Our Father

February 5, 2020 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Being a parent requires a willingness to sacrifice to serve the needs of others. What we give up is nothing compared to the loving and nurturing relationship we can have with our children throughout life. Here to, God has set the example of a Father who has given up so much so that He can have a loving, engaging and nurturing relationship with you. We would do well to not take Him for granted…He is our Father, who loves us and wants good things for us. Take time to be with Our Father. Amen.

Good Good Father ft. Pat Barrett by Chris Tomlin

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“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.”

Psalm 103:8

(This photo was taken in May of 2014 on a lake in central Minnesota)

The Power Of Prayer

February 21, 2019 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We are children of God. He wants to hear from us. We may think, well He is God if He knows everything and life is supposed to go according to His plan why do I need to talk to Him? Think about your relationship with your parents or if you are a parent think about your relationship with your children. In both circumstances the relationship is always enhanced or stronger when we have good cmmunication. The same is true with Father God. Believe in the power of prayer. Amen.

“When We Pray” by Tauren Wells

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“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Philippians 4:6

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 in Glacier National Park in Montana)

Highs And Lows

June 27, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

Our journey is filled with these…moments where things are good, we are strong, confident, faithful and filled with hope and joy – Highs. We also have moments of fear, concern, sadness that are filled with despair – Lows. Every life has both whether you see it in others or not, they both exist for everyone. The key to living with all of this is how are you reacting to your highs and your lows? Reading and learning from God’s Word with the Holy Spirit as your guide is a great place to start. After that, the way to give and receive celebration for highs and support for lows is with Friends. Personal relationships, that is the key to living, learning and growing through out your life journey. Reflect on your personal relationships, with God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as well as with your friends. Pray about them and find ways you can enrich those relationships. Faith is not a destination, it is a way of living through the Highs and Lows that come to all of us no matter who we are or what we are doing. May God’s peace and joy be with you.

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“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

Romans 12:12-13

(These photo’s were taken in July of 2016 at Old Faithful in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming)

Father’s Day – Relationships

June 17, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

We all need need our Father’s, just as much as we all need our Mother’s. Unfortunately, Father’s and Fatherhood has been under attack for a long time. Many television shows and movies portray the Father as the doofus who just messes everything up or the stupid and incompetent one who is hardly necessary. When most of society sees this as the role of the Father, it is no wonder that the family structure is disintegrating in this broken world. If God is the God of everything then He needs to be the God of our families. No matter what the current status is of our relationships, we need to invite Jesus into them with our Father’s and with everyone else in our family. Honor your Father and Mother. God designed the family structure for a purpose and it is for our good to honor the relationships we do have. Love like God our Father loves us. May God’s love, peace and joy be with you.

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“If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”

Romans 14:8

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

The Lord Of My Everything?

June 16, 2018 / mcalcagno / 2 Comments

One of my struggles in faith is opening up to the Lord for everything. Not only the parts of my life and my heart I think He wants to be involved in…that would be God on my terms. It does not work like that. God is the God of everything and Jesus Christ is Lord of all. All of creation, all people in all nations since the beginning of time and His love for everything, His grace and His mercy will endure forever. It is so difficult for my finite mind to comprehend the totality of God and His love. He is more than the God of Sunday morning or Wednesday evening…He is more than the God of when I really need help or a crisis is happening…He is more than a beautiful sunrise or sunset when we feel more of His presence. He is the Lord of housework, the Lord of daily errands, the Lord of trips to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, He is the Lord of where you work and what you do…He is the Lord of everything. Period. The best part of all of this means He is right there waiting to hear from you about all of it. He is your Lord and Savior and even though that doesn’t mean everything will be easy and good He is with you through it all everyday. May God’s presence, His love, His joy and His forgiveness be present in your life everyday.

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“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of the life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23:6

(This photo was taken in August of 2016 at Sapphire Point near Dillon, Colorado)

Be A Positive Example

June 13, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The news and social media focuses so much time and effort on the anger, sadness, deception and evil that exists in the world. There are just as many good and positive things happening in the world each day…we just don’t get to see it or talk about it as much. Don’t let what others like to focus on be your only perspective. Feed your mind and spirit by reading God’s Word and spend time in prayer. Look for the good and be the good that exists in the world. It does not have to be on the national news or go ‘viral’ to make a difference to at least one other person. Your life is a gift and you were made to be who you are by a loving God. Seek His plan for your life and look to be the good in your daily walk. May God’s grace and mercy be with you.

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“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”

1 Peter 3:8-9

(This photo was taken in July of 2016 in Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota)

Learn To Listen

June 1, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The skill of listening is becoming less and less frequent in today’s world. It seems people are so intent on speaking and spend more time preparing a response then seeking to understand others. It is a form of selfishness. All of us are cursed with some form of selfishness…it does not go away or become less present over time unless we are actively working on reducing its presence in our lives. In order to strengthen our abilities to see things from the perspective of another person we can start by listening and seeking to understand them. Listening does not mean you automatically agree with them rather it means you are willing to consider more than your own opinion. We do not have all the answers, nobody on earth does…nobody. The only one who knows is God…and if we can’t listen to Him we will struggle more than is necessary. May God’s love and peace be with you.

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“Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise.”

Proverbs 19:20

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

Gratitude

May 26, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

One of the difficult challenges in life is adjusting your perspective. We receive so many messages through our senses from our daily life. Things we see, things we hear, things we read, etc. We get to choose what things get our time and attention. Whatever we focus on becomes embedded in our perspective. When we spend too much time on negativity, sadness, anger, selfishness and hatred we adopt that point of view to everything else. This is the way of living focused on self. We will always end up disappointed. We need to find ways to build in positive things, goodness, kindness, joy and love. These things will help us live with a balanced perspective. One easy way to start is to practice gratitude. What are you thankful for? It may not come easy at first if you haven’t done this very often. Think about the very basics in life like food, shelter and clothing…don’t take such things for granted as these are not in abundance for everyone in the world. Once you start practicing gratitude and you want to build on it, the next thing is giving…the joy, peace and contentment will continue to build in your life from there. Find your gratitude things and give thanks to God for all of it. May God’s joy and peace be with you.

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“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100

(This photo was taken in March of 2018 while traveling through southern New Mexico)

The Joy Of Faith

May 19, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

The true form of joy comes from believing and knowing that the Lord your God created you out of love, knows the about the deepest part of you and will never leave you or abandon you. Faith has been and is the only thing that can overcome sadness, darkness and sin. Jesus came down from heaven and showed the power of faith by His actions and His sacrifice. He defeated sickness and illness, He defeated the devil in the desert, and He defeated death. He did it all for you and He did it out of His love…and that is why true joy is found only in Faith and nowhere else on earth. May you find joy in God’s peace and love.

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“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

1 Peter 1:8-9

(This photo was taken in June of 2016 at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

The Path To Joy

May 15, 2018 / mcalcagno / Leave a comment

It seems so often, we are trying to figure things out…why did this happen? why didn’t it go the way we thought? what went wrong? how did I do that? that is not what I planned? These thoughts take us on a roller-coaster of a ride in our daily life and near the end of the day we are exhausted with few answers. I believe we all need to simplify things a bit, narrow our focus and stay obedient to the way Jesus has taught us. Start by committing our day to the Lord. Spend time reading Scripture and praying that gives you a solid foundation to start on…then be present in the moments that are occurring in your life today. Listen closely to what others are saying, offer encouragement and be of service to others. If your current circumstances make this difficult or impossible in your mind then pray about that and ask God to help you find your way to a better situation. The point is you don’t have to do this journey alone and frankly God did not intend you to be alone. Reach out to the Lord and he will guide you to the right path. May God’s peace be with you.

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