My Faith and the Three year old

I had a profound religious experience today. Cheesy as it may sound, it was one of those, Oh, I Get It moments. Our parish was all smells and bells, as it should be, for the feast of Corpus Christi. My kids were being good, as they waited for mass to begin, so I was able to to read the Magnificat meditation of the day. I came across a passage concerning St. Loenidas and his son St. Origen. It said that according to Eusebius, Leonidas used to kneel by the bedside of the sleeping Origen and deoutly and reverently kiss his son's breast as the Tabernacle wherein God dwelt. The child in his innocence and grace is the fittest home on Earth for God. The fact that I was sitting with my three beautiful children, in front of the Blessed Sacrament may have helped, but I was moved very deeply.

Fast forward about 5 minutes, Mass has begun, and Father is using the incense. My three year old had been quiet too long, and begins asking questions, what is that (It's incense, like in your little Mass kit), why is Father swinging it (he is blessing everything). Then I asked What does it smell like to you? And he gave me the most unexpected answer, Like my prayers are being carried to God. Yes, this is not a smell, but Gosh, this is the indwelling of the spirit, in my child. That pure innocence, that total unitedness with God. He is three, but his answer echos the psalms, which I'm not sure he would recognize. Throughout the rest of the mass, one thing after another made me realize, the meaning of being childlike.

I was never childlike, even as a child, and I have understood divine filiation on a very intellectual level, but, this moment, and moments like this, have opened my eyes to so much. I now wonder how I could ever grow in faith, without my kids. God has shown me Himself, though them. So many things my three year old has said, I do not remember telling him or teaching him, it is the naturalness that comes from innocence and grace.

They are my path to heaven, not just from the vocation to motherhood being my work, but through the many lessons I will learn from them. Rest assured, the three year old still had to be hauled out of the church in trouble at least once, for being, well, three, but that too is my path to heaven.

This weekend I saw people

Okay, dumb title, but true. I got to see, and spend time with some of the loveliest people around. The ILCHC was held this weekend, and it was the place to be, if you are a Catholic blogger, or related to one.

I saw the parents of Sean over at Blue Boar, who always used his middle name, which I found cute, but it made me wonder what kind of a child he was! Then I got to meet John at Lunch Break's very lovely wife and adorable baby. Next up was Maureen Wittmann and her beautiful daughters, who sold me a book I've been reading since I got home. Then of course, there was Regina Doman, of House Art Journal, whose books my daughter and I are fighting over, I want them first! I'm sure there are a few I've missed. It was great conference, one of the best I've been to locally.

I met SO many wonderful people, I forgot HOW MUCH I really thrive on being around lots of different people. I was so fortunate to be able to work for CHC this weekend and meet so many. I loved how many people I already knew, but hadn't seen in years. My husband, who helped me out, is convinced I either knew everyone there, or knew someone that they knew. He keep teasing me that that old Kevin Bacon game could be played with me. I beg to differ, but I can't help being social!

All in all it was a great weekend, oh, I got a ton of books, too, but stayed in my budget, which thankfully was pretty high this year. I'll post about some of the books I got later, quite a few are newer and look really interesting.

ILCHC

The ILCHC is 3 days away. If you are going, stop by and see me at the CHC table, I'll have chocolate :-) . If when you come I have a beard, that means you came when I was gone, and you got Chris, my husband, say hi to him, please, HS conferences are foreign land for him, he's a bit nervous about talking to HS moms, in his experience, we are all a bit mental. He likes Chesterton, and will happily talk about that though.

15 years

Today is a momentous day for my husband and I, we have "officially" been together for 15 years. I say officially, because my husband and I dated long before we officially dated. I remember the day very well, it was the last concert of the season I had to sing, and the first one he came to. The poor guy never liked madrigals. He asked me to "officially" be his girlfriend, in a 1957 Studebaker President, and sealed the deal with a kiss. After that, there was no turning back, we both already knew we would spend our lives together. I always suspected he did not make it official sooner because he wanted to be sure we would last forever, and at 17, he needed a few months, and an eighteenth birthday to decide.

We measure our lives, BC, before Chris, for me and AD, after Deb, for him.We've only been married almost 11 years,. but our life together began well before the rings were on our fingers. I cherish everyone of the days of the last 15 years. Some have been hard, like the days we spent apart when I was pregnant and hospitalized, but most have been fun, like our past weekend, camping. I look so forward to the next 50 years, I cannot imagine my life without Chris, my best friend, my true love, my husband.

The Simple Joy of Camping

I used to camp with my husband, before we were married and Br. Maximilian before he was a brother. So to put that in a time perspective 12 years ago. I was a young lass then, barely 20, camping was fun, I loved it, but I never thought it was kid friendly. This weekend, my stupid pre-kid myths were proved wrong, again. Camping with kids is a huge giagantic blast!

Yes, we packed up the Olds and headed to the great outdoors. The car was a bit like a cartoon, with so much stuff crammed in every possible place, one bump and it could explode, leaving unmentionales all over the Illinois highways! Luckily, the stuff was packed so tightly, it held in place.

We headed north, to Apple River Canyon, which is breathtakingly beautiful. The weather was not great, it rained, yet, I think we may forget that detail in the future as we recall the fun we had. There was no schedule, no worries, no places to be, it was simply great.

My 7 year old lost his first tooth, the tooth fairy still found us, and didn't even wake a soul in our over stuffed tent. The 7 year old was so different out in the woods, hammering sticks into the ground, just because, fetching water for the kettle, and just relaxing. It was so nice to see he can have fun without video games or TV. He brought with the Dangerous Book for Boys to keep himself busy, and gave all kinds of advice on how to make the fire, tie knots and set up the tent.

We will definitely be camping again, soon, it was the perfect get away. Where else can you scare a turkey at 6:30 am? I will post pictures very soon, the kids took a few hundred of the fire and every other object in the campsite. I look back and wonder how I possibly had fun camping without my kids, life without them seems so dull.

Nice story about a big homeschooling family

Truth be told, this is one of my best friends! I'm just so happy she was featured in the paper for Mother's Day. The article is way to short to say just how awesome this woman is. It does not mention that on any give day she has 10 kids at her house that are not hers, or that she will drop anything at a moment's notice to help a friend. It also couldn't mention that fact that she is so dedicated to others knowing the joy of being a mother that she gives a huge amount of time to the pro-life movement and that she "camped out" at the PP clinic prior to opening all night many many nights. I guess they couldn't cover everything! Happy Mother's Day to all the busy, under appreciated mama's out there.

Disapointment, Here we come!

I posted a while back at Love2Learn Movies about a new version of Brideshead Revisited coming out soon. The trailer is now available. As I had heard rumored, the film is completely different. It has lost it faith, one might say.

I went to public high school in the 90's, we never read quality literature, so the first time I was introduced to Brideshead, it was at a doctrine class I was attending. The woman giving the class was so moved by the book, she encouraged all of us to read it and see the BBC version. She labeled it as the best conversion story ever. I tend to agree. I read Brideshead a while later, and was pulled into the story, it was just beautifully written. The end, made me cry. I still analyze the meaning of it all.

I'll probably see the new film, but only after I re-read the book, and enjoy the beauty of the written word, and the beauty of the truth.

A book for Kids??

I friend send me this book link. I read what the site had, and um, I'm still not sure how disturbed to be. In college my husband and I , Art and Music majors respectively, lived in artsy digs, the Music/Art student dorm. It always had that funky smell, mostly the art side, the music people were too OCD to have anything possibly hurt their mouths or throats. We never partook, but if others wanted to waste brain cells, whatever, less competition in auditions and art shows. That said, I still have a issues with a kids book. Take a look, let me know what you think.

Co-ops

I like to think I am the queen of the co-op. I co-op more than half of my groceries, and all of my cleaning supplies and health and beauty products (hey, I found a wrinkle a few weeks ago, and it needs to be dealt with!). Co-oping and distributism are closely related. Almost every thing I can co-op is from a small independent company, and the co-op is a way to get it to me easily, at a good price.

So what is a co-op? Well, he simple answer is a group of people who come together to purchase bulk goods at a reduced price. It's kind of like Sam's or Costco, but really really really small. You have to join, and usually the group work is shared. Most co-ops specialize in Organic or natural foods and products. In other parts of the country, many co-ops have a "store" for members to go to, but those are a dying breed. They have been pushed out by the likes of Walmart.

Why co-op? To save cash. My husband debates this one monthly, when I write the big ol' co-op check. We do spend a bit more on some items, but they are items that are hard to compare to what I get at the grocery store. I mean, can you find mill ground organic white whole wheat pastry flour? I couldn't so I buy 10lbs a month and bake my little heart out. I find I save the most cash by not having to bring the 3 wee beasties with me shopping, or spending the gas to go to the store frequently. Another reason to co-op is to support smaller businesses. I have been a part of many orders for items from companies so small, they do not have a big distribution system in place yet, but they are happy to work with a co-op.

I could go on forever about my co-ops, the wonderful side benefit is I have met people who I would never have met other wise. My food co-op is a great look at ecumenism at its best, we are Byzantine, Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican and a Lutheran pastor. We all are very faithful, and have a good time gently poking fun at each other (mostly fasting jokes, we all have different fasts) and sharing our faith.

Flower with the fun name

Dutchman's Breeches. It makes my kids laugh, not sure why, but it is in bloom this week. Check it out in the midwestern forest near you!

So I got a bit carried away, is that a problem?

We have a half dozen friends' kids receiving Our Sweet Lord for the first time this weekend.Therefore we have about that many parties to attend and bring gifts to. Usually I buy books for kids for First communion gifts, but this year, I felt inspired. I made Rosary Bracelets for the girls. I've made rosaries for people in the past, and can churn out a bracelet in 30 minutes. It's not super labor intensive, but I usually end up wounded by the wire, so it is a labor of love.

This time, I got a bit carried away, and figure since I had the jewelry making box out, why stop. 4 pairs of earrings, 2 necklaces and a bracelet later, I stopped. I guess I was bored, or maybe it was me tapping into that artistic vibe of old that flairs up every once in a while. I did design my wedding band 11 years ago, and people still comment on how lovely it is. Anyone need earrings? I think I have a few too many now, and I have pearls I bought and will be making something with later this week.

Buying local

So for part two of my little series on distributism, I've decided to bore you with with one of my favorite topics, local buying. Why buy local, well for one, the community you are living in benefits from the business. Two, in the case of foods, they are fresher,and therefore last longer. This point especially is my favorite reason to buy local. I have no yard, I mean that, I have a porch, not grass, not trees, just a porch, a garden is impossible, but I love fresh veggies. Luckily, I can walk to the Farmer's market in my town and get lots of good yummy things.

Most of the farms who come are small farms, too small to supply a store, and the Farmer's Market is their main source of income. It is nice to talk to the person who grew the food and have them tell you about it. I've grown to really enjoy seeing "the bee guy" and "the potato lady" on Saturday Mornings. Yes, the prices are a bit higher, its true, but the quality is higher, too. We may not get as much for our money if we went to the big mega-chain store, but my food did not have to go through customs to get to me.

Buying local is not just for food. It is not hard to find a local shop that is unique for gifts of all sorts. Craft fairs are a bounty of local artisans. Sure, not everything can be made locally, but so many things can. Support your local industries.

Reason three, it is good for the environment, too, less travel=less emissions, less fuel burned. Not a biggie, but for some, rather important.

Enough of that soap box.