Nourished

The last few days have been quiet, although Saturday we were at a seminar until the middle of the day. I had to shop after that, so that the people in the house could eat. They like to do that, for some reason.
Sunday was so nice. It was raining, but we went to Mass early, and then the rest of the day we stayed in and watched football.
The Ravens surprised us by beating the Seahawks, wonder of wonders!

Yesterday I came home after Mass, got the house ready, had Bible Study, went to the Parish office to meet with Marge, and then went to Adoration. I came home and made Buffalo Chicken Chili, and it was fabulous! Yum!
Tim had a meeting, but I got to stay in, and that was wonderful.

Today I went to Mass and then headed over to visit with a good friend who is starting a new business venture. We just had such a good talk.
It was so nice just to sit down, with a cup of tea, and talk about all the "stuff of life" that is happening in our worlds. Women really need to do this, and it seems like we just never take the time. We need that "talking over the back fence" time. Life is too scheduled and too filled with "important" things. How can we meet and have those heart to hearts, where hearts are changed, if we are always meeting to talk about how we can find places to meet so that hearts can change? There always has to be a reason for getting together. I think that this is a very real drawback to the way that we live now, and I want to do something to address it.
We talked about a place and a time to "meet up" where we can do this.
I know that the Holy Spirit is always planting, always nourishing.
I was nourished today.

Louisville Slugger

Yesterday, the first "Tree Guy" came to look at our big old tree in the backyard.

Bill is a real character. He told me so much about that tree, and now I am even sorrier that we have to lose it.
Turns out it is not an Elm, as I always thought, it is a Green Ash, and this kind of tree has some of the best wood! It is the kind of wood that the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made from.
There's a lot of bats in that ol' tree.
Sadly, "She is shutting down."

He told me all about what it would take to take it down, where the root line is, how strong an adult chimpanzee is, that it won't hit the house if it falls (which I am rather dubious about), how hard tree climbing is on a person's body, and a lot more details totally unrelated to the removal of a Green Ash from a residential backyard.
He was very nice though and he wants to be very helpful. Unfortunately, it sounds like his company doesn't have the equiment needed to take out a tree that big.

It is also going to trash the backyard.

Ugh.

In other news, the Holy Spirit filled Adoration for me, and I had some wonderful prayer time! We had a very special "date night" at the study that is being held at St Patrick's, and today is the retreat portion of that study.

More on that tonight.

Just Thursday

Today was a nice, unexpectedly quiet one.

I got going at 5:45 and got my walk and shower done by 6:50.

I got to my prayers before Lilly got up and, as always, the Lord was so good. 

Lilly wanted an egg for breakfast and then she went out and got on the bus. 

I left for Rosary and Mass at 7:40. 

There has been a nice crowd for the Rosary lately! 

Mass was wonderful and then I had a beautiful time of prayer with a dear friend. What a beautiful experience! She has such a sweet spirit. 

I came home and ate breakfast and then headed up to Kimie's. It was just she and I as the rest of the group had other things going on. 

I was supposed to work today at Nancy and Tom's, but I have been coming down with a cold and I didn't want to pass it to Tom. 

Brendan has a bad one, and I am not sure which direction this may be going.

It was my turn to make dinner for the Rankins, so I went to Weis and got the stuff for her favorite Mac and Cheese. I came home, had lunch and then worked on the TOB presentation for awhile. 

I like the way it is coming out. I really hope that April agrees!

I also worked on some email and other things, but I didn't end up writing, which I had on my task list, but I am blogging, so that is a good substitute. 

I did do some thinking about the story as I was working on the presentation, so that's a little progress.

Lilly had a half day and got home pretty early. I ended up taking her home around 2:00.

Around 3:00 I started working on dinner. 

I made roasted caulifower and broccoli, and then I put the mac and cheese together. 

Our dinner was roast beef and potatoes.

I made Tim a little crock of mac and cheese and it turned out really good. Yum.

After I delivered dinner to Kimie, I came home and served up ours. 

Brendan is at TJs so he didn't eat with us, but John moved back down from Nina's today, after staying there for a week to take care of Kalisi. 

Paul came in a bit later, after getting off work at the school.

I finished my portion of his Drexel application today! Go me!

I talked to Laura for awhile. We were making plans for my trip there in a couple of weeks. I am so excited about going there! I can't wait to see those kids! 

So after dinner I did the dishes, and then came in to find something to watch. 

There's a pretty good football game on so I will watch that until I get too tired.

Tomorrow is Adoration. Bliss. 

How can it be Friday Already?

So much for posting something everyday...
We have had such a great week!

Tuesday I got to stay in all day and do homey stuff.
I cooked and cleaned and got ready for Tim and his sister Jordan to get here from Ohio.
Jordan flew back from Olympia Washington, and visited with Steve and Terri for a few days.
Tim drove over and spent some time there and then drove her back here to see our neck of the woods.
We went downtwon yesterday and looked at the light house and caught this guy having lunch

 

Then they went up to Port Deposit and I came home to get some stuff done.
We went to the Tidewater Grill last night for dinner.

I need to get back out around town with a decnt camera....obviously.

Today Tim and Jordan are in DC and I stayed home because I had Adoration today and we have Bible Study tonight.

Tomorrow we are going up to Amish country. Should be a beautiful day for it!

So. There. Another week in the bag.

Monday, Monday

What a day, but so much good in it!

Tim headed to Ohio to visit with his brother, Steve, and to pick up his sister, Jordan, for a visit.

He will be bringing her back here to visit for a few days.

I had a wonderful Bible study this morning. James, Ch 2 is proving to be so very amazing. Not long, but really amazing. 

Then I took Maggie to meet her new doctor. His name is Dr Cullum, and he has a veterinary practice in Belcamp. He says that she looks great. Very healthy and he just set her up with some anti-inflammatory meds to help ease the pain in her hips. I can't wait for her to feel better. She has such a hard time getting up. Her back legs are getting weak.

After we got back home I dropped her off and went down to Adoration.

I had a wonderful prayer time.

I have also registered for another course at the TOB Institute!!

I am so excited! 

These courses are just wonderful and I am so excited to begin teaching what I have been learning.

I took my car over to Weis so that Brendan will have it when he gets off work. I walked home, and the weather was pretty warm, but now it is really windy and the temperature is dropping. 

I really need to find someone to take than tree down....

So I am ending the day watching the SF 49ers make short work of the Cleveland Browns. 

A good day, all in all.

There is Joy

I have come to cherish the days when there is time and space to make my own decisions about my time and space.

The past few weeks have been so full!
All good stuff, of course, but it makes me feel rather ungrounded when I find myself gone for the larger part of each day.
I love being home, and I love doing what needs doing in my home.

I love feeding people, but I have not been feeding people very well these days. It seems like I am always just throwing something on the table without much forethought, and I don't like that.

Today I will plan a menu for the week before I shop. Because I have time!
I am getting the laundry caught up. I can hear the washer down there working away, and it is a nice sound.
I can wash the windows.
I can make a list of tasks that I want to finish, and check them off.

The day started with amazing prayer, and I am so grateful when the Lord chooses to speak deep into my heart, and I have the time to really take it in.

I spent some time thinking about the things that I have put on my own plate, and the things that other people have asked me to put there.
There's a lot, but when it's for Jesus it just goes so much better.

Doing the day of Nettie's program that I did, I was able to identify some of the things that I don't want.
I don't want to be focused on what people can do for me. I want to be focused on what I am called to do. If I am called to call, that is one thing, but building structures for myself, so that I can be bigger in the world, that's not where I want to put my energy.

I don't want to be preoccupied with gathering information that will not benefit my mission. There is so much that I want to read, and learn, and discover, but I want it to be only what I need for the journey. I have a lot. I have been given so much, and it's all Grace.
I have a very full backpack, this Frodo pack.

I discerned a little metaphor for myself on Wednesday.
I am a little like Frodo Baggins.
I carry something that can't be carried by anyone else. I have help, but only I can carry this particular treasure. It is mine to bear. The message (ring) is given, the journey is voluntary.
I must always stay smaller than the message, always give praise and all the Glory to the author, and stay humble, gentle, fearful, and willing.

We all have a treasure that only we can carry. It is an awesome, scary, beautiful, priceless treasure.
It is our journey, and we don't walk alone, but we can't give it to anyone else.
It is a Cross, and it is a gift.

So today I set out on the part of the path that I have to walk.
There may be Orcs or there may be Elves, but there will certainly be Joy.

The Wisdom of the Little Ones

At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,

“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

for although you have hidden these things

from the wise and the learned

you have revealed them to the childlike.

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.

All things have been handed over to me by my Father.

No one knows who the Son is except the Father,

and who the Father is except the Son

and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”  ~Luke 10: 21-22

Your Grace is so amazing Oh Lord!

The more that I am still, the more that I rely on your Holy Spirit, the more clearly I hear your voice. 

The is chaos and division all around. The world tries to intrude, tries to undo what you have done in my heart.

A radical way of living in your will is the only way to maintain the peace that I in my soul. I trust in you Jesus. Keep your Spirit always close to me. 

Hope and Friendship

Today I had the priviledge of sharing Faith and fellowship with good friends at our weekly prayer gathering.
Several of us have been gathering at the home of a friend who is dealing with the effects of a severe brain bleed, for several years.
She is such an inspiration and I am so blest to know her.
One of the things that comes up in conversation is her desire to be able to serve others the way she used to.
There is so much that we take for granted, as people who have never dealt with a true disability, but I think that there is so much to be learned from the experience of those who have, and sometimes we can receive the greatest gifts from them. She serves. She really does.
I pray that my friend will be healed. I know that God can do this, and I believe that He will, but while we are waiting, the witness of this dear friend, and her husband, is a light that shines for me. I am brought to a sense that we are all a part of a story, and her role is one of the most important.
She perseveres. She loves. She struggles, but she keeps hoping.
Hope is such a beautiful gift.
So is friendship.
Hope and Friendship.
Thank You Jesus.

You Are Good

No matter where you are, or who you are. No matter what you've done or what you have had done to you, you belong to God, and He loves you. He has given you the whole world. He has brought you into this life and He offers you every Grace that you need to get through each day.
This is True.
It is His will that you should live in His grace. It is your choice to live in His will.
It is His desire that you will spend eternity with him, but he won't force you.

God created everything and when He looked at it He said that it was good.
God created man and woman and He looked at them, and He said, "It is very good."
That is who we are.