Breathing By His Grace
Newsletter 

Vol: 2 Issue: 5

Welcome to Breathing by His Grace 

An Outreach of Living by His Grace Ministries

 

A weekly resource for moms in crisis, our prayer is to provide you with meaningful content that will give you encouragement, and strategies that can be used in five minutes to help change the direction of your life. If you are that mom who says "Just five minutes, Lord! Please, just give me five minutes to breathe..." then this resource is for you.

 

We focus on healing the broken places in our lives, and letting go of the physical, emotional, and spiritual burdens that weigh us down. Join our community of women who have been there, share it with women who are there, and know that we are praying for you. Breathe in and pray. Breathe out and pray. Read on...

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Slice of Life

 

Many years ago I attended a funeral in our parish that was overflowing out onto the sidewalk. The late Father Groeschal gave the eulogy.

 

As I sat in the pew with my mom and children, tears streaming down, I heard the most difficult, and yet beautiful homily from Father Groeschal.

 

He spoke of families never being the same after the loss of a loved one. He himself had lost a loved one under tragic circumstances. 

 

He challenged us all to look at our own losses and the crosses we carried, and learn to embrace them. He said our crosses are just that - ours.

 

He asked, "If you look around at your community, country, and the world, and at all of the suffering,  whose cross would you pick up?"

 

This life is not easy. There is so much suffering. But oh, how blessed are those that continue to find and create joy in the face of unimaginable loss. You are the faces of God's grace and mercy for the rest of us to learn by.

 

~Karen~

 
Journal Pages

Breathing Technique 

BREATHING TECHNIQUE:

 

While listening to KLove radio one day, a woman called in to tell the host about a great breathing exercise called the 4,6,8 technique to ease anxiety. Below find a link for you - and one for your husband if he needs this too.

 

For you:

How to... use the 4,6,8 Breathing Technique to beat anxiety - YouTube

 

For your husband:

4 6 8 Breathing Technique - YouTube

 

~Karen~

 

 

 

FINDING AND CREATING JOY DESPITE UNIMAGINABLE LOSS

 

Mom and Advocate

Ronda-Lee Rathwell, shares her story of unimaginable loss. 

 

#1 A View From My Window


Interview #1 Recording:

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/4_GYnaNbNy-vEeTTY5GJvqQu8gDC--_qhpFHtvHlwpEuCRcAyOW1_PyuYr3W7Wwj.BZQxaT0TYbU-Im2j

 

Access Passcode: ZDJ7^cq$

 

 

 

 

 

#2 Zach's Musical Passion

 

Interview #2 Recording:

 

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/fVJDNSGSk-007PErk6xKjZiZnL2lc72m7OH5WE5vX0gyeL1NcIoJsSI47H4Bb98.i5DbwEIEZNWENygJ

 

Access Passcode: a^RoZhV3

Prayer and Savings Tip:

 

When we moved from the Washington Metropolitan Area to the Blue Ridge Mountains to practice voluntary simplicity, my husband took a sixty percent pay cut.   But city life was stressful and we longed for the peace and quiet of the countryside.  

 

Three years after our big leap of faith, we learned we were expecting Baby Number Three.  We were elated at the news but knew the reality of our limited income.  In order to save money on the delivery, we decided that we were going to hire a doula and have an unmedicated birth.   The hospital would have charged us thousands for anesthesia and the doula would just charge us only $800.  

 

But the reality was that we didn't even have the $ 800 we needed for the delivery.  We knew that God sent this baby to us so we needed to trust that Heaven would provide.  And so we prayed.

 

It was my most difficult pregnancy riddled with health issues I never experienced with my other two children.  There were nights I was in so much pain that I couldn't even sleep.  Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I decided to write a little journal about simple living.  Writing is such a cathartic experience for me as it helps make sense of everything that is going on inside my head.  Little did I know that this little journal would be the beginning of a book manuscript.

 

Two months before my due date, a friend read the journal and encouraged me to submit it to a publisher.  It helped her so much and she said that other families would benefit from reading the journal as well.  Long story short, the publisher paid me 5 cents per word for the manuscript and the grand total was (yup, you guessed it), an $800 check that would go straight to paying my doula!

 

There is a saying that "with every baby, comes a loaf of bread".  

 

And we just need to remember that before a need even arises, Heaven has already provided.  

 

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Savings Tip:

 

Everytime money comes through your hands, make a habit of putting away before spending any leftover.  Try putting:

 

5% towards tithing

5% towards savings

5% towards fun money

85% towards spending

 

Not only will you have savings to run to instead of a credit card, but you will also have fun money to spend without feeling guilty about it!

 

Happy Saving!!!

 

~ Abby ~

 

“This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you; God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all."."

 

~ 1 John 1:5 ~

March's Song Choice # 1

 

Song: Truth Be Told

By: Matthew West

 

Matthew West - Truth Be Told (Official Audio) - YouTube

Special Book Corner & Give-away

 

More to come in the next newsletter with a Give-away of Author Speaker Abigail Sasscer's books!

 

Coming in our next Newsletter: 

 

More Interview with Ronda-Lee Rathwell

Mom of Zach Rathwell, and Advocate

 

New Breathing Technique

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FIND ABBY SASSCER HERE:

Project Nazareth - About Abby

 

FIND SYLVIA DORHAM HERE:

Blog: Marvelously Beautiful

The Monks' Daily Bread     The Monks' Stormy Night    Avoiding the Octopus    Rosana

The Book of Names     Big Daddy's Dream     Jewel     Children of the Poor      First Responders...Human Trafficking     A Week Away

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