Romans 5:5
The Love of God has been shed abroad in my heart.

This gives me an inner strength. I am filled to overflowing with your immeasurable love and power to finish all that has been ordained for me to do. I walk in incredible peace and assurance because of who I am in Christ. This assurance comes through love and grace. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. It’s His strength that compels me to greatness. I have pondered over the years, and remain somewhat perplexed over the mystery of Christ’s strength being perfected in me despite my humanness. Yes, it is the Holy Spirit inside of me giving me that nudge to push on a little more. He does not let me stay in my frailty of mind for long. He says to me, “You can do better than this” “Don’t you want more”? He compels me to greatness. I am being perfected day by day. I haven’t attained perfection, but it’s the greatness of God inside of me that will not let me settle for just “ok”. I am so glad of that! We are made in the image of GOD! Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all part of who I am. Wow! That would explain the insatiable desire to be someone, to make my mark in this life, to leave a legacy of the greatness of God in all that I do.

There will be amazing adventures in our lives and we will truly shine. We will see people touched by the power of God through repentance and a glorious salvation. We will see people miraculously healed and restored to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. I love this kind of display of the Kingdom of God! This power and potential is in every child of God whether it’s actively at work or not.

There are the mundane acts of life that make up the majority of our time here on earth. I believe we are to shine in these as well.

I remember the twenty-five years of raising our beautiful children. The innumerable meals that were planned and prepared, and the endless piles of laundry! There were always many tasks to do in a day. I also recall having children in all three levels of school at the same time. So much fun! I am not being sarcastic when I say that. It was a delight to serve them! That was great kingdom stuff! How fast those days came and went. I could have never successfully managed a household, loved my husband unconditionally and trained and modeled Christ’s love apart from the strength that only comes through the grace of God.

Our perfectly good, loving heavenly Father equips us with everything we need for this great life. He does not require of us what we do not have, but empowers us with his grace to do the extraordinary and mundane things of life. He is faithful Father in all areas of our lives.
There are some things you just can’t explain. I think grace is one of those mysteries. I can’t explain to you how it works, but I know from experience that it is so real!

The Little Jesus in the Tabernacle is the vivid picture I had of my Savior when I was a child.










I was raised in a Catholic family who were very dedicated to their beliefs. It was not just a religion to them; it was their strong beliefs in a true God. This was passed on to me at a very early age, and I will forever be thankful to my parents for this upbringing. We were always in church on Sundays, no excuses unless of course we were sick. I also attended parochial school and had the added benefits of mass on Fridays.

I loved the quiet, peaceful times in our beautiful sanctuary. We would enter very quietly, there was not any talking being done unless in a very low tone. This was a place of holiness and worship and we knew it very early on in our lives. This brought great comfort and peace to me as a child. I remember it so vividly and even today it floods me with a sense of all is well. There was a holiness that emanated from the sanctuary and also the grounds of the church. This was the beginning of an amazing truth; it’s called the fear of the LORD. I would say that this is probably the one priceless lesson you can learn and teach your own children.

Proverbs 1:7-9
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching; indeed, they are a graceful wreath to your head and ornaments about your neck.

Somehow I knew this truth at a very early age. I was a compliant child who desired to please all who were in authority over me. This included wanting to please this God that I sensed in that holy place of his sanctuary. I just didn’t know how to get to him. He was there but somehow out of my reach. I was drawn to this incense saturated peaceful place, because it brought solace to me. My spirit was being drawn by a gracious; sweet Father who loved me before I ever knew how to love him back.

There was a portion of the mass that intrigued me so. The priest would walk over to the tabernacle to retrieve the communion elements. The tabernacle is an ornate cabinet that held the communion wafers and the chalice of wine. The priest is the only one who goes into this holy tabernacle. This was definitely a mystery to my young mind and imagination

I vividly imagined a little Jesus sitting inside of this tabernacle. He looked frail and all alone. Sitting with his back to the Tabernacle with his legs drawn up to his chest. I knew He wanted so badly to interact with someone. My child’s heart ached to catch a glimpse of this little Jesus and to talk to him.

Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them


This little Jesus has chosen to tabernacle with me!

Many years later I learned how to talk to Jesus directly. It was an amazing revelation to me that brought much freedom and joy! This was the genesis of my getting to know Jesus personally. It took many years for that little child to accept the grace of God. Now I walk in this amazing grace and feel completely accepted in the Beloved. This little Jesus has chosen to tabernacle with me! He wants to abide and make his home inside of me. I appreciate my Catholic heritage. It will always hold a precious place in my heart, because it was the foundation of all I believe today.

I know that this little Jesus was at work in my childhood imaginations drawing me to him!