Feelings are Feelings

The other day I was talking with my boyfriend about feelings. We were talking how we express our feelings in different ways. I tend to express my feelings very easily, is like breathing. I guess is part of my personality. In other hand, he is completely the opposite of me. He tends to be more reserved when comes to express his feelings. In that part, I can tell we are opposite poles. Since our personalities are this way, I develop another sense, the feeling sense.  I can tell when he said, “I love you” without him saying anything; I can tell when he said “miss you” again without him saying so. This does not work always, but when do I feel happy.

The same thing happened with my older son, he is not an expressive boy at all, but I can tell when he is mad or happy or sad, even when he is hiding something from me. The other day I picked him up in the afternoon and I noticed that something was not right with him. I asked him if he was ok, and he just said that he was tired, but I could tell something was wrong. As I was driving home I keep insisting and insisting (something that I do very well!) to him to tell me what was wrong. When we finally arrived home he told me that he got a citation.

With time I have learned that there is not wrong or right feelings, and also, I have learned that feelings are not only for women, everybody male and female have feelings, and have the same rights to express them. Feelings are just that feelings, and we need and must express them in one way or the other. Feelings can grow in us. You meet this guy or woman, and you like him or her. You guys start dating, and your feelings after a while will start growing, and you will fall in love, because you are feeding the feeling with experiences and moments together. When you are mad with your couple, parents, friends, well with someone, your feeling will grow too, but this time with things that you put by yourself in you head, especially if you do not talk about it.

It is important that we express our feelings, talking about them, expressing them with actions, or writing them, anyway is good as long as you don’t hurt somebody or yourself. Because of your feelings, you are able to do nice things or really stupid things, and because your feelings you make decisions every day in your life. God expresses His feeling of love to us since He send His son to die in the cross for us, and before that. He express His feeling that he cares about us when he send people to help us in our life, He show us His love when He protect us from sickness, accidents, troubles, and you can keep saying, He demonstrate His love when He do things that even when is not what we want or expect He do it because He knows what is bets for us, even when we do not understand it right away.

  

Romans 10:10

¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

Big Hug,

MRM

Boo-Boos

Las night I was at my monthly meeting, and the topic was confession. For me confession is a strong word because means that I need to reveal all the things that I know I have been doing wrong, and that I need to receives forgiveness for it. Confession, as catholic for me (in my opinion) means that I have to visit a priest, and tell him my sins. Then I should be able to receive through him the forgiveness from God. I am not 100% sure that what I just write is correct; I have to clarify that again. The topic for me is an interesting one because is a challenge topic for me, which I am in the searching for better understanding.

What I do know and I am sure is that confession is equal to healing. Think about this example; you are at work and your kids need pencil and copy paper for their school, you take some from work to give it to them. You think, nobody at work will not notice that I took it, and by sides they have plenty money to buy more, and I work very hard there. I deserve to take it. You start thinking about it after a couple of days, and you recognize that what you did is stealing from your company. Another example, you lie to your couple, you lie to your boss, you neglect your kids, you miss-treat a coworker, family member, friends and you can add to this the ones that you and me know we truly do, and we kept this in our hearts and heads, we keep filling up all this sins that make us feel wrong, but we don’t tell we don’t talk about it, we are even ashamed of them. How do you think you will be feeling in 30 days doing this all the time without confessing?

From simple actions like taking a pencil from work on purpose to bigger ones like cheating to our spouse, are actions that need to be confess. Maybe you do not feel right going to a priest and confess because you are not catholic or you just don’t like the idea, but you need to take it out in some way. I got the right answer, talking with God. Truly talking with Him, from the bottom of our hearts so we can have peace and be able to heal. When we feel inadequate or guilty, that feelings grow inside or us, and as this feelings grow other physical feelings grow too. Headache, stomach pain, stress, and blood pressure, just to mention a few. Other feelings like low self-stem, anxiety, depression can arrive with too.

In other words if we have a boo-boo we need to put some triple antibiotic and a band aid to avoid infections that can turn in bigger complication, we need to take care of the boo-boo until heals. Confession is the triple antibiotic and the band-aid for ours boo-boos, our sins, to be able to heal.

 James 5:16-18

¹⁶Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availed much. ¹⁷Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth for the space of three years and six months. ¹⁸And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.

Big Hug,

MRM

Hiking

In one of my classes, I learn something that I already believe is true. The way you think is the way you feel, and the way you feel is the way you behave. The other day, I went to do a hike and I meet a lady.  We talk the 5 miles that we walked. I really admire this woman, three month ago she had an accident and she end up broken, literally broken! Her ankle was completely broken the doctors have to put a metal plaque to hold it together. Her elbow was hanging, another metal there. Her head have a big scar of the stitch that they have to make to close it.  The other hand was cover with something like a wristband that was covering her had, her wrists and part of her arm, and other scars. You see she was literally broken! This was her third hike since the accident. She need help to go down some hills or steps, but she keeps up with all of us, actually in some hills she was better than me. That day was her second week without a wheelchair, but also her boyfriend end with her recently.

Imaging this, you think that you have the worse work, the worse marriage, the worse relationship, the worse relationship, the worse body, and the worse life. How do you feel now thinking this? You feel sad, mad, you feel injustice, and you feel upset and many other unpleasant feelings. Now think how you would react with these unpleasant feelings inside of you? You yell at you couple, you yell to your coworkers, you mistreat you kids, start eating more than you should or maybe don’t eat at all. You start looking out of your relationship. You start building big walls around you so nobody bothers you or hurt you. This woman very easily could laid down in her bed thinking how bad things are, why this have to happen to her, feeling no strengths to get up and start walking again. She could make so many stupid things with her life because not only her accident, but she also lost her boyfriend who she loved very much.  This woman was determining to walk again and be able to have her live back.  Maybe not with her boyfriend, but with new friends and people that really that loves her and are there for help her and encourage her to keep going.

It is time to stop blaming everybody else, including God for the bad things and feelings that we have. It is time to take responsibility and change our thinking. I am sure that will make the difference in our life.

Psalm 139:13-14

¹³ For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.


Big Hug,
MRM

Easter

Happy Easter Monday! I hope everybody had a nice, peaceful and relax Easter Sunday.  Sadly, I cannot said that was a relax Sunday for me since I left all my homework for Sunday, terrible!!! But thanks to God I could finish everything. Sunday mass was packed in both sides of the church. Usually in others years I would complain about people going to mass just on Eastern time or just for Christmas, why people just go certain days during the year to church? But this year my thinking change.  I am glad that mass was packed and not because the church can have more money, as some people think,  I am glad because people still recognize the meaning of the Easter Sunday, that is not all about a bunny bringing candies or gifts, but recognizing that Jesus die for you and me so we can rise to heaven when our time comes. 

Acts 2:25-28

²⁵ For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; ²⁶ therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. ²⁷ For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
or let your Holy One see corruption. ²⁸ You have made known to me the paths of life;
 you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

Big Hug,

MRM

The Sixth and The Seventh

The sixth word “It is finished!” John 19:30 What could mean it is finished? For me, means that everything that was written on the Bible was done. Jesus die in the cross for us, die in the cross because we put him there, He die in the cross so we do not have to suffer what He suffer at that moment of his life. It is finished remained me something really beautiful.  When a women is pregnant and she is delivering her baby all the suffering, the pain, and agony of couple of hours and sometimes more than couple of hours is done when the baby arrive, when finally she can hold her baby in her arms.  All the suffering disappears, all the pain is gone, and now what she feels is happiness and the best things are about to start.  Sometimes we have to suffer a little bit the get to our goal, we have to suffer a little bit to learn a good lesson, and we have to suffer a little bit to have peace. And I said we have to suffer a little bit because is that a little bit compared with the suffering of Jesus in the cross. 

The seventh word “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” Luke 23:46 At the end Jesus just falls in His Father hands. Jesus knew that the best will come and He knew was the end for the new beginning. Do we entrust our life to God? Do we trust in God that everything will be fine? Do we believe that when we fall God will be there holding us? It is curious see how we when are in “good times” usually do not remember God, we do not enjoy and offer our happiness and success to God, we just keep living.  Now when things turns bad, when things get out of our control, suddenly we are calling and begging for God’s help we talk to Him day and night until we get out of the desperation. That makes me think that sometimes our bad moments in life are moments to put us back to the right path, God’s path. Will be a good thing start entrusting God for our good and bad times.

Big Hug,

MRM

The Fifth one

The fifth word that Jesus said on the cross were “I thirst" John 19:28. Everybody suffer from thirsty, and not necessarily thirsty for water or some liquid. We get thirsty of love, when we are in a relationship where the other part does not express it, said it, or give love to us.  When we are in a relationship specially the parent relationship and the spouse relationship we are expecting love form the other part as the other part is expecting love from us. Believed or not, Love is one of the basic need of the human.  We get thirsty of humbleness; we go through life thinking that we are better than every one else, that we know all, that we are perfect and do not need to express nothing, improve nothing in you. How wrong we are.  We get thirst of God.  A lot of people think that they do not need God to live a better life, a lot of people think that the Bible is not true, a lot of people think that they do not need to go to church to get closer to God.  A lot of people are so wrong, and you know why? Because when we are in trouble, when we need pass a test, or get a new job, or get better from a sickness or an operation, we always ask God for help

What are you thirsty for? We are thirsty of so many things in our life, try to make the time specially this week, to think what you are thirsty of, and look for that fountain to cure that thirst. God is the water that cures the thirst; God is the answer to all our problems. Do you recognize that Jesus die in the cross for you? Do you believe that He can heal any ache that you have? In what you believe, is what made you as a person, what kind of person you are?

Big Hug,

MRM

The Next Two

The third words that Jesus said when he was on the cross were "Woman, this is your son". Then he said to the disciple: "This is your mother." John 19:26-27. I would not said that I know the pain that Mary was going through that day watching her son dying, but I guess have to be horrible have to go through that experience. I think, and I might be wrong, but we really do not understand what a mother goes though until you are a mother. (sorry guys!). Also, I can said that you do not need to give birth a child to be a mother.  In this word there are woman that never have give birth a child, and are more mother, than women that actually had given birth. In my country we have a phrase that said, “madre es la que cria no la que pare” this mean that a real mother is the one that raise the child not the one that give birth the child. Make sure that you enjoy every time you have available with your mother, because you never know when you will not enjoy that moment anymore. Care about her, listen to her, and share time with her. I believe God send mothers to be angels in this world to protect us and care about us. Also, I believe that the make sometimes our life miserable!!! But I am sure they do it to protect us and sometimes to teach us things.

The fourth words from Jesus were “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Matthew 27:46 I can tell many times that I have said this myself. When I am desperate to get an answer, when my day is not going as I want, when I fight with my kids or family, when at work I make mistakes, when I lost someone, when some one hurt me, and when I stay away from God.  Must of the time this, last one is what cause all the above happened, but for me is easy think that God forsaken me instead I forsake Him. Jesus for one moment thought that His Father has abandon Him, but that was not true, after all the suffering, Jesus get to resurrect and rise to heaven with His Father. We got another expression in my country “despues de la tormenta llega la calma” after the storms pass the calm will arrive. After the bad tasting of a fight, comes the reconciliation, after a bad day, comes the night for rest, and after I have been far from God, I will come back to Him. It is not easy live today with so much bad influences available to us, is that the reason why we need to stay closer to God, He is the only that will provide truly and 100% peace for ever.


Big Hug,
MRM

The First Two

This week is the holy week.  In Spanish we know this week as “the main week” or “la semana mayor” this mean that is one of the most important weeks of the years, because is the week that we get to remain that Jesus die for us in the cross to the forgiveness our sins. When I was young this week was the most “boring” week for me because we do not have classes, but we don’t get to play or have fun at all.  We use to stay at the house the whole day doing nothing. From Wednesday we cannot eat any meat at all, and on Friday the worse day because on TV they only pass very old religion movies. My mom use to go to church to hear the 7 words that Jesus said on the cross.  We never went to one of those talks because they were very long and “boring” for us so we stay at home doing nothing.

Still, I never been in one of those talk, but I am going to dedicate this week to those 7 words that Jesus said on the cross, and how I sees them.

The fist words “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." Luke 23:34 How many times we do things without putting attention of what we are doing. How many times we hurt someone because of an action that we do not like, but the person did not know what she or he was doing. Yesterday, my nice ask me to teach her how to drive.  She is having troubles to find who would have the patient to teach her, a teenager that laugh about everything and anything, and she still think that life is “pink” We get in my car and I ask her if she had try to drive before, she did not know even to answer that question! I tell her the basic, what the letter means, which pedal is the break and which is the gas, also I tell her that she need to use only one foot to drive.  I could see that she did not have a clue of what she was getting in too. When she starts driving my car I start feeling sorry for my car! She stops suddenly without reason, and couple of times she was about the hit the mailbox of the couple of houses. I could not be mad at her or scream at her because she really did not know what she was doing. I instead fill myself of lot of patient and courage (that she not crashes my car!! My insurance already is high!!!). At the end she did fairly well even that she goes in reverse without looking back! 

The second words "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43.  For me this words represent faith and forgiveness. Faith because the criminal even that he knows that he have been doing wrong things he have faith in Jesus and ask him for forgiveness and redemption. Do you have faith in you? In God? I was talking this week with my BF he was telling me something about he knows that is wrong to do it but he thinks that is the way he is and he can’t change that way that he is.  I tell him that he needs to have more faith in him.  Jesus die in the cross for us and for the forgiveness of our sins. We already are forgiven. Why we insist in drag our mistakes again and again? If you know that you are doing something that is not correct you need to stop and start thinking in some improvement in your self. God is here with you. Anyways think about what do you have to lose and what do you have to gain if you improve what you know is not the right thing?

Big Hug,

MRM