I think I needed this right now. Hope it helps someone else too.
Peace!
Finding Peace within Chaos
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Showing posts with label faith. Show all posts
Friday, September 9
Thursday, September 8
Nothin' Like New Books
New Bible study for this year:
I'm giddy as a schoolchild opening up brand new books on the first day of school! Or wait, was I the only kid that got excited about that...? I don't know - I just love the smell, look, feel, unexplored territory of brand new books!
With all the internet chatter about the first day of school, especially the first day of homeschool, I wondered if I'd be as excited about new curricula each year as some of the families seem to be. Well, given how I jittered about in anticipation opening my new Bible study I think that answer is yes, it'll be like Christmas every year! Did I mention... I love books!
Wednesday, March 9
Lent
We are only one and a half days into Lent and I'm already struggling. I guess that's the point but I had it in my head that it was going to be easier this year, that I was going to be able to follow my plan and do things on my terms. God has a way of making sure we know Who's in charge and just how much He loves us. I came across this today and it turned out to be just what I needed right now. I hope it may help someone else too.
Why Do Lent? Why a Failing Lent Actually Succeeds
Peace.
Why Do Lent? Why a Failing Lent Actually Succeeds
Peace.
Tuesday, March 1
Trying
I've been struggling recently with a lot of base drama. Normally it doesn't get to me, but there was a series of events that I could neither concientiously ignore nor get away from. It resulted in withdrawing my participation in a group that until that point had been my most reliable source of spouse support, adult interaction, and time out of the house. I have since found other avenues for support, interaction, and time away so I'm okay with those aspects of the change. What I'm not okay with however is the nagging feeling of angry and helpless frustration following me around like a storm cloud waiting to break open.
I am well aware that I cannot change someone else's attitude or actions. That's fine. I can change mine. This is a small community. On a daily basis I am forced to face the situation, the people, and my decision. Running away is not an option, so neither is ignoring the problem brewing beneath my skin.
I am struggling to turn to the mirror so I can see the plank in my own eye.
Lord, please guide me in my thoughts, words, and actions. Help me to love like you. In You all things are possible. Amen.
I am well aware that I cannot change someone else's attitude or actions. That's fine. I can change mine. This is a small community. On a daily basis I am forced to face the situation, the people, and my decision. Running away is not an option, so neither is ignoring the problem brewing beneath my skin.
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?" -James 4:12
Lord, please guide me in my thoughts, words, and actions. Help me to love like you. In You all things are possible. Amen.
Thursday, January 13
I've Been Told This is Part of Parenthood
The guilt. The never-ending nagging feeling that I'm not doing something right, that I could be doing something, many things, better. That the decisions I make today will have some far-reaching, horrible effect on our child that I won't be able to undo. The knowledge that someone, somewhere, has the answer and I'm just not looking hard enough for it. This is exhausting. I've done many things out of sheer necessity that I would not have otherwise chosen, but I'm doing the best I can. On that front I think it'll be better when Daddy comes home. Regardless, our days are filled with prayers and learning to trust God in ways I never would have thought of before becoming a parent. Lord help me, I know You bring us to and through only those things which we can handle with Your help!
Thursday, January 6
Mary, Did You Know?
This song makes tears stream down my face. I love it. I love the amazing, holy, humble woman who inspired it. Mary, may we be like you!
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered, will soon deliver you.
Mary did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God.
The blind will see, the deaf will hear and the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the dumb will speak, the praises of the lamb.
Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding is the great I am.
Friday, December 31
2011 Goals
Not 2,011 goals!
I don't think I've ever written a list of New Year's resolutions... and these aren't resolutions persay (something about that word just asks for you to break them!). The last several months I've been working on re-prioritizing and making healthier choices. This list is a concrete extension of those changes, something tangible and attainable so I have something specific to look forward to and celebrate. So, without further ado, my 2011 Goals:
Do you have any goals - big or little, silly or serious, realistic or out-of-this-world - that you'll be working on this year?
I don't think I've ever written a list of New Year's resolutions... and these aren't resolutions persay (something about that word just asks for you to break them!). The last several months I've been working on re-prioritizing and making healthier choices. This list is a concrete extension of those changes, something tangible and attainable so I have something specific to look forward to and celebrate. So, without further ado, my 2011 Goals:
- Daily Quiet Time with God
- Memorize 26 Scriptures (that's one every 2 weeks)
- Continue participating in First Place for Health for the entire year
- Use up fridge foods before buying new ones
- Do something "new" with our daughter every week (art, field trip, whatever will work that week)
- Build and follow a realistic daily routine (Fly Lady)
- Schedule computer time so it doesn't take over my life!
- Start training for a Marathon (walking 5 miles by June, 10 by December)
- Make all gifts homemade
Do you have any goals - big or little, silly or serious, realistic or out-of-this-world - that you'll be working on this year?
Wednesday, December 22
Christmas Peace and Waiting
I have something like 4 or 5 posts with one-line notes to myself sitting in my draft pile, waiting to be fleshed out and shared with the world; a pile more pop into my head only to get shoved out with more pressing matters such as diapers and dog food.
As I sit and type this post our beautiful baby girl is gently holding our dog's bone out to her so the dog can chew more comfortably (presumably that's the reason... right?). Such a sweet picture :).
Christmas is only 3 days away but it doesn't even feel like we've made it past fall. It doesn't feel like Advent, it doesn't feel like Christmas, it doesn't feel like much of anything really. Daddy's been deployed for awhile now and we're all just in a holding pattern waiting for him to come home. Our little girl is growing and learning by leaps and bounds, but there is little else to show time's passing. I quit working outside of our home right before LO was born and Daddy's not on a schedule that affects us much - he doesn't come home for lunch at a specific time, he doesn't need to get up and out the door in the morning, he doesn't have workdays vs weekends that have any bearing on us. We talk to him on Skype but not on a predictable schedule. The only place we need to be at a specific time is Mass and even then we have choices on which Mass to attend. It seems very much like we're just standing still, waiting to see what will happen next but only with a mild curiosity.
This isn't to say we haven't been doing anything. On the contrary, we have craft projects and organization projects and furniture projects and Spouse Club projects spread from one end of the house to the other! Several weeks ago I must have caught the craft bug because every time I turn around another project idea peeks around the corner and begs to be tried out. It's been fun :). I suppose that's one of the benefits of deployments - if all these projects were out while my husband were here he might have a conniption!
Regardless, it IS Christmas time and I think taking a break this year from all the bustle of getting ready for the holidays has left time and space in my heart and soul for more important things to grow. We're not opening presents on Christmas day (nor anytime soon for that matter) and I don't care one whit. I haven't been very good about Advent decorations/visible preparations such as an Advent wreath or calendar, but I've been talking about the Christmas story with our daughter without feeling like I have to say anything about Santa and all the secular trappings of the season. This Christmas preparation has been peaceful, calm, and pure. I am looking forward to celebrating Mass with our daughter and just rejoicing in the joy of Christ's birth. Perhaps God guided the timing of this deployment so we would have a chance to start off on the right foot as we celebrate our daughter's first Christmas - it's certainly setting the stage for much more peaceful Christmases in the future :).
As I sit and type this post our beautiful baby girl is gently holding our dog's bone out to her so the dog can chew more comfortably (presumably that's the reason... right?). Such a sweet picture :).
Christmas is only 3 days away but it doesn't even feel like we've made it past fall. It doesn't feel like Advent, it doesn't feel like Christmas, it doesn't feel like much of anything really. Daddy's been deployed for awhile now and we're all just in a holding pattern waiting for him to come home. Our little girl is growing and learning by leaps and bounds, but there is little else to show time's passing. I quit working outside of our home right before LO was born and Daddy's not on a schedule that affects us much - he doesn't come home for lunch at a specific time, he doesn't need to get up and out the door in the morning, he doesn't have workdays vs weekends that have any bearing on us. We talk to him on Skype but not on a predictable schedule. The only place we need to be at a specific time is Mass and even then we have choices on which Mass to attend. It seems very much like we're just standing still, waiting to see what will happen next but only with a mild curiosity.
This isn't to say we haven't been doing anything. On the contrary, we have craft projects and organization projects and furniture projects and Spouse Club projects spread from one end of the house to the other! Several weeks ago I must have caught the craft bug because every time I turn around another project idea peeks around the corner and begs to be tried out. It's been fun :). I suppose that's one of the benefits of deployments - if all these projects were out while my husband were here he might have a conniption!
Regardless, it IS Christmas time and I think taking a break this year from all the bustle of getting ready for the holidays has left time and space in my heart and soul for more important things to grow. We're not opening presents on Christmas day (nor anytime soon for that matter) and I don't care one whit. I haven't been very good about Advent decorations/visible preparations such as an Advent wreath or calendar, but I've been talking about the Christmas story with our daughter without feeling like I have to say anything about Santa and all the secular trappings of the season. This Christmas preparation has been peaceful, calm, and pure. I am looking forward to celebrating Mass with our daughter and just rejoicing in the joy of Christ's birth. Perhaps God guided the timing of this deployment so we would have a chance to start off on the right foot as we celebrate our daughter's first Christmas - it's certainly setting the stage for much more peaceful Christmases in the future :).
Saturday, December 4
Interactive Jesse Tree
Just found this online - a great way to celebrate Advent, especially if you don't have the space/time/creativity/fill-in-your-excuse-here to put up a Jesse tree of your own. It's also great for those on the move - celebrating Advent via iPhone... who knew. Yay for technology when it brings us something wonderful!
Click the tree or go to this website: http://www.stfrancisparish.org.uk/advent.html
Jesus is coming!
Click the tree or go to this website: http://www.stfrancisparish.org.uk/advent.html
Jesus is coming!
Wednesday, October 27
Home
Awhile back I read this post and almost cried:
It spurred me to read a few more similar posts:
The church I grew up in didn't have a cry room till I was in college. What possessed them to add it at that point (the church was well over 20 years old) is still beyond me. The parish was young and I relished hearing the baby babbles and little voices asking some really great questions. I'm not talking about 8-year-old kids munching cheerios or playing Gameboys, I mean honest curiosity and just plain vibrancy that small children carry with them everywhere they go.
The priest of our parish when I was little (not the afore mentioned, this one was before I moved as a kid) used to stop what he was doing if he saw a parent stand up to take a crying child out of the sanctuary. "Don't leave! That child's voice is the music of angels!" Oh how I wish all people felt the same!
Now that we have our own little one, I must say we have left the sanctuary with her on a small handful (like less than 5) occassions. Not because she was being disruptive or we were worried about bugging the people next to us so much as because she is WIGGLY and it is much easier to rock those wiggly toes to sleep while standing as opposed to kneeling. We've always stayed within earshot of the sanctuary (or at least a speaker) and have come back to the sanctuary within a few minutes too.
I thought we were doing pretty well with the whole family-celebrating-life-and-Mass-together thing, but we did have a surprising bump on the road. A few weeks ago we (finally!) made it to the States and were able to celebrate our daughter's baptism (yay!). We sat down in the front row, everyone dressed to the hilt and weary sloppy smiles because we were there celebrating Mass as a family and our baby was going to be baptized. Well, everyone was wearing smiles except the baby. She was hungry. So I did what I always do... fed her. Yep. In the front row. In my dress clothes. Without a blanket. What shocked me is that a family member leaned over and insisted, "You can't do that here!" Well would you rather I let the baby scream or shall I run and hide?
If children (with all their sniffles, wiggles, babbles, and all) aren't welcome in church, then why on earth are we there? Jesus says, "Let the children come to me" and by golly I'm pretty sure He means it!
It spurred me to read a few more similar posts:
- http://www.katewicker.com/2009/02/harden-not-my-heart.html
- http://www.hobomama.com/2009/02/do-not-hinder-them.html
- http://www.hobomama.com/2010/07/christianitys-effect-on-breastfeeding.html
- http://www.katewicker.com/2010/09/let-little-children-come.html
- http://www.insidecatholic.com/feature/why-i-nurse-at-the-mall-and-at-mass.html
What hurts perhaps the most is that I feel more at home in church, sharing in the Mass with my husband, daughter, and friends and family if they're there, than perhaps anywhere else on earth. My fervent prayer is that our baby girl feels the same. How can she feel at home when children are intentionally sidelined into a separate room or are denied their basic needs because it might cause someone else to become uncomfortable?
The church I grew up in didn't have a cry room till I was in college. What possessed them to add it at that point (the church was well over 20 years old) is still beyond me. The parish was young and I relished hearing the baby babbles and little voices asking some really great questions. I'm not talking about 8-year-old kids munching cheerios or playing Gameboys, I mean honest curiosity and just plain vibrancy that small children carry with them everywhere they go.
The priest of our parish when I was little (not the afore mentioned, this one was before I moved as a kid) used to stop what he was doing if he saw a parent stand up to take a crying child out of the sanctuary. "Don't leave! That child's voice is the music of angels!" Oh how I wish all people felt the same!
Now that we have our own little one, I must say we have left the sanctuary with her on a small handful (like less than 5) occassions. Not because she was being disruptive or we were worried about bugging the people next to us so much as because she is WIGGLY and it is much easier to rock those wiggly toes to sleep while standing as opposed to kneeling. We've always stayed within earshot of the sanctuary (or at least a speaker) and have come back to the sanctuary within a few minutes too.
I thought we were doing pretty well with the whole family-celebrating-life-and-Mass-together thing, but we did have a surprising bump on the road. A few weeks ago we (finally!) made it to the States and were able to celebrate our daughter's baptism (yay!). We sat down in the front row, everyone dressed to the hilt and weary sloppy smiles because we were there celebrating Mass as a family and our baby was going to be baptized. Well, everyone was wearing smiles except the baby. She was hungry. So I did what I always do... fed her. Yep. In the front row. In my dress clothes. Without a blanket. What shocked me is that a family member leaned over and insisted, "You can't do that here!" Well would you rather I let the baby scream or shall I run and hide?
If children (with all their sniffles, wiggles, babbles, and all) aren't welcome in church, then why on earth are we there? Jesus says, "Let the children come to me" and by golly I'm pretty sure He means it!
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