A few of my favorite things...

I discovered something about myself the other day...  That when I'm melancholy (that's the nice way of saying "depressed"), I don't take pictures.  So, I surmised that forcing myself to pick up my camera and take pictures of things that make me happy might help me to climb out of my melancholy pit.  And guess what?  It worked!  :)  So, here are a few of my favorite things that made me happy this week:

1) THIS LITTLE BOY HELPING ME BAKE BROWNIES
(well, at least he helped me clean off the spatula)

2) BIG BROTHERS SNUGGLING WITH LITTLE BROTHERS

3) LITTLE BOYS MAKING SNOWMEN WITH "AFROS"

4) LEARNING TO BE GRATEFUL FOR OUR LITTLE RENTAL HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE

(i sure mentally complained about it a lot, but now that we are about to leave it,

i am realizing what a blessing it was)

5)  SPECTACULAR SUNSETS

(a reminder of God's merciful love covering us like clouds)

6) THIS PRIE DIEU: MY CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR PAUL

(how sweet it is to kneel at the foot of our bed 

and grow closer to Jesus and my husband at the same time!)

Christmas Recap 2015

Our Christmas this year was EXTRA joy-filled and special because it was spent with my wonderful parents in South Dakota!  It had been many years since we braved that 12-hour roadtrip in December, and it was well worth it.  Watching the joy on my kids' faces and my parents' faces as they interacted all week long was my greatest Christmas gift from God.  The kids spent hours with my parents doing old-fashioned, simple pleasures like playing cards, setting puzzles, sledding, and sharing amazing meals.  Other Christmas highlights included the St. Andrew School Christmas program and our evening family devotion-time, where Paul read aloud a wonderful Christmas story called "Ishtar's Odyssey".  All of our kids, both young and old, enjoyed the story and loved their daddy's voice interpretations of all the various characters. :)  It was a Christmas filled with joy, traditions, and memories that will remain with us for many years.  Here are some of those captured memories:

Oops, a few of us didn't get the memo about wearing red :)

Not sure what Dominic is doing to Natey's head.  Too bad Photoshop has its limitations :)

I am fairly certain that I have a picture of every single one of my boys on this same rocking horse, and even a picture of ME on that rocking horse.  My mom made it ages ago and it is still galloping strong!

These two competitive gentlemen played many-a-game together and loved every minute of it, win or lose.

South Dakota sure gets bitter-cold, but that didn't stop Grandma or Isaiah from enjoying the outdoors! 

Cranberry pork loin and pineapple ham...yum!

It was beautiful watching all the boys help each other open presents and be excited about the gifts that each one of them received.  We try to keep the gifts to a minimum, and I was happy at how content our children were with not getting much.  A reminder to me that Christmas truly is about giving and not getting, and we need to strive even more to focus on the giving part.

Uncle Mike is so much fun!

Paul reading our Advent devotional each night was one of the season's highlights for all of us!

Dominic is the boy with the big cello and a big heart for Jesus and for music.

We sure strove to keep Jesus at the center of our Christmas season.  We didn't succeed perfectly, but we sure gave it our perfect effort, and hopefully that consoled His tender heart.

Happy belated Birthday, Jesus!

We love you with all of our hearts!!!

Shooting Deer (Maria's way)

My husband shoots deer with a rifle, but I prefer to shoot them with my camera.  :)  I'd like to say that I hiked a few miles into the gorgeous Montana wilderness to take these fun photos, but the truth is I shot these pics right in the middle of town.  Despite the urban setting, it was so fun.  My son Michael was just as exited as I was to be so close to these curious critters, so I shared my camera with him and between the two of us we took close to 100 pictures.  Thank goodness for digital cameras!  Here are some of the better ones:

This one's my favorite.  The fuzzy hair and snow on the nose of this fawn was precious.

This one makes me laugh because it looks like the buck is saying something to the doe...

something like:

 "Hey there, little lady, wanna go chew some cud together under the starlight?"

and in this picture it looks like the doe is saying something smart-aleck in return...something like:

"Not on your life, bucko." :)

our new home...God-willing!

Here's a quick update on our house situation...  This week we signed the paperwork for the house we made an offer on over 2 months ago!  It took the sellers such a long time to accept our offer because of messy divorce settlement stuff on their end, but the long wait sure made us pray more than we ever have before and certainly taught us to trust in God's will because everything was pretty much out of our hands.  So, as long as the house inspection doesn't bring up any big surprises, we will have a new home soon (God-willing)!  The closing date is March 4th, so please continue to pray for God's holy will and for patience as we wait.  We are so grateful and excited about the house!  We finally feel like we have the freedom to be excited about it; whereas, for the past 2+ months we didn't want to get our hopes up because we didn't want to get disappointed if it didn't work out.  But now we are having fun dreaming about where to put furniture (like buying a ping pong table for the basement, which we have always wanted to do but never had the space to do it until this house), and imagining how much fun our boys will have exploring the wilderness around the house!

Here is a sneak peek of the house... I am eager to post a thousand more pictures once it becomes our home sweet home.

Saints and Resolutions for 2016

Our family is continuing the tradition of choosing a patron saint to be our special intercessor for the new year.   A friend of mine who has a special devotion to St. Faustina first told me about this beautiful tradition a few years ago when she shared the following excerpt from Faustina's diary:

"Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life, and He often fulfills secret wishes of mine that I sometimes hide from Him, although I know that from Him nothing can be hidden.  There is a custom among [the sisters in our convent] of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, for special patrons for ourselves for the whole year.  In the morning during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special patron for this year also, as in the past.  But hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that.  When the sisters gathered for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons.  When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes.  Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul:  I am your patron.  Read.  I looked at once at the inscription and read, "Patron for the Year 1935--the most Blessed Eucharist."  My heart lept with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament, where I poured out my heart.  (entry 360)


So, here are the saints God chose for us this year, with a brief bio of each because some of them I had never heard of before!  :)

Paul’s Saint:

• St. Marcellinus:  Feast day is June 2^nd, a priest, martyred by Dioclecian in 304, buried under Constantine’s basilica, invoked during the First Eucharistic prayer.

Maria’s Saint:

• St. Luise de Marillac:  Feast day is March 15, desired to be a nun but eventually married and had 1 son who was difficult to raise, became a nun after her husband’s death and worked with St. Vincent de Paul to start the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul all over France, patron saint of social workers and parents with difficult children.

Joseph’s Saint:

• St. Gothard:  Feast day is May 4^th , an abbot and later a Bavarian bishop who helped revive the Rule of St. Benedict in monasteries, helped build many churches, founded many schools and hospitals, patron saint of traveling merchants

Michael’s Saint:

• St. Audifax:  Feast day is January 19^th, born to the nobility, son of Sts Maris and Marth, brother to St. Abachum, a convert, martyred in 270  with his whole family during the persecutions of Aurelian as they made a pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles. 

Dominic’s Saint:

• St. Maria Goretti:  Feast Day is July 6, she is the patron saint of the youth and of purity because she died as a martyr to protect her purity.  She forgave the man who killed her and appeared to him in a dream while he was in prison, which led to his conversion.

Nathanael’s Saint:

• St. Thomas Moore:  Feast Day is June 22, patron saint of lawyers, he became the Lord Chancellor for King Henry VIII who later had him martyred for staying true to the teachings of the Catholic Church regarding marriage and the supremacy of the Pope.  His dying words word: “The King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

Isaiah’s Saint:

• St. Anthony Zaccaria:  Feast Day is July 5, became a doctor who helped the poor and later a priest who helped lead the Counter Reformation in Italy.  He promoted the frequent reception of the Eucharist, the 40 Hour Devotion, and the ringing of church bells at the 3:00 hour.  He was the cofounder of the religious order called the Barnabites, of which he is the patron saint.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION(S):

I am also continuing the tradition of praying about a word to be my theme or "New Year's Resolution," and this year I felt like two words were placed on my heart:  JOY and MERCY.   I continue to struggle with some health issues (ie: low progesterone and adrenal fatigue) that make"joy" seem illusive to me many days, but I know that God will give me the grace to embrace the joy He wants me to have if I trust in Him and continue to ask Him to heal me.  And perhaps that is why He also placed the word "Mercy" on my heart, because mercy heals and ultimately leads to joy.  I know I need to work on being more merciful to others (especially to my husband and children), and to more readily accept Christ's mercy for myself (instead of beating myself up constantly about my failures), so I have great hope that these New Year's Resolutions will make me more like Jesus who is full of mercy and joy!  May your New Year be full of Jesus' joy and mercy too!

P.S.  If any of you would like me to draw a saint name for you, I'd be happy to do so!

Latest Medjugorje Message

The latest message from the Blessed Mother to the visionary Mirjana in Medjugorje was particularly beautiful and worth sharing.  May it bring you joy and encourage you to bring joy to Jesus and Mary through your love of them and others.


January 02, 2016 Message to Mirjana

 "Dear children, as a mother, I am joyful to be among you because I desire to speak anew about the words of my Son and of His love. I hope that you will accept me with the heart, because the words of my Son and His love are the only light and hope in the darkness of today. This is the only truth and you who will accept and live it will have pure and humble hearts. My Son loves those who are pure and humble. Pure and humble hearts bring to life the words of my Son, they live them, they spread them and they make it possible for everyone to hear them. The words of my Son bring back life to those who listen to them. The words of my Son bring back love and hope. Therefore, my beloved apostles, my children, live the words of my Son. Love each other as He loved you. Love each other in His name, in memory of Him. The Church is advancing and growing because of those who listen to the words of my Son; because of those who love; because of those who suffer and endure in silence and in the hope of final redemption. Therefore, my beloved children, may the words of my Son and His love be the first and the last thought of your day. Thank you."


To learn more about Medjugorje, click here: 
http://atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2015/09/medjugorje-101_24.html

To read more about our personal experience in Medjugorje, click here:
http://atotustuusfamily.blogspot.com/2015/10/medjugorje-why-there.html

Happy New Year...a year of Mercy!

Pope Francis declared the year 2016 to be an "Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy," which is kind of a big deal in the Catholic world.  Traditionally, a pope announces a jubilee year only every 25 years, but this one is an "extraordinary" one, which means it doesn't coincide with a 25 year mark.  To me, that means that Pope Francis must have had some special inspiration to declare an extraordinary jubilee this year, and a specific reason to focus it on mercy.  Pope Francis said that he wanted to make it evident that the Church's mission is to be "a witness of compassion."  He said, "Let us not forget that God forgives and God forgives always.  Let us never tire of asking for forgiveness."  The Pope continued, "I am convinced that the whole Church--which has much need to receive mercy, because we are sinners--will find in this jubilee the joy to rediscover and render fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time."

Personally, I was thrilled to hear the Pope's announcement of the Year of  Mercy, because this past year Jesus has been teaching me all about the "ocean of His mercy"--in ways I never expected...and quite frankly in ways that I didn't ever wish to learn, but He knew it was needed for my heart to become more like His.  It has been a painful process, but full of grace and healing.  At first I felt like I would drown in the ocean, but slowly He has been teaching me how to swim in it and how to invite others to jump on in to the healing waters of His mercy.  So, here comes an invitation...  :)  The following prayer is kind of like an awesome life-boat for your family to use to float in the ocean of mercy this year.  I found it in Fr. Michael Gaitley's book "Consoling the Heart of Jesus,"  and I think it is such a fitting family prayer for this special Jubilee Year.

The following explanation and prayer can be found in Fr. Gaitley's book or at the DivineMercy.org website. I truly believe this prayer consoles Jesus' Heart very much and will bring so many graces to your heart and your family too.  HAVE HAPPY NEW YEAR AND A HOLY YEAR FULL OF MERCY!

Family Offering to Merciful Love

A Family Offering to Merciful Love is basically where a family makes a "mercy deal" with Jesus. In other words, they ask Jesus to pour out on them the rejected mercy other families refuse, and for their part, they strive to accept this rejected mercy and share it with others. In our time, when the family is so much under attack, when, sadly, so many families refuse God's mercy, Jesus' Heart is especially wounded. A Family Offering to Merciful Love is meant to give Jesus the consolation of a family that chooses to receive his rejected merciful love. This doesn't mean the family has to be perfect. In fact, the more imperfect they are, the more Jesus longs to pour out his mercy on them. They simply need to be open to receiving and sharing his merciful love. I suggest the following formula for making a Family Offering to Merciful Love, which begins with Jesus' words to St. Faustina:

Jesus, you said to St. Faustina: The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them!(1074). You, at least, come to Me as often as possible and take these graces they do not want to accept. In this way you will console My Heart. Oh, how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to so many proofs of love! My Heart drinks only of the ingratitude and forgetfulness of souls living in the world. They have time for everything, but they have no time to come to Me for graces (367). My daughter, take the graces that others spurn; take as many as you can carry (454). I want to give myself to souls and to fill them with My love, but few there are who want to accept all the graces My love has intended for them. My grace is not lost; if the soul for whom it was intended does not accept it, another soul takes it (1017).

Lord Jesus, if you want to pour your mercy out on souls, how much more must you desire to pour it out on whole families, especially in our time when so many families reject you. Therefore, we the ______________ Family offer ourselves to your merciful love and ask for the graces and mercy that other families refuse. We ask this in order to console your Heart and because we need your mercy. Fill us with your mercy, Lord. Please forgive us our sins, and give us the grace to be merciful to one another in our deeds, words, and prayers. May the rays of mercy that go forth from your Heart reign in our home and in our hearts. Please make our home a place where your mercy can rest and where we, too, can find rest in your mercy. Bless us with your mercy when we leave our home and bless us again when we return. Bless everyone we meet with the mercy you pour into our hearts. Especially bless those who visit our home — may they experience your mercy here.

Mary, Mother of Mercy, help us to faithfully live our Offering to God's Merciful Love. We give ourselves to you and ask you to share with us your Immaculate Heart. Help us to accept your Son's mercy with your own openness of heart at the Annunciation. Help us to be grateful for God's mercy with your own joyful heart at the Visitation. Help us to trust in God's mercy, especially during times of darkness, with your own steadfast faith at Calvary. Finally, Mary, protect and preserve our family in love, so that one day we may rejoice together with you and all the saints in the communion of the eternal Family of Love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

St. Faustina, pray for us.

St. Thérèse, pray for us.

Divine Mercy Enthronement 

I further recommend that the Family Offering be accompanied by a Divine Mercy Enthronement, meaning that the family put up in their home an Image of Divine Mercy (if there isn't one already) and ask Jesus to reign there. An appropriate prayer for such an enthronement is as follows:

Jesus, you said to St. Faustina: "I am offering people a vessel with which they are to keep coming for graces to the fountain of mercy. That vessel is this image with the signature: ‘Jesus, I trust in You' (327). By means of this image I shall be granting many graces to souls" (570).

Lord Jesus, through this image of your mercy, please grant us your grace. Whenever we look at it, help us to remember your love and mercy and fill our hearts with trust. Just as your mercy is depicted in this image as going forth from your pierced Heart, surround our home with the rays of your mercy. May the blood and water that flows forth from your Heart always be upon us! Jesus, we trust in you.

I recommend concluding such a prayer by praying a Divine Mercy Chaplet. Also, it might be a good idea to invite a priest to bless your home and your Image of Divine Mercy.

Excerpt taken from Father Michael Gaitley's book, "Consoling the Heart of Jesus."  

This text can also can be found at Fr. Gaitley's website: http://www.thedivinemercy.org/chj/prayers/familyoffering.php