let the water rise

14 years ago today, my younger blessing made his way into the world.  It was a quick entry, too!  Not sure how my doctor made it to the hospital in time.  If I was a good mom ;-)  I'd have wonderful pictures to document these growing years, but today I'm a kind of stressed out mom.  Work stress, not family stress.  But there is this picture from not too long ago....

I used it for my facebook profile until he requested that I take it off.    He doesn't like it, but I think it's pretty decent of both of us.   And I know I'm not a bad mom, because a bad mom wouldn't go hiking for six miles up and down hills  (mostly up).  He joined the world of cell phone owners and we enjoyed a king cake from the best king cake place in the world for his birthday.  My child that drives me crazy, but brings so much humor and laughter into our home!  

I knew today would be wild at work.  I have three IEPs this week, and I working on them was what was on my agenda.  The plans started to unravel at about 6:15 a.m. when my faithful assistant called and asked for the number of a sub.  It was my favorite sub, so that was a good thing.  I went to Mass (another good thing) and topped off my gas tank before the price went up again.  (I paid $3.19, but saw it for $3.33...)  Had a little bit of time to spend at the church.  There was a part from the responsorial psalm that caught my attention today.  

For this shall every faithful man pray to you
in time of stress.
Though deep waters overflow,
they shall not reach him.

I knew it would be a day when the waters rose.  I just didn't expect it to be a flash flood.  As I walked into my room with my students, my assistant sub told me the office had called for me.  A sub hadn't showed up (actually more than one...), so they needed me to take a 6th grade science class.  NOT what I had planned for the day.  When this happens, it just sends me off the deep end.  Maybe it shouldn't, but it does.  It is a subtle way of telling me that my students and my job are not really all that important.

I was fairly quickly relieved from that duty and then attempted to regain my footing and come to terms with all the forms and data and info needed for our meeting tomorrow.  I started on the IEP.  I love our new system.  Until it doesn't work.  All afternoon, the system was off-line.  My new student came.  I was not really ready for him, but my current students took it upon themselves to invite him.  I was going to wait until his meeting tomorrow.  

My last hour came in.  Usually my most challenging group,  they were wonderful.  Perhaps they could sense that it would not be a good day to misbehave.

You know, looking back at it on "paper", it doesn't seem like such a horrible day.  Not perfect, but it could have been worse.  

One bit of good news.  Last year, I had mentioned a priest that had been accused of misconduct.  He had presided at my step-grandmother's funeral and seemed like such a good priest.  Today came word that he has been cleared of all charges of misconduct!  He has been returned to his parish, and they celebrated with a Mass of Thanksgiving.  Thirty-one priests attended, as well as a full house of current and previous parishioners.  He noted that the past 10 months had been a time of great spiritual growth for him.  Maybe this song, which I feel can be my anthem sometimes, applies more to him.  

May the Lord guide my thoughts, words, and actions in the coming week.  Remind me that the trials you send are for good.  Even if the waters rise, they will not reach me...though I may get tired of swimming!

sunday snippets

Each weekend, R'Ann at This, That and the Other Thing hosts a meme for Catholic bloggers to share items that might be of interest to other Catholic bloggers.  Stop in and have a look!

Things have been slow here, but picked up a little this week.

Two posts from this week:

grace notes revisited deals with confession and some of the graces found there; some personal reflections...

more important contains reflections from this Sunday's readings in relation to events in the coming week for me

Hope you enjoy!

more important

The week ahead is sure to be a difficult one.  I have not one, not two, but three IEP meetings.  IEPs are yearly educational plans developed for special education students.  Considering that I only have about 10 students on my caseload, what are the odds that I would have three meetings in one week?  But here we have it.

One of the students is transferring from another city and has some diagnosed emotional problems.  That he will probably remain on our campus among the general population is causing me great stress.  Because our school system only RE-acts,  they can not do anything proactive, because that might violate his rights.  Someone must get hurt first.  Who will it be?  Student or staff?

Another threatened harm to the school.  He was also relatively new.  No behavior plan was in place.  I will be blamed for that, and he will probably return to school.

And then there are two other fairly routine meetings.

No doubt it will be a difficult week, with very little teaching.  I still feel guilty when I don't teach my students.  But paperwork must not be denied!

Tonight I went to Mass, praying for some inspiration.   I found it in spades.

Can a mother forget her infant, 

be without tenderness for the child of her womb?

Even should she forget, I will never forget you.

(Isaiah 49: 14-15)

Only in God be at rest, my soul, for from him comes my hope.

He only is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold;

I shall not be disturbed.

With God is my safety and my glory, 

he is the rock of my strength; my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O my people!  

Pour out your hearts before him.

(Psalm 62: 6-9)

It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal...

(1Corinthians 4:1-5)

The word of God is living and effective; discerning reflections and thoughts of the heart.

(Hebrews 4:12)

...Look at the birds in the sky....Are you not more important than they?

Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?

....Learn from the way the wild flowers grow....

will he not much more provide for you...

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
(Matthew 6:24-34)

The homily was about trust.  Good, but no earth-shattering revelations.  The scripture was rich, however.

The temptation to alter my morning routine and skip my few minutes before the Blessed Sacrament in order to get to school earlier and get a jump on the paperwork - rejected.  No, that time is when my soul is at rest, when I can pour out my heart before him.

That I will be blamed and berated for the lack of a behavior plan...I will try not to let it concern me.  Suffering happens.  Suck it up...offer it up.

God will not forsake me.  He is always with me, and he will be with me in the paperwork and the meetings and the unfairness of the coming week.  He will be my rock.  And I will trust.

But, if you get a chance, please offer a prayer for me.  That all the work gets done.  That decisions are made in the best interest of all parties.  That sanity and reason prevail.

grace notes revisited

A little while back, I wrote a post about confession.  There was a time when I participated in the sacrament only occasionally.  Now I go more often, and I can look back and see a pattern of wonderful graces that I have received from the sacrament.  Always there is reconciliation, forgiveness, and absolution.  But God is so generous.  I have, more often than not, found that other graces have been given to me, too.

When I was there a few weekends ago, after I was finished, I wanted to let my confessor know how wonderfully some of the situations I have brought to confession have worked out. Some of them have God's fingerprints all over them. There was a time that whenever I would mention going to the Adoration Chapel, I would be met with some kind of snarky comment from someone that I know and love.  I brought that up in confession several months ago, more for some spiritual direction than forgiveness, and he did not hesitate giving some straight-forward advice.  What  amazes me is that I still have not gotten to use the advice.  Any time since then that I have mentioned going to the chapel, I have been met with, "OK, see you when you get back..." or something along those lines.  Definitely a grace!  And so I wanted to let my kind confessor know how it had worked out.  "Do you remember a few months back," I started.  "No," he interrupted.  "No, I don't remember."  And that, too, must certainly be a grace.  Not to remember.  For the record, I did not take him walking back down memory lane, and he chalked up whatever good things might happen to the movement of the Spirit.  No arguments from me.

Last year at the end of Lent, I felt like God had just left me hanging.  Lent had started out great, but then kind of fizzled for me.  At least that was my perception.  Even though I could see some of the things that God was doing in the lives of those close to me, I was feeling so distant.   Wondering where He was, and why He was so quiet.  Lent did not go according the script I had written!  I went to confession, but mentioned nothing about the distance, the perceived silence of God in my life.  As he was giving me my penance, something about listening to God, he stopped himself and added, "and there's no two ways about it...God does speak to you and you DO listen."  Grace had answered a question I hadn't even asked.  It was a wow moment!

Sometimes confession necessarily involves some pain.  More than just the nervousness. My pastor says that we all want the resurrection without the crucifixion.  And in a real way, confession is a crucifixion of sorts - of the will, of self, of the things that hold us bound.  I can remember one a few years ago, when even the preparation was painful.  I remember sitting with a pencil in one hand and a sheet of paper in the other, knowing what needed to be written, but having the hardest time writing, "I ______."  "Really?  Do I have to say that?" I argued with myself.  Sometimes the hardest things to confess aren't the big, awful things, but the little, stupid things that we do.  But slowly, the list got made, and I found my way to the confessional.  Heart pounding.

I had been going fairly regularly, and had gotten pretty good at getting in, taking care of business, and getting out without too much of an emotional investment. (Maybe taking things for granted?) So it caught me off guard on this November morning when I struggled down the list.  It was the feeling of walking through thick mud, wondering if I would ever get to the end.  And when I finished, my confessor - who never asks questions - came back at me with, "Let me ask you something..."  To which my mental reply was, "Oh crap!"  "If you could give up something to show your sorrow to Jesus," he continued, "what would it be?"  Fortunately I had an answer readily available for that.  Some people swear they float out of the confessional, but I seldom do.  This time, however, I left thinking, "Ouch!  That one hurt!"  Pride, I suppose. It should be the sin that is painful, not the reconciliation, but sometimes things are not as they should be in our world.  Peace eventually settled into my soul, but I realized that 3 months was perhaps longer than I wanted to wait between confessions next time.  Grace.

Are you still with me?  Can you stand one more little story?  Last summer, I was going on a retreat, but in the brochures I hadn't seen anything about time for confession.  It had been a month or so since I'd been, and I had heard that God's grace moves better in a "clean" soul, and I wanted the grace to be able to flow at the retreat.  So the day before, I went to confession at my parish.  As I left, the priest  picked up his Rosary that he had been holding in his lap.  It was such a simple thing, but it caught my attention in a powerful way.  A priest praying the Rosary!  I'd never seen that outside of a funeral home.  The retreat...it was all about Our Lady and the Rosary. I doubt it was a coincidence.  The Rosary has never been my "thing".  I came home and printed out a cheat sheet of the mysteries.  I have prayed the Rosary in the months since then...not daily...maybe not even weekly, but when I say it, I pray it.  It's a prayer, not a race.  Since then I've seen my priest with his Rosary on a couple of occasions.  I love that.  And for me, it's still a work in progress.  So, so many graces started right there!

Do I need to include a disclaimer?  These experiences are those of this blogger and may not be typical of other penitents.....  But do not be afraid.  We meet Jesus one-on-one in the confessional.  That is an awesome gift.  And we are met with forgiveness and mercy and grace, not with what we deserve.  I mentioned in another post, that I fought and kicked for a while before giving into the idea of confession.  The final straw for me (or final kick in the pants) was driving by a Pentecostal church one evening that had on the marquee in front, "Humble yourself before God and repent."  What great advice that was!

continued

All this drama about the teacher who was suspended for saying mean things about students in her blog makes me wonder if I should wipe my name off of my blog and blog in the safety of anonymity.  I never name names, but neither did she.  No location.  No school name.  No last name.  I try not to say mean things, but there's no guarantee that I never did or will never cross whatever line is out there. 

Last Sunday at Mass, I heard something different...it caught my attention.  The preface to the Eucharistic Prayer was different.  So when I got home - with the help of Google, I found it.  He had used the Preface for the Eucharistic Prayer of Reconciliation. 

Father, all powerful and ever-living God, we praise you and thank you through Jesus Christ our Lord for your presence and action in the world.

In the midst of conflict and division, we know it is you who turn our minds to thoughts of peace.

Your spirit changes our hearts:  enemies begin to speak to one another, those who were estranged join hands in friendship, and nations seek the way of peace together.

Your Spirit is at work when understanding puts an end to strife, when hatred is quenched by mercy, and vengeance gives way to forgiveness.

For this we should never cease to thank you and to praise you.

We join with all the choirs of heaven as they sing forever to your glory....

I thought it was neat that he acknowledged what is happening in the world - in light of the revolution in Egypt - and whatever else without actually mentioning it. 

Wednesday, I went to Mass at a parish that I frequent on weekdays.  The priest was not familiar to me, and neither was the Eucharistic Prayer.  It sounded a bit like the one for Masses with Children, calling Jesus' disciples, "friends".  But at 46, I was quite possibly the youngest person there.  And then after the consecration, I swear he just made the whole thing up as he went along.

Buried in paperwork hell at school.  I have an IEP meeting on Monday.  A meeting to do a behavior plan on Tuesday, and two more IEPs due in the next week or so.  My desk is beginning to resemble a walled fortress with thing piled higher and higher surrounding my work space.  It bothers me,  but only slightly.  I know that it needs to be cleaned, but there are too many other things ahead of it on the priority list.

Dropped by the church this morning.  There were two other people there while I was there.  That was kind of cool.  One, another lady about my age and the other a young man who looked to be in his 20's.  I wondered to myself why God keeps calling me there.   I don't believe I got an answer to that, but I'm not sure that I need one, either.

It is a full moon, and since I work with middle schoolers, I didn't even need to look at the sky to know that.  Sad, but fairly true!

'Tis time for bed.  My body and mind are tired. 

....till next time!

slowly, slowly

Do you get tired of me saying there is nothing to write about?  Sometimes the words and ideas seem to flow like a faucet, and other times, like now, not so much.

Maybe because all there is to write about is boring ordinary.  Maybe it's because I'm not finding the beauty in the ordinary?

Maybe because since I have my iPad, many nights I don't even take out my laptop, and I can't blog from my iPad.

Adoration.  That's one extra-ordinary thing that I'm seeing beauty in.  It could never be ordinary to sit in the presence of God.  I find that instead of going to the little chapel once or twice a month, now I'm looking to grab a few minutes whenever I can, at an open church near my school.  Yes, I could get to work a few minutes earlier and do a few things, but most likely that time would be wasted gabbing about something.  The precious minutes in the Lord's Presence can't be over-estimated.

Last Friday, I was there, and God pointed out a thing or two that needed work.  In his homily on Sunday, the priest was talking about knowing the Lord.  Really knowing Him...spending time with Him....talking to Him.  He mentioned about a God who confronts us and challenges us, and I thought, "yep - got that right."

Weddings.  Saturday was the day of two weddings.  One was a Catholic wedding.  The daughter of a friend who I met summer before last.  I had discovered a wonderful church near my house, and we were among the very few white people who go there.  We hit it off, and pleasantries exchanged after Mass have turned a friendship.  Cool how that works.

Anyway, we were invited to the wedding.  Hubby and I went, even though we knew no one else there, in part because the same priest had married us (17 years ago) and because his present parish has played a part in our journey.  We were late due to a road closure, and we never found our way to the reception, but as we sat near the back, my mind wandered back to the day almost 10 years ago, when I'd made my way to that church one cold afternoon looking for confession.  I found it, and so much more.

The second wedding was a colleague.  This guy is the real deal - faith-filled, warm, sincere, kind.  I was a bit like a grain of rice in a gumbo pot.  This ceremony was held at a black Pentecostal church.  I was on time for this one, but it was about 30 minutes late starting.  Then the dozen or so attendants had to make their way down the aisle.  Half an hour late, the bride and groom had finally made it to the front.  He sang to her.  It was beautiful.  Then there was some preaching, the theme of which was "untie me".  Praise the Lord and Hallelujah.  Finally the vows were made and read.  Quite a joyful occasion that has been anticipated for a while.  There are not many people for whom I would have sat at a wedding for nearly 2 hours AND missed 4:00 Mass (which I love)....  Definitely an experience!

Saturday was also an Ad Altare Dei day.  Ad Altare Dei (to the altar of God) is a religious award that Boy Scouts can earn.  It involves quite a bit of time as the boys journey through the sacraments and hopefully grow in faith.  I would never have suggested it, but when my oldest came home from the National Jamboree last summer, he said that he needed to earn it.  A counselor is required, so I set about looking for a counselor.  I don't need to tell you how that worked out, do I?  I am now a religious emblem counselor.  So Saturday morning, we met to finish up the chapter on Baptism, complete with a prayer service "involving candles and water and the renewal of baptismal vows."  Here is a picture of our little group.  Do say a prayer that our time is not wasted with these teens.

 

Today on the way home, for some reason, my youngest and I were talking about vocations.  I don't remember how the conversation started.  He said that he thought he could never be a priest.  I replied that no one can be a priest on their own; it takes grace from God, and if God is calling, He will also supply the grace.  He then asked that if God calls, can someone say, "no".  To which I said, "Yes.  Our lack of priests today is not because God quit calling people, but because people stopped hearing/answering.  But even if one says "no", God doesn't turn His back on them."  It was an interesting conversation with my nearly 14 year old.  I sometimes think that if either of them has a vocation to the priesthood, it would be my 15 year old.  But the nearly 14 is the one who asks the most questions....often thoughtful questions.

You know, when I sit down at the laptop, the words sometimes flow.  Not sure how interesting these long posts are, though.  

I have more to say (mostly about nothing)...but I fear I have gone on quite long enough already. 

sunday snippets

Each Sunday, R'Ann at This, That and the Other Thing hosts other Catholic bloggers and their posts for the week. 

January has turned into February here, but not much else has changed. 

Two posts for this week.  Two seems to be a good number these days. 

fount of mercy - reflections on ice, confession, and the lengths Satan will go to to get to us...just when we think we're doing OK

this week - which is pretty much what it sound like.... a quick run-down of the week...good...bad...mostly ordinary

And if you want to save a little clicking - just click here and scroll down!

this week

This week,
I:

Took a half day off of school and spent 3 hours at the dentist while a child got a root canal and a crown.  

I love my iPad.
I sat in the waiting room and caught up on a couple of emails.

Did penance - above and beyond waiting in the waiting room at the dentist. ;-)

Spent a different afternoon at the pediatrician's office. 
We had exactly one ADD patch left. 
I hate going to the doctor with a well kid during sick season. 
I told him not to touch anything.

Went to Bible Study. 
I'm enjoying it, but this time around have not had too many "wow" moments.

Worked out.

Once.

Got my SD card stuck in the computer at school.

Went on-line to figure out how to get it out.

(Stuck a piece of cardstock in the slot.)

Found out that a piece of plastic had broken off of it.  

Panicked.  (How do you spell that.)

Inserted it into my personal laptop and downloaded 2,299 pictures from it.  

Figured it was time to learn more about Picasa.

Ran across this article:  

7 Reasons I Stink at Praying

(I don't usually borrow other people's things for my blog, but I thought this was great.)

Reason #1 - Because I am Awesomely Humble...

I could relate to oh-so-much of it.

Watched a History Channel Special on this guy.

I remember.  

This country needs another like him so, so bad.

Went to a training for a new IEP computer program.

I have said many times that if I go to hell when I die,
my eternal torture will be to use the IEP program we have endured for the past several years. 
Glitchy. 
Prone to PMS.  

It feels kind of good to dump a cross on the scrap heap,
though I'm sure another will come my way soon enough.

Was cold.

It just won't warm up.

Today was bone-chillingly cold.  

Damp.  Windy.  Gray.  Cold.  

What about you?  What's happened this week?

fount of mercy

Well, I don't imagine the fount of mercy is frozen.  It's a living fount, after all.  But I couldn't resist using this picture.  Had to tie it in somehow.  ;-)

I drove by this Saturday morning (after all the ice elsewhere had pretty much thawed) and thought it was beautiful..  But I didn't have my camera.  Drove back by an hour later and it was still there.  Melting, but there.  I was back in a few minutes with my camera.

And the fount of mercy...I did find my way to that, too.  It's in the back corner of our church.  Three doors.  Your church probably has something similar.  If you've read this blog for any length of time, you might recall that there is a thorn for me at work.  Lately, I try to avoid any interaction, and it makes life bearable for the most part.  But that's not always possible.  One of the things that I realized Friday afternoon in the darkness of the church was that I rarely - maybe never - give this person the benefit of the doubt in any situation.  I always assume less than honorable - evil - motives.  It was so easy to see that in the darkness; asking Jesus to be my light.  And so my penance fits.  A prayer of action, he said.  Self-denial of some sort for a day, offered for that person.  I get that penance from time to time, and generally it has good results. A little in our hands is something great in God's hands.

It didn't take long, though, before the Evil One had found another stumbling block to throw in my path.  If you've been around here for a while, you know that I love daily Mass.  If it's possible for me to go, I'll be there.  It's not a penance.  It's not a sacrifice.  It's a JOY!  You will also know that I am fond of my pastor. He is a gem!  Holy.  Reverent.  He says 4 Masses during the week, 3 on weekends at our Parish.  He says Mass at a monastery another day.  He is Chancellor of our Catholic school, and says Masses there a couple of times a month.  He has important duties at the diocese.  He ministers to the homebound.  There are funerals, baptisms, weddings.  Confessions before daily Mass and on Saturdays.  He facilitates adult education opportunities.  He is the only priest and there is no deacon at our parish. If it's happening, it's because he is there.  It makes me tired just to look at the list.

When I picked up a bulletin after Mass, I saw that Mass on President's Day is canceled.  It disappoints me, and I really struggle to be charitable here.  Only Satan - who knows where to strike us-  can take things that are essentially good - a love of daily Mass, and fondness for our priest, a man who is very busy about the Lord's business, but needs a day here and there to recharge and distort it into something ugly - disappointment, uncharitable musings.  Seriously?  Canceling Mass for President's Day?  I need to work on my reaction here.  Just being honest.

And so the struggle continues.

Lord, it is not the fount of mercy that is frozen, but our hearts,.  Melt them with the warmth of your love.  And Lord, send us priests.  Give those whom you call, the grace to hear and to answer your call.        ~Amen.

sunday snippets

Each week, R'Ann at This That and the Other Thing hosts a weekly meme for Catholic bloggers to share posts which might be of interest to others who fit that description. 

It has been cold here this week.  And that is mostly what my posts revolved around.  'Twas kind of a change of pace from the boring and routine.  Ice and a 3-day school week.  I could do that every week - work 3 days, off 4....


weather or not - a recap of the weather, a little bit about Bible Study, and a whine about canceled Masses.  Struggling with charity a little bit there.... Really, my pastor has a lot on his plate, and I should not complain when he "takes a day".  Especially in light of the previous paragraph, I suppose.

ice, ice baby - Who sang that?  Eminem?  Not important.  Was just something that went with the ice.  

ice man cometh - I needed another ice title.  A couple of pictures.  A bit about examination of conscience.

And if you just want to scroll through the whole thing without clicking on each individual post.... Click here!

Have a great week!

ice man cometh

We had snow last year a couple of times.  But I don't remember the last time we had ice.

School was canceled, and when I heard the rain coming down at 4:00 this morning, I knew it would be a day that I would miss Mass, too.  So I slept.  I woke up to a world with a light coating of ice.

It was kind of a winter wonderland effect.

The pine trees across the street were especially festive looking.

 

Ice shuts down everything here.  We don't know how to drive in it, and we don't have any equipment for clearing it off of roadways.  But by early afternoon, the temperature was above freezing, and things were melting away pretty quickly.  I took one of my offspring to spend the night at a friend's house, and thought I would stop in at the Adoration Chapel down the road.  Imagine my surprise to find a note on the door that said the Chapel was closed due to weather and would reopen on Saturday morning at 10:00.  That's nearly 24 hours away!  

So, I was left with Plan B.  I have plans to go to confession on Saturday afternoon - just because it's been a month, and the next few Saturdays are crazy and I probably won't have the chance.  [Preventive maintenance, my pastor called it in a homily a few weeks ago.]  But before I can just pop into the confessional, I need to have some kind of idea of where the problems are.  Maybe it's obvious to some, but when I'm in the midst of living, it doesn't always occur to me that, "OH!  That was a sin!  You need to confess/change that."  I have found that sitting in the Lord's Presence and asking for help often is just what I need. I ended up going to the church near my school, and just sitting there in the almost-darkness.  Lord, show me what causes pain.  To You.  To others.  To myself.  I had my journal, and there was just enough light to write.  In about a half  hour, I had a fairly decent assessment of where the problems areas are. 

One kid is sleeping at a friend's, so that was the opportunity for the other one to have a friend over.  Four people is about the limit to what this house can hold!  

Back to school on Monday!  But I must admit that this mid-winter break was quite nice, and that for once, the school system probably made the right call on a school closure!

Stay warm!

ice, ice baby

Don't laugh, my northern friends.  We don't see these very often at all here in the Deep South.  I'm sure it's been a few years.  And these are at least 2 inches long...some of them.  I hear you laughing! 

I did make it to Mass today.  All's well that ends well.  My sister-in-law met me at our adopted parish - the one that burned last spring.  I will be as happy as they are when their church is rebuilt.  I had asked for prayers for their pastor, Fr. H, a few weeks ago.  He looked SO much better today.  We celebrated the Feast of St. Blaise with the Blessing of Throats.

My plans to visit to the Adoration Chapel didn't work out today.  We made a family outing to Sam's, and there was icy rain around noon when we finished.  We dragged the generator out of the shed - just in case we lose power due to ice on the power lines - and made sure we had diesel to run said generator. 

More freezing rain is forecast for tonight, so tomorrow is another day off of school.  I'm sure there will be no Mass at my parish.  Hopefully once it gets above freezing tomorrow, I will be able to have a nice visit with the Lord.  And maybe a trip to JCPenneys to look through the winter clearance items.

Stay warm!

weather or not

The weather.  That's been about the most exciting thing this week.

Yesterday it was in the 70's.  My older child went to school in shorts.  My younger had short sleeves and no sweat shirt.  It was about 800% humidity, and there was absolutely no hope for my hair.  Humidity AND wind.  There was a strong south wind, until about noon when a front passed through.  It rained heavily for about an hour, and then the wind started blowing from the north.  My offspring were a little chilly when they got home.

It was clear and COLD this morning.  25, with a "feels like" temperature of 14.  We don't get that weather often here.  I had a student in shorts today. (My own didn't argue about wearing pants today.)   I don't know if he owns uniform pants...he said he did when I asked..  The wind was strong, and it was bone-chilling cold all day.

The highlight of the day came when school was canceled for tomorrow.  Freezing rain is expected during the day tomorrow, and we just don't drive in that stuff here.  School on Friday is questionable.  Who is more thrilled - the teachers or the students?  Hard to say!

Bible Study was tonight.  It focused on the need to RESPOND to the Word of God, and mentioned that the Word of God is not found in Scripture alone.  Revelations from God require an action - a response - on our part.  Noah didn't just go on with his regular life after God revealed the plans for the Ark.

The disappointment of my day came when our pastor announced that daily Mass for tomorrow (and probably Friday) was canceled.  I love daily Mass.  I love daily Mass at my parish.  I love my pastor's homilies.  I miss it when it is not available.  It seems like more and more often, daily Mass is canceled.  Any civil holiday - no Mass.  But on the other hand, I know that our pastor has other duties in addition to being the sole shepherd of souls at our parish.  I know that he needs to do what he needs to do to take care of himself so that he CAN be available for us.  And I know that he goes above and beyond in so many things - like the Bible Studies he facilitates in the evenings.  There will be Mass elsewhere...I am fortunate in that respect.  And so I will be at my adopted parish tomorrow.

If I can tomorrow, before the evil freezing rain sets in, I want to find time to go to the Adoration Chapel.  I am overdue for a stay there.  A nice stretch of time where I can be and listen and soul search.  

And this is the ordinariness of my life.  Finding beauty there?  It is what it is.