More than halfway to Pascha!

 Well dearly beloved friends,

we have made it to another Friday in Great Lent.

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I know Lent can be a very challenging time.

For me as well...

but God is with us and promises mercy.

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I have been thinking of St. John the Wonderworker,

Archbishop of Shanghai and San Francisco 

and the wonderful stories in this book,

that appears sadly out of print...

I am blessed to have a copy of it but was hoping to get

a copy of it for a dear friend; if anyone has

a copy for sale in their church bookstore, etc, do let me know!

(email here).

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I took this picture this morning

of one of the pictures that I love of St. John

and that I often think of when thinking of his love

for others, especially children.

I love how loving he looks at them.

A good reminder of how Christ Himself loves children

and how Christ is the source of all goodness and light.

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I am reading a story of another beloved Saint,

St. John of Kronstadt,

in the recent issue of the great

journal, road to emmaus:

and it is so wonderful to read more on 

St. John of Kronstadt!

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I love this quotation of St. John of Kronstadt:

"When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the Saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are directed all its rays. Try to understand what this means."

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I was talking to Mr. Husband the other week

about how when I was younger,

I worked at the Bible Camp I loved and had the honour of 

talking to a young girl (who had a troubling dream) about how 

when I first flew in a plane, 

I realized that all the clouds I would see from below, that were dark,

were only hiding the sun that is there

and that we must remember that above the darkest of clouds,

there the sun is still shining.

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We do not understand often why there are dark clouds in our life;

why is there tragedy, heartache, confusion...

but Pascha is real;

Christ is Risen from the Dead.

He is preparing a place for us in the Heavens.

Goodness is REAL... sometimes I find that I and perhaps others 

forget... but true goodness, light and mercy is found

in the Person of Jesus Christ.

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So I thought I would write on this today,

in hopes of encouraging us in the struggles that we 

find ourselves in.

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Yes, we are in a battle that is still being waged but yet

the battle is won; 

I know I can get so fainthearted when I see all the hard things

around me and my faith is often weak...

A few weeks ago I was so discouraged

by what I could see in part as my lack of faith;

but I was reminded of the great gentleness of God and of this

simple prayer that I clung too during those times:

A Prayer in Times of Despair

O Lord, it is so easy to walk with You when things go well and nothing seems wrong. Yet, now I feel as Peter must have felt as he saw You walk towards him on the open sea. He tried to come to You and then lost hope and began to sink. When I am down, come to me as You came to Peter. Help me, even though my faith seems weak.

God is merciful and is Love,

the source of Love and the Definition of Love...

May this day be one that we

remember that even as we see our shortcomings,

when we repent of them we are given

the doorway of hope and the possibility to defeat despair...

May God bless and strengthen us in our Lenten Journey!