IG recap: August 12th and August 3rd
The Devil Will Try to Distract You
Just popping into your feed with a reminder that the Devil can and will use every resource within his means to keep you from changing your behavior.
If you are trying to grow in purity, the impure temptations around you will multiply.
If you are trying to grow in patience, all the most frustrating situations and people will all find you at once.
If you are trying to be less lazy, it will rain, you won’t feel well, there will be minor inconveniences, you will be given a plethora of good reasons to just relax and push things off another day.
We have seen this more and more as we continue to transform our lives by God’s grace, in our family and in our individual lives.
Personally, when I started meditating more, my phone kept blowing up in the evening just as I would settle in to pray. Work emails, multiple strings of text messages or questions, one night there was even a phone call later than usual.
I am in the middle of a big trust fall into God’s arms regarding my health journey. He called me to surrender more of my physical healing and pain to Him, and it has been a hard road to walk.
Today as I battled a migraine, I prayed and tried the non-medication things at my disposal and they didn’t work. Finally, I decided to take a hot Epsom salt bath and just pray and rest with Christ.
This is how that went:
-The first 10 minutes I was suddenly struck with an irrational, intense fear of being struck by lightning because of the summer storm outside.
-Just as I was settling down, I spotted a *not small and very active* spider in the corner of the bathroom. So, the dragon slayer (aka my amused husband) was called. The spider crawled into a hole between the wall and the cabinet, so he caulked the hole (and entombed the spider).
-Minutes after that was handled, the auto shop called him with a quote twice as high as we expected for what we thought was a minor car repair.
Praise be to God as I type this, the migraine has finally subsided.
But I share this to remind you: be vigilant when you’re trying to grow in virtue and heal wounds! The Devil hates to lose his hold and will fight to keep it.
So fight back! And may God protect us all. 🙏
Lessons in Healing and Growing as Part of a Marriage and Family
Lessons we’ve learned the hard way:
– Praying for your spouse is not optional. If you aren’t praying for him/her and for God to help him/her grow and heal in the ways your spouse needs it most, it will show.
– Luckily, when you start praying, the fruits of that will show, too. But, it requires patience, perhaps days, weeks, months, or years of patience. Only God knows how long, but your prayers will help you both through the times of waiting and of growth.
– The state of your own soul will determine the state of your family. If you are not living for God, your spouse and your children will suffer the consequences, sometimes before you feel them yourself.
– No one knows what’s going on inside your marriage and family better than the two of you and God. That does not mean good, holy people outside of it cannot be of help or provide important counsel and guidance in hard times. But, it does mean other peoples’ opinions do not matter. So, don’t let them influence your actions and decisions.
– Your kids are listening and watching to the things you do, the ways you act, and how you talk to each other. They’re observing this just as much if not more than they are listening to the things you are telling them directly. And yes, it impacts them. This cannot be underestimated.
– Healing — physical, emotional, mental, spiritual — takes time. Love, compassion, and being there for each other as friends too, not “just” spouses, helps.
– One hour of time alone, away from the kids to actually have a complete, uninterrupted conversation, can make a life-changing difference.
– Don’t wait to share the things God is putting on your heart about your family’s future.
We’re only five and a half years in, but God is teaching us many humbling lessons.
Catholic apologist and author Scott Hahn says marriage is a sacrament, because it would be impossible without the added grace.
He’s right. He’s also right when he says marriage contains the greatest hurts and the greatest joys. It’s all in seasons, but if you let God guide them, they’ll all work toward a greater good.
Married couples, what would you add to the list?
Praise be to God ❤️
For the next couple weeks, I will be reposting my recent reflections from Instagram here to catch up the blog. Then, every post on Instagram will be reshared here as a post one at a time so you can follow in either place and receive the same content.
A Catholic's Perspective 