Alphabet, Anyone?

Mommy and 3 year-old daughter, standing with heads in the refrigerator. A litany of things to drink; milk, water, kool-aid, tea. She chirped,"I want tea, U,V,W,X,Y,Z. (Now singing) Now I've said my A,B,C's, next time won't you sing with me? In my cup!"

This is the same child heard in the library/school room singing "Old MacDonald had a farm E,I,E,I,O...and sometimes Y"

Daddy's Mop

One of the children spilled some water in the dining room and I went to get the mop to clean up the mess. My son John came in, screaming "Nnnooo! You can't use that. That's Daddy's mop!"

I'm perfectly willing to say that's Daddy's mop. There were some advantages to being on bedrest for so long ;) I can't use the mop. What a shame.

Seeing in Secret

Today's Gospel from Matthew 6 tells us not to be like the hypocrites, doing various righteous deeds in front of others, to be seen by them. "They have their reward." What, that's it? Someone saw us be holier-than-thou? However, if our devotion is done unnoticed "the Father who sees in secret will repay you". Sounds promising.

Yeah, and think what else the Father is seeing. All that secret dirt pushed under the rug of my soul. I am so blessed the justice of the Father is tempered a bit by the mercy of the Son, the Spirit is constantly redirecting me and as a result I may have a prayer at reaching Purgatory. That's all I ask. If I can get there, Heaven's in sight!

Radiation

Da Vince Code notwithstanding, I think those folks at Opus Dei are pretty alright. Their founder has written several books that are the core of my spiritual reading. However, St Josemaria Escriva and I have heated arguments sometimes; for he can be quite blunt when telling me truths I don't want to hear. Because, of course, acknowledging these truths would require me to change.

I've been reading about prayer lately. Picked up Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton. I couldn't get beyond the first paragraph of the foreword by Douglas V. Steere without being stopped short.

Here ... are hints both of man's longing for exposure to these `beams of love' and yet his fear of what may be involved to come within its transforming power. For if to pray means to change, it is no wonder that men, even devoted men, hurry to fashion protective clothing, leaden aprons that resist all radiation, even beam-proof shelters within corporate religious exercises in order to elude the `beams of love' and to stay as they are.

Well. Guess it's time to leave the padded prie-dieu in my bunker, take off my lead apron and go find a spiritual director. (I can probably find one of those at the local Opus Dei house.) Change may be difficult and messy, but it has to be done in order to be like Christ. That's what I pray for most.

Tenth Anniversary

Today is the day - Bill and I have been married 10 years! We still feel like newlyweds; in our hearts. I heard someone say since they conceived on their honeymoon they "never got a chance to be newlyweds; just went straight to being Mom & Dad". We conceived our first within a month of our marriage. But we never considered ourselves as "just" parents. Our relationship comes first, even before our children. The only thing more important is our relationship(s) with our Lord. That's the secret to feeling like it's your first anniversary rather than your tenth... or whatever number with which you're blessed. A toast to all newlyweds - May all those wrinkles be smile lines, and that chest pain be a heart full of joy!

Shaving my legs for Jesus

At 5:45 this morning i was in the shower shaving my legs when suddenly the ludicrousness of it hit me. It was the coldest morning of the year. I certainly wasn't going to wear a dress to church. Why in the world was i shaving my legs? well, half of them - that's all i though the new razor could handle. So I mulled over this for a little while. was it just that I couldn't stand it anymore? And then realized no, I'm a lector this morning at the 7:30 mass and i just wanted to seem my best in order to read the word of God, even though no one else would know, I would know. So then I began to pray so that I could read the word correctly, and I prayed for the people who would listen to the word; I prayed for Father as he made his morning preparations and continued to pray as I finished up my own ablutions. I feel too sorry for my husband having to live these hairy legs. At least he has a wife who can turn the most mundane task into a prayer. Besides, he doesn't feel them through my flannel pajamas.

A word of explanation

Long strings of cold and dark days are hard for me. I'm subject to depression and stressful holidays are hard for me for the same reason. When, on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, my grandmother died, and while in indiana for her funeral I ran out of antidepressants, I sunk into a hole that's been very hard to climb out of. So that's why long time no write.