May Crowning

May is not only the month that we honor all mothers on Mother's Day. It is also the month that Catholics honor Mary, the Mother of God, the Mother of all Christians, in a special way. At the foot of the cross before Jesus died, he gave Mary to the apostle John as his mother, and John to Mary as her son. We are all called to be apostles; therefore, just like the apostle John we take Mary into the home of our hearts as our heavenly Mother, and we become her sons and daughters, asking her help in leading us closer to Christ and living as Christ lived. That was and is Mary's only mission: bringing Christ to the world and the world to Christ.

The school that our boys attend is a beautiful, traditional Catholic school that celebrates the month of May by crowning Mary and Jesus and laying flowers at their feet in honor of our love for them. Symbolically, we are crowning Jesus and Mary as King and Queen of our hearts. I love how the Catholic Church often uses tangible symbols and actions to represent intangible truths which help to remind our hearts of what is important, to make the mysteries of the faith take root more deeply.

Michael's 2nd grade class was given all the special duties during the Mass...bringing up the candles, presenting the gifts for the altar, and reading the Bible readings...because they all received their 1st Holy Communion this month. Michael was beaming with holy pride, and I was so glad my husband had the day off from work so he could come to Mass and be a part of this special celebration. It was very touching to see all the students at the school bring a flower to lay at the feet of Jesus and Mary while we all sang the traditional hymn "Queen of the May," which dates back to the 13th century. It made me so thankful that our children have such a wonderful school to attend where they are receiving an excellent education and having their souls fed and led toward heaven all at the same time!

QUEEN OF THE MAY

Bring flowers of the fairest
Bring flowers of the rarest
From garden and woodland
And hillside and vale
Our full hearts are swelling
Our glad voices telling
The praise of the loveliest
Rose of the vale

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Our voices ascending,
In harmony blending
Oh thus may our hearts turn
Dear Mother, to thee
Oh thus shall we prove thee
How truly we love thee
How dark without Mary
Life's journey would be

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today
Queen of the Angels, Queen of the May

Thankful Thursday

I'm trying to instill a new "attitude of gratitude" in myself and in our home. My selfish, sinful nature often tends to see the glass as half-empty and it is very easy for me to fall into a pit of grumpiness and stay there when things don't go exactly the way I had planned. I am learning that gratitude is like a ladder that I can choose to climb in order to get myself out of that grumpy pit---a pit that Satan wants me to wallow in. Therefore, gratitude is a great weapon against the evil one. So perhaps you'll want to join with me in winning a battle today...simply brainstorm a list of things you are thankful for and thank Jesus for them. You can even do this with your children around the supper table. We've been doing that at our home. We simply pass around a marker and a sticky pad around the table for everyone to write down one thing that they were thankful for that day. Then we place the bright sticky notes on our sliding glass door...it's not only bringhtening our door but also our mealtime together, our attitudes, and hopefully our souls!

Today I am thankful for:

Nathanael's chubby baby legs that kick like crazy when he's happy,

A Starbucks gift card to buy hot chai on a rainy day,

Seeing my husband's face in the face of my children,

Joseph looking so sharp in his baseball uniform,

Playing "Stratego" with my math-minded Michael,

My sweetheart surprising me with "Chili's" chips and salsa,

Shea butter bubble baths after a tiring day,

Comments from friends and strangers on my blog :)

Reading a great chapter book aloud with my boys all snuggled close,

The scent and soft flicker of a new candle on our nightstand,

Sweet sleep (even if it's only for a few hours at a time).


"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God." (2 Thessalonians 5:16)

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

Our Canoe Trip Called Marriage

11 years ago, on May 26th, my handsome, holy husband and I became one and began our journey of marriage. It continues to be an adventurous journey! :) The analogy that came to mind as I pondered writing this post was an image of a couple in a canoe, floating down a river. At times they drift along smoothly with breathtaking scenery all around, full of awe, humbly wondering why God chose to bless them with such perfect bliss. Other times, roaring rapids threaten to break their boat, and the couple clings to one another in fear, trying to avoid the biggest rocks, hoping they will survive. Still other times the couple finds themselves choosing to sit on opposite ends of the canoe, self-absorbed, disillusioned and unaware that a waterfall is looming up ahead and the only way to escape is if they reconcile and paddle together. A time or two he and she plunge over the falls; they use every ounce of their strength to help each other stay afloat and to climb back into the boat, a bit bruised but wiser and stronger after they heal. Perhaps you can relate?

To go along with the waterfall analogy I found the above photo which brings back a wave of warm memories for me. My husband and I are standing on the edge of one of the largest waterfalls in the world--Gulfoss Falls in Iceland. Paul was stationed in Iceland for a Navy deployment while we were courting. How I loved courting! It was the most beautiful courtship--more romantic than my hopelessly romantic mind could have even dreamed up myself. It was pure, holy, and ever so sweet. I was a freshman at a "pseudo"-Catholic college (as in, very liberal, although I didn't know that until I got there) called Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Paul was Navy lieutenant and a pilot, protecting our country and flying P-3s around the globe, stationed in Brunswick, Maine at the time. The previous year when I was a senior in high school I made a pilgrimage to Medjogorje, and on top of Apparition Hill, where the Blessed Virgin Mary had a appeared to some Croatian children, I made a deal with God (dangerous, I know). I sincerely asked God to send me a Christian husband during my freshman year in college, a man who also had a devotion to the Blessed Mother; otherwise I would start seriously discerning a vocation to the religious life. Becoming a cloistered nun was an idea that I flirted with from time to time, but I couldn't tell if that was truly God's will or simply my own. I was soon to find out, for God honored my request.

I was home for Christmas break during my freshman year when I received a surprising phone call from my older brother Steve. Steve said a classmate of his, Paul, might be calling me to ask me about my trip to Medjugorje because he was very interested in Marian apparitions and would love to hear more about my pilgrimage. "Neat," I thought to myself, for I loved sharing about my Medjugorje experience and loved talking about religion in general to anyone who would listen :) Sure enough, the phone call came and my heart was never again the same.

After Christmas break, Paul went back to Maine, soon to be deployed to Sicily, and I returned to college with my head in the clouds. We began writing and emailing almost daily, sharing thoughts on theology, slowly sharing bits of our hearts, quickly falling in love from afar. Whenever I would get a letter from him, I would run out of my dorm room, down the stairs to the chapel to read my letter in the presence of Jesus in the tabernacle. And I would read it over and over again, and then I would look towards Jesus and ask, "Is this him, Lord? Is he the answer to my prayer on top of that hill? Can this really be happening to me? Please, Lord, if this is not going to work out stop it now so that I will still have a heart left to give to another if that is Your will." The letters kept coming and soon my heart was no longer my own.

One of my favorite memories was our first date. Our courtship was mainly from a distance, courting through the written word. So when Paul came back to South Dakota over my Spring Break for the first time after our letter-writing began, it felt like a huge moment...one that would either end our courting or inspire us to continue our long-distance romance. We decided to meet at morning Mass and then go out for bagels afterward. I arrived at Mass first, I knelt and "tried" to pray (unsuccessfully because I was so stinkin' nervous). Then I saw the man who unknowingly carried my heart walk in. I watched him genuflect to Jesus and bless himself with holy water. His hair was dark and curly; he wore a brown leather Navy-issued flight jacket; he came into my pew and knelt. And I prayed with all my might that he wouldn't hear my beating heart that was about to jump out of my chest. I remember thinking to myself, "There is no way this is going to work. I'm dreaming if I think this man would fall for me. He's hotter than hot. I'm not. I'm just a simple South Dakota girl, so young, so naive. He's a Navy pilot who has traveled the world and could have any bride under the sun. Wake up, Maria. Why would he ever settle for me?" But much to my disbelief, the dream kept coming true.

The following Spring we canoed out to a tiny island in Maine where Paul proposed to me and I said yes with a thousand kisses. Soon after we posed for this spectacular picture in Iceland. We were so completely twitterpated, so blissfully unaware of what rapids or waterfalls lie ahead. We married a year later in the month of May in honor of our Blessed Mother who brought us together. We thought that love would get us through everything the world could throw our way. And you know what, we were right. But is was a different love than I had imagined. It was not the dreamy kind of love that carried us through; if we had clung to the that twitterpated kind of love our boat would have capsized long ago...in fact, it nearly did...more than once. But "He Who is Love" kept our marriage afloat. And now look at us...4 job changes, 4 moves, 4 children on earth, 3 waiting in heaven, and 11 years later...our canoe still intact despite facing some rapids and waterfalls along the way. And I hope God grants Paul and I many more years to travel together in this canoe called marriage :) Anniversaries are for remembering the journey, for reminding ourselves that we would say yes to jump in the canoe all over again, and that the spouse beside us in the boat is the perfect one for the trip :)

Thank you, Paul, for choosing me to be your canoe companion, for not throwing me overboard when I probably deserved a dunking, and for captaining our boat towards Christ through both the calm and the turbulent waters all these years. I love and respect you more than you know.

32 years ago...

32 years ago today a little red-haired girl was born. Her father wanted to name her Maria Theresa. Her mother wanted to name her Mary Elizabeth. Dad won. Thanks Dad! :)

The Best Day of Michael's Life

After kissing the boys, blessing them, saying goodnight, and turning off the light, Michael whispers to me in the darkness..."Mommy, this was the best day of my life." My heart smiled, my soul nodded. Spiritually speaking, I believe he may be right, for today he received the Bread of Life, the Body of Christ, for the very first time. Jesus himself said, "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me." (John 6:54-57)

Michael is right...that is the best promise, the best gift in the world.

I'm not sure if my sweet Michael grasps the magnitude of this day, but he certainly was beaming with joy from sun-up to sun-down. He looked so handsome and grown-up in his shiny-white 1st Communion tie and his crisp blue dress shirt. Of course all the 1st Communicants looked radiant, but like every other mother, I thought my child outshone them all. :) At times during the Mass I thought my heart might simply burst with joy and pride. Michael had been waiting and preparing for this day both in his mind and in his heart for so long, and to watch him embrace each moment of the day with such maturity and joy simply delighted my heart.

After Mass we asked Michael where he wanted to celebrate this momentous occasion, and he chose The Bagel Company. He picked a blueberry bagel with blueberry cream cheese...I guess he loves blue, just like his mother! :) When we came home he opened his gifts and it was like watching a child on Christmas morn. From his godparents (Uncle Steve and Aunt Kristin) he received a beautiful wooden keepsake box, an activity book and a prayer book; from Paul's mom he received a cross necklace, a Mass book, a 1st Communion cross to hang on the wall, and a saint book; from my parents he received a blue leather-bound Catholic Bible and a St. Michael chaplet. He was delighted by every gift and kept looking at each one over and over again throughout the day.

Later that afternoon while Michael and I were playing a board game together he exclaimed, "Mom, I just feel like Jesus has been with me all day...He has filled me so much that there is no room for Satan!" I told him that's the wonderful gift of receiving the Eucharist...Jesus IS with us in a real and special way and helps us keep Satan away.

The Eucharist is such a gift and I don't think most Catholics even realize what a miracle it is. I recently heard a sad and staggering statistic that over 70 percent of Catholics don't even believe that the bread and wine at Mass are changed into Jesus' Body and Blood! How can this be? I truly wonder what caused so many (Reformers and Catholics alike) to go astray from this teaching on the Real Presence, a teaching that is so clear in Scripture and explicitly found in the earliest writings of the church fathers. And I wonder at my own complacency of this fundamental tenant of my faith, for if I truly embraced the wondrous mystery of the Eucharist, why am I not racing to Mass each and every day be fed with the Bread of Life, the precious Body and Blood of my Savior!?!? Lord, I believe...help my unbelief!

But I digress... What I am trying to express is simply how overjoyed I am that our Michael, our freckle-faced, chocolate-eyed son with the tenderest of hearts, is now being fed with the living bread, Jesus Christ, who comes down from Heaven to feed Michael's soul with the promise of eternal life. Truly this is one of the best days of this mommy's life too!














If you want more "Food for Thought," (forgive the pun!) read some of these amazing quotes from the saints and early Church Fathers on the amazing gift we have in the Eucharist:

"The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host."- Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

"This is the wonderful truth, my dear friends: the Word, which became flesh two thousand years ago, is present today in the Eucharist," - Blessed Pope John Paul II

"What wonderful majesty! What stupendous condescension! O sublime humility! That the Lord of the whole universe, God and the Son of God, should humble Himself like this under the form of a little bread, for our salvation. In this world I cannot see the Most High Son of God with my own eyes, except for His Most Holy Body and Blood." - St. Francis of Assisi

"This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus." - St. Justin Martyr, 2nd Century

"I hunger for the bread of God, the flesh of Jesus Christ; I long to drink of his blood, the gift of unending love." - St. Ignatius of Antioch

"God is as really present in the consecrated Host as He is in the glory of Heaven." - St. Paschal Baylon

"The faith of the Church is this: That one and identical is the Word of God and the Son of Mary, Who suffered on the Cross, Who is present in the Eucharist, and Who rules in Heaven."
- Pope Pius XII

"How many of you say: I should like to see His face, His garments, His shoes. You do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him. He gives Himself to you, not only that you may see Him, but also to be your food and nourishment." - St. John Chrysostom

"The Eucharist is connected with the Passion. If Jesus had not established the Eucharist we would have forgotten the crucifixion. It would have faded into the past and we would have forgotten that Jesus loved us... To make sure that we do not forget, Jesus gave us the Eucharist as a memorial of his love … When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then, when you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now." - Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Half a Year Already!!!

Is anyone else in shock and awe that our baby is half a year old already!? Seriously, I can hardly believe it. It has gone so fast and has been so very very sweet. Every month our Nathanael just keeps getting more adorable, more fun, more kissable. He has brought so much joy to our home...which I am starting to believe is precisely why God placed him in our lives. I am becoming convinced that more children multiply the love, divide the duties, and subtract the selfishness in a home. Perhaps I should have a few more! :) Wait a minute, what am I saying!? I must be deliriously tired...yes indeed, it's 10:25pm...way past my bedtime!

Anyway, before I collapse into bed, let me recount some of Natey's highlights this month lest I forget (which is quite likely). This month Nathanael got his 2 bottom teeth (actually he got them 2 weeks prior, but whose counting), he can easily roll over to reach a toy but still hasn't mastered rolling back onto his back once he's tired of his tummy, he is sitting up with only a little bit of support, he loves to eat any type of baby food when it's mixed with rice cereal and has also starting trying to eat any table food within his reach, he has miraculously started soothing himself to sleep when we place him in his crib for naps rather than me nursing or holding him to get him to sleep, he still is not sleeping through the night but usually only wakes up at midnight and at 3:00am which is manageable, and he still has reddish hair and an adorable chin dimple which I hope will never disappear :) How's that for a run-on sentence? No one would know that I majored in English in college.

Anyway, I am 1 blessed momma with 4 blessedly beautiful boys! God is good. Good night! :)

A Renewed Mother on Mother's Day

Last week I was spoiled with a trip back home to South Dakota which renew this tired mother's spirit. The mundane routine of motherhood, as well as the lack of solid sleep, had started wearing me down. So when my dear friend Jody asked me to be the godmother of their new little Gianna, I was both honored to be asked and overjoyed with an excuse to fly home, knowing that once I got there my saintly mother would provide just the retreat I needed. While I was home I caught up with old friends, watched Nathanael get showered with loving attention from his relatives, witnessed my god-daughter Gianna's baptism as well as my godson Daniel's 1st Holy Communion, and got spoiled by my parents who cooked every meal and entertained Nathanael so that I could get some much needed R and R. Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder, because the longer I was away from my husband and 3 older boys, the more I longed to see them and return to my vocations of wife and mother with renewed energy and joy. So this Mother's Day I am especially thankful to be a mother, and I'm praying for the grace to be a better mother---more like my own mother and like the Blessed Mother--more and more each day.

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

My friend Jody and I...we could be sisters with our matching red hair, green shirts, and Irish blood! :)

Gianna's beautiful baptism...

Daniel's 1st Holy Communion...

Nathanael loved his doting Uncle Steve...

Nathanael loved visiting his great grandma...

Nathanael loved being snuggled by Grandpa Pat...

Nathanael loved all the attention from his sweet cousin Ryan...

Nathanael loved his cousin Elizabeth's big smile...

Nathanael loved Aunt Shawna's loving arms...

And last, but certainly not least, Nathanael loved every minute of his "Grandma Theresa Time"!

Extraordinarily Ordinary Easter

This Easter was perhaps the simplest but most Spirit-filled Easter that we have celebrated as a family. I am slowly learning that the the deepest joys are sometimes found in the simple, ordinary moments of life when I choose to view each moment with eyes of faith, making them truly extra-ordinary.

We decorated eggs with some great friends,

We received the Real Presence of our Savior at a gorgeous Easter Mass,

We did an outdoor Easter egg hunt, surrounded by Big Sky fresh air and snow-capped mountains,

We ate the simplest of meals and made our traditional Lamb cake for dessert,

We enjoyed Resurrection Rolls that tasted heavenly and reminded us of the real meaning of Easter (click here or look at the end of this post for the easy recipe ),

We had no company, no stress; it was just "us",

We grew closer together as a family and hopefully closer to our resurrected Christ.

In other words...
We had an extraordinary, ordinary Easter!

Here are the highlights in color...
(P.S. Thanks, Jenny, for teaching me how to make my photos larger and sharper...you're a blogger-genius!)



























A Blessed Easter season to all of you, from our family to yours!

RESURRECTION ROLLS

1 package crescent rolls
melted butter
large marshmallows
cinnamon
sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls.
The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Give each child a marshmallow.
This represents Jesus and His purity.

Have child dip the marshmallow in melted butter.
This represents the oils of embalming.

Dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar.
This represents the spices used to anoint the body of Jesus.

Wrap the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll
(not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside)
This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.

Place in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
The oven represents the tomb (pretend like it was 3 days and nights!)

When the rolls have cooled slightly, the children can open their rolls (cloths) and discover that Jesus is no longer there,
HE IS RISEN!
The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up,
but like the tomb - IT IS EMPTY!