Live By Faith…Trusting In Our Father

June 21, 2020 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Seek wisdom from God not the world. Learn from mistakes. Trust God’s way more than your own ideas of what “should be”…even when you don’t understand. It takes courage, it takes patience and a willingness to not give up. God is faithful and as so many stories in the bible tell us…we are to live by faith. Read Hebrews 11 for a review of how people in the bible lived by faith. Be thankful today for our Father in heaven who loves us more than anyone else ever could. Amen.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Hebrews 11:1

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“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16

(This photo was taken in June of 2020 at sunset in northwestern Wisconsin)

Together In Christ

February 2, 2020 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

There is a section in Ecclesiastes 4 that speaks about going through life alone versus with others. It provides a few examples of how much more difficult life can be alone. We are made to be in community, to work together to support each other. I am a sports fan and my favorite sport is football, today is a very big day in the football world…over the years I have reflected on the different sports and I have come to realize I often prefer team sports versus individual ones…it is not that individual sports are bad but I prefer a sport where we are more dependent on each other than individual talent alone…a sport that requires community for success. At its basic level, in football it takes all 11 people on the field to find success, individuals willing to sacrifice for the good of the team…community, working together for the good of all. May we all be engaged in community in our daily lives…if you are unsure of your community, turn towards God and seek His guidance. Amen.

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“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. ²Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; ⁵one Lord, one faith, one baptism; ⁶one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Ephesians 4:1-6

(This photo was taken in June of 2013 in Custer State Park in South Dakota)

Family

September 1, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We don’t choose them, we are born into them. It is meant to be a place where we find unconditional love. Like many aspects of life there will be pain, frustration, embarrassment and we will fail each other…over all of that there is love. No matter what we must go through we need to remember love. It won’t be easy and we all need to turn to Jesus through the most difficult of times for peace, for wisdom. My own family is facing an unexpected death as of yesterday afternoon and all I can do is seek peace from the Lord. Please pray for us as we work our way through the coming days, and tell the members of your family how much you love them. May we all find comfort in Jesus Christ.

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“Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Exodus 20:12

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 by a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

Family First

January 30, 2016 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

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“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

John 15:12-13

(This photo was taken in the summer of 2013 near Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado while on a Family road trip)

Attitude and Perspective

July 15, 2013 / mcalcagno / 2 Comments

The above picture taken by my wife shows four very important people in the history of our country. They chose some incredible ways to respond to adversity and trouble in the world they lived in.

Today I want to share a poem by Charles Swindoll that sums up everything I could ever share about what everybody should focus their energy on while living in this world…

Attitude

by Charles Swindoll

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company … a church … a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude … I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you … we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

Indeed…we are all in charge of our Attitude towards every situation in life. Life is not all about what happens to us…it is all about how we choose to respond to what has occurred in our lives. How will you choose to respond?

Peace to you and yours.

How did the faith journey begin for me?

June 30, 2013June 30, 2013 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

I grew up going to a Catholic church with my family; we went to mass every Sunday and on holidays. I was baptized, celebrated first communion and completed confirmation. As a child and a teenager church was something we did before football games on Sunday because we had to…I didn’t know why. My first real exposure to faith as a part of life occurred at the age of 16. My father lost his job and for several days and weeks afterward he was going to the church everyday…not just Sunday. Why would he do that? What is going on there every day? We never discussed it but I definitely noticed. Those “actions” by my father told me more about his faith than any words he could have said to me. Today, as a father of a 16 year old girl and a 12 year old boy I try hard to remember my actions say more about my faith than anything I say to them.