Today is my mother's birthday and I am in the midst of a deep experience with her through a wonderful book she wrote in two sections since our family converted to The Church!
My mother asked me to do some illustartions for her book. I read it to my grandchildren in Michigan - sitting at the table in the midst of all the acitivity that came with 12 of us there including 6 under 8 years old - 3 of them babies 2 and under. It was a book that grabbed the attention of the older ones too, and they would look excitedly forward to finding out what was going to happen next. My 7 year old granddaughter, Mary, would get a fresh piece of paper and when something would sound special she would launch into her illustration of it as I read! It takes place in Michigan, and knowing the shared experiences we have had with the Big Lake for 5 generations now... and able to look out at the Big Lake Michigan right out our door... we were very blessed to share it in that setting. WE all feel that our experience in this "paradise" of God's great beauty gives us that closeness to God and his unconditional and endless/undying LOVE for us! Mom's story is very real, however, and to see the beautiful threads of the Truth that run through it as her heartfelt prayer and dream of becoming Catholic was answered in a very powerful way by the Holy Spirit! Coming up with a acromym for MOM this morning - I found the word - Momentous meaning - 1.highly significant: extremely important or crucial, especially in its effect on the future course of events, or in other words earth-shattering... to be a very appropriate word for what happened when her prayers to become Catholic came true! It happened as the Holy Spirit spoke to the heart of my dad at the Silent Ignation Exercises at the Cenacle convent the summer of 1971! Isaiah 55:1-2!
Isaiah 55:1-2
New International Version (NIV)
Invitation to the Thirsty
55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
and you will delight in the richest of fare."
How I rejoice at the Eucharistic message this shares. Just reading the office with John we were reminded of the being fed and nourished by His Word and Bread and Blood! We are filled to the brim with the True Bread and Water of everlasting LIFE!
Suz doing a watercolor card by the big picture window looking out at the Lake grabbed my imagination and my first attempt she was too small for the picture, hence the patch job. It is very powerful for me to be immersed in this wonderful story called Treasures - I find that the years of our going to the Lake as well as the experiences of our Catholic Journey are very much displayed in her sweet story, and it is such a blessing to me and my children and grandchildren that I am sharing it with! I am now reading the second book to myself in the evenings and once again I find that it is filled with great momentous meaning and Truth! The fact that we are called to be humble and "poor" - not allowing the lure of all that glitters to distract us from the looking outside of ourselves and giving withtout counting the cost. The second word I used to describe my mom is "Orderly" - she is the queen of organization and loves to have a wonderful clean and organized yet beautiful - filled with her art and faith- home! She is the rolemodel for us girls when it comes to making a house a HOME - filled with LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE! Yes, her and dad were open to LIFE and I can proudly share that I am the oldest of 12 children! So blessed by their example! It has poured forth into my life and that of my children! The Truth - more siblings and not things is where we find the JOY of LIFE!
The firstborn - so blessed! My mother along with Our Lady, Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth give me such powerful examples of the most important job I do - Motherhood!
Jesus, I thank you for the great gift I have been given by my wonderful Mother Nancy on this her day of Birth. We ask that you give her new strength and answers to the recent health issues that have come to her. We know that when we are weak we need you and that is something we desire to be true for us on our journey always. May we never try to be self-sufficient and reliant- rather may we always look to YOU for all that we have and are! We need you for all that we accomplish in LIFE. This is so evident in this story my mother poured her heart and soul into - Treasures! It has touched us with the Truth, and we place it in your hands - asking that you use it to your honor and glory! As you said in the Gospel today - "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike." Matthew 11 Over and over again in Treasures, Lord, we see this message as those that are reduced to the childlike state find YOU! Looking at John in his job hunting and seeing the humility that comes with being built up and then rejected... all we can do is trust that you are going to open the right door, and he truly is asking your will in this, Lord... not his selfish desires! Humility is one of the hardest things, yet it is what you ask of us as we take up our Most Cherished Cross and follow after YOU. Jesus, hold my mom close to your heart burning with LOVE for her. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Halleluia
Bless-bless, Barb
Revealed to the Childlike - a prayer of a 9 year old boy named Ulisse
"i love you God i like you you are my salvation without your light i cannot live you are my heart my love you make me help my neighbor you are my love you are the only God in the world...without you the world would not exist... you love me and you want me to be your son and to declare to you that i am your son i swear it by yourself i love you and i always loved you you are my father and i am your son you love me and i love you with all my soul and all my heart and you have given me life you have given me eyes, mouth nose head you have given me everything my mother my father my heart my life of God of my lord and my love you are my salvation my mother cherishes me she adores me she loves me everything i need from a mother she is such a good mother and my daddy gives me everything i need from a daddy God i don't know what i would have done without you you are my soul my heart my life my loving... you are my whole world my sun my moon my water my earth my bread of the gift you are my loving my fruit my world... thank you for listening to me."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttdqieQx3Rc The Litany of Humility by Danielle Rose Hear our prayer, O Lord. May we be childlike.
What JOY - praying the rosary as a part of a wonderful overnight visit with my parents a month ago! That shared Faith of the True Church fills us with such a deep momentous/earth shattering bond! So blessed by you mom - I love you and thank God for you every day! Happy Birthday!!!
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