In this time of trouble these words comforts me

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Thanks to Sarah of Just Another Day Of Catholic Pondering:

It is possible, in facing the turmoil, to forget that God is holding me.

When things are at their worst, I am not standing on my two legs. I am not fighting off the evil or solving any problems, unless it is by the grace of the One who made me in the first place. I am embraced in His arms, comforted by His mother, rooted by faith in Him.

---Snip


It is possible to look around, and wonder where God is, to blind myself to the still small voice and the many blessings in my life. It is tempting to stomp my feet and ask why things are so hard, to stop praying because it doesn’t do any good that I see, to talk to a thousand different people about my problems but never the One who is waiting so patiently.

It is possible to ask where God is, where God was, where God will be.

Looking around, I have my answer. God is right here. Waiting. Watching. With me. Acting in ways I may never know…and that’s OK. It is not often for me to know. It is for me to keep riding along in the car, praying my day away, enjoying the blessings that shower down.

You can find it under Wednesday, September 20, titled, Where’s God?

Hmm, a snag in the job search

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Dejection Alley

My second job interview, once I filled out the application, didn't last very long.

She took one look at the part of the application that listed my exceptions for the work schedule: Sundays off for Church, Wednesday eves off for RCIA and the first Saturday of the month off for Carmelites and told me they just don't do that and ended the interview.

Now, it seems I might lose out on much of my Catholic life activities....

Aaargh! That didn't occur to me before. I'm, uhh, stunned.

I can't give up the Carmelites, can I? Wow, this sucks. And working on Sundays? Ugh!

I think I can convince an employer to let me have Wednesday nights off, though. But, still....

Shoot, Folks! I need a miracle job!

Job interview update- "Ve have vays of finding out..."

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Well, I went to my first interview yesterday and I turned them down. They only offered me 50 cents more per hour than what I got hired at 6 1/2 years ago at my old job. Felt good to be the one turning something down.

I'm learning that this is indeed a small town in some ways. A former department manager was working there. He came out and met with me briefly. The hiring interviewer told me to tell him exactly why I was fired at my last job, because he could find out due to this guy's former connection with the same place. Hmmm. So much for confidentiality.

So, time to review my resume after a friend's input on it and then submit it some more to other places.

Speaking about Morning Prayer and friendship with God

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Early this morning as I was waking up I spontaneously thanked the Holy Spirit for transforming me so that I can experience friendship with God. I used to be so far from that state and now it is the greatest blessing in my life.

How wonderful is the transformative power of God's Spirit of love. Love is not satisfied with us remaining in a broken state. His Spirit continuously works on us taking us from strength to strength, from glory to glory, to redeem and restore us.

Just think, gentle reader, we used to be enemies of God! And now we come close to him and share the intimate movings of our hearts. Or we should, if you aren't, then write me and I'll tell you how.


On to Morning Prayer:

You are my friends, says the Lord, if you do what I command you. Alleluia.


You are strangers and aliens no longer. No, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.


Praise be to you, Lord, for the cleansing power of baptism and penance that you have entrusted to your apostles,
-through which we are cleansed of our sins.


God of mercy,
you chose a tax collector, Saint Matthew,
to share the dignity of the apostles.
By his example and prayers
help us to follow Christ
and remain faithful in your service.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

He hits the nail on the head

Flos Carmeli explains exactly the problem I have with traditionalists and others who bemoan the current state of affairs in Catholicdom, moaning and groaning about this and that in modern day Church life.

Do check it out by going here and finding his search box and typing in Stealing Joy and then hit enter. He has such a good attitude in the way he points out this folly.

So I say enough with criticizing my Church. Love it or leave it!

RCIA again tonite

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Well, it's that time again and in a few short minutes I will be at our RCIA meeting. Tonite I think we cover the Trinity.

I want to plant some seeds about forming a prayer life. I read the Catholic Catechism this week on prayer and, man, was it a treasure trove!

Hmmm, maybe I should quote some of it.

Anchoress reveals a reason why she left liberalism

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The Anchoress used to be a lib, folks. She lets us in on one of the reasons she left the Democratic party- taxes:

See, this is one of the reasons I HAD to leave the Democrats. There is a disconnect, a fundamental refusal to engage in reality; to look at a thing and say, “gee…maybe we should rethink our old taxing habits,” seems not to be in their make-up. Unemployment is incredibly low - lower than it was in the “full employment” 1990’s. Tax receipts are incredibly high. But tax cuts are bad.

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Yeah, the Dems are showing their true colors. Tax anybody anywhere for any reason. Let's not forget this come November, folks.

A clear explanation of the wrong-headedness of the liberal viewpoint on terrorism

A delightful blogger who calls herself SmartBlkWoman posted an essay by author Sam Harris illustrating the foolishness of the liberals view of terrorism.

Key excerpts:

And yet, despite abundant evidence to the contrary, liberals continue to imagine that Muslim terrorism springs from economic despair, lack of education and American militarism.

...the debilitating dogma that lurks at the heart of liberalism: Western power is utterly malevolent, while the powerless people of the Earth can be counted on to embrace reason and tolerance, if only given sufficient economic opportunities.

Do check it out. The article is very clear and easy to read.

I Jus' Wanna Sing......: Head-in-the-Sand Liberals

An excellent speech by President Bush

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President Bush has spoken clearly and forcefully to the United Nations yesterday. Here's an excerpt:

To the people of Iran: The United States respects you; we respect your country. We admire your rich history, your vibrant culture, and your many contributions to civilization. You deserve an opportunity to determine your own future, an economy that rewards your intelligence and your talents, and a society that allows you to fulfill your tremendous potential. The greatest obstacle to this future is that your rulers have chosen to deny you liberty and to use your nation's resources to fund terrorism, and fuel extremism, and pursue nuclear weapons.

*snip

Freedom, by its nature, cannot be imposed -- it must be chosen. From Beirut to Baghdad, people are making the choice for freedom. And the nations gathered in this chamber must make a choice, as well: Will we support the moderates and reformers who are working for change across the Middle East -- or will we yield the future to the terrorists and extremists? America has made its choice: We will stand with the moderates and reformers.

Read it here.

Ok- unemployment update

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Well, it's been a week since my rude demise from the call center where I worked.

I did have to endure some brief moments of intermittent misery throughout the week. Guess that's just par for the course.

I felt uplifted this morning when I got called for an interview. That will be tomorrow at 3 pm. A collections job. Got another interview lined up for today in a couple of hours with another collections company.

That feels good. Prospects are lining up. Now, for discernment to pick the one that will serve me best.

Prayers, please, gentle reader, prayers, please.

Fox Filmed Entertainment makes a pull for the Christian market

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This is a direct copy of The World... IMHO's post on this issue.

FoxFaith Plans Christian Movies

News Corp.’s Fox Filmed Entertainment is unveiling plans to go after the Christian audience that made "The Passion of the Christ” a blockbuster hit.

In what the Los Angeles Times calls the biggest commitment of its sort by a Hollywood studio, Rupert Murdoch’s company plans to produce up to a dozen movies a year under the banner FoxFaith. At least six of the films will be released in theaters in a pact with two large chains, AMC Theaters and Carmike Cinemas.

FoxFaith will reportedly target evangelical Christians who have often shunned popular entertainment.

"A segment of the market is starving for this type of content,” Simon Swart, general manager of Fox’s U.S. home entertainment unit, told the Times.

FoxFaith films will be based on Christian best-sellers and have small budgets of less than $5 million, compared with the $60 million average for mainstream movies.

Fox executives were spurred to launch FoxFaith by the surprising success of Mel Gibson’s "The Passion,” which grossed $612 million worldwide.

Fox obtained the domestic home video rights to the movie, and has sold more than 15 million units on DVD.

Another spiritual film, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” grossed $745 million worldwide.

The Times reports: "Fox might seen an unlikely studio to pioneer a religious label, given its history as a purveyor of salacious TV programming. Yet people in the Christian community say the company has gained credibility as the voice for conservative America through its Fox News Channel.”

Lonelyman's comments:
I don't think their budget per movie, a mere $5 million, is the best idea. They need to make it $10-30 million to have an impact on the market. But it is a step in the right direction. A great step.

An end to UVA's deplorable anti-Catholic cartoons in the Daily Cavalier

Another H/T to Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate who published this news.

I delved into the issue and wrote a letter to the editor of said publication. This is what I said:

I have been hearing of the cartoons that besmirched the Catholic Church's beliefs through the Catholic blogosphere.
I thought it in poor taste and generally stupid to print such valueless material. I thought it terrible that you refused to pull them or apologize for offending millions of Catholics.
I want to take the time to commend you for exercising the good judgement in removing the cartoons and for at least stating some semblance of regret for the affair. Although it would be more respectable to admit you were wrong and regretted that you acted offensively, rather than regretting that we were offended. An important difference, that.

Great political ad for a great candidate

I been hearing about this man for a long time. He is a great conservative Catholic candidate for congress and is showing good political sense with this pre-emptive ad.

Check it out.



H/T to Jay Anderson, former mayor of Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate.

Prayer and other support needed for the unborn in South Dakota

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There's a battle brewing- let's join in!

Folks, we gotta pray (at least) for our fellow pro-lifers in South Dakota. Planned Parenthood is planning an all-out offensive against the abortion ban going on over there.

Read about it here.

H/T to Father Tharp at Catholic Ragemonkey.

Pic of a happy place

Donna, of Quiet Life, asks us to post a pic of a happy place.

Well, Red Rock Canyon, here just outside of Vegas is a place where I have had many a happy hike. I have come here for decades and for about a year Mark, my best friend, and I were going out there couple times a month.

*Sigh* More trouble for Tim...

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Looks like I have to move again....

Last night my son came over to play some Texas Holdem. He went outside to smoke a cigarette and forgot to close the sliding glass window. My landlady came by later and smelled smoke in the house and accused us of smoking inside. Explanations were of no avail.

She came by this morning and told me to move out. I got until October 17th.

I feel heavy laden and weighed down.... I hate moving. I hate being falsely accused. So now I am looking for a place to stay as I look for a new job. Not to mention the financial strain a move causes....

On my fear list is that the car will be next or my health or one of my children or my friends. But that is just a natural fear. God is in control of my life and he will not allow anything that is too heavy for me to bear.

I will offer up this suffering also to the Lord. What else can I do?

So, gentle reader, pray for this lonely man. I will greatly appreciate it. Thank you. And leave me your prayer needs in my comments and I will lift you up in prayer, too. Deal?

I've been reading Job lately and I agree with him:

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Another Catholic video

Litany Of The Saints

Check out this blog

Joel, of On The Other Foot, has added me to his blogroll.

Go check him out. He obviously has good taste. Heh!

Need advice from you, gentle reader, about applying for new job.

My employer's HR department told me that they will give out no information about my job except bare necessities like the dates I worked there and stuff.
So, that leaves the question, what do I reveal about the demise of my position there?
What is honest and what is for my best interest?
How much do I reveal and what do I say during the job interview? Hmmm?

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thank you, gentle reader.

Lonely Man's first detractor- about being fired.

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Of course, he chose to remain anonymous, don't they all?
But, praise God, I am no longer a virgin blogger. I got my first critic! Let's see if he is a troll.
Here's his comment and my response.

Anonymous said...
First of all, you worked for a collections agency, people who are notorious for being lying, bullying, thieving, threatening pigs. I fail to see the loss. Maybe this is God telling you that your job was pretty sleazy to begin with.

I know what these people are capable of even when they're wrong. I was harrassed physically, verbally and financially and my family members were, as well, all over something that was never mine to begin with. Even after proving this debt was some other woman's, living several states away, I was STILL harrassed, because the agency in question just sold the debt to someone else.

Sorry if I don't weep for your loss. If you had the kind of job a grown-up, decent, honorable person has, I might feel bad, but I don't because you worked for pond scum and probably did some pretty scummy things yourself along the way.

Secondly, forty year old men who are dicking around discussing "lonleygirl15" while someone else is paying them for their time ARE being age-inappropriate.

Blogging and reading your personal interest blogs while being paid to work for someone is age-inappropriate, no matter what that personal interest is. If you want to read Catholic blogs 24/7, then go on welfare and sit at home and read Catholic blogs 24/7. No less honorable than working for a collections agency and at least you wouldn't be harrassing decent, hard-working, good, honest people for a living.

So, um, whatever. Get a clue, get a life, get a real job, and lay off your personal interests on the 'net while you're at work.

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Congratulations, Anonymous, you are my first detractor on this blog.

Of course, I think it interesting that you did not post your name. My respect for you would be higher if you had.

Ok, first of all, I won't delete your comments. You make some points that give me an opportunity to describe myself more to my gentle readers.

Let's address them.


I never lied, bullied, thieved, or threatened anyone, let alone one of my customers. I am a Christian and a professional. My job was a God-given blessing.

You seem to have had a bad experience with bill collectors. I am sorry that happened to you, you did not deserve that.

I still fail to understand what age-inappropiateness means. Honestly, I think my dept mgr was a little nervous and at a loss for words when she said that. She seemed to be trying to say there was something lewd about my discussing lonelygirl15. She’s British and maybe just couldn’t come out and accuse me of some sort of sexual wrongdoing. You have a point when you say I was doing all this on company time. I was. But, I wasn’t taking any time off calling my customers, it was all done in between calls, as I said, I was the only one on my collections team that was meeting the time requirement of actually manning the phone line to be available to call our customers. Furthermore, I earned a fat bonus last month when I was doing all this blogging on company time, which shows that it didn’t effect my effectivity in collecting debts.

I thank you for your input. It has proved quite illuminating and may even help me in the future. I hope you come back to respond, but since I am not set up like Bettnet where you can get notified when someone responds on the comment section then I doubt you will. You may be one of the trolls who just leave an inflammatory post and never return.

God bless you, sir and thanks for sharing.