CWBN Blog Hop – Why I Love My Catholic Faith

Happy Tuesday!

Today I am joining up with Catholic Women’s Bloggers to share with you our experience on how our Catholic Faith has shaped our lives in a Blog Hop titled Why I love my Catholic Faith.  The hop is hosted by Allison Gingras at Reconciled To You. And y’all, these women are super talented. I’m not sure why they let me hangout with them, but I’m thrilled they do.  Go check out their posts for inspiration and great stories.

Welcome back to my sorely neglected blog. Y’all, I’m in a season of neglect. The evil one has thwarted several attempts to draw closer to God, by seriously causing chaos – in my life and in my mind. I have so much to do, I do nothing. For example, I don’t finish a Bible study. Why? Because I’ve taken on three, and  have so many other things on my mind, I end up not doing any.

Rest assured, this is a season. If you have not walked through something like it, you will. So know that you are never alone in anything you walk through. Currently, in our life season, my husband continues to travel, our house is up for sale. Our realtor is not great… I could give you a list, but in charity, I shall keep it to myself. My child is needy – because he can sense the tension and therefore, I don’t get things done – like blog posts, card making, baking for friends catching up on reading, AND to top it all off, an old injury creeped up on me and I’m having surgery tomorrow.  I seriously feel like I may have lost all or part of my mind. HA

So many things have gone wrong, I actually said to my husband, “I give up. I can’t do this anymore. I’m a good person. I thought God was on my side, but you know what – I’m over it all. Why do bad things keep happening?  God has forsaken me/us!” I thought to myself, “I never deserved the life I was given… the abusive mother and all that entailed, the miscarriages, the lack of money, etc. etc. etc.” I was a very abused child, and made bad decisions in my life – and all of it came bubbling to the surface in an angry and emotional hour or so.  I could go into more detail, but I’m hopeful we’ve all had those moments and I don’t really need to give you a bigger picture of my little hissy fit/breakdown, etc.

Before I go on, let me share with you the definition of Forsaken:

I looked it up because I wanted to prove to myself, you see, that God had in fact forsaken me.  And then I laughed and cried…  Do you get why?  I’ll explain… staring at me from the page was ME! I was so frustrated, I actually said aloud that I was done with God – in that moment, I meant it because I was so upset. Sigh. Um – I’m the one who was forsaking Our Lord.

Reading the Magnificat the next morning, the first Bible verses was Jeremiah 29:11 (I’ve added 12 & 13 as well(:

Jeremiah 29:11-13:  For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and com and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.

The Psalm was #38. With this explanation: The penitential psalms very often speak of sin as a sickness brought on by the attack of enemies. Their vivid descriptions of the sinner’s sufferings, remind us again and again that the misery of sin is not what God wants for His beloved children.

I could go into a long explanation of my Faith and why I love it. I could talk to you about The Rosary, Confession, Mass and the beautiful Prayers and hymns… I could tell you about the Body of Christ – both His body and blood He gave up for us, AND the Body of Christ that is His great Church. I could tell you about how I thought I was Catholic, and when I found out I wasn’t I embraced Lutheran Faith, and how glorious and right it was when I finally came back and brought my husband with me. Our son was already Catholic.

However, what I want you to know is that every day, I am reminded how much God loves me. No matter what I have been subjected to in my life due to someone else’s poor choices or mine, God loves me!  We live in a great time, where social media brings Faith to our inboxes; bloggers like this group of faith-filled  Catholic Women Bloggers, The Magnificat, and so  many other books – DAILY, minute by minute – I am reminded that God is all around me.

The Catholic Church has given me a zillion tools to hone my faith and be closer to God, whether I feel close to him every moment or not. I don’t know why my faith is so immature sometimes. I wish I did. But I know that God always reminds me of His presence – and I am so thankful for that. Daily reminders y’all! ❤

Personal Request:  Prayers needed. Things will be difficult in our home the next few weeks. I am having surgery on both feet. Let me explain. In the left ankle – an old fracture needs to be fixed, some bone spurs need to be shaven and arthritis cleaned out. Currently it’s bone on bone. On the right foot, the big toe joint will be partially replaced, arthritis cleaned out and the bone shaved.

Through the weekend, I will be in bed, legs propped up and icing my legs one hour left, one hour right – only getting up to go potty and such.  For the following 3+ weeks, I will not be able to drive or do a whole lot – though I am allowed to walk. I will be on major meds – which I am not good at taking.   Soooo – In your charity, please pray for my husband as he endeavors to take care of me after surgery.  That the house runs smoothly and he and my child survive. I know they will. But I do everything, so it will be interesting. You know how it is, Mamas.

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. I would love your feedback. And please, stop by the Original Post, and check out the others!

Oh and let me leave you with one last thought. Last night, I said to my husband, “I’m afraid. I’m afraid of the surgery and how much pain I’ll be in and how you guys will do, etc.”  I literally then opened my email, and this was there:

Ok, it’s not a great picture, but you get my point, right?  God works fast y’all. There are reminders everywhere.

Photography by Emily Davis

One last thing – one of the best parts of the Catholic Faith, to me, is the study of Saints. They struggled, they went through awful things.. and they managed to serve the Lord in such glory they were canonized for it. Amen! Let’s be like them.

Why I love my Faith, is because all day, every day, there are so many examples of how much God loves me and how blessed I am.

Pray for me – I’m praying for you!

Many Blessings, love and hugs,

Emily