Restoration of Civility

I posted this over on The Mommy Chronicles, but I wanted to share here as well and get your thoughts.

I don’t know about ya’ll, but Aubrey gets stuck on a book for months before she’ll let me read her a new one at bedtime. It’s been The Bernstein Bears Learn Their Manners since about June now, and honestly, I’d like to take Mama Bear’s Politeness Plan and run over it with my car.

I find it funny that I am so irritated with a book that has such a good message, especially when I’ve used it to teach Aubrey some semblance of manners (thank God she hasn’t really picked up on my road rage yet). I’m sure part of it is that my brain is more developed than my 2-yr-old’s, and part of it is that I am a typical, busy, working American mom. Unfortunately, the busyness of my life is something that I haven’t managed to completely compartmentalize. It oozes into other parts of my life, and where it’s okay to rush to 7-11, swipe my credit card and fill my gas tank in 5 minutes with no human interaction, it’s a different story when people and my to-do list collide.

Recent events have brought to light what we probably knew all along- that people are rude, they will do and say what they want, and feel completely justified in their hissy fits if things don’t go the way they want. From Kanye West’s now infamous rant during Taylor Swift’s stolen moment at the MTV Video Music Awards, to Joe Wilson disrespecting the highest office in our country to the disgruntled Walmart customer, we want what we want, we want it now, and we are entitled to it, dang it!

With role models like these out there, it is up to us as parents to show our children not only the proper way to behave, but the right way of seeing people. If we are Christians, we have an added responsibility to not only see people as people, but to see people as beloved children of God.

Part of the problem is our culture and the way that convenient consumerism has enhanced our productivity while tearing down our relationships, and part of the problem, for me at least, is that I am just so darn impatient! Do I really need to honk my horn as much as I do? I blame the way I drive on the fact that I learned to drive in Mexico City (quick stats: population 30 million, time it takes to drive from one end of the city to another: 2 hours and 45 minutes… you have to be cutthroat on the road or you’re done for), but honestly, that is no excuse, because now I live in Yukon, Oklahoma where the busiest intersection is only that way because it is a major truck stop off of I-40.

I have this mindset when I’m driving that everyone else is an idiot, that they don’t see me or that they should know that people who want to speed (er…ahem…like me) NEED that left lane, so if you are going to go the speed limit, MOVE OVER! It’s like me against everyone else, it’s a fight, it’s a race to get to where I need to be. Add a squealing toddler to the backseat (I want juice! I want my book! I want everything that is too far away for Mommy to safely reach back, grab and hand to me! And if she DOES take the risk, I will throw all those cheerios to the ground because I.WANT.A.SUCKER!!! Waaaaahhhh!) and it makes for one nervous wreck of a mother. My lack of civility on the road robs me of time I could be interacting with Aubrey, singing songs, or enjoying the journey instead of taking the destination for granted. Maybe the Cheerios in my hair wouldn’t piss me off so much if I was paying more attention to what my daughter needed than checking as many things off my list in the shortest amount of time possible.

Now that you think I’m officially the Worst Mother Ever, may I present a redeeming quality? I want to be better. I want Aubrey to see what I do and mimick it and have people comment on what a little lady she is. I want more observations from daycare like I got the other day: “Aubrey is so polite. She always says ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’”. That was awesome to read, and I know that I must be doing something right when I see things like that. We do always make her say please if she wants something, and thank-you after we give it to her, but I want the lessons to go beyond her being able to get what she wants with magic words.

Do we only say please and thank-you because we want something? Because we want people to think we are a certain way? Or do we do it out of sincerity, out of the understanding of The Golden Rule? It’s probably a little bit of both, but I think it has more to do with respect than anything. Ryan and I realized one day that we never said those things to each other and that Aubrey was going to start picking up on it, so we made it a point to be more polite to each other. While it was something we started for Aubrey, it turned into true appreciation for what the other did and ended up enhancing our relationship.

How do we go against the grain of incivility in our culture? How do we teach our children to “mind their manners”? If you’ve been paying attention at all, you’ll be able to answer along with me that it will only get through if we become living examples for those little eyes and ears. I could give you a list of things kid should do to be polite, but you probably know them all.

The best way to teach our children how to be polite, functioning members of society is to be that ourselves. We must be polite to our spouses, our parents, our children, their teachers, and most especially strangers. Don’t discriminate. Everyone deserves to be treated like a decent human being, and as Christians we don’t get the luxury of writing someone off because we don’t like them. We don’t have to be best pals, but we are to see them rightly- as someone that Christ loves and died for just as much as He did for you. With eternity in mind, how can we not try to be a little more civil to those around us?

I was recently reading Michelle Duggar’s blog and admired the way she gets her kids to be the best that they are- through praise! It seems that by praising them when they do something right and taking the time to see and recognize those things works better than always telling them “no”. That woman has 18 perfectly behaved children, and she hasn’t lost her mind, so I am going to try out her method with Aubrey and see how it works. It’s so easy to tear down and let ourselves be torn down (we do it to ourselves most of the time), that I can really see how positive reinforcement would be more effective with kids.

Finally, we need to pray for our children. There are so many things I worry about with Aubrey that if I let myself dwell on them all, I’d lock us all in the house and consider releasing her into the real world when she’s 35. I can’t protect her from people’s rudeness, and even if I banned MTV from our house, she’d probably find some sort of pop star to look up to. What I can do is give her tools to combat the rudeness (pray for them, perhaps?) and establish steady role models that she’ll really respect (hopefully her father and I will fall into that category).

Live it out for them to see, praise their efforts and pray for them. In this world of “me, me, me” and “now, now, now”, it seems to be the best way to approach raising little ladies and gentlemen. What about you? Do you have any fun ways you taught your kids manners? What did they respond to?

For now, I suppose I’ll spare The Bernstein Bears their destruction by Versa for a few more days. After all, Mama Bear has been around a lot longer than I have… she must know a thing or two.

Change is in the air

It’s been awhile since I have written about my life as of late, so I thought it was time for another update. I honestly thought before this summer that this week would begin a new journey for me- teaching. I got an interview and turned in countless resumes, but nothing panned out. The interesting thing about that is, I’m okay with it. I have kind of taken it as a sign, like I am supposed to stay right where I am for now and teaching may be something I do down the road, but for now, it isn’t something I’m going to pursue. There are so many other things going on that I am kind of relieved that my routine is going to stay basically the same, so God knows what he is doing and he holds my life in his hands!

WORK- General Conference is over, yay! Things are still up in the air a little, but I am grateful that I still have a job and that my responsibilities and requirements will pretty much stay the same. This really has been a great place to work and I am glad that I can stay. I do have a new boss, whom I haven’t seen much, but he is really nice and I think it’s going to be great working for him. No complaints about work, except that, of course, I have to work Everyone knows I’d be much more fulfilled staying home, raising Aubrey instead of sending her to daycare. At the same time, I know that this season will be worth it someday and I am trying to remind myself every day to have hope that my days hold purpose.

AUBREY- about 3 weeks ago, Aubrey’s daycare provider informed me that she would be closing her facility(a licensed home daycare). I was really sad about this for several reasons, but the main one was that I knew that Aubrey really loved her babysitter and the babysitter loved Aubrey like her own. I never worried or felt bad leaving her there, and she prayed every night for her friends there. It was a rough couple of days, but even in that frustration and sadness (once again, I beat myself up for not being able to quit working and just stay home altogether), God worked everything out. The timing was perfect to get her into a different home daycre, very close to my house, and it is run by the President of the Home Daycare Association. This lady is amazing- our pediatrician’s eyes got so big when Ryan informed her of the change, and she said “How did you manage THAT?!”. The new caregiver does pre-school curriculum and turned her garage into a classroom. Aubrey has done really well there, and is responding to potty training already! Every morning is still really hard (we’ve been there for about 2 weeks now) as Aubrey is figuring out that this is a permanent deal, and she cries a lot… but once she gets used to it, it’s going to be so beneficial for her. She talks about her teacher and the other kids the whole car ride home and I can tell that once she gets over me leaving in the morning, she has a blast. She’s talking up a storm and stealing our hearts more and more every day.

MARRIAGE- Ryan and I are doing great. Pastoring a small group as well as the Singles at Divine Life has been a wonderful, team-building experience for us. I am really grateful to have such a wonderful man of God leading our home. We have been doing some counseling and it has been SO GREAT for us! I have come to the conclusion that couples need counseling at least twice (preventatively): before they get married and before they have kids. Its been a blessing to work out issues together, be creative together and to get on the same page about everything from household chores to when we’ll have our next kid! I recommend it to all married couples, even if nothing is wrong, persay, its just nice to be able to lay it all out every once in awhile.

CHURCH- like I said before, pastoring has been wonderful for us. We are excited to see what God is speaking to Divine Life and happy to be a part of serving Him. The church is doing great- in fact, tonight we launch our youth group and next month we’ll install a children’s pastor! I think God for bringing the right people into our body at the right time to serve others. It’s never easy, but always worth it.

We went to Las Vegas at the end of June and it was a lot of fun- very cool that we got to go with friends and while it was exhausting, it was a much needed getaway for us. We got back the night before Aubrey turned 2- the whole family came out to our house for a BBQ on June 28th and Aubrey enjoyed her Nemo party (she’s obssessed with that crazy fish!). I also got my garden planted and growing, but a bug of some sort attacked my cucumbers and green beans. I have had an amazing harvest of banana and jalapeño peppers and herbs though. My tomatoes are finally acting like they are going to give me something this week, and last week I discovered the cutest little watermelons forming in the watermelon patch. It was a lot of work and fun, but I think I’ll scale it back next year. Ryan got the backyard done and Aubrey’s swingset up and she loves that thing. I think she could swing all day if we let her!

Well, I think I’ve covered my whole life other than the dog, who still resents Aubrey and somehow manages to take up our whole bed every night, leaving Ryan and I curled up into opposite corners. If you are someone who prays for me, please pray for peace and contentment. I want to be effective and not slumped in self-pity, which I tend to do with feeling like I’m not living my full purpose right now. I know my time will come. I am also really working on prayer. I was never really one to pray a lot, especially out loud, and pastoring has definetly shown me that I need to get over that. More than that, I have a powerful tool at my fingertips and I need to use it! Know that I make an effort every day to pray for you if you pop into my head, but I covet your prayers as well!

I’ve had a great summer but I’m ready for fall- pumpkin decor, hayrides and apple cider candles! Life is good- I don’t deserve it but I’m thankful to God that he’s given it to me. Enjoy the rest of summer, then it’s time to copy Hobby Lobby and bust out the Christmas decor!

Recap of Lent and hope through Easter

Lent has been packed with new beginnings for me. I can’t say that I stuck to my diets, at all. First I decided to give up meat but then realized that I was only eating pasta and bread- not great for all the work I’ve done at the gym since new year’s. So I changed to no carbs. Unfortunately I have no self control so I failed miserably at that as well. One other thing I vowed to do and have been pretty consistent with is prayer. I will admit to anyone that before Lent, I was not a person who prayed, and I still have a LONG way to go. I hate praying out loud because I feel awkward. Ryan always prays such beautiful prayers and I feel like I will never be that eloquent. I also tend to get distracted really easily. I know these are not excuses and becoming a pastor at Divine Life has made me realize that, like it or not, I am in ministry now and I might need to pray ever so often.

 

So, I ordered some Anglican prayer beads off of Etsy, dug out my “Praying with Beads” book and every night before I went to bed, I’d pray my rosary. If you want to know more about the Anglican rosary is, click here. You may think this all sounds very ritualistic and it probably is, but for me, I had to have that discipline to begin with. The book is a great guide because I didn’t quite know where to start. I started off just reading the prayers for each week (The prayer beads are made up of twenty-eight beads divided into four groups of seven called weeks. In the Judeo-Christian tradition the number seven represents spiritual perfection and completion. Between each week is a single bead, called a cruciform bead as the four beads form a cross. The invitatory bead between the cross and the wheel of beads brings the total to thirty-three, the number of years in Jesus’ earthly life) and when I got to the end I’d go to bed. But something happened along the way- I decided to dedicate the last week to personal prayers. I found myself praying for Aubrey, for my dad’s job, for my marriage, for my co-workers… and I realized that this praying thing is more like conversation than anything. It has been wonderful to come to the realization that God is here with me, that he CARES, that he loves me and that I have access to that.

 

My diet failed miserably, but Lent has held more growth for me this year than ever before. It was more than “meatless Fridays”. I have been broken and in that brokenness, understood that I have not taken God seriously. It’s a strange balance between realizing how Holy and Awesome He is and feeling Him embrace and love me. I want to be reverent towards Him while, at the same time, running into His arms as His child. I have made some decisions regarding how I will express this reverence in my worship as well as letting go of some inhibitions that were in place for my own comfort zone, instead of true honor to God.

 

I feel like I have only scratched the surface on these revelations. I also feel like they are so childlike, and I can’t believe it’s taken me 27 years to understand the importance of prayer and study. Becoming a pastor has pushed me to prepare every week for Wednesday night, to pay more attention on Sunday nights, to be open to conversations with people and to actually seek God instead of just letting “church” happen to me. I am excited for what is to come- if this is but a shadow, I can hardly contain the anticipation of what I will learn and become in the days ahead.

 

Easter is always a special time of year for me. Like Christmas, it always drives home the significance of what Christ has done for us. It boggles the mind when I sit down and reflect on it. On good Friday, I feel the pain of what Jesus’ mother must have felt as he went through the Stations of the Cross. On Holy Saturday I reflect on the despair that must have been felt by those who loved him and had placed all of their hopes for Messiah in Him. And on Easter Sunday, well, I feel the joy and hope that comes from knowing that death did not win!

 

This past Sunday the worship team introduced me to this song. It is simple but powerful. The chorus doesn’t have a lot of words, but the ones it contains really drive home the truth of this season- HE LOVES US! Why else would the Creator of the Universe come into this earth in a most undignified and unusual way, to live an ordinary life followed by 3 years of ministry, and then a horrific and humiliating death? The only answer is “He loves us, oh, how he loves us”! If I can understand one thing, it would be this. Life might not be what I dreamed it to be. Bad things may happen, good things may happen. But one thing is always constant and that is what Christ has done for not only me, but the whole world.

 

Lent may be over, but my newfound disciplines will continue the work that God has started in my life through it. Easter will come and go with its lacy baby dresses and Easter baskets, but the truth of my salvation will always be there. I’ll end with a quote I found today:

 

“Easter says you can put truth in a grave, but it won’t stay there.” –Clarence W. Hall

 

HE IS RISEN!

Lenten prayer for the day

God of love, I know that you are the source of all that is good and graced in my life. Help me to move from the life of sin to which I so often cling, into the new life of grace you offer me. You know what I need to prepare for your kingdom. Bless me with those gifts. May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen.

This is taken from here, a great resource of prayers and readings for this season.

Here’s something to chew on…

Quote of the Day:

“The way that begins in the fear of God leads to grief that brings us joy and finally awe. Accept the truth of Christ crucified, and be sorry for your sins. His blood washes all souls clean. Don’t forget to exercise your soul in godly sorrow. Before you look to God for the sunshine of his wisdom, get on your knees and give him your helplessness and failures. Offer the One who loves you your shame, and live a godly life. When reading, pray for inspiration. When questioning, pray for a stronger loyalty to God. When exploring the earth’s wonders, pray for a greater appreciation for God’s mystery. When working, pray for grace. When studying, ask to be taught, above all things, how to love. And when you gain understanding, pray, ‘God, keep me humble’.”

~Bonaventure, Friar and leader of the Franciscan order (1221-1274), from The Soul’s Journey into God.

Prayer

Well everyone knows how upset I am about the way the election went. I feel a lot of things, among them dissapointment (in my fellow Americans and even my own family), fear, annoyance and irritation. And you know what, that’s okay. I don’t want you to try and convince me that I shouldn’t feel that way. I am sick of hearing why I am wrong, these are my feelings so leave me alone, I will feel them as long as I need to. That being said, I know I can’t stay in this funk forever or my husband might leave me. I don’t count myself as Pentecostal or charasmatic. I go to an Anglican church about twice a month by myself, and if Ryan was with me on it and my family wouldn’t disown me, I would so be Catholic. I love the PH church, grew up in it but it’s just not my thing, not the best form of worship for me.

All that to say that I received this from one of our Prayer Directors (I work for the Pentecostal church) and it really comforted me. Since this is MY blog I am posting it and if you don’t like it, please keep your comments to yourself bc I don’t know how to close them.

From: Dr. James A. Roberts

iWIN Director, Rocky Mountain Conference

 

Presidential Prayer

I, like most conservatives, am disappointed in the way the elections turned out. It seems like nearly everything and everybody that I voted for went just the opposite direction. It would be very easy to let a root of bitterness creep in, but we cannot and must not allow that to happen. As Christians we must pray for the new president, as Scripture commands. What should we pray for?

President elect, Obama claims to be Christian, however many of his stances are far from Christian, i.e., abortion, same sex marriage, etc. Pray that he has a true conversion. Pray that those with strong Christian beliefs be protected and not be relabeled “radicals” “bigots” and such. Pray that God would use President elect Obama to bring peace to our society in order for the Gospel to flourish. The black liberation theology, which Obama sat under for many years at his church and to my knowledge, has not disavowed, is not Christian. Some of the positions he has taken and acted upon are destructive of Christian faith. However, a study of the life of Paul shows that God is able to get one’s attention and turn that life around. Pray that it be so with President elect Obama.

Pray that God will bless President-elect Obama’s life, family, and new leadership role. May the One True God speak to Obama’s heart on a daily basis as he makes policy and serves this nation, still the best nation on earth. Prayer is key!
Pray the new leadership will have a cleansing effect on the church in the United States. Sometimes we do not get the leader we want, but rather the one we deserve. We must not put our faith in politicians and or politics. We must repent and trust in Jesus, Who is the head of the church and the only One Who can bring peace to this much-divided land that we call home.
President elect, Obama will soon be taking the oath of office along with a promise to uphold the constitution. Pray that God will hold him to that and that he will be blessed in keeping the oath, along with all of its promises.
Pray that God will strengthen him in every Godly venture and prevent a radical liberal agenda from making headway in our nation. Pray that he will have such a radical, true Christian conversion that he has the courage to be bold with his Christian faith in the administration of our country.
Pray that he steps up to the plate with the promise he made of listening to the other side. History shows that when one party controls both the White house and Congress the tendency is to force their agenda on the other party. Pray that Obama keeps that promise and if he does, he can be a great president.

 Pray for the virtues of prudence and temperance in a culture, which seems to have a disdain for both. Pray that God’s Word will flourish in the United States of America and that God’s will be done.

Pray that Christians would not act like radicals and bigots, and will be given discernment to see God’s plan in reacting to President-elect Obama and his administration (while at the same time not sacrificing principles). Remember that these people are not our enemies. Go back and read Ephesians, chapter 6 and pray that we all keep a proper perspective.
Pray for the upholding of justice, tempered with the right amounts of mercy, for the good of the nation.
Pray for the peace and safety of this nation and pray for peace and safety for Israel.

Pray that Godly people will begin to step up to the plate and be counted. Check your hearts often. Put your hope in Christ.

Pray that all of our national leaders, both current and soon to come will truly acknowledge God, both in word and deed.
Pray that the liberal agenda on abortion, same sex marriage, etc. does not end in a “hate speech” law that would affect churches and pastors ability to speak out on moral issues.
Pray that our new president and vice president will work to establish peace; protect all the citizens of our nation, especially the weak and helpless (unborn babies), and have their speech seasoned with grace. Let all citizens of the United States exercise the freedoms we have been given by God, while at the same time showing honor and esteem to out national leaders.
Pray that President-Elect Barrack Obama and Vice President-Elect Joseph Biden, be protected from harm.
Pray that Almighty God will sit in the councils of our nation and guide our leaders in their deliberations. Certainly, God did not die last night, nor did America. God is still in charge. We are living in some of the most interesting and exciting times in the history of the world.
Father God, we pray that President Elect, Obama, his Cabinet members, Vice President Biden, Speaker Pelosi and all the members of Congress, Governors, all the members of the state legislatures, nation wide and all others whom are placed in authority over us, will take such measures as will preserve peace and Godly order in our land.
Protect this nation and it’s leaders from weapons of destruction, so that we may be a light set on a hill, illuminating the Gospel to the entire world. Give all of our leaders strength, Godly wisdom, and courage to do those things, which will serve the Kingdom of God and also the best interests of our entire nation and its people. Turn the hearts of our leaders in a right direction and help them maintain a just and righteous peace.
God Bless America

 

 

In the words of Martha Stewart, that’s a good thing!

(Side note: Martha is one of my personal heroes when it comes to domestic goddess-ness. Is the woman even real?!)

Something that is always running through my head that I don’t vocalize nearly enough is that my church is awesome. Divine Life is unlike any other church I have been to- it practices Christianity in so many real ways that you are constantly aware of how your life should, can and does affect the world around you (which can actually be pretty annoying when you want to have a selfish fit ). We are Pentecostal in tradition, but probably have the most “un-Pentecostal” order of service that most are used to. We meet on Sunday nights and our service is very… well, I supposed “organic” is a good word to describe it. There is an atmosphere of reverence but the freedom to worship how you want. We have stations that you can visit during service to give of your offerings, take communion, journal, do artwork and submit prayer requests. This encourages me to be an active participant in worship, not just standing there and letting the worship team be the only active participants. The sermons delivered are very intellectual and really make you think. There is usually time at the end for questions and clarification.

Like I said, it is unlike any other church I have attended. I say all of that to give you an idea of what to expect if you ever want to check it out. With so many great options in Oklahoma City, I know you have your pick of which church to visit, so I for one would be super pumped if you showed up

Okay, I said all of that because I want to encourage you all to begin to live out what I dub “Practical Christianity”. We go to church on Sundays and hear about how much God loves us, how we should respond to Him; we get instruction on how to go about this life and how to get through another day. But another thing that should be taking away from Sundays is how to live Christianly. I am no expert on this, to be sure, but hopefully the conscious effort is a good start. As Christians we are to show Christ to everyone. We are to behave in a way that humanizes people, and that takes an effort to get your focus off of yourself.

An example of this from my personal life is a little story from my banking days. I was in college working as a teller and my grandma in Chile had just died over the weekend. I wasn’t going to get to go to the funeral and was dealing with the fact that she wouldn’t be at my wedding which was 2 months away. An older lady came in and did a deposit. Being distracted, I gave her the wrong amount of change (I felt tears coming on and honestly just wanted her to leave so I could go cry in the bathroom). Man, that old lady just laid into me on what an idiot I was, how I was trying to steal her money, blah blah blah. I just burst out crying right here and the whole story poured out of my mouth- “I’m sorry but my grandma just died and I am getting married and she won’t be there and I can’t go to the funeral and I won’t have any closure and let me just count it again, please give me a break I’M HAVING A REALLY BAD DAY!!!”

The look on homegirl’s face was enough to make me feel like a jerk, but I am sure her level of jerkitude was much much higher. She mumbled an apology and sent me flowers the next day. I wasn’t trying to make her feel bad, I just wanted her to understand why I was having a “human moment” and to treat me as such. I’m sure we all try our hardest to think that there is always a reason people act the way they do when they mess up our order, miscount our change or cut us off right before the light turns red. But making a conscious effort to live Christianly, to humanize people by our interaction with them- well, that is rewarding in itself.

I kind of got off on a tangent there but that is one of the greatest things I have learned at DLC. And now I just want to thank my church so much. Ryan and I recently learned of a family in need. They are a family just like any of us- nice house, two cars, two kids, good family. However, due to choices and outside influences and people who DON’T make it a priority to put people above money, they are in a tough spot. Looking for a well-paying job these days isn’t easy and with two small children, simple things like diapers and food can cause major anxiety when it comes time to purchase them.

At our small group, Ryan and I asked for the group to pray for them. We asked them to pray practically, that they find jobs. We asked them to pray spiritually, that God would heal the wounds that the bad turns of luck had inflicted on them. We asked them to pray for the couple’s marriage and for their family. Our small group pastor took the needs, anonymously, to our congregation. The response was amazing- not only because of the amount of diapers and supplies that came in, but that it was for people they didn’t even know. They just know that we care for and love this couple and that they needed some help.

Last night we took the stuff to the family and they were surprised that our church would do that for people they didn’t even know. But to me, and many other Christians in this world, I am sure it would be only natural. There is the mindset of “there is a need that I can help meet, so I do it”. Who cares if they don’t go to my church or don’t belong to my political party… who cares if they live here or North Dakota, who cares what the circumstances are? I am proud to be a part of Divine Life, because it is made up of people who will drop what they are doing, re-prioritize and practice their Christianity. It was more than we asked for, but the impact reached further beyond the phrase “We’ll be praying for you”.

Prayer is essential. Everyday Christianity benefits from prayer and spirituality. But it is most seen and felt when it comes to those practical, everyday actions. I challenge you to implement the goal of humanizing those you come into contact with, and to live it out for all to see. How can that be anything but a good thing?

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair. hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.