Believe Reflections: "My Daughter, My Precious, My Child"

A couple weeks ago, nearly 75 women came together at Two Talls Too to listen to Andrea L. Blair, DMHG, talk about her experiences with cancer and divorce. Her talk inspired a number of reflections from me, this being the second.

"My Daughter, My Precious, My Child"

Mrs. Blair shared with us a moving story of a time when she heard the voice of God. She heard a voice outside of her self call her, "My daughter, My precious, My child." Her voice cracked and tears fell as she told us about this experience. This was a life changing moment for her. This experience led to her suffix, DMHG, Daughter of the Most High God.

This makes me ask two questions, the first of which I'll ask this week.

Why can't we consider ourselves God's daughters?

We know God loves us (John 3:16). We know we are made in His image (Genesis 1:27). Why is it so hard to claim that for ourselves personally? I can think of only three answers: sin, self-esteem, and suffering.

Sin

One meaning of the word "sin" is to "miss the mark." Now, who has never made a mistake? I don't think such a person exists. And God will always take us back. He rejoices in taking us back (Luke 15:7). As Catholics, we have a very tangible tool in which we can come back to God. We can talk to the priest, acting in the place of Christ, and receive absolution. We can even feel his hands on our head, if we choose to confess face to face with the priest. Here are a couple short videos from a great website, Busted Halo, that discuss issues with going to confession and how to do it:

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Self-esteem

We are told by the media all of the time: "You are not pretty enough," "You are not smart enough," "You are not rich enough." It's hard to keep in mind what God says: "You are fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalm 139:14) This video made the rounds on social media a couple months ago, but it might be worth another visit. This is a video of real women being photoshopped and their surprising reactions:

Suffering

Sometimes I just don't feel like a beloved daughter of God. I don't think I'm alone. Things happen in life and we wonder, "Where was God?" I can't give you a magical answer. It's one of those questions each and every believer has to answer for themselves. My answer won't necessarily work for you. Your answer probably won't work for me.

All I can do is offer examples. A quote I take comfort in is: "God has a will in everything, but not everything is His will." A lot of the world's suffering boils down to somebody's mistake or somebody's sin. My suffering is not God's fault, but God can be present with me in my suffering.

Another example I've heard a lot over the years, even though I don't find much comfort in it personally, isn't really an answer at all. It's advice to lift up our suffering to the Lord. Some people find a lot of comfort in uniting their suffering with the suffering Christ endured on the cross.

Our speaker, Mrs. Blair, I think would take comfort in the opposite of my quote above. Some people can definitely take comfort in the belief that everything happens for a reason and God is ultimately in control.

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All readers: You are welcome to join us for the next Ladies Night Out, Food and Faith! Stay tuned. We have them every other month on a Monday evening. I'll be posting the details once we have them.

Believe Reflections: What is Love?

Last Monday, nearly 75 women came together at Two Talls Too to listen to Andrea L. Blair, DMHG, talk about her experiences with cancer and divorce. Her talk inspired a number of reflections from me, this being the first.

What is love?

Her husband came home after a long night of drinking and told her he wanted a divorce. He said, "I just don't feel anything when I look at you anymore."

This really makes me angry. Love is not a feeling. Far too many people just don't understand that.

Anyone who has been married or in a long-term relationship can tell you, you don't always feel that warm fuzzy feeling when you are with your significant other. Frankly, that warm fuzzy feeling has a name and it is not love. It is lust. Love is so much more than that.

Primarily, love is a decision. You have to decide to stand by your significant other through thick and thin. You have to decide to treat your loved one with affection.

Now, that might not sound all that romantic. What is romantic about a decision? What about the candle-light dinners? Later this week, we will be celebrating Valentine's Day. The average person celebrating Valentine's Day will be spending almost 134 dollars on their loved one. We are told by the greeting card industry that we have to give cards to everyone. Men, in particular, are told that if they really love the special woman in his life, he would give her diamonds.

I would ask everyone, instead of thinking about the gifts and the sex, think about real love. Think about sticking with that one person for the rest of your life. Think about how Jesus gave us an example of real love in dying for us. Real love is sacrificial love.

"No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends." 

- John 15:13

This isn't the first time I've ranted about this topic. I wrote about it for teens at YOUCATholic.com here.

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You are welcome to join us for the next Ladies Night Out, Food and Faith. Stay tuned. We have them every other month on a Monday evening. I'll be posting the details once we have them.