Benja-bot

This was Benjamin's project all day today. Boys have an innate ability to make mechanical noises.

Sunny Tablecloth

Almost a Pilgrimage

It's a REALLY Catholic place any how- what other bookshop has an Epiphany blessing over it's front door?

And what other book shop calls themselves a "Theological Book Seller"?
Yes, Loome Theological Book Sellers in Stillwater MN has it all- books with metal covers in Greek to first edition writings by St. John Fisher (yes, first edition- meaning the book printed like 500 years ago while St. John Fisher was STILL ALIVE- is IN the store able to be held in your hand- and bought by you if you have $2500).
I'm not exaggerating when I say this is the coolest book store known to man- imagine an old church with books in every crack and cranny- with skinny aisles and creaky staircases and just BOOKS up to every ceiling- that is literally what this is. Remember that part in Beauty and the Beast when he gives her the library and they play that gushy music and she cries "I've never seen so many books in all my life!"? That just what this is. You get to stare at shelves that look like this for as many hours as the store is open:
But make sure you do take a break and get some fresh air- after awhile you'll start growing glasses and a button down shirt- or you'll go into a coma from the sheer number and variety of books and the sheer lack of air. But make sure you go to the bathroom there- first of all there is a tub in the bathroom- why? I'll leave that up to your imagination. Second there are more books, and thirdly there are old sacrament certificates on the walls that are absolutely stunning.

I felt a long way from Northfield. Tony made it out only spending 5 dollars on a copy of Introduction to the Devout Life and I bought some Mystic Monk Coffee and a few cards from the 1940's remembering priests ordinations (10 cents each). The earth is such an odd place- and God is pleased with book stores like this- what a lovely crazy God we have!

Baking Days

I love baking, but what I love even more is when my SIBLINGS bake! There's just something so irresistible about a boy of 7 saying "Rosey, I think I'm going to make some chocolate chip cookies" in his little voice- then doing it- by himself! This week Gracie decided to make pancakes:

Benjamin made "Chocolate Crinkles":

He spent half the night thinking up plans to sell them....

Though I should give him credit for wanting to give them away to our neighbor Bob first.

Then my boyfriend Tony and I made a cake roll at the request of Joseph. We went early to mass this morning so we could save a spot for the rest of my family- but by God's hand my family overslept and had to go to the 11 o clock (since when does Mom accidentally sleep in??)- as a consolation we made lunch and this cake roll while they went to mass. This time we got a picture- behold the delicious fluffy swirlyness!

Then to squeeze in one more baking excursion I made some sweet potato muffins for breakfast tomorrow. Sweet potato mash is something I will definitely keep in my freezer as a Momma. And to put some Catholic sprinkles on this post I'll leave you with a quote from my new beloved acquaintance St. Stanislaus Kostka, "I find a Heaven in the midst of saucepans and brooms."

Dark Sleepy Morning

When I was biking to church this morning there was a glorious fog- I could feel the tiny water droplets collecting on me- quite exhilarating after a night of very little sleep. Now the fog has gone to heavy humidity but it's still sleepy and cool. Perhaps a day for sewing while being lulled by Sweet Land...? Take delight in your littleness before God!

To Save Time and Trouble...

"From all this I have come to the conclusion that I should seek the company of those sisters for whom I have no natural liking and be like the good Samaritan to them. A word and a pleasant smile are often enough to cheer up someone who is sad and upset. But I want to be charitable not only to comfort people. I know I should soon lose heart if that were my aim, for something uttered with the best of intentions can, perhaps, be completely misunderstood. Therefore, to save time and trouble, I try to act solely to please Our Lord..."

-St. Therese, Story of a Soul

So practical! It was a great day when I realized that, if I was married, I would only ever have to worry about pleasing Our Lord. I remember reading the blog of a girl entering the Passionists saying "I want an undivided heart!" I thought, "Well dumb me, I have to be married and I have to live with a divided heart- live a divided life! Husband- Jesus, God-Family. This is stupid! I don't want to be married! I want an undivided heart too!" Well God heard my ineloquent little prayer and showed me that if I'm pleasing Him, I will be pleasing my husband- and if my husband wasn't pleased but God was, well who do you think needs to learn something? Sigh, really seems like a no brainier now that I think about it... God is so smart though as St. Therese puts it "to save time and trouble" let us only act to please our Lord!

Summer is Winding Down...

But there's still a nice sunny spot on the swing!

I've decided- after the whole summer- that I miss blogging- and writing- and I'm going to do it more. This has been another one of those summers where I feel useless to the world. Both my parents have been working and so I've been taking care of the three little(r) ones. I vowed to make money with my sewing machine and all I made was a tie as a gift and 1 needed Sunday dress for myself. God gave me money in one way or another as He saw fit- so I'm quite content- plus I can't complain that I got to do "mom" things for three months. God's way is always the best way anyhow :)

Mary's Feast of Feasts and Non-Dairy Lemon Lusciousness!

Ave Maria!

Last year we had a tea party in honor of our Lady's Assumption- this year, we had a pot-luck dinner! Mostly the reason was that I wanted families to come- I love spending time with my friends, but their families are so cool that I can't stand to leave them out.

I had three men at my service the entire day (not to mention our Blessed Mother...) and we accomplished a great deal. Though we weren't exactly done by the time the party started the lawn was mowed, the cakes were baked, 9 loaves of french bread were made, 24 egg-shells were washed and crushed for the compost pile, the lights were up, the side walks and driveway were immaculate, vespers was prayed and the tater-tot hot dish was in the oven. I am heartily grateful for the service of these men- besides there's something so satisfying about serving soup and biscuits to hungry men that work for you. Pope John Paul II says that all of mankind is entrusted to women- it is our vocation! And of course the best kind of ruler is humble and rich in love that is strong as death- like...hmm... Mary?

The highlighted dessert was the Assumption cake- it is a double decker angel food cake (I'll explain how to stack angel food cakes without fancy equipment if anyone wants to know) with a cloud of whipped cream and of course, Blessed Mother being taken up on top. Legions of angels bearing up Our Lady on the clouds of heaven!

The little pastries next to the Assumption cake are filled with non-dairy lemon curd (2 angel food cakes=24 egg whites= 24 lonely egg yolks!) which is delicious- who needs butter? This is a single recipe and maybe makes a cup or so- I, of course, octupled (is that a word?) the recipe and ended up with- a lot.

6 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons corn starch

Zest of half a lemon

3 egg yolks

1/4 cup lemon juice (don't use the yucky store-bought kind! SQUEEZE YOUR OWN LEMONS!)

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a saucepan and whisk it so there are no cornstarch clumps. Add zest and egg yolks and whisk until everything is wet and yellow. Stir in your lemon juice and fire up the stove to medium heat. Cook until the mixture starts to get thick like yogurt (it will get thicker as it cools don't worry) making sure you're stirring pretty much all the time so that it doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan. Remove it from the heat and cool! Experiment by adding some soy or rice milk to try to bulk out the recipe (in the original butter filled recipe it makes more because there's a whole stick of butter in it...) and just cook it a little longer. I would NOT recommend using margarine or shortening of any kind. Not only is it horrible for your health but it will make an absolute mess of your luscious lemon curd. Butter can do things that margarine just will never be able to do- that's the way it is. Some things are simply inferior to others.

So at the end of the day, Mary is body and soul in heaven, and we await the joyful day of our death and the reunion of our souls with our glorified bodies in the new Jerusalem. Sigh, God is good.

Non-Dairy Ice Cream Success!

JMJ

Having finally gone pretty much totally non-dairy (I still snitch on candy bars) I started to miss a few things (definitely NOT the gross feeling of not being able to digest dairy though...!) one of them being ice cream. Over the years my Mom has tried all kinds of different non-dairy ice creams but liked very few of them. She always said they tasted "beany" and they never had that great of a texture. She has gone to making her own ice cream out of non-dairy whip. It tastes pretty good but it's positively loaded with chemicals and partially hydrogenated whatevers, which I really don't enjoy putting in my body. "Well what the heck!" I told myself one day, "Why can't I just make a custard base from soy milk and put that in the ice cream maker?"- My Mom makes chocolate pudding from soy milk all the time, why not ice cream? I tried it this week and I'll say that I am rather satisfied with the result. It feels like ice cream and looks like ice cream- I can't say that it tastes like ice cream because it really tasted like chocolate- because I put tons of chocolate in it- but I'm sure if one scraped a vanilla bean, one would get a taste very comparable to vanilla ice cream. Note that this is a NON-DAIRY recipe- not a vegan recipe.

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)

2 cups soy milk

Flavoring of your choice (1/2- 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract, baking chocolate or cocoa power, 1 scraped vanilla bean, the possibilities are endless! You're a non-dairy baker, I know you have lots of practice being creative...!)

Heat the soy milk in a saucepan until it's hot- but not bubbling- just so when you put your finger in you snap back and go "ow!"

Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl. I got fancy and decided to like whip them so they got all thick and light yellow- but I really don't think you need to do that, just make sure the sugar and yolks are really well blended.

When the milk is hot pour a little into the egg mixture to temper the egg yolks while whisking and get them warm before you pour the whole mixture back into the sauce pan of hot milk. Always keep mixing- not vigorously- but just so that everything gets blended nicely. If you don't temper the yolks before you put them into the hot milk the mixture will curdle and you'll get nasty chunks of cooked egg- and yes- you will need to start over.

Return the mixture to the heat and cook until the mixture coats whatever you're mixing with (supposedly everybody mixes with wooden spoons and always says "until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon"- but I don't mix with wooden spoons... I could really tell it was ready based on how it was sticking to the whisk- if you don't know what it looks like, look up how to make real ice cream and you'll see- you want the mixture to be like, well, melted ice cream, and not like pudding.) It should really only take a few minutes, if that- plus this is when your egg yolks get cooked. I always get really impatient at this point and throw in some flour to help thicken it. I don't think it really makes a difference, but you can throw in like a teaspoon of flour if you want to be like me.

Remove from the heat and stir in your flavoring.

You MUST chill your mixture before you put it in the ice cream maker. So put it in a bowl in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 hours.

You also kind of have to have an ice cream maker- I was always one of those kids who just whimpered "It's not fair" when people made home make ice cream on TV and said "Well, just pop it into your ice cream maker and voila!" because we didn't have one, and neither of my parents drank coffee so we couldn't even do the roll-the-coffee-can stunt. My Mom got one last year though and let me tell you- it's so worth it.

So, one more think people can't feel bad for me about. I am holding that this lactose intolerance is a party suffering. Praised be Jesus Christ!

Joseph: "Benjamin! Let's be like cool monk guys and fast until dinner!"

CAKE ROLL!!

Praised be Jesus!

Today I made my first CAKE ROLL! If you're wondering, it's one of these:

That isn't my cake roll- my sister took our camera to camp this week, so no picture, but you can infer the awesomeness. This could easily become an obsession. It was really easy and FAST and looks SO COOL. Some might disagree with me saying that it's easy, but I'm not afraid of folding ingredients into whipped egg whites and I'm not afraid of rolling a cake- I'm feeling that kind of crazy baking empowerment that you get when something works. VIVA CAKE ROLLS!!!

Summer!

For my 3 youngest siblings today was the last day of school- and boy did they kick it of with force! Grace, as a new ninth grader spent the day at Valleyfair like every new ex-middle schooler should. Joseph, Benjamin and I went to a park with a lake this afternoon and Benjamin fell in the lake (mind you we had no towels or extra clothes along). Funny though that Benjamin had sat down in the water before he slipped and fell...8 year olds! The best age ever! After dinner Joseph was "bouncing that ball off of Benjamin's head" and they broke a wine glass that shattered all over the dining room floor- then they gorged on popcorn. Benjamin so earnestly asked me if anyone had ever won the record for having the biggest mouth. I told him I had only ever seen the man who could fit 3 cheeseburgers in his mouth at once- but that I didn't know if that could be the record for the biggest mouth. As my Dad was putting them to sleep Joseph was saying:

'We really don't have school tomorrow? What are we going to do?'...

That's my question...

Corpus Christi is the Best Solemnity Ever

Eucharistic processions are very high on my list of favorite things. Actually they probably are the first- fireworks are a close second. I think heaven will be like a Eucharistic procession with fireworks.

You might think was taking a picture of the beautiful habits but no, I was looking at the guy in the suit. He helped organize the procession and I thought this picture of him on a street corner was pretty irresistible.

Habits in Loring Park? We heartily approve. Not to mention that the Lord passed by too.

"I am sure that God wishes to lead your soul by the path of pure faith, that is by faith without any of the self satisfaction which sentiments and perceived certainty give. From time to time you will receive a ray of light and warmth, and you must live on that, holding on to your faith without any reflex consolation, though ever with a very real, but unfelt joy in the depths of your soul... You will seem to yourself at times to have almost lost your faith and yet it remains whole and entire in the fine point of your soul, all gathered up into so sharp and imperceptible a point that it seems no longer to exist. Close your eyes, and remain with Jesus, saying a loving Amen to all He is gazing at in His Father."

-Blessed Columba Marmion, Union With God, 83

A Few More

This has nothing to do with the Handmaids, but the wingspan on this dragonfly I saw this morning was like 5 inches. I thought it was really cool.

In any case, if you were aching to see more of the Mystical Valley of the Handmaids, here's a treat!

The Mystical Valley leads down to a winding river...

Which used to have a bridge before the river flooded this spring. The Handmaids are now confined to exploring only one side of the forest...

Oh, poor them...

They said they are waiting for a little boy to build a raft for them to get across.

One more look at that lovely habit! Praised be Jesus!

We've all been waiting...

Including HIM...

Our dearest Bernadette is now His dearest Sister Beata Marie of the Holy Name of Jesus!

This is the "Mystical Valley" (as the Handmaids call it) that they can wander through as they please- they just have to watch out for the cow pies!

Here is Sister Beata with her double sister: Sister Miriam Rose of the Incarnate Word. I'm a little speechless as to how beautiful they are- Praised be Jesus forever and ever!

Freedom Continued

Praised be Jesus!

So one of my first acts of freedom from school was to become a committed adorer at my church. I've wanted to do it for a long time but never could because I would have had to find a sub for 9 months of the year. Being young, I always think that I never need to sleep and that getting up to meet a lover in the middle of the night is really romantic so I signed up for a 1-2 AM slot. Well, my thoughts about it were definitely more romantic than it actually was. I mean, if you think about it, it was perfectly romantic- the kind of romantic where you boyfriend tries to dip you backwards to kiss you but ends up shoving his nose in your eye. I think you know what I mean.

First I couldn't get in because I don't know how the lock on the door works and a tall man named Pierre had to get up and let me in, then in my excitement I ran up to the front of the chapel to adore Jesus in the front row but I was really noisy because I'm an 8 year old in a 22 year old's body- then I realized that because I'm in my favorite corner I can't see the clock and don't have one on me so I have no idea when to leave- I decided to guess (I was right!) but then as I was leaving I accidentally slammed the door- really loud- at 2 in the morning. Sigh. Well I guess it shows how much the Lord loves- it's like we're married and can clean our ears in the same room. God is so wonderful.

FREEDOM!

By the abundant grace of Our Lord Jesus I FINISHED COLLEGE!!!!!!! Now I just have teacher certification things to finish, but I'm done! I'm FREE! My exile is OVER!

A million cool things happened since Divine Mercy Sunday- I mean- Easter is always packed with wild spiritual adventures- and I'll probably never write about them- but I will write about one really cool thing I did this semester BLINDFOLDED ROCK CLIMBING.

I took a rock climbing class because I was a senior and I needed no-outside-work kind of class, plus rock climbing is cool. There was just one problem, I don't wear pants. Usually I'm really firm about the skirt only thing- I just hate wearing pants. But I felt this time I had to give in. I figured it would be pretty immodest to rock climb in a skirt, especially because I knew there was no real reason I shouldn't wear pants, I just don't like them. So I got myself a pair of loose fitting athletic pants and went to class.

Long story short, I was one of those kids who improved a lot over the semester because I hadn't really ever climbed before (saving those "community building retreats" we went on in middle school). I always took the easiest way up- meaning any of the most comfortable hand-holds- and I always made sure I was totally balanced before I moved a limb- definitely did NOT want to fall- even if I knew I was attached to a rope which actually pretty much makes falling more than a foot impossible. I kept watching these crazy guys (the real rock climbing guys who owned the fancy shoes and wore ripped khakis) leap to hand-holds out of their reach and then miss- and fall- and then recklessly grab back onto the wall and do it all over again. One day though we did blindfolded climbing- which is when the climber (not the belayer!) wears a blindfold and feels their way up the wall. It was amazing! All of a sudden any hand-hold you find feels good enough- because it's all you have! And you find all sorts of natural cracks and crannies that you never would have noticed had you been looking. And besides that- there are no distractions- you are in your own silent world and all you know is that you are somewhere on the wall and if you keep going you know that you'll get to the top. And I was thinking...

IT'S SO MUCH LIKE THE SPIRITUAL LIFE!

When we're kids we always take the easy way- not because we're lazy, but because we've never prayed before. We look for the big chunky prayers to memorize- we go to church on Sunday, own a Bible (might even read it every now and then!) and try to be good- but why? Because that's what you do! At a certain point though we have to realize that we can't just do something to do it. Just going to church on Sunday doesn't make a relationship with God- we have to participate, we have to explore our faith outside of Sunday- and most importantly we have to communicate with God!

Even still, sometimes all the chunky handholds make us think that they are the only way up the wall, and that using them is the goal. All the hand-holds are certainly the only way to get up the wall, God wills that. We can't find Jesus without reading the Bible, and going to church on Sunday is really, really important- even down to things like having a car and a job are important for a person to live, and how can we climb if we don't have food? But it isn't until God strips us of all sight- letting us feel us completely alone that we begin to search and find all the intricacies of the life he made for us. We begin to see that every second we are alive is an opportunity to get closer to Him.

At first we think that if we go up the wall as we have been, looking for the big easy hand-holds (feeling around for them at this point!), that we will make the same progress. But soon we find out that it not only takes way too long to find those while blindfolded but there's no guarantee that they are even there. In our struggle, however, we do feel a little natural ledge- you might recognize a little piece of a scripture that perfectly fits the situation you are now in or you may see a little gift you could give someone that will go unnoticed to all- in any case, it has helped you go three more feet up the wall. We get kind of used to using everything around us to get up the wall- and we even find a few nice hand-holds on the way! But then the unthinkable happens- you can't find a good enough hand hold and in your grappling around you lose balance and...

YOU FALL!

As you're falling you cry, "Oh Lord! How can you do this to me?? I was doing everything right! Why didn't you give me something to grab on to? Now I am falling! Now I am done for! I trusted you to give me everything I needed to be successful in climbing this wall! You said I would be happy if I followed you! I am not happy! I am falling! And what's worse- I can't see anything- you blinded me! I am lost!" This I like to think of as like- losing your job, or not being able to find one, or having someone yell at you for making a mistake- or even falling into a sin. Little did you know that God was holding you on the rope so tightly and was so closely monitoring your progress that when you fell off the wall, you didn't actually lose any ground. Nothing is actually wrong and you just freaked out for nothing. You are hanging there apart from the wall and God is just holding you. All you feel is Him holding you. You can't see anything, you can't feel anything , you are just hanging in mid air thinking- how am I not dead? How is it that I am surviving without everything being perfect? How am I surviving without the house being clean, or with overwhelming fatigue? The truth is, God is way bigger than you and loves you so much that He is personally holding you in mid-air until you figure out that all you have to do is grab onto the wall and keep climbing. He as shown you His presence, but only after long suffering and failure- not to mention having to notice and USE all the gifts He gave you- even down to the most minute detail.

At the end of that day's climb, you don't have to climb blindfolded again- but if you get distracted and forget God, you might want to. And besides, you know now that if you fall He WILL hold you- and is always holding you! And when you use all the chunky hand-holds now you will see that they will only propel you up the wall quicker and so you rejoice in using them- instead of being dependent. Oh! Isn't God wonderful? He thinks of everything!

In any case, I thought it was a neat comparison and there's so much else in it that I could write- but I'll leave that to the Lord to reveal in our hearts! All praise be to Him forever!

Divine Mercy Sunday!

So a million cool things happened to me since February, but I didn't blog about them because- well, I just didn't. But this story is too wonderful not to share- so here's a little excerpt from the diary of St. Faustina! Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One- have mercy on us and on the whole world!

This morning after completing my spiritual exercises, I began at once to crochet. I sensed a stillness in my heart; I sensed that Jesus was resting in it. That deep and sweet consciousness of God's presence prompted me to say to the Lord,

"O Most Holy Trinity dwelling in my heart, I beg you: grant the grace of conversion to as many souls as the stitches that I make today with this crochet hook."

Then I heard these words in my soul: My daughter, too great are your demands.

"Jesus, You know that for You it is easier to grant much rather than a little."

That is so, it is less difficult for Me to grant a soul much rather than a little, but every conversion of a sinful soul demands sacrifice.

"Well, Jesus, I offer You this whole-hearted work of mind; this offering does not seem to me to be too small for such a large number of souls; You know, Jesus, that for thirty years You were saving souls by just this kind of work. And since holy obedience forbids me to perform great penances and mortifications, therefore I ask You, Lord: accept these mere nothings stamped with the seal of obedience as great things."

Then I heard a voice in my soul: My dear daughter, I comply with your request.

The Presentation of the Lord!

God is so wonderful. I love the Catholic Church because we do so many cool things- like candle blessings, and liturgical colors. Todays liturgical color is white and, of course, it snowed. My friend likes to refer to it as "liturgical snow". I always think of when St. Therese entered Carmel and she was hoping it would snow because she loves so snow much- and it really didn't look like it would, but God made it snow for her! God pays so much attention to us- more than we pay attention to him! At mass this morning the priest talked about how crazy it was that Simeon and Anna recognized God because they always see babies coming through the Temple- they payed attention! May we all pay so much attention to God that we recognize him and his little gifts when someone takes the last bread stick in front of us or when he makes it snow for us!

Calvin and Hobbes

Benjamin has taken to reading Calvin and Hobbes out loud all the time. Given that he's doing it all the time he's gotten quite good at emphasizing the right words and making all the right sounds to go with the comics. My Dad decided to film several of Benjamin's readings- here's a taste.

A Little Blessing

Last night I was putting by brothers to bed and had them bless themselves with holy water. Benjamin drew three crosses on himself: one on his forehead, one on his nose, and one on his mouth. Benjamin had just watched a movie that he said was too scary so it made sense to me that he would bless his forehead, and blessing your lips is common so that God's Word will always be on your lips, but his nose? He told me then that he put a cross on his nose so he wouldn't smell anything, and continued to explain that he put a cross on his mouth so that he wouldn't drool on the pillow.

Let the children come to me!!!

I will strike you down and cut off your head

David answered him:

“You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar,

but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts,

the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted.

Today the LORD shall deliver you into my hand;

I will strike you down and cut off your head.

This very day I will leave your corpse

and the corpses of the Philistine army for the birds of the air

and the beasts of the field;

thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God.

All this multitude, too,

shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves.

For the battle is the LORD’s and he shall deliver you into our hands.”

(1 Samuel 17)

So, the Devil is really stupid.  But often times for stupid reasons we listen to his lies and throw ourselves into a tizzy.  The reading about how David whooped Goliath today was so great for me to read since lately the Devil has been really bothering me with all sorts of crap.  But that's just what it is- crap!  He comes against me with physical temptations and intellectual lies and so often I come up against him with nothing- and all by myself.  

The Philistine said to David,

“Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?”

Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods

and said to him, “Come here to me,

and I will leave your flesh for the birds of the air

and the beasts of the field.”

But God is so HUGE!  And God is ALWAYS THERE and with one tiny thought he is able to 'strike him down and cut off his head'.  Why don't I come against the Devil in the Name of the Lord Jesus?!  God uses anything to crush the head of the serpent when we come to him.  There are so many times where nothing can break through the walls of despair I imprison myself in- no kind words, no reason or argument, no chastisement- but then someone will spell the word "stake" as "steak" and I'll accidentally smile.  After that God has his in and I cannot be controlled by despair any longer.  God knows us!  If David slew the Philistine with an rock we can stomp on the head of the serpent with a pair of fun high heels!  Of course behind those 'fun high heels' is an immense amount of strength and love.  We are nothing without God- but God always comes as these little things that are seemingly insignificant.  Babies!  Bread!  Wine that can be spilled!  We always think that we need some thing huge like a big fireball to fight but God gives us something ridiculous to drive away the Devil like misspelled words or a little pebble in a slingshot "this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves"!  I'm reminded many times of a post from Quantitative Metathesis called "A Face Off" and this is definitely one of those days.  God is all powerful!  Worship Him!  He is great and glorious!!

Why are my brothers so cool?

The rock monsters do well on the lego half-pipe.

Frivolity!

"I remember when I was a postulant I sometimes used to seek my own satisfaction and enjoy a little pleasure. This longing was so strong that I was forced to hurry past your cell and clutch the balustrade to prevent myself from turning back. A thousand excuses for seeing you came into my head so that I could justify my natural impulses- excuses like asking your permission for various things. How glad I am now that I crushed such impulses fright from the start of my Religious life! I am already enjoying the reward promised to those who fight bravely. No longer so I feel that I must refuse to let my heart have any comfort, for my heart is centered on God... Because it has loved only Him, it has gradually developed until it can manifest to those dear to Him a tenderness incomparably deeper than if it had spent itself in selfish, barren love."

St. Therese, Story of a Soul

I love that even though God's grace makes us so amazingly better than we are, we are still human and our bodies develop at similar rates for everyone. Therese was 15 when she entered Carmel- most of us are in 9th grade at 15. Saving the few that are spared, most of us had those certain crushes at school that we would see when we walked to certain classes- when you saw that person coming toward you, you would start planning in your head how you were going to look at them and when you did pass them their look meant the rest of your day to you. "That was an odd smile... is he mad at me? I bet he doesn't like me anymore- maybe he had a bad morning- what's wrong?" then you would find out nothing was wrong and you obsessed over the odd way he smiles when he has gum in his mouth. God doesn't spare us from normal life, he just gives us the ability to rise above it. Therese loved her sister as her mother since their own mother died when she was very young. I love the vision of her clutching the banister to make herself not go back when she knew she was just being frivolous. Only by grace, only by the sacraments, only by God living in us can we stop doing, not just evil things, but stupid things as well! And when God lives in us and when our hearts are undivided in Him- we won't have to take dramatic measures to protect ourselves from stupidity anymore. We'll see all things as they are- we'll see that God is infinitely more valuable than that moment of satisfaction. We'll live our whole lives using all the passing things in the world instead of having them use us!

Praised be Jesus our strength!