Beautiful Bluebell Day
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Kind Conversation
/The journey to this post was a long one, a prayerful one, and a surprisingly fruitful one. I have heard you and I have listened. I truly, truly hope I've listened well. Even more, I have heard Him and I have listened. And gosh, I do hope I got that message right:-)!
We've created something for you.
If you want a quiet place to share a vision of rhythm and beauty, holiness and joy,
If you want to talk kindly, peacefully, and positively about the ideas you read here and on Serendipity and in my books,
If you are a woman in search of companions on a journey to God,
come walk with us.
Come if you want to encourage and to be encouraged. Come if you love the Lord and want to dedicate your life to living His vision for you.come if you want to bring His Presence alive in your home.
Come if you have a heart for kind conversation.
Come!
I look forward to seeing you there!
{Registrations will be approved as quickly as possible. Kind Conversation is a private community only visible to registered, approved members.}
Really Long Daybook...
/...in which I do some catch up blogging and get reacquainted with my camera:-)
Outside My Window
Everything is in full bloom. Our Bradford Pear looks so beautiful in its white lace splendor (too bad those particular trees absolutely stink while in bloom). The cherry trees are lovely and the crabapples have my little ones looking expectantly for Mrs. Applebee. My tulips are budding and blooming, too. And...a little bird told me that the bluebells have begun to burst into color as well. There is nothing, nothing in the whole outdoors so wonderful as bluebells in Virginia.
I am Listening to
chirping birds. They are Way Loud--having some kind of rocking party in the smelly Bradford pear tree.
I am wearing
capris and a poplin blouse. Hooray for the return of the "summer uniform!"
I am Thankful For
Mike's safe return. He didn't get home until 7AM Easter morning, after driving all night. There was a very serious accident just ahead of him on I95 and he sat and sat and sat in traffic. He's been gone two weeks. This trip was a long haul for both of us and I'm so grateful he's home at last.
I am Pondering
these words, passed on to me by a wise friend:
Child of God, what have you done up to now to help the souls around you?
You cannot be content with that passiveness, with that idleness of yours. He wants to reach others through your example, through your words, through your friendship, through your service.
-- St. Josemaria Escriva -- The Furrow #880
I am Reading
Arise From Darkness: What to do When Life Doesn't Make Sense.
I intended to finish it during Holy Week, but Holy Week ended up being very, very active, not much time for reading. So, I'm going to finish this week. This is a slow read, only because every page holds something worth stopping to think and pray on.
From the Kitchen
Let's do some menu recording here:
Holy Thursday:
Roasted lamb
roasted asparagus
haroset
rosemary potatoes
flatbread
Good Friday:
I do not even remember. I functioned on three hours sleep that day.
Holy Saturday:
Gyros made with the leftover lamb. I love this meal and every year I wonder why I don't do lamb more often.
Easter Sunday:
Beef Tenderloin
Ham
roasted asparagus
salad with roasted beets and goat cheese and pine nuts
roasted sweet potatoes
mashed potatoes
fruit salad
bread
chocolate cake with mint filling and mint ganache
edible easter baskets
ice cream bar with hot fudge, strawberries, Easter candy, whipped cream
mocha brownies
I am Thinking
about silence and conversation. About boundaries and embraces. About activity and stillness.
I am Creating
a social network for kind conversation. Hmmm...those words look strange here, even to me. I wonder at the events that took me to this place. But it's true, together with my big kids (who are the resident experts on such things), and some dear friends, we're creating a place of beautiful conversation. More news and an invitation very soon.
On my iPod
The Holy Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet with St. Faustina. This is beautifully done and so appropriate for this week where our focus is in His mercy.
Towards a Real Education
Lots of nature study and watercolors in the plans. We are also going to begin a multi-age Bible study together. We're finishing up most of the purchased curriculum (grammar books, science notebooks, etc). I'm looking forward to a spring of mostly Bible study, Shakespeare, nature and art. And we'll take a literature-intensive look at Asia.
Towards Rhythm and Beauty
I love the way that the gold ALLELUIA letters sparkle on the mantel this morning. It was a long Lent. A long, fruitful Lent. Easter shines in my house today. Baskets line up on the knee wall in the kitchen. Candles and baskets grace the tables. Our book baskets brim over with the spring term: books on birds; books about Easter; bible story picture books; books on China. There is a familiar beauty in the things around me and I can see clearly--if only for the moment--how the beauty of this place supports its rhythm and how hat rhythm is the heartbeat of our lives here.
To Live the Liturgy
Wood and felt. Felt and wood. Around my living room, there is a miniature representation of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem, a table with a tiny cenacle, and another table with cross and tomb. Over and over again, my children are drawn to the wood and felt as the gospels come alive in their hands. The liturgy lives here, in wood and felt.
This week, we are praying the Divine Mercy novena and lulling small children to sleep at night with the chaplet, sung over and over.
I am Hoping and Praying
for Christian, who gets thrown curve ball after curve ball (and he's not a big fan of baseball). We need some solid answers from doctors this week. Pediatricians, cardiologist, surgeon--I’m praying someone can figure this all out. Hmmm. this remains the same as when I first wrote it two or three weeks ago. Not good.
and for my Aunt Ida, who fell and broke her hip last. She's 92; she doesn't "bounce back." She is however, the antithesis of a sour-faced saint. She's joy personified. I think that's why she's lived so long.
for Elizabeth deHority to have the time and the strength and the peace to do the important things.
In the Garden
There are still too many weeds. I also saw peony shoots yesterday. I pruned the roses (why does this always hurt me so much?). They look very healthy and I'm looking forward to a summer full of blooms.
Around the House
The house sparkled from top to bottom yesterday (well, the basement didn't exactly sparkle, but it was much better). I worked around the clock (literally) to get it to this point. And it was no small challenge. Mike was gone. Paddy was gone. Christian and Mary Beth were sick (really sick) and so all the routines were worthless. I never realized just how much my normal routines integrate those big kids into everything we do. But I did it! Mike came home to a perfectly lovely house and after working the way he does, he deserved to be as blessed by this home as we are.
Now, to keep it this way.
On Keeping Home
At the beginning of the week I told a friend (who is a truly gifted and creative homemaker) that I wished I had a homemaking fairy to come and rescue me. In my mind, this fairy looked a bit like the Flylady logo. My friend replied that her homemaking notebooks are her fairies. I whined a bit about how my notebooks are out of date and I didn't have time to stop and update before rolling up my sleeves. Then I remembered that whole "Sharpen the Saw" principle and I stopped and made a serious list. I wrote down everything that needed to be done. I worked backwards from Easter Sunday and thought about a logical order. I committed it all to paper. And then I lived that list. Now matter what happened. No matter who got sick. No matter how tired I was. The list ruled. It probably isn't the greatest strategy for everyday life, but it was my survival strategy and in the end, my wise and beautiful friend was right: those notes are the Homemaking Fairy. This week? I'm going to work on the Homemaking Notebook. It's been far too long.
One of My Favorite Things
Bluebells.
Sarah Annie this week
She is talking up a storm and signing right along with her speech. (Mike says it's the Italian thing; talking with her hands.) Her favorite sign these days is "outside." She's pretty insistent. If she's inside, she's signing "outside." As it should be; the weather is just beautiful and the whole world is in bloom for her. Outside. Outside. Outside.
A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week
The bluebells are in bloom. Around here, that's all the news we need to plan our week.
A few more pictures to share:
I have no pictures of the Basilica to share this year. We attended all the Holy Week and Easter services our neighborhood mission had to offer. All week, I reminded myself how utterly grateful I am that this mission is healthy and holy again. But I did so miss the big church. Because of the blessing of a local mission, I was able to stay home with sick children and send well ones across the street to the local elementary school gym or leave for just a few moments with well children to attend stations on the town green. I wish I could wax poetic and tell you how beautiful it was despite the lack ofa a church building. Instead, I can report that when Nicholas walked into Mass Easter morning, he exclaimed, "Man! I wish all these people would show up just once when I play basketball here!"
Kind Conversation~ Mission Statement
/Join the discussion HERE!
It is my wholehearted conviction that the successof this network rests entirely upon every one of its members remembering the mission: We exist solely to encourage one another in seamless lives of holiness.
As we move fingers across a keyboard, we must ask ourselves: do they bless?
Sometimes, others will be blessed when we ask a question. It is a great gift to be able to articulate the ponderings of another’s heart. Sometimes, others will be blessed when we provide an answer. Always, we can bless with the witness of our lives—and our words.
Our Creator has generously given us the gift of time and the gift of work. Our work is in our homes. Everything we do must be ordered towards nurturing those He has entrusted to our care. It is my sincere hope that this venue will be an aid in using your time with your family well, that you will find things here to help lighten your load, lift your spirits, and make your heart sing. Don’t waste time here. Do God’s work here. If what you’re reading or writing isn’t bringing you closer to God-- making you a better wife and mother-- then push away from the computer.
The journey towards this space took place during all of Lent. For me, it was a most unexpected journey. As I sit here today, on the eve of Easter, I look to the words that have guided me through this Lent and guided us as we created this place for you. Those words, taken together, provide the guidelines for this unique place of Kind Conversation.
Do not sow a crop of good intentions in your neighbor's garden, but cultivate your own with diligence.
~St. Francis de Sales
If you click on the tab labeled “My Garden,” you
will find your own space here. You can go to the righthand sidebar and
click on the “manage” button and set about decorating your spaceJ . This is your garden; I look
forward to visiting!
"Talkativeness
is the throne of vainglory, on which it loves to show itself and make a
display. Talkativeness is a sign of ignorance, a door to slander, a
guide to jesting, a< servant of falsehood, the ruin of godly
conviction, a creator and summoner of hopelessness, a precursor of
sleep, the dissipation of recollection, the
abolition of watchfulness, the cooling of zeal, the darkening of prayer."
~St. John Climacus
There is a difference between talkativeness and community. Kind Conversation is about community, not talkativeness. Stop and ask yourself if you are building community or wasting time.
After seeing how many people waste their lives (without a break: gab, gab, gab---and with all the consequences!) I can better appreciate how necessary and lovable silence is. And I can understand, Lord, why you will make us account for every idle word. ~St. Josemarie Escriva
Wasting time is sinful. Let this place be a place of blessing, not the near occasion of sin.
This is what that really is: grumbling, gossiping, tale-bearing, scandal-mongering, back-biting. Or even slander? Or viciousness?
When those who are not supposed to sit in judgment do so, they very easily end up as gossiping old maids.
~St. Josemarie Escriva
Don’t sit in judgment. Be very, very careful never
to venture into calumny or detraction. In matters of prudential
discernment, take what you read into your own heart, share it with your
husband and seek qualified spiritual direction, but do not judge
someone else’s heart or soul.
We want to guard carefully against
becoming bitter, gossiping old maids. If you see a conversation that
has become unkind, please don’t hesitate to use the“Report” button at
the bottom of every page. And I promise you I won’t hesitate to take
whatever means necessary to squelch behavior that even hints of the
waste of life about which St. Josemarie Escriva writes.
This is not a debate forum and it’s not an apologetics forum. There are other places on the web for that. Over time, I’ve learned that heated internet discussions rarely change anyone’s minds. Instead, they create laundry piles, whiny children, and disgruntled, neglected husbands. Childhood is too short; marriage too precious. Please limit yourself to kind conversation.
St. Ephrem’s Lenten prayer sums up well the atmosphere we desire for the venue:
O
Lord and Master of my life! Take from me the spirit of sloth,
faint-heartedness, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the
spirit of chastity, humility, patience,
and love to Thy servant. Yea, O Lord and King! Grant me to see my own errors
and not to judge my brother; For Thou art blessed unto ages of ages. Amen
I pray that this place does not become for me the occasion of sloth or faintheartedness or lust of power or idle talk. I pray that it will be only and always a blessing. Will you pray that prayer with me?
Finally, as we look with great anticipation to the Feast of Divine Mercy, I take to heart the words of St. Faustina:
Great are the faults committed by the tongue. The soul will not attain sanctity if it does not keep watch over its tongue.
I beg you to keep careful watch over what you say.
Welcome to this special place! Come walk with us as we seek to encourage and be encouraged. Come talk with us as we cultivate together a habit of Kind Conversation.
It won't be long now!
/Danielle has all the news about where find the news as we get VERY close to shipping Small Steps for Catholic Moms: Think. Pray. Act. Every Day. If you pre-order, you'll be the first to get yours! What a nice way to start the Easter season--a new devotional inspiration.
***
In other news, things are crazy busy here. My husband called yesterday and asked what was up with my blog. Since I've been messing with URLs and such, this query made me nervous.
"Why, what do you see?"
"Your last post is March 24th. I can't see any after that."
"Right. That's the last one."
"Oh. Why?"
Dear man, the next thing I post will be all the homemaking lists I've made just so I don't go absolutely nuts trying to keep all these balls in the air while you are away during a major liturgical season.
Speaking of balls and being away, my husband has had some fun in Dallas meeting my blog friends, who showed up with lots of little kids to watch Paddy play. That's so awesome, because Paddy is used to playing for an audience of small fans. I'm sure everyone is a lot less homesick thanks to great big Texas hospitality. But I admit to being more than a little envious...Wish I were there doesn't really cut it.
Mike has my camera. Perhaps there will be pictures soon...or maybe they will up on a Texas blog.
