The Economic Recession Has Hit Us -- God Provides for His Flock

(Permission to re-print Holy Card image from "Holy Cards for Your Inspiration")

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Hello dear friends in Christ,

My father told me that he felt that those of us in education were (more) sheltered from the negative impacts of the recession than those who are employed in business and industry. Financially, this is not true at all. Although my husband and I am most fortunate to have good jobs in the field of education (that we love and believe are making contributions to the improvement of people and society), a 5-day cut in pay for all employees at my husband's university has been announced and begins in December until May. There is no word on what will take place next year.

So we'll just cut back on more unnecessary things, that's all. Yes, this is a bummer, and unexpected, as others have been and are feeling at this very moment in the U.S., but things can be so much worse! Our cups are half full and not half empty. We are still blessed with those things from God THAT MATTER!

• We have God! At all times, we need to deepen our relationship with God, and hopefully this will compel others to do so, along with our own strengthening of our relationship with God.
• We have His Church and Salvation through His Son!
• We have our health.
• We have our shelter, food, water, and heat in the cold months to come.
• We have each other and our precious family!
• We have our jobs.

The list is too long for me to mention all of our little blessings.

DON'T LET THE DEVIL STEAL YOUR JOY!!!! Rejoice in the Lord!

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Recall in Mark 9:14 - 29 that FAITH is the secret to everything and can move mountains and any obstacle! We need to place our fears in the hands of God. Yes, bad things happen to good people, but our Lord and Heavenly Father give us what we need to deal with and endure through these negative things. And even negative things work out for our own GOOD! The silver lining in the dark cloud! We can all re-think our materialistic values (around the world, not just Americans). We can focus on our needs and not our unnecessary wants! We can extend more compassion towards those with even less than ourselves!

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We read also in Matthew 6:25-34

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Do not be worried about the food and drink you need in order to stay alive, or about clothes for your body. After all, isn't life worth more than food? And isn't the body worth more than clothes? Look at the birds: they do not plant seeds, gather a harvest and put it in barns; yet your Father in heaven takes care of them! Aren't you worth much more than birds? Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying about it?

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And why worry about clothes? Look how the wild flowers grow: they do not work or make clothes for themselves. But I tell you that not even King Solomon with all his wealth had clothes as beautiful as one of these flowers. It is God who clothes the wild grass -- grass that is here today and gone tomorrow, burned up in the oven. Won't He be all the more sure to clothe you? What little faith you have!

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So do not start worrying: "Where will my food come from? or my drink? or my clothes? (These are the things the pagans are always concerned about).

Your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.

Instead be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God

and with what he requires of you, and He will provide you with all these other things.

So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own.

There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings.

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I hope that you have a blessed day and are enjoying the simple things in life that matter so much! But most especially, I hope you are finding incredible joy in your deepening relationship with God!

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Amore',

~ Bella

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