TGIF!

It was a busy week, both at work and at home.  I got to enjoy some quiet time in the garden this evening.  Thank you God!

Lenten Prayer Buddy

I've found that the blog world, particularly those based around IF and our faith, has allowed me to "meet" other women who truly want to live God's vocation that He has planned for them.  Prior to this Lent I hadn't had the opportunity to "meet" my prayer buddy.  She is a lovely young woman living out her vocation as wife and mother.   I had the honor and privilege of praying for Ashley and her family from Seeking Steward.

Because of her her intentions, and my love of St. Joseph, I chose the prayer below to say for Ashley and her family every day.  It didn't hurt, either, that the invocation at the end mentions the Sacred Heart.  That is the name of the parish to which DH and I belong and where I find great spiritual nourishment and peace.  I do the decorating there and often lit candles by St. Joseph for Ashley and her family.
Have a blessed and holy Easter season Ashely!

O Glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress. Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection, that it may end happily.

  

O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. Let it not be said that we would invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen.

St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.

Alleluia! He is risen!

He is risen indeed!

Have a blessed and holy Easter!

Finding focus

On Saturday I had to go to church and drape the statues for the rest of Lent.  While I was there I was finding myself getting really annoyed and short with the other ladies there to help.  They were chatting and talking about things completely unrelated to why we were there.  I was feeling stressed because I had a list a mile long of things I needed to get done and they were "wasting" time chatting. 

But later in the day, the more I thought about it, who I should really be annoyed with is myself.  Lately I've been avoiding what I should be doing and spending way too much time on the computer - on FB, playing games, reading sites that really have no purpose in my life, playing more games, etc. 

So,  I've decided that for the rest of Lent I'm giving up my blog (not that I've been writing much), FB, and all computer games.  I need to give the rest of Lent much more focus. 

Have a holy and blessed Lent!

Quick Takes (4)

- 1-

When I took Jack out for his morning walk it was 19 degrees.  Nineteen!  It's Spring, it should be warmer than that.  But the birds were chattering and singing away.  If they don't mind the cold, why should I?

- 2 -

Friends, K & S, are coming over for dinner tonight.  We're just having cheese pizza, but that's not what I am looking forward to.  We always have some great conversations.  S is one of the kindest, sweetest people I know.  K is a religion teacher at a local Catholic high school and is one of the most brilliant minds I know, second only to DH.  I'm usually blown away by what I learn listening to those two talk.

- 3 -

 I don't think I can come up with seven items today.  Just letting you know. ;-)

- 4 -

Yesterday food got the better of me.  I was bored so I ate.  I was tired so I ate.  It was lunchtime so I ate.  You get the picture.  I went to bed hating food and the hold it has on me.  It seemed like too much of my life is consumed by it - shopping for it, preparing it, eating it, figuring out ways of avoiding it to lose weight.  It seems to be a substitute for other things.  I really need to work on this. 

- 5 -

We live in a pretty rural area and are blessed with a lot of wildlife.  A Crane just flew by as I'm sitting here writing this.  They always remind me of teenagers, especially teen age boys - tall, all arms and legs, gangly.

- 6 -

Well, I guess God is giving me a great nature show.  There is a hawk now circling above the neighbors' pond.  I don't care how many times I see them, I don't get tired of them.  They are powerful, majestic, elegant.  Here's a picture DH captured of one this winter.

- 7 -

"These are the advantages of travel, that one meets so many men whom one would otherwise never meet, and that one feeds as it were upon the complexity of mankind" — Hilaire Belloc (First and Last)

Don't forget to check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Have a great weekend!

The Day I Said "Yes"

Thirteen years ago today,

in St. Joseph's Chapel in St. Peter's Basilica

my beloved asked me to be his wife.

I said "yes"

And I will keep saying yes until the day I die.  I love you T!

Prayers Needed

Please keep DD from A Woman's Catholic Journey in your prayers.  I think the devil is working overtime as she prepares to enter the Church this Easter.  Let's bombard heaven with our pleas! 

Sweet Jesus, please watch over and and guide DD as she prepares to enter your chuch.  Guard her heart and mind and body as she faces her temptations. 

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Quick Takes (3)

-1 -

Spring is in the air!  At least it was for a couple of days here in NE Ohio and we're loving it.  And it couldn't have come at a better time - St Patty's day.  DH and I enjoyed some "patio time" after work yesterday with some of our favorite local brew.  Life is good!

-2 -

For Lent this year I decided to give up candy.  It's not that I eat a lot of it, but it's been a tempting habit I've gotten into at work.  Our team lead keeps a candy bowl in our room filled with goodies.  It hasn't been that hard.  Shouldn't it feel more difficult?  Maybe I should do something more.

-3 -

 Monday night I hosted our ladies neighborhood book club.  When you host the evening you're in charge of picking the book and providing the goodies.  We've mostly been reading current, popular fiction.  I decided to torture challenge them with a little GK Chesterton and chose Manalive.  The book is deceiving, only 124 pages, but it packs a big punch.  Although everyone didn't get through the entire book, they seemed to have enjoyed it and we had an interesting and lively discussion.

-4 -

I've only got two more days on my "30 day challenge" and I haven't cheated.  Wish I could say I didn't want to, but there were a few days when coffee was calling my name.  I put in my ear plugs and didn't listen.  And if that didn't work I though of this lovely lady and her preparations for coming into the church.  If she's able to battle her demons the least I could do is offer my coffee and Micky D's up for her.

-5 -

I've always liked to read.  Even as a little girl I loved a good book.  I would sneak my Winnie the Pooh books to bed with me and read under the covers with a flashlight.  I've been trying to broaden what I read and besides Chesterton have been reading Hillaire Belloc and Jane Austin.  It fun seeing how much things stay the same, across the eras in which some of these books were written.  If you want a great read, pick up Belloc's Path to Rome.  He's got a great sense of humor, though it took me a while to get it. 

-6 -

Okay, it's Friday and we're supposed to abstain from meat.  But we like fish and my homemade mac & cheese is really yummy.  It just doesn't seem like that much of a sacrifice.

-7 -

"Imprudent marriages!" roared Michael.  "And pray where in earth or heaven are there any prudent marriages?  Might as well talk about prudent suicides.  You and I have dawdled round each other long enough, and are we any safer than Smith and Mary Gray, who met last night?  You never know a husband till you marry him.  Unhappy! of course you'll be unhappy.  Who the devil are yout hat you shouldn't be unhappy, like the mother that bore you?  Disappointed! of course we'll be disappointed.  I, for one, don't expect till I die to be so good a man as I am at this minute--a tower with all the trumpets shouting."  Manalive - GK Chesterton

Don't forget to check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields and,
Until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

A few of my favorite things

If Hollywood had to rely on people like us to make their money, they'd go out of business.  We hardly watch movies and go even less to the theater to see one.  I think the last show we went to was "Har.ry Pot.ter", and not this last one, the one before that.  And I almost never watch a movie more than once.  One, though, that I've seen many, many times is the "Sound of Music."  It has everything a good movie should - romance, intrigue, a life changing decision, betrayal, a daring escape, and music.  Good music.  I think "My Favorite Things" has to be my favorite out of the bunch. 

So in honor of it, here are a few of my favorite things. . .

* the smell of fresh cut grass

* listening to DH breathing next to me in bed

* watching hot air balloons float by

* a citus cosmo martini at my favorite Indian restaurant

* long walks on a cool, sunny autumn day

* the smell of hyacynth and lilacs in the spring

* puppies

* Deer in the back yard

* Hummingbirds drinking at the feeder

* "patio time" with hubby after work

* The smell of wet dog

* Picking out our Christmas tree each year

* Midnight Mass on Christmas

* Curling up under a blanket with a really good book and reading for hours

* Watching DH do his "Ansel Adams" impersonation.

What are your favorite things?