Gods 'car wash'...

Driving back from Mass this morning..I felt exhilarated...on fire for God...in the ten minutes it took me to get home I had 'written' my 'status' for Facebook, which then turned into a 'blog'...as it ended up too long for a Facebook page.

So here I am a few hours later, with a diminished enthusiasm and vigour to write this blog...but hey..I'm going to have a go - to rekindle the beautiful 'picture' I had only this morning, before I travel further along the 'highway'.

My 'road' today was filled with many distractions...

For sisters and brothers in Christ...who probably know what I mean..for all  those who have no idea..I hope one day you will know what I'm gibbering on about...

Walking in to a Latin chant by the monks at Douai Abbey, was very inviting. I found a good spot, remembered to Genuflect...(I'm fairly new to this)...and sat down. ...whilst praying to God with my weekly apology for arriving late....

The Liturgy of the sacrament took us into communion...I love this act of repentance, bringing to mind all that I have failed to do or done inappropriately over the past week....so much comes to mind...but I know Jesus will forgive me, if I have a heart to do better...which I always do at this point, even if I fail after I leave.

Before I became a Christian my grandad used to try and tell me about 'sin' but I just thought he was
being old fashioned so chose to ignore his sound advice. When The Lord filled me with His Holy Spirit the very first time...He revealed my 'sins'..my wise grandad had been right.

The Ten Commandments were given for us to live a life of Harmony and peace, if we all abided by them we would not end up hurting each other. I know I will never be perfect, only Jesus Christ himself was without blemish, but we can strive with God's Grace to try to be more like Jesus.

As humans in our modern fallen world it is sooo easy to be distracted - to be tempted to join in stuff not good for our souls, to judge others, gossip, waste time on Facebook when we could be praying...if we set our eyes on Jesus we can remind ourselves what we could be like, if we read His word, The Bible, we can discover how we can be more like Our Saviour.

God's patience with His children is infinite..in Matthew 18:22 Jesus Himself tells us to forgive not
7 times but 77 times.

Taking the bread and wine since I became a Christian has always been special. Partaking in the
Eucharist..Jesus words..Take, eat this is My Body' are reverberating through my head as I feel Jesus'
actual presence in me, strengthening me, together as one ,.."This is my blood, drink it in remembrance of Me"....again it may only be a physical 'small sip' but it feels like His blood is running through my veins..empowering me to go and serve My Lord Jesus Christ.

I return to my seat, kneeling, Thanking God for His son, Thanking Him for Forgiveness, asking for strength and wisdom to go out into the days ahead...

"Go in Peace, the Mass has ended"....and my new week has begun....

Driving steadily home, Christian music blasting out, windows down as the day is warm....

I feel elated, full of God's Love, The Hope of Christ in my heart..a yearning to serve Him unconditionally...I cannot wait for the opportunities to come...doors to be opened...

I realise for those moments, fresh out of Mass I am safe...no distractions, no temptations...no lethargy...safe in my car for a few minutes..

It reminded me of a car wash....I was a dirty vehicle....I went through the car wash...I came
out clean.

As a car goes back on the road....it quickly gathers dust, the untimely splodge of bird pooh...trying to avoid puddles and muddy tracks, the driver carefully plans his route. But even on the clear road ahead, the best road to follow, there will be elements of dirt, grime and mud adhering itself so quickly to the car.

With all good intentions the road travelled will pick up so much grime...some expected, some a surprise. Then back to the car wash to start again...the longer we leave it the more obvious it becomes to others...we may stop caring how shabby the car is looking, there may be other more important distractions, we may not have the time to clean the car again. But when we return, as we go through that cleansing process, we can have shiny cars again...for a short time.

We can return any time, any place...just by praying to Our Father in Heaven wherever we are...

But for me, today...I truly felt like I had been through the 'God car wash' ....I praise God that He openly invites us with His everlasting arms to come to 'The God wash' as often as we want to. He knows as we try to walk the Righteous pathway we will not get too far without attracting a little dust, a bit of dirt or a big blob of bird pooh...Thank God for Jesus who died in our place that we may be forgiven...totally...cleansed completely each and every time we say sorry to The Lord God Almighty, through the blood of a His son Jesus Christ.

Wherever you are on the road, however much mud you have spattered over you , there is NO amount of 'dirt' to deep that Jesus cannot wash away...if you feel you haven't been to the  'car wash' for a while, then maybe think of making time for one...or just stop, and open your heart and soul to Jesus. He is always loving you, always waiting with outstretched arms.

As it says in Psalm 46:10 "Be still and Know that I am God"...Amen x