More Cheering!

One of the many highlights of our fabulous experience at the March for Life this year was experiencing a special preview of the movie BELLA. I am so thrilled to now see that a September release is planned! All I can say is that this is a jewel of a film. The kind that makes you laugh, cry, shiver, cry some more, think deeply, and cry again all in the space of a few hours (though I speak from a feminine standpoint, my dad got tearful too when we saw it). It's the kind of film that we need a lot more of. The kind that will help restore a culture of life and love. The kind of movie that gives hope!

For news, resources, trailers, and tons more visit www.bellathemovie.com. Share the news with all your friends!

Whoa

No wonder our vocabulary, grammer skills, and critical thinking skills tend to be so, um, limited nowadays!

• 1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
• 42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
• 80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.

And each day in the U.S., people spend..

• 4 hours watching TV,
• 3 hours listening to the radio
• and 14 minutes reading magazines.

Like Colleen Hammond pointed out, this doesn't even include internet time! Hmmm....

HT: Colleen Hammond

- Stat source

Cheering!

If you have not yet visited Sen. Sam Brownback's website, you absolutely must head right over! And if you're like an awful lot of the folks and friends I've spoken to, and have the misfortune not to know who he is, consider this an official introduction!

This awesome video is a must-watch:

Update and Reflection

I'm low on sleep at the moment, but reflective. It's one of those times when I feel as though I'm skimming across the "lake" of things I could write about!

Our Lord is continually stretching me. As in teaching me to trust Him more. It's been quite a week (thus far...I know, we're only two days into it, but they've been a packed two days!).

I know the summer is going to fly by: June's calendar was our most "open" of the summer months (although our calendar is never "open" in a true sense of the word) and it is already almost gone!

Thought for the day: Did you ever stop and realize that "boredom" is actually not the lack of something to do, but the lack of something that you feel like doing? I chuckle sometimes when a peer may mention "too much time" on their hands during the summer. I've never had that problem: quite the opposite. :)

I have been praying and preparing for my new job as Director of Religious Education at our parish, St. Joseph's, this coming school year. The hand of Providence was very evident in getting me the position, and I am excited to continue the vision of the former D.R.E. (a dear friend of ours whom I worked closely with as an assistant the last two years).

I am also excitedly anticipating my Suzuki Violin Teaching Training course in Stevens Point, WI July 29-August 11. The world of music -- like the world of Faith, and I'm convinced complementary to it -- is one that I feel I could spend my whole life discovering...and intend to, God-willing. The biggest challenge for me always is trying to maintain a balance between my abundant activities. I am a person of many hobbies, but little time to do them! How much I've been impressed of late with how crucial the balance between prayer, work, and recreation. I love remembering the time I was told to break that word up and look at it: re-creation.

That's what our Lord is continually doing in each of us... if we let Him.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

the old has gone, the new has come!"

2 (Corinthians 5:17)

All in the Terminology

When it occured Sunday, the first thing I said was "I must blog that!" Since I didn't that day, here we are...

Dad was speaking to a group of parents around a table at a party, saying "And the Holy Father came out on the deck..." when my sister quickly interjected "Balcony, dad!". To which another homeschool mom sitting nearby laughed and quipped, "You're such a homeschooler!"

I know I haven't been around much

of late, as my sister kindly reminded me in a comment yesterday. :) The past two weeks have been a time of some real spiritual highs -- and lows. Through the "struggling" days, I try to keep foremost in mind that no matter how askew my feelings might be, my God is a God of strength and security. What a consolation! And what gentle gifts He sends my way. I only have to glance out the window at today's perfect blue sky and brilliant sunshine dancing across the green tree leaves to have a striking reminder of His love for me. Hopefully soon I will be able to post about a few of the wonderful graces of the last several weeks!

Meanwhile, would please you join me in praying for all those souls who have much greater challenges than we do, such as lovely Crystal of BiblicalWomanhood.com? I'm often blessed by her blog and her example. Due to complications with her second pregnancy, she's to be induced tonight and is asking for special prayers.

May you recognize the Lord's smile on your day!

Words of a Shepherd

Our Bishop J. Peter Sartain's columns in The Catholic Explorer are always wonderful, and I found this week's particularly thought provoking. Worth a read!

Wherever I find myself—at church, work, shopping or the airport—there is something which in this place, at this time, and with these people, God wishes to teach me. If there is a way to apply the word “instantaneous” to the spiritual life, it is that the present, the here-and-now, is bursting with God’s presence. It is a hazard to assume that God is somewhere else but not here, or that he should respond to my prayer as quickly as I expect my e-mails to be answered.

Read the whole thing here.

Birthday Blessings to My Dear Sister!

Yesterday was Sarah's Birthday!

Here we were seventeen years ago...

...Here we are today

I love you, dear sister!