Category Archives: Christianity

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Hi there! Bye there 2023!

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2023 has been a mixed bag for me. Some of my highest highs and some of my lowest lows. But mostly a lot of smaller ups and downs.

I lost my beautiful husband and couldn’t get anyone to take my case against what I feel is a horrible hospital with a lot of horrible practices; who I believe caused my husbands death, not his cancer process.

I’ve started back to an Eastern Orthodox Christian church, in Montgomery. It’s small and I feel at home there mostly. I’m glad to have fellowship with even a small church.

I’ve done a lot of gratitude journaling in the last year, a lot of studying the concepts of manifestation and have come back to the same conclusion each time…it’s ALL God, I don’t need a process or a book to teach me to talk to Him more.

Sure, a journal helps in the whole mindfulness aspect of things, but past that, a lot of the books I’ve read have rubbed me wrong because they don’t feel true to God, they feel alien to me, so I grab what I need and I dismiss the parts I don’t feel feel like Him.

Ive prepped a garden and spent a good part of the year working towards clearing the overgrown parts of my land. I’ve killed the John Deere riding mower more than I care to tell you, I’ve given the greenworks zero a turn a run for her money. I spend a lot more time outdoors between the land and my animals (4 goats, 3 dogs, and 24 chickens, minus the 3 indoor kitties).

I’ve dated a man mostly quietly since late June early July. It’s not a relationship that anyone anywhere is going to write a bestselling love story about…but he’s pleasant and makes me smile and laugh: I’m glad he’s in my life.

I intend on 2024 being a year of heavy blogging for me as well as a lot more soul searching and following my own paths. So this is one last post to close out 2023, and tell you I look forward to adventuring with you in 2024.

lol I finished my post and had closed it out, and was done playing with the land for the day, but this came on and changed my mind:

https://open.spotify.com/track/7e89621JPkKaeDSTQ3avtg?si=NcN6LS5JT9mfB_WXqEpCPA

All the best!

Amanda

Christianity, faith, Greek Orthodox, Life

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15)

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Who am I to you? That’s what Christ was asking…and really it was a valid question for Him to ask then, and it’s a valid question for us today, to ask of our relationships around us, with the people in our lives as well as our relationship with God, right down to the relationships we have with ourselves.

We have many many people who dance in and out of our lives, all of our lives. To some I have been a good friend, to others I have been nothing. Some have found me to be abrasive, obnoxious, funny, charming, kind…any number of words could describe me in any given day, in any given moment.

I have had friends who have left my life over something petty…I don’t know what or who I am to them, not anymore. I don’t know if they hold onto fond memories of me or they let the petty moment that broke our relationship/friendship define me. I can’t control how they see me, I’ve made my peace in every way I know how and gone on with my life.

I don’t know how my kids see me most days, am I an ok mom? I would guess from the fact that the only time they verbalize how they feel about me is when they don’t like me so much…maybe I’m not? I’ve done the best I can there, I’ve tried to make their lives memorable, I share wonderful memories with all 4 of them, and God knows I’ve loved them to the best of my ability.

My relationship with God…it’s not perfect, but I think he knows my heart, he knows how I feel, even if my church life isn’t solid. (I’m currently ‘outside’ my church, because I married outside of the church, which isn’t the right way to go in Eastern Orthodoxy, but I hope to eventually right that, as I truly love my faith. I cannot take communion until that time, which believe it or not, makes me sad) I still read my readings, follow my liturgies and my church on social media for now, and I still pray…I don’t like being estranged, as it makes me wonder what Christ would say…right now…to me, we’re I to ask him:

Who do you say that I am?

Christianity, faith, Greek Orthodox, Life, Uncategorized

Faith is the substance of things hoped for…

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Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.†

Do we have to see something to have faith in it? There are a great many things in the world we may never see, yet we don’t doubt they are there…why is faith in God such a difficult subject to breach, and why are so many dead set to mock and ridicule anyone who believes?

If you are determined not to see something….you won’t see it. No one can make you. However, if you believe, you can’t escape seeing it everywhere you go, in everything you see.

I have decided to take a step back from social media, and my friends and acquaintances within, and focus on my relationship with God a little more. Kind of my way of saying ‘hey, I see you there and haven’t forgotten you’.

If you try to see God in the people around you, you often will be disappointed….almost always in fact. But if you seek Him when you are faced with a challenge, you’d be surprised just how often, and in what ways, he comes through.

I won’t cite any examples, as it’s something you kind of have to see for yourself. However my biggest place of comfort in the past several years has been my daily readings from http://www.goarch.org , I find them relevant to my life more days than I don’t.

Just my little rant for the night.

Have a good one!

Καληνύχτα

Αικατερίνη

Christianity, Life

Consecrated

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The reading is from St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy 2:20-26

Timothy, my son, in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and earthenware, and some for noble use, some for ignoble. If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work. So shun youthful passions and aim at righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with stupid, senseless controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to every one, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
bowl1

you may question my purpose for sharing this particular reading with you in this particular post, however it is one of my 2 readings for this morning as an Orthodox Christian.

I relate a lot to this post this morning as a dear friend of mine has questioned my moral compass, and though I can see opportunities to also question their moral compass, if I ever did approach, it would not be with the harshness he has approached me with this morning.

I think many when they read this post will see the silver and gold vessels as noble vessels and perhaps the wood and earthenware vessels lend themselves to being the ignoble vessels. However I believe that looks can be deceiving when you consider it, and all vessels, if they are cleaned inside and out, can be noble vessels and all vessels, when allowed to go to waste, or sit in filth, can become ignoble vessels.

I believe at times my friend sees himself as a gold or silver vessel, nontarnishable and always clean. I think he doesn’t even recognize that ones moral compass can be skewed at times, no matter how you see yourself.

I am a wooden vessel, and though I work hard to become clean, wooden vessels always lend themselves to looking at least a little bit dirty.  Even on my best days, I am not without fault…but i remain committed to being or becoming a noble vessel.

I don’t write this to shame my friend, but to help myself push past the shame he has tried to push off on me.

also, I write this to give comfort and uplift any others who also may recognize they are a wooden vessel, and never quite feel as clean as other souls around them.

just my rant for the day,

all the best,

amanda (catherine)

Christianity, Life

Called upon to step up, called upon to speak out

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Not me specifically

All Christians

Christianity is increasingly being persecuted in the current state of the world. Media (even social media) sides with Muslims and Athiests 10 to 1 over Christians in our current world.

Why do they get away with it? Because we as a people are so very divided. We have our own denominations and beliefs, and often we are seen tearing one another down, though everything I read in my bible says we should not be looking at what sets us apart, but at our commonality, that is our common core belief, in Christ, in his church, and in The Father and The Holy Spirit.

We are lacking love, compassion, and trust. We are lacking the conviction to stand up for our beliefs when it really matters. We are losing our saltiness and our flavor as Christians. We need to speak up and not back down;

Especially in the face of Challenge and Adversity!!