A Godly Meditation - Thomas More

I am working through a book called spiritual disciplines, and the first section is on meditation. This selection spoke to my heart and brought me back to reality. We are called to love God above all else. I pray it speaks to you as you read it as well.

Give me Thy grace, good Lord, to set the world at naught; to set my mind fast upon Thee; and not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths.
       To be content to be solitary; not to long for worldly company; little and little utterly to cast off the world, and rid my mind of all the business thereof; not to long to hear of any worldly things, but that the hearing of worldly phantasies may be to me displeasant.
       Gladly to be thinking of God; piteously to call for His help; to lean unto the comfort of God; busily to labour to love Him.
       To know mine own vility and wretchedness; to humble and meeken myself under the mighty hand of God. To bewail my sins past; for the purging of them patiently to suffer adversity; gladly to bear my purgatory here; to be joyful of tribulations; to walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.
       To bear the cross with Christ; to have the last things in remembrance; to have ever afore mine eye my death that is ever at hand; to make death no stranger to me; to foresee and consider the everlasting fire of hell; to pray for pardon before the Judge come.
       To have continually in mind the passion that Christ suffered for me; for His benefits uncessantly to give Him thanks.
       To buy the time again, that I before have lost; to abstain from vain confabulations; to eschew light, foolish mirth; and gladness; recreations not necessary to cut off; of worldly substance, friends, liberty, life and all, to set the loss at right nought for the winning of Christ.
       To think my most enemies my best friends; for the brethren of Joseph could never have done him so much good with their love and favour as they did him with their malice and hatred.
       These minds are more to be desired of every man than all the treasure of all the princes and kings, Christian and heathen, were it gathered and laid together all upon one heap.

Comments

In the Nursery: Whole Hearted Parenting Manifesto

I recently finished a book by Brene Brown titled, DaringGreatly . It really moved me, and I am definitely still processing it. At the beginning of the book I wasn’t resonating deeply with the topic of vulnerability, as most people will tell you I am an “open book”. I will answer most questions without holding back and love to deep dive into good conversation. However, what I came to realize through her many examples is that we all wrestle with vulnerability, guilt and shame throughout this book even if is more momentary than constant. I gleaned SO MUCH from this book that I did not anticipate, and I thought I would share this Parenting Manifesto that she put right at the end of the book. I am printing it and framing it for our nursery, as I think it communicates some deep parts of my heart cry for parenting my kiddos well. I hope this resonates with someone else as much as it did with me. I needed these words to remind me that parenting is not a checklist,

At the Library - May through September 2019 Reading

We had another baby in May (SO much more on that later) and blogging has obviously taken a back seat, but I am still reading for pleasure and have managed, in my sons first four months of life, to complete these 8 books! Y'all, I remember a time when even completing 2 books a year would have sincerely sounded daunting, much less with a newborn. If you want to read more, you can find the time! Take stock of your days and see where you are wasting hours. For some of these, I listened to the audio book while I was pumping or watering the garden. Rather than give you an individual breakdown of each of these books, I just want to report I found them all incredibly enjoyable. A total cross section of a food memoir to a psychology deep dive to nature centric novels, I would recommend them all in different capacities. We have fallen a bit behind on our Bible reading, but we WILL finish by the end of the year. You do not make it to September

A Penny For Your Thoughts - Looking Back & Missing Italy

I took this my first day in Italy, and will always remember my town just like this... I realized something about my writing the other day, and that is that I am much more present in my writing than I am in my brain. I am constantly thinking back, but I never write about my past. Sure, I write a story here or there reminiscing on my African travel, but rarely do you hear about my life pre-California unless it is in reference to my family. Lately, I have found myself pining for Italy. Did you know I lived there? Probably not, because I rarely mention it! I knew I was going to love it there, but it has stuck with me since the moment I left. I have wanted to go back every minute of every day since then. The simplicity of life, the emphasis on slowing down, the architecture, the food, the flowers, the people, the color, the trains, the bikes, the gelato, the smiles and laughter, the wine, and the cities are only scratching the surface of things I love from the bea

Mrs. Rogers Neighborhood

Search This Blog