Rainy Monday Moments

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

Is it too late to plant blueberries? Blackberries? Christian really wants a berry garden. He was too sick to do anything with it last week, but I think we're good to go this week. Should we go for it? I've got a little Mason bee condo all ready for my pollination efforts. (Mason bees are my consolation while I continue to plot and persuade towards next spring's honeybees.)

::listening to 

various children downstairs. It's a rainy day here and we are all so tired from a very busy weekend. I'm grateful for the cool and the clouds and a chance to re-group a bit. No soccer practice today means no hard, fast deadline at 2:30. We have a little longer to get the routine things finished and start the week well

::clothing myself in 

Yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I'm trying hard to figure a way to avoid the grocery store and not having to change into "real" clothes all day.

::giving thanks for

a very nice Mother's Day. Yesterday took us to three soccer games in two states. All three were far from each other. But, in the end, we wound up in the town where Mike and I met in high school, the town where we were married and spent the first nine years of family life together. We did a little "nostalgia drive." We didn't tell the children where we were going. When he pulled into the parking lot of the church where we were married without any explanation, Karoline squealed in sheer delight! She recognized the exterior from photos in our wedding album. They were thrilled to go inside and pay a visit. And Karoline, when she thought no one was looking, did her own little walk down the aisle. Pretty adorable. 

::talking with my children about these books

Since I'm going to share my own reading on Thursdays at needle and thREAD, I thought I'd share some reading from our family's choices. 

Mary Beth and I are digging into the free Grace Livingston Hill downloads on Kindle. But first, I'm reading a new Catholic novel, Joy in the Ordinary. I plan a proper post all of its own as soo as I'm finished. For now, just know it's one of those books that had me standing at the kitchen counter reading when I should have been housekeeping.

::I am thinking

• about the brouhaha over the Time cover 
• about How to Miss a Childhood
• about The Best Part of a Child's Education
• about an early edition of The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and conversation I was privileged to have with Mary White after Mass one day
• about The Velveteen Me

I promise they all are interconnected. At least they are in my brain. And maybe I'll sort them all out here, too. 

::pondering prayerfully

When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" She answered "Go home and love your family."

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Nothing knocks me out of rhythm like fatigue. I do so much better when I go to bed early and get up early and start the day with prayer and exercise. This week: every day. That's the goal.

::creating by hand

I know I need to force myself to finish that blouse and not to be so discouraged that it didn't go according to plan that I let become an unfinished object. The thing about crafting of all kinds is that our enthusiasm is fed by our successes. As we see something start to actually work the way it should, we're motivated to keep going. When we hit a bump? Well, then it takes more than the momentum of enthusiasm to finish well. 

::learning lessons in

my own limitations.

::encouraging learning 

It's always fun to show the basket of new books to a five-year-old. I sure wish my teenagers responded similarly.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

for lonely missionaries.

for distracted mamas; that they may see before it's too late what gives real purpose and meaning to life.

:keeping house

Last week, someone suggested taking away the phones of people who don't do chores. I think she's on to something. Phones, iPods... good idea, that one.

::crafting in the kitchen 

I asked for vegetarian recipes on Facebook. I got a whole bunch of responses. Now, to organize them and start making my way through the list. I can always add some grilled meat to it to keep the carnivores happy, right?.

::loving the moments

when your kids are just so happy because they know they've presented you with the perfect Mother's Day gift. I promise to share it later this week.

::living the liturgy

We are using  33 Days to Morning Glory  in preparation for Marian Consecration on the Feast of the Visitation. 

::planning for the week ahead

I'm hoping for a lowkey, nesting kind of week this week, before a weekend girl's getaway for a dance competition. Patrick has prom this weekend, too. I'm having to relinquish that photo op to someone else's camera. It's killing me...

random instagram photos from yesterday. wish i'd taken more...

Winner! Catholic Daily Planner

The winner of the Catholic Daily Planner is 

Louise , who said...

This giveaway brought me tears of happiness! I would love to win the full-size coil-bound planner with #3LI cover, and the lesson and menu planning Add Ons. If possible, for ease of use, I would prefer not bound together. Nice to see you here Michele.

May 10, 2012 at 10:41 AM

Louise, I will forward your contact information to Michele:-)!

Now, for the rest of you (and there were a lot of you), remember these are one hot item and they sell out, so head over and order yours now.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-fulled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

But how about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

Gospel

John 15: 9-17

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father"s commandments
and remain in his love."

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another."

Jesus said to his disciples:
"As the Father loves me, so I also love you.
Remain in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love,
just as I have kept my Father"s commandments
and remain in his love."

"I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
No one has greater love than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I no longer call you slaves,
because a slave does not know what his master is doing.
I have called you friends,
because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
This I command you: love one another."

~ Think ~

Mary is raised to the height of glory because she allowed God to bring her to the depths of humility. "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled but whoever humbles himself shall be exalted"...

This mystery assures us of the final victory of Jesus and Mary and the Church. Because the Church is an image of Jesus and Mary, what happens to Jesus and Mary will happen to the whole Church. Mary is the Queen of Heaven and earth. "A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, on her head a crown of twelve stars." She will crush the head of the serpent with her heel: her humble children who obediently follow God’s will and cause Jesus, her Son, to reign in every heart. "They defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." This is the glory of humility and final victory! These two victories of Jesus and Mary must go hand in hand because they are one and the same.

Mary recognized her absolute nothingness without God that God may be absolutely everything to her. With Mary we humbly adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament by acknowledging our absolute dependency on Him. "He must increase, but I must decrease." The Eucharist is the living Source of all light, life and love. Here Jesus says: "I am the Vine, you are the branches: he that abides in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing." Every holy hour deepens our union with Him and bears much fruit. "So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory, for Your love is better than life."

~Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

~ Pray ~

Hail Mary, poor and humble Woman, Blessed by the Most High! Virgin of hope, dawn of a new era, We join in your song of praise, to celebrate the Lord’s mercy, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom and the full liberation of humanity.

Hail Mary, lowly handmaid of the Lord, Glorious Mother of Christ! Faithful Virgin, holy dwelling-place of the Word, Teach us to persevere in listening to the Word, and to be docile to the voice of the Spirit, attentive to his promptings in the depths of our conscience and to his manifestations in the events of history.

Hail Mary, Woman of sorrows, Mother of the living! Virgin spouse beneath the Cross, the new Eve, Be our guide along the paths of the world. Teach us to experience and to spread the love of Christ, to stand with you before the innumerable crosses on which your Son is still crucified.

Hail Mary, woman of faith, First of the disciples! Virgin Mother of the Church, help us always to account for the hope that is in us, with trust in human goodness and the Father’s love. Teach us to build up the world beginning from within: in the depths of silence and prayer, in the joy of fraternal love, in the unique fruitfulness of the Cross.

Holy Mary, Mother of believers, Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

Amen

~Blessed John Paul II

~ Act ~

It's Mother's Day. For many people, this is a day of pain and disappointment. Look for ways to bring the mercy of the Blessed Mother and her Son to those who might be sad today. Ask Mary to help you know with whom to walk and what to say and how to do it.

~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~ 

How can we pray for each other this week?

Higgins Bend Song and Dance (and a recipe)

A new fishing pier just opened in our neighborhood. We haven't caught anything (yet), but it's definitely a favorite desitination. It was fun to go down there recently and read a favorite fish tale, Higgins Bend Song and Dance.

Higgins Bend Song and Dance is the silly story of outlandish efforts to catch an elusive catfish. The illustrations are big and boisterous and so is the story. It's the kind of book that would have bothered me when I was little because it is so not-true. But it delights my children because, well, I don't know why. What makes a child better equipped to enjoy flights of fancy?

Our fishing pier is on a lake, so we didn't go all out and do river things. But we did talk about the critters who live near our lake. I printed this picture of a great blue heron (our are pretty fabulous) and then read at this site. I clicked on anatomy and showed them the picture and asked them to label their coloring sheets. 

We talked about catfish, cheat sheet here. And then we tried our hands at drawing them. Drawings were watercolored. My intention was to do the actual watercoloring on the pier and use lake water, but it was too windy.

Finally, we made up our own tall tales. Again, the children are much better at that then I am. I think I struggle with willful suspension of disbelief.

That's about it for this book, here. Higgins Bend Song and Dance is a Five in a Row selection, so I'm sure there are all kinds of ideas out there if you want to make a whole week of it. We just did our little afternoon and then responded affirmatively to incessant requests for it at bedtime recently.

And I see a lot of fishing in my summertime future. 

Since I didn't get to a recipe earlier this week, how about fish now?

Baked Fish with Lemon and Capers

• 8 tilapia fillets
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
• 2 Tablespoons butter, melted (we've discovered Kerrygold butter, oh my!)
• 3 or 4 cloves garlic , finely chopped
• 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh  parsley flakes
• 2 Tablespoons capers
• a generous dash of white wine, if you like
• pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease the pan with olive oil.
2. Rinse tilapia filets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place fillets in baking dish. Pour lemon juice over fillets, then drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley, capers, wine, and pepper.
4. Bake until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 30 minutes.

I'm serving with roasted asparagus and a big salad.

 For more about our Storybook Year, read here. 

with needle & thREAD

Hello, sewing friends!

I welcome you to needle and thREAD. What have you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

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~ ~

I can't believe it's Thursday already. I thought I'd have so much more (sew much  more?) to share. I have one half-finished tunic and about a half dozen half-finished books, and another half dozen newly downloaded not-even-touched books. 

First, this blouse. Oh my! I do love it. Love the way the fabric feels, love the way it drapes, love the front. Love the colors. I even bought a pair of bermuda shorts to go with it. Love, love, love. But the back? Um. I blew it. And I tried and tried to figure out what was wrong--what those pattern directions meant--and I couldn't. Just couldn't. I spent hours, hours, hours reading and re-reading, taking out and doing again. I scoured the internet looking for just one person who had struggled with this pattern. No one.  I'm sure it was just me. And all the while, I was thinking and praying about a child of mine who has learning disabilities.  Every day is like this for him. Everything he struggles to learn. Ridiculously hard. And mostly lonely. Please, God, don't let me forget this.

At then end of the day (literally), I made a "design decision." I just covered up my mistake, made sure it wouldn't affect the usefulness, and moved on. It's a coping technique I've witnessed again and again in that child. Figure out a way around it. I hauled myself upstairs, aching and exhausted, and wondering if sewing was really in God's plan for me.

And waiting up there was a text from Sarah, directing me here.

I cried.  Really. I can't even begin to tell you how hard I struggled with that quilt, how many, many imperfections are there, but if you look closely at her photos, you can see them. Likely, you won't though, because you'll be utterly entranced with her baby, with God's creation. The uneven corner (I know it well--it's there) seems so ridiculously unimportant as I drink in those delicious toes. And that's how it is, isn't it?

We sew clothes to cover our bodies, but those bodies and our souls are His. The clothes will never be perfect. We sew quilts for our homes. The family that lives in that home? The most glorious, splendid art of human love? It's His. We bring beauty to His perfection and He makes it more beautiful. We are created in the image of the Creator and if we can keep our eyes on Him and do it all for His glory, no matter how we struggle and how flawed our product, He makes it all so good. 

I want to sew this blouse pattern again. I want to learn the right way to do it. But I'm grateful for the now and I will wear this shirt  one day-- after I tuck under all the bias for the hem and handsew the facing to the yoke. Did I mention I made that bias tape? I did. And I thought I was a rockstar sewer. Briefly.

 I will wear it, though maybe not too far from home;-). For now, though, I'm going to show you the back as well as the front, even though I could get away with editing out the flaws and never revealing a back view, because, hey, you're my friends and I'm not alone, even if no one in history has ever messed up this pattern.

(The color is truer here. I got tired of messing with iPhoto above)

As for half-finished books, I'm out of time. Those will wait until next week. Maybe they'll be finished then. But don't miss these, my not-even-started books. For years, Kim has been telling me about Grace Livingston Hill, sharing quotes and big thoughts. And, oh, how this is a writer after my own heart. Last night, Kim shared on Facebook that all of Grace Livingston Hill's books are available for free on Kindle. Don't wait! Download a bunch. We have a whole summer to read them together! Maybe Kim will chime in and tell us in which order to read them.

What have you been up to this week? Reading, sewing, embroidering? Do share:-)