Acknowledgements
Preface
Tidbits on Reading God Expects Me
Introduction
Chapter 1 God Expects Me to be His Child
Eye Opener:
#1 Being baptized a child of God does not mean we automatically know Him as our Father.
#2 God can be taught in a child’s curriculum, but the relationship won’t fully bloom until the child matures into a mutually loving bond with God.
Chapter 2 God Expects Me to Live in the World, Not be “of the World”
Eye Opener:
#1 Our culture makes it difficult to be in tune with God’s desires for His people.
#2 God “graces us” in our ignorance, inviting us in His direction.
Chapter 3 God Expects Me to Keep Holy the Lord’s Day
Eye Opener:
#1 Worshiping God at Mass is a sacred grace and is for our sake, not His.
#2 Lukewarmness is a common struggle in growing up.
Chapter 4 God Expects Me to Invite Him into Anything and Everything
Eye Opener:
#1 Invite God into the lifelong things.
#2 Invite God into the emergencies.
#3 Invite God into the little things.
#4 Invite God into all things.
Chapter 5 God Expects Me to be Reconciled with Him
Eye Opener:
#1 Awareness is the first step in moving forward.
#2 Confessing out loud to a priest is healing for the mind, body, and spirit.
Chapter 6 God Expects Me to Talk to Him
Eye Opener:
#1 We crawl before we walk. We babble before we talk.
#2 Talking to God means listening too.
#3 Prayer life matures as our relationship with God matures and vice versa.
Chapter 7 God Expects Me to Learn from Others – with His Guidance
Eye Opener:
#1 In the beginning…there were bloopers.
#2 Learn to prayerfully ponder God’s take on the matter.
Chapter 8 God Expects Me to Grow in Wisdom and Knowledge
Eye Opener:
#1 God wants us to have the faith of a child, not remain as naïve as a child.
#2 We have a responsibility to pursue knowledge of God and grow in faith.
Chapter 9 God Expects Me to Ask Him to Lead Me Through the Fog
Eye Opener:
#1 It is perfectly OK to honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the ideal Christian model.
#2 It is perfectly OK to talk to dead saints, friends, and relatives through the “communion of saints.”
#3 Christ founded His Church, elected leadership to preserve His teachings, and set the stage for all generations to hear His Truth.
#4 Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would forever guide His Church in Truth.
#5 The Church is not perfect in humanness, but Christ’s promise will prevail through His Divinity.
#6 Daily communication with God is essential to discovering and holding onto His Truth in its entirety.
Chapter 10 God Expects Me to Believe
Eye Opener:
#1 We have a responsibility to seek information about Christ’s teachings, handed down through His Church, that we question, don’t agree with, or don’t understand.
#2 Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist – His body, blood, soul, and divinity.
#3 The Holy Spirit is our power against unbelief.
#4 The gift of the Spirit is given freely, without bias, attempting to stir a response.
#5 Angels are real.
Chapter 11 God Expects Me to Give Him My Anxieties
Eye Opener:
#1 God makes it possible to have peace in difficulties.
#2 Asking God’s help to conquer anxieties may be a daily activity.
#3 Sometimes anxieties are of our own making.
#4 When bad things happen, God will lead us from the hurt into the good.
#5 Following the prescription to love God and others leads to the internal peace we seek.
Chapter 12 God Expects Me to Forgive Those Whom I Can’t
Eye Opener:
#1 Forgiving others is not optional.
#2 It is necessary to forgive yourself.
#3 God’s mercy is not a one-time occurrence. It is constant.
Chapter 13 God Expects Me to be Clay
Eye Opener:
#1 God takes our hands to walk us through transformation and growth.
#2 As a relationship with God deepens, the longing to change goes deeper.
Chapter 14 God Expects Me to Do His Will
Eye Opener:
#1 God’s will includes loving our neighbor.
#2 God’s whisper, the Holy Spirit, is the gift that prompts us into action.
#3 God’s will includes sharing our talents for the building up of others.
#4 God will provide the means to get done what He wants done.
#5 A groundbreaking prayer: “Lord, I give You my will.”
#6 Sometimes we are forced by circumstance to discover talents.
#7 Doing God’s will is a daily opportunity.
#8 By striving to do God’s will daily, we cooperate in His will that all might have eternal life.
#9 Our suffering can be offered to God in cooperation with His will that all may come to see, believe, and have eternal life.
#10 In sincerely wanting to do God’s will, we seek His help.
Chapter 15 God Expects Me to Trust That He is Always There
Eye Opener:
#1 God is there for all of His children whether they believe it or not.
#2 We don’t have to feel God’s presence to trust that He is there.
#3 It is in the difficulties of life that we can better understand the peace of God’s nearness, which surpasses all understanding.
#4 It’s not a coincidence. It’s God. He is there.
Chapter 16 God Expects Me to Develop Values that Reflect His Image
Eye Opener:
#1 God’s code of ethics is not being handed down clearly or completely to the children of today.
#2 God’s law and civil law do not always mesh.
Chapter 17 God Expects Me to Persevere in Prayer
Eye Opener:
#1 Praying is an ongoing act of love for the well-being of others.
#2 Perseverance is necessary because God never promised life would be easy.
#3 The answer to prayer may await a response to God’s voice by the person being lifted up in prayer.
#4 At times, we must get out of the way to let God’s grace be seen by others.
#5 God often answers prayer through others – the “communion of saints.”
God Expects Me 