7 Quick Takes: March + Me = Blogger ExtraordiFAIL

I'm back, YAY me. Let's do like me in real life and skip the small talk:

1. 

Excuse for Not Blogging Numero Uno - BiRtHdAyS. Three of them. Specifically, mine. Also, two sisters (the oldest and the youngest). Three days in a row. Good times. This year our "baby" turned 16, so her birthday was a big deal. But I'm just 25 so I'm over birthdays...NOT. I had no idea what I wanted to do but after being harangued to please think of SOMETHING by my poor parents I somehow managed to get a lot of raspberries, protein-powder-chocolate-mousse, and a giant Vera Bradley bag out of the whole thing so I feel like it all came off very well, really. Also my sweetheart wrote me a poem about my eyes, so...Possibly with his permission I will just share it sometime. Or I just might horde it. You just never know.

2. 

Excuse Dos - 40 Days for Life. My dad joked the other day that Dorothy has two seasons: "40 Days for Life is HAPPENING" and "40 Days for Life is COMING." I said he was joking but no, not really, it's pretty much true. I realized a while back this was my 9th campaign and...mmm. That is a lot. But this campaign is very well covered, thanks be to God, and is going smoothly so far. You can still sign up though. And you should. Do it. Do it, do it. In other news, one of my favorite things about the campaign is this sweet lady who emails me while 40 Days for Life is happening and asks for my prayer requests. She's housebound but she's a lovely writer and we have the loveliest email exchanges. I enjoy her just, so much, she's very encouraging and she definitely helps with her words and her prayers. All that to say, don't think you have an excuse not to do SOMETHING to end abortion because there's always, you know, something.

3. 

Excuse #3 of the reason I've blogged less is that I was cooking more. Way more. I did that Arbonne detox fancy-schmancy thing and Oh. My. Goodness. I've really enjoyed it, and even though my 28-day detox technically ended last Sunday, I've pretty much stuck with it because I've enjoyed the food and the feeling so much. I did eat chips  and half a sopapilla at a restaurant last night, but decided afterwards they probably won't have much of a draw in the future. Now, that has as much to do with the "Made to Crave" bible study as it does the detox food, but in all honesty, I enjoyed this:

A lot more today than I enjoyed the chips yesterday. The chips were good (the salsa was AMAZING) but I totally enjoyed my southwest-ish salad-y thing tonight, even with a sistah eating buttered pasta right across from me. I've struggled with food for as long as I can remember, so between "Made to Crave" and Arbonne...this is pretty amazing.

4. 

Still fixating on food for a few fun moments longer: I so need to try some new recipes. My sweet Gina friend sent me a glowing recommendation of this healthy version of Chick-fil-a's nuggets, and my Elizabeth friend (responsible for getting me hooked on Arbonne) shared a recipe for falafel-lish "Chick-en" nuggets which I'm so trying...tomorrow. No, really, I am making those tomorrow. Fridays in Lent are the ideal time for falafel nuggets, amiright?

5. 

Not that you asked for it, but an update from the land of growing-out-my-pixie-cut...French braid! I did one today. It has an itsy little knob of hair at the end, and there may or may not be two bobby pins assisting the sides, but...whatever. It is a french braid and I feel pretty legit about it. So, yes. That happened.

6. 

There are three packets of Chick-fil-a ketchup and a tiny maraca(s?) sitting on the shelf in our entry way. This is from my adventure at the mall this past...Monday? Yes, Monday - adventure at the mall on Monday with my Big Sister and her bebes. This was a lot of fun for several reasons. One of which was that they have these tiny fedoras and the two eldest were wearing them. Apparently they are good for smuggling, because the 4-year-old's head rattled when I patted him upon it after we arrived inside the mall. He had stuck the little maraca (maracas?) inside the fedora, which a homeschooling mom would probably have turned into some sort of multicultural commentary. Being only a lowly aunt, I settled for congratulating him on this clever method of carrying. I was then informed by his mother that he was meant to have left the thing in the car. At which point I withdrew my congratulations, and also the maraca, or, as the nephews call it, their "shakey". I stuck it in my purse-bag, forgot to give it back, and on my way into Mass the next day, found my purse-bag was making the same distinct rattling noise the eldest nephew's head had been making the evening before. Hence: the "shakey" is now on the entry way shelf, stowed next to the ketchup packets I also accidentally absconded with. Note to self: in future check the purse-bag before departing the nephews.

7. 

Back at the mall: At one point the baby stole a fedora and decided it was best modeled sideways. Like so:

which you can see was surely correct.

Happy Friday, peeps. And I mean you, not that weird candy. You have a happy Friday.

The Foolishness of God

Recently I went into an Adoration chapel and lit a St. Joseph candle. Two, actually. I needed (read: NEED) help with something which I consider quite significant and he's my go-to man. 

Now, possibly I'm the only one that does this, but I always have a "thing" about which candle to light. If I feel like I need to be humble about something, I light one on the lowest level, if it's urgent I go high, if I'm just being casually conversational (like that ever happens, but if it did) maybe mid-range. 

This particular candle stand happens to be right between the Blessed Sacrament and St. Joseph. Sometimes I go more towards Jesus but usually I go more towards Papa Joe. I feel Jesus is no more offended about this than I would be if one of my friends walked in and started talking to my dad, which is exactly as much as not offended at all. Besides, St. Joseph is just going to turn around and start talking to Jesus about it anyway (snitch), so it's all the same conversation anyway.

Back to this particular visit: after a moment's hesitation I lit ones as absolutely close to St. Joseph as I could get and thought with some vehemence: "You. Yeah, you. You know all about trusting and being in hard places and not knowing where you'd end up and working hard for a living and doing things that looked crazy to other people and your feast day is coming up so here's your chance to go big for the big day so YOU. YOU FIX THIS."

He seemed very understanding about the whole thing, really.

I know exactly what my problem is though.

As an annoyingly wise person informed me once, "Be careful what you ask for - when you ask God for a gift He gives you chances to use it."

My problem is...I prayed.

For trust.

Also, patience.

Stupid redhead.

Trust is for fools. Waiting on God's timing is for fools, too.

Then again, so is letting someone smear ashes on your forehead.

And sitting in front of something that looks like a golden sunburst with Bread inside. 

Yet here I am. Here we are, twenty centuries later. Sitting in front of our silent sunbursts, staring into His Face. Smearing ashes on our foreheads, looking to be humble in our hearts. Praying for trust and patience while we try to muster the heart-strength to soldier on in the dark.

"The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written:

'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

and the learning of the learned I will set aside.'

Where is the wise one? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?...For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Consider your own calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful...Rather, God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong." 

1 Corinthians 1:18-21, 25-27

Foolishness...it can be quite a matter of perspective, can't it?

Lent has a real knack for adjusting perspectives. The liturgical calendar fits in and around life amazingly well. 

As does G.K. Chesterton's poetry:

"The men of the east may spell the stars

and times and triumphs mark,

But the men signed of the Cross of Christ

Go gaily in the dark.

...

You and all the kind of Christ

Are ignorant and brave,
And you have wars you hardly win
And souls you hardly save.

I tell you naught for your comfort,
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher.

Night shall be thrice night over you,
And heaven an iron cope.
Do you have joy without a cause,
Yea, faith without a hope?"

There is hope, and more than hope. May we all pray boldly to find the foolishness God has for our Lent and our lives.

Why We Love Personality Quizzes (A Theory)

Seems like those little "Which Person/Place/Thing from FillInTheBlank Are YOU?" quizzes have been everywhere. I liked those when I was a kid. Pfft, who am I fooling? I still get kind of a kick out of them now. So, while I started wondering why that was, I started taking a few of the more appealing looking ones. I know you're curious, so I'll overshare a little bit to humor you:

Which Once Upon a Time Character - Belle. I think it was gonna be Ruby after I said my preferred pet was a wolf, but then, I said my dream job was librarian SO we know what that means.

Yup.

Which Disney Couple - Anna & Kristoff. Redhead & Nordic dude. So very appropriate. However, my Nordic dude is cuter than her Nordic dude. Just sayin'.

Redheads is redheads, though. Badder Baditudes than your average chick...

Which Avengers Character - Hawkeye. Apparently I answered most of the questions with some variation of "Actually, I'd rather just be alone."  That's the introvert showing. Hmm.

Ask me if I wanna have a giant birthday party one more time...

Which Broadway Musical - The Sound of Music. Apparently I answered most of the questions with some variation of "Actually, I would rather just stay home and be alone...or with my family." Clearly if I actually like my family (or am in introvert) I belong with the Von Trapps. Whatevs, man, I can deal with that. And no, I am not watching the Carrie Underwood version. As if.

Julie Andrews 4ever, yo.

Which Downton Abbey Character - Matthew Crawley. Totally thrilled and totally not surprised. And before you ask, NO, I have not watched the new season. In fact, I missed a good chunk of the last one too. I refused in a deepdarkanddefinite way to watch a single episode more once I found out about you-know-what. Matthew is dead. I don't care enough about the rest of them to subject myself to that nonsense. Feel free to join the club and try to convince me to jump back on the bandwagon. You can get in line. Behind some of my best gal pals, my sisters, and mi madre. But nothing you say will change the fact that Matthew. Is. Dead. 

This is my "Conversation's over," face.

These quiz thiings are fun and mildly addictive, and I'm not the only one who thinks so. Why else are they showing up alllllll over Facebook? 

When I started considering why this might be, I thought of two things. The first was a book I found fascinating in my sectional reading  (meaning I read sections, not yet the whole) of it: The Temperment God Gave You, by Art & Laraine Bennett.

The second thing I thought of was a dear priest I know who, when temperments were once being discussed said, "You really need to be careful about things like this. It's easy to start blaming behavior on your temperment, instead of making an effort to overcome defects."

That remark is actually the reason I enjoyed the Temperment book by the Bennets. They're a Catholic couple who wrote the book in consultation with several priests, discussing the temperments of different saints, and stressing throughout that understanding your temperment should be the key to overcoming defects, not an excuse for failing to try. 

For example, when I started reading the book, I went to my mom with the skeptical comment, "None of these things sound like me." She got me to read the melancholic description again (including the part about "melancholics don't tend to believe in the temperments,") and gently reminded me, "This isn't where you're stuck. This is where you start."

Here comes the theory: we like the personality quizzes because they sate the desire in us to know. To know where we stand, how others perceive us, what we look like from the outside. They can't fulfill those desires, of course, because the "perception" they offer is shallow, but they do sate it to some extent. I guess you could say personality quizzes are popular because we have souls. Who knew?

It appears to me that those are important desires to address. How many saints have told us that self-knowledge is a key to growing in holiness? A lot. How many different retreats have encouraged us to make an examination of conscience every evening? All the ones worth their salt. How many different ways did St. Josemaria find to say, "First, consider...Then, make some resolutions." Uhm, about twenty bajillion. So why is this desire to know ourselves an important one? Because, handled rightly, it's a desire that can help us win the fight for sanctity. Now, please hear me right: used wrongly, it can make us self-centered, self-obsessed. Used rightly, it can lead to the solid self-knowledge we need to work on our defects.

Personality quizzes can be fun, but what we really need to satisfy this desire is the self-knowledge that comes from time spent with Christ, asking Him to show us what we need to know. Examining our consciences, regular Reconciliation, spiritual direction, studying the saints and Scriptures...those are the things that help us move out of being self-centered and into being Christ-centered.

Or, as my dad said so eloquently when we were discussing it this morning, "We start by knowing ourselves. We should end by knowing God."

That said, here's one personality quiz you should definitely try.