» Archives for Perseverance

Stop Judging Yourself

Written by on January 13, 2012 - 6 Comments

Sometimes I get frustrated with myself.  I get impatient with my imperfections.  I get upset at how I can be so focused on the Lord and spiritual living for an extended period of time and then, it seems, in an instant I can slide back into old habits.

So often I take two steps forward and three steps back.  I frequently think of St. Paul’s words: “What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15).

But a couple of weeks ago I was sitting in quiet prayer and the Lord spoke to my heart: “Stop judging yourself and live.”

Interesting, I thought.  I wrote those words in my journal, but I didn’t completely understand them…until I recently had one of my two-steps-foward-three-steps-back moments. Read more »

Lessons from a Flight Delay

Written by on June 15, 2010 - 14 Comments

As I write this I’m cruising at 30,000 feet on my way to Omaha, Nebraska to spend the week at the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) at Creighton University.  IPF is a wonderful program designed to help seminarians enter into a deeper relationship with the Holy Trinity.  There are 175 seminarians from all over the country that will spend ten weeks studying, praying, and doing volunteer work.

My flight was scheduled to leave Providence at 12:30, but due to bad weather in Detroit it was delayed by about an hour.  The delay almost made me miss my connection, but the pilot did a good job of “making up time in the air.”  On a side note, I’ve never figured that one out: if they can make up time in the air, why don’t they just increase the flight speed all the time to shorten all flights?

The short delay prompted me to ponder some life lessons: Read more »

How to Live Your Purpose

Written by on May 2, 2010 - 3 Comments

“You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense” (Rick Warren)

So, how are you doing with identifying your purpose?  If you haven’t read my last post about how to know your purpose, or if you just want to review it, go do it now before you read this one.

(Hey…I told you to go read my last post.  Why are you still reading this?)

To recap, I suggested that to know our purpose we must Pray so that we can know the One who created us; we must Understand our good desires and talents; and then we must Resolve to act on our good desires and use our gifts for the Lord.  In this post I’ll suggest how to live your purpose.  I’ll use “P-O-S-E” in “purpose” to guide you. Read more »

Beginning Again

Written by on December 11, 2009 - 8 Comments

I had missed my tenth shot in a row and I was deeply frustrated.  I simply couldn’t do it.  As much as I tried, I couldn’t put the ball in the basket with my left hand.  After all, I’m right-handed, and for the life of me I couldn’t understand why my father was putting me through this torture of learning how to shoot the basketball with my left hand.  I was just a little kid, probably ten or eleven years old.  I was frustrated with myself and with him.

“I can’t do it,” I said with frustration.

“Yes you can,” he replied passionately.

“No, I can’t.”

“Keep trying.  You can do it.” Read more »

Here’s Some Inspiration to Keep You Going!

Written by on September 26, 2009 - 4 Comments

In our walk with the Lord, we often fall.  We sin every day.  I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get discouraged by my own weaknesses.  However, the Lord wants us to keep going.  His desire is that we begin again and again.  He wants us to focus on His love, not on our [...]

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