“Jewish and Christian traditions of spirituality speak of the Word of God as the living water whereby the spirit is cleansed and refreshed. A quick sip—an occasional prayer snatched from the jaws of a relentlessly busy world—is better than no water at all, but roots that grow deep draw the water of life by frequent prayer. This living water produces a healthy tree that gives fruit to all who come.”
My spiritual goal for this week is to pray more.
Sounds obvious, right? Well, not for me.
For some reason, prayer is almost counterintuitive at those times when I need it the most. When I am tired, when I am overwhelmed, when I am anxious…I do not instinctively draw close to God. Because I feel abandoned I assume I am…
…and this is something I need to work on.
Maggie’s Safety Tip of the Week: Be alert.
I stopped by the grocery store after my holy hour this morning—just a quick errand for a box of tea. Given the early hour (5:00 a.m.) the parking lot was quiet save for one or two other shoppers. I had just put the car into park when I noticed three swaggering teenagers of the saggy-baggy bottom variety making their way across the lot. Instinctively I locked the doors (which I should have done when leaving the church) and waited—car motor idling, reading our church bulletin—until they passed.
They were about ten feet behind my car when one of them turned, approached the passenger side door of my vehicle, and reached out for the handle. I looked up at him, my heart pounding, and he looked at me.
And then he turned and walked away.
Many women are attacked in parking lots and we need to be on guard. Go quickly from your car to the store and vice versa, and have your keys in hand. Lock your door immediately upon entering your vehicle, and do not loiter. A darkened parking lot is not the place to balance your checkbook, call your friend or read your church’s bulletin. (Present scenario exempted. 🙂
Have a blessed, holy and safe week.
Number 1- thank you for the reminder to go get my Magnificat out of my purse.
AND number 2- that is SO scary! I’m sorry that happened to you this morning and I’ve got a pit in my stomach thinking about it. Good grief!
Oh Margaret, prayer of thanksgiving for your guardian angel, I hope you sped out of there fast!!! Hugs!
That was terrifying! I’m so sorry this happened to you. Thanks for the warning.
Wow, Margaret. I’m glad your okay. How scary! I’m always paranoid about that kind of thing. I’m just surprised in happened in the morning. Maybe those teens were coming back from a party or something. And, with the praying, I am the same way. Whenever I need to pray, really need to, I don’t. I turn to other things to diverte my attention, when all my soul is really craving is God. I will offer up all the little things for you today!
Yikes! I’m so glad you are ok. You never know what can happen when you aren’t paying attention.
I also have a question for you. You don’t have to respond if you don’t want to, but with you seem to be in the know about these sorts of things. I am a convert (11yrs) and we have this thing called 40 hours. I don’t really know what this is or what it means. Would you mind clarifying? Sorry for my ignorance, if you don’t want to explain.
Oh, sweetie! Scary!
But, I feel like two guardian angels were very active this morning … yours, and his. Yours has a much easier case (despite how hard you are on yourself.) I hope his made some major headway this morning at that moment that made him turn and go.
I am so glad you listened to your angel to be aware of your surroundings! I am so glad you are safe.
How did your DH react??
That young man was testing you Margaret. I hope you looked him right in the eye. You are lucky that your guardian angel was watching over you and his was nudging him. In a situation like this, I would have hit the panic button on my remote. All that noise that early in the morning might actually have attracted some attention.
Oh, Margaret. That’s so scary! Thank you for the reminder to be aware. It’s so easy to take safety for granted.
Prayer has never come easily for me.
God bless!
Margaret! How very frightening!
What an excellent reminder for all of us! I’m proud of you for looking the young man in the eyes…that may have been just enough to disconcert him.
That and the powerful efforts of a top-notch guardian angel!
Stuff of my nightmares…
Praise God He kept you safe!
Only your angel could have made him stop!! So glad your angel was alert enough to nudge you enough to lock the doors and somehow scare him away. Wow!
Thank you angels!
I read somewhere that no one has ever been hurt going to or coming from Adoration…something to think about. Thank God you are ok.
Agh! My heart is thumping for you! Thank God you were safe! You are so right! We all need to be careful out there! And be grateful for our angels.
Wow, I sure am glad you noticed them before getting out of your car. What an awful thing to face. Praying for those boys right now…and giving thanks for your GA!
I love the meditation you shared (and I am almost always behind, so thank you!), especially since I also struggle with staying connected to God when I really need Him. You put into beautiful words the deepest parts of my heart—how do you do that? Are you sure we weren’t separated at birth?
Love you, Mags! Have a great week.
OH my … that sounds very scary. So glad that you are okay Margaret. You definitely have reason to be thankful when you say your extra prayers.
Scary! Sounds like you did the exact right thing. I’m glad you’re okay. The first thing I thought of when I read that it was teenagers and 5:00am was, “What are teenagers doing up that early?” More likely it was that they hadn’t yet gone to bed, huh?
You have a good week too!