Growing Closer to God's Word

This week, Leila and I talk about the practical aspects of bringing God's Word closer for ourselves and our families. Leila discusses the very fine points of Lectio Divina and I take an opportunity to talk a bit what scripture study looks like in my life.

  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!

Psst! I think you'll be able to hear Leila a bit better than you did last week. We recorded the same day, so all my voice issues remain. Sorry. Bonus: Because we ran really late, you can also hear the comings and goings of ten or so boys gathered to watched Argentina's rousing defeat of Brazil. If you consider how exciting that game was, they weren't all that noisy, right;-)? 

Show notes:

Ignatius Study Bible (note this only the New Testament--the footnotes are remarkably excellent)

Ignatius Bible (this is the whole Bible, not as detailed footnoting)

Navarre Bible (Old Testament)

Navarre Bible (New Testament)

New Catholic Picture Bible

The dog-eared Bible Karoline is reading beside me. (Out of print and not Catholic, but much loved)

Bible Studies

The Great Adventure

Walking Towards Eternity

The Great Adventure study for teens

Mark Hart's Bible Studies for teens

Church documents

Dei Verbum

And then there's this:

How to make your prayer journal pretty

Gathering my Thoughts Seaside

::outside my window

We overlook the golf course and a swimming pool and a pretty stand of palmetto trees. Scarcely a moment passes when I am not intensely grateful. I am so sensitive to my environment (my husband says I'm "high maintenance" in this regard). This setting is balm for my senses. 

::listening to 

my children playing card games. They have been enjoying one another tremendously this trip. Another thing for which I am unspeakably grateful.

::clothing myself in 

Mornings find me in a tank top and yoga shorts, logging 4-6 miles in the neighborhood before leaving for dance obligations. At the convention center, it's jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt. Early mornings are hot, sweaty messes dirpping with nearly tropical beauty. Daytime is an overactive air conditioner in a dark, loud room punctuated with loud music and flashing lights. 

::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

We're having fun with these this week, bringing them to life in real life.

Also, Shakespeare. Karoline is obsessed with Shakespeare. I think she might know Shakespeare better than I do. (This has everything to do with it.)  So, I find myself talking about plot twists with her all the time and I hear her just dropping a little Shakespeare quote into--you know-- normal, everyday seven-year-old conversation.

:: in my own reading:

I listened to Anna Quindlen's Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake all the way down to the beach. What an incredibly great writer! It's such a pleasure to me to read long, thoughtful chapters woven with great words--such a contrast to many of the memoir books I've recently read, which are really just compilations of quick blog posts. This book is meaty. It was also thought-provoking and jarring. At the beginning, I found myself nodding with the recognition of shared experiences. Then, abruptly, we diverged.

In her arrogance and her misinformation, she has intellectually eschewed her faith. The faith chapter doesn't even make sense in her illogical assumptions. I listened to book on Audible, read  by Quindlen herself--an experience which brought depth to the book. I could hear her voice choked with emotion as she talked about her mother's death, now 30 years ago. I felt her pain and I strongly identified with how cancer in one's early twenties can change the perspective she has on life forever. You never take a moment for granted and you barrel through all of life, determined to squeeze every second out of it for the good. I get that. I live that.  

But I also heard Quindlen's the contempt and the superiority in her voice when she spoke about the Church. I wish I could access my Audible bookmarks so I could share a quote or two.  She has clearly been poisoned by secular thought and one wonders how someone so bright and so well-read has managed to avoid reading the actual teachings of the Church to which she professes to still belong. She says she's Catholic, but she also says she doesn't believe in heaven or hell. Huh? I have so much to say about this book. Maybe we can talk about it again on a needle &thREAD day. At the bottom of it all though, I have yet to find a midlife memoir that ends hopefully. I've also yet to read one that is rooted firmly in faith. Coincidence? I think not.

::thinking and thinking

:: About marriage. At Anne Bogel's suggestion, I've been listening to The Seven Principles of Making Marriage Work. Very interesting. Very, very interesting. 

 .

::pondering 

 You're never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream. ~C. S. Lewis

::carefully cultivating rhythm

Every day is a little different here. The dance obligations are inked in. I determined to get up well before the children and make time to walk and spend quiet with God. Everything else that happens during the day is intentional--we don't want to waste a moment--but is dictated by weather and energy levels and budget. It's all worikng rather well. The only glitch has been (and I so can't believe I'm writing this) IT issues. IT issues just follow me around wherever I go. It's absurd now. In ana attempt to save data usage on my phone, I've clearly disabled something critical. And Internet use at the condo is throwing a wrench in some time management and challenging my dependence (and more importantly, Sarah's dependence) on divineoffice.org. Oh, well. I love the internet. I hate the internet. I love the internet.

::creating by hand

I brought my sewing machine. And I cut some very pretty headbands for the girls to give as gifts. Then I realized that I didn't pack the pedal. No sewing happening this week...

::learning lessons in

Data usage and my iPhone. I asked on Facebook and learned so much! Very eye-opening. the post isn't too far down on my wall. I can't figure out how to link to it directly. If someone knows, please enlighten me.

::encouraging learning in

good manners. We are surrounded by people all the time this week. Time after time, my children have opportunities to practice graciousness. 

::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

It's always simpler on vacation, isn't it?. 

::crafting in the kitchen 

 Lots of watermelon smoothies (watermelon is $3.99), tacos and leftover tacos, hamburgers on a charcoal grill, South Carolina peaches, and a ham that just keeps on giving...

::to be fit and happy

I'm getting lots of fresh air and sunshine. I'm eating well, and I'm working that walking program. It's taken me a very, very long time, but I've finally learned that self care is not selfish. Period.

::giving thanks 

for safe travels, good friends, and a beautiful place to spend the week.

::loving the moments

when I have a good FaceTime connection and actually get to see my husband's face. 

living the liturgy

 Mass was amazing here. Totally packed and the whole thing was sung. And, we saw lots of familiar dance faces in the parking lot.

Thursday, The Little Oratory series continues. Leila and I chatted about scripture study for this one. Come join us! 

::planning for the week ahead

 Just going with the flow...

needle & thREAD

Ah! Needle & thREAD! I’m so glad to be back. I’ve saved pictures of  this sweet journal cover for nearly a month. I wanted to make something to bring to Sally when I visited. It needed to be light and pack flat. And it had to be pretty.

Ta-dah!

I’ve made journal covers with the girls before, but this one is my very favorite. I combined thoughts from Rachel’s tutorial and this one at Moda Bake shop. The simple embroidery pattern is in the Moda tutorial. I’ve had a Fig Tree Butterscotch and Roses jelly roll sitting on my shelf for nearly three years. A "jelly roll" is a sweet little bundle of 40 precut 2 1/2" X 45" strips that show off all the prints in a collection. It was intended to be a quilt for my father-in-law. He was so excited when I started quilting and said he wanted to come over and make one with me. Alas, it never happened. So, the fabric strips stayed on the shelf in their very pretty little roll until a couple days before I was to leave to Colorado, when I got a burst of inspiration to make an embroidered journal cover to bring to Sally Clarkson when I visited. I’m just so pleased with how it came out! I pulled the fabric from my stash, found embroidery floss from the Anna Maria Horner collection I bought a couple years ago and pieced it together  in a couple days. It was nice to embroider again, even if only a little bit and those sweet flowers just make it all feel special to me. This last minute impulse was one of those times when I was glad to have fabric stashed and to be able to find all the necessary ingredients for a sweet hostess gift without leaving home. A little stash is a good thing, I think. Kind of like a well-stocked pantry on a day when people drop in unexpectedly.

And now that I’ve broken open the roll, feel free to share ideas for what to do with the other 36 strips or so. I figure that I have at least left. I'm sort of challenging myself to see if I can think of how to turn these into teacher's gifts and sew and stash them before September, so that I can know that that part of the Christmas list is finished. There are those very fun towels, but I did those last year.  Please let me know if you have jelly roll ideas (links are a happy thing). And if you don’t have a jelly roll of your own stashed away, look how scrumptious Joanna Figuera’s current line is. doesn't look like there are any jelly rolls left. But then again, there's this one, coming soon. Oh, sew many ideas, so little time;-). 

One of my favorite things about my time at Sally's was getting to know her daughters, Sarah and Joy, a little better. They are such beautiful young women. Each of them gave a talk and I was utterly mesmerized the entire time they spoke. I took copious notes. These girls know their stuff. They're remakably well read and solidly rooted in faith. It is a pleasure to speak with them because they have such a grace about them. One evening, as they were leaving the house to go for a walk together, one of them looked over her shoulder to call back to us in the living room, "Listen to my mom; she's very wise." 

The words sunk deep into my bones. There is no doubt in my mind that Sally is very wise. And what a testimony to have a young adult child spontaneously announce that to a group of women gathered! Sally's book 10 Gifts of Wisdom is her collection of eclectic essays written to answer that quesiton, "How can I raise a gracious competent adult?" It's a quick and very valuable read. I'm still hanging onto every word because, really, I'm grateful to have Sally's words--she's very wise. Sally is offering an econference on the book next week. So, if  you want to curl up with a cup of something warm in your very own living room and litsen to the wise words of Sarah's and Joy's mom, you can totally do that! I'm hoping to be there with you!

What are you sewing and reading this week? I really do want to hear all about it!

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and thREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and thREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr

       Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD  fun can find us! 

Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link.

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.