to Give

Four years ago (almost to the day) Barbara Curtis and I crossed paths, quite literally. She was at Loudoun Hospital while her husband Tripp was recovering from surgery. I was there with a baby in the NICU. Barbara had just come into the Church and she told me how she longed to bring its traditions alive in her home for her children. Hers was a family in crisis then--Tripp's healing was complicated; their finances were burdensome; they had just lost their home. After I arrived home with my new baby, I wrote to you all and told you about Barbara. I asked you then to help her to celebrate Advent. And help you did! You volunteered to send care packages to the Curtis family, packages full of faith! You sent Advent in boxes from all over the country. 

I wish I were here to ask for Advent boxes today. I'm not. I'm here with a very heavy heart to share a little of the Curtis family's pain. Barbara suffered a massive stroke yesterday. Her condition is grave. Barbara is not conscious and will not regain consciousness. We grieve.

Because this is a very real community, as soon as you heard, you wanted to help. To give. And, like me, you felt a bit helpless. We pray together for Barbara, and Tripp, and all twelve children. We want to do something more.

Before she was stricken, Barbara was struggling with a huge challenge. She had just learned she was unable to re-enroll Maddy at Catholic University for the spring semester because the family had not been able to make adequate payments for tuition. In order register, Maddy has to raise $5000. Barbara was working so hard to make that happen! In her words, 

Please let them know what a serious student Maddy is, how serious a future Maddy has in opera.

Even as a freshman, she was cast in the fall opera with a solo part and in the spring opera.  This fall she also has a background part, and in the spring she has the fifth lead in Gounoud's Romeo and Juliet.  This is incredible for someone her age (19).  

I know it was a stretch for us to send her here, but the education she is receiving is so solid and she adores Catholic University...  

When I called financial aid and asked about emergency funds, they said money is very tight. ...I know someday  CUA  will be so proud to have nurtured Maddy.

Believe me, this isn't just a stage mother or anyone starry-eyed.  I have 12 kids and that gives me a lot of objectivity. Some of my kids are gifted.  But Maddy not only had the greatest gift, she has worked so hard! And she is so filled with joy. It reminds me of Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire, when he says " When I run, I feel his pleasure."

Also, Maddy lives very simply, buying her clothes at thrift stores and getting around on Metro. She sold her car when she left for her senior year for spending money.  

Yes, I would so appreciate your prayers and any other way you can help.  Thank you.

Barbara is not the starry-eyed type. Barbara knows how formidable the task of raising a family like hers is and she is faithful to that task, grateful for that great joy. Please let's help her! As Tripp and the family gather, can we let them know that this is a true community of faith? Can we show them how far Barbara has reached and how much we, too, love her children?  Can we please send Maddy back to school in the spring, so that part of her world is safe and sound and there for her? Please wrap your arms and your hearts and your prayers around this family now. And, then, please take a moment to send the link on so someone else can be blessed with the opportunity to give.

Barbara Curtis Mommylife Memorial Fund

PO Box 682 Lovettsville, VA 20180-0682

Urgent Prayer Request

Please pray for Barbara Curtis--a neighbor, a blogger, a friend--who has suffered a hemorrhagic stroke. Her condition is very grave. Pray for her family and for her doctors. Pray, pray, pray.

I promise to post details as I am able. 

Hunkering Down Monday Morning

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I admit that storms fascinate me. I really do love weather. This storm is awesome in the truest meaning of the word. Right now, it's just a rainy morning. We shall see what the day brings...

::listening to 

The Weather Channel. I'm resisting the urge to switch to Fox News. Election news, Benghazi news, and political advertising has seeped deep into me.  It's makes me cranky and sad. I'm going to try a news fast. That "First Time" ad was my undoing. I'm so sad for my kids. We have become a culture where political ads are totally inappropriate for school-aged children.

::clothing myself in 

Jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. 

::talking with my children about these books

Hurricane reading. 

::thinking and thinking

about how different life looks at this stage than the way I envisioned it.

::pondering prayerfully

"Raise [your children] with great care in the holy fear of God, because on this depends their health and blessings for your house."

- Don Bosco

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I watch footage of the surf in Virginia Beach right now and I can't help but feel like that's how I have felt for several months. Up and over and crash and then recede. There has been so little rhythm. I have almost no control over the rhythms of the lives of my big kids, but they live here, and so I am at the mercy of what to me seems like a chaotic way of life with them. On the other hand, my little ones desperately need rhythm and I'm nearly exhausted trying to protect it for them.

But that's the kids. I need rhythm. And I need silence. When I have neither, I truly feel it physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There is a fine line between being available to my children and meeting their needs and setting myself up for devastating burnout. The careful cultivation of healthy rhythm has to be a priority. I'm revisiting this post over and over and over again, with the hope that I can truly live it and truly heal.

::creating by hand

I've been knitting away  on my California shawl. It's slow going, but I'm taking the bag everywhere I go and trying to knit a few rows many times a day. Knitting has a rhythm of its own and if I can settle myself into it throughout the day, I find it helps me to be peaceful.

The drapery fabric has arrived and hopefully, if Sandy allows, my friend Cari will come at the end of the week and we can start sewing. The fabric is just beautiful and I'm so excited by the prospect of draping it around my windows. 

::learning lessons in

children. 

::encouraging learning 

School is canceled today for public school students and my college students, as well. We will build a fire and listen to the wind and proceed with our lessons.

::begging prayers

for my peace of heart and others' gentle forgiveness as I try to catch up on things let go during the firestorm of the last couple weeks. I let more than a couple people down and I'm going to need a huge infusion of grace to regain equilibrium.

::keeping house

I'm trying a new (to me) app. It's very much like FlyLady, but it's on my phone. It's been a long while since I gave Fly Lady a sincere effort. Perhaps she has an app, too. This app lays out the chores and there is a way to tailor it, but for now, I'm just doing the next thing. There doesn't seem to be a way to make kids' chores assignments, so I'm just going to delegate as I go for now. Speaking of kids' chores, I've noticed that most of my children's friends don't have chores. When my kids discover this, there are lots of quesitons. I've got answers. I think chores are super important. (Oh, look, I didn't know it but here's something I wrote ages ago. I just googled my name and chores. Maybe I'll take this piece and blog it. Or maybe I'll just sit here with my tea and try to be amused at my confident 28-year-old self.)

::crafting in the kitchen 

We are so stocked up for this storm! Nick had a soccer game in Maryland yesterday. I felt the temperature drop significantly and the winds pick up during the game. The children could sense it, too. We made a quick stop at Trader Joe's on the way home. The plan was to get lunch. But we all seemed to feel this need to stockpile baking supplies. I had already done my storm shopping, so this was just icing on the cake. Or more cake, as the case might be. I had already made it clear that much of this food was not to be touched before the storm. Needless to say, there was great delight last night when it began to rain just before bedtime. Daddy complied with pleas for a fire and s'mores. Let the hurricane party begin!

::loving the moments

when I awaken early enough to enjoy the sounds of wind and rain before the house fills with the noise of children trapped inside.

::giving thanks 

for a big, strong house; buried power lines, good books, lovely fabric, and plenty of yarn. 

living the liturgy

Have you heard about the Advent Workshop? Do come hang out with us! 

Incidentally, I love All Sants Day. This is one I want to live fully every year. One of my dearest internet memories is a friendship begun with a blog post on All Saints Day.

We're going to do it up big.

And...I'm doing a happy dance. Our mission has relocated daily Mass (again, I know). This time, it's five minutes away with no chance of traffic. Happy, happy, happy! This my friends, is truly living liturgy!

::picture thoughts 

come from my iPhone. Mary Beth took some beautiful pictures with the "real" camera. I don't want to risk waking children to find said camera and cord. These are my calm before the storm pictures.

::planning for the week ahead

Sarah will turn four on Wednesday. Seems like little else is important enough to note.

~~~~~~~~~~

My children surprised me with this video a few years ago. They decided to offer our All Saints litany to our family's special saints. This one's a keeper--those dear voices do me in every time. (Apparently, even Karoline's favorite doll has a patron saint.)

Blessed Feast to you all!

Visit Suscipio for more almanacs.

C is for Cranberry Chicken with Cornbread Stuffing: Comfort Before the Crazy-rain

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts

1/3 c. flour

1t. salt

4T. butter

11/2c. fresh cranberries

3/4c. brown sugar

1t. orange peel

3/4c. orange juice

1/4t. each cinnamon and ginger

Coat chicken in flour and salt and brown in butter.  Combine remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Pour over chicken, cover and bake at 350F for 45 min. to an hour.  Great served with stuffing or rice! I substituted almond meal for the flour. It wasn't the same, but it was fine.

Election Novena

Four years ago, I spent most of the election season on bedrest. I read way too many political blogs and watched way too many talking heads. It was an election about which I felt deeply. And, so, I wrote about it. I'm pretty sure I offended some people. This time around, I've not blogged politics at all. I've watched with certain sense of proud bemusement as Patrick, in particular, has become a politico. I remember fondly an internship on Capitol Hill at his age. But (with exception of Twitter parties during debates--can't help myself) I've not gone there this time. There is so much other chaos in my life just now that I'd prefer to opt out of election drama online.

Last weekend, my pastor offered a powerful homily and he gave me pause. He unequivocably said we have to speak up. All week, I've prayed about how to do that.

Let's just pray. From now until election day, let's just pray.  

O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord, Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments. We thank you for the privilege Of being able to organize ourselves politically And of knowing that political loyalty Does not have to mean disloyalty to you. We thank you for your law, Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged  And recognized as higher than any human law. We thank you for the opportunity that this election  year puts before us, To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote, But to influence countless others to vote, And to vote correctly. Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened. Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation, Their response to you requires that they be politically active. Awaken your people to know that they are  not called to be a sect fleeing the world But rather a community of faith renewing the world. Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer  Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth; That the same eyes that read your Word Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot, And that they do not cease to be Christians When they enter the voting booth. Awaken your people to a commitment to justice To the sanctity of marriage and the family, To the dignity of each individual human life, And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin, And not one moment later. Lord, we rejoice today That we are citizens of your kingdom. May that make us all the more committed To being faithful citizens on earth. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Archbishop Chaput on the election.

And here's a small smile. Patrick and Mary Beth have been in charge of civics lessons for the preschool set;-)