My "Religion"

....The other day a friend and I were talking about religion... not always a subject I openly talk about... 

I grew up Catholic, and I still am Catholic, it's what I know, and it is what I believe...  In College I attended church with different roomates...  I wasn't impressed with them...  not gonna lie..  I like my church, when I attend, I have read the Bible in spanish...  ;)  it's been a while but I read it...  ;)  I have Saints that I believe in, the rosary is important to me, and it is usually prayed at my house in a time of need....  The definition of religion is different for every individual...  For me it's this.... 

My aunt had this posted on her refrigerator last night...  I LOVED it, it makes sense to me...  so I "borrowed" it! ;)

I try to live by this daily! I have ALWAYS trusted in God... And I try to be THANKFUL everyday!!

God is ALWAYS with me...  I learned that a LONG time ago...  My mom did a WONDERFUL job teaching my brother, sister and I the importance of praising, seeking, worshiping and thanking God when we were younger...

As hard as it is to believe sometimes, I believe that he really wont ever give us much more than what we can handle...  no matter how hard that may be!

I know my mom wishes that I went to church more often...  I know I should, but at the same time, I feel like God not only wants us to attend and worship, but he also wants us to LEARN of his teachings, and exercise them...  he wants us to treat our neighbors the way HE would treat them...  He also wants us to do good deeds, while not necessarily telling the whole world you're doing them... 

So here is my religion in a nutshell,

•  Reading and truly living by God's word
• Being completely true to ourselves, and to those around us... 
• Doing good to others without expectations...  It's what he wants
• Being "charitable"
• Being noble
• Praying and trusting that God will take care of things
• Practicing what we're preaching
When my dad was sick we got another lesson in the "power of prayer,"  I had used that once before when one of my friends from College almost died from liver failure...  and when he (my dad) was in the hospital and we could have lost him, God showed us again how POWERFUL prayer really is...  My mom had candles lit up in prayer, there was people praying for my dad daily...  there was a rosary being recited everyday at 6, for a week between his surgery and "the setback"...  Prayers came from everywhere...  the US, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and anywhere else that we had friends and family.... Prayer is GREAT, and GOD is even greater...  His teachings have taught me that, and they have also taught me that living our lives honestly, and thankfully is what he wants...  it's what will always give us, or me peace from within....  :)
I found this quote on a site and thought it would be a good end to this post!!  ;)  Now if we could only figure out how to always be charitable without needing a pat in the back about doing it!!  ;)
"Every Charitable Act is a Stepping Stone Towards Heaven"
Henry Waed Beecher