Nope, Not a Mrs.

More than a few times I have had people assume that I am married with kids.  Not sure where their logic comes from, but it happens all the same.

I love when I correct them that I am actually single, and they argue with me.  Argue.  As if I would have forgotten.

“You mean you aren’t married?”

“Wait- Oh yes!  That handsome man wandering around my house, he must be my husband!  And the ankle biter grinding cheerios into my carpet…I must be his mom!  I was suffering from temporary amnesia.  Thank you so much for reminding me!” (don’t worry, I am not that sarcastic with the unsuspecting public)

Seriously.

Cut to yesterday.

I am on the phone AGAIN with an organization that I work with through the CCD program.  Love their mission, but their paperwork leaves something to be desired.

After explaining the problem, my phone call is transferred a few times, and I finally have someone on the line who can help.  She sees the problem, and starts type-type-typing to correct it on the screen in front of her.

As she is correcting the info, she says, “You know, I think I remember you- Did you call with an issue like this last year?”  I respond yes.  She says, “Yes!  I did talk to you!  I remember.  Well, hopefully we can fix it this time!”  Great.

As she looks things over, she tells me that she thinks she has all of the information fixed and that I shouldn’t have any more problems.  But then she says, “Oh, wait!  I think I see another mistake! It says Ms., not Mrs.  It must be Mrs., right?”

(She gets my marital status out of two conversations?  Over the phone?)

I respond, “Nope, Ms. is correct.”

Then she says, “So, it’s not Mrs.?”

After reassuring her, again, that it is not Mrs., we end the phone call.  Sheesh.

FYI, if my marital status changes, I’ll let you know.  No need to argue with me about it, OK?

Keeping the Sabbath #1

Happy First Sunday of Advent!  I think that it is very appropriate that my first real Keeping the Sabbath post is on the first Sunday of the Church year.  I love that the Church year doesn’t just start with Christmas, but with a period of time for us to prepare our hearts for Christmas.  It makes so much sense- I love the liturgy- but that can be a topic for another post.

This Sunday, here are seven things that are helping me keep the Sabbath:

1. A Song:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel by the Civil Wars

I love when musical artists take traditional beautiful hymns and add their own flair to them.  That is my favorite kind of Christmas music, and this song falls into that category.  It is also one of the few Christmas songs that I am letting myself listen to this early in December.  I LOVE Christmas music…so why am I waiting?   

Because Advent is a season of waiting, Catholics (and many other Christians) do not celebrate Christmas for the entire month of December.  (They also don’t celebrate Christmas in November or October, contrary to what you see in stores…) We celebrate Advent first for four weeks... we wait, we pray, we prepare.  Christmas, the birth of the Christ, was a long awaited event.  Think thousands of years.  We should be able to stand a few weeks of anticipation each year.  Catholics actually celebrate Christmas on…you guessed it…Christmas.  That is why you won’t see Catholic churches decorated until after the Sunday Mass preceding Christmas, and why many Catholic homes decorate slowly over the month of December, with maybe only an Advent Wreath until just before Christmas.  It is not because Catholics procrastinate.  It is because we are trying to remember the story of salvation lived out by Israel as they prepared for the long awaited Messiah.  This song helps me remember that.

2. A Verse:

"Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,
with the mountains quaking before you,
while you wrought awesome deeds we could not hope for,
such as they had not heard of from of old.
No ear has ever heard, no eye ever seen, any God but you
doing such deeds for those who wait for him."
~Isaiah 64:1,3,4

3. A Quote: "The Son of God became the Son of Man so that the sons of men might become the sons of God." ~St. Athanasius

4. An Image: Sleeping St. Joseph

I love St. Joseph.  I love this picture of St. Joseph.  He was such a man of action, that God had to speak to him while he was sleeping.  Three times.  This picture makes me think of what it will take for me to listen to God and do his will.

5. A Blessing:

I had the privilege of sharing dinner with three of my favorite highschoolers this weekend.  We ate good food at my apartment, caught up a little on each others lives, and enjoyed some teasing.  Mostly aimed at me :)  We then went into the big city for a movie...after a lot of deliberation, we ended up seeing this:

It was awesome.  Better than Flywheel, Facing the Giants, and Fireproof all added together.

6. An Intention:

Something specific that I will be praying for this week is for the people who will struggle with this Christmas season.  What is a time of joy for most of us is a time of pain for others.  So I will be praying for healing for all those experiencing or remembering a loss this Christmas.

7. A Challenge:

This week, I will be challenging myself to finally finish this book:

It is really good.  I am about half way through it...for the second time.  Archbishop Fulton Sheen steps up the theology a bit in the second half.  So I need to buckle down and finish the whole thing.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great Sabbath!

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever."
~1 Chronicles 16:34

A New Life

See that pillow?

That cute one, right there?

It has been given a new life.

It used to be striped.  In shades of peach and mint green.  I will not burn your eyes with a picture of its former ugliness.

It had a facelift when I moved away for college and was covered in navy and tan plaid.  Cute, but tired.

Yesterday it got a whole new life with this fun print that has been hiding in my craft closet.  It has been dying to come out, but I have been a little afraid that it was too loud, too bold, too... not me.

But look at it now!  It has found a comfy home in my living room (along with some matching brother pillows and sister kitchen curtains.)  If only I could do something about the white walls and ugly apartment carpeting...

Doesn't make you just want to sit down and have a cup of coffee?

I think that this was a lesson that I need to take more risks :) We'll start small...

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

I Need Some Inspiration

I need your help.

It is past time to be working on my Christmas Cards.  I have handmade my Christmas cards for the past 5 or 6 years. I need to make about 75-100 of them.

It takes lots of time, but I enjoy sending the people I care about a little bit of something handmade during a season so filled with commercialism.  The very essence of something handmade is that it tends to not be practical.  Handmade items are not the easiest, fastest, or sometimes even the cheapest way to go.  But, they allow the creator to give a little of themselves to the receiver.  And there is something special about that.

So, here is the Christmas stamp that I am going to use this year: (I pick a new stamp for each Christmas, and then continue to use all the stamps in my Christmas decorations each year.)

Here is my color palate: (Cards will be on brown craft paper.  Brown twine will probably be included.  The turquoise is the accent color.)

And that is as far as I have gotten.

I need a scripture verse for the inside.
And a saying for the front.
And a pretty layout.
And something creative that I haven't done before.

I have been browsing online.  Here are some ideas that I like.  (I know that some of these are not the right color/theme/etc.  Therein lies the challenge.)

Any ideas for me?

Keeping the Sabbath

 

“Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all their multitude.  And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it…” ~Genesis 2:1-3a

“Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God... ~Exodus 20:8-10a

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find a body…suddenly two men in dazzling white clothes stood beside them…the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here, but has risen.’” ~Luke 24:1-3, 4b, 5b

“On the first day of the week, when we meet to break bread…” ~Acts 20:7

What do your Sundays look like?  Are they days filled with beautiful worship, peaceful rest, and reconnection with your Lord?  Do they feel different from the other six days of the week? Do you look forward to your Sunday as the source of your strength for your new week? Or does your Sunday look a little more like mine…seen as something to survive, instead of something to cherish and keep?

Keeping the Sabbath. Something that does not come naturally to us humans, especially in this crazy-work-oriented-always-on-the-go culture we are a part of.  It is a Christian practice that I struggle with.  It is something that I have been convicted to challenge myself more on. 

Growing up, Sundays were honestly the most stressful day of the week (sorry family, but it is true).  Since college, I have been so involved in ministries that fall on Sunday, that it has been difficult to fully remember what the Lord’s Day is for.  Currently, because of my job as a Director of Religious Education, the bulk of my work falls on a Sunday- CCD, Children’s Masses, Bible Study, and Youth Group.  How can I still serve the people of my church and keep the Sabbath?  And how am I setting a model for worship and rest on the Sabbath?

Some of the things that I have been working on are practical.  For example, I try hard to do as much prep work as possible before Sunday.  Copies are made, video equipment is set up, and coffee makers are ready to go when I walk in on Sunday morning.  This sometimes takes rescheduling or prioritizing on Saturday afternoon/evening, but it is totally worth it.  Something else that I do is to guard the few “free” hours that I have each Sunday very closely.  I don’t fill them with anything if I don’t have to.  This gives me some extra time for prayer, to watch a movie, dive into Bible study, read a book, or take a nap.  These things help, but I still have a long ways to go.  I have decided that just as I prep the equipment I need for programs at church on Sunday, I need to start prepping my heart for Sunday.  So, sometime during the week, I am going to sit down and find seven things that will help me more fully enter into the coming Sabbath:

1. A Song
2. A Verse
3. A Quote
4. An Image
5. A Blessing
6. An Intention
7. A Challenge

By having these seven “tools” already in mind, I hope that keeping the Lord’s Day will start to mean more to me.  That I will look forward to it.  That I will see that I am unable to start the week without it.  That I might fully understand that while I was made ON the sixth day, I was made FOR the seventh.  That the joy and grace received from true worship will shine through me to others.

And I’d like to share my list of seven Sabbath celebrations (say that seven times fast!) with you each week.  So, I’ll use blogger to set them to post each Sunday morning…’cause I certainly am not adding that to my Sabbath morning tasks :)

I’d love to hear how you keep your Sabbath!

A Fun Find

My mom and I went on an adventure today.

We perused a fine art show. (We enjoyed the historic house it was located in much more than the art.)

We visited a new antique store located in an old bank.  (I found a beautiful nativity picture that got added to my Christmas list.)

We visited a small-town store's Christmas open house. (And I had Déjà vu.  I think they were selling all of the same stuff as last year.  Same decorations as last year.  Same cookies as last year.)

We then tried to visit a second hand store that I have been wanting to stop at. (Note the word tried.  We missed the 3:00 closing time by about 3 minutes.)

And then, we found the real treasure of the day.  It was especially fun because we didn't even know that we were going to stumble upon it.  It is called Objects, and it is located at 116 S. Main in Eureka, IL.

Loved it.

Love the overall style.
Love the unique handmade items.
Love that the items are made by over 25 local artists.
Love the jewelry, hats, clothing, decor, quilts, and wall art.
Love the layout of the store.
Love the courteous lady working this afternoon.
Love that she offered us hot wassail.
Love that ALL of the owner's profits go to support an orphanage in Peru.

Loved it!

It is exactly the kind of store that I would love to be a part of.  Dreams :)

Here's a photo collage of some of the art that I found on their blog:

Here's the link to their blog.

And here's an article from the Woodford County Journal that tells their story.

You've gotta go visit.

I need to go now- I am feeling kind of crafty :)  I need to go make something beautiful.  And redecorate my apartment.  And make plans to support an orphanage...

Pride and Prejudice meets "Dude, Where's Your Bride?"

I am in a book club with some friends.

It is a Jane Austen Book Club.

One month we read a Jane Austen book and meet to talk about it.

The next month we meet to watch a film adaptation of that movie while we make crafty things.

Because we are dorks and apparently miss book reports from grade school, we even have a blog where we talk about the books.  It is called A Truth Universally Acknowledged.  We discuss the books, apply them to life, share pictures, and post recipes from the food we eat at Book Club.  Feel free to check it out. You can either add to the conversation or (nicely) mock us for our mild obsession.  Remember, I already admitted  that we are self proclaimed dorks.

This all started when we were together one night and watched The Jane Austen Book Club.  Six people, whose lives were all completely changed by the time they finished reading six Jane Austen books.  We thought we should give it a shot.  And to be honest, it is a really nice excuse to get together with a group of friends on a regular basis.

Because the four of us all happen to be single, Christian women, and we are reading some of the most romantic books written in the last couple hundred years, our conversations naturally turn towards relationships and marriage.  We have some interesting connections to events in the book.  We also lingered over quotes like these:

"But if a woman is partial to a man, and does not endeavor to conceal it, he must find it out."

"A lady's imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment."

"She began to now comprehend that he was exactly the man, who, in disposition and talents, would most suit her."

"But your family owe me nothing.  Much as I respect them, I believe, I thought only of you."

It seems that our relationship "problems" parallel some of the problems in the book: women with too high of expectations or who are too focused on marriage alongside men who are intimidated by the gang like quality of single women and don't pursue them.  My friend Kayla emailed us a link to a great article called Dude, Where's Your Bride?.  I loved it, and it fit so well with our Jane Austen conversations.  There is a great line about creating a church full of Yentas, and here are a couple of my favorite direct quotes:

"Men, you don’t have to be rich and you don’t have to climb corporate ladders. You don’t have to fix cars and grow a beard. But it’s time to take a little initiative–in the church, with your career, and with women. Stop circling around and start going somewhere. It’s probably a good idea to be more like your grandpa and less like Captain Jack Sparrow. Even less like Peter Pan. Show some godly ambition. Take some risks. Stop looking for play dates and–unless God is calling you to greater service through singleness–start looking for a wife."

"Women, don’t settle and don’t ever compromise on requiring solid Christian commitment in a husband, but make sure your list of non-negotiables doesn’t effectively exclude everyone outside of Mr. Darcy."

Just to be very clear, just because I am in a Jane Austen Book Club, that does not mean I am all wrapped up in thinking Mr. Darcy is the ideal man for me.

He actually looks a lot more like Mr. Knightley, to be honest.

Free (& legal) music

Living on a budget has its ups and downs, and one thing that I have been craving is some new music.  However even $.99 in itunes adds up pretty fast.

I thought that I might share with you some places that I have found free and legal music.  So if you are itching for a new dance tune, something slow and soothing, or even some new Christmas music, here are some places to try.

Air 1 Radio Station features a free song each week from Contemporary Christian groups like Plumb, The City Harmonic, Press Play, Sixteen Cities, etc.  Here is this week's free song available to download:

Sometimes you can get free Christian music through Group Tune, and if not, there are lots of great discounts.  For five more days, you can get two Marian Grace Albums for $10.  If you sign up for email updates, they will let you know when more deals become available.

I can't find a good You Tube video just featuring their music, but they were featured on a recent episode of EWTNs Life on the Rock.  They are bringing new life to beautiful, ancient hymns and prayer.  You can see them in this video starting at around minute ten.

And finally, my favorite new addiction is Noise Trade.  It features ALL.KINDS.OF.MUSIC for FREE download- you even have the option of giving the artists a tip.  Sometimes new artists use it to get their music out there, like Andrew and Hannah.  Marian Grace even has a couple of songs from their newest album. Sometimes well known artists share a track off a new album, or maybe even an entire album, like this collection from Jars of Clay.  There are even worship albums put out by churches.  I found a lot of good ones, but this is a new one I just downloaded from Sanctuary Band.  And I am currently in love with The Steel Wheels.  You can search by artist, genre, top downloads, or even for someone similar to an artist you are already a fan of.  I love it.  You should give it a try.

How do you fill your music cravings on a budget?

Fake Fear

Recently my great Youth Group kids joined up with some other great Youth Group kids to try out a local high ropes course.  Air stairs, tightropes, trees to scale, a zip line...lots of fun to be had.

The high ropes course that we were at is a part of a Christian camp.  Our facilitator was informative, good with the kids, had a sense of humor, and was able to work in a few messages about faith.

At one point, the kids were standing facing the high ropes course putting on all of their safety gear.  This was their first good look at the course, and you could see some intimidation, uncertainty, and fear creeping into their expressions.  The kids with the most bravado earlier were even vocalizing nerves.

And that was when our facilitator, pointing at the course, said something like this:

"Think it looks scary, huh?  Feeling a little fear thinking about doing this?  I promise you that you are safe.  Your safety gear is safe.  The facilitators working with you will keep you safe.  The equipment on the course is safe.  As a matter of fact, up on the course is the safest place in the entire camp."

"That fear you are feeling- it is fake.  FAKE!  It is not real, and it is not of God. 

You are safe, and you can do this."

Wow.  What a message.  Can you hear the truth in there that has nothing to do with dangling 30 feet above the ground?  As Christians, we are not called to live a life of fear.  Our God says to us, "See that great big world?  It is full of twists and turns and changes and challenges.  I know that there will be times when you look at it and you will be tempted to fear.  Remember, it is big, but I am bigger.  That fear is FAKE. You are safe.  My Word, My Church, My Sacraments, My people will keep you safe.  I will never leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear.  Choose instead to love."

Reminds me of this song:

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear..." ~1 John 4:18

The Back Story

What’s with saying I am “unemployed”?  It’s not really true- I am just not as employed as I used to be.  I currently work as the Director of Religious Education at my church and also part time with 4-H programming, among many other tasks.  But until this fall, I also was a teacher.  I had the privilege of being a 6^th grade teacher for three years.  It was challenging, and rewarding, and fulfilling, and fun, and awesome.  I have wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember.  My sisters can attest to the hours spent with me “teaching” them with the extra pages from the previous year’s math workbook.  I never once considered changing my major during college, and everything just seemed to fall into place when it came time to find a job.  I loved my time teaching, and despite being super busy, I couldn’t imagine anything else.  But, through various circumstances, I discovered that I was not called to work at that school any longer.  Furthermore, the same discovery led me to turn down several other teaching position offers.  Had I gone crazy?  For a while, I wasn’t sure.  For Type-A-plan-everything-organized-me, this was a change of pace.  And it was hard.

But through it all, I have discovered that I had inadvertently wrapped a lot of my identity in my career.  I didn’t mean to, but it happened.  And you see, my identity is not as a teacher, but as a daughter of Christ.

So this year, I am taking a sabbatical.  I am slowing down, refocusing, prioritizing, and realigning myself to Christ.  I am also spending a lot of time discerning God’s will for my future.  (To be clear- that does not necessarily mean that I am discerning religious life.  Combine a young, single, practicing Catholic and the word discern, and everyone’s minds automatically assume that I am becoming a nun.  While religious life is a beautiful vocation, and I am open to God’s plans, I am pretty sure that my vocation is to be a wife and mom.  All in God’s time, though.)  So instead of focusing on where I am going to be in five or ten or twenty years, I am focusing on God’s will for this hour, this day, this week.    For His plans are much more perfect than anything I could even imagine. 

“The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” ~Psalm 33:11

“If we would just walk humbly with our God, He would lead us by the hand to that which is just for us, made for us, intended for us, and this alone will be the cause of our deep fulfillment and happiness.” ~Matthew Kelly

What to do with a blog…

So, at the beginning of this adventuresome year, I had many people tell me, “You should start a blog!”  I enjoy the blog world, and it sounded great in theory, so I decided to get started.  I thought of a name.  I registered it with blogger.  Found a pretty design.  And… that was it.  Because, where do I go from here?  What should the topic of the blog be?

I don’t have cute kids to share updates about.  I am not planning a wedding that I can keep you apprised of.  I do not have lots of exciting, jet setting tales that will keep you coming back for more.  Hmmm…

I think those that suggested writing a blog wanted me to write about my year of “unemployment.”  Makes sense, but do people really want to read about my life and career drama?  Really, how personal do I want to get with all of cyber space?  (Even though only about three people will probably read this).

Then I thought maybe I could have a craft blog.  I am making more time to be creative these days, and it might be fun to post what I have been making.  I get lots of ideas from online sources, so why not share?

Another idea was to blog about Youth Ministry and my DRE work.  I am always coming up with new Youth Group lessons and games, or craft projects for the younger kids at church.  Why not post some of those ideas for others to use?

Or maybe I could blog about faith in everyday life.  I love finding more and more ways to incorporate my passion for Christ into all aspects of my day.  I also love finding ways to make the culture around us realign to Christianity.  Christians used to set the tone for the culture, but now it seems to be run by the secular.   Let’s try to make the secular holy.

And this is where I got stuck.  I didn’t know which of these topics warranted the attention of a blog.  Plus, there are many more talented than I who cover those topics much better than I ever could.  So I didn’t do anything J

But yesterday in prayer, I was convicted that there just might be something I can share, and maybe this blog could be a forum for that.  So, I am going to write about all of those things listed above, because that is my life.   Here we go!

“But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.  Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.” ~1 Peter 3:15