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Outside my window…
It can’t quite figure out what it wants to do – rain or shine?
I am thinking…
about the wonderful weekend I spent at the Franciscan University Youth Conference. I think I needed to go as much as the kids did! One of the speakers had us do a meditation about what it was that kept us from letting Jesus get into our hearts. Once we had focused on the thing or things that could keep us from getting closer to Jesus, we could make the choice to mentally put them in our hands, and when we were ready, we could stand up and open our hands to let them go. It was very powerful. Just the action of mentally taking something that was sinful and hurtful and then making the choice to open my hand and physically release it made me feel much lighter.
A couple of people said some very unkind things to me last week on this blog. Then to make sure I got the point, they sent e-mail as well. I have a tendency to hold a grudge and to ruminate over things like that. And all that does is make me angry and hurt my feelings all over again.
So when I got home, I deleted all the comments and the e-mails – just sent it all to the trash, emptied the trash and set up filters. And that way I have no way to re-read any of those words only to fret, and get worked up over it all again. It was very freeing. That all said, I prefer to think of the positive experiences I had with Izzy and Noah and the youth group at the conference.
I am thankful…
- That Calvin graduated from paramedic school and qualified to take the national test!
- That I actually drove to Steubenville, there and back without any accidents or mishaps!
- For our new parochial vicar! He is a tad older than me but definitely another come-of-age-in-the- 70’s type of person, like me and Mr. Pete! When the band at the conference played a theme for the emcee it sounded very familiar – then it hit me!! It was the intro to “Play the Funky Music White Boy!” and when I mentioned it to Father L. he smiled and said, “That’s right!”
From the learning rooms…
- Gabe and Noah are starting “As I Lay Dying” by Faulkner.
We are sort of in semi-vacation mode this week. Concentrating mainly on math for Noah and reading and math for the girls. Gabe is taking a government class at a local charter school just to get it out of the way.
- Spelling program per Dr. Holinga for all four kids.
- Instacert for History and start American History part 2
- American History at Homeschool Connections Recorded Courses.
- Apologia Science – Physical for Noah, Biology for Gabe, and General for Izzy.
- Saxon math for all with math tutor for Gabe and Noah.
- Rosetta Stone Latin
3 – for Noah and Gabe
- Diane Craft reading program for Izzy. Ms. Craft is coming to Ohio next week and I definitely want to ask her what the next step should be for Izzy’s improvement.
- The Long Winter.
- Pathway readers for Rosie and the Wand for Language arts.
- Mary Poppins for Rosie and Izzy.
Our Yearly Evaluation is this year too!!
From the kitchen...
I’m thinking pasta salad again tomorrow night!
I am wearing…
gray capris, and my lime green conference shirt!!
I am creating…
- Portfolios for our review next week.
- Doubling down on my fitness program – there weren’t a lot of great food choices at the conference. Iceberg lettuce, two slices of cucumber with a tomato does not make a salad!
I am reading…
The diary of Sister Faustina!
I am wondering…
about something I heard in a talk over the weekend. One of the speakers, Sister Miriam James Heindland talked about her life as a young adult, living a sinful life of alcoholism and fornication. Her mother had done everything she could think of to help her turn her life around, but young Sister Miriam would have none of it – her heart was hardened. So Sister’s mother gave her daughter over to our blessed mother and just begged Mary to care for her daughter and to turn her life around and even to make her become a nun! And the remarkable thing is that she did leave her sinful lifestyle, beat her alcoholism and eventually became a nun! It just struck me about how powerful the prayers of a mother truly are.
At the conference, I just prayed and prayed that the guardian angels of all my children and my husband would wrap their wings of sacred protection around them for the weekend – especially Sam and Gabe.
I am Hoping…
I am hoping to sometime hear or see Sam and Gabe. It is 9:00 and Pete has not gotten a text from them in over 24 hours.
On the positive side, that text said they were about to see Sir Paul McCartney! I guess Mr. Pete texted them back and said, “He’s older than I am!”
A couple minutes later Sam texted back, “I hope he can make it through his set!”
I am Looking Forward To…
a homeschool conference next week and Calvin and Sarah’s graduation party! I will be making a lot of potato salad and other stuff next Thursday and Friday!
I am hearing…
The air conditioner!
A Picture I am Sharing…
The new bishop of Steubenville said the mass on Saturday!!
our super nice new parochial vicar was there too!
I think he’s worried that I’m going to use a flash! – I didn’t : )
And where else on the internet can you have Sister Faustina, Paul McCartney, Eucharistic Adoration ,and Play that Funky Music in one post?!
Hang in there–I'm a "ruminator", too, and I'm trying really hard to learn the ancient virtue of detachment in order to separate myself from my message.
It's VERY slow going, however.
It was very smart of you to delete the painful stuff.
Am praying for you. Sometimes I feel like the lone Catholic Christian in the whole world, but that's not true at all. I find your blog very reassuring, and I follow some other Catholic women's blogs, too, and it helps (after I've read the outpouring of hate and nonsense on Facebook, etc), to know that there really are kindred spirits out there.
Thank you Mary. I really needed to read your kind words today! They lifted my spirit.
[…] So I wrote out a list of people and one of the first to pop into my mind was my kindergarten teacher! I shared this with a friend of mine who I think was kind of surprised that I even remembered kindergarten! But as I mentioned before, I’m wired that way. […]