Preach by the Way You Live

Think

"Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing, but live otherwise, and your words will bring only cynical laughter and a derisive shake of the head."

— St. Charles Borromeo

This is such a mom quote, isn't it? We know the right thing. We are all intentional about how we want to behave and how we want our children to behave. We know that we must practice what we preach and that they are such brilliant little sponges. And then, there's sin:

“What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate.”

— Romans 7:15

We mess up. we lose our composure, our temper, our good nature, and our best intentions. If we leave it there, we begin to sow a legacy of hypocrisy. What if? What if we took that great big mess-up and instead of failing to live the way we preach, we lived apology and forgiveness and we preached humility without ever uttering the word?

Pray

Dear sweet Jesus, Today, grant me humility in abundance. Help me to recognize my shortcomings and admit my mistakes. Lead me to seek wise counsel and to graciously accept help. Father, give me humble awareness of my own shortcomings and let me graciously welcome loving rebukes. Grant me the grace to be gentle with those entrusted to my care, to praise much more than I criticize, to encourage with patient endurance. Shed your light on the people I love. Let me see them as you created them and to always think the best of them. God, give me the grace and strength to say, "I'm sorry."

Act

Apologize today. Early and often;-)

~*~*~

I like to pray when I run in the morning. Often, I listen to Divine Office and pray Morning Prayer or the Office of Readings. Then, I just take up a conversation with God. I'd love to pray for you! Please leave your prayer requests below and we can pray for each other, no matter how we spend our morning prayer time. Meet me back here tomorrow and I'll share the ponderings from my morning run.

Let's Sew Some Christmas Pajamas!

I ordered my fabric and it was delivered promptly. I love the way new fabric looks. The Fat Quarter Shop sent it all nicely folded and in a neat, tight bag--and super fast!. Out it slid, bursting with the promise of happy hours watching it become something altogether darling! I'm looking forward to sewing in the next couple weeks. It's going to be a genuine, in-real-life sew along 'round these parts. I need to make three sets of pjs before The Nutcracker, which is the weekend before Thanksgiving. Kristin will come over and really, truly, sew right along with me--and you.

Are you in? Ready to sew? Got your fabric? What did you pick? I settled on Sugar Rush--seemed so perfect as the prelude to Clara's journey to the Kingdom of Sweets.

Michelle Diment has some shopping to do! She's the winner of the Fat Quarter Shop $25 giveaway! There will be a $50 giveaway at the end of the sew along, so start stitching!

He is the Beauty

Think

"It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

"It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal."

~St. John Paul the Great

The ideals of youth that shape--the grand plans, the ways we are going to be better, wiser, more noble--those aren't just youthful illusions. They are the whispers of the spirit on our souls. They are the ways the Potter takes us in his hands and begins to shape a masterpiece of our lives. 

And when those ideals meet reality several years later? They are still the movement of the Spirit in our daily round.. He reminds us--not to torment us with shattered dreams and the bitterness of disappointment. No!  He wants to bring the vision for beauty and greatness and yes-- even happiness-- to clarity by shining upon it the light of experience. It's still Jesus! He's still provoking us with a thrust for fullness! He's still the beauty.

Pray

God, grant me the grace to hear you and please, please strengthen me to answer your call. Push away the doubts and the discouragement that clutter my mind. let me see you clearly and understand how you beckon me to follow you. 

Act

Bring beauty into your home today. Do it for you and just for you. Buy a little bouquet. Or rearrange a corner of a room or a shelf and put some of your favorite things there. Start a new embroidery project or spray paint something that needs new life breathed into it. Whatever you do, do it as a reminder. Set it before yourself as a beacon of hope. Your life will be as shining as that beautiful expression of His grace that you envisioned in the past. More beautiful, really, as He shines the bright spots and deepens the crevices with the patina of grace.

All Saints Celebration Giveaway!

All Saints Day might be my favorite feast. Four hours before midnight, six years ago, I sort ofargued with a doctor. "Please can we just wait four hours? I'm not a huge fan of Halloween and I really do love All Saints Day..."

"No; you will die."

Well all right then. Halloween baby it is. But still, it was the vigil of All Saints, right?  Sarah's story is my All Saints Story forever.

From the very beginning, Sarah's favorite toys ever have been the hand-painted figurines that are the art and heart of Garry Brix. He and his wife Amy have blessed our family beyond measure. Even now, surrounded by pricey 18 inch dolls and more baby doll paraphernalia than a Toys R Us, my little girls choose these every single day. They've even graced her birthday cakes.

Last spring, when all was dark, and we were awaiting our family's most extraordinary light, Garry took time from his busy Easter basket season to create a gift for Michael that will forever be treasured. Nestled in the diapers and wipes of Lucy's first basket, even before she was born, was her namesake, Shawn--a sweet celebration of Shawn's finest victory. I happen to think it's Garry's finest work!

This has been a year filled with death for our family. It's extraordinary really, how the waves of grief have just kept crashing. This day--the celebration of hope and affirmation of the great cloud of witnesses--this is the sweetness of faith!

In honor of all the saints, Garry is giving away the Prophet Isaiah this week. Here's a tip: these dolls make really good stocking stuffers but they are also carefully crafted works of art. So don't wait to order one. Go to St. Luke's brush and look around today. Garry stops taking orders right around Thanksgiving, to allow time to create. While you're looking, come back here and tell us what you loved. You'll be entered to win Prophet Isaiah, perfect for standing sentinel at the base of your Jesse tree this year. Order before November 5 and use the code FALLSALE at checkout to get 10% of your order. Do this now. You will have perfectly lovely stocking stuffers that will become treasured heirlooms and you will begun thoughtful Christmas shopping well in advance. Go you!

Light: Invitation to Joy

Think

~Mary Oliver

Pray

Please, God, Let me see it. Don't let me miss it. Let me recognize in every sunrise an invitation to joy. Awaken in me an awareness of your plan for my happiness that dawns with every breaking day.

Act

Get up for the sunrise. Sit with a cup of something warm and just watch. Or lace up your shoes and get out and move in it. Or, even better, run--chase it down and be a part of it. Even if you are a not a morning person, get up and see the light dawn on an autumn day. It's truly, truly a grace. Know that God's paintbrush has rendered an invitation to joy for you. Resolve to do it. You might seriously consider making tomorrow the day, because for many of us, with the time change, the sunrise will come even earlier on Sunday;-).