Advent - Time of Hope

Almost Christmas...but not yet!  Oh yeah it's called Advent.  

This year has been tough, and is actually an understatement.  Not that the ones before were easy - Covid, the beginning of the conflict in the Middle East, Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Russia.   Remember? Who can forget, my head is spinning.  But we are not here to talk about Covid, or the beginning of those horrible conflicts that are going on around the world.  We are here to talk about 2024, and how to feel joy regardless of what is going on in your city, your country, the world.  

There is uncertainty and fear for many.  There are horrible situations that you might be going through.  How in the world can we be expected to feel joy?

Well God tells us, in Phillipians 4:8,  that: "in every situation...whatever is:

• True
• Good
• Holy
• Honorable
• Just
• Lovely
• Commendable
• If there is any excellence
• Anything worthy of praise

Think about these things !"

So yes there are terrible things some people are going through - that is a fact.  But if we have to go through something, and there is nothing we can do about it, at least we can mitigate the hardships and the evil we encounter, and we can draw some good and get enough strength and healing to go through it.  

We can always receive grace, we can always receive healing, God always wants to comfort us and draw us close to His Heart.  All we need to do is our part.  So go ahead and think about that list, don't let anyone or anything steal your free will.  There must be something you can think of, something you can hold on to, something you can chose to think about - other than whatever evil is surrounding you. 

 God is ready!  Ready to hold us in His arms, we just have to let Him!  

All we need to do is to use the power of our will.  Control our minds and  not let ourselves sink into the depths of depression. self pity and despair - that will not help.  That will make things worse, it will change us, consume us, finish us!  

Do not let your circumstances take the best of you! 

Rise above, by asking Jesus Christ to come to your aid.  

Even if all you have is a tiny bit of strength use it for the prayer :  Jesus Help me!

He will come right away. 

God promises that when we do our part "and the God of peace will guard our hearts and minds"  He will come to our aid.  He alone knows what we need most.  He will surround us with protection, strength and peace.  

This Advent there is a lot we can do, no matter what our circumstances.  Why?  Because we have the power to pray and God is on our side.  We have the power to offer up our hardships for a greater good to come out of them.  And we have the power to hope in Him who is our Saviour.  He will come, He will help, He will heal.  This Advent chose Hope!

All we have to do is ask, and trust.  

May the God of peace that surpasses all understanding be with you!

Love from miles away

I love every single one of my readers.  Not only I love and appreciate you, but I pray for you often.  I know that"Blogger" has not made it easy for some of you to get in touch with me.  I am writing a quick note to give you an email address, and my Instagram etc, where you can send suggestions, questions, comments or prayer requests.  

My email:  light_in_u@yahoo.com  (Subject: Princess in Overalls)

My Instagram:  Sacred Heart Rosaries (Please Follow Me)

I hope that this is enough for you to be able to contact me in an easier way!  I can't wait to hear from you.  Please check out my book:  "Princess in Overalls"  in AMAZON.COM, and AMAZON.CA.  You can find it by writing the name of the book plus my name next to it in the search bar like this:

Princess in Overalls by Carolina Prada

"Princess in Overalls" is in Kindle as well.

I am also in the process of putting it in Audible so keep your eyes open!

I love this community and can't wait to be more helpful to you and be much more active!

Many blessings from Canada,

Carolina Prada

To Taylor Swift or not to Taylor Swift - That is the question!

I recently returned from a trip to Paris - France.  I went to Paris with one of my daughters to celebrate her 15th birthday.  In my country when you turn 15 you call it "Quinsianera" and you either have a trip to Europe, or have a giant party or do something truly memorable.  My oldest daughter's 15th was during "Covid" and we were blessed enough to have been able to have a beautiful party, when things were loosening up a bit in our city.  My other daughter's Quinsianera is this year.  She is a huge Taylor Swift Fan.  So my daughter decided, she did not want to have a party, or anything other than to go to the Eras Tour to see her beloved Taylor Swift.  

I was a bit divided in making a final decision, because although I love many of Taylor Swift's songs and I consider myself a fan, there were a few things worrying me.  First of all, well the Eras tour is so expensive!  When the "cheap tickets" go out for sale in "Ticket Master", you have not even blinked when they are all sold out.  Then our only chance is to buy from someone who is trying to get rich out of us, in a place like Stubhub.  

Second there are at least a couple of songs that I do not like from Taylor Swift, specifically "Willow" and one from "Vigilante ***"- the choreography for them in the concert is not conducive to holiness if you know what I mean!  And in a way also some of the lyrics are not exactly the best if someone is trying to be holy, remain pure or and be modest.  

I am not going to lie, it took me a while to decide what to do. We all prayed about it and discussed it, in the end we figured we could have a good time and pray for the conversion of Taylor Swift, while at the Eras Tour.  

We purchased excessively overpriced tickets and decided to go to the Eras Tour in Nanterre France.  For a bit we had a huge scare because the Stadium's web site said that they would only accept tickets purchased in "Ticket Master" or directly from the stadium, and that any others would be denied entry. 

When I read this my heart sank.  I though we had made a huge mistake and wasted a lot of money.  

I talked to my daughter and told her what I truly believe:  that God's will is always for our good and that if it was His will we would go into the stadium, and that if He was protecting us from something - well He would make sure to keep us out of the Eras tour.  

So in the end we took our plane to Paris and we tried to enjoy the week as we waited for Friday (the day of our concert), without knowing if we would be able to enter the concert or if we would be turned away and lose the money.  The day came and we realized that at 9:00 am, there were already long lines for the concert which was starting at 6:30 pm!  We decided to get in line at 1:00 pm, because I figured that is all I could survive lol.  We stood in line in the sun, sitting on the hard cement side walk from 1:00 pm to 6:30 pm when the doors opened.  

I know it must sound crazy to be in line for so long, but the truth is that time passes fast when you are with great people!

 And Swifties are sweethearts!  

Swifites are fun and friendly and full of joy!  

We made friends, we chatted exchanged bracelets and before we knew it we were ready to go in.  While in line, some of our new found friends took a look at our tickets - which were floor tickets but the first come first serve type, at least that is what we thought.  But, when they looked at our tickets they gasped and told us that  we had what they call"Golden Tickets" - and they guaranteed us that with these tickets we would be in a special area, where we would be so close to Taylor, that we would almost be able to touch her !

Any normal person would have been ecstatic to hear this, but we still were not sure if we were going to be allowed in, so it was bitter sweet.  As we approached the gate, our hearts were pounding, we truly did not know what would happen.  They had already re-directed us to a different line, because of our "Golden Tickets", everyone was singing, the mood was raising, the anticipation was killing us..

I again reminded my daughter we might be turned around.  

She looked at me and smiled and told me not to worry, and she said with her beautiful sweet eyes shining. that it had already been worth it!  That, being part of such an amazing experience, had already made her so absolutely happy, and that she would offer it up for Tylor Swift's holiness.  I was amazed at her willingness to accept God's will in a situation that honestly she could have chosen to be having a tantrum.  She was full of faith and joy and she did not let anything ruin that precious moment!

We arrived to the gate and the time came to scan our tickets!  We looked at each other with hearts pounding, I put my ticket under the scanner and bam!  Green light, I felt my knees get weak, I scanned my daughter's ticket and bam!  Green light again, we were in.  Our eyes got full of tears ,only a Swiftie would fully understand.  We literally ran inside after being handed a golden wrist band and given another wrist band that light up.

We were amazed to see that our area allowed us to stand literally next to the security fence.  We had absolutely no one in front of us!  We looked around and it was like a dream.  Both of us stunned and shocked at God's grace and love for us.  Let me tell you, I can honestly say I am pretty sure Taylor Swift has never gotten so much prayer in her life.  Both my daughter and I enjoyed the concert, but as we enjoyed the concert we prayed and prayed.  For the protection and conversion and holiness of both Taylor Swift, her team and her beloved Swifties!

PS :  Make sure you keep your eyes open to more stories from the Eras Tour Paris Trip, and many many  lovely pictures!

Letting go of Bad Friends - Sometimes for a season

Is being alone that bad?  How can we chose to put up with so much?  Why do we insist in putting our soul at risk?  Do we not see just how precious we are?  Do we not understand, that valuable things need to be protected and cherished? We are  much more valuable than we think! We are so much more valuable than anything out there, we must not let people treat us like we are not. 

We shouldn't put up with people who do not give us the value we deserve.  We have the strength and the grace in us, to live a happy life without people who harm us and bring us down.  We need to be picky, and to select only great people around us.  

Maybe that means we will only have one good friend, so be it !  Maybe that means we will have none for a time.  Be strong, focus on the things you enjoy.  Work on your dreams.  Learn.  This life is so much more than just settling for mediocre people. Do you not see the beauty around you? 

The wrong "friend"  can change your life, and for the worse.  Do you not see, how much the wrong person can hurt you?  Your mental health?  Your feelings?  Your confidence? There are many broken people out there, that would love nothing more than to break you too!  There are a lot of jealous, envious, bitter, narcissistic, plain old evil people out there.  It is up to you to protect yourself.  You owe it to yourself to be selective, and to perhaps opt for a time of journeying on your own if necessary.

I am praying for you, please pray for me too.  Do not lose heart.  There are many of us out there still.  Even when all seems lost - it is not.  Hold on to our Lord Jesus.  Everything passes everything is perfect.  

You can do this!

No!! I will not say"Happy Halloween:

Whatever is good, whatever is holy , whatever is beautiful....think about these things!!

That is what the Bible says.  Now when I say "Happy Halloween'  to you, what am I saying?  Happy day in which we celebrate limbs being torn off people and scattered on gardens?  Happy day when we celebrate demons and the devil?  Happy day in which we celebrate everything that is dark and evil?  That would sound a tad crazy no?

Nevertheless so many people say"happy Halloween"!  

Be counter cultural!  Be a rebel , a true rebel and refuse to wish people a "Happy Halloween!"

In Halloween think about holiness.  Think about how you can get closer to God.  Think about having fun, yes, but fun that leads to holiness.  In a world that is full of evil.  In a world in which hatred reigns.  In a world in which wars are raging.  Be the difference.  Refuse to be a robot.  Refuse to just go with the flow.  Be holy.

You want peace in the world?  Be holy

You want love to reign?  Be holy

You want Joy and Happiness?  Be holy

Be holy, everything you want starts with you!

Parents Disrespecting the Privacy of their Teens - Is it ever OK ?

I really have a heart for teens.  Many people just dump them into this category of undesirables,  a group of people judged as lost causes.  Many people say: "Well we just need to wait....until they grow out of it", as if they are waiting for a virus to pass.  I disagree.

I love the teen years.  I feel that teens are amazing people that have a lot to offer to the world.  Teens are humans full of love, full of hope, and with a  passion for life.  Often misunderstood, often frustrated by the rejection of adults these beautiful humans suffer in silence, and feel alone.  Teens, those beautiful humans that have so much passion for life, long to love and to be loved, long for understanding and respect, and long for an opportunity to give to the world around them the best they have to offer.  

I have met many parents that are so afraid of the teen years, that they become overbearing and clamp down on all fronts.  These parents let fear set into their hearts, and accept the lie that :  Teen agers are horrible human beings to be controlled at any cost.  And they buy into the fallacy that the only solution, is to treat their teens as the enemy.  

These parents stop listening to their kids and drown their children with unreasonable rules.  Privacy means nothing to them.  They who want respect from the world, offer none to those people they should love most;  their own children.  I know parents who read the private conversations over text on their children's phones, conversations that do not belong to them.  Without permission or any respect, they snoop, spy, and they listen in.  How is it, I wonder, that these parents expect a good honest relationship with their teen, when they themselves are incapable of offering basic respect and trust?

 If you are a teen and you have parents who act this way, please do not despair.  The first thing I would do is pray and ask God to step in.  Ask God to move your parents's hearts and give grace to the situation.  Then I would try to have a serious and honest conversation with one or both parents.  Appeal to their love and explain how you feel. 

If all else fails, be patient, offer it up.  And perhaps most important vow to be different when you yourself are a parent.  Fear can not trump love.  remember what the Bible says:  

" Perfet love casts away all fear"

If your parents are making you suffer you can learn from the situation, so that when it is your turn to be a parent, you are the kind of parent God would like you to be.  A parent full of love and trust and not rule by fear.

If you are a parent, I invite you to pray.  Pray that God will deepen your relationship with your child, so that you can get to know them better.  Pray that God will show you a better way, other than becoming your children's spy, your children's own personal tyrant.  We do not like governments that trample over our rights, but we ourselves trample constantly over our children's rights. 

 That is not love, that can not be. 

 Practice at home what you preach, and have your home be the way you want the world to be like.  

Lets lead our home with trust and love, not fear!

Green? What is hypocrisy?

I recently watched Michael Moor's "Planet of the Humans", and I was left speechless.  That was "time from my life" that I will never get back.  Well, at least it made me think.  I grabbed a cup of tea and sat next to my window, on the couch.  Getting lost in though I wondered:    

Why are so many people such liars?  

Why do people go around on their high horse, pretty much boasting that they are saving our planet,  while in fact they are accelerating the rate in which our planet is being destroyed?

Huge companies, countless celebrities and politicians are selling lies, while they go around and travel the world non-stop,  often in private jets.  Here are a few other examples:

• As Justin Worland stated in an article in Time Magazine: "On a per passenger basis, private jets pollute as much as 14 times more than their commercial counterparts, for example, and the Los Angeles community where these celebrities live is currently limiting outdoor watering to once per week. Celebrities, it might follow, are a key villain in the climate challenge."

• A report in the Los Angeles Timesfound that some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Sylvester Stallone, Dwyane Wade, Kevin Hart, and Kim Kardashian—had flouted drought restrictions at their properties, some exceeding their water allowances by comical proportions. Dwyane Wade’s property, for example, exceeded his allotted water budget by 489,000 gallons in May.

• As Tom Lyon from Fastcompany.com shared, "Exxon Mobil has clearly engaged in this doubletalk. The corporation declared in its 2016 Corporate Citizenship Report that “climate change risks warrant action by businesses, governments, and consumers, and we support the Paris Agreement as an effective framework for addressing this global challenge.” Yet the nonprofit group InfluenceMap recently found that Exxon was one of the top three global corporations in lobbying against effective climate policy."

• In an article in "N Business" writer Bjørn Lomborg shared: "Christian Friis Bach's electric-powered vehicle was incapable of covering the 30km from his house to the palace without running out of power. So he put the electric mini-car inside a horse trailer and dragged it behind his petrol-powered Citroen for three-quarters of the trip, switching back to the mini-car when he neared the television cameras.  The stunt produced more carbon emissions than if he had driven his car the entire distance. Unfortunately, the story is not a one-off."

Many of the people in power pressure us and give us guilt trips, while they themselves continue to ravage the earth we live in.  And for what?  Have you ever asked yourself, for what reason?  With what purpose in mind, is it that these politicians, celebrities and huge Corporations, lie and destroy?  They have families.  Many of these Corporate Wizards have children of their own. Why do they lie, while they destroy our earth?  How can they ruin our planet, their kids's planet, while claiming that they are saving it?  Why is it that they put heavy burdens on the rest of us, while they themselves often don't care?

It is all so evil! So evil, it is overwhelming.

I do not mean for this post to be dark.  No, that is not my purpose.  I just wish people would open their eyes.  We are surrounded by evil.  And if we do not understand we need a saviour, The One and only Saviour, then we are in fact doomed.

Only God can help us be better, be honest, and take care of His beautiful creation.  Only Jesus Christ His only Son can offer: an explanation, a hope, and a future.  We need to take the message of the gospel seriously.  Today we need to change.  Today we need to trust.  Today is the day we need to give ourselves, heart and soul, to Jesus Christ.  All you need to do is say:

 Lord Help me!

Lord change my life!

Lord Jesus I believe help my unbelief.

Wars and Rumors !

We can't gaslight Jesus.  Right now there are wars, rumours of wars and weird viruses.  We have unidentified flying objects appearing, governments that have betrayed us and in general an atmosphere of fear and hopelessness.  

It is exactly at this time, more than ever, that we hold on to what we know to be true.

Hold on to your faith, hold on to Holy Scripture, hold on to Jesus Christ.  He warned us that these things were coming, now is the time to truly TRUST:  His plan, His love, His protection, His word.  

Do not despair, do not give up.  Remember that governments can lie, corporations can lie and steal, schools can manipulate and betray families and students, but through it all - Jesus Christ has already conquered death and sin. 

He has the victory!  He alone has the power, and He has got you!  Place yourself in His care, pray, trust and shine His light as best as you can.

Politicians and sometimes even some church leaders can try to gaslight us - but they will be exposed.  Justice is mine says the Lord!  As long as we can keep hatred away from our hearts, and as long as we can continue to do everything no matter how small, for the glory of God... everything will be ok.

Hold on to the truth as you know it.  Hold on to the "Holy Scriptures".  The "Holy Word of God" is spirit and life, it cuts through the darkness like a two edged sword.  You have been called by name.  You belong to Him, who has won over all evil.  

Do not let them steal your joy, your faith, your hope.  Press on, pray and trust.  

Jesus is King!

Hurricane - When all hell breaks loose

Hurricane - When all hell breaks lose

What do we do when all hell breaks lose?  Like a hurricane that comes and destroys everything on its way, hard situations can sometimes come one after the other.  Like waves that have reached our necks, just when we think the worse has passed one more thing happens.  And we struggle, we struggle and we fight; but at the same time we feel exhausted and we want to give up - we look around and it seems like nobody cares. We feel alone, rejected, abandoned.

 I know a few people in these kind of situations right now.  Actually some of the best people I know, are currently struggling with many many hardships.  What can we do?  

Well the best thing we can do is pray.  Pray and know that, truly, God holds us in the palm of His hand.  And yes it is true that sometimes the more we pray the more things go wrong.  But you know what, keep on praying.  Our Lord is faithful.  You truly can count on Him.  If we are patient and we put our trust in Him- eventually things will get better.  the key to this is - Eventually :)

I tell you something, lets be there for each other!  You can send me an email if you ever want me to pray for you, and I promise you I will pray for sure.  Sometimes we can feel disconnected from people that are similar to us, but we can change that.  We can connect - we can take care of each other!  Know that I am here for you and that every time you send me an email or leave a comment!

 I will pray for you!  💝

Being Kind to Beautiful

Sometimes we meet someone whose life seems perfect.  They are beautiful.  They are loved.  They seem to have everything.  Everything we don't have.  

It is hard.  It is hard to know someone who has everything we ever wanted.  A person who seems to have it all.  And the worse part is - they don't even seem to understand just how lucky they are.  But we do.  We realize it, and it stings.  Yes, it makes us upset, even angry.  But why?

 One word: envy.  

Sometimes we don't grasp just how envious we can become.  We are unkind, sometimes even downright mean; and still we justify the way we act, and how we reject others.  We justify our lack of kindness.  And the worse part is, the more this person we so deeply envy is kind to us, the more our unkindness is made evident, and the more we hate them.  

Sounds familiar?  Maybe, the answer is yes.  Then you really need to read my post about envy.  

But maybe the answer is no.   Maybe you are that person, the one that gets tired of being the object of envy.   Tired of jealousy directed at you.  Tired of someone that seems determined to hate you no matter how kind you are to them.  You love people, but it doesn't seem to matter.  Sometimes one or more of those people you so deeply care about,  seem determined to shun you.  With no real reason, they mistreat you, with no explanation they reject you.  

My advise is: don't fret.  If you are not being appreciated, it's not your fault.  If others are jealous of you , it's on them.  Why long for those who don't give you the value you deserve?  You need to be strong.  For your own good, be strong.  Times change, people change too.  Get busy, give some time and most importantly, pray.  Whatever you do, don't make too much of it.  Because it's not you that is broken, it's them,  It's not you that needs to change, it's them.  It's not you that is sinning, it's them.  If you know someone that is bitter and envious of you, pray for them.  

Some people are incapable of feeling happy for people who shine, but is that a reason to stop shining?  If they themselves are doing badly, if their life is miserable then please try to understand them.  Pray for them.  Pray, because, for those who choose to justify jealousy and envy life does not improve.  Life just becomes more miserable with every bad action they take.  Every time they gossip, every time they snob you, every time they weave their little schemes and intrigues, every time they lie about you, every single time: they bring more misery unto themselves.

God always blesses us with at least one person who is special, one who can truly appreciate us.  Someone who loves us from the heart.  Let that be enough.  Because with relationships, truly, it is not quantity but quality that matters.  Open your eyes and find the people in your life who truly love you.  And be grateful.

 Remember, part of being grateful for something/someone, is to realize that you have enough.  Enough love.  Enough support.  Enough comfort.  Enough admiration.  Enough encouragement.  Don't be greedy, embrace the freedom of understanding that you do in fact have enough.  

God gives us enough, He always gives us more than enough.  He who is kindness and love itself, blesses us beyond our understanding, with enough of everything we need, to be happy and holy.

As for that person/people who does not appreciate you? Maybe they can change one day.

... but  maybe you too could change today!