I absolutely love word games and make an effort each day to do the daily New York Times mini puzzles. Anything to help the brain stay sharp and nimble 😊 Connections is probably my favorite but I also enjoy Wordle. It’s become somewhat of a competition among our family.

For those of you not familiar with Wordle, you get six chances to figure out a random 5-letter word. There are all sorts of strategies; picking a word with lots of vowels (like miaou or adieu) to start or choosing words with lots of consonants (like watch or bench) and mathematicians and researchers even recommend starting with one of the following words: soare, crane, salet or chase. My strategy is quite simple and it all starts with faith. Literally.

I always start with the word “faith”. Some days I need all 6 tries. Other days I can solve it in 2 but 91% of the time, I will successfully complete the puzzle. If faith is the start to your day, to a puzzle, to a conversation or to a problem, you are pretty much guaranteed success. I’ll take a 91% success rate any day! It’s not about winning or perfection. It’s about faith.

Faith is believing is something you cannot see. We can’t physically see God but we can see him in others. We can’t see our Lady but we can feel her loving arms around us. We can’t see Christ but we can experience his love and sacrifice for us during the Eucharist. We cannot see our Guardian Angel but know they are protecting us. We may not speak in tongues, but the wisdom of the Holy Spirit guides our thoughts and interactions.

From the moment we wake up to when we lay our heads on our pillow to sleep, we should be guided by our faith. Every thought and action should reflect His love, grace and mercy. Yes, it may be just a puzzle but if we focus on faith in the smallest of things, imagine how much easier it will be when we have to tackle the hard ones!

Blessings to all!

Prayer to start your day:

Thank you Heavenly Father for waking me up today. Thank you for all the blessings in my life. Please pour the precious blood of your Son, Jesus Christ over me, my family and friends to protect us as we go throughout the day. Please help me to avoid sin and remain focused on You. May the Holy Spirit be my guide in all of my interactions. May my faith be strengthened when a door closes and may I be patient while waiting on your perfect plan for me. I love you and look forward to the day. Thank you. Amen.

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!

Psalm 118:24