Falling on His Grace

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.'" Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'" Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from her...

May your Lent be holy and a time of great prayer and fruitful sacrifice. May your desert time bring you closer to our Lord.

For some time, Blaise has been complaining and whining the mornings he needs to go to the babysitter's house. He likes it there, but he just wants to stay home with me. Over the last 2-3 months, he has been complaining about going to see the speech therapist as well and running out of the room as soon as I bring him in, wanting to go home. But he has always been excited about preschool. But yesterday was a different story. He takes a school bus from the "big school" where he as speech to the "little school" where he has preschool, two days a week. Yesterday, his teacher couldn't get him off the bus. He wouldn't get off on his own, so she tried to pick him up. He arched his back and starting kicking her. He kept repeating he just wanted to go home. I don't think its the babysitter's, speech, or preschool. Each of the teachers/caregivers are wonderful. And once he is in any of the settings, he is ok. But he's 4 1/2. I worry about t...

One day, Jesus got into a boat with his disciples and said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." So they put to sea, and as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. When a squall came down on the lake, the boat started taking in water and they found themselves in danger. So the went to rouse him saying, "Master! Master! We are going down!" Then he awoke and rebuked the wind and the rough water, and they subsided and it was calm again. He said to them, "Where is your faith?" There were awestruck and astonished and said to one another, "Who can this be, that gives orders even to winds and waves and they obey him?" "We are all fragile and small, no matter how much success we may have experienced in life. Sooner or later we have to face this truth, and when we do, we should follow the example of the apostles. They did the right thing when their resources ran out - they went to the Master. He is always near, even if he seems asl...

I'm going to try to put one of these together. I have learned quite a bit about some of my friends from reading their daybooks that I may not have learned otherwise. Outside My Window ... There is a new dusting of snow on the ground, covering the dirty snow and ice that has been lying there for a couple weeks. I am listening to... My husband flipping the page of his accounting textbook. He is so good about doing his reading and school work. I admire him. I'm sure that I wouldn't be able to carry a full load of classes while having a family as well as he does, and stay on the dean's list every semester. To Live the Liturgy… I've been reading a book that my parents gave me for Christmas: The Better Part by John Bartunek, LC. It runs through the four Gospels and gives very good reflections on each reading. I am on Luke 8 currently. To be Fit and Happy…. Well, I have joined a 24-hour fitness center in town. I love it because it is literally a 2 minute drive from...

I have been away from the blogging world for 2 months, but today I had the inkling to write two posts. Hopefully this means I am back... Sixteen more months until Andy's tentative graduation date. Actually, there's a good chance he won't truly graduate in May 2011 like we hope as he will likely have one more class to take, but he is hopeful he'll be able to get a job and work it out with his employer to take off work early for that class. I am hopeful too as I really don't want to start talking about 23 more months to graduation... 16 is enough. And I have faith God will provide. I wish I had posted a month ago as I would have been able to create a very nice post regarding my improved attitude toward my work. In early December, a friend of mine had told me some words I needed to hear: I am doing my best. Not exactly groundbreaking words, but she said it in such a way that touched me deeply and in a way in which I understood and believed to be true. People hav...

The boys have been anxious to make snowmen since the first snowfall. Since we live so far north, I would have expected to have snow that is capable of packing enough for a snowman, but the snow has been either too dry or too icy. So I found some cotton balls in the basement that I've had since who-knows-when, and we made snowmen inside. Isaac gluing the initial cotton balls together to create his snowman. Blaise glued on a nose, eyes, and a hat then begun to lay down "snow" around his snowman with cotton balls we tore apart. Isaac's finished product. Kind of a cute little guy, isn't it? Blaise's finished snowman. Just call him Blaise Picasso.