Everyday Gratitude: wk. 8

^“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life,
what you will eat or what you will drink,
or about your body, what you will wear….
Look at the birds of the air;
they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them……
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they neither toil nor spin,  yet I tell you,
even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these……
But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Matthew 6:25-33

In the latest copy of Imprint, (a publication of the Sisters of Life) I read a striking article on prayer, particularly what they called “praise prayer.”  The article states “praising Jesus for everything says, ‘Jesus, I trust and know you will bring a greater good out of this situation than any I could possible create or imagine.  Your plans are more beautiful than mine.  You have the big picture.  You see all things with an eternal perspective.  I trust you and I thank you.’  Let Jesus work it out…. If you think you can’t get beyond a trial, pray these words again and again.  He slowly takes over and brings peace.  Be patient.”

I feel that this simple, yet profound suggestion, challenges us to go deeper in prayers of gratitude, to actually praise the Lord for everything!  It almost seems silly, like saying something absurd, yet it is the way of the saints, so here’s my best shot…

• Praise you, Lord, for a blessed pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.  The children were (relatively) good for a Holy Hour and Mass, the music was beautiful, and Theresa especially loved praying at the individual Marian shrines.  There was also a new Rosary garden with a large, beautiful depiction of Our Lady of Fatima and the three children, where we said the Rosary and the kids could run around.  (It is entirely fenced it!)
• I praise you, Lord, for the odd and initially unpleasant experience of glimpsing my former boss during the Mass.  We parted on extremely bad terms, and I struggled awhile with forgiveness and charity towards him.  At first, I was irritated that I would be reminded of such unpleasantness during this pilgrimage, but as a prayed for peace, I realized that God gave me the grace to see him and know I had forgiven, moved on, and no longer harbor resentment.  I was able to pray for him.  That, truly, is a profound grace.
• I praise you, Lord, for the child screaming and crying every night, even as a write.  She is strong, healthy and talking amazingly well for almost 20 months, and this is part of her development.  I praise You for the opportunities for extreme patience, perseverance and humility as I am nightly deprived of sleep (after enjoying several weeks of her sleeping through the night).
• I praise you, Lord, for the opportunity to stay home with my children and educate them myself, enjoying the milestones, little moments, and beginning of the education adventure.  Although this involves far more of a sacrifice than I realized it would (since I cannot easily find a job and work outside the home), I do love being with these little girls.
• I praise you, Lord, for the good you will bring out of the financial and marital difficulties I am experiencing.  I trust that You not only can but will care for our daily needs and bring good out of the situation.
• I praise you, Lord, for the beauty of these autumn days- blue sky, the scent of fallen leaves and pine needles, the subdued colors of the the fall leaves, the song of birds in the many trees surrounding our home, and the clear, dry air, so rare in Virginia!
• I praise you, Lord, that my husband can easily take sick days when myself and the kid are sick, to stay home and help me get better.
• I praise you, Lord, for new friendship, very dear friends of many years, new opportunities, and the chance to grow, chance, learn and discover who You call me to be.
• I praise you, Lord, that somehow I have been finding more time to read again.  Indeed, all year long I have been able to read several books a month.
• I praise you, Lord, “O Beauty ever ancient and ever new,” for a life filled with beauty and blessings, especially the gift of my Catholic Faith, and the treasures of the traditions, Traditions, writings of the saints, gifts of the Spirit and very real grace of the Sacraments.

Mary, most holy, Mother of the Church and my Mother, purify the praise of my heart and let it be a pure offering of love to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Mary Catherine, pray for us. 

My Sunday Best {2017}

I had a NEW dress to wear to Mass this morning, and with that happy incentive, got a picture of my Sunday Best!  (Note: child did NOT wear pictured clothes to Mass.)  We took a quick trip to a second fall consignment sale to fill in a few gaps in the girls’ wardrobe, and I found this lovely new dress.

I also realized that this was a pretty nice shot of our neighborhood in autumn!  The weather has been beyond perfect, and I think I might become a “fall gal.”  Summer and winter have always been my favorite seasons, but that was from growing up in upstate NY, where winters were white and summer were in the 80s….

I had a small win at Mass today with Cecilia, who has been clingly and demanding at Mass for weeks.  Since I’ve been adamant about staying in the pew, this means putting up with nursing her during Mass (which she really shouldn’t have to do at this point.)  Today, I simply told her, “NO, if you yell, Daddy will take you out.”   And it worked!  Now, if that would just work when I tell her to go back to sleep at 2am, 3am, 4am……  Her sleeping through the night suddenly stopped, and I desperately need it to start again!

Last thought for today.  The priest mentioned that one significance of rendering unto Caesar the coin with his image, was that therefore what we render to God is that which is made in His image, i.e., ourselves.  We are made in the image of God, and thus should give ourselves to Him.  What a great way to move beyond the coin image to reminding us to see our selves as made in the image of God.

Linking up with Rosie today.  Happy feast of St. John Paul the Great!

Everyday Gratitude: wk. 7

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
Ephesians 1:16

“There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.”
St. Thomas Aquinas

This past weekend, I was immensely blessed to see numerous friends and classmates at my 10 year college reunion.  I am so thankful for all the people who made the trip, and I was sad for those who were forced to miss it.  I chatted and laughed with dear friends from freshman year, as well as people I hardly knew at school.  I especially loved seeing so many beautiful children, a testament to the Faith and love still shared by all these classmates.

• Dear Lord, thank you for four years at Christendom College, and the friends and formation I received there.
• Thank you for the opportunity to attend my reunion and visit with friends.
• Thank you for delicious food at receptions, dancing with my husband (he still remembers the foxtrot we learned for our wedding!) and a fantastic fireworks display.
• Thank you for a fun “family day” where the kids spent hours in the bouncy house and took about a dozen pony rides.
• Thank you for the generosity and hospitality of my parents, who watched the kids most of the weekend so I could enjoy time with my friends (and my husband) sans children.
• Sleep.  Because my parents get up with the kids while I sleep on the other side of the house.
• Rain.  Because it has been very dry here (beautiful but dry) and the soft pitter-patter of rain, as well as the gray days to spend inside, has been pleasant.
• The freedom to fit school into our schedule, and the need to only do a few hours a day.
• The joy of baking.  Chocolate cake (oh my!) and Dutch Apple Pie.
• Warm apple cider, hot tea, steaming coffee. 

Everyday Gratitude: wk. 6

“For me, prayer is a burst from my heart,
it is a simple glance thrown toward Heaven,
a cry of thanksgiving and love
in times of trial as well as in times of joy.”
St. Therese of Lisieux

This week, we celebrated the feast of St. Therese the Little Flower, one of my favorite saints.  How much I can learn about gratitude by meditating on her quote above!  To glance toward Heaven with thanksgiving and love during times of trial and suffering continues to be one of the hardest parts of gratitude for me.  Particularly when the trials are ongoing, or daily annoyances, or problems without clear or foreseeable solutions.

While sharing on my blog my weekly blessings has helped me be more faithful to the practice of recognizing them, I am hesitant to constantly mention my trials, in the fear of seeming too “holy” in being “grateful” for them, or of seeming to have a perfect life if I don’t mention at least some of my crosses!

Blessings are funny things, are they not?  For those with eyes to see and appreciate, even the most mundane things may be rightly regarded as blessings, and for those accustomed to complaining, cynicism and negativity, even the greatest goods may be looked down on or disregarded.  Likewise, since life consists of so many little moments, both happy, sad or ordinary, it can become so easy to focus on the negative and overlook the positive.  By personality and childhood experience, I always considered myself to be a positive and happy person.  Cynicism and sadness I found very distasteful.  And then I grew up, and the cares of adulthood pressed in, and I endured terrible loss and sorrow.  Slowly, my natural, happy and carefree girlhood personality threatened to be overwhelmed by a cross and unhappy woman of 32 (so old, I know!)

This past year, my discouragement and depression became so acute that I had to find another way; a way to live both the reality that life is difficult, and the hope and faith that God has and will continue to abundantly bless me.  Although numerous elements have influenced my return to a more positive and happy day to day existence, gratitude undoubtedly plays an important role in cultivating a life of faith, hope and love.

• This past week, I was grateful for the opportunity to host a Blessed Brunch, and spend time with several lovely Catholic women.
• The weather in Virginia has been beautiful, and we’ve been playing and doing schoolwork outside.  Tuesday, we had an outdoor reading session on the front lawn.
• I have been getting back in a groove of creative dinners and baking.  This bruschetta chicken was ah-mazing.  I also baked an apple pie with the apples we picked last week, made a yummy jambalaya at my husband’s suggestion, as well as these apple chicken sandwiches on raisin bread that I need to make again ASAP.

• School with the girls has been progressing well.  Hope to write a quick post about that soon, too.  Last week, we made puppets and a xylophone, and the girls have enjoyed putting on shows!
• I am grateful that despite some coughs and cold as the cooler weather settles in, we have been mostly healthy.
• Looking around at my home, which I decorated with a few fall items, I am immensely grateful for this cute, smaller house, which has proven much easier to keep clean that the sprawling one level we used to live in.
• I am grateful for new friends, new opportunities, and the fact that old friends are only a phone call away.
• On Monday, we were blessed to attend a special Mass offered for the homeschoolers in our parish.
• Also on Monday, I got through a dental appointment with no new cavities being found!

• I finished reading Mansfield Park on Sunday evening.  I dearly love Jane Austen, and have read Pride and Prejudice and Emma many times, as well as most of her other works more than once.  But Mansfield Park I only read once in high school, and I totally did not appreciate it.  Now, I found it quite enjoyable, and was better able to grasp the character intricacies and faults which Austen was bringing forward.  I understand now, as I didn’t 15 years ago, that the charm and brilliance of her work is in the characters, their dialogue, their foibles, and their ordinary lives.  I think Mansfield Park lacks a character of wit and depth such as we see in some of the other novels, but nonetheless I found it wonderful read.
• After that side note, I’ll close my reflections from this past week with the most ordinary, and yet extraordinary blessings I have: my husband, my children, my Faith, my freedom, my health, my home, and my friends and family.

My Sunday Best {2017}: Finding my Floral Niche

It’s been awhile since a remembered to take a Sunday picture before changing out of church clothes!  This weekend, the weather was so nice when we got home that the girls stayed outside to play and Gracie snapped this photo!  Happy to be able to link up with Rosie this week for My Sunday Best.

 

The weather in Virginia has been amazing, and its time to break out pants and sweaters, along with a pretty Lula Roe floral top.  Speaking of flowers, today was Parish Life Weekend at our new church, and there were representatives from probably 25+ ministries, after the Masses.  Since I’ve already gotten involved with about four different things at church already, there was only one more ministry I was really interested in signing up for: liturgical decorating.  These are the people who decorate the inside of the sanctuary, but it turns out its only done at Christmas and Easter.  So I signed up, but I also approached the Sister in charge about something close to my heart; regular flowers for church, as there doesn’t seem to be any arranged.

Sister said she would talk with the pastor, and that this might be an answer to prayer, if I would purchase and arrange flowers regularly for the sanctuary.  Friends, this would be a dream come true for me, to have a flower budget and create beautiful arrangements to adorn the altar and statues in the church.  I worked as a floral designer for several months after college, and it was the BEST job I have ever had.  Lately, I have been exploring ways to pursue this passion again.  If its God’s will, I hope this opportunity comes to fruition!