My wife and I got out of town for a few days . Our children were in and out of our NH escape based on their schedules. It was nice being out of the daily routine. Where we stayed does not have great cell service or wi- fi so it was like dialing back on the technology. I like this place for this reason as well. 🙂
Lake, mountains, pines the call of nature and the quiet presence of mind and Spirit. God in the silence where personal thoughts, reflection and sharing with those that I love is what this life is about.
Life is simple I think that we complicate it at times.
We returned home yesterday afternoon and we attended church and as always it was beautiful. Fathers sermon spoke so directly to me on all that I have been dealing with. If you listen God counsels , conforts us and makes sense out of this life.
The veil is drawn back and we grow ever closer to his love and protection.
Trust in the God who created and loves us. Amen. 🙂
You know, Growing up I heard an expression alot. It was that we make our plans and God laughs at us.
When I was younger I thought it was witty. But as I have gotten older I think that it is not the best tribute that we can give God.
Heres why, Life happens we all know. God has given us free will so we make our own choices. That statement Jesus laughs at us can imply that he is mocking us when stuff happens or we have a failure in our personal journeys. My feeling is this, God does not mock us for making mistakes or take joy in our negative situation. God is not arrogant he is perfection in every way.
What God does expect for us to do is to converse with him , pray and get guidance on a given situation and to move forward with renewed vigor towards a positive outcome. Amen.
A couple of weeks back my phone rang here at the homestead. It was a wonderful friend who lives out of state checking in to see how everything was going. He said that he and his wife and children were flying in for a few days and invited us to come visit them.
Well, my wife and I accepted their invite to visit and they were staying at beautiful ocean front hotel in Glouster. In life , we are privaledged at times with very special friends. This couple and their family falls into that category.
Nothing is ever a big deal to them. Their quiet faith is demonstrated in every action in their lives. They are a very healthy presence to be around. They had attended church early this Sunday morning and went to purchase items for a barbecue. They cooked a dinner that you could not believe on a grill and out of their hotel room.
We all sat and ate on the front patio area and other vacationers staying at the hotel marveled at the feast that was made for us. So, our friends true to form did what they always did fed anyone that was at the pool area. littkle kids with hotdogs and others with chicken, steak and vegetables. Its a moment that my wife and I will never forget
Good will abounds where ever they go.
Later on Janet and I sat outside with them. sitting around the open air firepit watching the sea crash into the rocks and shared our lives adventures with eachother. at some point the subject of my blog and a book came up. I expressed to them my feeling that I do not feel called in this time. Plus everbody and their mothers has a book now. its almost a cliche.
I feel that if my blog helps people thats great but I am currently not called to make my blog into anything more that it is.
When we left to come home I felt a little empty knowing that I would not see our friends for a long time once again.
Moments that we have with loved ones whether family or friends need to be cherished. Time goes by quickly and you want to appreciate those moments and thank God for them. Amen
What a beautiful and peaceful day at the ocean. The sun, the breeze, the laughter, the sharing of faith made it unforgettable. It was a special moment in time and in our hearts  🙂 Thank you our dear friends for never forgetting us. True friends indeed.
God has been so good to myself, wife, family and to all of you too. 🙂 Recognize this in your life and love oneanother.
In this life the challenges that we face can make us into hostages. We go negative and get fearful. That is exactly how I have found myself in the past as recently as today.
Faith can move mountains. We need to love ourselves.  It is only  then that we can see God and the hope in this life.
This song today is one that I had never heard before and it was perfect for todays writing. Its about love. In this case cutting myself slack but pushing through my daily life situation to bring about a change that I can see but need to bring to fruition.
Here is the song….,
We can move mountains personally because GOD loves us and has faith in us too.Â
Nat King Cole Faithful.
Today, I overslept. I got up and got moving . I headed to my dads and spent  some beautiful time with him. He’s awesome. I said to my dad as I left, I think that I might stop and walk the track on my way home. My dad cautioned me to be careful. I assured him that I would be.
An inner battle began to wage as I rolled out of my dads driveway.  Oh, just go home. Your tired and have being doing too much lately I thought to myself. As, I drove home I resigned myself to the fact that I was going home and then it happened. I saw the track and made a right into the parking lot. The track was empty and I said I am going to walk. I shut off the car and took a deep breathe. I was tempted to start the car and leave But, I did not.
I call my car a geriatric geloppy lol. I have my cain in the front seat, my walker in the back seat and my wheelchair in the trunk. So, no matter how I am feeling I have no excuse to stay on the sideline. Life is for the living.  🙂 And, I am going to go for the gusto as they say. !
So, anyways, I was losing energy very quickly. I got out of the car,opened the rear door and got the walker out. I opened it up with my one hand and pushed it and lifted it up onto the sidewalk. I then got up on the sidewalk useing my front hood as a support to lean on. Once up on the sidewalk I strapped my arm onto the walker for safety as I walked the 100 foot or so sidewalk to the track gate. Once I was in that gate I took my hand out of the strap and put the walker against the track fence. I walked with the fence by my right side with the fence as my safety net. I was just soaking up the beauty of the day. I said, thank you for my life to God as I willed my body forward. i looked down the length of the track and thought to myself I can’t do it today. I turned my head to see my car it looked so far away. So, I turned forward once again and headed down the track holding the fence. I began to pray the Our Father , Hail Mary, and the Glory Be in repetition. My version of praise and worship to God for his goodness in my life. After some time I was in the final stretch and I was very tired. I stopped when I got back to my walker . I leaned on the fence and watched some young kids play soccer on the next field and 4 young boys were playing basketball in the far off distance.
The sun was shining , the breeze was so soft and gentle. the birds were flying around. It was so peaceful. I began to remember childhood memories of Bishop field in Arlington. I could picture the playground full of kids and the swings were swinging with 7 or 8 kids riding them. I could hear the sqeaking and squeeling  that they made. It was a beautiful and restorative memory for me. I love life even in its smallest detail.
Then, I became aware that my legs wanted to buckle so I qiuickly strapped on my walker to bare my weight. I began the slow 100 foot journey back to my car. I took my time and took breaks and made it safely back to the car.
The problems that I am experiencing with the walking is really my own fault.I was angry one day and was walking so fast that my body reacted adversely and I almost fell.
The mind can if you let it criple you with fear . So, we need to work on that nasty emotion called fear and push through it. If you have a bad day you donnot become a failure. you just remain a human 🙂The key is to get up and try again. One day you will take 0ne step then two and you will be on your way  towards your own personal victory.
This song reminds me of my situation that I caused with fear of falling. But, I need to let the Faith of my healing God to rain down on me. I will get there because God is my victory. 🙂 He yours too.
This time in my life I have been sorrounded with such beauty in my life. I am recognizing the beauty of a given day and have been taught by time and circumstances to be at rest. Mind, body and Spirit. Since december 31st 2014 I have had beautiful life events occuring. My God daughter Amanda’s wedding, my eldest daughter Stacys wedding in June and my continued healing and coming to a place place of acceptance which is not defeat. As my mom would have said, Â It is what it is.
Yesterday I attended a wake for a lovely women from my parish. My wife and I would see them weekly at mass. Maureen and her husband Roger became friends when I became ill with cancer they made it their businesses to come and see myself and wife to see how we were doing. Maureen always took my arm and would rub it saying we are praying for you. At communion she would walk by and touch my shoulder, just to show tender support. She cared. She was the living Christ to me in my life. A women with health issues of her own but a heart of love, compassion and hope. She recently told me you are such a miracle. I said yes, and pointed towards the crusified Christ over the alter and thanked them for all of their prayers. They were angels to me and today Maureen is with God and is now praying for her family and us from Heaven. Maureen was not afraid of death, because Jesus the son of God made our path clear back to him.
I/ we will miss Maureen but know that someday  we will all be reunited.
Love never ends.
My wife and I will be with Roger at church and pray in thanksgiving for having had her in our lives.
A friend had this on line today and it was really nice. God blessed this country with so much. We need to remember to thank God daily for our bounty of gifts.
enjoy this video. It is before my time but the sentiments are the same.
I wanted today to reflect on what a mom is. And specifically what mine meant to myself, my siblings and by extension to many of our friends.
From my experience of viewing moms they for the most part are the most giving and patient of anyone to their children and have so much compassion for a child who’s parent is not there for them. I watched my mom reach out and pull in some of my and my siblings friends to help them.
My mom Roberta, Bobbie to her friends was the best mom that I could ever have had. God selected her for my dad. They were told that my mom could not have children. My mom and her grandmother began to visit all of the churches in the area and used to pray for children. Again, the doctors proclaimed one thing no children and God proclaimed another after 5 years of no children my mom was given the news she was pregnant. The doctors were not wrong. God was sovereign over everything. He had a plan for her and my dads faithfulness.
He blessed my mom and dad with five children in 7 years.
They were blessed with a daughter and four sons. My moms last pregnancy was very hard as she developed toxemia and during the delivery my dad was asked to chose who would live. My mom or the baby. My dad thank God did not have to make that decision because before he answered my brother was born alive and well. My mom recouperated and went home to take care of her family. My mom and dad never stopped thanking God for their family. My mom always said each one of her children were different like the fingers of her hand. She knew our strengths and weaknesses and challenged each one of us accordingly. She was love personafied.
My mom showed us what true sacrafice was even as my mom became ill herself with cancer she maintained her strenght for her family. When I was diagnosed with brain cancer she remained strong for me and we prayed as a family. She was always optomistic, she was always prayerful and was God strong. She often told me as she was really bedridden that God has me here to pray for you.
What a gift that was to myself and the entire family. My mom showed us the most important life lesson the way to eternity through Jesus Christ. Amen.
So today on my moms 2nd anniversary of her birthday into Heaven, We miss you and will see you again someday. xo  Danny  /  pizza man . lol  ( I was a chubby baby)
One of my moms favorite songs. like her life hopeful, faithful and beautiful. Â yes, God did make the way and she and my dad lead so their children could proudly follow.
Just Danny Speaks 