The Smell of Cleaning Products

It’s funny what a sight or smell can do to you. Often it can act like some sort of time machine propelling you back to a time that you can remember. One of my favorite smells was the closet where all the cleaning supplies were kept in my Mom and Dad’s home. It’s funny I know, but that smell is special for some reason. Home is always home no matter how long you have been away. Home is a place where you can find safety and love. For me it’s not just a place but also a set of people. You should always feel safe to go home and that is why I work so hard to make my children feel safe and loved under my roof. 

God is much the same. He has created a Heaven for you to spend your eternity in. He doesn’t make you come. God gives you free will. He lets you choose if you want to spend time with him. God being God has spared no expense. He doesn’t need a heaven, he made that for you. Why, because he loves you and he knows how special you are. He wants to take care of you for all your eternity if you will have him. God loves you that much.

God doesn’t want you to be alone. He wants you to have company. He wants you to feel love and compassion. In the garden of Eden God showed man every animal he made, and when none were a fitting partner God made Eve for Adam. He made sure that the two were good for each other because God wanted Adam and Eve to feel love and compassion.  God loves you that much.

The world is a crazy place ,because men and women make it that way, and God does his best to bring us together. God first picked a Family, then built a tribe, then a nation trying to bring humanity together so that we could find love and compassion. God sent many prophets to help lead his people so that they could find love in him. We would come to him and then fall away and God would send another. Finally God sent his only son to teach us in person how to love and show compassion, and we killed him. Jesus took the blame for all our sins and died a most horrible death for us, yes you too. God loves you that much.

Jesus anointed apostles and he taught them personally with tender, warmth and care. He loved them with all his heart and told them to go out and share with all what he taught them so all of humanity could feel that love. God didn’t create some exclusive club. All are welcome if they want to come. Jesus established the Church where all could come and worship and love God in community with fellow believers. Where we as Christians could love and support one another. Where maybe, just maybe if we listened and did what God asked we could experience a tidbit of Heaven here on earth. God loves you that much.

You cannot pass through your day without being surrounded by God’s love. For God made everything out of love for you. We may misuse or distort his creations but that is our fault not God’s. He patiently waits and is willing to teach still to this day. Everyday you wake he loving waits for you to come home. God loves you that much.

I don’t know what Heaven looks or smells like, but from the love and compassion that I feel when I accept him in my life I feel as at home as when I open that closet in my parents house. Question is, are you ready to come home?

Ephesians 2:19-22

19So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; 22in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Psalms 19:2-5

1The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. 2Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. 3There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; 4yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,

Luke 6:12-16

12In these days he went out to the mountain to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; 14Simon, whom he named Peter, and Andrew his brother, and James and John, and Philip, and Bartholomew, 15and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot, 16and Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

Addicted to the Pokemon?

Trying to teach my children about money can be a wonderful thing, or it can be a wonderful exercise in patience. Most of the time the idea of saving is lost on them. It is not until it is too late that they understand. 

One of my children had a strong love of Pokemon cards. He just loved to collect them, and I didn't mind. However, I noticed that just about the time my son had 5$ saved from chores he almost immediately had a new pack of cards. For a short time I tried to explain that if he were to save his money and wait that 5$ could easily be 20$ or 50$ and he could get something much nicer.  He had none of my advice. He liked the cards. He wanted them and so he bought them quickly as he could. Sad was the day though that we went to the store and he saw something wonderful, however it cost a bit over 10$. My son was crushed because he didn't have enough for it and did not understand why I would not just buy it for him. 

As an adult life is much the same. I could fill my coffers with "stuff". I can follow the path of the world and run from shiny treat to shiny treat. I can spend my days being a slave of consumption. I can even go so far as to treat people like things and use them to my will and throw them away when I am done with them. God calls me to do different though. Would God be happy if I rid myself of all possessions and gave any excess to the poor, yes. Does he demand it, no. What is important to God is that I love him with all my mind body and soul. He wants me to love everyone on this planet as I love myself. God simply wants love and compassion because God knows that love is true happiness.  It is true happiness that lasts longer than the pleasure from a cheeseburger, fleeting sex or a deck of Pokemon cards. 

God wants us to grow and learn how to love so that we can coexist with him in heaven. For eternal peace and happiness doesn't work if those involved cannot love. That is the prime reason we have so much discontent here on earth. Am I perfect? No, I am a sinner trying each day to love better and stronger. I try and ignore Satan's temptation to merely serve my own selfish desires. I try and ignore the pull of hate towards those that hurt me and mine. Only with God’s grace can I become what he desires, so I ask for God's help.  I work to feed the hungry, donate to those that heal the sick and love those that feel unwanted for I know one day my frail body will die and my soul will need a new home. Most importantly I work to make God my best friend and confidant. I pray, attend mass, study and partake in the sacraments which God has gifted to me.  Eternity will begin one day and I won't be able to take anything with me.  So I ask myself do I want to rise with love to my God to heaven where inconceivable treasures lie or do I wish to fall to hell and all that Satan has waiting for me? I guess the real question is, how badly do I want that pack of Pokemon cards?  

Romans 8:18-25

18I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God; 20for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope; 21because the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Psalms 126:1-6

1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. 2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." 3The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad. 4Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses in the Negeb! 5May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy! 6He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Luke 13:18-21

18He said therefore, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? 19It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches." 20And again he said, "To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

Training Wheels

My son Walter recently learned how to ride a bike. It was hard cause we have a gravel driveway, but after struggling a bit the training wheels came off. He fell over and a few times was frustrated. He almost wanted to give up and never triy riding again. I talked to him in a calm voice and reassured him. I stood by his side and did my best to help him excel. Now he rides without fear. 

Our bodies are sort of like training wheels. They keep us grounded in this life, but we must be careful. Our bodies a wonderful gift from God, can try and become our master. Eating can be a double edged sword. It is one thing to eat to have the energy we need, but another to use food as a pacifier to help us feel good and get through tough times. It is one thing to drink to sooth a parched mouth or relax at the end of a day, but it is another to drink until we are drunk because we don't want to face our difficulties. Sex, is a beautiful act that brings life into the world, but when we become a slave to our sexual desires, use contraception so that we can use sex like a drug to receive pleasure it is wrong. 

God loves you and wants to be your best friend. He wants to help you overcome your advisories. He wants to teach you to love so when your body is put in the ground your soul can rise to heaven. God loves you and he wants you to love in the same way.  He wants you to love everyone you come across including the sick, the poor and hungry. Loving others creates happiness, which lasts longer than any pleasure you derive from a temporary act. God wants you happy because he loves you. Question is, are you ready for your training wheels to come off?

Romans 8:12-17

12So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- 13for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of sonship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Psalms 68:2, 4, 6-7, 20-21

1Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him! 3But let the righteous be joyful; let them exult before God; let them be jubilant with joy! 5Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. 6God gives the desolate a home to dwell in; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. 19Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. [Selah] 20Our God is a God of salvation; and to GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

Luke 13:10-17

10Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11And there was a woman who had had a spirit of infirmity for eighteen years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity." 13And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God. 14But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the sabbath, said to the people, "There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be healed, and not on the sabbath day." 15Then the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the