Best Stocking Stuffers Ever and a Giveaway

Wooden Saints Dolls have been officially declared the favorite and most enduring toy of the Foss family. Not a day goes by that they aren't incorporated into the world of play in our house. As a matter of fact, not long ago, Sarah corralled Patrick's buddy Kennedy to play with her. By the time she was finished with him, he could accurately identify by name all fifteen of the saints in our collection!

These toys are the best stocking stuffers ever!

You won't be sorry if you plan ahead right now and do a little shopping at St. Luke's Brush. Bonus: St. Luke's Brush is offering a special promo right now. For every $125 you spend on these great little stocking stuffers, you will get a St. Joseph doll absolutely free!

In honor of the recent canonization of St. Kateri, St. Luke's Brush is offering to give one doll to a reader here. To qualify for the giveaway, visit St. Luke's brush and tell us which dolls you'd like to stuff into a special stocking this year.

Looking for something to listen to?

I love a good podcast when I am doing all things domestic. It's a domestic week, my friends! Recently, I chatted with Pat Gohn about life--lots of life. Please join our conversation.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

Gospel
Mark 13:24-32

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

"But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

Think
"Hope in God, for God will free you from your burdens or give you the strength to bear them. When we have faith in God, we are shielded from our enemies and the terrors of the night. To say “I believe in God” is to say we do not trust in our own strength but in the strength of God. It is most certain that God exercises a tender care for us when we abandon all our anxieties and fears to Divine Providence. Yet God desires that we do all that lies in our power to accomplish our tasks. Go ahead filled with courage, but go in simplicity. God wants us to use all the ordinary means to attain hope and trust. " -St. Francis de Sales

Pray
Dear Lord, When I am discouraged, remind me to lean into you. Help me to seek you in Word and in Sacrament, confident that you will strengthen me to do your will and grant me plenty of grace to do it with gentleness and peace.

Act
Is there someone close to you who is difficult? Someone whom you know God put in your life, but who requires of you supernatural grace and strength? Make a list of five (ten?) things about that person for which you are truly grateful. Share your thanks with him or her. Use words only if absolutely necessary.

How can we pray for you this week?

*This is the first post I've ever composed using the Typepad app on my phone. I'm huddled in my minivan, keeping warm while I wait for soccer to begin. Please excuse inevitable errors.

needle & thREAD

Big sewing here this week! We put in ten hours today alone. My sweet, wonderful, very smart friend Cari came over to lend her expertise to drapery creation. We've finished sewing the living room, dining room and family room window treatments. Woo-hoo!

Today, we set the sewing maching smack in the middle of the house, pushed furniture out of the way in the family room and took over the floor, and plopped the serger on the dining room table. I buzzed girls back and forth to dance a few times, mediated disputes over The Great Adventure Catholic Bible Games, and supervised pre-school math and college math (both on the same table as the sewing machine). We made a good dinner and took a break to sit at the dining room table (minus the serger). All in all, a very satisfying domestic day. 

In the reading department, I received a lovely new Bible a couple days ago. And it just so happens to look beautiful with the curtains destined for the room where I do the most Bible reading. It's the C. S. Lewis Bible, a full Bible interspersed with C. S. Lewis commentary. I love it!

This was a good homemaking day. Cari did all the engineering and design work; she knows this stuff. With full confidence, I pushed miles and miles of beautiful fabric trhough my pretty terrific sewing machine. I had good reason to use both my walking foot and my quilting table, thereby alleviating all the guilt I had previously felt over not quilting a thing since Sarah's quilt (which was the only thing for which I'd ever used those items). Mostly though, it was so nice to work with my hands and just talk all day with a dear friend, while being totally available to my children. I've known Cari since I was a newlywed. She was there when I was pregnant with my first three babies. She was the neighbor to whom I could run for milk or sugar (back when I consumed both). She was also there for cancer. Many years later, she, too, is a cancer survivor. So we had lots to share and it was so very good to have her here.

I think we managed a full day of schoolwork. Tell me, you who sew and knit and do all things domestic while also educating children at home: How do you do it? What's the rhythm in your home? When do you work on your craft? I'm eager to hear about it all. 

And, of course, if you've been reading and sewing or embroidering this week, please share that too. 

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-)

Today. Just Today.

I took the Facebook and Twitter apps off my phone last week. The noise had become unbearable. Now, I check in on my laptop, timer ticking, in the morning and in the evening. I'm amazed at the difference in my distraction level. Clearly, I was checking in and engaging way more often than I recognized. It's good to look up more, instead of down at that screen.

Yesterday afternoon, I planned to settle into my booth and write while Sarah and Karoline were at ballet. Alas, there was no charge on my compuer and I'd neglected to pack a charger. So, I took a walk instead. 

With me, I carried the the very real and very large medical sadness  of Lynn, of  Elizabeth DeHority and of another dear and very close woman. It's ironic; after the election I heard a pundit from the "losing side" reflect that at least he didn't get up in the morning and discover a lump. His world would go on and unless there was that crisis, nothing else was a crisis.

But what if there were that crisis? Three people I love are living that crisis. Well, lots more people than that are living that crisis, but these three are in my constant thoughts. And in my mind, I live that crisis, too. With my what-ifs and my very overactive imagination.

I set off on my walk down a familiar path, listening to and praying along with the familiar voices at Divine Office. As the hymn played, my mind wandered. Initially, I lamented the fact that fall was slipping away. Soon, these trees would be stripped bare. I kicked myself for neglecting to get the beeswax and gather the leaves to dip before the hurricane, for failing to capture autumn in its glory. I brought myself back into the prayer.

The Holy Spirit nudged me to capture the day, the very moment for the gloriousness it was, right now. I looked up. I noticed. How absolutely perfect was just this day, just this fading afternoon! What if I could do that with every moment of my life? What if I could stay --constant prayer supporting me-- in the very moment I was living? No lamentations about what could have been, no gripping fears about what lies ahead, just profound and startling awareness and gratitude for what is right now?

 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34

"I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." Jeremiah 29:11