Yes, that was the same lady in the big van three different times on Saturday. I was sick. My kitchen sink wasn't working. The dollar menu was my friend.
And to someone who might benefit from the large sum of money I just spent to get a plumbing education: Don't put eggshells down the garbage disposal. Apparently, "It's like pouring gravel down there."
And now we all know.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation
for the Cause of the Saints, has announced that the beatification of
the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, Louis Martin and Azelia Guérin,
will take place later this year!
Read more at Shower of Roses (where else for news such as this?)
So, it's an absolutely dreary, icy February day and I haul my sick self out of bed to lay on my keyboard and write an overdue column. When it's finished, I do what I do promptly every other Thursday before the office opens every other Friday. I email it to Ann, the managing editor at the Herald and ask her to let me know she got it. Ann is my friend. We've worked together long distance for fifteen years. I've trusted her with my heart my columns all that time. She knows me pretty well--she's probably the only person on the planet who has read every single column I've ever written. And I know her a little, too. I remember writing to her in the early morning just before I went to the emergency room when I thought I was miscarrying last time I was pregnant. And she wrote back and comforted me and promised her prayers. Then, she understood the bittersweet news when I relayed that there were two babies but just one heartbeat and she shared with me a little bit of her own sorrow. Ann is my age and has never been married. She is a wonderful, talented, woman of grace and God. On that day, I began to offer a prayer every time I sent a column that God would send someone her way.
Today, when she tells me she's received my column, she passes along some happy news! She's engaged! He's the associate publisher of the Florida Catholic (I'm afraid to ask what this means for us).She also tells me that she's in the running for a wedding photography prize package. Ann is used to being behind the camera. What a great gift it would be for her to spend her day being captured by someone else's professional camera. If you're a sucker for a love story, go read Ann's (written by the love of her life) and then scroll to the bottom and vote for "Ann and Chris."
This is a holy mission, a quest to find time and space for God.It is an imperative for authentic Catholic homemaking. This is a clearing of soul as I pursue a clearing of space. And time. Colleen captures it better than I do:
Over and over I have talked myself out of this being the problem. Overand over I have reasoned that I just needed more containers and bookshelves (stuff for my stuff). And over and over I have found myself lying in bed at night feeling like a total failure because of the state of my stuff. Even on a day when we have prayed together, learned together, played together, I can often find myself guilt-ridden at night because I was not able to manage my home as I think I should. If stuff is in the way of my experiencing God's love and mercy, it's definitely the problem. Read the rest here.
A visitor to my blog writes:
Dear Friend,
I really think you should stop reading my blog. Take some time to step back, with your husband, and discern whether or not God is calling you to educate your children at home. If indeed He is, then surround yourself only with things which encourage you, educate you, and build you up. Don't waste precious time reading blogs that cause you to compare yourself to someone else unfavorably and to ultimately become discouraged. Please remember, you cannot possibly know all the components of anyone else's life, whether online or in real life. God hasn't called you to be like anyone else. He's called you to be what He created you to be. If my blog or anyone else's blog or any kind of curriculum discourages you, don't go there. Find resources which can help you meet your needs. Time is too precious to waste on any input that is not useful to you. I've written about bad days and burnout and time management, but I might not be speaking your language. If not, don't read it. There are so many, many worthy ideas out there. Homeschooling doesn't look the same in every family. I encourage you to find the lifestyle to which God is calling your family. You can be assured of my prayers as you discern!
I'm Elizabeth. I'm a happy wife and the mother of nine children. I grab grace with both hands and write to encourage myself and others to seize and nurture the joy of every day. I blog here with my daughter, Mary Beth, a wholehearted young lady on the brink of adulthood.
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