The wind shook my camera and the rain pelted the lens as I headed out to help Pat get the calves safely inside the barn on this day of horrific cold wind and rain! I thought that this picture of the rake in water was resulting in a wonderful kind of Monet type look... the impressionist movement
I just googled him and shocked myself in being able to transfer this image to show you the comparison! Don't you agree that there is a similarity? Pat had an interesting tidbit that he picked up while hauling manure last night... on the radio they mentioned that this storm will rival in intensity the one that took place in 1975 when the Edmond Fitzgerald went down in Lake Superior in the second week of November! Now that is a storm and that is interesting and just coming in from being out in it... it's rotten out there... the cold rain drops flying at you with that kind of cold wind behind it feels like.. pieces of hail hitting you! It feels good to know that the calves are safely in the barn and the curtain is now down to keep them from getting pelted with wind and rain! 
I am kind of picking up where I ended yesterday with the idea from Blessed Teresa of what the homelife was like within the Holy Family... How I love to go there and thought that it was beautiful to "see" a bit of it in some of the scenes in the Passion of the Christ movie... when he invented the chair was so cool and the loving relationship was very special for us to get a glimpse of. Isn't there a scene where Jesus falls down and scrapes his knee or something and Mary scoops him up to comfort Him? I can only imagine how much love and concern she felt for him each day... as her son, but also aware that she was responsible for raising God made man! That it a huge responsiblity and one that she took very seriously!
I am sitting here listening to the wind roar like a type of engine outside...
It is heartwarming and a testament to see parents that take the raising of their children in the faith and love of God... a promise that we make at their baptism... very seriously! It is very evident when you see families in which this is the case! The children are well versed in things of the Church and attend mass with reverance and are relaxed and familiar with being there, because they are faithfully there every week with their family! Not only that but faith matters are shared in the home, and even they chime up that the food needs to be blessed before meals, or that they need to say prayers before bed... Sharing the faith in our homes is a serious responsibility and not one to be taken lightly!
I have so often thought that the 5th joyful mystery... Jesus is found in the temple at age 12 is a total insight into the home that he was raised in... The knowledge that he had at that age to impress the elders in the temple! It reveals the instructions in True Faith that his parents had done, and the day to day instruction in the knowledge and love of God in all that they did from working, to gathering for meals together, or serving those in need around them and in their midst... It reveals in a very real way that they lived a life filled with LOVE, TRUTH, and FAITH!
Thankfully the curtains went down easier than we thought!We have taught religion for years! One thing that is always evident to us are the kids that do get instructed in the faith and the Word in their home! We are always disappointed and even surprised when we mention a very familiar Bible story like the Prodigal Son or the Woman taken in Adultery and they give you a blank look and tell you that they have never heard it! We find that a hard thing... I know that when we taught Susan, our youngest daughter, in our class... She was disappointed in how slow and elementary the teaching was! There is a difference and it is sad! Sad because the families that do not share prayer and Bible study and the lives of the Saints, the rosary and all the wonderful things there are to share... they are missing out on so much wonder and glory and LOVE!
After glorious weeks now comes the "storm." Thank Goodness... the crop is out!
"The earth has yielded its fruit, the Lord our God has blessed us." Psalm 66:7-8
Last evening we heard a riveting talk by a woman, who had been in a marriage for 30 years that involved domestic violence! WE sat there without moving a muscle and in horror and shock as for over an hour she shared the sad state of her life being controlled and beaten by this man, who she had promised to love and honor for the rest of her life! I will not share much here, but to say that after he tried to kidnap her...he is now in prison and she is working with battered women and is remarried... yet still fearful of when he will be released and that he will continue to come after her....
As I had the time to share with my husband this morning thanks to the rain... I was telling him about the 6 children they had, and how they were exposed to her being treated like this... he verbally abused them, but did the physical to her mostly alone... We were discussing how it is so much more healthy for kids to be exposed to loving parents... even when they are aware that they share a bedroom and the "marital embrace" in that bedroom... as a result of loving each other and that being part of marriage! We talked about all the time I had to be away with John for the 5 weeks of his stem cell transpant in Rochester Jan- Feb... I told Pat that it was "awkward" when he would come to stay for a couple nights here and there and I would leave the room with two beds... one for me and one for John... there to keep an eye on him as his immune system hit rock bottom after the chemo! When Pat would come... I would almost feel like I should not go to the other bedroom with him... John would know! "We are married and that is so much better that the kids know that we love each other... it is the opposite of what those 6 kids were exposed to with watching their dad abuse and beat their mother!" Yes, you are right!
It is good to have Pat around again and to share! He is wise and clear on what is what! And the kids certainly can see that he is a loving husband and father! It is evident in their marriages and who they look to marry...that they honor him and Nancy for sure was looking for her dad! We laugh at how much she found her dad in her spouce... wonderful communicating Bill! After hearing of this woman's nightmare... I am so thrilled to have the husband that I have! Thank you Lord! Yes, he is a strong man... and confident in what is right, but that is a good thing for the most part!
water spots on the lens... think of Monet... 
It is a lot like he is painting a picture under water..We are heading into town to do some errands so I will end this for now... The first reading for today was one that Nancy and Bill used in their wedding... Ephesians 5:21-33... speaking of the headship of the husband over the wife... yet loving her as he does his own body, and that leaves no room for abuse! They had studied the Theology of the Body and so they felt strongly about having this as part of their wedding and the firm statement of their love and their future marriage! I would suggest that you take the time to read it and also that the Theology of the Body is so important to each one of us!
Here is the link to more on Theology of the Body... http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/jp2tbind.htm
There is a lot out there by some authors that make it more understandable for us that aren't quite as smart as JPII and Benedict!
The Gospel for today is Luke 13: 18-21 The mustard seed... and the meditation is written by one of my favorites... Caryll Houselander (1954), he is an amazing British spiritual teacher:
" One can't think of God at all without thinking of light, at least I can't... Try to believe that life is in you like a seed, pushing, striving, struggling up to light. Instead of fighting yourself, let this seed of supernatural life fight its way out throught the darkness, just as an ordinary seed fights its way out through darkness and heaviness of the hard, frozen earth. First it has to sharpen its own greee blade in the night and cut through the ground, or pierce the wood if it is a leaf on the tree, but suddenly it breaks into flower or leaf; and when it does that, it does not see its own beauty - the world outside it sees that; what it sees is the glorious sun that drew it up out of the darkness. Light . So too will it be with you; your soul, your mind will break into flower and you will find it is flowering in the midst of light, the light of Truth and Beauty and Life."
Lord... we long for your light and do bask in the sunshine of your LOVE! We are overwhelmed by your patience and handiwork in our lives! May we always remember that we are puny and insignificant... like a small mustard seed and you take that "littleness" and use it and infuse it with your Greatness... your amazing lifegiving LIGHT - SONLIGHT! Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia! Bless-bless, Barb
"He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of His Body." Ephesians 5: 33
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