. Moonlight then passively followed us out afterwards.

No wonder we cherish these creatures; not only do we love animals, they love us in return, nourishing and enriching all our lives with their antics. Most importantly they reconnect us with the natural world. They bring us back to our more primitive roots.

Copyright © 2010 motherofnine9

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Read more at http://www.broowaha.com/articles/16687/well-loved-animals#uoCiBLqPYFq54dBp.99