Sweet at Six

We hosted my side of the family for Thanksgiving, everyone from my parents down to our two month old niece. Some people stayed with us, other people stayed elsewhere, but they all came from out of town. In all we had 9 adults and 9 children around our Thanksgiving table and through Sunday. It was a lot of fun from all of the cousins playing for hours together to staying up late with the adults.

On Saturday we celebrated L's birthday which is today. She is my Advent baby, having been born on the 1st Sunday of Advent six years ago. Upon opening her present from my parents which was also for the other November daughter of mine, L looked at the three fancy dress up dresses and said, "This is what I wanted! Remember, Mom! A chest of princess dresses to share with my sisters!"

Sweeter still though is the way she has been taking an interest in praying the rosary all on her own during her quiet time. She takes our Sacred Art Series Rosary flip book into her room, asks about the mysteries of the day, and prays devoutly in her own little way. I love to see the faith blossom in this sweet daughter of mine.

Happy Birthday to my six year old!

NCRegister Blog: Reflections on the End of the Liturgical Year

Ever since I was a child, I have loved Advent. My mother always made it beautiful with our homemade Jesse Tree ornaments, our simple green Advent wreath, and our tradition of singing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” in the candlelight before supper. All of our voices would rise up together in our hope for the coming Savior. This liturgical year, which has been passed down to us by tradition, and which never ceases, is the heartbeat of the liturgical life. Around and around we go. From Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter to Pentecost and the time after up through our remembrance of the dead in November during which in our Mass readings we anticipate the Second Coming of Christ. It all fits together so beautifully and is one of the things that I love about being Catholic...

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register...

Blessed is She Devotion: The Love You Had at First

 
This devotion I wrote back in September for today on the daily Mass readings is full of my own advice that I really needed to hear. My prayer life has been a bit of a struggle these past few weeks; it has been harder to pray, to want to pray, and to focus on prayer. But I am reminded that I need to continue on in my own resolutions despite my difficulties, and focus on kindling the love God first gave me for Him.

Read today's readings and the devotion at Blessed is She...

Only a Few Quick Takes...

It's Friday! It's Friday! This weekend we are going to winterize the yard, which means raking, bush trimming, composting the garden. It has been so mild this Autumn that we had been able to put this off until mid-November, and I am not complaining! We actually still have broccoli, cabbage, and brussel sprouts still growing. We are going to start our sauerkraut fermenting tonight.

I just wanted to let you know about two awesome things coming up.

First, if you have not ordered your Blessed is She Advent journal, do it. And do it soon. It is amazing. As a theological editor for BIS, I have read it all through and it is soooooooo good. Elizabeth Foss did an amazing job with the writing. I want to hurry up and get ready for Christmas materially before Advent so I can sit back and pray with this journal. Head over to Elizabeth's blog to see her introduce the journal.

Second, Anna, Jacqui, and I will be running the Catholic Women Bloggers Network Midwest Conference on March 25, 2017 in St. Paul, Minnesota. If you are a fellow Catholic women blogger, we would love to see you there! Registration starts soon, so keep an eye out for the details and join our Facebook group.

Have a blessed weekend.

NCRegister Blog: The Difference Between Forbearance and Patience

About six months ago I took it upon myself to organize and host a women’s Bible study in my home. I emailed a large group of women whom I thought might be interested and received a very positive response. Since we started meeting, we have had many spiritually fruitful discussions. One that I found to be particularly helpful was the hour we spent discussing the difference between forbearance and patience as presented in Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

It all started with a footnote in the New Testament Ignatius Catholic Study Bible on Romans 2:4. The verse states: “Or do you presume upon the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not know that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” The footnote differentiated between forbearance and patience. The distinction between the two is significant, yet subtle, and one could say that forbearance is a kind of patience...

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register.

Now She is Four

The Professor went to a conference this past weekend, and his mother came over from Michigan to help with the kids and keep me company. It has become a sort of annual event since we first had children. He goes to a few conferences a year and I often ask my mother-in-law or my parents to come and stay when he does.

 So, on Thursday we dropped the Professor at the airport and picked up his mother at the same time. About 24 hours later as we were sitting down to dinner, F asked, "Where is Daddy? His car is here! Where is he?" I suppose that she was having so much fun with her grandmother that she had forgotten about the whole airport event. Fast forward to Sunday, with her grandmother already flying home and her daddy not home yet, F was a mess of emotions in her quiet time. She did not want to be alone, she was so, so sad. I went to her and talked to her about how she was feeling, but nothing cheered her up until I said, "Do you know where Daddy is right now? He is on an airplane." Her tears of sorrow turned into giggles and laughter as she buried her face in the comforter she was laying on. "What does that mean?" I asked her. "It means he is flying home!" she said joyfully.

And that is my little F.

Beautiful beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful beautiful brown eyes
Beautiful beautiful brown eyes
I'll never love blue eyes again.
(Well that is the way I feel when I look at those deep brown eyes.)

Happy Birthday, to my sweet four year old!

NCRegister Blog: Our Children Need to Know the Saints

My girls frequently talk about what they will be when they grow up. One says that she would like to be a mom, while another proclaims her desire to be a princess, and another often talks about becoming a sister or nun. Around the canonization day of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, I read the newest book from “The Life of a Saint” series published by Magnificat and Ignatius Press called Mother Teresa, The Smile of Calcutta. Within hours of reading the book, one of my daughters came up to me with the book saying, “I want to be that kind of sister...”

Read the rest at the National Catholic Register...