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Donkeys, Lent, and Holy Week
About 20% of my spontaneous prayers begin with the words, “Lord, I am an ass”. I hope that’s not shocking or offensive — it is, after all, a biblical term — so I figure it’s an okay way to speak to God. And God knows I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I say these words to Him — they just seem to me to be the only words that can fully express exactly how I am feeling in the moment. They are some of the truest prayers I have ever prayed. And more often than not, I have found myself saying this prayer on a Sunday morning, as I look…
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7 Quick Takes: Camera Roll Edition
Hello everybody. Can you believe next week is Holy Week? Lent seemed to be going by so slowly — and all of a sudden, we are reaching the end. I am currently in the process of building a new website for my husband’s business, so blogging has taken a back seat this week. This post is truly going to live up to the name “Quick Takes”. I recently was clearing out my camera roll and came across a bunch of funny pictures taken mostly by my kids. I love seeing what interests them — except for when my four year old takes bursts of 50 pictures at a time of things like toilet paper rolls or…
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Are You Too busy? Figuring Out the Non-Negotiables in Your Life.
Right now life.is.crazy. I am currently in the process of a career change. That’s right, I’m moving into the exciting world of graphic design. So, yay for me! Actually, the truth be told — I naively took on the job of re-designing my husband’s website — after which time, I will gladly retire from the world of web design and return to part-time blogger and full-time wife and mother. The thing is, my husband is an amazing designer. His web site used to reflect that, but we’ve been busy with life, and work and all the craziness of having six kids — only to realize that our website is beginning to look a bit outdated. It…
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Halfway Through Lent and Other Thoughts…
We have reached the halfway point in Lent — yay us! Lent has been just what it should be — difficult and beautiful and really, really long. I know it has been good for me, how about you? Well, on to the takes… ~1~ It’s My Little Sister’s Birthday! My sister is hilarious. She really is. She’s got 8 kids, plus one in heaven, and she is one of those people who puts you at ease because she’s just so darn real. The stories she can tell about her crazy life — she should be the one writing a blog! When we were growing up, she used to run to me when any…
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The Importance of Leisure
Leisure is an important thing. This statement might seem obvious to some — and slightly offensive to others. In fact, our American work ethic might make it difficult to believe that leisure is an important part of our lives. You might even equate leisure with laziness, sloth, or vice. Spiritual direction over the years has made one thing abundantly clear: filling your day with lots and lots of work is not necessarily a virtuous pursuit. Perhaps even more shocking: moments of leisure help to shape you into the person that you will become. It is really that important. A recent visit to Italy reminded me of this truth. We were sitting in St. Peter’s Square,…
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Life Lately: Lenten Edition
How’s your week going? We have lots going on at the moment, including celebrating St. Patrick’s Day — Yippee! So, on to the Quick Takes: ~1~ Frater, Momento Mori I’m happy to announce our power is back. We had great moments of bonding and family adventures — but thank God for electricity. It’s the best! While the power was out, most of our days were filled with accomplishing the basics: preparing food, keeping heat going, and clean up. But now that it’s back, I have been left with the thought, “I have been given this free time back, now what will I do with it?” The truth is, most of us living in the West have much more “free time” in…
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When We Fail to Catch Our Kids
Last week we were out of power for 5 days. No lights, no power, no running water, no toilets — and no idea when it would be restored. This wouldn’t have been so bad if the temps didn’t drop well below freezing most nights, but we were managing — and I dare say — we were actually enjoying all of the quality time spent by the fireplace and camping out in our living room. By the 4th day, we had actually found a rhythm to this simple life. We had eaten dinner and cleaned up the house before the sun set. We had this “no power thing” down! And as we sat down…
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7 Quick Takes: Lights Out Edition
How’s your Lent going? I’m making it through. I hope you can say the same. I’m writing this in the public Library as my baby naps away — so this might be a brief one. Hopefully I’ll make it to #7. So, on to the Quick Takes… ~1~ Children Waiting Everywhere Lent is about prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — and I have the perfect way to take care of the Almsgiving portion of your Lent. I must tell you about a woman who is doing amazing things for refugee children fleeing from S. Sudan and the Congo. I wrote a post earlier this week about current fundraising efforts focused on…
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Children Waiting Everywhere: Living Simply So Others Might Simply Live
There was a recent in-depth study on giving, and it found that those who give to others are actually much happier than those who just spend money on themselves. Of course, we shouldn’t give to others in order to be “happy” — but there’s no denying that one of the “side-effects” of generosity is happiness. The truth is, when we live according to how we’ve been created — we experience greater happiness — and this study supports what Christians have known for centuries: we were created to give ourselves to others. This call to generosity is clearly conveyed by Jesus in Matthew 25. It is a call to conversion — to cut unhealthy ties to…
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Lent Begins and Other Thoughts
How’s your Lent going? I know it’s only been two days — but it feels like it’s going to be a looong Lent. Oh well — only 6 weeks to go. Yay for us! 🙁 Did you get your ashes? Check out this guy — I saw a humorous chart analyzing different ash patterns on the internet and I believe this one would fall under the category: Father’s Revenge. Poor guy! Anyway, my parents are in town, so let’s get right to the 7 Quick Takes: Lenten Thoughts Edition ~1~ Yay for Surviving the 1st Strict Fast of the Year! Though I’m posting this on Friday, I am actually writing this post early…
