My mom is pretty. I have two pretty sisters.
A friend told me, “You’re the pretty one.” I received her compliment on one condition, I’d be the pretty friend if she’d be the beautiful one.
My dad said once when the three of us were all together in the room with Mom in our thirties…
“There’s a whole lot of pretty in here.” -Dad
"Have you ever considered God made you pretty?" I heard asked.
I have and because I have, I try to carry myself like I witness my sisters carrying themselves as our mother's daughters: gracefully
I was listening to a Homily this morning and it mentioned development of doctrine. Doctrine is a belief or set of beliefs. I wondered this morning if Homilies have always been about 15 minutes long. They NEVER felt 15 minutes long as a kid sitting in a wooden pew with no cushions. I wonder if the elderly knew they were just 15 minutes.
The Homily I chose was entitled "God's Poor". I like good titled Homilies because sometimes all I get to read is a title. I have been making good progress in my work on listening skills when it comes to me listening just for me. Part of my work has been being completely silent in the conversation.
"God's Poor" encouraged its listeners to mature in the grasp of the revealed mystery of faith and refine our discipline.
This is just me, but I think the grasp can happen outside of religion. Outside of Scripture, though, I do not think the grasp can happen, and I did not read or memorize Scripture. How do I think we cannot grasp this outside of Scripture? Jeremiah 1:5 #forstarters
I like how Dr. Tony Evans puts it to the listener:
Are you functioning inside your divinely ordained reason for being or not at all?
He described the feeling of not at all functioning inside your divinely ordained reason for being as existing. I agree, and I have a weighted opinion on the matter - You can even be functioning inside your divinely ordained reason for being the best you know how and still feel like you are existing. #itsalottounpack At that intersection, keeping up the practice is where I have matured my grasp of faith and refined my discipline.
And I did not seek Scripture for encouragement to persevere in my practice because that's how Jeremiah 1:5 feels - God already knows who I am. I know who I am. I am who I am. Jesus sees me as I am. -Emily
I like how Dr. Tony Evans describes the frustration in the practice:
"The one who is not frustrated, still desiring but not frustrated, is because they have been called to something bigger that no other person can fix for them, they're into something so much bigger than who they are." TRUE
What is frustrating? The truth. What's the frustrating truth? The need to be concerned.
What is the frustrating truth of concern? As Father James Smith reminded in his Homily, "There are many people that have never experienced genuine love...Many people have never seen what truly self-giving love is like. And we have to lean into that.”
On a lighter note, one simple way I know I am truly functioning inside my divinely ordained reason for being is I will walk into the closet I share with Matt, and I like seeing our same 'ole clothes.
(November 10, 2022 I am not just a pretty face. I am pretty because I am beautiful. I think that reasoning would be called Darling. Grandpa Boldt always called us “You, Little Darlin’!” Grandpa Sugarplum calls us, “Baby” That’s how I know I am darling.
My mom told me what Grandpa Boldt (her dad) told her face-to-face: Never let anyone tell you what you should be thinking, and don’t ever let anyone tell you what you should be feeling. I told my niece the same thing face-to-face when she confided in me, just the two of us, that her friends wanted to influence her.
One Christmas, my niece randomly wanted to send someone a Snapchat. From my list of friends and family she did not know, she chose someone with the same name as her dog. Her Snapchat reminded the receiver to remember to pray. I didn’t influence her choice, and in my opinion, she chose the right message for the right receiver, who was a friend, all on her own. If that is not The Holy Spirit at work, then…
I am just another pretty face.)
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