Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Hurry! Hurry! Now that Joy has done the amazing re-design here, we've freed up some space for additional sponsors. I meant to get this news out last week or the week before, but I dropped the ball. So, since I just realized that tomorrow's May already, I can't very well charge you for that whole month, can I? 

If you agree to sponsor this blog for the summer months--June, July, and August--May's on me! If you hurry, we can get you all set up tomorrow or the next day. That means, you get the whole month of May for free. And May is a 31 day month:-)

Sponsors here have been very happy and I'm very happy to have them. I love to share them with my readers and I'm so excited about introducing you to some new folks (or some new ventures for old friends) in the next few days.

Give me a shout at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com to learn more about sponsorship opportunities.

In the Moment on Monday Morning

I find myself:

::noticing God's glory

I've been keeping a close eye on weather charts for the last week. The front beds are all planted and we did cover tender new plants with sheets one night. The man who sells me my tomatoes and herbs is very serious about temperatures and over the years he's made a believer of me. So I'm waiting on the vegetable garden. I think we might be in the clear today. I'm looking very forward to a trek to DeBaggio's.

::listening to 

Sarah and Katie discussing the fine art of oatmeal preparation.

::clothing myself in 

Jeans, a sweatshirt, and very worn tennis shoes. I have got my eye on these. What do you think? Dansko all year 'round and in every situation?

::giving thanks for

a beautiful Confirmation for Stephen.

::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. {not much has changed since last week:)}

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

Stephen has begun Lord of the Rings, part of a course on Lewis and Tolkein.

Patrick is reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

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. 

Sarah is reading Crafty Chloe to her dolls a million times a day.

::pondering prayerfully

How happy I was when my father entered the house in the evening! He seldom could come home at noon. He would take me in his arms, kiss me, and [play with] me before his supper, although he then must have been quite worn out with his day's toil. I was his idol. He would spend hours playing with me and answering my endless questions. His greatest joy was to procure pleasant surprises: a walk, or a trip, some little present, a rosary, a statue, some toy or piece of jewelry. Speaking of the latter, the first I remember were a tiny golden heart and a little cross. A heart, symbol of the gift of my own to Jesus, and of my love for Him, and a cross: emblem of Jesus' love for me.

....
How I thank my good parents for having loved me in the true sense of the word, for real love supposes correction of faults, what should I have become, left to my pride, my stubbornness, my whims and fancies, my mischievous tricks? No doubt I should have developed into a sulky, unbearable child, all the more so as I was brought up without the salutary contact of other children. Later on, I should have been unable to agree with anybody, or get on without making those around me suffer. My God, I thank Thee for having given me parents who taught me to obey.
~Blessed Dina Belanger of Quebec

   

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Now that the prayer rhythm feels really firm and utterly natural, it's time to nail the chore rhythm for the new season. I know that the more we have that is routine, the more those functions are planned and plotted and practiced, the fewer eveyday decisions I have. And I know that the fewer the decisions, the less the stress. I'm highly motivated to diminish needless stressors.

::creating by hand

I definitely did not hit the mark on the Elsie Marley  Kids Clothes Week Challenge. I got a little sewing done last week, but not nearly what I'd hoped to do. This week is much mellower calendar-wise. I have twirly skirts to finish and then I'm going to trace for some sundresses.  

Anyone out there who can advise on sizing for the Lisette patterns by Leisl Gibson? Kristin and I were looking at measurements on the pattern cover and it's hard to have confidence to cut fabric for a size that seems so much bigger than ready-to-wear sizes. 

::learning lessons in

Gardening. I am admittedly inspired and a bit envious of what Ruth has done here. I'd just about given up on the idea that I could make rural dreams come true in suburbia. She's revised hope in that dream. I wonder how long I could raise bees before my neighbors would complain? I've been obsessed with the idea of bees since this visit last week. Even Mike--who's not so much into the urban (or anyplace else) farm idea--agreed that the bees are way cool. I've lifted my self-imposed book buying ban. I feel a binge coming;-)

::encouraging learning 

This week we begin a math co-op with my friend Linda. Linda is a mathmatical genius. I'm hoping it will rub off on my children. For my part, I just have to teach hers to knit. I can do that; this plan is a good one.

::begging prayers

for all the people who have joined our weekend prayer community. I carried your requests with me to Mass and I will keep a candle lit for you throughout the week.

:keeping house

Now that the calendar has settled a bit, I'm looking at tackling the basement again. I pretty much want every room in the house to have the same order as the little girls' closet. I mean to make it that way and drag all these children along with me. 

::crafting in the kitchen 

I made banana pudding last week. We were out with friends after soccer and Mike and my friend Mindy were rhapsodizing over banana pudding. I abhor bananas, but the look on his face while he talked about pudding made me resolve to scout a good recipe. I did a little research and came up with my own. I will share with you tomorrow;-).

::loving the moments

when Nicholas served Confirmation Mass. His sweet face was just so earnest and he could barely contain his delight when he got to hold the Bishops' crozier during the homily. I so wish I had a picture.

::living the liturgy

We have begun to use 33 Days to Morning Glory with all my kids this week, in preparation for Marian Consecration on the Feast of the Visitation. Also in the plans for this lovely month of May: new handmade rosaries for everyone. I've ordered nearly all the necessary beads and parts. Admittedly, I've been gathering for several years now, but I think we're nearly ready to begin to make heirlooms. 

::planning for the week ahead

There is nothing pressing this week. The idea makes me giddy.

All pictures this week are from my iPhone.Would you good iPhone folks share with me your ideas on uploading and "phone camera dumping?"

I love Instagram for editing, but I'm not real keen on publishing every single thing as I go to Instagram. I did find Followgram--pretty cool. It looks like Followgram makes it possible for even non-iPhone people to play along with Instagram following. Mary Beth is bothered by this--she thinks Instagram should be just for iPhones and those pictures should only be visible on a phone screen. She says she's a purist. I think she's being exclusive. Hmmm...

And,  I fight the rising panic as I report this and wonder if you've ever had a such a thing happen: I was going through my camera roll, emailing pictures from my phone to my computer so I could post them here and suddenly, my camera went black. I can see everything else on my phone, but when I click the camera icon, nothing but black. Your thoughts? I have only one confirmation picture elsewhere, so I'm really hoping those photos aren't lost.

My MacBook isn't working. The mousepad is completely unresponsive. I've sort of let going into the Apple store slide a bit--the last couple of weeks, my phone has kept me wired just enough. But if I have to take my iPhone in and I have no computer...

well, if you don't hear from me, it's all on Steve Jobs.

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

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-fulled people pray for one another.

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

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?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

Jesus said:
"I am the good shepherd.
A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd
and whose sheep are not his own,
sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away,
and the wolf catches and scatters them.
This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd,
and I know mine and mine know me,
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;
and I will lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold.
These also I must lead, and they will hear my voice,
and there will be one flock, one shepherd.
This is why the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life in order to take it up again.
No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.
I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again.
This command I have received from my Father."

John 10: 11-18

Think 

There are still so many millions of people who have not yet heard the message of a loving God, a God who sent his only Son to die for them. They seek meaning and happiness in their lives by pursuing all kinds of other goals which inevitably turn to ashes: material abundance, status in the eyes of others, power over others, mistaking pleasure and hedonism for happiness… 
In so doing, they reject Jesus the Good Shepherd. "Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us." This is something we must learn to accept as a fact, even if it is hard to understand and even harder to take. 
No matter how closely we follow in the footsteps of our Shepherd, in fact, the more closely we follow him, the more likely it is that we will be rejected and even attacked. More tragic still, however, there are so many people who claim Christ as Lord, many of them very good and sincere people, who are often divided, even bitterly divided among themselves. 
Here, more than anywhere is there a need for all to follow one Shepherd and form one flock. Otherwise how can we give witness to the love of Christ if that love is lacking among the servants of Jesus? 
Lastly, there are those who, though incorporated through baptism into the Body of Christ, consistently behave in a way which totally distorts people’s understanding of Christ and his call to discipleship, fulfilment and happiness. Probably, most of us have at one time or another failed in our call to give witness to the truth and love that is to be found in Christ.  (from Sacred Space)

Pray

Jesus, never let me fail to acknowledge you. Indeed, help me to go forth and glorify You with my life. Always. Everywhere. And in whatever company I find myself.

Act

Easter is a season and Good Shepherd Sunday is the perfect day to make a lamb cake (pictured above in ancient photo I just dug up). Rebecca has recipes and directions here.  Lamb cake pan here. (Remember, it's a season. If you don't have the pan and can't find it locally, Jesus won't stop being the Good Shepherd on Monday. You have time, mama.)

~

And psst: Today's the day to begin if you're going to use 33 Days to Morning Glory and conclude on the Feast of the Visitation. Again, don't get tangled up in dates. God exists outside of time. If you're interested, there's a 33 Days to Morning Glory book club on Facebook. More about the book here.

Friendship

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person, having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but pouring them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

~Dinah Craik

I am blessed to have such a friend and so are my children.

I love this picture so much. Sarah's hands were muddy with playing in the mudpie kitchen. Beatrix is helping  to pull her hair out of her face.

Girlfriends are good for things like that.

More beautiful pictures here.

Her Children Will Rise up and Call Her Blessed

Usually, when I bump into something on the 'net that I want to share with you, I just click my "delicious" button and it puts itself on my sidebar. My computer went pffft about a week ago. The mousepad won't work. That means I haven't been mining the internet much. I borrow my daughter's computer to get a blog post up and that's about it. 

So, I'm a few days late to a birthday party.

I watched this video late yesterday. And it has stuck with me. And stuck with me. And I didn't want it to get lost on my sidebar.

I'm pretty sure that this is what is meant when the Good Book says 

Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband, too, praises her:

proverbs 31: 28

Mothering a large family is incredibly hard work. And it's incredibly hard work over a very long time. There is a certain grace about a woman who embraces this vocation with all her heart and soul and seeks only to do His will. 

She is blessed.

I'm a little late. And it seems sort of insignificant in light of this amazing video, but Happy Birthday, Kim. Thank you for your grace-filled insipiration.