This is really cute and very funny:
Ready set Bumbo from Christina at amature hour
Month: August 2008
An update for Carol Race
The charges for violating the restraining order have been dropped against Carol Race. You can read the news article here.
I spoke to Carol last week and told her that I would publish a link to her latest endeavour. There is a petition on the website “Project: Adam’s Pew” I have read it and I am still considering it. In reality I think I need more feedback from those beyond myself. The petition is asking for the Bishops to consider forming a task force to look into how their former recommendations are being carried out. Which I can’t imagine being a harmful thing.
At the point where we are looking to send a petition off to the Bishops to address the “issue” of inclusion of people with disabilites into the communal celebration of the mass the story stops being about Adam or Rachel or any other particular child or adult and becomes about the best practices for all involved. To decide what is best we need to look at the needs of the community, the needs of individuals within the community, and the teachings of the Church.
The Simple Woman’s Daybook – August 11, 2008
he Simple Woman’s Daybook
is hosted by Peggy at the Simple Woman.
Thank you Peggy.
FOR TODAY : August 11, 2008
More swimming lesson, registering for nearly everything, summer’s nearly over.
Outside My Window… A good morning, almost cool and moist.
I am thinking… That I need to get back into shape. I serriously need some exercise.
I am thankful for… .
From the kitchen… I need to make some bannana bread.
I am wearing… brown capris and my favorite white blouse.
I am creating… A new website.
I am going… To the pool.
I am reading… Laundry, and A Mother’s Rule of Life.
I am hoping… That I can be productive this morning.
I am hearing… The crow. Again, still, I don’t know he has been here all summer it seems.
Around the house… We have some new flowers to go in and I am planting some herb seeds for the winter window box garden.
One of my favorite things… Apples
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: This is destined to be a busy week. Swimming, work, lots of stuff to do and plan for the kids for the fall.
Here is picture thought I am sharing…
A fantastic talk
This video of Sir Ken Robinson is really inspirational. His ideas about education are both insightful and challenging. Give it a view.
H/T to Stef at …and these Thy gifts.
Catholic Basics – Knowing God.
For Francis (St Francis of Assisi) religion was not a thing like a theory but a thing like a love affair.
– G.K. Chesterton
Moretto Brescia – The Holy Family
Love God, know God, obey God, serve God and one another. This is the sum of Christian theology. It seems most common that those coming into the faith rarely do so because they were first intellectually convinced. It is most commonly that they had some experience that led them to love God and then they found themselves desiring to know God. Something draws the soul to God and the the relationship must be built from there.
Our relationship with God is in many ways like any other relationship. It takes time, effort and understanding to develop the deep and satisfying relationship with God that we desire. There will be times, as there are in any relationship, where you are more or less on autopilot. And there may even be times where you are separated from God or where communication is difficult but the relationship goes on and reunion is perfect and beautiful.
Here are a few of the ways in which we met God allow us to more fully know Him.
Nature, Art, Music and Beauty The beauty of the creator is reflected in creation. Music and Art that stirs the soul and lifts our thoughts to God. God whispers His love to us in the beauty of every face around us. Each little flower, each blade of grass act in a symphony of life that hums constantly with the joy of being. If we take the time to savor life we see God in the world around us.
Prayer There are so many kinds of prayer. Each person has their own favored ways of praying. Communal prayer, meditative prayer, Rosaries, Chaplets, Psalms the list could go on and on and I would undoubtedly miss something. Speak to God and spend some prayer time listening.
Scriptures The scriptures are God’s gift to us in them we learn about God’s teaching and commandments, His nature and His earthly life. We see the example of those who served God before us. I always find it rather funny when someone has the impression that Catholics do not use the Bible. We do, every single mass has multiple readings from scripture. We use Scripture to learn about and to draw closer to God.
Catechism Whenever there is a question about what the Church teaches I go to the catechism. Our Catechism is a rich resource containing the wisdom and teachings of 2000 years distilled into a rather manageable text. By learning the catechism we learn about God, his lover for us and the commandments He would have us live.
The Sacraments Any of the sacraments bring us closer to God. Our Baptism, the Holy Eucharist, Confession – they all draw us closer to God and allow us to know him more fully. There is such love an peace contained in the Eucharist. The reception of the Eucharist, Eucharistic adoration and confession bring us close to God in very special ways. They heal us from our self-inflicted wounds and allow us to glimpse the reality that love is sacrifice.
Writings of the Saints and others Reading the writings of Christians who have come before us and reading about their lives bring us closer to God in a special way. Sort of like family get togethers where we all share stories about our love ones. We learn more about God by learning how others have experienced His love.
The Lives of Others We all shine like the sun to God. By recognising the beauty and humanity in the lives of others we learn a great deal about the nature of God and what it means to be Christian. We are not supposed to start out perfect, we are perfected in Christ.
Our Service to Others “It is in giving that we receive”. When we act on Christ’s behalf for others we see Christ more clearly and allow His glory to shine through us into the lives of others.
A Dad’s How To
I saw this over at “Called by Name” and really liked it. I like how Father Kyle applies the concept to the priesthood. Of all the things a man can be, none is more honorable than “father”.
Christmas and Advent 2008
I walked into Fred Meyer’s the other day and tucked away near the cards and the books was the first Christmas display, the American Greetings ornaments I believe. Normally I am rather perturbed by the consumer driven tendency to market Christmas earlier and earlier each year, but this year I looked at it and thought about how dizzying the Advent/Christmas season is. Every year I hope to be more organised and for the last few years I have note of “The Holiday Grand Plan” which starts holiday planning in the last week of August and finishes it in the main planning endeavors by the middle of December.
Normally I forget all about the “Grand Plan” until mid October. This year I actually remembered about it early enough to bump it back two weeks so I can use it for Advent and Christmas. I plan to bump the Grand Plan back to August 17 and “Tweak” it so that I can focus on Advent too.
The Simple Woman’s Daybook – August 4, 2008
he Simple Woman’s Daybook
is hosted by Peggy at the Simple Woman.
Thank you Peggy.
FOR TODAY : August 4, 2008
Swimming lessons, sourdough and a bunch of organising.
Outside My Window… Another lovely summer morning. The sky is blue, the trees are green the flowers are blooming.
I am thinking… About how much I need to do this week.
I am thankful for… Swim lessons. The children have such a great time going to swim lessons.
From the kitchen… Sour dough bread today.
I am wearing… brown pants and a olive colored shirt.
I am creating… I got my knitting back from my Mother in Law’s so I will have something to work on while I am appointment hopping this morning.
I am going… I have a Dr appointment this morning and then we have swim lessons.
I am reading… Laundry, and A Mother’s Rule of Life.
I am hoping… For so many things.
I am hearing… My oldest son got up early and is playing with some toy in the living room. “Jump!. Roll! Dodge!” a battle maybe?
Around the house… I am preparing a new garden bed almost done there.
One of my favorite things… My Stand mixer.
A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I have some work, swim lessons, sewing maybe and a lot of organizing.
Here is picture thought I am sharing…
I’ve got a blog and I ain’t afraid to use it!
Ok, time for one of my very, very rare political posts: This is just too good to pass up.
The Anchoress, my tie to all things Opera and Political, is pointing out a small “rebellion” among the Republican members of the house. To quote: “Today, the GOP asked for continued debate on oil drilling; the Democrats voted instead to adjourn.” Instead of packing their bags and heading home some GOP members of congress are having a good old fashioned “sit in” Good for them. Do something interesting for once.
Now, I don’t really bother too much about what they want to talk about and vote for (Energy policy is the topic de jour) but what delights me to no end is poking the eye of the main stream media, the vultures who tell us what to think, what is important and filter the world on our ‘behalf’. They are not covering this so far. Even CSPAN has had their cameras turned off. But this is news! This is our politicians doing something quite unsual and something that has the potential of effecting us all. So.. since I have a blog, and since I have a voice all ten of my faithful readers can hear about this too. Take that Main Stream Meida Monster (I feel so like St George now) HA!
Update: Seriously I think if I lived in DC I would grab the sleeping bag and some pizza and head down to support the Reps who are there. I know I said above that I don’t much care about the actual vote. I do, I mean my brother and his wife heat with oil – they bought half what they would normally because of how expensive it is. They are planning for a cold winter. I really feel for people in the colder climes. Now, I know that even if something very solid and sensible were to be passed today it would be a while before we would see energy costs coming down, but for crying out loud if this stupid congress can vote to bail out banks and homeowners who knowingly and willingly over-extended themselves (gambled and lost) then we can darn well do something to help out families and small businesses that are getting crushed under these horrible energy costs. Price caps on oil, I don’t care, but do something. To adjourn and go home while your constituents are trying to figure out if they can afford heating oil for the winter is obscene.
Update 2: Way to Go CSPAN (I am not crazy for liking CSPAN) Rep. Culberson is “twittering” this and CSPAN has him linked.
Simply Catholic 
