Even Better

 

It was a bit chilly today, but Cora called me to come out and play, so I went out to the backyard and the spring beauty was just really wonderful. I had to share. 

I love our backyard. 

Annunciation Day!

 

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! 

It was the feast of the Annunciation and also the day that Pope Francis, in conjunction with Bishops from all over the world consecrated Russian and the Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary! We are now praying very hard for the conversion of Russia, the victory of her Heart, and the restoration of Ukraine. 

What is happening there is just too horrible. There are so many innocent people who's lives will never be the same. 

Mary has been instrumental in miraculous results, when battles were being lost and the cause seemed hopeless. All for the Glory of God!

Blossoms and Baptisms!

 Well, Spring came last weekend! Here we are!

The temperatures are rising slowly. Still chilly in the morning, but nice later in the day!

Daylight Savings Time happened! That is always so nice. Apparently there is something afoot in congress to make DST permanent, but I kind of like things the way they are. Falling back is a rite of winter, which, although it isn't my favorite season, is still a change and brings with it sweaters, snow and the holidays. Springing forward is the best though! All of a sudden the days are longer! There is a surge of life happening everywhere! 

Speaking of which, the Weeping Cherry is starting to bloom! THAT is just the best, the very best thing about Spring every year. It is just gorgeous, and against all odds it has managed to make it through the winter storms and wind intact! No big branches fell, and it is going to shade our yard through another Summer. If we do move, that is one thing that I will really miss. Maybe we can take a baby one to plant. The little grove that has sprouted in the back yard is so pretty! 

My Rhubarb is just peeking up out of the ground. I put a fence around it so that Cora can't get in and dig it up. When the family comes to visit Cora and Luna, and Comet as well, love to run through that planter. Well, we should have some yummy rhubarb crisp in spite of them. 

Cora is learning to play ball! I can get her to chase a ball and bring it back, as long as I am holding another ball for her to chase. It is her favorite and she can play all afternoon. She likes it better than her walks even. 

Today we went to the vet to get her heartworm medication and, once again, she weighed in at around 7.5 pounds.  I went ahead and bought six months worth. I don't think that she is going to get much bigger, especially if we keep working her out all the time. The way she runs and plays, she is going to stay slight. She may gain some as she ages, but she seems to be doing well at this weight right now. 

We had a lovely St Patrick's Day dinner at the church. The Knights did an amazing job of cooking, and I think we made a bit of money for the renovation project. I donated 3 hours of organizing and that was auctioned for $110.00, Tim sold the 50/50 chances, and they did VERY well. Fr Francis donated a Ugandan dinner for 16 people. That went for 1250.00! It was a lot of fun too! 

On Saturday we welcomed little Louis Hauser into the Church! It was a wonderful Baptism! Maria and Austin are such a sweet couple, and Louis is just darling. He slept through most of the Baptism and all of his party afterwards. We had a nice time visiting with the Andrews. John and Susan have bought some property in Tennessee! They aren't sure when they will end up leaving Maryland, but when they want to go it is waiting for them. 

I am still looking around to see where we might go eventually. I think the Nashville diocese sounds really good. We will do a but if investigating when we are there next month. There are several small towns in the area around Cookeville that are worth investigating. 

Goodness!

 

What a wonderful couple of weeks! 

We have been busy with meetings, Bible studies, rallies for life, and the parish mission happening this week. What a gift!

Maryland Right to Life is working hard to defeat some nasty legislation in our state. We had a rally last week to bring awareness to the latest assaults on the unborn, and now possibly the already-born...

David Bereit of 40 Days for Life

After a couple of sunny days, we had snow last weekend!

The biggest news is the Lenten Mission that is happening at St Patrick's this week. It is a big undertaking, but so very worth it! We have been so blessed!! 

Fr Francis asked us to host two of the missionaries, and we have really enjoyed getting to know them. They have deep faith and they are very hard workers! All of the missionaries are. 

We got them on Saturday night and took them out to dinner at La Cucina. It was really good! 

The mission itself has been very well attended and it really has been so Grace-filled. The Holy Spirit is so present! I can't wait for tonight. We will have Adoration and Confession! I am praying that many, many people are brought to a deeper love of Jesus and conversion of heart!

Also, Paul has been visiting Michigan on his Spring break and he sent these gorgeous pictures of sunset on the Lake. 

Saturday...

 Well, it has been ridiculously cold out this past week. We are certainly ready for a break around here. Some good stuff has happened though.

Nina's house sold!! So exciting!! It went on the market just last Saturday, and they are closing next week! Good Heavens that was fast! So nice for Nina to have that load off. 

In not-so-good news, Claire injured her shoulder somehow and was in a lot of pain on Thursday evening. She is just keeping it still and resting it for a while. Lilly was also sick and missed almost a week of school. Molly got her expander on and is progressing toward her braces. Lots happening with the grandkids! 

We are still looking at Tennessee as a possible place to resettle in a couple of years, maybe sooner if the Holy Spirit prompts us to. Maryland is getting so wrapped up in the culture of death, and there are several bills in our legislature that would make paying taxes here quite difficult. I have written and called, and we are hopeful that they will be pushed off this year, but Maryland is truly going to become one of the worst states for life, if these things are made law. Just putting it down here, because this is a big thing that we are considering. 

Tim and I pushed our trip to TN back to April, because Fr Francis asked us to host a couple of the guys who are helping to put on our parish mission. Since we have the bedrooms, I said yes! It was easy to reschedule the AirBNB. The mission sounds like it will be amazing! I am certainly in need of it. 

I guess I will head out in a bit to do some yardwork. It's supposed to be warmer this afternoon. We are going to the church to hand out baby bottles after mass and I want to go to confession. I may wait on that til Monday though, depending on how the yard work goes. I'd like to have a fire and burn most of the stuff that I collect. I'll smell like smoke and that's not a nice thing to do to the people at Church.

Ash Wednesday

 Lent begins.

The older I get the more I have come to love this season of penitence and giving over more of my life to God. It is a time of introspection, intentional sacrifice and deepening of love for Him. It is a time that is set aside for prayer and thinking about how to live, and how to surrender. So much of my life has been about me. My feelings, my needs, my future and my concerns. Every year Lent strips a little more of the me from my life, and fills it in with Him. His love, His desires, His plan and how I fit into all of it. It is so freeing, and it is His gift. A time for reflecting on what He has done for us, and how immense His love is. 

This year we are back to the wonderful traditions that Covid had disallowed. We will once again have Stations of the Cross inside the Church. We will have additional opportunities for Confession, We will be able to have times of communal prayer and penitence and we will have an awesome parish mission! 

What a gift we have in this time and place.