The Love Dare: Day 2

The Love Dare

I know that this isn’t the next calendar day after Day 1, but I felt that I should pick up where I left off, instead of trying to cram many days into one. I felt that would be cheating, somehow. I need to learn each lesson as I come to them and spend the appropriate time on them before looking at the next.

Today’s dare focuses on kindness, the second pillar of love (the first being patience). They tell us that kindness is comprised of four separate things: gentleness, helpfulness, willingness, and initiative. And that kindness is love in action. To truly be kind, I need to be aware of my basic selfishness and die to self, so that I can live for the good of others. This is really hard; I think we are by nature selfish. I think that I have a high degree of empathy for other people, but I still need to fight with myself to *do something* about it. Especially when that “something” involves some sort of sacrifice on my behalf.

Today’s dare is to do one unexpected gesture of kindness for our spouse. It was a sacrifice for me on a number of levels, and it was not made easily. But it was for the love of Christ, and He turned that sacrifice into a blessing for me, as well. This doesn’t really surprise me. After all, our priest is known to exhort couples at their wedding to try to “outdo” each other in kindness. If the relationship that I am working on is the one between Jesus and myself, then I really have no hope of being able to outdo Him in kindness. 🙂 Although, I can try. 🙂

Epiphany House Blessing

Prayer/Prayer Requests

I found this tradition in a Catholic bookstore around my first Epiphany (which was in 2008), and have kept it a tradition in my household ever since. Basically, you are taking time on this day to consecrate yourself and your household to God for the year, up to next Epiphany, when you do it again. You can find prayers for this house blessing in several places online, this one is the site that I used tonight to bless my house and to consecrate myself to the Lord.

Since I live alone, I said all the prayers myself, aloud. 🙂

I prayed the Magnificat from the Bible I received from the RCIA program, when I was joining the Catholic Church.

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Then I sprinkled holy water in each of the rooms of my house. I don’t really have a good “sprinkling” technique, so I kind of splooshed gobs of water in each room from my holy water bottle. I’m sure God can work with that. 🙂

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I didn’t have any incense with which to incense each room in the house. Instead, I took a candle I received at a memorial Mass for my godmother, lit it, and prayed for her intercession in each room in my house. I tried to tailor my prayers to the activities that normally occur in each room (E.g. pray for friends and relationships, that I consume media that feed rather than diminish my soul, etc. when I was in the living room). I asked her to take all these prayers to the throne of the Lord.

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As the last part of the house blessing, I inscribed + 20 C + M + B 13+ above the entry doors to my home.

Front Door:
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Back Door:
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Epiphany

Our Lady of Good Counsel, Sacraments

This is the first Epiphany Mass in four years in which I did not cry. Four years ago today, my godmother, Pat McDonald, died and went home to Jesus. While I am happy that she is no longer sick and suffering, the selfish part of me misses her quite a bit.

It is also rather fitting that today, on Epiphany, I would celebrate Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel, with Fr. John, who was her spiritual director and a good friend of us both. At one point in her illness, she was no longer up to serving at Mass at St. Anastasia as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. With the additional prompting of our pastor, Fr. JJ, I agreed to take her spot on Team 1.

Last summer, I signed up to me an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at Our Lady of Good Counsel as well (I’m a parishioner at both parishes). I’m only called to be a minister there about once every month and a half. As it happened, today was one of those days. Not only that, but for the first time since the summer, Fr. John was the priest celebrating Mass. And! It was the first time that I got to distribute the Body of Christ (as opposed to the Blood of Christ). AND! I was assigned to stand next to Fr. John while doing it. 🙂

My red sweater fit in nicely with all the poinsettias on the altar and the red trim on Fr. John’s white chasuble. 🙂 Not that that matters, but it was a nice detail.

I was so joyful up there, handing Jesus to people. I’m sure I was grinning ear to ear the whole time. LOL!

It is Masses like this where I never want to leave. I just want to stay there in the company of Jesus and my friends forever. God willing, this will happen soon! 🙂

Here is Pat, taken on a trip to the Holy Land, overlooking Jerusalem.
Pat McDonald, Overlooking Jerusalem, Gallicantu Area
I love you!

Detroit Pistons Game!

Sporting Events, , , , , ,

I impulsively jumped on a contest sponsored by my friend and dentist, Dr. Greg Elliott and won tickets to a basketball game on Friday, Jan. 4th. The Detroit Pistons were playing the Atlanta Hawks.

I invited along my friend, Sandra, and we headed to the Palace after work from Ann Arbor. We got pretty good parking and the door that we entered was *right by* our section! We couldn’t have asked for anything better! Our seats were right on the aisle, too! 4th row in the second tier. 🙂 We could see everything.

Even more impressive, to Sandra, was the fact that it was Star Wars night, and we got to see Storm Troopers everywhere! 🙂 She even had her picture taken with one:

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I don’t like the way this guy is pointing his gun at me…

We arrived in time to get snacks: popcorn, pretzels and soda. The popcorn and soda were bottomless, but, alas, we did not make it past the first serving.

R2D2 looks on as one of the Hawks stretches out in the middle of the court:
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When our guys were announced, they got the cool lighting! 🙂
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On the back of the program, there were different things that you could text in to try and win things throughout the game — to make it a little more interactive. The first one was to predict who would win the tip off:

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I didn’t get an entry in this one. The wrong team got the ball.

I was pretty surprised with how many times the game was interrupted when it was not a time-out or break in the game. Perhaps they were for commercial breaks…? The plus side, was that we got to see a lot of side acts and dance routines.

At one point, they showed a video of one of the players light-saber dueling with Hooper in the locker room:
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At one end of the court, there was a board displaying tweets sent to @detroitpistons. I tried all night to get my tweet up there. FAILED. Not sure why; I used all the right hashtags and stuff.
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Some action shots:

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“Detroit Basketball” in Star Wars font:
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Okay, I think we both know that this post is already a glut of photos. Why not add to it? 🙂

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SWOOSH! 2 points for Detroit!
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It was so funny… This Atlanta player looks either scared or bewildered in every picture I took of him. 🙂
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DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
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YES!
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We must have brought our luck to the game, as Detroit won! 🙂

Day 1: Love is Patient

The Love Dare

I suppose today’s dare actually began during Mass at the very beginning of the day today. Right after receiving communion, as I knelt down to pray, I remember reflecting upon the host that I had just consumed. I felt as if God were speaking to me of His plans for me for the coming year. I think what he wants for me this year is an increased sense of docility to him. A softening of my heart. A new gentleness.

How fitting then that this first day tackles the subject of patience.

I think that part of being a patient person is docility to the will of God. If I know, if I *truly* know, that God loves me and always wills for my good, then I can suffer anything, because I know that He will see me through it.

The reading tells of a fruit of patience: “Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.” Docility, reliance, peace. The reading also says that, “it gives you the ability to hold on during the tough times in your relationship rather than bailing out under the pressure.”

I am not often angry with God, but there is a relationship that I have that I was on the verge of bailing on. Not that I wish ill toward anyone, but I have been hurt so many times before by so many people, that I tend to quietly leave situations rather than to suffer more hurt, particularly when I do not think that the other party is that interested in my friendship. I mean, if they do not really care, why should I keep trying?

But this is the hardness of my heart speaking, I think.

And if I want to practice patience for Jesus’s sake, then I think He is giving me a situation where I can try to show patience — and perhaps it is in this relationship.

So today, I got the opportunity to see things, or at least one instance, from the other party’s point of view. And I certainly have fault. Clearly, what I need is to have patience in this instance. Patience for God to work in me. For Him to soften my heart and help me to grow and learn to love better. For as I treat others, so do I treat Him. I pray that He will help me and give me the grace that I need.

The Love Dare: The Beginning

The Love Dare

I watched the movie Fireproof recently, and as I talked about in a recent Quick Takes, I have been kicking around the idea of using the Love Dare in my relationship with God.

Okay, you’re right. It should be done with one single person in mind and God is three persons. Let me be more specific, then. I will see if I can apply the Love Dare to my relationship with Jesus. I get that it’s going to be a challenge sometimes, but I am hoping that I will still be able to see an improvement in the relationship as I become more aware of my own selfishness and seek to do what is best for Him (or based on His wants for me and not my wants for me).

Just like it says in the trailer, it’s a decision to begin leading your heart instead of following your heart. Many of the saints experienced what is called a “Dark Night of the Soul”, where they experienced aridity in their prayer life and/or couldn’t feel the presence of God in their lives. It is during these times that they had to lead their hearts.

I have a decent amount of knowledge about God, but as I reflected on this Year of Faith that we are in, I realized that while learning ever more about God is a good thing, I don’t want it to be the only thing. A personal relationship with the persons of the Trinity is what changes a “religious scholar” into a “theologian”. And I want my heart to be in it. I want my heart to be in Him. Isn’t that his main point to the Pharisees?

And so I begin.

Please pray for me, as I keep you in prayer as well.

Safe!

Holidays, Sacraments

Earlier this evening, I went out with a friend to see Les Miserables again. I still love it! Afterwards, we went to Chili’s for dinner. Towards the end of the meal, I was starting to not feel well, so when I got home, I decided to take a nap before Midnight Mass.

I set my alarm, but when it went off, I still wasn’t feeling better, so I kept hitting snooze.

Finally, I decided to get up and go. Because I really do love going to Midnight Mass to start off the new year. And because I was concerned that if I let myself just sleep, I might miss the 10 am Mass tomorrow morning. 🙂

I really need about 20 minutes to make it to Ss. Cyril and Methodius on time, but left about a quarter to midnight. Traffic and lights were cooperative and I made it to a seat in the church just as the last bells of midnight were ringing and they were announcing the hymn for the processional. 🙂 SAFE! I thought. Sliding in to home plate, just before the priest greets us all with a loud “Happy New Year!”

Week 1: The New Year

It was a lovely Mass. As I sat in my car, ready to go home, the radio was on and I caught the tail end of one song. All I heard of it was a phrase, “See Heaven’s got plan for you.” And as I was leaving the parking lot, the next song sang to me, “I’m glad you came!” Both great things to hear right after Mass! 🙂

If the link works, here is the first song that I was listening to:

Safe!

Holidays, Mass, , , , ,

Earlier this evening, I went out with a friend to see Les Miserables again. I still love it! Afterwards, we went to Chili’s for dinner. Towards the end of the meal, I was starting to not feel well, so when I got home, I decided to take a nap before Midnight Mass.

I set my alarm, but when it went off, I still wasn’t feeling better, so I kept hitting snooze.

Finally, I decided to get up and go. Because I really do love going to Midnight Mass to start off the new year. And because I was concerned that if I let myself just sleep, I might miss the 10 am Mass tomorrow morning. 🙂

Week 1: The New Year

I really need about 20 minutes to make it to Ss. Cyril and Methodius on time, but left about a quarter to midnight. Traffic and lights were cooperative and I made it to a seat in the church just as the last bells of midnight were ringing and they were announcing the hymn for the processional. 🙂 SAFE! I thought. Sliding in to home plate, just before the priest greets us all with a loud “Happy New Year!”

Christmas Season Header

Holidays, , , , , , ,

Why do a whole blog post about a header? Well, why not! 🙂

Christmas 2012

I — surprisingly — did not take a ton of pictures this Christmas Eve/Christmas Day. I did get to enjoy time with friends and family, at a more relaxed pace than usual.

From left to right:

Me on Christmas Eve.

My friend John, newly returned on break from a missionary adventure in Minnesota.

Katie and Lori, super kind and incredibly talented friends from high school.

Decorations from Katie’s Holiday Get-Together. (See what I mean about talented?)

Kenzie, my cousin’s daughter, who is about the cutest thing ever.

So, while New Year’s is right around the corner, Christmas season still goes on for a few more days. So snuggle up with your loved ones and enjoy them!

Quick-Takes: Christmas Octave

7 Quick Takes Friday

— 1 —

It is still the octave of Christmas! But, I have to admit, I’m having a hard time continuing the celebration. I returned to work right away and haven’t been able to get together with any friends in the evenings, so I’ve fallen into a bad habit of coming home, eating dinner in the living room while watching TV and going to bed. I haven’t even turned the Christmas lights on. So sad. I hope I manage to change this pattern this weekend.

— 2 —

One of the movies I watched this week was Fireproof. I like this movie, even though I am not married. There is one scene where Caleb is complaining about his wife not responding to his demonstrations of love and his father relates this to Caleb’s relationship with God. This made me wonder if the Love Dare process could be used to grow in intimacy with God. Perhaps sometime in the next few weeks, I may acquire a copy of the Love Dare book and work my way through it. Either this or some other retreat-esque program to help me grow deeper in my personal relationship with Jesus.

The people who put out Fireproof even have a page with Catholic resources! Very cool!

— 3 —

Today, we celebrate Childermas. I wasn’t sure what Childermas was, but there it was on my calendar this morning, so I turned to the all-knowing Google to find out more. Turns out Childermas is another name for the feast day of the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, when King Herod decided to kill all male children under the age of 2 years, because of the threat that Christ posed to him. I knew about the Holy Innocents, just not this other name for them. So, maybe there are traditional ways to celebrate this day? I’ll have to look that up, since another thing I’d like to do this year (these are sounding an awful lot like “resolutions” … which I don’t make) is to incorporate more traditions into my day-to-day life. Please help a girl out and let me know of any special ways that you celebrate this day. 🙂

— 4 —

This Christmas Eve, I got a special treat! I was on my way to my family’s Christmas celebration, but decided to stop by a friend’s house, so that I could give Mom and Dad R their Christmas present *on* Christmas. When I arrived, they invited me in, stating that they were just talking about me. (Which makes me wonder what they were saying and how did I become a topic of conversation???) They were in the middle of dinner and invited me to join them. It was lovely. I love spending time with all of them. I ended up missing dinner and the kids opening their Christmas presents at my family’s celebration (I didn’t think that it started until after 7 pm, but that wasn’t right), but maybe this worked in my favor…

— 5 —

… because they seem to really like the gifts I gave them! Normally, my gifts kind of get lost in the hurricane of presents and gift wrap, but this year the kids only had my present to focus on. I bought all of their presents from a friend’s store, Bliss Baby and Kids. Kenzie got a sea creatures puzzle and a canasta. Vanessa got a kit to make bracelets out of small, colored rubber bands, which she started working on right away, stating that she loves making things (score!). And Petros got a Stomp Rocket. Which he immediately set up and started launching rockets from the kitchen into the living room, targeting his aunts and uncles. Kenzie got involved, too. She’s 16 months oldn and had a blast running after the rockets and bringing them back to Petros.

— 6 —

Just in case anyone was wondering what’s going on with my Project 52s… I have to hang my head in shame. I was about to say that I haven’t been able to work on this, but I suppose the more honest answer is that I have chosen to do other things. I think part of the problem is that I don’t have my list of subjects readily available, so I don’t pre-plan what I’d like to shoot for that week, and then the deadline comes and I’m at a loss of what to do. Then, I don’t want to turn in a crappy photo because I haven’t spent enough time thinking about it, so I don’t turn in anything at all. The other problem is that my laptop is currently the only computer that I have at the moment, and it’s a little hard to get to at the moment. So, anytime I think about editing some of my photos, I glance over to where the laptop is and determine that it would be too much effort to clear off the desk so that I can effectively work. I have got to come up with a better plan for next year. Any suggestions would be welcome! 🙂

— 7 —

Yesterday was Cardiac Monitor Liberation Day!!! I was very excited to get that thing off and ship it back! 🙂 Objectively, it wasn’t an incredible burden, but it was a little annoying to have to deal with wires and a cell phone pack all the time. And blisters started to form. I’m lucky that they only just started forming and are therefore very small. So, I just have to deal with them and patches of rashes. Hopefully, I will have new skin soon and the itchy can stop! 🙂

Sorry for the lack of pictures in this post…. I’ll try to do better next week! 🙂 (This statement is still valid from the last Quick Takes….)

God Bless!

For more Quick Takes, visit Jen at Conversion Diary!