On Monday Morning


I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I saw the most beautiful sunrise on my way to the airport with Mike yesterday morning--a warm glow of pink that bloomed into a sunny winter day.

 

::listening to 

quiet. for now.

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::clothing myself in 

I'm going to pull on jeans and voile shirt with a sweater pretty soon. What I really wish is that it could be a pajama day.

 

::giving thanks for

your prayers. I asked you to pray for two big things. There you have it: 1 big thing and another big thing. Thanks for praying!

::pondering prayerfully

 

Mother Teresa: Take our congregation for example, we have very little, so we have nothing to be preoccupied with. The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not a mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. This is the only fan in the whole house. It doesn't matter how hot it is, and it is for the guests. But we are perfectly happy...

 

I find the rich much poorer. Sometimes they are more lonely inside. They are never satisfied. They always need something more. I don't say all of them are like that. Everybody is not the same. I find that poverty hard to remove. The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

 

 

Time: What is the saddest place you've ever visited?

Mother Teresa: I don't know. I can't remember. It's a sad thing to see people suffer., especially the broken family, unloved, uncared for. It's a big sadness; it's always the children who suffer most when there is no love in the family. That's a terrible suffering. Very difficult because you can do nothing. That is the great poverty. You feel helpless. But if you pick up a person dying of hunger, you give him food and it is finished.


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::clicking around these links

Not too much clicking this week. Just this one, that made me cry. And this one, that made me cry, too. And this one, because I totally think organized fabric is awesome.

 

::turning the pages of this book

I'm listening to Ann read to me on audible. The sound of the voice of a dear friend whenever I have a moment alone makes me ever so grateful for technology. It's really rather amazing.

 

::thinking thoughts as I go about my daily round

I can't tell you how many people have pointed out to me in the last 48 hours that I'm going to be a mother-in-law. Of course, I've long thought that one day I would, indeed, be a mother-in-law, so this  comes as no startling revelation. I really want to be a good mother-in-law. Raise your hand if you have a good mother-in-law. Tell me about her? {please don't tell me about the not good ones.}

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::creating by hand

Yesterday, more aprons and more jam. Today, some projects to take with us to Florida. Hopefully, later in the week I can finish my quilt. I'm waiting for invisible quilting thread to arrive.

 

::learning lessons in

mother-in-law-ing. Remember the Kimberly Hahn book binge of several weeks ago? I started there. 

 


::encouraging learning 

Just do math, people. Just do math!

 

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I have a list. I've carefully considered what needs to be accomplished when. I'm counting on no more huge life decisions from my children this week. And no more quick trips out of town. Let's just stick to the list, guys.

 

::begging prayers

Christian finished his first semester in college with a 4.0. We're both struggling a bit with the guidance department and the brick walls when we ask about help hurdling some obstacles. It seems beyond sad that he went in to talk about his future full of confidence that his hard work this semester had paid off and proven he was capable and he emerged defeated and sad. I'm so praying for a good mentor. And a math tutor.

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::keeping house

Mary Beth, Stephen, and Nicky really helped me pull off a very pretty setting for The Proposal. And Nick warned everybody not to mess it up between now and Christmas. Oh, but that he could enforce that!

 

::crafting in the kitchen 

It's the last seven days before the feast. I'm up for a bit of fasting. You?

 

  

::loving the moments

when I fall asleep snuggling with Sarah.  

 

::living the liturgy

 

 

::planning for the week ahead

Stephen and Nicky get braces today at noon. Patrick gets his on Friday. Mary Beth's are being engineered. Apparently last week's appointment was just a warm-up. I still have shopping to do--the kind I have to do in person. Tuesday maybe I'll shop, after the plumber comes to talk about renovations. Katie has a basketball game Tuesday night. Nicky's birthday is Wednesday and we're all looking forward to a favorite visitor. Mike should be back in town then, too.Thursday is a Christmas Tea with my dear friend, Megan. There's a surprise in store for Katie on Friday. Then, it's Christmas...

 

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Bracelets with a Purpose~Big Giveaway!

Bracelets

We did a lot of shopping at GIVE Jewelry this year. The motto at GIVE is One Bracelet-> One Child-> One Week of Food.  By the time we finished Christmas shopping, we'd fed thirteen children. Thirteen bracelets! I've now seen every style, from the simple friendship bracelets to an absolutely beautiful silver bracelet. I've shopped (and helped my kids shop) for people from 13 to 40-something. 

I can't yet tell you exactly what we got and where it went, because there are some gifts left to give. What I can tell you is that as people receive these gifts, they're as excited as we are. The bracelets are lovely and the gift bag spells out the real gift: because of where it was purchased, the bracelet given feeds a child in Bali for a week.

Styles vary widely, as do price points. It's been nice to shop where there is something for everyone. 

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Give Jewelry is a sustainable movement to provide food for children in orphanages throughout Indonesia. The vision is simple: every bracelet purchased directly benefits kids in need. So no matter what type of bracelet you choose:friendship braceletscharm braceletleather braceletbeaded braceletcuff bracelets or any of the other great  bracelets, you’re really choosing to make a difference. 

We've now purchased a little bit of everything: friendship bracelets, charm bracelets, leather bracelets, beaded bracelets, cuff bracelets and silver bracelets. And we've been very, very pleased. (And I don't think I'm quite finished.) The pictures here don't begin to do justice to the silver bracelets. If there is still someone special on your list--a special someone gift to buy--do consider these. I was blown away when I opened the package to check ours out and I'm tickled to think of how it will be received. I know the recipients of these bracelets will care that there's more to the story: With every bracelet you purchase, Give Jewelry provides one week of nutritious food (that's 21 meals!) for a child in need. I'm not the only happy bracelet- buyer.

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Give Jewelry is giving away another $250 gift certificate! Here's what you have to do:

Go to the site, pick your favorite bracelet, leave a comment with your favorite bracelet, link and a short description (using descriptive words like cuff bracelet, friendship bracelet, etc.)

To up your chances, you're invited to leave bonus comments: 

Leave a comment for each “subscribe,” “follow,” or “like” or blog post you do!

Please help us spread the word about this wonderful organization! 

Everything above will GREATLY help the children at the orphanages GIVE supports by helping to get the word out about this easy, affordable way to Give.

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FREE Cancer Awareness Bracelets for In The Heart of My Home blog followers:

Go to www.give-jewelry.com and make a purchase  from Give Jewelry to set in motion the “1 Bracelet->1 Child>-1 Week of Food.”  When you check out,  “Elizabeth-pink" in the comment box to receive a free Pink Breast Cancer Awareness bracelet upon checkout or write “Elizabeth-purple” to receive a free Survivor Purple Cancer Awareness Bracelet.  It's a bracelet for you to thank you for making a difference!

 

Let's Just Say He Put His Best Foot Forward

 

When this little boy was growing up, I'd frequently have to call him back to the table or remind him to pick up a book. And I was always asking him not to kick around things that weren't really meant to be kicked. The refrain was, "Paddy, you can't kick your way into college." 

He'd smile and wink and his eyes would  twinkle, Oh yes I can.

And he did.

After carefully considering colleges from all over the country, after visiting nearly every school in the ACC, after thinking hard about the Ivy League possibilities, Patrick made a decision.

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And since I'm his mom and I rarely get to write sports press releases, (and I actually get to scoop ESPN today), I'm going to offer you the press release, with some links they're not likely to include;-).

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Patrick Foss, ranked #16 in the country on ESPN's list of Top 150 Recruits for 2013 has committed today to attend the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  Patrick is a homeschooled junior who plans to graduate high school in December of 2012 and begin his studies at UVa in January 2013. His soccer career thus far has been quite a journey.

He could kick a soccer ball before he was really walking. He'd hold onto the couch and give it a go. He begged his way onto Christian's team when he was really too young to play and he's made a mark ever since.

Patrick spent his sophomore year in Bradenton, Florida as a fulltime member of the US U-17 National Team Residency Program. He ranked top in his class academically.

He is currently a member of the DC United Youth Academy and has played exceptionally well on the Reserve Team. While at DC United, his side won the SUM Cup in 2010. When he traveled with the U-17 squad to to the 2011 AEGON/AJax Future Cup in Amsterdam, he was the Golden Boot Winner (the player who scored the most goals in the tournament).

He was a member of the Virginia Olympic Development Team from 2005-2009 and was selected captain of the side in 2009.

As a homeschooled freshman playing for Leesburg Christian Academy, he led the Lions to a Virginia State Championship and was named ODACS State MVP.

He played for the Herndon Real Juniors from 2003-2010, captaining the team to the Number 1 youth soccer ranking in the United States. The Juniors captured an unprecedented 5 National Capital Soccer league Division 1 titles and won the State Cup in 2009.

 

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Don't ever tell Paddy he can't. 

Oh yes he can.

We're  ever so pleased to see him embrace the opportunity the next chapter presents. He's made a wise decision and we couldn't be happier for him.