Quick Prayer Request

There is a possibility of my husband’s company getting a large contract back, which would mean money directly into our personal finances because of Brian’s commission structure. They have been hit pretty hard by the economic downturn, and this would be a great help in getting through this next winter. If you feel so inclined, please pray that this contract goes through!

Bountiful Brunch

We usually go out with Brian’s extended family who live nearby–his parents, one set of Grandparents, his brother and wife, and his uncle and girlfriend–for brunch for Mother’s Day. With the failing health of Brian’s father, going out was out of the question, so Brian thought we should prepare a special brunch to share at “Nana’s” house.

Our menu included 4 varieties of quiche (spinach & ricotta, bacon & cheddar, ham & mushroom, and cheese), 4 varieties of crepes (sausage & cheese, cherry, apple and blueberry) with each of the sweet crepes having a sweetened cream cheese filling and topped with hot fudge or caramel sauce, eggs Benedict (provided by my brother-in-law), fruit salad, muffins, hashbrowns, bacon (lots and lots of bacon, as it’s Great-Granny’s special weakness), fried chicken, and a yogurt grape salad.

Suffice it to say, I didn’t eat again for the rest of the day. My husband is a superb cook, and keeps us quite well fed.

Not Worthy

This was in my daily reading, from my plan to read through the Bible in a year, the other day.

2 Samuel 6:

9 That day David felt afraid of Yahweh. ‘How can the ark of Yahweh come to be with me?’ he said.
10 So David decided not to take the ark of Yahweh with him into the city of David but diverted it to the house of Obed-Edom of Gath.
11 The ark of Yahweh remained in the house of Obed-Edom of Gath for three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and his whole family.
12 King David was informed that Yahweh had blessed Obed-Edom’s family and everything belonging to him on account of the ark of God. David accordingly went and, amid great rejoicing, brought the ark of God up from Obed-Edom’s house to the City of David.

It couldn’t help but bring to mind this passage, not that this is the first time the comparison has been made:

Luke 1:
36
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived 13 a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
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for nothing will be impossible for God.”
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Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
39
During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,
40
where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.
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When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit,
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cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
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And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord 14 should come to me?
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For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.

And, of course, from the Mass:

Matthew 8:
8
The centurion said in reply, 6 “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.
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For I too am a person subject to authority, with soldiers subject to me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come here,’ and he comes; and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
10
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Amen, I say to you, in no one in Israel 7 have I found such faith.
11
I say to you, 8 many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the banquet in the kingdom of heaven,
12
but the children of the kingdom will be driven out into the outer darkness, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.”
13
And Jesus said to the centurion, “You may go; as you have believed, let it be done for you.” And at that very hour (his) servant was healed.

Does a healthy soul ever feel worthy? This feeling is a humbling experience, but Christ does not stop there. He expects something of us. We choose whether to reject him in our injured sense of pride, or faithfully accept what He has offered to us. See how he has rewarded these individuals and families with blessings? And the blessings spill over, not just with the one who shows faith, but on those they love as well!

This communal gospel, this common theme that decisions made by one individual can heal, sanctify and bless others outside the periphery of the initial exchange is one of the great mysteries I have received from the Catholic faith. It is not a replacement for each individual having a personal faith in Christ, but a means by which Christ shows his magnitude, his loveliness, his adorableness, drawing us ever closer to his mercy and our ultimate salvation.

Lent

I am giving up blogging/reading for Lent. I plan to actually finish some of the spiritual reading I have begun. See you at Easter!

New Look

The image topping the page is an iconic feature of our small city. Our peninsula has the greatest proportion of lighthouses to land mass in the country. This is our light house on Lake Michigan. Our community is a hub for sport charter fishing on the lake.

In case you wanted to know.

More Evidence, Abortion Hurts Women

From Life News:

Some abortion advocates have dismissed the wealth of previous research on the link between abortion and mental health problems by saying factors unrelated to the abortion contributed to them. The scientists found abortion elevated the risks independently of those factors.

“The abortion variable made a significant independent contribution to more mental health outcomes than a history of rape, sexual abuse in childhood, physical assault in adulthood, physical abuse in childhood, and neglect which contributed to between four and ten different diagnoses,” the scholars wrote.

“What is most notable in this study is that abortion contributed significant independent effects to numerous mental health problems above and beyond a variety of other traumatizing and stressful life experiences,” they said.

Ultimately, the authors write that abortion is directly “responsible for more than 10% of the population incidence of alcohol dependence, alcohol abuse, drug dependence, panic disorder, agoraphobia, and bipolar disorder in the population.”

Advent Music

As a convert, one of the more difficult transitions has been replacing the beloved traditions with which I grew up with new traditions centered on the Liturgical Calendar. Probably the hardest has centered on the Advent/Christmas seasons. How are we to truly live Advent when the whole world is rolling out Christmas, starting in September?

I, like most, have a soul which is inspired and invigorated by music. Music sets a tone, can change the mood, becomes a representation of a point in time or an trigger to memory. With an entire genre devoted to one season, Christmas music represents the beloved traditions and memories of years past, growing up in Virginia visiting the annual live nativity and a local green house which set up an extensive animatronic display. Driving around viewing private light displays. Decorating the Christmas tree. Eager anticipation, milk and cookies, egg nog.

For the past couple years, I’ve been saving Christmas music for the Christmas season, and felt the holiday suddenly burst upon me, without warning. From my traditions, Christmas music was the preparation which Advent rightly represents.

A search of Advent albums, as you might imagine or have discovered for yourself, encounters a dearth of choice. I’m typically hesitant about plunking down $16 on an unknown artist, frugal (or cheap) as I am. Previously my Google searches have turned up little. I must have been searching the wrong terms, like “advent music”. Yesterday, I searched “advent hymns”, and Lo! now we’re cooking.

I discovered a couple sites with suggestions enough to fill my iTunes with several hours of music. You may, as I do, quibble with a few of the sites’ suggestions, but there is a nice variety anyway.
LNW Hymns has free mp3 downloads and Full Homely Divinity has an extensive inventory of Advent carols old and new, link to midi files and lyrics. I used the second, along with beemp3 (use at your own risk) to gather my selection of mp3s.

With a musical guide to the season, both familiar and new, I can anticipate the coming season with excitement and celebration. Our mornings will be filled with appropriate music, and I’ll be establishing seasonally relevant traditions for my kids to remember and hopefully continue in their own future families.

(My next project will be to locate DVD copies of all my favorite holiday movies, so that I can play them during the Christmas season, rather than catch them on TV during Advent.)

New Breastfeeding Post

Interested in real life examples of Tandem Nursing? Read the post on my business site.

Milestone

I’m not one to brag about blog stats. In fact, I rarely check them. But I noticed several weeks ago that I was approaching 20,000 hits. And so it happens today that I’ve received 20,000 hits to this little blog of mine. Thanks to all who visit! Enjoy a cookie, on me.

Reflection–Day 28

We pray for the conversion of abortionists and all abortion advocates.

Not only do we pray for their conversion to the prolife position, but we pray earnestly for their conversion to Christ, so that the help they offer to pregnant women is help that supports the health of their bodies, minds, and hearts, as well as their children. I pray that the abortion debate about legislation becomes moot because so many have turned away from the destruction of life that abortions cannot be sought. I pray that the Holy Spirit will stir our consciences to true compassion for the unborn and their mothers who are so often distraught by circumstances. Amen.