Not Only to Nourish

Today I'm over at Nourish Motherhood again.

 We are called to nourish others, but we cannot forget that we need to be nourished too. I love the passage in John 13 when Christ washes the apostles’ feet at the Last Supper. The example of Christ’s humility, service, and generosity is so moving. I want to be like Christ! I want to follow Him and wash the feet of those around me. I know I’m not alone in this desire.
I like to skip down to the end of that passage and read: If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do.
But there is another side to this message. Remember what happens when Christ reaches Peter?...

Read the rest here.

Marriage and the Cross

Even though I've not been here, today you can find me over at the new Nourish Motherhood site!

Shortly before my own wedding day, both of my parents pulled me aside at different times. “You know,” my father said, “marriage is wonderful and full of so many good things, but marriage is also a cross. Just remember that. Always keep the cross in sight.” When her turn came, my mother’s advice was the same but with a dramatic sigh and flourish: “Sometimes I look at your father, and I just see a giant cross standing there!”
At the time, in the exciting flurry of wedding preparations, I was both surprised and not surprised that my parents had separately given me the same piece of advice – their most important piece of advice, the key to their 35-year marriage, and the key to every marriage...

Keep reading here!

In the Bleak Midwinter

Hello friends,

Long time, no post.  Life has been a little teensy bit hectic and to be totally honest, I have had zero motivation to write anything.  I can't believe it's been almost two months.

Christmas and New Year's found us traveling out east to visit with family.  Peep did very well in car.  The longest leg of our journey was 10 hours straight.  He was trooper.  We did do a fair bit of night driving so he was asleep.  The worst moment came within an hour of our destination (~1:30am) when he woke up and starting crying inconsolably. After every attempt to figure out what was wrong, he finally just burst out "My tired of driving! Why's Uncle []'s house so far away??"  We feel ya kiddo.

Once there, Peep loved every bit of visiting.

After hearing of the impending Polar Vortex, we decided to come home earlier than planned.  It was a very good thing we did.  It was also a very good thing that we picked up a gallon of milk as we arrived back.  In hindsight we should have picked up more than one, but at least we had one!

The Polar Vortex was epic.  Honestly, I kind of enjoyed it.  After all our hurrying and scurrying about the previous two weeks it was rather delightful to snuggle up and relax knowing that the entire world around us was stopped in its tracks.

- 2 Weeks ago  -

For those of you who don't know, that fire hydrant is extra tall.  There is at least 1 foot of pipe above ground before the hydrant itself.

The Polar Vortex definitely got me thinking about how much our American culture needs to simply chill out sometimes.  (Ok, bad pun...but seriously...) We are constantly on the go.  Even if an individual decides to take a vacation, everything else is still moving at breakneck pace.  We take a day off of work and come back with a stack of projects on the desk, a million emails to be read, phone calls that need to be returned - often we end up doing twice as much work to catch up on that one day that was missed.  On the other hand, it is so easy to spend a day off doing chores and errands.  The day is spent running around from place to place, making phone calls, trying to get the house clean (and it is never clean enough).

Maybe it's just me.  Maybe this is part of the problem of being a working mom (albeit part time). But I'm pretty sure that most of the good ol' US of A is in the same boat.

Other countries have real holidays and have them more often.  You know, days when everything closes down and you spend the time with family and friends, not with your unfinished business. A healthy society needs leisure. Leisure is the basis of culture (thank you, Joseph Pieper.)

A very blue picture of a (still now larger) snowman Peep and his "Datty" built.

But now we'll fast forward to this past week.  A week ago today we attempted to go for a nice Sunday drive to celebrate a baptism.  The route selected for the day trip is one that's very nice in the summer, but not so nice when the fierce wind is blowing snow across the highway to the point of reducing visibility.

We are blessed to be alive.  The car slipped, J lost control.  We nearly hit several other vehicles before spinning off the road and landing in the median ditch.  After sometime, two police cars came, a tow truck was called, and we were pulled out. 

The car needs some repairs (and by some, I mean expensive).   If only money grew on trees...

In the meantime the car is drivable, but we have been told not for highway driving.

And so we have been on pins and needles driving the compromised car on the icy, snowy streets. 

To make matters worse, snow keeps falling.

Yesterday the car got stuck as J was coming home.  Two hours later we got the car out.  I missed my evening activity because of it.

This morning, trying to go to Mass, the car got stuck again.  Four hours later, two neighbors helped J free it, only for it to get stuck again 20 feet later (the neighbors helped again).  It almost got stuck a third time before J got it to its parking space.

I enjoyed the snow at first, but this car business is getting old.  I just want to go to Mass!

- Today -

I have to say though, that I am so thankful that for all the snow the great Permacloud has not been as permanent of a fixture as usual.  There's been much more sun and blue sky this winter.  While that means lower temps, that is fine by me.  I'd rather have 0 degree weather than 23 degree weather (it's really not all that different in my book) if it means I can see the sun and blue sky.

On Waste

My neighbors across the street appear to be moving.  Most likely moving on short notice.  I never really got to know them - a single mom with 3 kids.   People were always coming and going, and now people having been buzzing about all afternoon and evening emptying the contents of the home onto the beds of two pickup trucks and carting it away.

Except for the giant pile of "trash."

Not the neighbors, but you get the idea.

American homes generate a ridiculous amount of waste on a day to day basis.  That alone is a crime, but what's really killing me right now is that a lot of this "trash" is seemingly usable items the family simply doesn't need any more and does not want to take.  Okay, so just some of it is.  I hope that she is getting better beds to replace the 6 duct-taped mattresses lying in the heap.  But why are her male friends gleefully carrying bookshelves, TV stands, and other furniture items down to the curb and then smashing and kicking the heck out of them?  Why not at least leave them standing for the evening with a sign saying "free?" 

I'm kind of hoping the rocking horse and kid's picnic table survive the madness and maybe I can ask her for them.

The most nonsensical part of this scene is that all of these people are living in "poverty."  I see this so often at work.  Many of those in poverty are the worst stewards of the resources they have.

I don't understand.   I would have paid her for a couple of those shelves, but before I could open my front door they were destroyed.  Can anyone explain?

She could have sold them for money, which she almost certainly needs.  She could have given them to a friend - I'm sure she knows someone who could use them.  But now she's just deprived herself of money, or her friends of the goods, and added to the ever-growing morass of waste consuming our world. 

Peace Begins in the Womb - 1

This past semester I was asked what being pro-life has to do with fostering peace in the world. It's a huge question but really a very simple one:

I love Feminists for Life, and this bumper sticker of theirs says it all.

If I remember correctly, the question was raised in the context of the Catholic Church's involvement with the pro-life movement and the Church's movement of promoting peace among all of humanity. I don't think you have to be Catholic, or even Christian to play a role in both or recognize the connection between them - even if the Light of Christ does illuminate some of the details and deeper reasons.

It's simple: If we cannot acknowledge the humanity of the most innocent and vulnerable of our kind and treat them with the love and respect they inherently deserve, how can we possibly treat our enemies or those we dislike or disdain with any sort of respect?

Peace in the womb must come before all else. It is the foundation of any sort of broader peace -be it peace in one's own life, peace in one's home, peace in one nation or peace in many.

I see this first hand with the many families I work with.  I have yet to see a happy, peaceful family choose to abort one of their children, and I have yet to see happiness and peace come from  woman's decision to abort.

I see angst and strife run rampant among those who are open to abortion. I cannot recall one single case where the pregnant mother did not have strained relationships with the people in her life or society at large.

The family is the building block of society - peaceful families will build a peaceful world.  I know society would like to deny that fact, but it's true.

If our families cannot have peace, they cannot bring it to the world.

Stay tuned for more musings on this some other time....