Day 8: I hope you kept going!

Alright - I'll be rather honest.  For those who don't know me personally, my husband is in the process of being on short term disability due to some medical issues.  Occasionally doctor's appointments mean I may disappear intermittently. 

But no excuses, not for you or for me.  I spent the time I was gone focusing on our living room which is going to be our formal living room by the time this Era is over. 

In the meantime, today I want to focus in on prayer and the internal prayers we focus on.

Have you ever been so flustered, so angry, so upset, sad, or depressed that you couldn't even find it in you in that moment to pray?

I have.  I was earlier today.  Allow me to be blunt, sometimes life throws us curveballs and we just have to keep swinging that bat even when we can't see through our tears.

So tonight, after receiving today's final blow to my heart because I am going to bed soon and simply refuse to receive any more negative information, I set about doing one of the things I do best.  I hit the research piles.

First I attempted to find my favorite directory for saints online, but could not find my usual website for whatever reason.  I looked for a patron saint for depression but couldn't find one.  I looked for one for several other things that came to mind about how I was feeling, but found nothing.

Then I stumbled upon St. Jude of Thaddeus, patron saint of lost and/or desperate causes/situations who also just happens to be the patron saint of my parish.  Apparently, yet again, God had a plan. ;)

Tonight I began a novena to St. Jude.  I pray you will join me - it's at the link above.  Not for me, for someone you know or even yourself because there truly is a point where you begin to wonder and question why you must walk the path that you are on.  There is a moment, or even a period of time where you look up at God and all you can think is "I cannot continue this journey, Lord.  I simply cannot do this any longer.  I don't have it in me.  I don't have the strength" and the tears pour out of your eyes and there is nothing on this earth that could stop them from falling no matter how hard you try.

The next time you have the opportunity to pray, pray for those who cannot pray for themselves.  Pray for those who honestly have hit a brick wall and have no idea how to even begin to continue their life's journey.  Pray for those who, more than anything in this world, just need to feel God's love in that moment and find the strength in Him to sojourn on their path.

Day Two - Waxing and Waning

We are in a season of our lives where our oldest (10) is pushing the boundaries of patience and our youngest (18 months) is in the "screeching" phase of life.

I spend a LOT of time praying my Rosary.

Now, let's talk Monday.  How did it go?  Did you accomplish all 10 tasks?  If not, that's okay - add them to today's do list.  We'll have a "catch up" later in the week for when those things happen.  Christ was kind enough to give us the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Penance for our mistakes here on earth - His solution works for us too. ;)  In the meantime I want to talk more about preparing hearts and how we can get ourselves the time we need down the road in Advent.

We all have periods where we wax and wane.  For those not familiar with these "old" terms they mean to grow and shrink respectively.  I'm not talking about the weight loss roller coaster - although I'm nearly 100% certain you know that version of waxing and waning as well as I *eye roll*. 

The holidays become a natural time for waxing, particularly when it comes to the "stuff" in our homes.  "Oh what a lovely...it's just so UNIQUE!" over and over and we can't bear to disappoint Great-Aunt Martha so we retain "whatever-that-was" and so on and so forth.

The holidays, for many of us, have also become a time of waning.  A time of waning patience, tolerance, and even sometimes, faith. We become frustrated with the crowds when shopping, irritated with sudden "must do" engagements that weren't on the schedule, and often the more upset and flustered we find ourselves, the further we have walked from the purpose of this season - to prepare for His coming.

While Wal-Mart tries to stretch the period of retail Christmas preparations well into September, the Church was far more intelligent about the average person's attention span of a holiday.  How many times have you gotten to Christmas lunch with an attitude of "Thank God this is almost over!" and collapse into bed that night in relief and exhaustion?

This year it's going to be different and that's going to start right now.  We are going to "flip the switch".  It's time to wax in our patience, tolerance, and faith and wane in the "stuff" department.  We're going to wax in love, joy, and hope while we wane in commercialism and greed.

Back to that day planner we looked at yesterday.  Spend a bit more time with it and look at the "required" things on your schedule already.  Which ones bring you joy?  Which ones are things that you are excited about getting to do?  Which ones make you want to go and hide in a corner?

I can't take away all the bad ones and tell you it's perfectly okay to skip your sister-in-law's annual Christmas Party and pretend I did the right thing.  I can tell you to take the ones that don't need to be there off your list.  I can tell you to find ways to really enjoy the ones that bring you happiness.

As for today, you have a few things you need to get done on the "getting caught up" list and also today I would like for you to take a quick inventory of your situation with towels, sheets, tablecloths, napkins, and any other linens you keep in your home.  Give them a good look - you already know what they look like.  Are they serviceable?  Do you wince when someone spends the night at your house and has to use a ratty towel?  How about those dishrags?  Have they seen better days?

I know the budget is tight this time of year but in all honesty, I'm a much bigger fan of getting gifts I can USE than those that will rot.  I believe the same thing for my family as well.  We're very well known for asking for someone to purchase towel sets for the kids than for someone to purchase toys.  Toys they have. Towels I need.  This year, both our children are getting new "more grown up" bed sets for their bedrooms.  I'm making a quilt for each of them to go along with new sheets, blankets, and pillowcases.  Maybe even curtains.  No, it's not a shiny new iPad but unlike that iPad, it will still be serviceable in 5 years. ;)

Start rethinking what you're going to ask for and what you need.  Start rethinking your budget and  how to manage it for the holidays - and while you're thinking, tackle those "to do" items and get them out of the way so we can start getting to the more fun stuff. :)

(See the original post for The Era of Preparation or go to Day 3.)

The Era of Preparation: Day One

Welcome to Day 1 of The Era of Preparation!  So glad you joined us here. :)

Today is going to be a Monday and EVERY Monday we are going to focus on recovering from the weekend. :)  I know between Mass, social obligations, and extra humans in the house my Monday is always my catch up day and so it will be for us too. :)

So, here's the list of this Monday's "Ten To Do's"

1. Gather up the trash and get it out of the house.
2. Get the dishes done and put away.
3. Relocate the bathroom sink from the toothpaste of "getting ready for Mass toothbrushing" and other weekend atrocities.  While you're at it, gather up all the towels and anything else soft in there that can be washed and run that through the laundry.
4. Pick a cleaner(s) of your choice and run through the kitchen real quick.  Okay - now stop running through the kitchen and actually take the time to clean it.
5. Straighten up the living room and have the kids do a quick run through of the areas of the house that they inhabit.  Even my 18 month old can pick up toys and dust with a microfiber cloth.
6. Gather any items needed for All Saint's Day costumes AND clothes for Mass and get those into the wash today so they're ready on time.
7. Pull out what you need for dinner and get started a bit early so you have some buffer time.
8. Make a list of all the "extra" cleaning things you need to get done between now and Christmas.
9. Find your day planner.  Mine seems to have magical feet that pop out of it when I'm not looking.
10. Sit down with your day planner and your list.  (We'll do this together below.)

Okay - take a look at your list.  Is there more than 30 items on it?  Then you're going to need to do more than 1 a day.  Can you group some of them together?  Do some take longer than others?  Now, make a schedule of these "extra" things that need to get done and get ready to do 1-2 (or however many necessary) and plan out the ones you're going to tackle this week.  Next Monday we'll sit down and handle next week's.

For the remainder of this week, we're going to focus on those "extras" along with surviving All Hallow's Eve and All Saint's Day.

Please comment below if you have some great ideas for these two holy days and how your family celebrates them.  I am ALWAYS looking for ideas. :)

(Continue to Day 2 or see the original post for The Era of Preparation)

And so it begins...

In case you haven't noticed, it's 8 weeks to Christmas.  This isn't meant to inspire fear, it's meant to remind you of a few things.

1. Chances are you have approximately 4 weeks until people start beginning to drop by your home unexpectedly.  This usually begins around Thanksgiving in our home.  (for the record, that's American Thanksgiving)

2. Chances are also fairly good that if you have children, or even if you don't, your social calendar is going to start filling up in the next few weeks making catching up on ANYTHING nearly impossible.

3. Chances are there is a part of you that DREADS the chaos that ensues in the next few weeks and lasts until mid-January.

4. Chances are, you need a PLAN.

Now, the problem with #4 is MOST plans out there that exist are not FOR Catholic families.  They're FULL of "decorate your house in November so you're all set" and taking an entire day off for Black Friday crazy shopping.  They're not dedicated to time with family and time in prayer during Advent, which is to serve as a "mini-Lent" where you should be spending your time focusing on the light Christ will bring to the Earth on Christmas morning, not time spent being nearly beaten to death so you can secure the latest, greatest toy for your 10 year old.

Fed up with the crazy?  Yeah - Me too.

So for the past 2 years I've simply refused to participate in it.  We still celebrate, but we've done it in very small ways.  For one of those years I was 6 months pregnant.  For the other, I had an 8 month old baby.  Our family holiday season focuses on helping OTHERS, not ourselves.  Now that's not to say my kids come downstairs Christmas morning to an empty tree or that I've thrown the baby out with the bathwater.  We DEFINITELY still celebrate - but in a VERY different way.

So this year, I'm inviting you with me on the journey.  We are 8 weeks from December 23, 2013.  Right now it doesn't really have a name - at the moment I'm dubbing it:

I'm literally simply planning to share with you my day planner, how *I* prepare.  My "to do's" and my "don'ts", my cleaning schedule, my prayer schedule and meditations, and simply just my way to say, "I wish you EVERY ounce of love you can possibly absorb between now and Christ's birth."

Every morning I will give you a chance to pray, a list of "what to get done", and a list of "what to let go".  Yes, there will be some decluttering in the process.  You may not be June Cleaver by the end, but by the time Advent begins (actually ON Dec. 1st this year!) the random drop ins will be less stressful and the time of prayer and reflection will be able to occur without you spinning your wheels and just ending up making it worse and then stuffing the clutter into your shower and praying no one opens the curtain while they're there for a holiday dinner.

Let's do this together.  You, and me, and anyone else who decides to hop on board and take the journey with us.  I promise we will laugh.  I can also promise we will probably cry.  I will take your ideas and you can take my ideas and together, we will make it to the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.  I can promise you this year you will have clean clothes ready for every Holy Day of Obligation for all members of your home and party and will have new and fresh ideas to incorporate Advent into your home and heart.

We will spent the first 4 weeks preparing our homes for the holidays.  The next 4 preparing our hearts for Christ.  Join me!  I look forward to sharing my journey with all of you.

Day One

June Planners! And a few thoughts on the side...

I've spent much of my time recently in contemplation.  Thinking about my life, my friends, and grace.  Thinking about the gifts of the Holy Spirit and where to find them in my world.

I have come to the conclusion that you have to grow where you are planted.  You must be the change you want to see in the world.

Over and over in my mind I keep hearing this:

What house are you building?  Are you planning your curriculum for next year?  Are you working on a better life for your family?  Are you losing weight or gaining strength?  Are you spending your days finding solutions for your future?

Did you include God in your plans?


And now for the planners for June:

5 Day Girls
5 Day Boys
7 Day Girls
7 Day Boys

A Thought On Prayer and Your Time

Who remembers prayer time at bedtime?  I do.  I also remember occasionally praying before meals - usually because we were in the presence of people we thought we should pray in front of or people who usually prayed before a meal. I remember praying at church and I remember praying before meals when I went to camp.

How much of your daily time do you spend in prayer?  Let's run through some "basics" and how long it takes to say them.

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Amen." ~ 9 seconds (this was the start of my bedtime prayers as a child)

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.  May angels watch me through the night and wake me in the morning light.  Amen." ~ 10 seconds

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.  Bless us O Lord and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty through Christ our Lord. Amen.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen." ~ 20 seconds

"God is great. God is good.  Let us thank Him for our food.  Amen." ~ 5 seconds

Okay - so since this is a Catholic blog we'll go with the Catholic option for meal time and the longest "standard" bedtime prayer you can get away with in public. 

One at each meal and bedtime = 1 minute, 10 seconds

1/1440th of your day in prayer.

I will freely admit that fitting in prayer is hard, especially when you aren't used to it or fell out of the habit.  I will also share that there have been days that the only addition to the above prayers has been "Lord, help me get through this!!!!" and that's okay too.

But outside of chaos and especially IN chaos, we need to be in prayer.  The word "prayer" occurs over 100 times in the Bible, the word "pray" another 100+ - so one could easily surmise it should be something we take seriously.  1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to "pray without ceasing".





Now, I'm a HUGE fan of the Rosary and that's what prompted this post.  I have family coming in 2 days to my home who are not Catholic and I was discussing with some other Catholic ladies how to approach our "Family Rosary" with them here and I began to muse on the amount of time it takes to pray a Rosary vs. the amount of time in a day.

For the record, it is 1/72nd of your day.  That's it.  Just 1/72 - less than 1 minute per hour of the day when it's all crunched out.

Is that really too much to ask?  I 1/72 of time for the Lord and His Blessed Mother too much of your time?  Can you think of a better investment for your soul you could make with 1/72 of your day?