In the Moment Monday Morning

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

Years ago, I went to Girls Nation. After my week playing "Senator from Virginia" was over, the girl who played "Senator from New Mexico" stayed with me at my house. Mike (yes, that Mike--he was in the picture even way back when) and I drove her all over Virginia, showing her the sights. I remember how she marveled over and over again at how green it all was. I'd always lived on the east coast and never known anything but lush green. After that week, I never took it for granted again. I noticed the green. This week, the world is truly greening up.

::listening to 

Sarah and Katie playing "babies in the next room. We called it "playing house" when I was growing up. My kids have always called it "playing babies." I like their name for it infinitely better.

::clothing myself in 

Layers. The weather in the past week has been all over the {weather} map. Cold in the mornings. Hot in the afternoons. Crazy.

::giving thanks for

 mercy.

::talking with my children about these books

Since I'm going to share my own reading on Thursdays at needle and thREAD, I thought I'd share some reading from the children's choices.

Mary Beth is binge reading through the John Paul 2 High School fiction series and enjoying it. 

Patrick and Nick are both reading through the Hunger Games Trilogy. If you haven't bought any of them, buy the boxed set. If they read one (or if you read one), they (or you) are going to want to read them all. Isn't it funny to call three Kindle editions a "boxed set?"

And Katie has a series of her own going. After having literally memorized huge chunks fo the Little House books, she's reading the Anne Pellowski series. She's utterly captivated. She knows that she comes from Polish roots and the combination of Polish culture and Catholic references are truly endearing to her. Yesterday, I found her writing her name--only she was using my maiden name. Bless her heart! She managed to get all those counterintuitive Polish consonants in the right order. She says she'll use "Grzymala" as a middle name for one of her kids.

::pondering prayerfully

 "I recommend to you holy simplicity.  Look straight in front of you and not at those dangers you see in the distance.  As you say, to you they look like armies, but they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may take a false step.  Let us be firmly resolved to serve God with our whole heart and life.  Beyond that, let us have no care about tomorrow.  Let us think only of living today well, and when tomorrow comes, it also will be today and we can think about it then.  In all this we must trust and be resigned to God's providence." From the Golden Counsels of St. Francis de Sales (tip of the Easter bonnet to Jennifer)

   

::creating by hand

I finished the embroidery on my first quilt square for the anniversary quilt. And I learned to do French knots. Karoline was very impressed. On to the next square. I've promised a certain sweetheart in Colorado a twirly skirt and I'd like to make some sundresses. We'll see what the week holds.

::learning lessons in

bees. We've gotten all our bee books out in anticipation of a visit to meet a friend's new obsession. With the promise of being able to wear the bee suit, Nicholas can hardly wait! He's come a long way since his bee-phobia.

::encouraging learning 

I'm having individual conferences with each child this week to absolutely nail down what will be required of them this summer. We're going to have very strict checklists. Every once in awhile, a season of strict checklists is in order. 

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Michael began working the dayshift today! I canot begin to tell you how happy this makes me. Ever since he got the job at USAToday last year, he's worked from 6PM-3AM. He gets home around 4AM. Often, I don't sleep very soundly until I know he's safely home. And, often when he does get home, I wake completely and can't get back to sleep. He's sleep deprived. I'm sleep deprived. In the mornings, when he's sleeping, I spend way too much time telling little girls not to talk, not to sing, not to play music, not to build with blocks... And often, they're still too loud for him to sleep. Tension. All that went away today.

::begging prayers

for my friend, Leslie who carries a heavy cross into the Easter season and for her children:  I pray that the joy of the Resurrection will be theirs even as the grieve. And for the repose of the soul of her husband: 

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

:keeping house

Mike and Christian built floor-to-celing, wall-to-wall bookcases in the basement. We've moved all the books from our library closet to the basement shelves. The room that used to be our learning room has been the little girls' room for a few years now. But the closet remained a library. No more. This week, it's going to be transformed into a dressing room. Yesterday, we painted it pink. More magic to come.

::crafting in the kitchen 

To celebrate Kristin's birthday, I taught her how to make homemade Manicotti on Saturday. Recipe tomorrow:-)

Post-holiday notes to self, so that I never, ever do this again:

1. Just because it's Easter, don't be a glutton. 
2. Eating chocolate covered espresso beans found in Christian's basket will have the same effect as drinking coffee. Maybe worse.
3. Sugar is not my friend.
4. Neither is starch.
5. I'm really happiest and healthiest when I stick to that strict diet. 

::loving the moments

I'll say it again: I love soccer in Poolesville. Love the ferry, love the farm. Don't really care that it's a terrible field. Love the picnic. Love the soccer friends. Love it all.

{This is where I should insert my first iPhone picture--taken yesterday on the ferry to soccer. But I have no idea how to get it from phone to blog just yet. maybe a quick post of its own this afternoon.}

::living the liturgy

I got an iPhone. And so did Patrick. So we gave our iPods to Katie and Karoline. And that means they inherited the chimes and the apps of my prayer plan. It was pretty darn adorable to watch them keep those prayer times for themselves. The only thing Katie changed was opting for the sounds of a strumming guitar instead of chapel bells. I choose not to ponder the liturgical implications. She's just a girl who likes guitar:-)

::planning for the week ahead

We might make that aforementioned bee trip. We will go to Bull Run--it just wouldn't be the third week in April without playing in the creek down there, flowers or no flowers. Stephen's Confirmation notebook will be finished and turned in. Last detail before his big day on the 28th!

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

There is one thing I miss very much since stepping back from active participation in message boards. I miss the prayer forum. I miss the privilege of praying for people and I especially miss being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-fulled people prayed for one another.

Someone wrote me the other day to tell me how much she enjoyed all the Lenten daily prompts. Her kind note made me smile. She wondered if I might be able to do that year 'round. Well, I didn't do those prompts alone. I did them along with Danielle Bean, several years ago. And we did write one for every day of the year. Those are available in our book, Small Steps for Catholic Moms, which come to think of it, is actually unavailable. But that's a thought to ponder another day.

But 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?

Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45
On the evening of that first day of the week,
when the doors were locked, where the disciples were,
for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”
And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them,
“Receive the Holy Spirit.
Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them,
and whose sins you retain are retained.”

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve,
was not with them when Jesus came.
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord.”
But he said to them,
“Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands
and put my finger into the nailmarks
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

Now a week later his disciples were again inside
and Thomas was with them.
Jesus came, although the doors were locked,
and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands,
and bring your hand and put it into my side,
and do not be unbelieving, but believe.”
Thomas answered and said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said to him, “Have you come to believe because you have seen me?
Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.”

Now, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples
that are not written in this book.
But these are written that you may come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
and that through this belief you may have life in his name.

Think

Oh my Lord, my soul is the most wretched of all, and yet You stoop to it with such kindness! I see clearly Your greatness and my littleness, and therefore I rejoice that You are so powerful and without limit, and so I rejoice greatly at being so little. (Diary of St. Faustina)

Pray

Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet  today.

Act

This week, be aware of Jesus' infinite mercy and ask Him to show you how to extend that mercy and consoling love to those who are close to you-- and to those who cause you to stumble and despair. To console their hearts is to console Christ Himself. Share the Divine Mercy message with your children (lots of free downloads here and a CD-ROM you can order for more worksheet kinds of things). Also, this video brings the message alive for children.

How can I pray for you this week? How can we pray for each other? 

Grace in the Moment

The bluebells bloomed about a month early this year. I can't tell you how this rocked my world. I already had a jam-packed schedule in the three weeks before Holy Week. I was trying to finish Easter sewing, double up on lessons, do a spring cleaning and prepare to leave my children and go with my husband on a surprise trip. I knew that when I returned, I would be on the threshold of the Triduum, so I wanted to prepare well for that, too. And then, someone broke his nose, someone else got strep throat ( a first time ever for our family), and Mike's father ended up in the hospital for several days. One day, in the midst of it all, I got an email. "Bluebells expected to be at peak next week."

Bluebell Week is my favorite week of the year. It is my consoling thought during long winters. It is the burst of newness and springtime and hope that brings my weary spirit back to life. It is where I rejoice with my whole heart in God's glory in nature. I never miss it. And I never want my children to miss it.

This year, the weather was annoying during the bluebell's time in the sun (or not). Every day that I had a car available, rain was forecast. Friends we've met there every year were mostly unable to come, or couldn't come for very long. Sometime during the flower's blooming I received an email from a friend whose family we especially enjoy down at Bull Run. The subject line was "Bluebell Panic" because that's what I was feeling as I tried to make the calendar fashioned by my hands work with the God's timing of spring. My friend wrote, " I think that my family will have to wait until next year to see the bluebells again."

And in that moment, I felt an envy I have never felt before. I envied the ease with which she wrote "next year." I never do that. I never, ever assume next year. Heck, I never assume tomorrow. For twenty-two springs,  twenty-two seasons of flowers blooming, I always wonder if fear that I won't see them bloom again. And I always, always take the time to make sure my family notices them, too. Just this year, I wanted the easy-breezy "next year" mentality.

Usually, I consider this awareness of the preciousness of time to be a great gift, perhaps the greatest gift of surviving cancer. I just don't take anything for granted. For the most part, it's made me more grateful than most people can imagine for every single heartbeat. It does, however, come with a bit of dark lining. I have trouble sitting still, trouble just being. I always have this sense of cramming every bit of living into every single moment because I don't know how short life is. I have trouble leaving my children--not because I'm worried something will happen to them while I'm away or that I won't return, but just because I know with every fiber of my being that I won't get those moments again. It's a pretty intense way to live. 

This year, I recognized with startling clarity that God knew. God knew the intensity. And God knew the schedule and the weather and the state of my housekeeping. I handed it all to Him and asked Him to direct my days, to help me glorify Him with my time, and bring me the peace of heart and soul I knew I needed.

He began with the bluebells. We managed to squeeze in a couple very brief visits with friends with the promise to meet again. But then, those promises got swallowed up by logistics for those friends. Then, Linda, Nicholas' godmother, called and told me the absolute only day she could meet us there. Our meeting in the woods has been a tradition since before Nicholas could walk. Since before her son, Bobby, who is my godchild, was born. We cherish these days. We were together by the creek with the flowers the day the new Pope was elected. (That's a great story. You can click. I'll wait.) I looked around my house. I looked at my to-do list. No doubt, the house would stay dirty--the dirt would still be there. But the flowers would not stay in bloom. I took a deep breath. I recognized that I would, indeed, have a car available. We'll be there.

We went. The morning was glorious. Linda met me there with a friend. For over 20 years, people have been telling me I had to meet this lady. And for over 20 years, she's heard the same thing about me. We have a lot of mutual friends. One of them is Linda. And on this day, God brought us together. I shared my flowers with her. It's always such a joy to show someone the first time. 

Around noon, all three of my big boys joined us. Nine children --all nine of my children-- together in the place we've made so many memories. Linda knows me well. Sensing that the enormity of the bittersweet was threatening the joy of the present moment, she began to seize the photo-op and direct my picture efforts. From behind the lens, my mind whirled. Next year, Patrick will be away at school, and probably Christian, too. Michael will likely be married by then, but certainly he will finally have a day job and be much less available. This could be the last time I snap a photo of all of them in the bluebells. The log they once sat on--back when there were only six of them--had long since decayed, a natural reminder that nothing ever stays the same.  We have only today. And there was Linda. Directing and orchestrating, making sure we made the most of the moment.

I am so grateful.

I walked out of the woods that day with my new friend. We shared as if we'd know each other forever. I was struck by God's abundant goodness. And then, just when I thought the day couldn't be any fuller, God reminded me that I've had the great gift of bringing my children to this place for more than a decade. My new friend Jean was just beginning to know the bluebells. She came with her last little girl, a daughter my Sarah's age. 

And she also brought her baby grandson.

There is tangible hope in those flowers.

Every spring.

Entertaining Angels...

Summer is almost here. It’s upon us. The magazines are screaming. Roll up your sleeves and fire up the grill. It’s time to entertain!

 

May I offer an alternative? Instead of entertaining, offer hospitality. The differences are not subtle. When we entertain, we are often ruled by our pride. When we offer hospitality, we are inspired by charity. Entertaining seeks to impress. Hospitality seeks to minister...

Please join me at Suscipio to read the rest.

with needle and thREAD

Last winter, I learned to knit. It was a great, grand, and glorious thing. I loved plunging headfirst into the world of knitting. Such  nice people I found there! Such beautiful projects I found there! I discovered great joy and enormous peace in knitting. And I loved creating beautiful things for the people I love.

I joined my friend Ginny's Yarn Along with unbounded enthusiasm. Those Wednesday posts were my favorite and almost always, I found time to read everyone else's Yarn Along post. Endless inspiration and eye candy.

Alas, I sneezed. And wheezed. I am very allergic to animal fibers. I knew this, of course, before I began to knit. But I thought I could knit around that fact. I could. Sort of. I would find a pattern I loved and head off to translate it cotton-ese. I knit beautiful handspun cashmere generously provided by the best knitting mentor a girl could ever hope to have. Eventually, even that made me itch and wheeze. I persevered in the cotton department. After several months of nearly manic knitting I developed tendonitis. Ginny is a dear in-real-life friend. She pointed out that knitting cotton is especially tough on one's tendons. No kidding.

Around this time, another friend was encouraging me to learn to sew. As I began to explore the world of sewing, I discovered a beautiful fact: those who sew speak the language of cotton. They don't look at cotton the way that knitters do. They love cotton! Embrace it! Revel in it! Here was a way to create I could acutally jump into with wholehearted gusto. 

I learned to sew. I am learning to sew. And as my enthusiasm has grown, so has my desire to "talk sewing." A few weeks ago, after being quiet for a couple of weeks here, with nothing really to say, sewing came bubbling up out of me. I posted pictures of my girls' handmade Easter dresses and pretty much begged you to talk sewing with me. And you did:-)! I visited some new-to-me sites and saw such pretty things. One of the dear ladies who read that post wrote and asked if I'd consider a linkup party like Yarn Along, for those of us who sew. 

What a great idea...

I ran it past Ginny and she said go for it!

So here I am introducing to you needle and thREAD. What have  you been sewing lately? Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo and a brief description of what you're up to? Are you reading something wonderful, a volume you just can't put down? Are you listening to the audio version so that you can sew and read at the same time? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much. Please come back every Thursday and share with us!

Here's a  button for your post (you can even choose your color), that way we can find our way back here to see what other people are dreaming up to do with needle and thread.  Go ahead and put it in your sidebar, too. If we want to talk sewing and reading on a regular basis, we have to spread the word!  

And if you're knitting instead, or knitting as well, please be sure to stop by Yarn Along and tell my friend Ginny hello for me:-)

This week, I began to stitch the embroidery in the center of quilt squares. I'm putting together a quilt that's a hybrid of two sewalongs at Clover and Violet: Embroidery 101 and Garden Steps. This is a very longterm project. I packed three squares to take with me to Florida last week, but I never got to them. I did finally pick up the embroidery this week at home. I've never really embroidered before, so it's a bit rough, especially at the "learning curves," but I think I am going to like it! (Isn't that a great embroidery hoop? I read about it on Pretty By Hand.)

I read several books during Lent. If you were away from the 'net and missed it, pop over and see what I had to say about the fabulous Style, Sex and Substance. Then, I didn't read at all last week as I hustled around like crazy. Now, I'm sighing contentedly into reading The Jane Austen Guide to Happily-Ever-After, a book which was recommended to me by a lady who reads my blog and thought it would suit me. She was right. I'm very much enjoying this modern-day application of Jane Austen civility. And, since endless pictures of my Kindle aren't very much fun, here's a peek at the actual book cover.

What are you reading and sewing? Leave a link to your blog so we all can see or upload your picture to the needle and thREAD flickr group.