Matthew 6:34 (NIV)
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
40 Days
In trying to decide what to “do” for Lent this year, I was listening to the priest at Mass, and he was talking about the 3 major parts of Lent… Prayer, fasting, and alms giving… Which got me to thinking, what do I want to focus on the most right now? I realized that I kept going back to prayer… So, for the next (almost) 40 days (I do realize I’m starting a couple days late)… I’m going to post either prayers or scripture readings that speak to me in some way. I will still be posting craft projects (especially from my fabulous upcoming 5 day quilting retreat!!!! Which I’m so excited about, but starting to get a little bit nervous about going away for 5 days not knowing anyone!!) but I’ll also be posting .
This first one is a prayer I come back to often and was found in the book “30 Days of Prayer with Mary”
4-To Pray and Ponder
Mary, pray that I might treasure life
Beauty
Goodness
Opportunity
Truth.
Mary, Pray that I might ponder
How to defend life
How to see and hear beauty
How to affirm and share goodness
How to grasp and utilize opportunity
How to seek and proclaim truth.
Mary, pray that I treasure what I have
And ponder what I might become.
Book Review: 1000 Days The Ministry of Christ by Jonathan Falwell
1000 Days The Ministry of Christ by Jonathan Falwell
Jonathan Falwell certainly has a family history with ministry. In 1000 Days, he chronicles the approximately 1000 days of Jesus’ time actively ministering here on earth before the crucifixion. Mr. Falwell uses snippets of scripture to illustrate Jesus’ words, and then interjects how we can use those words to help ourselves here today. There are present day examples to use as illustrations of how we can use the information in our own lives and live in a more Christ-centric way.
This book was not at all what I expected it to be, I enjoyed reading it, but what I wanted to read was more of a history book, maybe taking all the information we have in the Gospels and merging them together as a chronological history lesson. That is not what this book is. This book takes several specific events of Christ’s ministry here on earth, and uses the scripture to evangelize and preach about how we can use the scripture in our daily lives. I think it would be a good introduction for someone who does not know much about the scripture. There is a lot of basic information in each chapter, and if a group of people wanted to use the book as a jumping off place to learn more, there are group discussion questions included at the end of each chapter.
I did enjoy reading the book, but I wished that the balance tipped more toward the scripture and less toward the preaching. Overall, if you’re looking for an overview of Jesus’ ministry, you’ll get a good foundation through this book.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Beautiful First Communion Gift
Kathryn’s First Communion is tomorrow (no worries, pictures will follow!!) and I wanted to get her something special. At the moment her favorite color is purple. I contacted my absolutely favorite Etsy seller, Graceful Rosaries, who I’ve purchased many bracelets and rosaries from in the past and asked her if she had purple stones (I didn’t want fasceted beads) and if she could make a matching rosary and rosary bracelet set for Kathryn… After just a couple of emails back end forth to be sure she knew what I was looking for… Here is the final result, they arrived yesterday, and I honestly cannot wait to give them to my special little girl… They are simply beautiful in the pictures, but really stunning in person. If you’re ever looking for religious jewelery or rosaries, I cannot recommend Mary enough… She does beautiful work, and stands by it as well, if it doesn’t fit she’ll resize it and when I broke one of my bracelets (not because of workmanship, but because I snagged it on something and moved my hand too fast not realizing it was caught) I sent her the pieces I was able to salvage, and 4 days later my repaired bracelet was back on my wrist, at no charge. I can’t recommend her enough!! Her prices are reasonable, especially considering the beautiful workmanship… She has lots of beautiful items in her shop, and will custom make items to meet (and exceed) your needs!
Here’s the beautiful purple jasper rosary… In person it practially sparkles!
and the matching rosary bracelet
If you’re ever looking for religious items, please visit her onlin shop!! You’ll be glad you did :)
Made for… Thankful Thursday!
What a GLORIOUS day!!! So much to be Thankful for!!!
First… I missed Made for Monday!! I actually made something too :) Look at this little card I made for Mia’s birthday party… She’s 1 and just the sweetest!!! I triple cut the butterflies and layered them for dimension… I thought it came out cute…
And now… Thankful for… a stretch (ok, 2 days… but that’s more than we’ve had!!) of beautiful days!!! It is so nice outside!!
We had a wonderful time at little Mia’s birthday party last weekend!!! It’s so wonderful to be able to get together with family and celebrate!! We’re not going to be able to call her “little” for long though, holy cow, She’s getting big!! Kathryn thought she was just wonderful, and had a blast playing with her!!
I picked up my glasses this week!! I don’t think they’ve ever seen anyone so excited to pick up glasses!! I can SEE clearly!! It’s taking some getting used to because they are progressive, and it’s a little tricky to find the “clear” spot, depending on what you’re looking at, but I’ve been psyched to not have to squint so much :) fewer fine lines and wrinkles :) I think they’re cute, and have worn them all day at school the last couple of days… I haven’t been driving with them on yet though, I’m still getting lots of “wishy washy” stuff at the bottom of my vision…
Just got home from Kohl’s and getting the kids some summery clothes, Sean didn’t have a single pair of shorts that fit him… Of course, I had a coupon, and saved more than I spent (does anyone ever go to Kohl’s without a coupon?? I know I never do…)
I’m also thankful that Mike is going to need to go to CA for work, ’cause we’re going with him!!! I’ve never been, and am so excited to see everything out there!!!
The kiddos are going to have a sleepover party this weekend with Meema and Auntie!!! Just one night, but it’s a night off :) They’ll have a blast, they always do :)
You may be wondering… What’s that crazy girl doing about her Theology Degree decision?? Well… For the moment, I’ve decided to take some continuing education type courses and try to ease into it a bit… I’m already signed up for a class that starts in June… It’s through the University of Notre Dame’s STEP program (Satellite Theological Education Program)… I figure it can’t hurt to know something before I jump into things, it’s not hugely expensive, and I’m *just kinda* OCD, so this may satisfy my OCness :) and if I win the lottery and discover I can actually afford the $500 a credit for the program I want to get into, then at least I’ll actually know something going in…
I hope the weather stays nice… And that everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!
