Recently I have enjoyed reading through the above book. It is about the gifts of the Holy Spirit... but not only those but also other things like attentiveness, beauty, patience, intimacy, leadership..... so forth and so on. Each of the chapters has a thought provoking quote and then a little meditation about that particular gift then at the very end there is an even more thought provoking question that is used to really make you think and reflect about that particular gift... I really enjoy it, so I thought I would write a little bit about it here on this blog... Maybe you will enjoy it too.....
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
"Gracious Goodness"
Recently I have enjoyed reading through the above book. It is about the gifts of the Holy Spirit... but not only those but also other things like attentiveness, beauty, patience, intimacy, leadership..... so forth and so on. Each of the chapters has a thought provoking quote and then a little meditation about that particular gift then at the very end there is an even more thought provoking question that is used to really make you think and reflect about that particular gift... I really enjoy it, so I thought I would write a little bit about it here on this blog... Maybe you will enjoy it too.....
Funny Church Signs
One of my favorite things to do on road trips is read the funny church signs that are put up... especially on the southern Baptist churches. They usually make me laugh... I did not see to many this time mainly because I fell asleep a lot of the way, but here are a few funny one's nonetheless...
"Staying in bed shouting 'Oh God!' does not constitute going to church."
"There are some questions that can't be answered by google."
"Free trip to heaven. Details inside."
"Sign broken. Message inside."
"Tired of being a loser? Turn to God."
"The most powerful position is on your knees."
"Give God what's right, not what's left."
"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly. Leave the rest to God."
"Do not criticize your wife's judgment. See whom she married."
"Be kind to your enemies. After all, you made them."
"Do not be so open-minded. You're brains will fall out."
and my personal favorite.....
"Wal-mart is not the only saving place."
"Staying in bed shouting 'Oh God!' does not constitute going to church."
"There are some questions that can't be answered by google."
"Free trip to heaven. Details inside."
"Sign broken. Message inside."
"Tired of being a loser? Turn to God."
"The most powerful position is on your knees."
"Give God what's right, not what's left."
"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly. Leave the rest to God."
"Do not criticize your wife's judgment. See whom she married."
"Be kind to your enemies. After all, you made them."
"Do not be so open-minded. You're brains will fall out."
and my personal favorite.....
"Wal-mart is not the only saving place."
I'm back up and running :)
I finally have a computer at home again... It feels even more like a luxury to have one back after not having one for nearly two weeks now...
Life for me has been very crazy the past few weeks...As I mentioned in my last post I went to Tennessee for my cousin's wedding. It was a very nice trip that was spent with some family who I haven't seen for about five years or so and some for three years.... It was a good catch up time. My cousin's wedding was a very simple one. There was such a sense of teamwork and love in my cousin's little church community. The reception was held in their church, and the whole church group worked together for a pitch-in for the food. I have never seen so much food in my entire life, and it was all just so good! I have to say it was the good southern hospitality going on... After the reception we all worked together to clean up and put the church area back in order... there were kids of all ages running around and helping out. There was a groups that were singing worship songs as they were cleaning up. It was a nice place to be...
The drive down there was not a nice one. We left early in the morning while it was raining, and it rained the whole drive there which made it seem as if we were on the road forever.... the drive back was much better...
Sadly, I was not able to get to Mass on Sunday because I did not have a way to get to one.... when we got home it was too late to go to the 5:30 Mass, and they canceled the 9:00 p.m. Mass due to the superbowl... go figure. I felt totally off that whole day without Mass on Sunday. I was very sad to miss it... and my whole family knew how I felt because I kept mentioning how disappointed I was the entire day.
So we got home around six fifteen which was just in time for the superbowl kick-off... it was a hard game for me to watch this time, not only because my team lost, but as I mentioned before, I was just feeling off, and that feeling would not go away... Hopefully if the roads get cleared up here I will make it to Mass tonight.. I will see about that.... Turns out we have another snow day today... a five day week-end. I do not know when the next time that will happen for me, so I am relishing it today.
So that was a long update on my week-end. Now that my computer is back I will be able to blog a lot more again. I have been missing it. :)
Life for me has been very crazy the past few weeks...As I mentioned in my last post I went to Tennessee for my cousin's wedding. It was a very nice trip that was spent with some family who I haven't seen for about five years or so and some for three years.... It was a good catch up time. My cousin's wedding was a very simple one. There was such a sense of teamwork and love in my cousin's little church community. The reception was held in their church, and the whole church group worked together for a pitch-in for the food. I have never seen so much food in my entire life, and it was all just so good! I have to say it was the good southern hospitality going on... After the reception we all worked together to clean up and put the church area back in order... there were kids of all ages running around and helping out. There was a groups that were singing worship songs as they were cleaning up. It was a nice place to be...
The drive down there was not a nice one. We left early in the morning while it was raining, and it rained the whole drive there which made it seem as if we were on the road forever.... the drive back was much better...
Sadly, I was not able to get to Mass on Sunday because I did not have a way to get to one.... when we got home it was too late to go to the 5:30 Mass, and they canceled the 9:00 p.m. Mass due to the superbowl... go figure. I felt totally off that whole day without Mass on Sunday. I was very sad to miss it... and my whole family knew how I felt because I kept mentioning how disappointed I was the entire day.
So we got home around six fifteen which was just in time for the superbowl kick-off... it was a hard game for me to watch this time, not only because my team lost, but as I mentioned before, I was just feeling off, and that feeling would not go away... Hopefully if the roads get cleared up here I will make it to Mass tonight.. I will see about that.... Turns out we have another snow day today... a five day week-end. I do not know when the next time that will happen for me, so I am relishing it today.
So that was a long update on my week-end. Now that my computer is back I will be able to blog a lot more again. I have been missing it. :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Gone to Tennessee
Hey All,
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days... My brother apparently has put another virus on our computer... My parents are making him pay to get it fixed this time, so hopefully he will think twice before looking at whatever he was looking at... I have been very busy with getting ready for my trip this week-end so I have not had as much time to go to the library and blog....
My little cousin is getting married on Saturday down south. A lot of family is flying in from out of town and so it will feel like a family reunion... Please pray that all goes well and we stay safe. I will make up for the lack of posting as soon as I get home. :)
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few days... My brother apparently has put another virus on our computer... My parents are making him pay to get it fixed this time, so hopefully he will think twice before looking at whatever he was looking at... I have been very busy with getting ready for my trip this week-end so I have not had as much time to go to the library and blog....
My little cousin is getting married on Saturday down south. A lot of family is flying in from out of town and so it will feel like a family reunion... Please pray that all goes well and we stay safe. I will make up for the lack of posting as soon as I get home. :)
Monday, February 1, 2010
Heart-to-Heart and Rainbows....
As I mentioned below this past week-end I was away for a retreat. During Eucharistic Adoration I spent a lot of time praying to God about a lot of different things in my life... things I am dealing with that I do not totally understand yet, but I will soon... things I am just getting tired of dealing with... things and people I am so grateful and lucky to have in my life... things I have messed up in my own life... just a good heart-to heart kind of talk...
One of those things that I really started to talk about was my little brother. I love him dearly. He is going to be sixteen this month, and he attended this Confirmation II retreat... I worry about him a lot. I know eventually he will turn out ok, but there are choices he has made that more often then not have really disappointed me... I know he is a kid, and he will make mistakes, but I look at the choices he makes and how they affect my parents and their relationship together that just break my heart. I try my best with him, but there is only so much I think he listens to. So anyway for some reason while talking to God, my other brother entered my mind. My big brother... who is now up in heaven with God. Anyway,... I asked my big brother to help keep an eye on Shane... not that he doesn't now... I would think he does,... and I felt peace with that...
Well in a previous post... which you can find if you click here, I mentioned about why rainbows and the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" have a special place in my family with my older brother and us. It is kind of our link between us and him. I believe it is his own way to let us know he is thinking about us... He got our message.... Well today at work I was able to get my kids outside to run and play. It was a grogeous and sunny day with not too many clouds in the sky, and it was not too cold. It was nice. One of my kids in the class was swinging on his swing when he pointed up to the sky and said "Look at the rainbow." In my head I thought he was joking because it was not at all the kind of day you would expect to see a rainbow, but me being me, I looked up anyway, and sure enough there was a rainbow up in the sky. It was not a huge rainbow, but it was a perfect one. You could see all the colors in it perfectly. After about ten minutes it vanished away... and I can tell you that I know without a doubt that it was my brother, David, saying that he heard me and got the message... It happened so fast. It was very cool. Only a little cihld would have really looked to point it out, which reminds me that it is important to work on having the heart of a child....
One of those things that I really started to talk about was my little brother. I love him dearly. He is going to be sixteen this month, and he attended this Confirmation II retreat... I worry about him a lot. I know eventually he will turn out ok, but there are choices he has made that more often then not have really disappointed me... I know he is a kid, and he will make mistakes, but I look at the choices he makes and how they affect my parents and their relationship together that just break my heart. I try my best with him, but there is only so much I think he listens to. So anyway for some reason while talking to God, my other brother entered my mind. My big brother... who is now up in heaven with God. Anyway,... I asked my big brother to help keep an eye on Shane... not that he doesn't now... I would think he does,... and I felt peace with that...
Well in a previous post... which you can find if you click here, I mentioned about why rainbows and the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" have a special place in my family with my older brother and us. It is kind of our link between us and him. I believe it is his own way to let us know he is thinking about us... He got our message.... Well today at work I was able to get my kids outside to run and play. It was a grogeous and sunny day with not too many clouds in the sky, and it was not too cold. It was nice. One of my kids in the class was swinging on his swing when he pointed up to the sky and said "Look at the rainbow." In my head I thought he was joking because it was not at all the kind of day you would expect to see a rainbow, but me being me, I looked up anyway, and sure enough there was a rainbow up in the sky. It was not a huge rainbow, but it was a perfect one. You could see all the colors in it perfectly. After about ten minutes it vanished away... and I can tell you that I know without a doubt that it was my brother, David, saying that he heard me and got the message... It happened so fast. It was very cool. Only a little cihld would have really looked to point it out, which reminds me that it is important to work on having the heart of a child....
My Confirmation II Retreat week-end on the Hill
This past week-end was both spiriually fulfilling and fun-filled... there were a few bumps here and there, but all-in-all it was a great time... I went out of town to help chaperone the Confirmation II retreat. We all had to meet at the church by 7:15. a.m. to get on the bus... Luckily the kids showed up early so we were able to leave a little ahead of schedule. We drove down to "the Hill" a.k.a. St. Meinrad Arch Abbey, where the retreat was held... Once we put our things in our rooms and headed over to the conference room. That day the talks were about the gifs of the Holy Spirit, and Theology of the Body. They were both very good talks that kept the kids attention. We had Adoration and confession that night, and it was very touching to see how some of the kids reacted to the retreat that night. After that part of the retreat we had break time where some kids hung out at the coffee shop and others went to a room set up for guitar hero.
One of my closest friends happens to be studying at St. Meinrad as a seminarian, and so throughout the retreat, he came and hung out with us. It was nice to see him, and after the kids all headed up for bed some of us college chaperones headed to St. Meinrad's little pub to hang out and talk. It was one of my favorite parts of the week-end... but afterwords I was very tired and so my friends thought it would be fun to have a pick-on Teresa night... actually to be honest, I felt the majority of the retreat was a pick-on Teresa time... Luckily for the most part I am a good sport with those types of things...
The next morning I woke up bright and early for morning prayer, which was nice, but forty-five minutes long... and for a person like me who is NOT a morning person, I was actually happy I didn't have to talk and could just listen. Later after breakfast we had Mass, and then another talk. The last talk was about how to hear and respond to God calling us. We then had lunch and immediately after went to pack our things into the bus for the two hour or so drive back home... most of which I slept through.
I am pretty sure that most of the kids enjoyed it, and so I consider it a success. :)
One of my closest friends happens to be studying at St. Meinrad as a seminarian, and so throughout the retreat, he came and hung out with us. It was nice to see him, and after the kids all headed up for bed some of us college chaperones headed to St. Meinrad's little pub to hang out and talk. It was one of my favorite parts of the week-end... but afterwords I was very tired and so my friends thought it would be fun to have a pick-on Teresa night... actually to be honest, I felt the majority of the retreat was a pick-on Teresa time... Luckily for the most part I am a good sport with those types of things...
The next morning I woke up bright and early for morning prayer, which was nice, but forty-five minutes long... and for a person like me who is NOT a morning person, I was actually happy I didn't have to talk and could just listen. Later after breakfast we had Mass, and then another talk. The last talk was about how to hear and respond to God calling us. We then had lunch and immediately after went to pack our things into the bus for the two hour or so drive back home... most of which I slept through.
I am pretty sure that most of the kids enjoyed it, and so I consider it a success. :)
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