A testimony.
He left the 99 to rescue me

Many different cultures have bred rebellion, which is being in opposition to authority. Ultimately God’s authority.  I could have written the book on this in the 1960’s. Rebellion was a way of life for me. Other contributing factors were my strong German Catholic upbringing with my dominant sin of pride. The rebellion war I waged was mainly against the Catholic Church. Targeted areas were the Mass, sacraments, rules and regulations, and of course the rosary.

In my opinion the rosary was rote, repetitious and boring. My prideful self-told me that my spontaneous prayers were much more effective.  Much later I would learn that the reason the rosary is so powerful is because it comes from scripture. Praying God’s Word back to Him is powerful and precious. He blesses us for using the words He gave us.

25 years prior to my rosary conversion, my mom had died the year I got married. She was my hero. One memory I have of her is she seemed to always have a rosary in her hands. Yet never did she force us to pray it with her. Her actions did speak louder than words to me. It took years to learn because of my pride. Many things that we strongly resist in life are usually the most life changing. Evil fights hard in our lives when victories are forthcoming. My continued cooperation with the sin of pride blinded me from seeing truth. God’s Word is in the rosary and its protection and power are conversional. Her constant quiet rosaries were instrumental in bringing me back to my faith years after she died. I believe that once our prayers go up to God, they are in His time zone, not ours. He can use them for the person’s intentions well after they die. God saved some of those prayers for me by my mom, the day of my rosary conversion.  I believe that with all my heart.

State of affairs before my conversion.
My husband and I had adopted 3 babies and had moved multiple times across the country for his job.  Our lives were busy but uneventful until they grew older. Teenage years are challenging and wake us up as parents. The hormones, rebellion and extreme concern that evil doesn’t win in their lives is real and overwhelming at times. The years of love and formation can easily be snatched overnight. That is exactly what happened in our family. One of our kids got snatched! It was scary and sobering. God definitely became “front and center”.

God strategically placed in my life at that time very strong Catholic friends. One especially befriended me. After repeatedly asking for prayers for my lost
teenager, she strongly suggested that she bring over a holy picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Even though I was not into Mary at all, I did not want to lose her friendship, so I finally said yes. She brought over the portrait and placed it in a chair at my formal dining room table. I thought this is harmless, so I cooperated. As she was leaving, she said there was only one thing I needed to do. “Pray the rosary daily with my kids”.  I gasped. I hated the rosary, my kids did not know the rosary and they were teenagers! Nevertheless, when you are desperate for answers as I was, you will try anything. My love and concern for my kid was paramount over my rebellion.

To put a face on desperate, let me briefly explain. My son had quit high school mid-year as a senior.  My husband and I agreed on this decision due to choices he was making. Therefore, he was home with me daily. We both became most lost. That makes a mom desperate!

So, back to the rosary.
In extreme desperation for three consecutive nights my teenagers reluctantly gathered with me in the formal dining room. Rebellion took on a new form. Three out of control teenagers and one determined mom gathered in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe. We prayed for 3 nights the most disgusting and disrespectful rosaries! Every night after our fiasco, I prayed for forgiveness. God was also introducing to me His Divine Mercy.

Fourth morning.
My high school son and I were doing morning errands. Out of the blue he asked me if we could go to Mass and confession. My mouth dropped! I weekly forced myself to go to Sunday Masses but Confession was never a practice in our home. I stopped the car and couldn’t believe what had come out of his mouth. This was a huge breakthrough in the making. Needless to say we both went to confession and Mass that day. God listened to His Mom’s prayers through our disrespectful rosaries. That is the only explanation to my son’s request. It ended up being a conversional experience for both of us. Confession was a critically important step to soften our hearts and give us both sacramental grace for change. That change was humility.  It worked.

This encounter with Our Lady’s intercessory power was profound.
She took three disgusting and disrespectful rosaries to our Lord and asked for a miracle in my son’s heart.
It was the beginning of many conversions through Our Lady’s intercession. I became a humble rosary fan and promoter of Our Lady of Guadalupe needless to say.

A critical point about scripture.
God’s Word is your ultimate prayer partner. Think about a time where you spoke some necessary truth in love to someone in your life. This could be to your kid, a good friend, a spouse. Then sometime later, possibly years, they express how important it was that you spoke truth in love to them. It absolutely warms our hearts, blesses us and shows us how truth sets us free. John 8:31-32.
The Our Father and Hail Mary come straight from scripture. Just like us, God is ultra-blessed when we speak His language back to Him. Also, He answers in His time, His way and how He knows what is best for us. Needless to say, that brings about a lifetime of working on trust in Him. He invites us daily into this
amazing adventure.

Another point. Do you ever get tired of being told “I love you”? Well, saying
“Hail Mary’s” over and over are like telling God and Mary you love Them.
Never does it get old to Them.
And repetition builds relationship.

My invitation to you…
Pray the rosary.
Start with a decade daily.
An added bonus is agreement in prayer with someone, Matthew 18:19.
Invite someone to pray with you.
Husbands and fathers are paramount, and God ordained leaders for this in marriages and families. Moms have special ways to get answers in difficult and stubborn areas. Teaming up with God’s Mom is the ultimate prayer partner. I invite you not to miss this opportunity and gift!