Routines

Posted on by joesuperdad

I do it every night.  Not because it affects my night, but because it affects my next morning.  (I hope I’m using affect & effect right. If not, KBird will undoubtedly correct me.)  Oh, I forget sometimes, or I just can’t manage to make myself spend that 90 seconds late on a Saturday night occassionally, but I sure want to do it every day.

Actual photo of me in the am. Plus, Goofy is the bomb diggity.

I set my coffee maker.  Clean it out from that day, prep it for the next morning’s brew, and put the timer on.  When I know that coffee is ready and waiting for me when I wake up, I am exactly 78% more likely to not mind getting out of bed.  It’s scientific fact.

I’ve written a few times (for you, it probably feels ad naseum, for me, it feels like it’s barely been brought up) about my running.  When I don’t get my daily run in, my wife doesn’t really want me around.  I’m sort of wacky-hyper-abrasive-irritated.  I’ve got all that pent-up energy – I haven’t worked through things how I do every since day – I haven’t pushed myself to exhaustion – I haven’t stimulated myself. Read More

TGOF

Posted on by RRMM

TGIF!  Thank God It’s Friday, the world is shouting.  And, it’s true.  I’m pretty sure there’s not a person you could talk to today who wouldn’t agree that they are thankful that it’s Friday.

But, I think I want to commandeer the TGIF expression and change it to TGOF – Thanking God On Friday.  As we are all prone to celebrating the end of the week and the freedom of the weekend ahead, maybe we should take a few minutes to look over the past week and say “Thank You, God, for all the good things that happened this week.”

So, here I go.  I’m going to set the TGOF ball rolling…

Saturday – I am thankful that the weather was nice and we were able to enjoy the Bloomin’ Festival as a family.

Sunday – I am thankful that we had a good turn out and a great night at youth group.

Monday – I am thankful for all the great people on the Pastoral Council who work so hard to serve the parish.

Tuesday – I am thankful for a great friend who invited me out for “grown-up time” and for my husband making it possible for me to hang out with her.

Wednesday – I am thankful for Mass and Chick-fil-A breakfast with a faithful group of teens.  Also, for good conversation with the evening Bible Study group.

Thursday – I am thankful for generous people who gave me maternity clothes and some new shoes for my son.  Also, for good dinner provided by my mom and for a mini-doctor’s appointment for the baby with Dad.

Friday – I am thankful that it IS Friday and also that the weather’s warm enough for my niece and nephew to come over and swim with their cousin.

(One thing I am NOT thankful for on this Friday, though, is that a chipmunk got into the kitchen from the screened porch, where the cat was tormenting it.  And, now it’s trapped under some cabinets until my husband gets some.  Ooooh, that scratching noise is NOT cool.)

So, I hope you’ll take a moment to TGOF today.  Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised by all the GREAT things that happened this past week.  Enjoy your weekend!

This chart has nothing to do with this blog. But, it's good for a laugh on a Friday.

 

 

Suit up and Show up

Posted on by joesuperdad

Totally not how I look, because I dress much more stylish and run much faster.

Yesterday morning, for the 115th day in a row, I laced up my running shoes and dashed (in my own head) out the door for my routine morning run.  Walking down the driveway, I did my hamstring stretches, reached the road and started running.  As I ran down my street, I began my run how I always do – with the prayer “Lord, I give you this run, I give you this morning, I give you this day.  Lord, I give you my heart.”

And then I don’t remember anything else.  I mean, nothing, except having a sub-par run.  It’s like it didn’t happen, except I know it did.

Generally, focus is something I’m good at while I run.  It’s what keeps me running – on days that I can’t focus, I know I have a lousy run in front of me – and I can usually tell pretty quickly.  But usually I can still work through some things on my mind and on my heart – be they family related, work related, friend related, etc.  Running is my time for communing with my Creator, with the depths of myself, and with attempting to not get run over.  Sometimes that order gets messed up. Read More

Hope Floats

Posted on by ymkbird

“Always be prepared to give a reason for your hope.” 1 Peter 3:15

I recently found myself in a conversation with a friend who is struggling with depression and feeling overwhelmed. At work, with his family, in his marriage, keeping up at home…he has been sinking under the weight of all of his struggles and responsibilities. At one point in the conversation I encouraged him to have hope that things were going to be okay.

He got instantly angry.

“What do you mean? How do you know it’s going to be ok? Are you going to get me a new job? Can you fix the broken relationships in my life? I cannot just ignore the problems and hope they’ll just go away. You may live your life that way, but I can’t function like that.”

In that moment, I had an opportunity to share the reason for my hope…to explain how my faith gives me patience to wait for God’s timing in my life. To witness to the ultimate hope in Christ and the promise of eternal life that keeps me going through the hard times. To connect with the Paschal Mystery of the life, death and resurrection of Christ that we just celebrated a few weeks ago. To show him how my Christian faith has totally transformed my life.

But I didn’t do any of those things.

Read More

The Big Change (A Rant About A Societal Norm)

Posted on by RRMM

WARNING:  This is going to be a ranting blog.  I just wanted to warn you.  If you get easily offended, you probably shouldn’t read any further.
———————————————————————————————————————————–
This is going to be a big year for our family.  It’s been coming down the pike for awhile and now, finally in 2012, the Big Change will be happening.  After 7 years of full-time youth ministry work, I will be “retiring” so that I can stay home with my son (and, by the end of the year, 2nd baby who is on the way).

Yes, I am 32 and I will be retiring.  But, in actuality, I won’t be retiring from anything – I’m just going to be making a career change from full-time paid Church employee to Stay-At-Home-Mom.

I am not going to write about all the prayer and discernment that went into making this decision.  Suffice it to say, it was a lot.  In fact, this has been a decision that has been almost 2 years in the making.  And, we, as a family, feel like now is the time to make the Big Change.  I still love and believe 100% in the importance and value of youth ministry.  But, it’s time for someone else to take it on in my stead.

I have mixed emotions about the whole thing, but mostly I am really excited about the change.  But, something that’s been happening is really frosting my cookies…

Here’s where the ranting begins.

 Read More

Tulip Capital of the World

Posted on by chriskmn

Red Tulips

The often-disputed tulip capital of the world are the Keukenhof Gardens (“kitchen gardens”) situated near Lisse, Netherlands.  The good people of Holland, Michigan hold the title of tulip capital of the USA, but since their town is named after the very country containing Keukenhof, I think it is safe for me to declare once and for all the beautiful Keukenhof Gardens as #1 in tulips. Now you know, whether you wanted to or not.

I bring all this up because on my way into church today I walked past a beautiful bed of multi-colored tulips in full blossom.  As far as I am concerned the front flowerbed at Holy Name of Jesus is as beautiful as anything Keukenhof or Holland, Michigan has to offer.  Long stemmed and big, beautiful blossoms, these flowers were worthy of note.  I couldn’t help but stop and smell the..err..tulips.

I was most struck by the fact that these chromatic creations were all leaning towards the newly risen sun.  Each flower straining and pushing to get closer to that ball of exploding gas which rains radiation, light, and heat down upon our green globe.  I’m no botanical genius, but I guessed this had something to do with photosynthesis and the plants seeking to expose their leaves to the most sunlight possible, but I didn’t really know.

So, I looked it up on the magical interwebs.  The process is called Heliotropism which is how we describe plants turning to face the sun.  According the one website I read, plants follow the sun for better photosynthesis and the warmer flowers may attract more pollinating insects.  What is interesting is that they do this all day long.  These flowering plants will slowly turn their blossoms and leaves all day so as to get the best light as the sun moves across our sky (sorry Copernicus – I meant to say “we rotate while the sun stays still.”).

As Christians we need to be more like Tulips.

No seriously, not photoshopped - Fields of real tulips.

We should be more like these petalled posies not by being heliotropic but by being Christotropic.  I mean this in two ways:

  1. Yearning for the sun: When the sun rises small “motor” cells in the base of the plant enlarge with water in just a certain way to turn and push the tulips to face and ultimately reach for the sun. We need to strain and lean into our God.  We must, from our very base, turn our whole posture to face and take in as much of God’s light as we possibly can.  With our whole being, physically as well as spiritually, we need to turn our life towards Christ.  Christ needs to be the center of all that we do.  We should do this in such a way that others notice.  When I saw the flowers reaching for the sun, I naturally turned my face to the rising sun as well.
  2. From the rising to the setting of the sun: These flowers, and sunflowers like them, not only strain for God at the first moments of sunlight in the morning, but all day long they turn so as to face the heavenly rays of light.  Us too must give each moment, from the rising of the sun to the setting, to God.  Throughout our day, we must learn to turn our attention to God.  Whether we are at school, work, or play, whatever we are doing, we must continuously be attentive to God. As Psalm 113 says, “From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the Lord be praised.”

So next time you see some beautiful flowers, let those simple plants remind you to be Christotropic everyday, all day.

Happily Getting Older

Posted on by RRMM

It’s finally happening.  I think I’m starting to cross the threshold into the “older” realm.

Now, I don’t look in the mirror and see anyone who looks “old” per say…oh, except for the new crop of gray hairs that have recently appeared.

I don’t feel like I’m “older” because I am still in the prime of my birthing and mothering years.

And, of course, the teens and young adults I know still, for some reason, think I’m “hip to the groove” of what’s happening in the world.  That’s got to count for some amount of youthfulness, right?

I recently said to teens, "Back when I was in high school, before cell phones..." YIKES.

But, it’s what happens when the teens and young adults aren’t around.  It’s what my life is when it’s just me and my husband and son…and, maybe some family members who are cool with us doing “old people things”.  That’s where the reality of my age starts to show…that’s what makes me think I might be getting “old”. Read More

Be Careful What You Pray For

Posted on by ymkbird

Today I went to spend some time with my Mama up at the only Church-approved Marian apparition site in the US – the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, WI.  It’s out in the middle of nowhere, literally surrounded by farm fields, but it’s story is pretty amazing.

But I’m not here to tell you about the Shrine…I’ve blogged about that before in other places.  No, today it’s the message I got there that hit me right in the gut.

Sure she's all sweet and gentle and then SMACK! She whacks me right upside the head...

Let me preface by saying that I have a pretty unique relationship with Our Lady.  I get that she’s all humility, meekness, gentleness, and patience, but with me, well, let’s just say that she knows that I can be pretty thick and that meek and gentle doesn’t always get through.  So, occasionally she lays the smack down in a way that I can’t ignore.

I recently completed the Consecration to Jesus through Mary from St. Louis de Montfort.  It was an amazing experience of prayer and I learned a lot about myself, Christ, and His Mother through the preparation process.  But since then, I’ve learned even more.

See, since I’ve completed the consecration I’ve been praying this regular prayer for Jesus to allow Mary to show me my sins.  Like I said before, I can be pretty dense…so I was thinking that I probably have some habits of sin that are so habitual I’m not even aware of them (scary thought, right?).  So, I figured I could pray for awareness of sin and since “acknowledging you have a problem is the first step to overcoming it,”  I’d be well on my way to holiness.

Only, there are a few things I didn’t realize:

1.  Prayer is powerful.  Okay, so I’ve realized this for a while now, but there was something about this prayer that has been particularly powerful – like BAM! – the instant I prayed it my sin started becoming really, really apparent.

2.  The “how” of this particularly prayer.  I never stopped to consider exactly how Jesus and Mary would show me my areas of sin.  You know how it’s been working for me?  I’ve been so completely and totally overcome by them that I can’t ignore them anymore.  They’re apparent – to me, to my husband, to anyone who has spent even 10 minutes with me in the past 2 weeks – because I’m falling into them constantly.

3.  How freeing it would be.  Yes, it has totally and completely sucked to be reminded of what a horrible sinner I am – especially on the heels of such a holy form of prayer.  I think it would have been easy to fall into the trap of arrogance believing that this consecration made me holier or closer to God than those around me.  At the same time, however, I’ve had sin revealed to me that I didn’t even know I had (which was kind of the point of the prayer to begin with).  And, I’ve been able to seek out healing in the Sacrament of Confession for these sins.  No forgetting on the way into the confessional or an incomplete examination of conscience this time – nope, they’ve been so apparent there’s no way I’m going to forget!

Now if only I could get rid of the dandelions in my yard...

All in all this process has been a great gut check for me – it’s been a lesson in humility and mercy to see the extent to which my sins

drastically affect those around me, and to still be forgiven and healed from those wounds.  It’s been glorious to know that I’m weeding it out – slowly but surely – I’m working on getting rid of some weeds I didn’t even know were there because they were masquerading as flowers…or because I’m just naive and a little thick and like my 2 year old, I think that dandelions looks so pretty they must be flowers.

It’s also been a lesson in being careful what I pray for – because I just might get it!

 

50 > 40

Posted on by chriskmn

Ham

50 slices of ham > 40 slices of ham.

Jesus Christ is Risen today, Alleluia! Sorry, couldn’t help myself. Easter is awesome, and easily my favorite time of year for my faith.  Spring has usually sprung, flowers are starting to bloom, and I feel new too.  After a long, and this year it felt extra long, Lent, we cap off our 40 days of sacrifice with the Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil on Saturday – best liturgies of the year) and then Easter Mass.  Can’t get any better than that.

Here is the great thing about being Catholic – 50 is greater than 40.  Lent lasts 40 days. It feels like forever because we can’t drink diet coke or put sugar in our coffee or eat meat or whatever we offered up. But then we get to Easter, and instead of just one day to party; we get 50 full days to party.  Easter lasts from Easter Sunday through Pentecost a full 50 days away.  So as you read this, it is Easter! (Unless you are reading this in like August, then you missed it.)

Everyone has little traditions they do in their house to celebrate Easter.  At my house, we are pretty traditional.  We dye eggs. We roast a ham (like forever till it smells and tastes like bacon).  We eat a lot of unnecessary candy.  We pass out from a sugar comma.  Good times.  Read More

I Hate the Easter Bunny…

Posted on by ymkbird

It’s that time of year again…the Triduum.  It’s the time we enter in to some of the richest liturgical experiences of the year.  It’s the core celebration of the central mystery of our faith – the Paschal Mystery.  Or, as one of my Facebook seminarian friends called it “the intergalactic Victory lap of the Church militant, suffering, and triumphant for all time” (told you he was a seminarian).

Yes, it is all those beautiful things…but for a Catholic family with young children it’s also the time of year for the awkward discussion I most dread with my children: The Time of the Easter Bunny.

We work very hard on getting an answer the question, “What do we do at Easter?” that at least mentions Jesus, the Resurrection, tombs, salvation, etc instead of bunnies, eggs, and candy.  My kids go to Catholic school.  Catholic…in other words, the school is reinforcing this understanding of Easter with stations of the cross, Resurrection garden projects, and Lenten and Easter prayers.  School…in other words, they have Easter parties (before Lent is over) with eggs, baskets, loads of jelly beans, and discussions among the other kids about the Easter Bunny.

Now, I want to make an important clarification.  A lot of families who are anti-Easter bunny are also anti-Santa.  Not so for our family!  I love Santa and everything he stands for.  I love helping my kids make the connection between Santa and St. Nicholas.  I love the message of unadulterated generosity that Santa stands for (no elf on the shelf in my house, Santa gives presents just because he loves you and wants to give you something that will make you happy…just like God!).  I love connecting the hopeful anticipation of the Advent season in our Church with the building excitement children experience as we approach Christmas.  I love Christmas and I love Santa.

He's a male bunny who lays eggs...clearly there's something genetically wrong here.

But the Easter bunny? I can’t find a single legitimate connection to our faith or to the liturgical calendar between Easter Sunday as a celebration of Christ’s Resurrection and the Easter Bunny.  It’s more than that though – there’s something more deep seated and disturbing about my distaste for the rabbit. Read More