Tag Archives: Mass

This & That

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I couldn’t think of any one topic I wanted to digest, so here are a bunch of little thoughts: 

Daily Ritual

I have attained the discipline to become a daily-Masser. Andrew has been just wonderful in helping me achieve the motivation to counter any personal hesitation. On the days when I don’t have the virtue to get myself there, it’s enough knowing that I’m responsible for Liam’s exposure to all things Catholic; and more so, since Andrew has asked me to go each day, I do it out of spousal obedience as well. When we’re both prayerful and humble, our marriage is a million times better and we communicate beautifully.


In the News
I recently got a job as a copy writer for our diocesan magazine! My first article is being published TOMORROW and I can’t wait to see it in print! On the otherhand, I’m super nervous too because I know that my short blurb on being a Catholic wife is going to be in the mailboxes of everyone in our diocese – YIKES! God is so good to me. In addition to writing a few articles here and there, I’ll be doing a regular column called Domestic Church starting in July or August. I love marriage so much, my own especially, and God even more so – I can’t wait to be able to put my passion toward this kind of ministry.


Website Recommendation
For the kids or just for you! Check out kids-in-mind.com before you head to the theater or add a movie to your Netflix queue. It’s a great way to check a movie’s sexual, violent, or profane content before you see it and is far more effective than the current standard ratings. Think up a couple of movies that you think are acceptable, search for them on the site, and use that as a reference of severity per category. While some movies from the mid-nineties and back aren’t there, kids-in-mind.com covers most (if not all) movies from then to now. Andrew and I use it all the time and if a movie has ratings that are too high, we nix it from our list.


Purge Week & the NO BABY ZONE

  • Two weeks ago, I declared a PURGE WEEK for my wardrobe and a few closets in the house. I got a full trashbag of give-aways from my closet and dresser and then I filtered through each load of laundry, setting aside at least two pieces of my own clothing. I can’t believe how many t-shirts I had [have] that I don’t wear. Some items weren’t fit to donate to GoodWill - holey high school t-shirts and a pair of old sweats, for example – so I took some scissors to them and made a small pile of rags to keep in the garage. I was so proud of my resourcefulness :)
  • Our room has officially become a “NO BABY ZONE.” Liam’s stuff is all over our house: in the kitchen, in the dining room, in the family room, in the bathroom, a few little things in the guest room, and then he has his OWN room; so in an effort to truly make the master bedroom our sanctuary, I rid it of of any and all toys, socks, ointments, teething rings, etc. We do away with extra clutter, AND it makes the space a little more sacred. We still let Liam play with his toys in there, but as soon as he exits, so does his stuff without a moment’s delay. And a sanctuary it has become.


BONUS – In My Kitchen: [Almost] Guiltless Peanut Butter Pie
8 oz. lite Cool Whip
8 oz. lite cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 c reduced fat PB (crunchy or creamy)
Whip it up in a large bowl and put into a ready-made graham cracker crust – freeze for a couple of hours to firm it up and baddabing! it’s done. The pie stands on its own feet, but I like to top mine with crushed pretzels and a swirl of cholate syrup. Savor this sweet recipe courtesy of my sister Jennifer!

Glory Be to Whom?

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I’m a big Garth Brooks fan. I was 4 when “Friends in Low Places” came out and that has been my favorite song for as long as I can remember. My dad and I collected all the Garth albums and I jumped at the chance to see him live in 2007. I was absolutely beside myself – after he retired in 2000, I thought for sure that this day would never come. My friends and I dashed to the show, complete with cowboy hats and boots. I’ll never forget the anticipation of his HUGE entrance and hearing that familiar broken chord to my favorite song. We screamed and sang our hearts out – what a GLORIOUS night.

I think most people have some sort of experience like that when it comes to a music artist – they go NUTS at a show. They scream, they cry, they can’t breathe - no wonder EMTs are always on site! That’s for concerts, though. When I’m not breathing the same air as Garth Brooks, I keep the token tracks on my playlist;   I know every lyrics and key change, all the subtle vocal tricks in each verse like nobody else. Plus, Andrew and I want to ensure that Liam is brought up on good, quality music :)

I started thinking though: I love Garth Brooks’s music – his inflection and energy, the steel guitar, the fiddle! But what if I expressed that kind of enthusiasm for the Eucharist? and when I’m not at Mass, what if I maintained that steady flow of contact as if listening to an album over and over? The idea might seem cliche – I know I’ve heard people mention something to this effect before, but really, that kind of overwhelming excitement is meant for GOD. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not bad or blasphemous when I get chills crankin’ up No Fences, but knowing that I should have something more for Someone More is eye-opening. I use Garth for the sake of example, but the passion people have for not just celebrities and things like eating, material possessions, or spending hours on some iToy, is superficial. It’s all fleeting. We are absolutely meant to enjoy the things of this world, but with the perspective that none of them deserve the devotion and love meant for God. Someone infinitely bigger and better than Garth Brooks makes a physical appearance three times a day at the parish around the corner; and, I’m ashamed to say that sometimes I make it seem like a chore to get there. Thank God, that with a little perspective, nothing can size Him up.

“…All things were created by him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)

Weekly Snapshot:

  • We painted our kitchen! It went from a plain, consuming WHITE to now an obnoxious Barbie Dream House blue. We’ll be painting over it within the next couple of days – still a shade of blue, but something a little softer and more subtle. I have to say, it’s pretty humbling choosing a color and slowly watching it become a mistake.
  • Liam has the BEST sense of humor. Last night he was dying laughing because his feet were sliding out from under him as he was losing his grip on the side of his Pack n Play. We couldn’t get over how amused he was by himself.
  • Lately I’ve been hungry for great fiction. I’m reading The Help right now and just finished Jane Eyre and The Guernsey Literary and Peeled Potato Pie Society – SO good. Finishing a good read can be depressing because I’m left wanting more and I almost never trust another author to do as well; which means I’m delightfully surprised when they do.
  • We finally subscribed to the newspaper for the coupons and last week alone we saved $60 from working some serious deals on stuff that we already use! If you work it, CVS will even pay you to take their merchandise home.