April 8: Thanksgivings for Blessings (Kathleen Pittman)

How is thanksgiving related to perseverance? Exactly how do those crops mature so they are ready for harvest? What does this have to do with a new Bishop, anyway?

As the people of God in the Diocese of the Rio Grande, we have had many new opportunities to grow over the last few years. We have been blessed by trying and learning. The Bosque Center is an example of being blessed by sowing the seed and reaping the harvest. We purchased an old Catholic retreat center on the west side of the Rio Grande, a couple of blocks off a busy street in Albuquerque. The building needed renovation. The building needed additions and lots of TLC. Our diocesan leaders saw possibilities and planted the seed. Now we have an amazing space that blesses us and many other groups as they stay there and worship and conference and study there. Because we were willing to plant the seed….to try something new…we were blessed. In the years since the retreat center opened, the word has spread. Now the calendar is full of reservations for groups large and small to use the center. Grabbing on to this new idea, not being afraid to invest capital and develop the center, has blessed the diocese financially, as well. Last year, we earned about $300,000 with about $150,000 going back into the center.

Think of raising children. The parents persevere in showering the child with love and gentle (I hope) corrections. Once is not enough. Children must be nurtured. And all the while, the parents are thanking God every day (most days at least) for having such a wonderful and amazing child. It takes years to raise a child to maturity. Eventually, if the child is lucky and we are lucky, that child will take care of us in our last years. So, perseverance pays off.

We have learned to plant seeds and persevere as we wait for the harvest. The coming years, with a new Bishop at the helm, we will, most certainly, be challenged to embark on new journeys. The road may be rocky and crooked, but with perseverance, the harvest will come. Let’s be open to new ways and new challenges and amazing harvests.

Kathleen Pittman, Ph.D. (President, Standing Committee)

Activities and Prayer for this Week

 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith. (Galatians 6:9-10)

Jesus promises that we will reap good as we persevere.
Discuss the points of interest to you, and your group.
The Diocese of the Rio Grande is blessed with many ‘crops’. Individually or in your group identify some of these blessings, whether they are people, ministries, the diocese itself, or other things.
Create a blessing tree by writing one blessing on a leaf shape and adding it to a tree outline. You can get fancy and use a real branch if you want, too.
Prayer: God of abundance, you have blessed the Diocese of the Rio Grande greatly. Open our eyes to these blessings, and to ways in which we can share them with others. Amen.
Share: Comment on this post  to share one or 2 of the blessings you, or your group, put on your tree, or post a photo of the tree itself. 

Prayer Board

On Monday and Tuesday we looked at a couple of ways to pray for people in your neighborhood. As the sun comes up, you can blanket the area with prayer like the rays of the sun. During your walks around the area, you can pray for the homes and families you pass.

Sometimes a visual aid is helpful for keeping other prayer requests in our consciousness. A Prayer Board is one way to do that. You can use a bulletin board to pin up names and prayer requests. They can be moved around as the urgency of the prayer need changes or removed when the prayer is answered. 
Newspaper articles of events needing prayer can be added. A picture of a tornado stricken town might help you remember to offer prayers for the people affected. Maybe just a headline or a single sentence is enough to remind us of the prayer need.
Be sure to add some positive images of things you are happy about and thankful for, too. Poems, pictures of Jesus or beautiful scenery, family images or other items that bring you joy are important prayer reminders, too. It is easy to forget to add the joyful thanksgivings that are just as important in God's eyes as our needs and the needs of others.

Post It Notes

What do those little yellow or pastel or bright colored sticky note pads have to do with prayer, you might ask? Actually they are a wonderful prayer aid. We are all used to jotting notes on them to remind us to 'pick up the laundry' or 'take the cat to the vet' or 'return book to Mary'.

They are just as handy to jot down prayers or thanksgivings during the day. Carry a small pad of them with you. When you hear about something that needs prayer, say a quick arrow prayer (see March 1) and then jot it down for more prayer attention later. If you remember something that makes you especially thankful, jot it down for rejoicing, too.

Keep track of your prayers for a week this way and you might begin to see a trend in the things and people you pray for. You might notice that you are offering more thanksgivings, too because you are more aware of things to be thankful for because you are writing them down! 

If you are someone who is totally paper-free, you can do the same thing on your i-pad or note pad on your phone, but there is something about the tangible effort of writing the prayer or thanksgiving on a piece of paper. Plus you can stick the note up on your computer or bulletin board or refrigerator as a reminder.