By Lynne Harpst Koen
When our lives are on track, all is right in our personal universe. Good health, gatherings with friends and family, the unconditional love of our pets, et cetera. Good times! However, everyone gets derailed from time to time. It’s part of life. We must learn to “man-up” — often hard to do under our own steam. Sometimes we tend to panic and go straight to God for help — praying constantly for things to get better. A priest once told me God answers ALL prayers, only perhaps not in the exact way we’d like Him to. I didn’t really understand his meaning then, but now that I’ve done quite a lot of living, I get it now, loud and clear!
Personally, I’ve always felt a bit selfish praying for myself. I have so many blessings already! I pray for strength for everyone and everything (animals) that may be in need. The power of prayer is limitless! Most importantly, I offer up prayers of THANKS each and every day. No joke. God needs his prospers too! I give Him a shout out whenever I can — very much a constant in my world. When life gives me challenges, I find comfort in staying grounded — looking to the simple things rather than getting overwhelmed. Things we tend to take for granted. I go to ground zero. Just being alive is a biggie! Living in my own hometown, the love of my wonderful husband, tending my little garden, watching the sunset, and so on, very humbling. It really helps put things in perspective, folks. The trick to prayer is consistency. The rest will follow along naturally, rest assured.
The worst thing possible is to succumb to life’s low points and start feeling sorry for ourselves. God never gives us more than we can handle. We must trust in our faith! He WILL give us the strength to make it through even the darkest times, but only if we truly let Him into our hearts as Lord & Savior. It’s not as easy as it sounds to keep that faith sometimes. I’ve had more than one crisis of faith, but with His help & our trust in Him, things always seem to work themselves out eventually. Most people have a “higher power” they look to. Whoever it may be, it’s all good! Being Catholic, the Holy Trinity is my home team in the big ballgame that is life as we know it. For those who are lost without a higher power, well, I pray for them too!
Miracles are abundant on a daily basis. We simply need to choose to be open to them. No matter how steep our hills or how low our valleys, there are always those who have it much worse than we do. Just watch the evening news — guaranteed to cure what ails us. OKAY, maybe not cure us completely, but it does help us feel better about your own problems! Whatever you believe in, plan to make it work for you, not just when you’re in need, but always and forever. Feel the positive energy surround you! It’s all about how we live our DASH.
Lynne Harpst Koen
11/15/1957–