GrowHoly.com

Sometimes you simply need help from your friends. You feel so small when calling them and asking about their time and whether they would like to do it..

How great it is when you hear – I’ll be happy to do it for you – I’m so glad to be able to help you.

Then you know that these people are blessed with the gift of being able to give and help – and be happy, not because of you’ve been helped, but just rejoice in knowing how great these people really are.

It’s terrible to realise that you’ve again spent a few days without prayer, without going to the nature or without a deeper meeting with a friend.  It’s sad to find out that again you’ve been neglecting that real meaning of life – love. How can I live a happy life when I don’t invest into my relationship with God, with my friends, and with myself?

What a day is it, when I don’t even look at the sky? How can I love when I don’t put time into realising how much I am being loved?

Once I realised that one of my friends simply disappeared from our community. We meet every Sunday, a lot of people, and this guy used to be very active at every meeting.

Well, it took me a good few weeks to realise he wasn’t coming any more, and I was just wondering what happened. So I asked a few friends – and they also didn’t have a clue about him.

So I emailed him. I wanted to know whether everything was ok, has he moved or what happened.

Imagine that one day you’ll leave – will others miss you? Will others realise at all?

How do you care about others, when you see something happened?

Recently, we ended up staying at home getting bored for a few evenings. Of course, the first question was, what should we be doing? And we couldn’t think of anything what we could do in a cold winter night except for spending money.

Then we realised that we could go out and visit some of our friends. Yet for this, you need a bit of planning ahead, since it could be impolite to just jump in and surprise people who might have had a different program for the evening.

Since that day we started to plan our visits ahead and now have every week at least one scheduled and pre-agreed with friends.

It’s great to meet up with people – you can exchange experiences, have a bit of fun and most importantly, inspire each other.

Our parents taught us to be polite and say thanks years ago. Have we yet, as grown-ups, mastered this skill? What is your language of love?

You can express gratefulness in various ways – either by a gift, money, smile, a hug or just warm ‘thank you’. What we like to do, though, is to give people small presents – maybe a box of chocolates, or a bottle of wine for a man. It’s just a small thing, but it counts – people are happy to see that they gave you something of value for you.

Make sure you always at least text them saying Thanks.

Was thinking how important it is to invest in relationships. Yesterday we did something that we don’t normally do – we went to visit one of our friends. Just called her in the afternoon that we would come, bought some wine and got there in the evening.

What a great evening it was!

We were chatting till it was too late and then we really had to go home. Al the time I could feel how close we were. How many similar interests and topics there were!

When we were leaving, the hugs were so strong…

Even though we like being on our own at home in the evenings, and browse the Internet or do some of our hobbies together, this was something much more valuable.

Maybe it’s about sharing our free time. But it definitely counts and it is important to be close to other people – that’s one of the greatest values you can get in life.

“Act in such a way that your thoughts, words, and deeds will cause others to remark: “This is a person steeped in one book, the Gospel, and inspired by one ideal, the life of Jesus Christ.””

Today I achieved my first goal re winning over my greed – I was 61 kg in the morning, which is those planned 6 days after I made the resolution. Now the second step is to get to 60 kg by next Monday, then to 59 kg the following week, and the rest of my life try to maintain that weight.

Yesterday I achieved another, and probably even more important goal – I made friends with my Mum in law.

We went to the mass together, and then ended up in a tea garden, where we stayed for several hours, having lots cups of tea, but chatting very well. I used to hate some of her characteristics – and yet now I realise that they all come from a difficult life she’s gone through, and that when watched closely and with love, she really is a wonderful person.

She is like a child in many ways – she is able to enjoy flowers, sing songs any time, pray an hour every day, smile and laugh at simple things, cook great foods and then also eat them – and jump and do sommersaults.

It used to be my inacceptance and resentment towards her, which made me angry with her and feeling uncomfortable in her presence. Now I realise this, and would like to take the next step towards having a great relationship with her, and looking forward to meeting her again.

If we are to live like Christians, we need to live like Jesus. He didn’t reject anybody – and we need to prove this also in our closest relationships.

Lord, please, help my Mum in law to get acceptance also from others around her, and help herself to be able to listen to people and to what they really are looking for, and help her provide for them, so that the love can grow steadily.

“You insist that certain questionable friendships help you, but consider: if you are not progressing on the spiritual journey, such friendships may be burdens that are crushing you.”

How to spend my time?

I can work 12 hours a day, participate in various projects, get involved in numerous activities. And doing this, I will keep myself busy, so that I won’t have many opportunities to commit those little sins, like overfulfilling any physical desires, for example.

But is this the way? Because then I won’t have time – time, for my friends. I won’t even have real friends, because I will never have time to go out and sit down with them, and have a chat. I won’t have time to find out about their joys, or problems, I won’t be able to know them, I won’t be able to love them.

So what is the solution?

Another way could be that I would have lots of friends, and spend hours with them every day – yet I know that I would not do that much as I can now – I wouldn’t earn so much money, I wouldn’t do so many “so important” projects (somebody once asked me, when I had said that I was busy, whether I am building a rocket…).

Real love is not looking for specialities. Real love is now and here. Real love doesn’t wait. Real love does things because it can see other people’s progress and growth.

Lord, please, let me do the right things, let me get to know people and love them. Let me find the right balance between being busy with my own agenda and finding time for others.

“Why do you hesitate? If you are bound with even a gold chain, cut yourself loose so that you may make progress along this road. The Lord waits to welcome you at the end of it.”

What is this road about? Is it about hope, faith, joy? Well, merely it’s about love. And love is love only when it’s lived. Today I will call a friend just to see how she is. Today I will help people feel that they are loved. I must show it to them.

Lord, here you are what I am, take me and grow me – You know what I need today.

““Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20). These words of Our Lord are fulfilled especially in those many communities that pray whilst living thousands of miles from a priest. They still organize themselves to pray together and to hold firmly to this practice in the midst of their difficulties and isolation.”

Yes, and yet many of us, who have 2 million priests at hand, we who can choose to which church and at what time to go – every day – yes, we are not willing to participate. We tend to stay passive, we don’t take it seriously, we don’t use the gifts we got!

Currently I am living together with 7 people who claim to be believers. They all go to a mass more than once a week, apart from one. They pray hours every day.

And yet I am so slow to talking with them about faith. I wouldn’t pray with them so easily. Why? I don’t know. I am just not used to talk to people about faith. Maybe I am afraid of being revealed. Maybe I am just shy. Or maybe, I just don’t know what to say.

Anyway, we need to get together and pray together. What if we started to meet once a week to pray a rosary? I will suggest this on Saturday when they all are at home.