Brave

I thought I had a Thursday deadline--the Thursday before three dance recitals--so I dashed a quick note to the The Herald and asked if I could get them something first thing Monday morning. The response was quick. No problem. Thursday was a long rehearsal day. The weekend was full of recital and company and getting Mary Beth off to Workcamp. I had a little brain blip and remembered the column while out running early Monday morning. So, I ran home and wrote what was on my heart that day. 

It turns out that The Herald only publishes bi-weekly in the summer and my deadline wasn't until the following week. And what a week it was! When it was finally published, that issue would be full of weighty topics: the Pope's encyclical on the environment and the Supreme Court's redefinition of marriage. The print issue is meaty and thoughtful. And tucked into one corner is this piece~ about an eight-year-old at a dance recital.

Still, as the weeks have unfolded after those two weighty issues made their first appearance, I wonder if the lessons of the dance were exactly what I needed before the challenge of solemn issues of the day. Let's look at Karoline's moment today and then maybe tackle the struggle of a newly defined foundation tomorrow (or next week, because I seem to exist in some sort of distorted time). 

~*~*~*~

Sometimes — often, really — our children teach us our most important lessons. I think maybe that’s the way it’s supposed to be; the most important lessons and the hardest ones for us to master are the ones that they grasp before we do. And so they lead us by their examples, and we find ourselves someplace better.

Last Saturday night, at my daughters’ dance recital, my 8-year-old vanquished nearly all my biggest demons with a puff of ivory tulle, ribbons and lace, curls and song. She blew away pride and perfectionism and anxiety in a bit of lyrical miracle. I stood dumbfounded in the wings while she made it all look so easy.

It was the 7 p.m. show, a show mostly reserved for the oldest and most accomplished dancers. Karoline wasn’t supposed to perform. She was backstage because I was backstage and because her sisters were dancing. Just a few minutes before the curtain rose on the show, I talked with the studio director about one of the senior dancers who had injured herself in the previous performance. She wasn’t going to be able to dance in any of her many numbers in that evening show. The group dances would be quickly re-blocked, but what to do about her solo? The music was already programmed-in. We needed that time to allow dancers from the previous number to change into costumes for the following number. There were no older dancers available to fill the slot because they all had dances too close to that one. Karoline stood listening.

“I’ll do it,” she piped up, maybe even pleading a little. “I’ll get up there and dance to Grace’s music.”

“Have you ever heard Grace’s music?” I asked. 

“No,” she shrugged. “I’ll improvise.” 

And to my amazement, the director said, “OK, Kari, you’re on.”

That’s how my little girl ended up by herself in the middle of a big stage, all lights on her. And she danced. Boy did she ever dance. Fresh creativity personified, unencumbered by worry over whether she was good enough, she let intuition and talent and training and sheer love of the art take over. Somehow she felt the music she had never known, and she anticipated well enough to make it all look like it was always meant to be. 

In the wings, the entire company encouraged her, and as it became increasingly evident that she was going to absolutely charm the stars out of this particular performance, their enthusiasm grew. Karoline knew it. Her face was suffused with joy, and her whole body loved every minute of that solo.

Who does that? Who volunteers on the spur of the moment to get up in front of a theater full of strangers to dance alone when every eye will be on her? Well, certainly many people do, but usually they practice for months before, and they are polished and ready. Even then, it takes courage to get up on stage and dance. But improvisation? That’s a different kind of brave altogether. 

I am the type who rehearses life. I plan. I practice. I think of every possible thing that could go wrong, and I set aside provisions for them. I am careful and fearful and shy. But my daughter? She is brave. 

She lives life with her arms wide open to pull joy close.

It’s a beautiful thing to behold, and I’m grateful for it every day.

On the morning after the show, I talked with the director. I thanked her for giving Karoline the extraordinary opportunity to experience the moment she did. I think it is a rare director who would have taken that risk. Most people who run studios place unnerving emphasis on appearing perfect on stage. The risk that attitude poses to young dancers is formidable and very grave. I know how blessed we are to have our girls in an environment where creativity and, frankly, the fun of it all, is prioritized. The director told me how impressed she was with what Kari had done and how she much she’d loved watching her. But then she said something else that made me pause. 

She said most mothers would not have allowed their children to try that kind of impromptu performance. They wouldn’t have taken that chance.

But I didn’t hesitate a second. I saw Karoline’s face in the asking, and I encouraged her.

Maybe, deep down, I’m a little bit brave, too.

If I am, it’s because my children are making me brave.

I have no pictures of karoline's improv. I think there is video, but I haven't seen it yet. Instead, these are images from a competition a few weeks ago. Photos courtesy of Michele McGraw

Gathering my thoughts and the images that inspire them

Outside my window:  It's hot. Ridiculously hot. I left for a run early this morning and it was 72. By the time I got home, it was already 85. With the humidity, it felt like 90. Two hours later, it's even hotter. And more humid. I'm not complaining. Nope. There's not a single complaint in there. I'm just stating the facts. It's hot. And every day is a bad hair day. Fact.

Listening to: Quiet. It's a weird week of coming and going and heat. Did I mention heat? Kristin just left. She gathered up everyone under 15 to go to the nearby Air and Space Museum. The idea is for them to stay cool and maybe get a little educated and for me to get a week's worth of work finished in three hours. Because that's truly how we roll around here lately.

Clothing myself in: Shorts. Tank top. Running shoes. New running shoes. When I was in Charlottesville last week, I popped into the only running store I love and asked why they thought my Christmas running shoes were giving me blisters. She looked inside them, looked outside them and broke it to me that they were worn out. Then we looked back at my Fitbit and Runmeter stats. Those shoes have traveled the length of Italy on foot. Okay then, new shoes.

In my own reading: I read a wonderful book last week and I'll tell you all about it on needle and thREAD. Anne listed it on her "Beachy Novel" list. I'm sticky with Beachy Novels this summer. 

Pondering:

from Catholic All Year

Visit Kendra for her thoughts on this perfect pregnant mama psalm. It's her contribution to Kristin's Summer of Psalms project. Click here to see all the psalms so far. Each one has its own free downloadable art. 

Carefully Cultivating Rhythm: Mary Beth is away this week, at WorkCamp. Stephen and Nick will leave midweek for the regional soccer championships. Mike's gone and will return only long enough to gather the boys. I find myself really missing conversation. To have both Mary Beth and Mike gone at the same time makes me very aware of my usual patterns of casual (and thoughtful) conversing. When Kristin walks through the door in the morning, I barely say "Hello" before the onslaught of whatever new idea hasn't been given voice yet. Today, it was all about sewing projects. 

Creating By Hand:  I need some of these Sorbetto tops. Quickly. Because, you know, it's hot. 

Learning lessons In: Long distance romance;-). I mean, I already know a lot of tips about life with a traveling dad, but every season brings its new challenges. If we are so inclined, we never stop learning. 

Encouraging learning in: I'm trying to come up with a summer reading plan. My challenge is that I've never been big on incentive plans. We don't have a chore chart with rewards. I never gave anyone M&Ms or Teddy Grahams for going potty (though I did once promise a puppy as soon as Katie was potty trained and then left the poor child to six highly motivated siblings who got the job done in less than a week). I'm just not a carrot and stick kind of a mom. So... pondering this one...

Keeping house: There is no air conditioning upstairs this summer. In an effort towards frugality and solidarity with Laudato Si ;-), we're not rushing to fix it. These fans are making nighttime sleeping acceptably comfortable. One thing I've noticed, though, is that when it's hot and humid and one isn't employing central air conditioning, it is critical to wipe down and dry bathroom surfaces and to air out bedding. These are interesting lessons and I'm rather intrigued by them. Housekeeping is no doubt very different than it was just 50 years ago, isn't it?

Crafting in the kitchen: Fresh farmer's market meals. Patrick took a full class in farmer's markets and the slow food movement. For credit. He keeps dropping little whole food tidbits of information into conversations. And I keep sitting mutely, in stunned silence, wondering why in the world he thinks this is new knowledge. It's true; my children do not hear or believe half the things I say to them all their lives until some stranger tells them the same things. Click back on Thursday for some farmer's market tips and recipes. 

To be fit and happy: I'm back to long morning runs/walks. And I'm so grateful for them. I've settle into  a routine of about a half hour running, followed by 45 minutes of a brisk walk. For me, it seems like the perfect rhythm. Looks like there some science behind that. I'm also going to step on the scale once a month and only once a month. But I reserve the right to continue to obsessively try on my favorite pants until they fit again. 

Giving thanks: for cool(er) mornings and good shoes. All the pictures are from walks last week. I can't take pictures while running. I love to challenge myself to really see when I'm walking. This is my neighborhood, the places I drive by every day on my way to and from somewhere else. When I'm walking, I'm not bypassing anything; instead, I'm inhaling everything. Sometimes, I can capture that experience on the camera inside my phone.

Loving the moments: I posted the following to Facebook on Sunday, but things have a way of disappearing there and I really want to  preserve these thoughts here. So pardon the repetition if you've read them previously.

“I don’t have any pictures of my first daughter’s last recital. Not a one. But it was memorable. Let’s see... Sarah forgot half her solo, but is still super sure that she danced well. “All the parts I remembered went great, Mommy” The four girls secretly choreographed and rehearsed a quad to pay tribute to Mike’s dad. I’m told there were no dry Foss eyes in the audience. Karoline did herself in and cried with them through the last eight beats or so. Katie’s solo to Amy Grant took me back to vintage Amy and a hospital bed in 9 West 25 years ago. Who could have imagined a 7th child spinning in grace? God could, apparently. I found myself sobbing through that one. In the second show, Karoline stepped up and danced a boy’s hip hop part when he left early so that her friend Sophie wouldn’t have to dance “My Boyfriend’s Back” without boys. She decided she loved the understudy role, so when one of the big girls was injured for evening show, Kari took the stage all by herself to fill Grace’s entire solo slot, doing an improvisational dance to a song she’d never heard before. And she totally rocked it. All I could think while she made it up as she went was how grateful I am that my girls are dancing in a community where winging it and creativity and confidence are nurtured and celebrated; that leaves little room for perfectionism and unhealthy self-recrimination. It’s invaluable, really. And then there was Bee. I never promised I wouldn’t cry. And I think I cried a little pretty much every time she took the stage. And I cried when she was in the wings, whispering words of encouragement to little girls. This dance world was her world—she pulled us in. Further, she insisted on this school when the time came for her sisters to dance. Bee knew what healthy was because she’d seen unhealthy, too. She made us dancers. But ballet will always be hers. No matter what her little sisters ever do on stage, she will always be our prima ballerina. Always. Let the record show that the last time she was en pointe at recital, she danced the entire dance with a handful of safety pins in the toe of her pointe shoe. I have no idea how that happened. But somehow, those pins upended in the dance bag and in the hurry backstage to shove feet into shoes and tie ribbons in the dark, she didn’t know until she was on stage. And we would have never known had she not noticed me crying and whispered into the wings, “There are pins in my shoes.” Waterworks turned off. I spent the rest of the dance wondering where the pins were and why she dared to break my “sew everything—no pins allowed” rule and then tell me about it while she was dancing! Mary Beth led the girls in this family to the stage—insisted on it, really— and she nurtured a love that is deep and true. We are grateful, so grateful, for the gift of dance and, way more grateful, for the gift of Bee.”

You'll hear a bit more about that improv tomorrow.

Living the Liturgy: I read this post (several times, actually) nodding all the while I was reading. And all I could think was that St. Therese so perfectly captured these thoughts. Further, I think living liturgy keeps self-aggrandizement in check. When the year is framed by the life of Christ, each season brings into our awareness who and where He was when He walked the earth. When each day is punctuated by the Hours that call us back to His Word and into His presence, we are much less likely to fall into the illusion that (a) it's even a little about us or (b) that He needs social media or huge conferences or best-selling books to make Himself known. He doesn't. In every age, He is known. In our age, with wisdom and discretion, those "grand audience" things can be useful tools, but He doesn't "need" them. He doesn't "need" anything. We need. We need to tune our hearts to His voice and to remember: 

“Love is well-known and easily identified, it needs no stage and no bestseller status. God is famous in the family dinners and protest marches, in the re-reading of a favourite book to small children and in Wednesday night Bible studies open to the public, in the prayers of the unknown and the faith of the uncelebrated.

I wonder if fame is more a construct of our celebrity-obsession, but God isn’t the new celebrity to brand and make palatable for the masses – there is too much complexity and wildness for God; God won’t obey the spreadsheets.

It’s resurrection, resurrection, resurrection. Bringing the dead things to life, life into dry bones, beauty from ashes, sorrow to joy, day after day, choice after choice, step after step towards glory.
”

--From Famous

Planning for the week ahead: The week will be spent packing and unpacking children as they set forth on grand adventures. It will be spent welcoming home  weary husband and sending him off again. it will be spent snuggling extra long with a certain six-year-old who loves rhythm in her life and is more than a little rattled when people keep coming and going.

Gathering my thoughts: Is social media becoming like cable TV?

Outside my window:  Clouds are gathering. It's blisteringly hot out there, so I'm grateful for the hope of rain. Last summer was so lovely--light and cool--that I very nearly declared myself a fan of summer. Very nearly. This summer is heavy, humid, and hot. I am seizing those early dawn hours for all they're worth. 

Listening to: coffee shop noises. 

Clothing myself in: An arm party. I tired of my basic black Fitbit band and bought a couple of these. Then, I discovered that they don't hold quite as well as the authentic Fitbit ones do. So, I looped a bracelet with a clasp through the holes in order to give myself a back-up should the band clasp pop open. Then I thought that looked a little odd, so I added a leather bracelet. Then I wanted to tie the colors together so I added a cheap bangle I picked up at LouLou in Charlottesville while shopping for Easter treasures. And now: arm party. It's a little much for a Monday morning. 

Talking with my children about these books:  It is an extraordinarily beautiful, wonderful thing to witness my littlest thoroughly immerse herself in the world of Laura Ingalls Wilder. We have all these gorgeous picture books. Nick used to insist on no fewer than five every night before bed--for probably a year. He knew them all by heart and so did I. We've all listened to the audio versions of all the books multiple times over the years. And everyone in the house has curled up with Laura all to him or herself for at least a season. 

But Laura and me? Well, let's just say that sometimes I think Laura saved my life. I think those books in my own childhood were a kind of anchor, a window on a time that was simpler, if not kinder and gentler. Laura clarified for me the way families work, ideally. She opened up for  me a world that was safe even when it was scary. She was my role model, my sister, my best friend. I'm so not overstating all of this. I even named a baby for her and when living life with that baby wasn't to be, I thought myself ever so clever when the next baby was named for Ma, Pa, and the Pope, all in one. (And oh, how she has lived that name well!)

So, as Sarah plays with Little House paper dolls in the comfort of a suburban sunroom on a ridiculously hot June day, her Mama loses herself again in the world of Laura, this time with a much anticipated Annotated Autobiography. Dear old friend! How grateful I am to bump into you again after all these years. How happy to know that in my middle age, you come along beside me and we pick up where we left off. You are still teaching me, still pointing me in the right direction.

Thinking and thinking: Do you think that social media is beginning to feel a lot like Cable TV? As I scroll through Facebook or Twitter, the headlines from posted links are nearly always a bit sensational. They play upon our impulses to want to know more, to want to be the first to have and share information, and to be entertained. Then, there are just the "regular people" status updates. They are a lot like edited "reality" TV shows, I think, showing parts and portions of ordinary life made a little extraordinary in the framing. What I've noticed most though is my reaction to it all.

Seven or so years ago, before the current president was elected the first time, I discovered talk radio. Prior to that time, all my drive time in the afternoon rush hours was spent listening to children's CDs and audiobooks. For some reason, late that summer, I started listening to the pundits. They fairly screeched worrisome news and they played the same distressing soundbites over and over. And the banter. It was the banter that really got to me. Back and forth, snark level rising all the while. it seemed like the whole point was to entertain with arguing. No longer was it about information.  At home, out of the car and away from the radio, I found myself bantering, even if just in my head. The manner of being carried over, just as a style of speaking invades my workaday world when I listen to a good book. Only this one got "booster shots" on a daily basis. One evening about a month after I'd begun my daily foray into the world of politics on radio, I found myself extraordinarily distressed. I've always loved politics, been a bit of a newshound, and engaged in DC life in real life. (I was even a Capitol Hill intern, before calling oneself that made people snicker.) I couldn't figure out why I was troubled when talk radio entered my previously serene driving time. My husband nailed it. "I think," he said, "you're way too sensitive for talk radio these days." And he was right. Later that fall, I would find myself on complete bed rest and I would be introduced, for the first time, to cable TV (news and reality shows). For me, a very bad idea. Too sensitive for that, too. So, I watched hours of cooking shows for weeks before my baby was born ,because the news shows made my heart rate doing alarming things. 

That brings me to social media. Here's what I see: It's like news and reality shows mixed together in one long 24/7 airing of the worst of us. Every once in awhile, there's a nugget of good there and that keeps us coming back, ever hopeful for the good nugget. Mostly, though, it's bad. And we banter! It seems like every other person (at least) really just wants to fill time with an argument. I can post a picture of clear summer sky and say, "Oh how blue the canvas is today" and someone will come along and tell me, "You know, it's not really blue. Scientifically speaking...." What the heck? Do we really need to quibble every little thing? Is that just the nature of some people and those are the loudest voices? And then, I click it closed, and the whole quibbling, snarky thing follows me around in my head.

Sadly, in the last year, social media has become increasingly divisive where the Church is concerned, too. I'm not ready to throw out the baby with the bath water, but I am becoming very aware that social media takes meticulous, thoughtful curating to keep it from being the near (or immediate) occasion of sin. We cannot be casual users of the Internet, not at all.

Pondering:

““I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.” ”

— ~Audrey Hepburn

Carefully Cultivating Rhythm: Are you a Sunday planner or a Monday planner? I think most systems assume a chunk of time on a Sunday to plot and plan for the week ahead, making to-do lists and meal plans and double-checking appointments. That doesn't seem to work too well for me. I've decided (and accepted) that I am a Monday planner. These daybooks are part of my Monday framing for the week and so is a settled session with my paper planner first thing Monday morning. That means, of course, that if something comes along in the planning that takes significant time or attention, I could be in trouble when all my people awaken and expect Monday to happen in person and on time. I need to be good to go when they are. Still, it's worth popping out of bed early. I think more clearly on a Monday morning than I do late Sunday afternoon. But that means these daybooks will continue to go up on Tuesdays instead of Monday, because really, I can't write them until my Monday writing time. Works for me..

Creating By Hand:  Kristin is out of town this week. If I'm going to sew, it's going to happen without her. Also, Sarah Annie has told us all we can no longer refer to room with all the windows off the kitchen where her art supplies and many toys, books, and manipulatives are stored as "the sunroom." Henceforth, we are to call it "Sarah's Studio." And she might have been heavily influenced by Pinterest when describing her vision for the room. Whatever it takes to get her to clean up the mess...

Learning Lessons In: Marriage. This has been a challenging season. We are spending nearly as much time apart as we did the year we were engaged and living in different towns. It's ridiculous, really, what life keeps throwing at us. Just when we think we have all the details worked out, something changes; something switches things up. We are learning to lean in together. To figure it out together. To stop fighting the waves and to instead to ride them out. Together. Even long distance. These are advanced marriage skills, for sure. 

Encouraging learning in: Still focusing on the basics this summer. I was invited to try out K5 Learning. We're just getting settled and looking at the results from assessments, so I'm not sure what to tell you about it yet, but I'm hopeful.

Keeping house: I have committed to a date and time for a graduation party. Let the house and yard prep begin. Oh! And yesterday, when we went together to Home Depot to by new filters for the air conditioner, my husband actually told the sales guy that our house is "practically immaculate." It is absolutely is not, but for that one brief, shining moment, I reveled in the idea that he even thought he could say that;-).

Crafting in the kitchen: After a long hiatus, I've found my cooking mojo again. I am not a natural paleo cook. I don't think bacon is a food group and I kind of gag when meat is on the menu again. So, I'm back to this kind of cooking and the plates are pretty and creative and beautiful and tasty and healthy. Let's just say this morning there was spinach in my husband's coffee and he was happy to have it. That's some serious winning, there, folks. 

To be fit and happy: I've repurposed one of those several Fitbits I bought last summer and made it my own. (I shall not divulge whose it was previously.) I started back at Day 1 of Couch-to-5K and I downloaded a great new novel to listen to for 11+ hours. I already don't want that book to end. It worked. I'm motivated to get up and out of bed every morning. I'm listening again and I'm reveling in the morning peace. And I'm running. This time, I know better where this is all going. I need to run. It really does help keep me sane. But I also need to remember that too much of a good thing isn't a good thing for me. Ever. 

Giving thanks: Mike and I were talking recently about how the decision to stay in northern Virginia when we first got married has played out over the last 28 years. We stayed here because family was here. Neither of us really are typical "NoVa types." Mike travels a lot and he knows lots of places he can see himself liking better than we like here. I travel a lot, but mostly only to one place. And I know that there suits me better than any place else in the world. We talked about how we made the decision to stay in northern Virginia because of our extended family. Then, in a poetic God move, Patrick made the decision to go to Charlottesville for the same reason. And God has smoothed all the bumpy seams out in a pretty tapestry of here and there. Both decisions--the one made 28 years ago and the one made 3 years ago--have impacted the lives of far more people than ones who made the choice. It's kind of awe-inspiring--and definitely gratitude inspiring-- to see how it's all worked together for the good.

Loving the moments: when I stop and notice the people blessing the lives of my teens and twenties. Good, good people. I'm praying so hard for all of them. 

Living the Liturgy: I'm glad to be writing Lord, Hear Our Prayer again. Kristin nudged me that way. Now, it's my favorite writing session of the week. 

Have you seen this week's Summer of the Psalms free printable? It's over at House Unseen. It's gorgeous and Dweeja's very brief reflection brought tears to my eyes. You just know she gets it.. So, my meditation for the week is this:

Print it and frame it or make a screensaver or wallpaper of it. You can see Cari's pick right here and  mine is here. Visit Kristin each week to see the whole collection posted at Vine of Plenty. 

Planning for the week ahead: This week is going to challenge us, for sure. Rehearsals and recitals, homecomings and leave-takings, graduation parties and final performances. 

Oh.

Final performances. I've staunchly not allowed my mind to go there, to contemplate even for a moment that Mary Beth will dance her last recital this weekend. I've not let myself turn over in my head the whole idea that never again will all four of my daughters be in the same show. Not let myself dwell on how magical it has been for her to be both student and teacher at the same studio. Nope. Not going there. 

Dang. Nothing like crying in Starbucks.

Faith as small as a mustard seed

It makes me so happy that y'all were glad to see the reprise of Lord, Hear Our Prayer. Truly, these posts are where my heart is and I  hope to be able to be faithful in getting them here every Saturday. Last weekend's post got gobbled into cyberspace (my fault, not Squarespace's). I just didn't have the time to re-contstruct. I do apologize. As a peace offering and consolation, though, might I direct you to last Monday's post? There, you will find words to ponder in your quiet and you'll also find a free printable that brings a gorgeous psalm to life for us. Please don't miss it!

Now, on to this Sunday's readings. 

First Reading

“Thus says the Lord GOD:
I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar,
from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot,
and plant it on a high and lofty mountain;
on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it.
It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it,
every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.
And all the trees of the field shall know
that I, the LORD,
bring low the high tree,
lift high the lowly tree,
wither up the green tree,
and make the withered tree bloom.
As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.”

— Ezekial 17:22-24

Second Reading

“Brothers and sisters:
We are always courageous,
although we know that while we are at home in the body
we are away from the Lord,
for we walk by faith, not by sight.
Yet we are courageous,
and we would rather leave the body and go home to the Lord.
Therefore, we aspire to please him,
whether we are at home or away.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
so that each may receive recompense,
according to what he did in the body, whether good or evil.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:6-10

Gospel

“Jesus said to the crowds:
“This is how it is with the kingdom of God;
it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land
and would sleep and rise night and day
and through it all the seed would sprout and grow,
he knows not how.
Of its own accord the land yields fruit,
first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.
And when the grain is ripe, he wields the sickle at once,
for the harvest has come.”

He said,
“To what shall we compare the kingdom of God,
or what parable can we use for it?
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground,
is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth.
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants
and puts forth large branches,
so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”
With many such parables
he spoke the word to them as they were able to understand it.
Without parables he did not speak to them,
but to his own disciples he explained everything in private.
”

— Mark 4:26-34

Have you ever wondered why Jesus spoke in parables so often when He was speaking to the crowds? Why not just cut to chase and tell them straight up everything they need to know? And why in the world did He save the explanations only for his own disciples, in private?

Maybe He knew that we can only truly hear and comprehend that for which we are ready. I have a child who struggles with faith. He reminds me of a young Augustine--mind whirring away in an uncontrollable frenzy asking more questions than it can possibly answer for itself. There are so many ifs, ands, and buts. 

It's not so complicated. Jesus says faith is as small and simple as a mustard seed. The only IF is this: if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can move mountains. If only.

Jesus implies that faith is power. That power is unleashed only when the faith is faith in Him. St. Augustine, I think, knew well the struggle to believe, to have firm faith. And he knew how that internal wrestling can be the thing that carries us away from faith. Augustine said that sin was a state of being caved in on oneself. Think on that a minute. Stuck inside your own head, rambling around with all your own doubts and objections. Dante imagines Satan immobilized by total self-absorption. Of course! It is our own self-absorption that immobilizes us. It leaves us with the story of the seed, but it keeps us from drawing close enough to Jesus so we can become the disciples to whom he explained everything. Christ can't come close and explain it all to us.

Guard your private time! As beautiful and wonderful and good-thing-full as the internet is, it is also a really great way for Satan to enter into the quiet of your brain and focus you on you. So often, our private times aren't very private any more. They are worldly. They are connected, instantly, with the touch of a button or the swipe of a finger. And suddenly, we are fully immersed in the world. We are worried about ourselves relative to the latest Pin or newest Instagram meme. We are caught up in a rallying cry for the latest cause to right a wrong (often, daresay, before all the facts have been made clear and we even have a clear vision of where the wrong lies). We are constantly judging ourselves against all those things that are scrolled on our news feeds. We think we're connecting but really, more often than not, we are caving in upon ourselves and jostling for position with the world we see through distorted lenses. We are paralyzed, bound in the fetters of a private time invaded and a mind run amuck.

Jesus assures us that faith is power. It is the only power that will meet the needs of our restless hearts. That faith will make us free; it will unleash in us God's holy might. Faith the size of a mustard seed? It will move mountains. Mountains.  (And all the little hills of daily life, too.) <-- that last link? Best Running Song Ever.

To do together:

Today is the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and a quick Google search will offer you lots of ways to decorate something edible as the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and even more crafts. But we do something a little different around here. 

I think it's pretty fun to show children just how small the mustard see really is. So, I'll shake a few into my hand and then let them roll them around. And then we'll talk.::

Talking points

• Jesus taught about the kingdom of God in parables--stories that we can share even now. (Read the parable from a storybook Bible or this book, free on Kindle.)
• Ponder what is at the center of the mustard seed. Hold it. touch it. Try to blow it away. So small...
• How small is the mustard seed and yet how big grows the tree! What can make that happen? How did the seed get the power to grow so large?
• Why did Jesus say the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed? 

Something Special to Eat

This time of year, artichokes are as inexpensive as they will ever be in Virginia. They're still not cheap, but they are available as a special feast day treat. And inside that artichoke is heart surrounded by prickly thorns. We shall try to pull all the components--the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart and today's gospel-- together into one healthy and special treat to eat.

First, you need some artichokes--even just one, if you want to share and just get a taste for everyone.

I steam them. Cooking instructions are here.

Then, make a special dip for them. Into a food processor, put

• the flesh of 2 ripe avocados
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice 
• Scant 1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 tbsp melted butter,or olive oil
• 1 tsp grainy mustard, like this "whole grain" one
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

Whir it all together until perfectly smooth. Dip the artichoke leaves in the mustard seed dip. Delish!

Never tried artichokes? Here's a how-to for you. Don't assume your kids won't like them. For my children, this is a ridiculously happy treat. And if mustard dip isn't their thing, plain butter is the bomb. Don't like-can't get--don't want artichokes? Dip something else: pita, carrots, celery,  even tortilla chips.

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*~*~*~

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-filled people pray for one another.

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

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.}

a sweet little summer sewing session or two for you

Kristin has been an enabler --ahem-- encourager this week when it comes to sewing. She's on some kind of inspired tear, whipping up absolutely adorable baby jumpers at lightning fast speed. She inspired me to buy this pattern bundle so we'd have Geranium dresses and tops in every size. I haven't sewn a stitch yet:-). So, Kristin is sharing her stuff with you this week:

I fell off the sewing wagon. Not regretful. Sewing is a hobby that doesn’t really do much for me, except spend extra money with pattern and fabric purchases. Not very often do I come across a trustworthy pattern and fabric without coughing up extra cash. My sewing skills do make small tailoring jobs, like hemming and mending maintainable without paying a tailor, so that's definitely a plus to this hobby. And I'm 5 feet tall. I do a lot of hemming on my Singer. But when I come across a great free pattern, I have to jump at the opportunity.

The Sorbetto pattern is FREE from Colette Patterns and very, very easy to sew. I've been sewing sweet little things for my sweet little baby recently. Stitching together baby dresses is my favorite way to spend a rainy summer afternoon. Once you start sewing little dresses, why on earth would you sit through the cutting and bored-to-tears seams of a full scale, adult pattern?

Well because it’s for you, of course. You need nice, handmade things too, ya know. And after you try the Sorbetto pattern, this book from Colette is full of other easy and quick patterns for you.

{Please excuse the bathroom selfie. My camera guy was at his day job.} The Sorbetto is a really versatile pattern. There’s room for a pleat and I inverted it here which created a roomy waistline. Who doesn’t enjoy a roomy waistline? But I will warn you. That pleat, although forgiving in theory, makes for a very specific drape. A good medium weight, with a nice drape will do. Otherwise a lighter fabric, sewn this way, will make this top a tent. Now, onto this book... Do you ever come across a sewing pattern who talks way too fast? You read the directions twice in your heard, twice out loud and you're still staring at a half-sewn blouse thinking, wait.. what did you just tell me to do? This book has all of the answers. All of them. It's like the encyclopedia of sewing. For me, this book has saved raglan sleeves and dart adjustments. It even has a reference section for types of fabric and thread. For anyone who wants to learn, it has projects in the back specifically designed for teaching techniques. Just by chance, I've been sewing more than I usually do so Elizabeth has offered a spot for me here at Needle & ThREAD. I'm so overjoyed to be here and I can't wait to share more with you! I'll be checking back, and I'd love to know more about your summer sewing projects.