Praying the Hours and Sanctifying Every Moment

When you are a mother of nine children and all those children live at or near home and they are all homeschooled through high school and they all play sports and dance and fully participate in the community, there is one question you hear nearly every day.

How do you do it?

For years, I’d mumble, embarrassed, and say “not all that well” or “as well we can” or “some days better than others.” In the last year or so, I’ve changed my answer. I stand up straight, square my shoulders, and say,

“By the grace of God. I pray. All day. Every day.” And it’s true. Much of my prayer is a silent running dialogue with God. But I have also set six alarms set on my iPhone, six times deliberately and intentionally set aside for prayer. Six times to pray with the Universal church. This is an idea that has some people hyperventilating. With all we have to do to live this crazy busy life, how can we possibly fit in six times every day that we will pray?  How can we add to the already busy schedule we have? 

Not all at once;-)

And sometimes, I might have just flicked the alarm silent and offered a quick, "Lord, make haste to help me." But the Church does offer a treasury. She offers "an extension of the Eucharistic celebration throughout the day, and its purpose is to sanctify the whole range of human activity--and make it graceful."

Come along and listen to Leila Lawler, co-author of The Little Oratory, as she shares the secrets of the Liturgy of the Hours.

Show notes:

**Please pardon the audio quality. I haven't had a decent speaking voice for nearly a month. I pushed to record two podcasts this week so that I will have one for you next week, also. Because, you know, it's a summer book study and this is the summer:-). The downside to that is that you can hear cough drops, an aluminum water bottle, and an occasional cough. Also, Leila fades in and out more than I'd like. Skype wasn't so friendly this time. I've decided it's much more like a phone call with a friend than it is a professional quality audio production and well, I think that works for both of us. I've clearly been enrolled in the "Humility through IT" class this summer and I'm rocking it. In all seriousness, I think it's really, really worth the effort it takes to listen. Leila has so much to offer and I want you to hear it!

  There is no picture link today. Leila has a place now at her blog for each of us to share a link to oratory pictures. I really think the more visuals, the better, so please go join the party over there. But before you go, do stop and talk about this podcast. I love to know you're listening and to know what you're thinking. As you read, if questions pop up, please don't hesitate to mention them here and I'll see if we can get you some answers in future podcasts.  I'd love to hear what you're thinking about living the spirit of this book in your very own home. Leave a link to your blog post or just speak up in the combox. Also, if you'd like to share photos on Instagram (I always like to do that;-), use the hashtag #littleoratory so we can find them!

Breviaries:

Shorter Christian Prayer

Liturgy of the Hours

Magnificat

Daria Sockey's book:

The Everyday Catholic's Guide to the Liturgy of the Hours

Online Breviaries

Divine Office App (parts are free on your desktop or laptop)

Universalis

iBreviary

Laudate

Listen to the whole Summer in the Little Oratory Series!

Chapter 1::The Christian Life: bringing it home

Chapter 2:: Home is a Very, Very Good Thing

Chapter 3:: Making the Little Oratory in the Home

Chapter 4:: Towards Living the Liturgical Year at Home

Chapter 5:: Praying the Hours and Sanctifying Every Moment

Gathering my Thoughts

::outside my window

We have been blessed with absolutely gorgeous early morning weather lately. I'm so grateful! The last three mornings, I've started out on my walks wearing a sweat jacket. Crazy! These walks have been really good for noticing the little pockets of natural beauty in my neighborhood. I think I was missing a lot when I was always only driving by...

::listening to 

Silence. And it sounds wonderful!

::clothing myself in 

Yoga capris, a t-shirt, and running shoes. I haven't yet showered since the morning walk and since I'm walking to meet a friend at lunchtime, I might just hold hold off until afternoon. Then again, I'm going to walk Karoline to and from dance this evening. Skip a shower all day? Need to work that detail out.

::talking with my children about these books

The Seashore Book

How to Hide an Octopus 

Hotel Deep: Light Verse from Dark Water

Seashore: One Small Square

The Underwater Alphabet

A Swim through the Sea

What Lives in a Shell?

Out of the Ocean

Hello Ocean

What's it Like to be a Fish?

Seashells by the Seashore

You get the idea. We're going to the beach next week. What are your favorites books about the beach? I'll add them to my list.

AND: tell me your very favorite audio book for long trips and your favorite beach reading for mom once we get there. Please.

::thinking and thinking

About blogs and blogging. The move from Typepad is tedious. And that's my gentle word;-). It has taken and will continue to take a giant investment of time and money. So, I'm naturally thinking about whether this is what I want to keep doing.

I love to blog. I love the words and the pictures and the medium for journaling. I'm not a huge fan of the techie aspect. The learning curve is steep and time consuming. I love to encourage people. I intensely dislike people who want to argue and insult online. So, yes, there has been tension in this decision. We've pressed forward, though, and I really am bubbling over with new ideas. So, hoepfully within the week, you read my words in a new space. As long as you are subscribed to the elizabethfoss.com feed, nothing will change. If you subscribed when back in the beginning, bless your heart and thanks for sticking around. And also, make sure your feed isn't the ebeth.typepad feed;-). I'll share all the moving details with you very soon.

::pondering 

When Our Lord corrected Saint Martha, He said, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and upset about many things..." [Lk 10:41] Note that she would not have been troubled if she had been merely diligent, but she was overly concerned and uneasy; she was hurrying about and all stirred up. Rivers that flow gently through the plains carry along large boats and rich merchandise. Rains that fall gently on open fields make them fruitful in grass and grain, while violent storms devastate fields and pastures. A job done too eagerly and hurriedly is never done well. "He who is in a hurry should go slowly,: says the proverb. We perform actions quickly enough when we do them well. Drones make more noise and work more eagerly than worker bees, but they make only wax and not honey. So also, people who hurry about with tormented anxiety and solicitude never accomplish much, nor do they do anything well. St. Francis de Sales

::carefully cultivating rhythm

My children are at Vacation Bible School in the mornings this week and there is soccer almost every day and dance rehearsals every evening. The house is mostly empty and I'm understanding how people who send their kids to school and work from home are able to accomplish so much. The rhythm definitely offers a great deal of white space. I intend to not waste a moment of it.

::creating by hand

Sew! I will sew. Or at  least cut things now to sew later. Fat Quarter Shop has a bundle that I click through to look at almost every day. I love Heather Bailey's new Up Parasol. But will I use all those fat quarters or should I be patient and buy yardage instead? But that bundle is delicious and inspiring. I do use fat quarters for all sorts of things. But yardage could be clothing projects...

And around and around we go. 

needle & thREAD is returning!  I've been kind of waiting until the move is complete because every time I upload a picture here, that's another picture I have to upload individually over there (multiply that by 8 years of posts--yeah, loads of fun). But even if we don't finish the move before the end of this week, let's just get back to talking sewing and reading. I've missed it!

::learning lessons in

authenticity and when it's better just to say nothing instead of sharing my whole heart.

::encouraging learning in

An IT class. Yes, folks, during the summer where my own IT issues have me literally tearing my hair out, Christian is taking an IT class online with a professor who communicates horribly. That's the perfect storm for the kid with the print communication issues. Tearing my hair out, indeed. 

::begging prayers

 for Elizabeth DeHority

Please pray for people struggling with doubt and faith and fear and hopelessness.

The Pope asks us to pray for this intention in July:

 That sports may always be occasions of human fraternity and growth.

::keeping house

This is the week to make sure all the laundry is caught up and every hamper is absolutely empty before leaving for the beach. Christian will still be home, but the chance of laundry happening while I'm gone is ZERO. 

::crafting in the kitchen 

I'm planning beach meals and I'm super stuck. Last year, we had a three hour drive to the beach. I cooked ahead the week before and froze things and then pretty much pulled from the freezer. It was efficient but it was also odd. No one seemed to eat. This year, we have a 7 hour drive. I keep asking for meal suggestions and the only thing they want is tacos. But I don't think that means they want tacos every night. So, one night down, six to go. What shall I cook and bring to the beach or should I shop there (maybe not right in the beach town but an hour or so before we get there so that things can stay cold)? Beach week veterans, chime in. Quickly, please!  (Editing to clarify after some great tips on Facebook:  I need to be more clear. These are great tips, but I have a kitchen. We'll probably be eating most meals in the condo. I do, however, have limited space in the car to get food there and I'm not enthused about paying beach grocery store prices.)

::giving thanks 

for a lovely Fourth of July trip to Rappahannock Cellars. We enjoyed beautiful weather, a nice little picnic, the music of Marie Miller, and of course, delicious wine. Karoline asked Marie to pose for a picture with her and Marie ended up handing her the mic and playing guitar while Kari sang. I don't think she'll ever stop being utterly starstruck. (I did get that picture for her and there's a little video clip on Instagram.)

::loving the moments

When we can slip out together on a Monday night to a local wine bar and gather with our church people and hear our pastor speak. Kind of like "Theology on Tap," but for soccer moms and dance dads in suburbia. Mike and I enjoyed a very local date night last night. Sure takes the sting out of a Monday. 

living the liturgy

Leila and I will be talking about the Liturgy of the Hours right here, tomorrow. Please come back and listen! 

::planning for the week ahead

I'm working on bloggity things this week. And working that walking program. And working on getting us all packed up and ready to go to the beach. And working on housekeeping details. And then working my way into a vacation with the four girls and Nick for a week at a dance competition (Nick clarifies that he is only along for moral support). I use the word vacation with very few expectations that it will be at all "vacationy" for me. At the same time, I'm just a couple hours away from meeting with a friend and together, planning in such a way that we are intentional about making what matters most happen while we are there. We're headed to Myrtle Beach. Please feel free to chime in with suggestions!

 All photos (except Kari with Marie Miller iPhone shot) are the kindness of Kristin Foss, who has her own new blog these days.

Let's talk about the Fitbit

Shoes here, because I know you want to know;-)

I've been wearing a  Fitbit Flex wristband for a little over two weeks now. Since I've posted pictures from various walks on Instagram & Facebook and posted my stats on Twitter, I'm sensing some interest in activity trackers out there in the cyberworld.

First, please let me admit that my Fitbit purchase was entirely impulsive. I went to Colorado to visit Sally Clarkson. My roommate there was Chrystal Evans Hurst. I love her. I really, really do. She was genuine and kind and took the time to make me feel very welcome even though I knew no one else personally and they all knew each other. We had some long talks and I do cherish the memory of them. But one morning early, I was awakened by a buzzing. I couldn't hear it, really. It was more like feeling it. I'd had a restless night, coughing and tossing and turning, so it didn't take much to wake me. I stayed very still and dropped back off to sleep. When I finally awakened (probably not too much later), I remembered how much I wanted to get out of bed before the day's activities began and sit on Sally's porch and just pray and journal. I rolled over, resolute in my decision to get up and I saw that Chrystal was gone. I will admit that my first thought was, "Darn, she's got the prime spot on porch."

I took my wheezing, sneezing self up to the back deck and got comfortable. It was a glorious morning. So, of course, I had to Instagram the moment.

When I posted to Instagram, I saw that Chrystal was no where near the front porch. Instead, she had posted a gorgeous picture of the trail before her. Chrystal wasn't sitting at all; she was off on a Colorado road getting some serious steps in. When she returned, I cheered her morning ambition and asked about her Fitbit. She has a Fitbit One, which attaches to clothing and has the benefit of having a digital readout of steps right on the device. It tracks steps and sleep. It also has a silent alarm which will buzz you (and your roommate) awake. For a few weeks, Chrystal wore several different activity trackers. In my I'm-too-sick-to-really-ask-questions-but-I'm-taking-notes mode, I noted that here was someone who'd checked them all out and she decided on a Fitbit. Later in the trip, Kat Lee was talking about her Fitbit Flex. I watched her whip out her phone and cheer or lightheartedly chide half a dozen people in their efforts to get fit. All I could think of was my child who is obsessed with numbers and a little too comfy on the couch.

I returned home and ordered a Fitbit Flex using Amazon credit. It arrived just before we walked out the door for dance recital rehearsals. I set it up with my computer and the phone app and strapped it on. Away we went. Nearly 6,000 steps that first day.

My goals are the default goals: 10,000 steps, 5 miles, and 30 minutes of sustained activity. Remember, I was still sick. For the next week, I met the step goals every day but one. Some days, all I did was walk and go to bed for the rest of the day. It was sort of stupid, but I wanted to form a habit and I didn't want to wait. I also learned that the number-obsessed child might have inherited that particular quirk. I am in no way recommending my obsessive compulsive induction phase. I'm just being honest.

Betty asked on Facebook whether the Fitbit Flex has made me more intentional towards activity. I can answer that with a wholehearted yes!. After years of being pregnant or nursing, particularly the last two high risk/very low activity pregnancies, I'd developed the habit of asking someone else to "run and get." 

"My shoes are up in my closet. Will someone run and get them for me?"

"Stephen, run up and get the laundry basket and bring it down here so I can start another load? And then will you please carry this one up?"

"I'll finish loading these groceries into the car. Will you run the cart back to the store?"

When the Fitbit Flex is strapped to my wrist, I become conscious of all those little times as opportunities to seize a couple hundred more steps. And those steps add up. 

Instead of standing at the sink while spending two minutes brushing my teeth, I walk circles around my bathroom. Up to 200 steps.

I park as far from the store as possible without being ridiculous. (My young companions do not appreciate this new habit because I seem to go into the store on a sweltering afternoon and exit during a torrential downpour).

I'm quick to volunteer to be the one to go back into the restaurant to fetch the forks when we are eating outside. Only about 100 steps, but every little bit helps.

I walk to the grocery store. And then I walk home. 2,000 steps there and 2,000 steps back.

It's halftime. Let's talk a walk around the track surrounding the soccer field, girls. 700 steps (including the diversion to the Porta-Potty).

I can easily persuade the girls to take a quick walk around the library pond after the Farmers' Market. 2,000 steps.

I also know that it's 2,000 steps to the dance studio and 2,000 steps to Starbucks. I made a deal with myself never to get Starbucks unless I've walked to the store. Also, from my house, you can get a lot of different places in 2,000 steps.

Someone needs to retrieve Michael from the airport around 7:00 in the morning, just hang out in the cell phone waiting area until an international flight arrives and he clears customs? I will! But I'll park at the airport Marriott and acquaint myself with the fitness trail behind it. 8,500 steps later, I'm five minutes away when he clears customs and heads for the arrivals door.

I quickly learned that even though I was being more intentional about the incidental opportunities to walk, I was going to need to make a  commitment to a long period of sustained movement every day if this was going to yield true improvements in fitness. So, I reinstituted the Morning Walk. I loaded my iPhone with podcasts from Chrystal and from Kat--they got me into this, they might as well go along for the ride--and I walked. And walked. And walked and walked. About an hour every morning--about 8,000 steps, more or less. If you get 8,000 steps before 7:00 AM and you are intentional about finding incidental opportunities to walk. I promise you will meet that 10,000 steps goal. Really, all you need is about 6,000 steps and then just regular momlife. Those morning walks have been glorious--cool, quiet, and really very beautiful, just walking within 4 miles of my house. I vary the path daily and try to keep myself from ever becoming bored. (My husband and children are all still asleep when I walk.)

Sometimes, I have to go out again at the end of the day and add to the step total in order to meet my mileage goal.Once around the block? One thousand steps. Ten minutes of Just Dance with my little girls? 888 steps. It hasn't taken long to develop a fat mental file of how many steps it took to get where I wanted my number to be. And one night, before going to bed, I noticed I was a tenth of a mile from hitting my five mile goal. My husband jokingly asked if I was going to walk around the bedroom just so I could see the number change. I giggled at the absurdity. Then, I asked if he needed anything from downstairs, told him I was going to get water, and did a few laps around the dark middle floor of my suburban colonial.  

My friend Nicole has a Jawbone Up. That means we can't officially share our steps via the Fitbit app, but we can screenshot results and support and encourage one another. Very early on, we learned that she would walk further and I'd have more steps. I'm barely 5'2". She's 5'8"-- different strides, for sure. Lately, I've tended to have more steps than Kat or Chrystal, which is hilarious considering I'm listening to their motivational podcasts and that's fueling me to go further. [Maybe I need to record a podcast for them;-)?] I've moving been very, very slowly though. I've yet to have a day when I haven't been wheeezing. This virus is excruciatingly slow to leave. It may have something to do with the fact that--even though I knew I was sick--  I flew to the Rocky Mountains, slept very little for three nights, came home, pushed hard through dance recital week, and then persisted in walking every day, to the tune of more than 60 miles in the first two weeks.

I tracked my sleep the first two nights, but after that, I stopped wearing it to bed. I just don't really  need that information and I think a little break from the electronics is probably a good thing. While Chrystal's silent alarm woke me that first night, the two times I wore my silent alarm, I slept right through it. I will admit that I'm not someone who has ever carried her phone on her person, so having this thing strapped to my wrist all the time does sort of  give me the eebie-jeebies. Except it's just so cool...

So what has all this meant in pounds and ounces. Ounces!? Glad you asked. I've been logging over 80 ounces of water almost every day. Fitbit Flex helps me track that.

Oh, you meant the scale. 

I haven't lost an ounce. Honestly, as of this morning, I've gained two pounds. I eat ridicuolously clean and very little. This body weight statistic is baffling and annoying beyond belief. So, yes, I will have my thyroid checked again. I will also put the scale away for the next month. Here's the thing about the Fitbit Flex: I'm in control of those numbers. I can make them go up. I can reach my goals every single day. Whatever it is about my metabolism or my body type (or my luck?), I've always had very little control over my weight. I can't effect the same changes in those numbers. I've lost weight almost as inexplicably as I have gained weight on occasion. It's just a very capricious thing, that scale. But it has the power to discourage. It's actually so powerful it can ruin an entire day before I am even dressed in the morning. So, the scale going to be hidden away for the rest of July. 

Instead, I'm making and keeping friends with this fun device that actually reflects how hard I'm trying.

I've committed to 150 miles in July. I've committed to 80 ounces of water a day. I'm reminding myself that what I'm really trying to do here is to strengthen my heart and lungs (and I probably need to go faster to do that but there's time to work up to that).  I'm holding myself accountable and I've asked my friends to help me.

But wait, there's more! My kids like this bracelet. A lot. Welllll, most of them do. They like to go with me, to find out how many steps it takes to get places. They like to see the smiley guys when I reach my goals. It doesn't seem to know how to accurately count steps if I'm pushing a stroller (or a grocery cart?). I try to let the Fitbit hand swing free. It also doesn't record "steps" while biking. I have had some limited success in both situations with strapping the wristband onto my shoelaces.

 Katie begged for a Fitbit Flex of her own. I conceded because it's good to have something to share with her and she's a happy companion on my jouney. I also got one for the child who loves the couch. He's not allowed to sit down until he has gotten 6,000 steps for the day. He's been encouraged to work towards his own unique fitness goals. There's a one more Fitbit sitting in a box on the dresser in my bedroom. It has my husband's name on it. We'll see where it goes...

Gathering my Thoughts

::outside my window

Six baby bunnies nursing while their daddy stands guard! Last night, just around sunset, my girls came running. "Mommy, Mommy! you have to see this. It's the cutest thing EVER!" There in our backyard, six bunny babies laid on their backs and nursed away happily. I went to get the telephoto lens and carefully lifted the window in order to take pictures. Even though we were up on the second floor, that much movement was too much. Mama hopped away. Daddy followed. The poor babies just stayed there wondering what in the world happened to dinner. I have no pictures. But my girls are unlikely to forget.

::listening to 

Dishwasher swishing and washing machines spinning. Domestic day here.

::clothing myself in 

a FitBit and running shoes. All day, every day. More on that tomorrow.

::talking with my children about these books

 Divergent. Mary Beth really liked the first one. Second and third one, not so much. Definitely for older readers. 

::thinking and thinking

what to do in the fall. "Extracurricular" activities take time and money. I don't really think there is such a thing as "extracurricular." Life is the curriculum. Life is how we learn, especially if we're homeschoolers. Our family grabs life with both hands, jumps in as a family, and then learns what we can in whatever the setting. So it has been with soccer and basketball, where my kids have gone all kinds of places and done all kinds of things. While Mike was in Rhode Island with Stephen and Nick and Christian and Stephen was winning a regional soccer title, Michael was wrapping things up in Brazil. After the trophy ceremony, the boys headed to Connecticut to watch the game at ESPN Headquarters. Way fun.

And Michael's incredible World Cup experience came to a close. He wrote about that-poignantly and personally--here. Even if you don't like soccer, read it. 

Anyway, I digress. It's hard when you have so many children and you limit them to "just one thing" to feel completely confident that time and money is being invested wisely. I'm leaning heavily into God on this one because I really don't know...

::pondering 

::carefully cultivating rhythm

I returned from Colorado very full. Also, very sick and with very little voice. And, nearly three weeks later, I'm still fighting something.

::creating by hand

I have a few little things for Lucy cut. I must sew them now or she'll never wear them. Pictures of those and last week's project at needle & thREAD on Saturday. I promise. 

(Gosh, this is awful. I wrote this nearly three weeks ago. Nothing has changed. Not one thing. Will do better. I promise.)

Wait, no. That's not quite true. Kristin and I made a quadruple batch of healing salve last week. That's creating with our hands. It's also good for our hands.

::learning lessons in

Time and money management.

::encouraging learning in

 Staying in the race and finishing well. 

::begging prayers

Please pray for people struggling with doubt and faith and fear and hopelessness.

The Pope asks us to pray for this intention in July:

 That sports may always be occasions of human fraternity and growth.

I don't know if dance is a "sport" --but I'm seriously praying for human fraternity and growth all around.

::keeping house

Just this. I'm telling you, it took four days.

::crafting in the kitchen 

::giving thanks 

for friends who listen when I think too much. I'm really super grateful for them.

::loving the moments

When everyone comes home, safe and sound, from traveling afar. Tonight, we'll gather and celebrate safe travels and happy homecomings. 

living the liturgy

I have children who cannot start their day without Morning Prayer and will not go to sleep without Night Prayer. I'm so grateful that's the case. 

::planning for the week ahead

Well, it's already Thursday and I'm just now getting around to writing Monday's post. My plan for the rest of the week is blog a bit. And to sew a bit. And to celebrate tomorrow with my gang. And then to go watch Paddy play and bring him home for awhile. 

Mercy in the Morning

I am a dreamer. An idealist. An addicted-to-hope optimist. When one commits to living an intentional life — to not letting moments slip by without assigning to them thought and care — she can set herself up for the perfect perfectionistic storm. I am an intentional mother, not a perfect one. My ideals and my dreams and my plans often far outstrip my realistic ability to make them happen, at least to make them happen in the way I envision. If I let myself look back and see all the ways I’ve gone off plan, all the things that didn’t work out quite the way I imagined, it could discourage even the most stalwart optimist.

But grace.

Every bend in the path, every place it was this and not that, there is the fingerprint of grace. It’s not that God always gave me something happier than what I’d conjured in my idealistic list making. It’s that He gave me what I needed. Sometimes, frankly, I needed a kick in the pants. Sometimes, I needed to come face to face with my failures and drop to my knees and surrender to His mercy. And there it was: mercy new every morning.

He promises us the fresh breeze, the clean slate, the ability to begin anew. There are no limits on the promise. He goes so far as to assure us that we can begin again every morning. Every, single dawn for the rest of our lives, He will be there, with mercy unbounded.

“The Lord’s acts of mercy are not exhausted, His compassion is not spent; they are renewed each morning — great is Your faithfulness"

(Lam 3:22-23)

There it is. Every morning, we are given a fresh supply of mercy. Every morning, we are assured that God has compassion on us, that He hears our dreams and our desires, and He sees our lists and our lamentations. He knows about the wet bed, the spilled milk, the burnt toast that set off the smoke detector before everyone was even out of bed. He shows up, every morning, offering grace enough for the day and grace enough to forgive whatever we messed up the previous day. We just need to meet Him there, in the morning, in the promise of a fresh start.

Before anything else, in the bright promise of the day, God wants us to surrender all to Him. For just a few moments of stillness, steeped in Word and prayer while we hold that first cup of tea, He wants our hearts. In return, we get His mercy in that moment and all the moments that follow.

Even more, we are granted the great grace of forgiveness in the sacraments. We can meet Him in the morning, tell Him our hopes and plans, and, in quiet stillness, listen to what He would have us do. Then, every single day, He is waiting to offer us real strength that comes with His body and blood, a fresh infusion of grace for whatever comes our way. But wait — there’s more. We are also given the opportunity to pour out all those shortcomings — those sins, dirty and accusing — and leave them at the foot of the cross and actually hear the words of forgiveness in confession. Clean slate. Start again. Go forth with the full confidence that we are a new creation, and we can grab onto our optimistic ideals with both hands and live with the reckless abandonment to joy and mercy and grace that is the great gift of this crazy life of faith in Christ.