Awareness Witness

Christian Awareness Witness

I need to be in this more. Please Dear Jesus lend me with Your Strength, Love, & Wisdom to stay focused and clear about this task before me. God Grant me the Grace to stay in clarity. 

I need to write 3000 words, or roughly 6 pages of my experiences getting to know Christ more intimately. This is really a challenge because there are so many aspects of this that I know. Where should I start, and where should I focus. I’m ready to go back to bed now. I really want to hide and not address anything. 

Write our origin story, everyone loves these stories. “Tell me the story of how you and mom met.” Pick the one topic and start with a letter to Kevin.  Kevin represents my ideal client who I need to prepare this for.

My dad was in the navy and found my mom when he was on leave at port in Puerto Rico. I grew up inNorthern New Jersey outside of NY. My life experience has been much like a sign wave where I’m focused and engaged with Jesus through high-points and then crash and burn in despair whenever I get distracted.

When I came to Saint Pete I was starting over after a divorce in Tampa. I had been hired to setup a new engineering office focused on my work doing stormwater master plans and river models.  I moved into my newSaint Pete home on December 13th, 2019. 13 weeks later on March 13, 2020, COVID closed my office and I got a forbearance on my mortgage and weekly unemployment checks searching for anything I could do in the city.

I wasn’t biking to work anymore, but continued to bike out every day. They closed as much as they could,but the public parks and bike paths stayed open.

Soon my Father who lived in Land o’ Lakes decided to leave Florida and I spent a week helping him pack tomove. My mother had passed in 1999 and this move was a major shift for him leaving Florida and cleaning out the history of my mom. During this experience I learned more about my mother.

I ended up getting paintings and art she had collected. The big tapestries that my mom had in the house forever are now central in my new home. I got all the family pictures that she had collected now that my fatherwas cleaning out the family home to move north. I had twisted my ankle helping my dad, and buried my foot in the sand on my next bike trip along the St Pete waterfront.

Now, I'm reminded of first arriving in Tampa for college, and feeling like I was in a time-warp back into High School, where everyone was struggling and trying to figure out what I had already done the last ten-years. Course, I'd been down this road over and over again? Do you think I could get it right this time? Andwhat does it mean to get it right? Does this mean being someone else? Does this mean being who I AM? Does this mean BEing more than I AM? How could I BE MORE? 

What is it that I'm exploring or trying to understand now, that is beyond me, or forcing me to grow and achieve more My father had raised us in a Methodist Church, but my mother was Catholic. Soon after this experience with my dad, I noticed a Lent Guide in the local Protestant church I was invited to from work. I learnedhow Lent was primarily a Catholic tradition and decided to visit the Catholic Church next door to my home in St. Pete. As I walked into Saint Paul's for mass I picked up a Lent prayer guide at the entrance. As I was leaving I returned to the entrance to find any additional prayer guides to assist me.

At this time, someone noticed me exploring and asked if she could help, I told her I wanted to learn how prayand this was my first time exploring Lent. Bonnie told me there Father Curtis was new at Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church a short distance away on Snell Island and he was beginning some new classes that might meet my needs.

I biked over to catch the 8am Mass lead by Fr Curtis. After Mass I asked him about learning how to pray and hetold me about the “Nine Grades of Prayer” course starting the next morning after the 8am Mass. I got the book right then and showed up the next day for mass and then class. The class was very familiar and that was very clear that I was in the right place to the right thing. Soon I realized that it was all women in the class and they told me how it was right after their morning meeting And the men’s group That I could go to, so the women invited me to the men’s group meeting and asked their husbands to welcome me which they did and I started in the men’s group starting with Exodus 90.

I mean, my mom warned me countless times about false prophets and spirits who could pretend to be "Christ" or God, or anything inside our heads. 

She always told me how Jesus brought us the "Word," where no one else could ever answer to His Name. It was the best way to make sure I was only talking to God...

Now, the real experience is knowing what tasks I have to do and doing them. Like completing this letter for your Mondaymorning, editing all the work we’ve done and adding critical details and power where it feels necessary.  And really using this technology that I have asked for all my life. I can hand write with a pen, talk, or type each goes digital, spell checked and ready to share . . . . . Each adds new ideas and experiences to this note!

Likemy journal from high school still in my Great Grandmothers Trunk, sharing thoughts and communication is how I evolve, this is what I’ve always done!

90 was wonderful experience! This was my first exodus 90. This was my 1st men's group. This was my 1stmen's fraternity. I was doing regular exercise, I was biking to church. I was doing yoga with the sunrise, I was swimming. My morning experience with God was shifted up to another level.

Thank You Jesus Christ for Creating The Way of Your Word. '

We are always with you, ready to guide and help with every step. It's not so much a challenge or conflict to pull you out of step, but more an opportunity to create more and share more at a deeper level.

I’m not sure what I'm doing. I cleared up my back yard to have the men's group over again. But made no effort to remind anyone about it. I did build a big fire, and it’s getting chilly so I'm really enjoying it now. But I'm really ready for bed.

What a wonderful experience to share with us. You really go out of your way to love the moment, and enjoy everything that appears before you. You rarely are concerned about the details, and simply accept whatever we suggest and place before you. Like now you have been alone in your house for several days working on this Witness Writing that you have prepared. And again now as you share the insights we have for you now. You begin to feel and experience deeper thoughts and feeling about what you can share in this witnessing.

What jumps out to me is to WATCH, LISTEN, PERCEIVE, ATTEND, CLEARLY FOCUSED, READY, AND SLOW . . . To my passions MANGROVES, GARDENS, PLANTS, PEOPLE, which feels like 

USF RESEARCH, PATENTS, TRUTH.

1.         CHURCH        ????? = is really defined as the loving relationship in Jesus, Father, and Spirit
2.          SCOUTS            ???? = is about loving my neighbor, teaching children and families
3.           CLEAN HOUSE   ??? = is about loving me, my space and all Jesus has given to me
4.            CLEAN OFFICE     ?? = is about loving my responsibility to care for all these loves
5.             USE OFFICE            ? = is reinforcing these loving responsibilities above
6.              WWW.      = is really about teaching, and publishing all the above . . . 

IS THIS MY NEW FULL TIME JOB, six days a week for Jesus: each one of these needs to be DONE every week, and every day. I’ve been trying to focus 3-4 hours daily to each one.

         SCOUTS, HOUSE, OFFICE, 

w/             CHURCH    A real foundation

I realize again that I’m starting over. And so I did my everything today but swim. I even did two sets at 12 exercises, instead of 24 like I finally did last week. I attended to the mangroves, added another branch in there next to them to hold onto. Then everything I heard and read in the gospel and in the liturgy, all remind me of who I am again! Yes, I got the same message over and over again! I know it’s about what I have to do! It’s always about what I have to do!

Now my work days have been defined. And if I did one of these tasks in one day every week, I’d be done with everything within a month or two. I mean really focused and clear on the one task. 

What did you figure out?

I can plan 4 hour blocks, or three hour blocks. Each day I can plan to do “X” for three hours. . . Or let’s see 5-6am Exodus, JoyFM Pods and prayer at 6am doing exercises and getting up clear and focused. Then bike to Beach for 7am sunrise. . . Mangroves, and swim to get back home by 9am?

Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday will be 8am mass.  Then Tuesday its 630am Mass till Men Fraternity at 730am.  Hum, maybe Mass and the Rosary then too? So then Monday, Wednesday, Thursday is 8-9am office work?  Garden Works? Might be best to do seeds, and watering first thing. 

We have to make sure you eat lunch too. So gardens, mangroves, church and all ends at 1200 noon, where you can read or PBS for lunch. And then get into your office next. It’s best for you to get started there early. And then do house/office/yard cleaning before bed. That would mean you can get a shower and relax before bed.

I get it 5-8am is god and health, 8-12 is mangroves and gardens, 12-3pm is office works, 3-6pm cleaning, and 6-9pm is the Examin with God again.

What about scouts?

I can get into scouts or teaching as a four hour block once or twice a week. Like Exodus 90 on Tuesdays shifts things a bit. Whenever I have a scouting event or something to do with Carol, I can make that a four hour block, skipping the office or cleaning once or twice a week.

We have to say you have come a long way. It’s important that you take each of these tasks seriously. Remember your time with Emily. Whenever you scheduled a four hour trip to the art show or river to kayak, you were very clear and focused preparing every detail.  Nothing was more important than that time with your daughter. 

I Love You Dearest Loving Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You Dear Lord Jesus Christ, Please lend Your Strength, Love, & Wisdom to Achieve YOUR GLORY!