Prayers for timone #8

from J. Reid
"Dear timone, I ask God for your blessings as you journey on to a new and exciting time in your life. I ask God that His presence always be felt and appreciated as you touch those that come into your life. Peace!"

God is so amazing!!! that even as we age, the journey can still be exciting and things can be new. I remember thinking, as a young girl, that when I made it into my 50s I had surely better have done all I wanted by then otherwise I'd be too old to do it. Now?? Well now that I'm in my 50s what is old? LOL!!

God is so amazing. This leg of the journey is awesome!! Well so were several of the previous legs. But I digress. This let of the journey is awesome!! God opened a door that I never saw myself entering. She clearly spoke words of encouragement and offered hospitality.

May we not limit God with our own imaginings.
May we open our hearts to God's workings.
May we walk boldly into the possibilities.
May we appreciate one another by saying so.
Then

            may we know PEACE.

The Applause of Leaves

I am currently at St. John's School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville MN waiting for the start of the Co-Workers Retreat: Imaging the Ministry to start. Since I had about 3 hours, I decided to walk down to the lake. I left my phone in my room charging. I didn't take anything with me.

While sitting on a tree stump watching families play in the water, I became drowsy. I closed my eyes and allowed God total access to me. That's when I heard it: the applause of leaves. It was a beautiful sound. One I had not heard before. I sat so still, not wanting to interrupt and then it happened: total peace within. Once I acknowledged the peace, the sound was gone.
And on I sat,
marveling at the works of God,
praising God.

Below is the lake from my guest room window. Because I didn't take my phone with me, you don't get a view from outside.

Prayers for timone #7

from A. Lyke
"Timone,
I know that our ministerial paths will intersect as we embark on new journeys. Stay blessed and continue to be a gift to the People of God. A."

I am definitely embarking on a new leg of my journey. As of 31 May 2015, I am no longer the Thursday Formation Director for the Augustus Tolton Pastoral Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union. I have been feeling "some kinda way" about this. I started as a scholar in the Tolton Program in January 1996 and had been with it up til now. Wow!!!

I am now joining the faculty of the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University Chicago full-time and my world is so changing. I never thought that I would be back in the classroom after leaving St. Joseph High School (Westchester IL) in June 2004. Yet here I am. And I'm LOVING it.

To be true to what I preach to other ministers/teachers: BALANCE, I'm counting on my husband to make sure I re-cre-ate properly.

May all of us recognize ourselves as gifts to be shared with God's People.

Peacefulness

Prayers for timone #6

from K. Lymore
"timone, May the God of our ancestors continue to order your steps in Him. May your comings and goings be blessed. Lord, give timone wisdom, grace and mercy to walk in her new assignment. Let timone decrease as You continue to increase in her. Amen.

Congratulations on your promotion."

"Order my steps in Your Word dear LORD. Lead me, guide me everyday."
I've been spending some time going back over my life to learn some things and to answer people's questions about this or that. I've found the journey quite enlightening. I discovered that God has been ordering my steps for quite some time. I wasn't aware of this in my early years, but lately I'm too aware of what God is asking. True truth: sometimes I want to not know. True truth #2: I'm so glad that I do know.

The grace and mercy that God has bestowed on me is not just for me. HOLLA!!!! It's for anyone who wants it.

Prayers for timone #5

from B. Stewart
"Dear timone,
May God's Grace continue to shine upon you."

Forget trying to be worthy of God's Grace. Forget trying to earn God's Grace. We are neither worthy nor can we earn it. That's what makes God so amazing--GRACE freely given to us no matter what we've done or what we haven't done.

But here is the rub, accepting God's Grace. For much of my life, I struggled to accept what God so freely gave to me. I kept turning my back, refusing to allow God in. In my confusion and chaos I closed God out, so set against anything good. Don't get me wrong, I did want good. I longed for joy. But in the fog of the enemy I kept turning in circles thinking I was moving forward.

Then one day, too exhausted, I clearly heard God speak to me. She was calling me out of my chaos. Finally, I let go of my way and took His hand.

Now, it's not about what God will do, it's about me keeping my face turned toward God's Grace shining upon me.

Peacefulness