#unshakeable

Not caring what others think.

Voicing your opinion whether others agree with them or not.

Staying true to yourself.

Walking into any room and feeling powerful (not insecure).

Realizing you don’t have competition and not comparing yourself to others.

Feeling best about what you have to offer and who you are.

Putting yourself first.

Dreaming big and taking action to make your dreams happen.

Being a master manifestor.

Not needing anyone or their approval to be great.

Laughing at haters.

Presenting your best self to the world.

Having a stable emotional state (remaining hopeful and not allowing doubt to effect you).

Having your own standards and staying true to them.

Having a secure self image and not allowing others to define you.

Never lowering your standards.

Speaking your truth.

Allowing yourself to shine (talents, gifts) without judgement.

Supporting others and being joyous when they win.

Focusing on self.

Speaking highly of yourself.

Creating and doing what you love (not just what's popular).

Think of the people who love you the most.

Now think about a recent bad day. Where things went horribly wrong. Maybe it was something at work or school. Maybe it was something more personal.

The kind that just grabs all of your attention. It hits so hard that it’s all you can see. You don’t have the bandwidth to think or feel about anything or anyone else. One of those days.

Now, think about the people who love you the most. In that moment, when you couldn’t even think about them – much less reach out to them or feel anything – did that have any impact on how much they love you?

Right. It had no impact at all.

Your relationship with them, how much they love you? That isn’t changed by what you’re going through. Even when you can’t feel their love. Even when you feel completely empty, the people that truly love you still truly love you.

Why would it be any different with God?

This is the point that today’s first reading is making. Where Paul warns us not to be deceived by all the things that can alarm us, that can shake our faith. If we let them.

Because our relationship with God isn’t dependent on the things that happen to us. Or on other peoples’ opinions. Or on how we feel.

Even when life is punching down on us so hard that we can’t feel much of anything. When we’re just empty inside.

None of that changes our relationship with God. Because none of that can shake the foundation of our relationship with God.

Which is what? God’s love for us. God’s unstoppable, absolutely shameless love.

Poured out endlessly for you, no matter what you hear. Or how you feel.

Because our God isn’t just the God of the best moments of our lives, when everything is going great. God is the God of every moment of our lives. Even the bad ones. Even if we’re empty.

God’s love for us is unshakeable. Even if we’re not.

Order Christmas in Carinthia!!! OUT NOW!

Okay, I know the arrow thing is a bit silly, but it's a convention of the genre so here we are.

Anyway! Behold a story about Marta's grandparents!!!

Dorothea Dornbach is on the verge of spinsterhood, and that's just how she likes it. Once Vienna’s boring bachelors have finally given up pursuing her, she’ll finally be free to pursue her great passions: botany, gardening, and being left alone. All she has to do is survive one interminable Christmas party at the house of dull, priggish, annoyingly handsome Gerhardt von Holstadt. It’s been three years since Gerhardt’s father passed away, and the young count isn’t entirely confident about hosting his first Christmas party at the family estate. With high-society guests to look after and a thousand events to plan, he has more than enough on his plate. A visit from Dorothea, the most irritating prankster of his childhood, can only make things worse. Dorothea is expecting weeks of sheer boredom. Gerhardt is expecting an utter disaster. But circumstances - including a midnight surgery, a secret passage, and a long-buried family secret - keep bringing them together, and the outcome is more of a surprise than any Christmas gift.

Hi chums! Did you know that you can buy my book on Bookshop.org? No Amazon required!

"If, following the example of the Canaanite woman, we persevere in prayer with unshakeable firmness, our Creator’s grace will be present to us. It will correct all the errors in us, it will sanctify all that is impure, it will pacify all agitation. For the Lord is faithful and just. He will forgive our sins and will purify us from every stain if we cry to him with the attentive voice of our heart."