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Jan 24, 2016
Faith· Life

Mocha, Mercy and Mondays – Giving Drink to the Thirsty

Give Drink to the Thirsty.

The second corporal work of mercy makes me think of the word “simple”.  Simple, because I am lucky enough to not live in a third world country.  I only need to walk ten steps to get to clean, running water.  I know it’s 10 steps, because I just counted.runningwater.jpg

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, women like Edelmira, walk twenty minutes from their houses to a community tank where there is water – but not necessarily clean water.  Giving drink to the thirsty can be done for these women and their families through many organizations.  My husband and I give to Unbound.

I would like to talk more about Unbound . . . but first, more about drinking.

When I hear “give drink to the thirsty”, I think about how many circumstances and situations where people “have a drink” together.  How giving someone a drink is usually paired with enjoying a drink with that person (or group of people).

Someone comes to visit: “Can I get you something to drink”?

You haven’t seen a close friend in a while:  “Hey, let’s me up for a cup of coffee!”

A cute guy sees a cute girl and asks:  “Can I buy you a drink?”

You want to celebrate an achievement:  “Let’s go out for a drink!”

Having a drink with someone usually means you have, or want to have, a relationship with him or her.  givedrinktothirsty1

For this work of mercy, I can not get the story of the Samaritan Woman from the Gospel of John (chapter 4) out of my head.

John 4:7-10

A woman of Samaria came to draw water.  Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink”, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.“

Jesus wants to have a relationship with us.  Jesus wants to have a relationship with all of us.  As Christians, we are called to be a light in the darkness in this world.  We show that light in our relationships.  I believe, in this Gospel story, Jesus is reminding us that we can have relationships with people even if we disagree on fundamental beliefs.  It is through a relationship that we demonstrate God’s love.  It is through relationships that God will show His Mercy to others.  As long as we keep our relationship with Our Lord our first priority, all other relationships can be a chance to not only share a drink to quench a physical thirst, but an opportunity to share eternal life.drinkthirsty.jpeg

This idea of having and building relationships is one of the reasons why I love giving to Unbound.  We were able to choose a person to sponsor.  When we were standing in front of all the different people we could choose to sponsor, I couldn’t help but think, “we can’t afford this”.  And like a blink of an eye, the woman next to me says, “We first did this years ago.  I really felt we couldn’t afford it, but I said to God, ‘God, if I do this, you have to make sure we have enough money to pay our bills’.  And you know what, we always had enough.”

I was reassured that the Lord will provide.  We chose a young girl by the name of Angela. And so far, the Lord has continued to provide for us.  We give a monthly donation and we get the opportunity to know Angela through letters and pictures.  Our donation provides Angela with food to eat, water to drink and many other necessities that I take for granted. Getting letters from Angela brightens my day, and I love writing back to her.  I look forward to her next letter with anticipation.  I can’t wait to get to know more about her and watch her grow up and see the woman she will become.

Perhaps another way I can “give drink to the thirsty” is to ask you, if you’re reading this, to check out Unbound’s website, and consider “giving drink to the thirsty” and developing a relationship with a child, young adult or elder that you can choose to sponsor.  Remember, God will provide!

Lastly, enjoy a cup of coffee or any beverage you love today – and thank the Lord for it! Consider paying it forward at a restaurant.  Consider offering to get a drink for your spouse who’s comfortable on the couch.  Consider sponsoring a person who has to leave his or her home to get water.  May the Lord bless you today, this week and always!

Love and hugs – and cheers!

Amy

 

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Previous Post: « From My Heart: The 10 things I want all women considering adoption to hear . . .
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Honey says

    January 25, 2016 at 9:51 am

    So true! Love your mug!

    • Amy says

      January 25, 2016 at 12:08 pm

      That’s my friend Jennifer Donnelly’s mug – and she took that picture 🙂 She posted it over a year ago and I always remembered it – so I asked her if I could use it for the post. It is awesome!

  2. Liz says

    January 25, 2016 at 12:34 pm

    This is great. All of it. Love hearing about new AWESOME agencies like unbound. I love your mug and the idea of God’s call to build relationships.

    Thank you!

    • Amy says

      January 25, 2016 at 12:52 pm

      Thank you so much! Not my mug – wish it was 🙂

  3. Amy says

    January 25, 2016 at 1:56 pm

    I loved your parallel between Jesus building a relationship with the women at the well when she asked for water and how we build relationships with one another over drinks. I’d never made that connection before, but for me, but it brings the story a little more alive for me. When we aren’t building strong relationships, we can’t show Christ to others.

    • Amy says

      January 25, 2016 at 4:46 pm

      Thank you so much Amy!

  4. Tina Truelove says

    January 25, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    “As long as we keep our relationship with Our Lord our first priority, all other relationships can be a chance to not only share a drink to quench a physical thirst, but an opportunity to share eternal life.” – This is one of my favorite lines from your post. I never thought of how often I ask others, “May I get you something to drink?” I never thought of the connection between that question and building relationships. In fact, I asked this question earlier today. I checked out the Unbound website and bookmarked it for future reference. Currently, my husband and I, along with our Bible Fellowship class, are regularly sending money to Uganda to help a pastor there support a small community. Later on, we might consider sponsoring a child through Unbound or another agency. Thank you for this beautiful plea for these children and for informing us about Unbound.

    • Amy says

      January 26, 2016 at 9:48 am

      I’m so glad you bookmarked Unbound and enjoyed this post! What an awesome service you do for that community in Uganda! So happy to connect with you!

  5. Kimberly says

    January 25, 2016 at 11:50 pm

    I really love your take on this very common thing. You express it so correctly in a very unique and interesting way! I also donate to a couple little girls, wish we could help more. But every little bit helps, right? Good photos, too! And, lovely blog 🙂

    • Amy says

      January 26, 2016 at 9:49 am

      Thank you Kimberly! Yes, I totally believe every little bit helps – more than we realize! This post was the first time I used stock photos – but the mug that says Don’t Forget to be Awesome was a photo my friend took!

  6. Tessa Kirby says

    January 26, 2016 at 8:25 am

    What an amazing concept to expound upon. Never really thought about how drinking is a way for us to build relationship. Thank you so much for sharing and opening up about this amazing organization!

    • Amy says

      January 26, 2016 at 9:50 am

      Thanks Tessa! It’s all the Holy Spirit – I’m just the instrument!

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How can we love our identity and still be humble? How can we love our identity and still be humble?

Does that sound like a good title for a talk?

I’m working on a “Talk” on Identity (or a blog post if I chicken out 🐓)… and I’m really liking the topic of humility… along with modesty.
My plan was to post this morning and ask for your prayers… but along the way I saw that today is Saint Philip Neri’s feast day.
So, naturally, I googled “Saint Philip Neri humility”.
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“Humility is the safeguard of chastity. In the matter of purity, there is no greater danger than not fearing the danger. 

For my part, when I find a man secure of himself and without fear, I give him up for lost. I am less alarmed for one who is tempted and who resists by avoiding the occasions, than for one who is not tempted and is not careful to avoid occasions. When a person puts himself in an occasion, saying, I shall not fall, it is an almost infallible sign that he will fall, and with great injury to his soul.”

I feel like some great message is coming together here, but, I need your prayers.

I mean, I don’t even know if posting about humility on Instagram is like, a total oxymoron?

I’m so thankful to have Scripture and the writing of Saints to help me. I’m also extremely grateful for your prayers.

May we both live as it is written in 1 Peter 5:5 ~
“And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for:
“God opposes the proud
but bestows favor on the humble.”
* if you like that Saint Philip Neri quote, you can see and share it over at @catholicsonline 

Do you have any questions or thoughts on humility?
Let me know in the comments!

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Do our sons understand what it means to be a “sp Do our sons understand what it means to be a “spiritual warrior “? Do we?

I learned and relearned a ton of things writing Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys.

Here’s what we all need to know about being a “Spiritual Warrior “:

1. Yes, there is a battle between good and evil and we are all in the midst of it. Years ago, in cartoons, it was common to see a devil on one shoulder and an Angel on another. It was CLEAR which voice was good and which was evil. The animation gave us a visual of what we were very familiar with.  Today, we must work a little harder so that all of us are detecting what is good and what is evil.

2. You don’t walk out onto a battlefield unprepared.
You put on your suit of armor and you bring your weapon. You do this FIRST! Faith is our shield, prayer is our greatest weapon. In other words, God has to be number one if we want to truly protect our soul. Knowing God has to be not only a priority, but our first priority.

3. We are not alone, but not everyone is going to grow in virtue. The virtues are our “armor of light” that protect us from the enemy. We would be wise to follow the advice of St. Francis de Sales in this, “Love everyone with a strenuous love based on charity, but form friendships only with those who can share virtuous things with you.”
Want to help your son on the battlefield?
Get him a copy of this journal today!
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Prayer of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus O Jesu Prayer of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus

O Jesus, I pray for your faithful and fervent priests;
for your unfaithful and tepid priests;
for your priests laboring at home or abroad in distant mission fields;
for your tempted priests;
for your lonely and desolate priests;
for your young priests;
for your dying priests;
for the souls of your priests in purgatory.

But above all, I recommend to you the priests dearest to me:
the priest who baptized me;
the priests who absolved me from my sins;
the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me your Body and Blood in Holy Communion;
the priests who taught and instructed me;
all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way (especially …).

O Jesus, keep them all close to your heart,
and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.
Amen.
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I dare you to comment below 3 to 5 things you are I dare you to comment below 3 to 5 things you are thanking God for today!!!
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I have a super sweet story to share with you! Las I have a super sweet story to share with you!

Last evening my husband and I decided that we were long overdue for praying a Rosary with the family.

We have friends searching for jobs that have asked us to pray and many others intentions.

Our kids were outside playing with a little girl who lives up the road.

I walked outside with a bunch of tangled up Rosaries (see reel I made yesterday) and told my 3 children they had to come in to pray the Rosary.

My daughter, who made this Rosary for me, asked if their friend could pray with us.

I said she was, of course, welcome to pray with us!

All 4 kids came inside and my son volunteered to lead the first decade. Our 9 year old guest led a decade too!

She stumbled a little with the words to the Hail Mary but by the end of her decade, I was so impressed.

Once we were done praying my husband complimented our young guest on how well she did.
It was such a beautiful, unexpected event.
What a great reminder… courtesy of my daughter in Kindergarten… to always invite others to pray with you!
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We haven’t even started yet and there’s an iss We haven’t even started yet and there’s an issue 😂 🪢 
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“I don’t even remember that”~ my Mom. When I “I don’t even remember that”~ my Mom.
When I told my mom how she inspired the title of the Be Yourself Journal, that was her response 😂.
As a tired Mama, I so appreciate this now.
It’s amazing what God’s grace and a mother’s love can do!
My mom felt bad that I felt left out. But, she was also tired and was probably in survival mode with 3 or 4 children at that point.
I get that now.
But God took what my mom didn’t say and placed in my heart the contents of the book I get to the author of!
I am finding so much relief in this realization today.
I often see my shortcomings as a Mother.
I’m tired.
I’m still disorganized like I was before motherhood.
But I do have faith in God and love for my children.
I believe that God knew exactly what He was doing when He chose me to be the mother of my children.
He knows my strengths and weaknesses.
His grace is sufficient… for all mothers.
Praise the Lord!
Happy Mother’s Day!

Share this post and remind others that it’s totally okay to not be perfect.
Keep loving!
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Did you know Our Lady of Fatima taught the three y Did you know Our Lady of Fatima taught the three young children a couple of prayers?

The Blessed Mother taught the children to offer all their personal sacrifices to God by praying:
O My Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Another prayer Our Lady taught the children was:

O My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

I love how Our Blessed Mother encourages to us to start a prayer by addressing the Lord with these words:
“O my Jesus…”
One of my favorite prayers was taught to the Fatima children by an angel.
This is that prayer:

My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee! I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.

Today, May 13th, is the feast of Our Lady of Fatima.
Our Lady of the Rosary, pray for us!

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Sometimes, when I go to Mass, the homily isn’t e Sometimes, when I go to Mass, the homily isn’t exactly stellar…

But bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, when I attend Mass, the other people in the pews don’t participate in the prayers or sing the hymns…

But bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. The whole Christ is truly present.

Sometimes, when I’m at Mass my own mind wanders and I’m distracted by children who can’t sit still…

But bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.

An incredible miracle happens at every Catholic Mass… 

The whole Christ is truly present -- body, blood, soul, and divinity -- under the appearances of bread and wine, the glorified Christ who rose from the dead. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the "Real Presence" of Christ in the Eucharist.

The Eucharist is the body of Jesus Christ, which was given up for me and you.

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There is not one person out there that understands There is not one person out there that understands ALL THE THINGS. This is another reason why it is so important to network with others.
We can help one another. All for the sake of His Kingdom.
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Long before “influencer” was a common term or Long before “influencer” was a common term or familiar word in our vocabulary, our actions and example made a difference in the lives of others.

Sometimes… perhaps more often than not, our choices impact the decisions of other people without us even realizing it.

When I was a teen, I ran cross country and track.

To my surprise, I was … not terrible at it.

I realized, through this sport, that God had not completely skipped me when giving out talents.

But, I questioned God.
Why give anyone the talent to run long distance?

How on earth could that talent be helpful to anyone?

I was young and the truth is… wisdom does come with age.
There was a ton of personal fruit that came to me from running.
But to my surprise… my example to continue running, even though I often thought it was a “stupid talent” didn’t just impact me.

For years I kept running because my Catholic education taught me that if God gave me a talent, it was my job to use that talent.

So even though I 💯 % thought it was the dumbest talent ever… I kept using it.

Years later my brother shared how my example led to him giving running as a sport a try.

He’s much more talented than me.

And I am still in shock that my actions grabbed his attention.

I strongly believe young people need to hear stories like this.
Blind faith and trust in God is not a waste of time.

I wrote more about this in Be Yourself: a Journal for Catholic Boys.
My brother, who really is a GOOD SPORT, allowed me to take his picture with the book that shares a part of this big story.
It was all in God’s plan.
Thank you Brian for sharing that story!!!

If you teach children or teens to trust God, even when they don’t quite understand why… comment and share below!
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Stop scrolling… we need to talk. Yes… you! Do Stop scrolling… we need to talk.
Yes… you!

Do you have a Bible?
Who gave it to you?
What year was that?

I realized very recently that the only reason why my husband and I have a Bible is because his Aunt, who happens to be a nun, gave us one as a wedding gift.

I had a Bible before I got married.
I had it because I went to a Catholic high school and it was a required book for our religion classes.

So as I was thinking about this … I started to wonder…
How many Catholics don’t have Bibles???

I ask you to consider giving a loved one a Bible the next time you’re thinking about giving a gift.
There’s a rumor going around that Catholics don’t read the Bible very much…
Let’s make sure that’s not true.
This Bible is the one used by @fathermikeschmitz for The Bible in a Year podcast.

I was given a copy in exchange for promotion. I don’t think there has ever been anything easier to promote!

On a side note… my very good non-Catholic friend is becoming Catholic this month and this Bible and that podcast have a lot to do with that.

So friends… go spend some time with Jesus. Read your Bible and give someone you love a Bible too.

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