Oh, Man...

I picked up email this afternoon. I hadn't turned on the computer all weekend because I wasn't home, and I didn't turn it on yesterday because I was busy falling into Deathly Hallows.

So imagine my sadness to open up email after lunch to discover that I missed the funeral of a friend's stilborn son this morning.

Please say a prayer for my friend and her family at this difficult time.

(Sometimes, I have so many prayers to offer up to God that I think life would be better as a cloistered nun just so I'd have time to properly pray for everyone!! Mary and Martha, indeed!)



Christine

I Remembered!

Could be that I remembered because I actually submitted something for once. Or it could be that I am one of the Bloglines subscribers to Sarah's blog. ;)

Either way, please remember to head on over to read this week's Catholic Carnival! And, if you are interested in submitting material to the carnival, please look at the sidebar of this blog for more details.



Christine

When is Sabbath?

Mark Shea helps tackle something that most Christians trust Tradition on: Sunday worship versus Saturday worship.



My favorite part was this paragraph:

The reason for the Sabbath change is straightforward. The Sabbath was a sign of the Old Covenant. But Jesus has brought a New Covenant and a New Priesthood. So the Church began observing the Sabbath on the day of his resurrection, which established that covenant. You can already see it reflected in Revelation, when John says, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day" (meaning "I was at Mass. It was Sunday").

But please, go read the rest and get the full explanation, as well as a nifty link to even more information on the New Covenant's Sabbath.



Christine

Please Pray!

For the Martin family.



Christine

Nine Hours, Seventeen Minutes, Twenty-two Seconds

Finished at approximately 3:15 a.m. Stopped completely to watch Chicken Run, talk twice on the phone with Hubby, comfort each of the girls - in turn - when they had bad dreams, and to brush my teeth.

Re-read certain paragraphs to be sure I was getting things right.

Fantastic. Utterly wonderful. Great story.

No, not a highbrow piece of literature, but who cares? Not everything needs to be so. It was a great story.

I am WAAAAY too tired to communicate much more today, and I've got actual errands to run today (including returning the book to the library - ha!) so I will start that discussion tomorrow.

Be good, kids.



Christine

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

That, my friends, is the hysterical laughter of a woman who was called by the library on Saturday afternoon. I wasn't home until Sunday night (when they were not open), so I couldn't pick up my borrowed copy of Deathly Hallows until this morning. I am running a timer as I read, with the many interruptions that happen when you are Mommy Home with the Children and Hubby is Away on a Business Trip. So far, I have been able to read for 3:33:18. I am on page 268 (beginning of chapter 14). I am not reading any more until the girls are in bed. For now, I'm headed downstairs to watch Chicken Run while we eat dinner. I hope I'll be able to think straight and concentrate without wondering if the chickens are horcruxes. ;)

I will not be reading any blogs until I am finished. Then, when done (which I am predicting will be sometime tonight because, as I mentioned, Hubby is Away on Business), I will mourn the fact that I have absolutely no one to talk to about the book. Hubby has not read them (though he will), Older God-daughter has only read through book 5 (I called to tell her, "Neener neener" this morning), my sister hasn't read any of them, and my parents have only watched a couple of the movies, of which I have only seen one.

I'll probably post just to discuss in the comments the results, with nothing much in the title except, perhaps, "Spoiler Comments on Harry." Seriously. I am SOOOO desperate to talk to someone about the books, especially grown-ups.

Okay, bye for now, have a nice night.



Christine

Saint John the Baptist Cathedral, Savannah, Georgia

In a last post before I take off for the weekend, I leave you with pictures of a stunning Cathedral that was recently renovated. It's the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Savannah, Georgia.

Enjoy, and I'll see you kids on Monday!

There are actually more pictures, but I'm out of time!

Christine

Update on My Aunt

This is an update to this prayer request I made yesterday.

My aunt is out of surgery, and the doctors said they were able to get most of the tumor. It is very likely that she will make a good recovery, but we will know more after they do a biopsy on what they were able to extract.

Thank you all so very much for the prayers, and if you wouldn't mind saying a little prayer if you think of her in the future, I would so appreciate it. I'll update again when I know more about the biopsy, too.


Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

(This was the hymn we sang at Mass today, too. Music can be heard at the link.)



Christine

Beautiful!

Kristen at Small Treasures has a lovely story about one of her girls and the five wounds of Jesus.



Christine

Important Prayer Request!!!

My father's sister awoke today with some serious problems - i.e. shaking in her leg that she couldn't control or stop - and was rushed to the hospital by her husband.

She has a brain tumor.

Tomorrow morning, at 7:30 a.m. EDT - 8:30 her time - she will be undergoing surgery. Please pray for her and for her surgeon, that God's mighty hand might guide him and that she will be blessed with a healthy recovery. She is only 53 (this December) and still has three children living at home and her first grandchild on the way.

Saint Peregrine Laziosi, ora pro nobis!

Saint Luke the Apostle, ora pro nobis!

Saint Pantaleon, whose feast day is tomorrow, ora pro nobis!

(I find it wonderful that tomorrow's saint of the day is a doctor who donated his services.)

Prayers:

Almighty God,
you know my inmost being,
the secrets of my body and soul.
Fill my heart with trust,
even as I fear,
and bless the surgeons and nurses
and all who work to help and care.
Be near, gently sustaining me,
and supporting them in their skills.

Amen.

[prayer source]

Our Father...

Hail Mary...

Glory be to the Father...

Thank you.


Christine

God is Outside of Time and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

I was discussing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass with the girls this week. Each was using their Seton book for their grade (finishing up the third grade and Kindergarten books).

We read together that Jesus offers Himself in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: the same sacrifice as on Calvary, but in a non-bloody manner.

This is a very difficult thing to understand. How can He offer Himself this way? Isn't Calvary a long time ago? What does this all mean? I have struggled with learning an appropriate way to explain this so that my own children won't fall prey to someone who wishes to "save" them from Catholicism. I seemed to have a bit of a revelation yesterday, which I can only thank God for and give Him complete credit for putting in my brain.

First, to understand how the sacrifice of Calvary is present at the Mass, we must understand that God is outisde of time. Gracious! How on EARTH do I explain that everything in time is an ever-present NOW to God?

Suddenly, a picture came into my head: a snow globe.

Imagine the people inside the snow globe are real. Inside their tiny world, they can look around and see stuff. But they cannot see everything. We, outside, can see the entirety of the snow globe. In this way, we are like God looking at Man who is trapped in time. He can see all of time all at once, while we can see only what is right in front of us.


This helped them to understand a bit more the idea that God is outside of the constraints of time. It's a rough idea, but I think it serves its purpose well.


Next was how to explain Jesus offering Himself to the Father daily. Offering, specifically, His Sacrifice on the Cross.

Again, I got a clear picture in my mind of my daughters' art work.




"Imagine," I said, "that you have drawn a special picture for Mommy and Daddy. And every day, you take out the picture and say, 'Remember when I drew this for you. I love you so much. Isn't my picture beautiful?' This is what Jesus does for us."




I went on to talk about how He is not re-sacrificed at Mass, but the eternal Sacrifice that Christ made on the Cross is presented to the Father at each Mass. It's like Jesus takes out a picture and shows it to His Father each day.




Even more like it, really, is the idea that the Sacrifice is ever-present to the Father, much like the pictures my daughters have made for us are ever-present in my bedroom. The paintings and drawings they've hung up are a constant reminder to us how much they love us. They decorate the walls all around our bed, so that one of the first things we see when we get up, as well as one of the last things we see when we go to sleep, are love notes and artwork from our two girls.




Now, neither of these are perfect metaphors (and no metaphor is perfect: that's why it's called a metaphor!), and neither are especially deep in a theological sense, but I think that both of the girls were better able to understand how Christ's Sacrifice - done once for all - is re-presented to the Father without re-sacrificing Him.


Christine

Chad Vader: Episode 8 (Season One's Last Episode)

Watch the whole first season here. (Warning: Not child-friendly!!!)





Christine

How Perfect is Your Foriegn Language?

Kristine Franklin has a wonderful story about a missionary she's known. It's part of a growing series, too!

Read about Bill and Jim, the Indonesian missionaries.



Christine

When is it okay to freak out?

Our family is having a whopper of a summer as far as our teeth are concerned. My cavities were filled in January, but I need to see a periodontist about getting some gums grafted on a spot where I injured my gums years ago. Hubby cracked off the side of a molar the night before last and is in Houston on business. We're hoping he can be seen between trips. Little Girl had a filling this morning (she was very brave); it was her first. And, the coup de gras was Big Girl's dental adventure while we were in Florida on vacation. (I am positive I will be in trouble for mentioning this here.)

Big Girl was swimming in my parents' pool, and she went underwater with her eyes closed. (This was our third day with them, a Friday afternoon.) She swam straight into the side of the pool with her face. This would not have been bad in our own above-ground pool, but it was not a good idea in the in-ground pool at Mom and Dad's. She chipped her front tooth. A permanent tooth.

Obviously, this hurt quite a bit, and I took her inside the house to change while my mother called dentists in the area to see if anyone could take her immediately. In between, she told me to calm down and stop upsetting Big Girl, who was beside herself in terror. (She didn't know it could be fixed, it hurt like hell, and it is a permanent tooth, so she was certain she would have a permanently chipped front tooth, if they could even save it. In her mind, either it would be chipped or completely gone forever.) "It's just a bump, Big Girl, calm down!"

Well, one thing you don't want to do to an upset eight-year-old is tell her that her broken tooth is "just a little bump!" This comment, each time it was made, was met with screaming by Big Girl.

"IT IS NOT JUST A BUMP!!! MY TOOTH IS BROKEN, GRANDMA!!!!!"

No one could see us on the Friday afternoon just after Independence Day (imagine!), but one dentist could see us the next morning. Bonus number one: she accepted our insurance. Bonus number two: she seemed unfazed about the prospect of fixing the tooth of a slightly hysterical eight-year-old.

What a start to Little Girl's birthday, which was that Saturday. She begins by Mommy and Daddy leaving with her sister to go to the dentist! (What a good sport she was, though. She even promised to pray for Big Girl while we were gone.)

The dental techs and the dentist were absolutely wonderful to Big Girl. They let me come back with her into the exam room, they explained everything before and during the procedures, and the dentist told Big Girl that she'd done the exact same thing when she was eight. Same tooth, too! No one would ever guess that she chipped a tooth, let alone be able to pick it out! (Even our regular dentist didn't really notice which one it was until Big Girl told him today.)

Later, I asked Big Girl how she felt about my reaction, which was a very controlled freak-out. She said she was glad I acted as I did because it let her know that I (and I'll quote here for the full effect):

"...really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really ... 'two years later' ... really, really, really, really, really, really cared."

(Gotta love the SpongeBob reference!)

Grandma, on the other hand, made her more upset by downplaying what happened because it made Big Girl feel like she didn't think it was a big deal.

So there you have it. Sometimes, it's a very good thing to have a little bit of a freak-out when your kids get hurt! I have thought a lot about what Big Girl told me, and I decided that what comforted her most was that my reaction was much more natural than telling her that it was "just a little bump." It obviously wasn't a little bump, and by freaking out just a little bit (but remaining in control overall), I was with her in her panic. I wasn't some passive observer without an invested interest in the situation. I think that by freaking out with her, though not on the same level, let her know that she wasn't going to have to deal with it alone.

(Updates later with the x-rays!)


Christine

Ugh

I occasionally (not often enough IMO) remember to check in with Ashli, a courageous woman who has gone through hyperemesis multiple times and is a tireless advocate for Pro Life causes. She has written a book about her experiences with HG, and recently has had a couple of posts about why she cannot support March of Dimes.

I touched on this not too long ago when I noticed a post by Rebecca (at Mary Meets Dolly) on various organizations that support ebryonic stem cell research, cloning, and/or fetal tissue research.

This article is quite a disturbing addition to the information I've already seen. Especially upsetting is the entry under "L," which details experiments done on still-alive children who were in the process of being aborted by hysterectomy. (I must warn you that the article is quite blunt about what was done to these children, who were still attached to the umbillical cord and their mothers.)

However, the same article gives information on a Pro Life alternative to Mard of Dimes. Maybe next time MOD tries to get a donation from me, I'll make one to the Michael Fund.



Christine

The End

I am having fits as I try to read my regular blogs. Many writers are fans of Harry Potter.

I read all six of the previous books in a three-week period early this Spring when my girls and I got sick. One week of flu for them, one week of flu for me, one week of bronchitis for me. Six books read. (Can't say how many movies the girls watched while I was sick. I could barely function, and Hubby was away for most of the bronchitis. But I do know that they played a lot with their dollhouse and other toys, and they read a lot of Junie B. Jones and Magic Tree House.)

I do not own a single Harry Potter book. I borrowed them all from the library, and we intend to get a full set from Scholastic Books as soon as they are all available in one big set. (Tempted as I was to buy the six in a set from Scholastic and just pre-order the seventh, I knew I'd be bugged that the set wouldn't match.)

Last week, I went to get Chamber of Secrets to read to the girls, and I noticed this list posted on the check-out computer. It looked something like this:

HARRY POTTER
1. Someone's Name
2. Another Person
3. Someone Else
4. This Guy
5. Some Lady
6. Another Woman
7. Some Other Man

I said to Library Man, "Is that the entire waiting list for Deathly Hallows??!!??"

"I think," he chuckled, "that most people are just buying it instead of borrowing it."

I thought for a moment. "How many copies do you think our branch will be getting in?" I asked.

He answered, "Last book, we got about six copies in. I expect we'll get about that many for this one. Want me to write you down?"

"YES, PLEASE!!"

I'm now number 8 on the list.

I told Big Girl yesterday that I expect to get a call within three days with a copy for me. Until then, I am desperately trying to keep away from Harry Potter spoilers. I have strong suspicions, and I think I had a revelation about it just because of the central aspect of sacrificial love within the series. But I'll not write even that for now. I might be able to write about it when I'm finished, but I will be sure to mark the entry as a spoiler in the title of the post, just in case you are even slower to get to Deathly Hallows than I am.

Man, I really hope I can get my hands on it before I am supposed to stay at my friends' house this weekend so I can watch their children. (I wonder if they'd cancel their vacation if I am too busy reading.) I mean, I could wind up being like this.



Christine

White and Nerdy: Donny and Al Only

My sister-in-law sent this to me, and it is just da bomb! (See me being White and Nerdy?)





Donny Osmond fingerspelling "ROTFLOL" is hysterical, but I think he is actually signing something...um...dirty in the video. Won't mention it at the moment. (Fellow signers and terps, let me know if you catch a sign in there aside from ROTFLOL.)

Christine

Ixodida et Venalia

Kristine Franklin has an amazing post on our sins and how they are very much like ticks. Well, except for the fact that we tend to LIKE our venial sins but really, really hate ticks.

Super read! Go check it out.



Christine

Trauma

Mowing the lawn today was traumatic for me. As I mowed a part of the hill that hadn't been touched in nearly a month (due to a broken self-propelling wire and Hubby being busy with his Evan Almight Project), I heard a soft CHUNK under the mower. I backed up and noticed two baby bunnies running out from under the mower!!!

As I backed up frantically, trying to both cut the mower engine and not drop the still-turning blades on the remaining bunnies, I started to cry frantically.

One baby bunny was killed, and it was NOT pretty.

Needless to say, the rest of the hill isn't getting mowed today. I'll finish off the front yard, though, since I'm pretty sure the bunnies haven't moved in since I mowed it two weeks ago.



Christine

Counters for Your Blog

Esther mentioned that Sitemeter has a spyware issue, so I am cancelling my Sitemeter account and have switched over to StatCounter, which also allows me to install counters at both blogs free of charge (and free of spyware!).



Christine

Especially for Ma Beck

Because I know she loves the classics.







Christine