Birthday Bonanza of Blessings

*Superboy received his birthday blessing after daily Mass last week*

Isn't it interesting how families end up having clusters of birthdays at certain times of the year?

Well, we have one of our clusters right about now...We have a series of 4 birthdays in our immediate family within a 6 week period!  Angel Baby kicked off the bonanza, followed by Dad, Superboy and Army Dude.

This makes for a busy Lenten season and trying to keep our eye on the ball in the midst of the celebrating...
  
~Dad caught up with me and turned 45~

Superboy turned 8 and was thrilled to get his first new bike!

Now the 3 youngers all have wheels...

We're ready to roll:)

Up next is a new teenager in the house come St. Patrick's Day!

We had a shared birthday celebration with all the grandparents this weekend...We cherish those moments while we have them!

The two March birthday boys shared a cake...

They don't mind sharing when it comes to Baskin Robbins ice cream cake and a football team that they both love!

It was the perfect Sunday afternoon with family around the table...good memories made, indeed!

The birthday bonanza of blessings always remind us of the dignity of human life.  We are all made in His image and likeness for a special purpose here on earth.  Birthdays are a great reminder of this!

Human life is precious...Each and every one!

A Peek Into Our Purple (Lenten) World

This year we are making more of a conscious effort to decorate our home with the liturgical color of Lent~Violet/ Penitential Purple, resisting any Easter decor until the Easter season actually begins!

(This Cross hangs in our stair well)
Upon being called to live out the church year more wholly in our home several years ago, I've been intrigued by the signs and symbols of our faith.  We have so many visuals within the celebration of our beautiful liturgy, made just for the "visual learner" in me!  As we have learned more about the liturgy, our faith has come alive for our family.  Bringing the signs and symbols into our home has made it more tangible, hands-on, alive, allowing us to better respond to the beauty and power of God.  

~This Lenten wreath was made last year~
Now I know very well that Catholic images and sacramentals do not make a Catholic home.  Over and above, we must live  the faith and radiate love in keeping with Christ's commandments and example.  However, at the same time, our homes are competing with the outside culture as our children are being bombarded by practices that are contrary to Jesus.  It seemed to us (my husband and I) that handing down the Christian faith boiled down to what's important to  parents becomes important to children. Transmitting our values and attitudes had to be transparent in our home, to include visible reminders.

Just a simple visual sign like the color purple (violet) helps our family remember that it's not Easter yet.  Though the secular retail stores try to sell us otherwise, we resist the temptation to celebrate too early. Prayer, fasting and almsgiving strengthens us on the road to Calvary...A road we must travel first, leading us to Easter and the hope of our Salvation.


Lacy (Catholic Icing) has also written a post a long these same lines about resisting Easter until Lent is over.  
Kara and Gardenia both inspired me with their grape vine (crown of thorns) wreaths so I put together the one pictured above.  Hobby Lobby is carrying these neat metal crosses in the shape of nails for only $3.99!  They aren't very big but they are a perfect inset for a wreath.


I found great purple pillar candles on Amazon...

During Lent, I love the symbol of sand that reminds us of Jesus' time in the desert and the time we also need in the desert to sacrifice and grow, praying for a new conversion of heart.  This is our family "Lenten Desert" table center piece this year.  

I changed things up a bit from last year.

By the way, Barbara also has a beautiful candle/sand display to see.

This year I even found a purple table cloth for our kitchen table for only $3.00 on Amazon.  Couldn't resist that! It was linen so I still can't believe the price!?

Our table fits a 90 inch round but there were others that were also surprisingly low in price...Just search Amazon for purple table cloths:) The color of mine was described as "egg plant" but I really love it. 

I've mixed up the shades of purple throughout our home so some things might not be the "perfect" or most accurate violet color but it's the thought that counts, right?
Our prayer corner table has a lavender covering right now...
(We use the same one for Lent and Advent)

Holly and I must think alike as we both created Lenten Mantels.  This is what ours looks like...

I found a great deal on the purple glass votives (candles sold separately) on Amazon, as well as this pretty purple table runner for our mantel for only $3.99...Another great bargain!


  It's been nice to light the votive lights in the evenings as a reminder of the ancient prayer traditions of our church. It's been a special addition to our Lent.  I bought the Calvary Crosses (pictured) at Oriental Trading Company a few years ago.


Our front door dons a Dogwood Lenten wreath.  Have you heard about the Legend of the Dogwood?  It's a beautiful Lent/Easter story to know and share.

  I added a purple ribbon (Hobby Lobby has the perfect purple colored ribbon on their wedding aisle) and this little crown of thorns door hanger that I found at Autom last year for $4.99.

Purple in the bathroom, maybe? After all, some of my best prayer time goes on here;) 

I told you I was a liturgical loon!

And finally, I couldn't resist planting a few (very early) purple pansies for our front entry.  We have had an unusually warm winter this year so I'm not sure what to expect in the coming months.  Will they survive?  I'm not sure but nevertheless, they are a perfect pretty purple for now!

+Thanks for joining us for a peek into our purple Lenten world+ 

Lent Is Like A Root Canal

Ok, maybe that's exaggerating things a bit to say that Lent is like a Root Canal...Or is it?
Ever had a Root Canal?

They stink!  

(And that's putting it nicely)


On the other hand, Lent really doesn't stink.  Yes, it can be a somber reflection on the death of Our Lord but it's also a sober reality of the price that was paid for our sin.  Lent has come to be my favorite time of year for tending to spiritual growth.  I love Lent so why the connection to something so dreadful?

*It has a lot to do with Letting Go and Living Lent*

In my case it begins with penance.  I tried, OH yes, I tried to "offer it up" as they numbed half of my face (all the way down my throat) and stretched that plastic balloon (or whatever it is) over my mouth.  Talk about feeling a little choked out and tied down for 2 hours, listening to that horrid grinding, scraping, and drilling. Sheer torture, I say!

I think I'd rather have 2 C-sections in a row than a root canal.  Ok, ok, maybe not 2.  

Some people might just think I'm being a big baby but it really was awful.  I've had several of them and each time I am reminded how much they stink.
I think God had a good chuckle as I proclaimed that I had made my full Lenten Penance after that;) 


Regardless of our penance, Lent is certainly a time when we need something stronger than ourselves to break through our pride and false sense of control.  Some of us...ahem...need a bigger knock than others.  I suppose I'll take it as a compliment that the Refiner loves me enough to have pity on me to keep working on my weaknesses, rooting out my sin that never fails to keep sprouting.  Fasting anyone?  Yep, He took care of that one too...Humble Pie is served!


Thankfully, I leaped up and grabbed my Rosary before they started the procedure.  I clenched it with white knuckles from beginning to end of the 2 hour ordeal, praying as many Hail Mary's that I could muster up.


All of my hopes and plans to begin Lent "my way" were quickly blown to the wind as I've struggled with tooth pain the week prior to the dreaded root canal and it continues post root canal today.  My Lent certainly began (and continues) with prayer...Just not the kind of prayer I had intended.  You know, 'quiet' reading somewhere?  Nope, didn't happen, nor did my Consecration renewal that I was looking SO forward to.  I'm still sad about this one and hard on myself that I should have persevered through the pain...


As I layed in the dental chair with my heart racing from the side effect of the numbing shots, the weakest part of me prayed for trust. 
Despite strong faith, my trust must be lacking...I truly needed to trust that God has things under control and I really don't.  Surrender, maybe? 


Regardless of what we have in mind for prayer, God always sees fit that we are redirected to the prayer that is best for us.  Lent is a time to be looking for these directions as we reprioritize or reevaluate our prayer lives.  If we pay attention, He always points the way.  We may not always like it and sometimes it takes a root canal to see, more clearly, the direction we need to go.  I am constantly re-learning the fact that things do not have to be "perfect" or go as we have planned to be GOOD for us.


This must be what God wills for me this Lent...All those things that I had in mind must not have been in the bigger plan...Not an easy thing for me to sink my teeth into (literally).  I suppose I needed something more to get my attention, something more that would pull me in closer.  Apparently I needed to be reeled in!


Well it worked. 
The pain continues in a forceful way and no relief in sight quite yet. 
However, Lent continues in a beautiful way.  Without going into detail, lets just say that God places amazing opportunities to go beyond ourselves in these circumstances.  He presents others who are in greater need than self...Practices of almsgiving have been presented in ways that I could have never planned myself.  Any plans that I had prior to Lent are new and not my own.  I am grateful beyond words.


Maybe Lent isn't really like a root canal but I do think that a root canal is good analogy of how God can work with us, refining us, sculpting us, making us new, even through our weaknesses...


I am constantly reminded that no matter the size of our daily challenges, amazing grace is there waiting to erupt through the groans of our human trials and pain.  In the case of Lent, it has been an epiphany for me that Lent isn't something we do but something we should live. We need only to do one thing here and now and that is to
*Let Go and Live Lent*

Going Faceless

Is anyone else Unplugging in (some way) for Lent?
Facebook, Television, or Other?
Heading to the desert...?


This is a difficult thing to do these days as we are so accustomed to getting instant information and being connected to anything and everything.


I love the thought of simplifying our lives and homes...And also our souls for Lent.  I don't know about you but sometimes the input is more than I can bare.


I've been dreaming about UNplugging from some of my Internet usage ever since I read this beautiful article from our Holy Father about silence as an essential part of communication.  He delivered this message as part of World Communications Day, 2012. Here is how it begins:
On this "World Communications Day 2012, I would like to share with you some reflections concerning an aspect of the human process of communication which, despite its importance, is often overlooked and which, at the present time, it would seem especially necessary to recall. It concerns the relationship between silence and word: two aspects of communication which need to be kept in balance, to alternate and to be integrated with one another if authentic dialogue and deep closeness between people are to be achieved".


I've been holding off until Lent as it seemed like a natural time to make the break...
I don't Twitter or use Pinterest so I'm going "Faceless" as I've heard the term used for giving up Facebook.  


Having access to all of my favorite Catholic news sources and favorite blogs is definitely my favorite thing about Facebook. It still amazes me that we have access to such wonderful information but at the same time, I also find myself getting saturated with a little too much news and stuff to read.  Speaking for myself, it has become overwhelming, as of late, and time consuming, to say the least... 
I was thinking maybe it was "just me"... Until I read these
words of the Holy Father help to explain why this is:
 "The process of communication nowadays is largely fuelled by questions in search of answers. Search engines and social networks have become the starting point of communication for many people who are seeking advice, ideas, information and answers. ... Indeed, people today are frequently bombarded with answers to questions they have never asked and to needs of which they were unaware. If we are to recognise and focus upon the truly important questions, then silence is a precious commodity that enables us to exercise proper discernment in the face of the surcharge of stimuli and data that we receive".


This really spoke to me as I know that I have definitely felt bombarded with information that I have never thought much about before.  
This helped seal the deal...My brain needs a rest and so does my soul.


However, the questions I DO have about the "social" part of Social Networking never DO really get answered.  Do you ever get that notion? So I'm going out on a limb here, just like the tallest limb in that tree photo...


One of my questions is regarding the false friendships that exist in the Facebook world.  Don't get me wrong, I have some lovely friends but somehow they get caught up in the murky waters behind the ones that aren't so nice.  Do you ever just want to go through your list and hack away?


Is it just me or do you have a few friends (in real life) that act like you don't exist on Facebook?  I just don't get it.  These are people I know well, who live close by, but they just don't act like they know I'm there...They might even dance around me but just choose to ignore, even when you make a constant effort to interact with them.  What would you make of a "friend" like this?


Then I ask myself the question...Why wouldn't one of your "real friends" want to encourage you, support you? And most importantly,
why am I starting to wonder who my "real friends" are?  This is ridiculous.


Then there's friends that I haven't been in touch with for years who pop up out of nowhere on Facebook...I have one of those friends who I love dearly and I was so excited when I got her "friend request."  Since then, I've left her many notes and messages but nothing is ever returned, no reply, nothing, nada.  What's that supposed to mean?  
Doesn't "social networking" imply that you want to have conversation?


Obviously, I'm spending too much time thinking about things when I should be praying in silence somewhere and contemplating the important questions in life, as the Holy Father suggests.  I'm banning myself to the desert!


Yet how do we avoid these "other questions"?
I could go on with a battery of questions, trying to understand many aspects of social networking, while having a sneaky feeling that I never will.
Is all of this putting me in a place to sin?  
This is the part that concerns me...The constant test of charity can be draining.  Boy, this is starting to feel like Confession!


Well, our dear Holy Father must have seen me coming with my restless questioning of superficial interactions that are driving me crazy!
  "Ultimately, this constant flow of questions demonstrates the restlessness of human beings, ceaselessly searching for truths, of greater or lesser import, that can offer meaning and hope to their lives. Men and women cannot rest content with a superficial and unquestioning exchange of sceptical opinions and experiences of life - all of us are in search of truth".
 "Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God. In concise phrases, often no longer than a verse from the Bible, profound thoughts can be communicated, as long as those taking part in the conversation do not neglect to cultivate their own inner lives. It is hardly surprising that different religious traditions consider solitude and silence as privileged states which help people to rediscover themselves and that Truth which gives meaning to all things. The God of biblical revelation speaks also without words: 'As the Cross of Christ demonstrates, God also speaks by His silence"
Meaning and hope...That's what I'm talking about! There you go, finally an answer to all of the questioning, regardless of what the questions are about. Making more space for silence and occasion for prayer is obviously in order.  He goes on...
 "If God speaks to us even in silence, we in turn discover in silence the possibility of speaking with God and about God. ... In speaking of God's grandeur, our language will always prove inadequate and must make space for silent contemplation. Out of such contemplation springs forth, with all its inner power, the urgent sense of mission, the compelling obligation 'to communicate that which we have seen and heard' so that all may be in communion with God".
How beautiful is that?
  "In silent contemplation, then, the eternal Word, through Whom the world was created, becomes ever more powerfully present and we become aware of the plan of salvation that God is accomplishing throughout our history by word and deed. ... This plan of salvation culminates in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the mediator and the fullness of all revelation. He has made known to us the true face of God the Father and by His Cross and Resurrection has brought us from the slavery of sin and death to the freedom of the children of God. The fundamental question of the meaning of human existence finds in the mystery of Christ an answer capable of bringing peace to the restless human heart. The Church's mission springs from this mystery; and it is this mystery which impels Christians to become heralds of hope and salvation, witnesses of that love which promotes human dignity and builds justice and peace.

  "Word and silence: learning to communicate is learning to listen and contemplate as well as speak. This is especially important for those engaged in the task of evangelisation: both silence and word are essential elements, integral to the Church's work of communication for the sake of a renewed proclamation of Christ in today's world".

There is so much to think and pray about here in these powerful words of our Pope, isn't there?  The whole article just filled my spirit.  Yet I wonder... Where and how can I ever begin to heed his advice with all of my imperfections?Talk about a balancing act...  Once again, a restless question rises with an answer that must lie somewhere within... and not online. 


   I have a feeling that contemplation about all of this and stepping back a bit will be a good thing for me.  I need a little bit of work on those listening skills too so I think my Lenten work is cut out for me:)


I have to note that my blog posts are connected to my Family At The Foot of the Cross Facebook Page automatically.  I don't know how to disconnect those, even though I'm not logging on to Facebook?  They might continue to appear even though I'm not logging on.  I'm not going to worry about it too much as I will continue to blog right here in this little space.  I do find meaning and hope, here among friends. 


Peace for this restless human heart sounds perfect right about now!  Wishing anyone who visits here a blessed Lenten journey...May it be a fruitful period of reflection and spiritual growth for your precious soul.













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Got Lent?

Yay Lent!
OK, I'll admit, I'm a bit of a "Liturgical Loon":)  That's what you call a crazy lady like me who gets their toes ready for Lent! *grin*
Hey, it's a journey and these feet are 'made for walkin'!   

 Pretty purple toes and all, they've got me looking forward to trekking the Way of the Cross with so many of you who encourage me to persevere. 
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I created a few Liturgical Page Tabs near the top of the blog that give ideas for how we celebrate the Liturgical Year.  Living Lent in our Domestic Church is one of the tabs.  (It also includes ideas for Holy Week) We are using many of the same ideas and decor, again this year, that have become traditions for our family.  Feel free to grab an idea or two if you need to!


As Patty from Reasons for Chocolate mentioned, we are also using this beautiful new Lenten book for the whole family.  It includes Fast, Almsgiving, and Prayer. Looking forward to it as it looks wonderful and something we can all do together each day!

I will also be reading Amon's Adventure to the younger children.  The same author has an Advent series that we originally heard about from Laurie at Catholic Baby Steps.  Our family LOVED it.  I can't say enough wonderful things about these books...Our kids are SO excited for this Lenten story and devotional...They can't wait!

Have you seen this neat Amazon Lenten best seller list?  Wow, good stuff here.  I ordered Matthew Kelly's Rediscover Lent for my adult son and I am contemplating the Sacred Space Irish Jesuit book or Simplifying the Soul, by Paula Huston for my husband and I.  Anyone have any feedback on either of these two?  Speaking of simplifying, Gardenia from My Little Flower has a neat Lenten challenge going.  I'm in!


Anyone else renewing or making Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary?  February 20th...2 more days!  I'm JOYfully joining Lena at JOYfilled Family with my 5th Anniversary renewal.  She has a generous invitation waiting:)


We are headed off for another little camping trip for a few days...Hopefully no more accidents to disturb the peace AND teeth like last time!  It will be nice to take our Lenten family "team huddle" on the road to a quiet place for contemplation. I'm praying for fruitful spiritual preparation before the big kick-off on Wednesday.
Got Lent?
+The journey begins+
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