— 1 —   This Week’s Post:  Envy and Singlehood ~  A Guest Post by Britt  Thank you, Britt!

— 2 —   Next Week’s Post:  I have been so spoiled by my wonderful Guest Bloggers!  Now it is time for me to pick up where I left off earlier this month.  We started this series with There Is No Formula, then Endless Circles and then Hope.  Next week’s post will be about Free Will!  If there is no formula, how do faith, hope and our free will work together? Look for the post on Tuesday, August 20th which marks the one year anniversary of The Veil of Chastity blog!  Appropriately started on the feast day of St. Bernard of Clairvaux!

 — 3 — Note Alone Series:  This week the girls accepted a variety of challenges!  Laura from Catholic Cravings wrote about fear and how it can result in us acting like we are not worthy of love.  Then, she goes on to challenge herself with some great “What if?” questions:

“Because of that fear, I act in a certain way.

But what if, just for a change, I started acting like it wasn’t true? What if, instead, my challenge was to live like some wonderful guy was about to ask me out? What if I was to act like, just for argument’s sake, that I was deserving of love and that God did not put a desire for marriage and family in my heart only to thwart it?”

— 4 — What If?:  When I read Laura’s post, it reminded me of my Emotional Chastity post where I asked “What if you visualize yourself with the virtues you desire?”

“….I am advocating that you create a vision of your best self.  Your most free self.  Your most trusting self.  Your most virtuous self.  Your most emotionally balanced self.  Then, once you see this vision, you can start praying for and modeling the required virtues, behaviors, attitudes, habits and disposition.  Your healthy emotions will naturally follow.

— 5 —  Update On My Challenge:  In the Emotional Chastity post I shared that the Lord had presented me with an ‘opportunity.’  If you recall, I was experiencing fear and concern because I was going to be stretched beyond my comfort zone.  But, I practiced the visualization technique and prayed for the virtues I would need to glorify the Lord through this challenge/opportunity.  I even predicted that I may be blessed by this opportunity. I am happy to report that I was extremely blessed!  For almost 3 months, Gregg and I looked at each other and said “Aren’t you glad we said ‘yes’ to God?”  Our simple ‘yes’ returned to us a hundred fold!

— 6 —  Yes:  Speaking of saying ‘yes’ to God, I have to share with you the meditation from The Word Among Us from yesterday’s Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary:

“…So rejoice today with the Virgin Mary! Your yeses may not change the course of human history (or maybe they will), but they all have a ripple effect on the world around you. Just as a mustard seed of faith can move mountains, even the smallest of yeses can change the way other people see God. Nothing is too small for Him to use. All God wants is our agreement. He can work with anything, even the most begrudging of yeses, and transform it into something beautiful, radiant, and life-giving. It may seem like a ripple to you, but when you give it to the Lord, he turns it into a mighty wave of grace!”

 — 7 — Presenting Herself Veiled:  I noticed a friend’s daughter at Mass last Friday was wearing a veil.  She is nine years old.  I was struck by the beauty and the innocence of her desire to veil.  Yes, this was her decision.  Her very own Fiat! She told her Mom (see the full story below in the comments section!!):

“The Lord asked me to wear a veil when I present myself in front of Him.”

Presenting Herself Veiled ~ Isn’t she beautiful!

 God love and bless you!

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