Lord, That I May See

this Thanksgiving post  from Rachel. Isn't life full and good?  Thank you, God! And Advent is here, one of the most beautiful times of year. Come O Long Awaited Savior . . .

#1. This is a quick picture post of all the things that our family has been doing recently.  Autumn is such a lovely season.  We have enjoyed ours very much! #2. We've planted pansies and mums that have brightened our porch cheerily all season #3.   We've picked pumpkins and carved them  We had a happy face and a scary face both by request. #4. We've played around in costumes every day for this whole season, with trick or treating thrown in for good measure. Two ballerinas watching the fire get started up  A chicken and a bear  A princess "A Doraffee and Todo" (Dorothy and Toto) (Han Solo and Princess Leia at a costume party for adults)   #5.   We've played in the leaves  making trails to run on  and getting buried (here the girls are waiting to be covered). #6. We visited the cemetary on All Soul's Day, praying for the dead #7.   We've been enjoying this season full of coziness, yummy foo...

Talking about saints with little children is challenging.  Maybe its just girls . . . maybe its just my children . . . maybe its actually just Turtle? I know I'm supposed to do it -- good Catholic children know their saints, right? I really tried this year on All Saints Day to talk about what the day meant, how it was ALL-the-special- friends-of-Jesus-who-are-up-in-Heaven's feast day. And we looked at this Picture Book of Saints and it raised many very . . . um . . .interesting questions.  St. Sebastian:  Turtle: "Why is he tied?  Why are those [pointing to arrows] sticking in him?  Why did the bad guys do it?  Did it hurt him?  Alot?  Did he cry?  How does he get off of there [pointing to the tree]?"  (And then, after a while of staring at the picture:  "I'm going to hug him.") St. Stephen: Rosebud:  "That's Uncle Steve ???  Why does he have blood ??" St. Thomas Aquinas: "Why is there a sun on his head?" St....

  http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ FOR TODAY: November 8th, 2010 Outside My Window . . . Sunshine on rust-colored oak leaves and golden maple leaves I am thinking . . . of how thankful I am for the three little faces that surround me every day.  I have been consciously trying to say "thank you" often for the simple lovely things in my life that I forget to be thankful for so often.   Gratitude does not come from joy, but rather joy comes from gratitude.  I am making a choice to be grateful. I am thankful for . . . That two little girls are becoming better friends and playmates every day.  It is beautiful to see. From the kitchen . . . I doubled the Enchilda casserole that I made on Saturday so dinner is taken care of! Yay! I am wearing . . . a yellow sweater and jeans I am creating . . . thoughts in my head of a quiet afternoon of a hot cup of tea on the couch -- well, after the dirty laundry is  sorted and started wash...

Conversations taking place on one evening walk: Turtle:  Spiders bite you and I don't like that.  But not Daddy Long Legs -- they don't bite.  They just tickle you.  But Mommy Long Legs do bite! ************ Rosebud, looking at a storm drain: I don wanna fall down dere.  Then I will bonk me. Then, reassuringly to me: And then you will come down dere and get me and I will get out. Turtle, kind of wondering: Well, I don't think the water will let you get out. . . *********** Rosebud: That car might crash me and I will get a boo-boo. Turtle, in a superior tone: If a car crashes you, you will be dead. Okay, seriously?? Kids totally pick up on all your fears, no matter how you try to hide them.

  #1.   Time is flying and so much is happening! I have randomly been having moments of panic, when I just want to yell at time:   STOP! Things are good right now.  Can we have a pause right here??   Anyways, I'm going to do a Seven Quick Takes on this lovely Friday to catch my blog up on what's going on around here in our lives. #2.   St. Therese of the Little Flower's feast day has been lovely so far.  Turtle chose peachy-orange roses at the store today and spent a long time arranging them in five vases (one for each of us) around the statue of the Little Saint that my husband bought me in Lisieux 6 years ago.  Tonight we'll say the Litany of the Little Flower  when Daddy is with us, but after lunch, we lit candles and sang songs.  Turtle wanted to sing a "St. Therese song" but I don't know any, so we sang songs about Love, and I told Turtle that St. Therese would like them....

In honor of the Little Flower's feast day, I wanted to share some of St. Therese's words on Purgatory -- which are some of my favorites of hers, and some of the ones that amaze and awe me the most.  To a Sister that confided to Therese her fear of purgatory, she said: "You are not confident enough, you have too much fear of the good God.  I assure you that He is grieved by it.  Don't fear purgatory because of the pain that souls suffer there, but desire not to go there, in order to please God who imposes this atonement with so much regret.  From the moment you seek to pleasing to Him in everything, if you have the unshakable confidence that He is purifying you at every instant in His love and allows in you no trace of sin, be very sure that you won't go to purgatory." To another nun who she heard speaking of purgatory: "Oh! How you grieve me!  You do a great injury to God in believing you're going to go to purgatory.  When we love, we can't...