Five Favorites - Sort of Detox-y, Sort of Not

Linking up for the fun at Hallie's.

1. Justin's Vanilla Almond Butter

Major shout-out of major gratitude to my sweet Gina friend for introducing me to this magical thing. There is maybe not enough in all the places for me to get as much of this as I want, which is good because I can practice all that self-control I'm getting to pray for in my #2 fav. I have liked almond butter for a long time, but after I tasted this I realized I'd been doing it wrong. I got mine at H-E-B, but good luck finding some because Gina and I are stockpiling. We need to not run out of this, everatall.

2. Made to Crave

I heard about this book a lot when it first came out, and I actually read the book itself about a year ago. My sister and I started the Arbonne detox (which I super-like and which deserves its own Favorites post, because, amazing) and we decided to do the Made to Crave Bible study while we were at it. This book has been such a blessing and hopefully soon I can get to the many many blog posts I feel it inspiring. If you're thinking about checking it out...do. You won't be sorry.

3. Jane Austen Buttons

I'm not really sure why I didn't know these existed before, but....!!! Does anybody know where I can get some? I need to decide who I want though - and I'm not sure why the Sense & Sensibility button says WILLOUGHBY and not Brandon or Ferrars. #Rude.

Also I need to decide which one I would want...I don't know. It's so hard.

4. The Paperless Post

Cutest e-cards and super awesome app. Just sent out invites for an event using this puppy and they are So. Cute. You can customize a lot if you want to pay a wee sma' fee, but there's lots of fun freebies there, too.

5. This Woman.

Miscellany - Volume I

There's been loads of great pro-life stuff out there lately. Since Rodeo season is upon us (in Houston, it's a Season) I thought I'd do a little round up for y'all.

The Bad News:
I hate to tell you these things, I hate more that they're happening and need to be told, but if you don't know they're going on, you should...
Belgium has become the first country in the world to approve euthanasia for children of all ages.
While you process that, keep in mind that this euthanasia business quickly and easily becomes a booming and unregulated business, where things like an 85-year-old woman having herself euthanized over "losing her looks" can and do happen.
Praying, people - it's what we need to be doing.

Better News:
Who is Planned Parenthood's Newest Member? This article is short 'n sweet 'n packed with awesomeness. It'll take you two minutes or less and if you don't finish it with a huge grin on your face...there's something wrong with you and you can leave now.
Priest conceived in rape hears his father's Confession. I have no words...
Aaaand this one is super cool: a 3D printer could allow blind parents to "see" their unborn babies.

Videos:
First of all, this "Listen to the Beat" video is incredible:

Finally, you possibly have seen the "My Beautiful Woman" video about Jane and June by now. If you haven't, ohemgee, you really need to. If you have seen it, did you know it's one of a series? There are two more, and Live Action's article about them has links to all three. They're so beautiful...each and every one is worth the minutes you'll give to watch them. The crazy thing is that Wacoal, the company producing these gems, is actually a lingerie company. Imagine if You-Know-Who's Not-So-Secret Secret had this much respect for women.

Imagining...Mind. Blown. Anyway, watch the videos, please.

Any other favs? :)

Five Favorites - With no particular theme

Joining the link-up!

1. This non-goth nail polish

Normally I favor my mitt-tips on the dark side. For example: the polish to the far right is one of my latest favs, and it's called "Pat on the Black." Technically it's like a dark purplish color, I don't wear ACTUAL black. But amazingly, I recently snagged a pink I do like, as shown in the middle(ish). And by like I mean I didn't scrub it off after 36 hours as typically happens when I attempt to wear pink. The nombre es "Fuschia Power" and they're not kidding about that Xtreme Wear business - we're on Day 8 with this mani and lookin' pretty slick. The Revlon Base Coat is also a Secret Weapon for serious nail painters and Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri top coat is da bomb dot com. Verily's tips for long-lasting nail jobs are a lifesaver for cheapskates like me who get wallet pangs when we even think about paying for an actual manicure. Also the trick of submerging freshly painted nails just past the sticky-dry-phase into a bowl of ice water to set the polish. It's like magic. Arctic magic, but whatever. Beauty knows no chill, or something like that.

2. Popes. And their "Quotes".

On a less shallow note: I run across stuff like this all the time, and just this week found a gem from each of our past three Papas.

They are so full of good advice. :)

3. Hot Rollers

Aaaand back to the shallows: about a year ago, I chopped off my hair. Or, rather, I somewhat nervously paid someone to do it for me. The resulting pixie turned out to be on of my Most Favorite Haircuts of All Time. However, I eventually decided that I really did enjoy styling my hair too much to leave it that length. Or abandon the other lengths, as the case may be. Anyhoo, it's finally getting to be some kind of length and I was actually able to use !!hot!!rollers!!. There are a lot of exclamation points because I am actually a big fan of hot rollers as opposed to curling irons. I used the hot rollers the other day in most of my hair (had to pull out the flat iron for some flat iron curls at the end, I ran out of pins) and ended up looking like Rachel Peabody from Eloise. That was good news in itself, because, hello, Rachel Peabody:

But also good news due to not having to roll-hold-release-roll-hold-release a bajillion times with the flat iron. I mention this because I need new ones! Hot rollers, that is. Any favorites to recommend? We have an old set where the curlers came in three different sizes, which I really like. Suggestions?

4. Archbishop Chaput and His Awesomeness

 “There's a very old Christian expression that goes like this: ‘Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.’

Are we troubled enough about what's wrong with the world -- the killing of millions of unborn children through abortion; the neglect of the poor, the disabled and the elderly; the mistreatment of immigrants in our midst? Do we really have the courage of our convictions to change those things?

The opposite of hope is cynicism, and cynicism also has two daughters. Their names are indifference and cowardice. In renewing ourselves in our faith, what Catholics need to change most urgently is the lack of courage we find in our own personal lives.”

- Archbishop Charles Chaput

5. This Book, which I Really For Sure NEED. ASAP.

I just got the email from Magnificat about this today. It instantly became the top (and only) item of importance on my wish list. My birthday is coming, so surely someone will get me one...or even better, a few someones, because then once I have read it and can attest to its marvelousness, I can give some away. So, somebody just needs to get me one. And not worry about if they're the only somebody.

The Lorica + St. Joseph: The Best Ever EVER

While I was driving to work this morning, my sweetheart was reading a prayer over the phone. I've heard bits and pieces of it before, but never the whole thing together. It's called either the Breastplate of St. Patrick or the Lorica (which means "body armor") of St. Patrick. It is beyond amazing and one of my new favorites.

I especially like "Through the strength of the love of the cherubim," "God's ear to hear me," and "Christ in every ear that hears me." Amen and amen.

It would deserve it's own blog post EXCEPT: today is the day to start the novena to St. Joseph. I do recognize his feast day is in March, but this is a 30 Day Novena. It's a little more time consuming than most of us will probably feel comfortable but it is Worth. It. It's a little tricky to remember to say it every day for 30 days (and by tricky I mean I haven't actually managed to do it yet, even after approximately seven attempts). When I miss a day I just add it on to the end of the novena. One of my tricks for remembering to do it is to have it as the page my phone's internet browser opens to. No Facebook or anything else until after I get through the whole prayer.

In perfect honesty: I am not a perfect pray-er, but I truly do love this novena. So much that I'm doing two of them back-to-back. St. Joseph is a tough habit to kick. ;)

Pray it up, y'all!

The Valentine Chronicle(s)

I'm kinda sad that yesterday is over, not only because it's one of my favorite days but also because I do love a good Valentine meme:

On a serious note, if you were alone yesterday and kinda hate the world for it...I really am sorry your heart is hurting. I was alone last year too and hadn't even met Alex yet. I said some special prayers yesterday for the people who were alone, so I hope you're feeling better today. Hugs to you.

Yesterday:

So first I ran a bajillion errands all over kingdom come. Actually just three: Ross (cheap dresses!). H-E-B (grocery shopping!), and my sister's place (VALENTINE!) And it was great. because there's nothing more fun than finding a cheap dress or grocery shopping (seriously, I love a good grocery trip) or taking your only big sister a Valentine and having a speed-chat with her totes presh bebes. 

A funny thing happened at Ross - I was looking at dresses and found a very pretty one that matched the nail polish I was wearing and the shoes I had at home and the shawl my sister had at home (what?) and was, yes, also cheap. Also knee-length, incredibly. So, obviously, I needed to get it. I almost talked myself into putting it back and then thought, "Oh, no, you should get it for the symphony!" And then I really almost put it back because as much as Alex & I love going to the symphony, we don't have any plans to go. But for some reason the symphony idea persisted and I ended up walking out with the dress. Call me a Scout, because clearly, I am ready for anything.

Then, while I was in H-E-B, a truly magical place, I got several good newses.

#1. The Raspberries are getting Ready.

Raspberries are my most favorite of all the things. They're so pretty. Also, they taste the way perfume would taste if that was a thing people did, which they shouldn't, but if they did and you could taste perfume and it was okay to taste it, that taste would be raspberries, in a very amazing and not-weird way. Anyway I love them and they have been appearing in the grocery stores I prowl on the regular and they are getting prettier all the time BUT...they haven't had The Smell. What I mean is, personally I find the most effective approach to finding good rasperries is to sniff-test them. And when you find good raspberries, you pick the carton up and sniff a little, and if your eyes close in delight at the whiff of sPrInGtImE then you have found a good box. And yesterday, I found that box. Two of them, actually. We don't need to discuss what I may or may not have paid for them just look, see, how pretty:

Raspberries are how I imagine Italy smells in the Spring, based on what my sweetheart has told me. I'm pretty confident about that conjecture. Don't un-illusion me.

Speaking of my sweetheart, this is what I did for him with (some of) the raspberries:

 

Those, my friends, are honeyed raspberry ice cream parfaits. He was very happy. I'm sure you can imagine.

But back to H-E-B and the other good newses I got while there:

#2. My smart phone told me via email that the Houston Symphony's guest star got snowed in up north (sorry about that, lady) WHICH meant that now, the Houston Symphony would be putting on a FREE performance of a concert from earlier in the season. Vivaldi's Four Seasons, to be precise. That is one of Alex's favorites. Can you imagine? No, me neither. The raspberries are ripe and the symphony is free and I already have a dress for that shenanigan so yes, I thought I was livin' the high life, right there, man.

But wait, it gets better.

After I returned home from my leettle bit of shoppink, my sweetheart arrived (looking, oh my, you guys, SO gorgeously handsome) and informed me that the secret plan which he had previously refused to inform me of was, in fact, going to Build-A-Bear. You may recall, I had been seized a while back with a sudden and utterly ridiculous desire to go. When I reacted with shocked glee, he seemed surprised and said, "Well, you said you wanted to go!" To which I responded by explaining that, uh, YES I wanted to go. I just had no way enough nerve to actually do it without being taken. Because that makes sense.

Before we left, he gave me his other Valentine gift:

Those are perfume flowers to scent everything with. They smell like jasmine and clearly, they are therefore awesome. Underneath are these little candies with an Italian name which I do not know how to spell and you would not know how to pronounce (except Alex, hi, honey! :) ) but the name means "kisses". On top of them in the box was a poem in Italian about a thousand kisses which is the super-cutest thing ever because, ladies, the candy name = kisses. On a scale of candy kisses from 1-10, Hershey's are like a 3 and these are totes a 10. They. Are. Delish.

Then off we went to Build-A-Bear and we picked a bear and two little hearts (because, apparently, when it's a sweetheart bear you both get hearts and put them in together. Yes, I know) and we stuffed the bear and air-washed the bear and dressed the bear and named the bear and did all the things for the bear and felt super ridiculous together and it was AWESOME. Anyway, here, hi, this is Bjorn Olaf:

You say that beeYORN. I know you were wondering so, yes, it's beeYORN. It's Norwegian for "Bear." Because we are the cleverest. There should be a slash-thingy through the o in Bjorn but my keyboard doesn't know and isn't cool enough. You maybe get the idea anyway.

Afterwards we went back to being Real Live Adults and hit up the symphony. Also afterwards I tripped crossing the street (don't judge until you have walked on cobblestones in the hot pink heels that match the symphony dress) but don't worry guys, it was ok. It was ok because he had my arm through his and he totally caught me on my way down. It was very Gilbert & Anne. I know the other ladies around were jealous of my Slip'N'Slide skillz and proooobably thought I did it on purpose to be caught by El TallDark&Handsome. Which I did not, but might have if I'd been coordinated enough to think of it in advance.

There was more but I don't want your head to explode from his awesomeness so...we'll leave it at that.

Five Favorites - The Red & Pink Edition

Joining Hallie's always-fun link-up! :)

So. Ladies. *ahem* Friday, is, ya know, special. I know you know. Of course we know. The fellas know too. (Right, guys?)

In honor of this, one of my Very Favorite Days, we're kickin' it Valentine-style 'round here. Because I like being cliche sometimes to prove I'm not hipster.

Anyway.

Behold: Five Favorites concerning My Loves, For and About.

1. St. Valentine

I really like him, actually, as a person. I like making sure to remember him on February 14th, even though if you look at the liturgical calendar it really says...St. Cyril & Methodius. Good thing saints don't get jealous because, poor guys. Makes me giggle every year. But Valentine himself on a scale of cool to epic is way up on the epic side: a bishop of the early Church who presided at Catholic marriages in secret after they had been outlawed. Basically he's a martyr in defense of the Sacrament of Matrimony. I do so love being Catholic.

2. Most Attractive Man Alive - Alexander the Great

The "George & Mary Bailey" picture, as one friend calls it. 

Props to sweet friend Stephanie for her photog skillz.

Also known as my sweetheart. They do not come better than this, I gua-ruhn-tee. My very own Valentine. If you're feeling in the mood for mush you can check this out. He is gentler than gentle, brilliant-er than brilliant (no really, he speaks at least five languages), patient-er than patient, and far more forgiving of my foibles than I remotely deserve. Also devastatingly handsome, obviously. Plus he does a wicked Jimmy Stewart impression.

3. Nephews

My head is probably going to explode from the cuteness. Yours too, I bet.

These are my sister's children and the cutest currently alive. I mean, I haven't had kids yet, so...there's maybe that. They are the best of day-brighteners and the most infectious of laugh-ers. They are also brilliant. Clearly. Since we are talking about love, they must unquestionably be on any list of favorites.

4. This G.K. Chesterton quote.

There's really no way to improve on Chesterton, so...there you have it.

5. Chocolate. The End.

How could there NOT be chocolate on a Valentine list? Puh-leez. Now, I like chocolate so dark it almost makes your mouth hurt, so if I'm picking chocolate, this is happening:

Seriously, a bag of these and I'ma be a happy gurl.

However, if I'm making chocolate, then it's my salted caramel mocha cake balls, but that's a "complicated order." Perhaps someday I'll make them and give you the picture I can tell you're on the edge of your seat for like this was Pinterest or a legit cooking blog or as if I even know what I'm really doing or something.

Maybe. Or not.

Have fun on Friday! :)

Being Edmund

I grew up on The Chronicles of Narnia. I read them, watched the old BBC movies too many times to count, and got all excited when I heard there would be a new, high-tech remake.

I love those books. 

I loathe those new movies. The first one was kinda nice. The rest are unwatchable for me. I get too mad.

This post is not about trying to convince anybody not to watch them. If you like them, go ahead. Personally I have several problems with them (don't get me started on Caspian and Susan kissing unless you have an hour. Or two. Or a day. *ahem* movin' right along), but the main problem is not what you might think.

It's Edmund.

Edmund is My Favorite.

I thought Skandar Keynes was a great choice. He was a terrific Edmund. No, it wasn't Skandar that ruined it.

It was the Edmund overhaul that whoever the heck wrote those screenplays, particularly Dawn Treader, thought was better than the Edmund created by Jack Lewis WHICH, my friends, was asinine. 

I love Lewis' Edmund.

We can't all be Peter the Magnificent. Even among the rarity of four equal rulers there is the greater rarity of the one and only High King. Most of us don't particularly care to be Susan, either as the Gentle or as the one who eventually abandons Narnia completely. And much as we might want to think we're a Lucy, very few of us are. Lucy, as my insightful friend Kaitlin explained beautifully to me, is a mystic. She is first among believers, sees Aslan face to face when no-one else can (even when they want to), and is known as the Valiant. We're not all Lucy, even if we want to be.

Edmund is Us. You and me. The one who fails in a big way. The one who needs rescuing and  healing. The one Aslan dies for. The one who starts out as a traitor and ends up as The Just. 

One of my favorite Edmund moments comes in Prince Caspian, when Lucy is seeing Aslan while the others or not, and she's trying to convince them all to come with her. They decide to take a vote, and when it's Edmund's turn:

"Well, there's just this," said Edmund, speaking quickly and turning a little red, "When we first discovered Narnia - it was Lucy who discovered it first and none of us would believe her. I was the worst of the lot, I know. Yet she was right after all. Wouldn't it be fair to believe her this time?"

Edmund the Just. He's humble, he's honorable, and he's doing the best he can. Without being given the special insight his sister has, he still has enough humility to remember she's the one who has it. In short, Edmund has faith. "Blessed is he who has not seen, but believed."

When they do finally come to Aslan, the great Lion looks at Edmund and says simply, "Well done."

Maybe you can't make yourself a Peter or a Lucy. But you can choose to be an Edmund.

"Even a traitor may mend. I have known one that did."

 - Edmund Pevensie

7 Quick Takes: Green Smoothies are from Oz. And other Stuff.

Joining Jennifer's link-up at Conversion Diary because I have a day off to do whatever I want, so I am procrastinating on the other things I want to do to share (possibly overshare) a wee smidge with you. Behold, the miscellany:

1. How to Survive a Green Smoothie

So, I'm doing my very first detox thingy later this month and it involves green smoothies. I got sick once right after drinking a green smoothie. It had nothing to do with the smoothie, I just happened to be coming down with the flu but was still in denial about it and so I drank a green smoothie right before...well, you know. Anyway, I decided I was going to overcome this mental aversion to green smoothies yesterday and added spinach to my smoothie recipe that normally comes out a lovely fluffy pink. While I watched the blender do the fatefully verdant-looking deed, I said to myself with no small amount of firmness (and desperation), 

"Self, this is simple. Your name is Dorothy."

Self *staring at the green whirlwind encased in the traitor blender, gulping nervously* : "True."

Me *sternly*: "Your name is Dorothy, and you are in the Emerald City. Your smoothie is really pink, but your green glasses just make it look green. It's ok. You're just in Oz."

Mind games, dude. It's like when you're running, and they tell you that when your knees start to hurt you should imagine pulling yourself forward with your hands or the pavement pushing your feet back up...it's freaky but it works. For a while anyway. And the Oz trick worked long enough to make it through the breakfast that was disturbingly reminiscent of foliage. And what they say is true: you can't taste the spinach, so that's nice. Either that or the mindgames were a little more effective than we really need to discuss.

2. Reading Lewis. Again.

I'm skimming through the Chronicles of Narnia and having a great time. Blog post coming on something Narnia-related, so I needed a refresher course. I would tell you more but then, what would be the point of a post? Be excited.

3. What I want to be when I Grow Up (Except, plus Catholic):

Oh. Em. Gee. This is so awesome (and true). With six kids in our family we definitely heard these questions. I am really hoping God gives me a lot of kids because I have had plenty of time to think up all the smarty replies I would use. Plus if I have eleven or so kids than I could do my own version of this, which would be universally popular, no? Except to the "Are you Catholic?" one I would say, "YES, and we're trying to take over the world!" I may or may not insert a maniacal laugh, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, here's the non-denom version of the future self I wouldn't mind being:

4. The Best Picture possibly Ever-EVER

Let's just take a moment to be overwhelmed by the overwhelming amount of adorableness on display.

.....

Aaaand, we're back. My sister took this ridiculously adorable picture a few weeks ago of herself and our middle nephew. I can't stop staring at it. It's on my phone and my desktop and I know, I know - I am a creeper. But seriously, it just captures both of them so well. LOOK HOW CUTE. And his little feet...this is the nephew who so brilliantly discovered his toes in the middle of the plague we had last spring, so maybe I am just very attached to his sweet little ones but I really do think his feet are just outrageously cute, as is the rest of him.

5. Bizarrely, Build-a-Bear.
I don't know. I haven't been in prolly about 8-10 years. But the other day I was suddenly seized with a powerful urge to go to Build-a-Bear and, ya know, build a bear. Oh, feel free to make fun of me, there is nothing you can say I haven't already said to myself. This is ridiculous. As soon as the thought jumped into my head I started mocking myself for being so ridiculous. How sappy and sentimental is Build-a-Bear?!? I mean, it's one thing to go as a kid, it's a totally different one to go as an adult WITHOUT even a kid as an excuse. I'm blaming this on Alex. The fact that someone as un-sentimental as me should suddenly have such an incredibly SENTIMENTAL desire to go to a place where you have to "choose a heart for your teddy" is utterly beyond me, and the only explanation is this man:

Build-a-Bear. Ridiculous. The crazy things love does to us.

6. Jason Evert being amazing, per usual:

7. And this epic-ness, which I stumbled across:

I don't know where it came from, but I love it. :)

Now excuse me but I do need some breakfast and I'm a little concerned that it might require a trip to Oz. Hope you have a kickin' Friday, yo.

Five Favorites for the In-tro-VERT. Or whoever has good taste. Whatevs.

Joining Hallie's Five Favorites link-up. :)

I have a  relentless craving for simply staying home which Houston's recent weather has recently enabled to be somewhat satisfied to a somewhat satisfying degree. So to all of you who complained about the weather: please complain only in whispers, because it was God's gift to me. Seriously. I love staying home to read, or "make things," or go for walks in the freezing rain, or whatever. Staying home is pretty much my favorite. It's like I'm an introvert or something. Weird.

So now to five of my favorite things to do when I do my faaavorite thing (staying home, remember?):

1. Read "The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning"



If this hilariously awesome (and accurate) cover doesn't make you want to read this book, I feel there must probably be something wrong with you. And you can totes judge this book by it's cover since the interior is as hilariously awesome (and accurate) as the exterior. I am enjoying it no end and you should read it. But here, let the authoress convince you.

2. Listen to Never Stop (the wedding version) by SafetySuit

This is pretty much my new favorite-est song evah, peeps. Credit for introducing me to this gem goes to my sweet friend Allison, and credit for making me love it because it sounds like stuff he says goes to my sweet sweetheart Alexander The Great. Listen and be prepared to fall in major like with it.

3. TinySaints. Because, Tiny. Also, Saints.

You guys. These are a big stinking deal. In the cutest, smallest way you can imagine. Look look look:



You guys. Again. I...just can't. Resist, that is. Oh, em, gee, they are so so so cute. Clearly, since I cannot stop saying things three times, as if I were Eloise's Nanny or something. I heard of these, and just as I was beginning to realize my Catholic life was not complete without one, my sweet friend Allison (the bringer of good music aforementioned) surprised me with my very own tinysaint Pier Giorgio. See see see:



You guys. Again again. I still can't. You need one too, trust me. Or two. Or three. I haven't decided yet. Hey, don't judge. They're saints, for cryin' out loud. And I may or may not have gotten a little carried away when I went to go pick out a few for gifts (okay, mostly for gifts) the other day. And you can too. Get carried away. There is even the super-cutest little St. Valentine there and you know you prolly need to get him as a present for that day that's blippin' away on the female radar there. The website is super hard to remember but I'll do you a favor and give it to you nice and easy: www.shoptinysaints.org. Just do it. Shop the TinySaints.

4. Make Nutella-Stuffed Brown Butter Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies. Duh.

This is kinda a big project, so the first ingredient necessary is basically time. But worth it. Here is the recipe to your future fame at every party you go to ever after today (if you, ya know, take the cookies):

Also, here are my own personal tips which I do not expressly recall seeing mentioned in this otherwise admittedly genius recipe. Possibly you do not need these tips, but I did, and since it is possible you know as little about basic baking skills as me (not probable, but I suppose possible), I will just mention them as if I knew what I were talking about. *ahem*

a) When you chill the dough, cover it. Like, with plastic wrap. So it doesn't dry out. You're welcome.
b) If you need to chill the dough between stuff/shaping them and baking them, they need to come back to room temperature before the baking bit. Unless you like them crunchy. Which would be weird because, who stuffs cookies with Nutella and wants them to crunch? But whatever. It's your cookie. I'm just saying if you like soft, wait for room temperature.

5. Do this super fun DIY from the brilliant ladies at Verily

Photo-to-canvas (or wood) prints. It is as cool as it sounds.

I did this the first time without messing up. Then I messed up the second one. Awesomely enough, even when you mess it up, it still looks cool. So, this is a wonderful DIY for people like me. Probably this means pretty much anyone else no matter how craft-challenged they normally find themselves to be can find success at this too, but we don't need to talk too much about that.

Personally, I like using matte ModPodge for sticking the paper on and gloss ModPodge to finish it. But both works for both. I mean...I mean you know what I mean and probably this means I should not be the one to write DIY instructions for anything maybe ever. Good thing Verily ladies wrote this one so you can have cool wall art like I do and all my friends do who've had birthdays or gotten married since I discovered this.

Why NOT to do 40 Days EVER

40 Days for Life is coming.

My year sort of revolves around 40 Days for Life. Two campaigns a year: planning them, preparing them, organizing them, running them, surviving them, recovering from them. No matter what role you play in 40 Days for Life, it can be brutal. The spiritual warfare is real. So is the exhaustion. 

So are the rewards.

I've spent a lot of time telling people why they should get involved in this thing, this always-intense-occasionally-torturous-tragically-beautiful thing we have come to know as 40 Days for Life. 

I can tell my enthusiasm overwhelms you.

I spend hours giving reasons to sign up for this thing.

Now, I'll tell you why you shouldn't.

Yesterday I had the privilege (and excitement) to take part in a live show on our local Catholic radio, concering HCL and our work, including 40 Days. The host asked me why I thought people don't sign up for 40 Days in greater numbers, then proposed: "Do you think it has anything to do with fear?"

As a matter of fact...

Yep.

I think that is exactly why. Fear, in a lot of different forms. I mentioned two on the radio: fear they'll be perceived a certain way (those insane, foaming-at-the-mouth holier-than-thou anti-choicers who hate women!) or fear they'll get here wanting to help women and when the moment comes, they won't know what to say. 

Later on I thought about it some more, and I realized those fears, and every other fear I could think of that people have when it comes to doing pro-life work, all boiled down, really, to just one fear.

Fear of being responsible.

I don't mean responsible in the sense of showing up to work every day or paying your bills on time or responsible as in "reliable."

I mean responsible as in "culpable."

Google "culpable definition" and this happens:

See, if we show up at an abortion facility wanting to stop an abortion, and the mom chooses life, who wants to claim responsibilty for that? Well, we all do, that's who. That's awesome. Sweet. Life Highlight for reals right there, yo. Cross "Save a Life" off that there bucket list!

If we show up at an abortion facility wanting to stop an abortion, and we do our best, and we pray our hearts out, and we speak with love and compassion to a mom in crisis and we offer her every alternative there is, we offer her shelter and a home and a job and maternity clothes and diapers and ev-er-y-thing, and that mom looks you in the eye and says, "I know what I'm doing, and I don't care," and she has an abortion in spite of all your efforts and her baby dies...who wants to claim responsiblity for that?

Who could possibly want to live with that kind of heartbreak? Who wants to wonder if their prayers were pure enough, deep enough? Who wants to lie awake at night wondering if they said the right things, kicking themselves for the words of wisdom they didn't think of in time, the resources they couldn't name, the pamphlet they didn't have on hand, the baby model that was lying out of reach in your car because you forgot to stick it in your pocket...who wants to climb back into their car at the end of an hour on the sidewalk and weep because your heart feels battered? Who wants to do that so many times again and again until one day they just climb into their car and feel numb, and are more broken by  the numbness than the weeping?

Not me. 

And if you just said the same thing, I don't blame you. Not one bit.

Nobody wants that kind of responsiblity.

It is much, much easier to just pretend it doesn't happen. It's much easier to not remember that over 70 babies are lost to abortion every day just in HOUSTON, than to think about those 70 babies and their mamas and daddies and what 70 babies dying from abortion every day really means. It's easier to talk ourselves into waiting until "later," to convince ourselves that, well, surely someone else will do that, surely somebody else who is stronger and smarter and sturdier, someone who can "handle it".

But, you know what?

Nobody can handle that.

Nobody can handle that...alone.

We're culpable for abortion, alright. We sure are. But not in the way we're afraid of being culpable. We're afraid that if we try our best and a mom still chooses abortion, we're culpable for failing her and her baby. In reality, if a mom chooses abortion and we did nothing to offer her an alternative, THEN we are culpable. If a woman chooses abortion because she is convinced she is alone, because she goes to an abortion facility one day begging God for a sign that she doesn't have to do this and she gets there and the sidewalks are empty, and no one stops her, and no one reaches out to her, and no one looks at her and says, "You are not alone, you do not have to do this," THAT is when we have failed her. 

It is easy to fail her. To try to help her...that is hard.

Impossible, in fact. Impossible alone.

But we're not alone, are we?

Oh, I know it feels like it sometimes. I know for sure what it feels like to be on the sidewalk and feel totally, completely alone. I am verrrrry familiar with that particular feeling.

But how could I, or you, believe that? The God who formed that tiny person, breathed a soul into that microscopic body, tucked him or her lovingly into the womb of that mother...the God, who in fact, did exactly that for YOU, days and years before this moment where He nudged your heart and whispered, "Child, my child, your brothers and sisters, they are in need"...do we really believe He would lead us to the sidewalk, and leave us there, alone?

Never.

He would never do that to us. He would never leave us alone. He will never leave those unborn children and their abortion-vulnerable families alone, and you and I...you and I, we are the ones who are culpable if we fail to show up and make sure they KNOW.

Why shouldn't you join 40 Days for Life?

If you don't want to feel culpable the day you've tried your best and fail, but instead prefer to really be culpable for failing to do anything at all, don't join.

If you don't want to have your heart plowed up so bad it can't help but grow and change in profound and beautiful ways, don't sign up.

If you don't want to experience a moment where you hear a girl whisper in a broken voice, "I just don't know what to do...I asked God for a sign..." and you look at her and you can say with total confidence, "I AM the sign!"...If you never want to feel the tingles of knowing you are, for once, exactly where you are meant to be and doing what God wants you to do, don't sign up.

If you don't want to stand side-by-side with the most loving, amazing, compassionate people you've ever met in your life, don't join.

If you don't want the chance to become one of those loving, amazing, compassionate people who see dozens of abortion industry workers experiencing conversions and feeling safe and supported enough to leave the abortion facilities where they feel trapped and used, better not be part of 40 Days.

If you don't want to be part of saving 8,245 babies during the next eight years the way we have in the past eight years, don't you even think about being part of 40 Days.

If you never want to cry out to God, as I have, many times, and beg "Not me, please, God, not me again. I am tired, and I am small, and I am afraid, and I just can't...please, please, please...find somebody else who can," and hear Him respond: "You're right, you can't. But I can. So you will come, and you will see. With Me, all things are possible. Arise, beloved, My beautiful one, and come." If you don't want to know what that's like...I guess you really better not be a part of 40 Days, because sooner or later, that is going to happen.

But if those don't seem like good reasons NOT to do something...then I guess you better do it. If you want to be broken until you blossom, hurt until you become part of someone else's healing, watch lives changed and souls saved...if you want to know what it's like to see God move...then you better come.

Because out here, He moves all the time.

photo credit: Verily magazine

Desire of Nations

I don't normally (read, ever) blog on Sundays. But today is the Feast of the Presentation, and it has a speh-cial place in mah little Southern heart.

Why, you may ask?

Well, I will tell you.

Our Lady of Sorrows. And Simeon.

I mean, I do really like that the Church has a day for us to take a boatload of candles to Mass to be blessed. It just makes me grin inside my heart. I love being Catholic, you guys. Just, so much.

But mostly, Our Lady of Sorrows. And Simeon.

Now, a devotion to the Mater Dolorosa is prolly not all, like, totes on the top of Catholic Chick Monthly's list of fav devos. 

Until life stings.

And once, when life was stinging pretty bad, my sweet friend Gina introduced me to a novena so exquisite (and powerful), it soon became my most beloved.

This novena is an achingly beautiful reflection on the moments of Mary's life that we have traditionally called her Seven Sorrows.

The first of the Seven Sorrows: the Prophecy of Holy Simeon. 

As in, "Your own soul too, a sword shall pierce."

Since I was a little kid, this picture (Simeon's Moment By Ron Dicianni) has been hanging in our home:

I love this picture. I love it. Simeon has long been one of my very favorite New Testament characters. His written history is so brief, but...WOW. Luke 2:25 is his first mention, and Luke 2:35 is his last. Ten verses, but he plays a prominent role in the first sorrow of the Queen of Heaven, and every night all over the world his prayer ends the Liturgy of the Hours: "Lord, now let your servant depart in peace..."

(P.S. If you have the same issues I do with always paying complete and utter attention to the Mass Readings and somehow missed these verses in today's Gospel, I'd encourage you to dust off the old NAB and visit with them for a little while. Catholics reading the Bible = cuh-razy, I know, but just do it.)

One of the amazing things about becoming acquainted with the Seven Sorrows is having the chance to consider their relation to the Mysteries of the Rosary. The fascinating thing about this First Sorrow is that it's tucked inside the Fourth Joyful Mystery. It's the only one - the other Sorrows fall in-between Joyful Mysteries or are part of Sorrowful Mysteries. For instance, the Second Sorrow is the Flight into Egypt, between the Presentation and the Finding in the Temple. But this First Sorrow exists right in the center of Joy. 

In the novena prayers, there is a little reflection on each of the Seven Sorrows. For the first Sorrow, it reads:

"I grieve for thee, O Mary most sorrowful, in the affliction of thy tender heart at the prophecy of the holy and aged Simeon. Dear Mother, by thy heart so afflicted, obtain for me the virtue of humility and the gift of the holy fear of God."

When I was first doing the novena, this prayer made me recall St. Josemaria's meditation on the Presentation. After considering that Mary Immaculate would humbly submit to obeying the laws of purification, St. Josemaria goes on to discuss in his usual matter-of-fact manner those of us who are actually in need of it: 

"Purification! You and I certainly need purification! -Atonement, and more than atonement. Love. -Love as a searing iron to cauterize our souls' uncleanness, and as a fire to kindle with divine flames the wretchedness of our hearts."

As always, Mary is our model - both in her humility and the rightly-ordered fear of God she shows by freely offering these pure, deeply loving acts of atonement. 

And Simeon...Simeon models both of these as well. Luke 2:25, 27 introduces him: "Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him...Inspired by the Spirit, he came into the temple."

You know what gets me about this every time? 

He was listening.

I mean, come on, he HAD to have been listening. The Holy Spirit was upon him. This is before the Sacrament of Confirmation was instituted, peeps - the Holy Spirit was upon Simeon and maybe this is a wild guess but it seems to me like probably this meant Simeon had become well-practiced in the art of actually LISTENING for God's voice. He knew how to catch the still, small whisper. It says, "Inspired by the Spirit," not "dragged by the Spirit" or "suddenly yanked from a deep slumber by the Spirit" or "zapped by the Spirit". He was listening. And looking. It SAYS he was looking, "looking for the consolation of Israel." And he had faithfully been doing that, it seems, for a very long time. This man had been promised he would see the Messiah, in person, before death...and he believed it. The Jews had been expecting the Messiah for generations, but Simeon wasn't being skeptical, he was being expectant.

Being expectant in the service of God is an art. I'm also convinced it's part of being truly obedient. We can do what God says, but is our attitude more a spiritless but dutiful employee who wants to not get fired, or is our attitude a confident child serving joyfully in the waiting spaces of trust? Simeon's response shows which of those attitudes he had chosen. As the Liturgy of the Hours said this morning: "Jesus, desire of the nations, Simeon, the just man, rejoiced at your coming."

 When the Desire of the Nations came, this man's heart leapt from its humble attitude of joyful hope, and overflowed in adoration.

"Lord, now let Your servant go in peace, 

Your word has been fulfilled;

my own eyes have seen the salvation

which You have prepared in the sight of every people,

a light to reveal you to the nations,

and the glory of Your people Israel."