7 Quick Takes Friday – Spring Has Sprung

1.  Father B is out of the hospital!  Thanks again to everybody who prayed for him!  Hopefully he’ll be back to his usual duties soon.

2.  Did you know that Saturday, April 28th is National Drug Take Back Day?  If you have unused or expired prescription medicines, this is the time to get rid of them!  Prescription drug abuse is turning into an epidemic in the US, and most abusers begin with meds found in their home or a friend’s home.  Click here to find a collection site near you!  And if you have elderly relatives, ask them if they need any help cleaning out their medicine cabinets.

3. Fescues are turning into my scorpions.  It’s been a month since I threw those buggers in the compost, and every time I open it up, they’re sitting pretty, just as green as they were when I first threw them in!  I swear they’re staying alive just so that they can come back when I throw my compost on the garden next spring.  

4. I am not having good luck with getting seeds to grow!  None of the first batch of carrots I planted came up.  Only a handful of the second batch have come up.  Only one one of the first batch of lettuces I planted came up (not surprising, last year’s seeds).  After a week, none of the 2nd batch has come up.  None of the 1st batch of spinach I planted came up (again, last year’s seeds).  I sowed a 2nd batch the same day as I sowed the 2nd batch of lettuces, and so far only one has come up.  (I blame the cold snap we had a few days ago.)  The only seeds I’ve actually done well with are radishes.  Suggestions?

5.  I’m not going to lie to you, Marge.  Now that Lent’s over, I’m really enjoying drinking beer again!  Any recommendations for craft/microbrews?

6.  It’s funny how the Prayer of the Month series has been coming together.  Every time I pick a prayer, I wonder if I’ll ever find anything to say about it.  And yet, so far whenever I devote the time to it, I get something good.  (I’ll let you be the judge of how insightful I am.)  Thank you, Holy Spirit.

7. It’s Friday, so we need a song!  This Friday’s song is “Your Horoscope For Today” by Weird Al.

For more Quick Takes, go here!

Prayer of the Month: Memorare

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection,
implored Thy help or sought Thine intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly unto Thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother;
to Thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in Thy mercy, hear and answer me.

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help or sought Thine intercession, was left unaided.  Never was it known.  That’s a mighty strong word, but it’s a true word.   The Blessed Mother has never, can never, will never let anybody down.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto Thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother.  She won’t let you down because she’s not just Jesus’ mother, she’s our mother too.  And unlike our actual mothers, she is without sin, unable to turn away her children.

to Thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful.  Sinful and sorrowful.  I feel that way when I stand next to Mary.   It’s not even that I can’t measure up to her – nobody can.  But like any mother, she expects us to do our best (that’s our best, not hers) and whenever I say this prayer, I think of the ways I have failed to be my best and know that the Blessed Mother is disappointed.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in Thy mercy, hear and answer me.  Despite all our failings, we come to Mary with our troubles.  And as the mother of us all, she will give us what we need.

Urgent: Sarah Has Only Two Weeks!

Meet Sarah.  Sarah resides at Pleven orphanage, what many Bulgarians refer to as “The Bad Place.”  At least, she does for the next two weeks.  After that, she’ll be transferred to an institution and will no longer be listed as available for adoption.

Do you know someone who might want to adopt this little angel?  Maybe you do and you just don’t know it yet!  Put her on Facebook, Twitter, your blog, Google+, wherever you network online.

Maybe you’re the person called to adopt Sarah.  Even if you aren’t, you can help the person who is called find her – she can’t be adopted if people doesn’t know she exists!

(Hat tip to Leila at the Orphan Report – thank you Leila for your efforts!)

7 Quick Takes Friday – Just Another Day In Paradise

1.  Thank you to everyone who prayed for Father B.  He’s on the mend but not completely healed yet.  Any and all prayers for him are appreciated!

2. Speaking of prayer, I finally have the chance to reveal who prayed for me this Lent!  It was Laura at Watts Up in the Tundra?!? Thanks for your prayers, Laura!  They were a huge help to me.

3.  April and May are going to be the longest months ever.  As far as work is concerned, anyway.  The other day I was stuck at work with one pregnant lady and two guys whose wives are pregnant and guess what they talked about for the Entire. Freaking. Afternoon?  To top it all off, someone asked me when I was going to have a kid.  It was all I could do not to say “The next [expletive] that asks me when I’m having an [expletive] baby is getting pistol-whipped!”  Two more coworkers have babies due in May, and then maybe everybody will shut up about the baby stuff for awhile.  I think I can…

4.  I saw this in my backyard and I knew I had to post it.

A little nest, which two robins lovingly built and laid their eggs in, blown down by some strong winds.   I feel like this picture sums up my life… the nest is perfect but the eggs are broken.

5. I had hoped to finish The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur before Easter, but didn’t.  Hopefully I’ll get done with it soon and can post a review.  Elisabeth was very wise and very close to God, and reading her book feels like getting advice from a big sister.

6.  There are a lot of reasons why I love gardening, but one of the big ones is that it’s a lot easier to make dinner when you can just make a salad from stuff in your backyard.  Man, I can’t wait for my plants to get bigger.   

7.  We must have a song for Friday!  This Friday’s song is the theme song from Today’s Special.  Anybody else like that show when they were a kid?  Just me?  OK.

For more Quick Takes, go here!

First Steps

Often, when a person has a large goal in mind – losing 100 pounds, training for a marathon, finishing graduate school – it helps to break the goal down into smaller steps and celebrate the completion of each small step.  Failing to celebrate the steps in the journey can make the ultimate goal seem too far away and many people will get discouraged and give up.

I had a similar thought about DH’s conversion.  While I’ll keep the big picture (baptism at the Easter Vigil) in mind, it became clear that I needed to break the goal down into smaller pieces.  So I decided I’d start praying for him to take the first step.  And then, since I’m kind of neurotic, I started to worry: What is the first step?  Should I pray that he go to Mass with me at Christmas? Should I pray that he read one of my theology books?  Should I pray that he start reading Conversion Diary?

And then yesterday morning, it hit me.^*  DH’s first step would not be the same as my first step.  (I’m surprised the Holy Spirit didn’t add “duh” after that thought.)  There are as many reasons to convert as there are converts, and there are as many paths to conversion as there are converts.  I have no clue what DH’s first step might be, but I’ll know it when I see it.

And so, I pray for a first step.

^{*I was at work and having a somewhat hectic day, and there was this awesome insight from the Holy Spirit. God really does work in mysterious ways!}

Requiem

Earlier this month, I asked my readers to pray for the repose of the soul of HW, a family friend.  I’d like to tell you a little more about HW.

HW and his wife lived across the street from my family and I when I was little.  They were a few years older than my folks and didn’t have any children and thus doted on me and my sister.  After our family moved away, they came to visit us a few times a year at our new home.  They always brought a ton of gifts – not expensive stuff, mostly paper and markers and other stuff kids might think is cool.  Their visits were one of the few times a year we were allowed to have soda (my mom is a real health nut).

When I was in my mid-teens, they inexplicably stopped speaking to us.  No more visits, no more calls, no more cards.  I’ve mentioned before that my sister has special needs; communication was cut off just before my sister got sick.   So, while my folks missed the W’s, they had a few other things on their minds and didn’t try to rekindle the relationship.  And me?  Well, I was just a surly teenager.

Years passed.  I graduated high school.  I went to college and met DH.  My sister graduated high school (a minor miracle).  I finished college and got a job.  I married DH.  I went to graduate school.  My sister moved into a group home and slowly, ploddingly, improved. I finished graduate school and got a better job.

And last summer, HW and his wife called my parents.  It seems that HW had been ill for some time and had been in and out of the hospital.  They didn’t offer an explanation for why they did what they did, and we didn’t ask.  We were just glad to hear from them again.

I kept nagging myself to send a card to the W’s.  For Christmas, I said.  Then Christmas flew by and I hadn’t sent it.  For Valentine’s, I said.  But then Valentine’s passed and I hadn’t sent it.  For Easter, I promised.  And I delivered.  I sent a card with a picture of me and DH a few weeks before Easter.  During Holy Week, I received a card with the W’s address as the return address.

HW’s wife, J, said that she was so grateful for the card and that HW would have loved the picture.  She wished he could have seen it before he passed away.

I’m kicking myself for not sending the stupid card sooner. I’m also left with a bunch of questions that will never be answered, and a sincere wish that I could have told HW that the past is the past and we should focus on the future.  Maybe someday I will be able to tell him that.

In the meantime, whenever this song comes on the radio, I’ll think of him and say a little prayer.

Another Prayer Request

Father B. was a huge help to me when I reverted to Catholicism a few years ago.  Whatever meager spiritual progress I’ve made since then is in large part because of him.  Father B. helped me a great deal, and now he needs my help.  He’s in the hospital and could really use the prayers of anyone who’ll offer them.

Thank you.

7 Quick Takes Friday – Seeds, Scattered and Sown

1.  Can’t get away from the orphans!  No Greater Joy Mom  (Adeye) and her husband Anthony are trying to spring little Faith from the Pleven orphanage, one of the most disgusting, awful places on Earth.  Poor little Faith is 14 years old and weighs only 14 pounds… yes, 14 pounds due to severe malnutrition.   And yet, hearing Adeye talk about how she and Anthony are called to rescue this little one, how they already love her despite all her health problems and the multitude of challenges she’ll face… it fills my heart with joy.  If you have some extra cash, they’d definitely appreciate a donation.

2.  Some of the seeds I planted actually came up!  It’s an Easter miracle!  You guys have to understand, I’m a gardening newbie (this being my 2nd year of having a garden) and I totally suck at getting seeds to sprout.  Precious few of my carrots have sprouted.  The grass seed I put down only came up sporadically.  I gave up on my Swiss Chard seeds coming up and bought transplants from the nursery.  My lettuce and spinach didn’t come up  at all, but that’s probably because I used last year’s seeds.  Hopefully I’ll have better luck with the new seeds I ordered.

3.  The title of this post comes from a hymn.  You may think it’s one of my favorite hymns or that it has some special meaning for me.  In reality, I  think it’s kind of annoying; however, it ALWAYS gets stuck in my head when I’m planting seeds!

4. I suppose the title of this post could also be a metaphor for my life in a mixed marriage.  I’m always trying to plant seeds of faith in my husband.  Don’t get me wrong, I do love him as he is; I pray for his conversion because I think he’s missing out on something wonderful.  Let’s hope the seeds I plant in DH’s heart germinate better than the ones in my garden.

5.  When you live in the town where you went to college, occasionally you run into your old professors.  Sometimes that’s nice.  Sometimes you just hope and pray that they don’t recognize you.  Mercifully, the prof I had freshman year didn’t recognize me outside the grocery store yesterday (or if he did, he was too busy shouting into his cell phone to say so).   I thought he taught a pretty worthless subject and essentially told him so in class one day; luckily that was [cough] years ago so maybe he’s forgotten me.  Why did I tell him that, you ask?  Well, at the time my rationale was  that the guy was a blowhard and he had it coming.  Most people’s stories of dumb things they did in undergrad involve partying too hard; mine usually involve telling off the wrong person.

6.   Finally, here’s a question for anyone who wants to answer: is it OK to attend an ex-boyfriend’s wedding?  My college boyfriend invited me and DH to his wedding reception the other day.  He and his fiancé live about 1000 miles away; they are having a small ceremony where they live and later on, a party here in the college town. I haven’t yet given him an answer.  On the one hand, that was ancient history, I’m happily married now and I wish the two of them well. On the other hand, I’ve never met his fiancé and would hate to make her feel awkward.  Thoughts?

7. It’s Friday, so we need a song!  This Friday’s song is “Weapon of Choice” by Fatboy Slim.  I’ve always wanted to dance around a hotel lobby like Christopher Walken does in this video.

For more Quick Takes, go here!

Perspective

Last year at Easter, we went to visit my family.  I recall that DH was grossed out by a smell at my parents’ house¹, barely slept, and was annoyed by my special-needs-having sister².  This year, my folks came to visit us.  (Sister doesn’t like to travel so she stayed at her group home.)  My parents chattered nonstop, which is tiring for DH since he’s from a very laconic family.  We had to spend a great deal of time entertaining them, again, tiring for DH the introvert.  And on Holy Saturday, we got home from Easter Vigil at 11:30 PM and stayed up till almost 1 AM talking a little too loudly.  DH was not amused, having already been in bed by the time we got home.  Did I mention that DH also spent his day off cleaning the house in preparation for my family’s arrival?

I was mulling this over today and decided that I had achieved Epic Wife Fail and I’d better a) apologize and b) do something different next Easter.   And at dinner tonight, I told DH that I was sorry my grandiose plans had wrecked his last two Easters.  His response kind of startled me.

“Uh… what did we even do last Easter?”

“I dragged you to visit my family, remember?”

“You didn’t drag me.  That’s what I signed up for when I married you.”

Oh. Right.

Clearly, this man can teach me a few things about how not to hold a grudge.  And clearly that’s something I need to learn, since I was actually holding a grudge against myself.

<sup>1. He’s a lot more sensitive to smells than I am; I noticed it but not as much.
2. To be fair, she annoyed me too. She’s my little sister, it’s her job to annoy me.</sup>

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  Alleluia, He is Risen!

In honor of Easter, I give you The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah.  I know this is traditionally played at Christmas more than Easter, but what the heck, it’s my blog and I’ll post Handel if I want to.  :)

Also, a very special Easter greeting to my prayer buddy!  All through Lent I was praying for Joanna Henderson at Still Standing.  Happy Easter, Joanna!  I hope you and your husband have many blessings today and every day!

“He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” – Matthew 28:6