calm. cool. and collected.

forgive me. please. but Someone. very kindly. sent a wee bit of cool weather our way and it has me under its’ spell.

and i have become a fool for boys who sleep clutching their harmonicas…now whether he is doing it out of love for said harmonica or because he knows if he doesn’t  i might just hide it somewhere really good…might be one of those things i will never know…

and maybe we are both better off.

because let me tell you…tolerating the noise sound of that harmonica MIGHT just be one of the criteria that needs to be met for sainthood.

and if that is the CASE, friends, i have failed miserably.

for i hate that little harmonica.

but i LOVE that baby.

and so i digress…

from the title of this post…wherein i tell you how calm. cool. and collected i am.

and how the sight of these peonies makes me calm….

i think it should be mandatory that people  HAVE to buy peonies at least ONE time every summer.

and then have a drink….

like my mama did at this wedding we went to on saturday.

just me and her.

i was her escort.

i made sure that she didn’t have too much wine and that her friends didn’t spin her around too much on the dance floor(that really almost happened).

hence my cautionary warning about too much wine.

at least for middle-aged ladies.

well, really any lady…because it just isn’t proper.

summer weddings are so nice.

it was kind of fun sitting around watching everyone talk and laugh.

everything so magical and enchanted. white orchids kissed by afternoon sunlight.

a tented reception. chandeliers hanging. glowing candles.

very pretty.

but all i could really think about was my new toy.

and how much i wanted to play….

so off to bed i go.

but before i do i wanted to ask for prayers. for a special intention that will hopefully be resolved tomorrow.

and if not, well, then it is not the will of God.

and i will ask Him for peace.

until then….

hope you, too, are staying calm. cool. and collected!!!!

xo.

 

 

strength with limitations

my father. and probably your father too. is a strong man. capable of doing many things that strong men do.

his hands. a lot like a doctors’. have been used mostly for helping. 

those hands have delivered babies in the back of ambulances. and put out countless fires. they have dragged people out of the terrible wreckage of car crashes and once held a dying man with no legs who had been run over by a train.

but they are also the hands that hold my mother. the hands that help her bring in the groceries. and touch my children’s heads. drawing them close to him. their papa.

his hands used to hold my hair back from my face as i was throwing up. sick from the flu when i was still living at home. my mom worked so sometimes he’d be the one taking care of me. they held my oldest son as soon as he was born.

those hands have always been there.

rough and calloused now only because of all of his outdoor hobbies. he is a hunter. a bow and arrow maker. and outdoorsman like his father was before him.

but i came face to face with the realization today. in that cold. bright. loud hospital that those hands have limitations. that strength has limitations. his life is so fragile and precious.

all life is fragile and precious.

even though we are such broken. fallen people.

however, there is ONE Who has no limitations. ONE Who is PURE strength.

and it is to that ONE that we must entrust every. single. need.

He picks us up. He fixes us and heals us.

whether we are 5 or 55.

and that, friends, is the beauty of having faith in HIM.

faith even when the boat is rocking. and the waves from the storms of life are so high that there seems to be no hope.

so with quiet trust we pray. because we love HIM. and because HE first loved us.

thank you so much for your prayers.

i believe so strongly in the power of intercessory prayer.

as for my dad: he will be staying overnite at the hospital for evaluation and so that he can be given medication intravenously. at this point that will be more effective.

thank you again.

and God bless each and every one of you. and your precious families. 

xo.

for the mamas

marilyn  is having a virtual baby shower for nadja and has invited me to join in. i feel rather honored and not the slightest bit jealous of the abundance of baby girls being born to these ladies. i am going to include my friend m, pictured here with her baby belly, sitting comfy, on her sofa, while we visited the other day. we even knitted a bit. i am also showing you this picture because her project is much more “accomplished” than mine. and because i imagine that this is probably what it would be like if i were to have a visit with nadja, her baby tummy and a little knitting. so this little post is for the mamas………

for safe deliveries~

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother. To thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of The Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy hear and answer me. ~amen

prayer after having a baby~

To You, Lord, I consecrate the body and soul of my newborn child, whom You have allowed me to bring into the world. I pray that my child may grow up in Your love, may be faithful to his/her baptismal promises, and may be a source of happiness and holiness to others.

I give thanks for the privilege of being able to cooperate in Your creative act. That I should have been chosen to provide material for this new life in the world is something so dazzling in its magnificence that I can never really give adequate thanks. Help me to show my gratitude by living up to the pattern of motherhood revealed in Mary. I pray that  You will accept the labors I suffered in bringing this infant to birth as part of the price of his  future well-being. How small a price it is-especially in view of the blessed peace I now enjoy. ~amen.

God bless you ladies. and all mothers everywhere. even the ones like me, who look at a newborn, like i did in mass today and while oohing and ahhing, can’t help but think of only one thing…….the teen age years……. so for those mamas……….

Dear God the Father, grant Your Fatherly protection to each of our children that they may be faithful to the teachings we have given them in Your grace. Let each child enter through the gate of Mary Your Immaculate daughter, that together with her prayers and intercession Your children and ours may come to peace and a true understanding of Your love. Grant that each may share your protection, and may Your aid be their strength. Preserve them from evils and misfortune, enlighten each with a fullness of love for their neighbors. And by that charity which is the greatest of virtues, may each know Your will and be free of all danger and be sanctified unto life everlasting. ~amen.