The girls in our yard on Hwy 59 shortly before we moved to the farm from our tiny humble house... our starter home which we lived in from our marriage until 1987/our first 9 years of marriage and 4 girls and one miscarriage between our two oldest girls.
http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
Our little comfy home came to mind yesterday when I took Pat his lunch as he cut hay around the back of the 7 grain bins. I joked that rather than a cute red barn I had shiny metal grain bins that made me feel like I was living in the inner city. I guess now that the fact that I was a city girl come to the farm has become an issue in our marriage... this seem ominous and foretelling.
Another one of the 4 in the summer after a wonderful million dollar rain for the crops that year.
The three oldest in our bedroom at our small place with so many warm and lovely memories! We kept the crib in our room for each new baby, so for that small room it was full and made my heart sing to have a new baby to welcome. We had 4 girls in our little house with one bathroom, which had been added later and you walked into it from the garage. Girls in the bathtub at night fill me with delight! I loved my nest years - 14 years allowed to be home with my kids!
In the kitchen where we canned and washed dishes by hand and where Pat would come in late for most every meal and had a lap full of girls helping him eat his food to his delight and theirs'!
Why am I so yearning to reminisce today? Our house was tore down and buried and burned a number of years back...
Such a powerful message to us this day in the Saint whose Memorial is today - St Peter Claver! He ministered to thousands of those brought here as slaves from Africa! "With the aid of interpreters and illustrations of Christ's life. Peter taught the brutalized slaves about the mercy of God. In 33 years, he instructed and baptized over 300,000 slaves." Such a powerful influence for good in the midst of this most shameful past in our country! A light in the darkness, and hopefully Christ in the lives of their families now generations removed will continue to help them recover.
The two older ones in front of the woodstove, which Pat loved and brought over to our farmhouse when we moved. He is sad that he hasn't found a spot for it in our new home with our little red barn.
Maria in the garden with the famous giant carrot. There were years of great gardens over the years.
I marvel from time to time when I hear of young couples that have entered marriage and really don't know where they are at with the faith and family part of their relationship. Pat and I on our first date shared what our values were and they were all the same, and upon that we built our love and had a short engagement and knew that we were meant for each other.
The words of St Paul today in Colossians 1 ring a bell for me..."God has now reconciled you in the fleshly Body of Christ through his death, to present you holy, without blemish, and irreproachable before him, provided that you persevere in the faith, firmly grounded, stable, and not shifting from the hope of the Gospel that you heard..."
Our shared love of the Catholic Church is the rock upon which our marriage has been based, and that was from the beginning and has never been altered, other than to be enhanced along they way by things like Renew, TEC, praying together more and more, the rosary, St John Paul II the pope with us for the entire first 27 years of our marriage, and how I loved his holy direction in all matters pertaining to LIFE and family! The death of Christ also flowed over to us in the loss of our 7 as we were open to LIFE and raising LIGHTS! Dying to self is what is most essential in our making our marriage last - the daily Sacrament of Grace we are given in this Sacrament of Matrimony!
The 4 girls in my shoes in the kitchen of our first home. Lots of laughter and LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT!
Lord, I now see that our history lived with you as we embrace our Most Cherished Cross and find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT is how no matter how hard it is... we find our salvation and can hope to come to you in heaven forever unblemished and worthy to live with you there forever with Our Lady, the Saints including wonderful St Peter Claver, and the Angels, who all bow down to you, O Lord! May this day be filled with my service without counting the cost. Jesus, we trust in you...You are the Lord of the Sabbath! Amen and Hallelujah
Corn leaf Hawaiian skirts made from corn leaves for Halloween in 1986... I had one too, and we made a terrible mess in the car and each home we visited! They sure looked cute when we started here at home, but we pretty much had only a wasteband left when we finally got home that night. Good thing I grabbed this picture to record the adorableness! Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
It speaks the words of St Paul to the Colossians today!
The Eye of the Storm - Ryan Stevenson
Lauren Daigle - First
"To love God as He ought to be loved,
We must love nothing but Him,
or if we love anything else,
we must love it only for His sake."
St Peter Claver
A prayer to share with friends today.
A Prayer for Hurricane Season
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming le...thargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
A Prayer for Hurricane Season
O God, Master of this passing world, hear the humble voices of your children. The Sea of Galilee obeyed your order and returned to its former quietude; you are still the Master of land and sea. We live in the shadow of a danger over which we have no control. The Gulf, like a provoked and angry giant, can awake from its seeming le...thargy, overstep its conventional boundaries, invade our land and spread chaos and disaster. During this hurricane season, we turn to You, O loving Father. Spare us from past tragedies whose memories are still so vivid and whose wounds seem to refuse to heal with the passing of time. O Virgin, Star of the Sea, Our Beloved Mother, we ask you to plead with your Son in our behalf, so that spared from the calamities common to this area and animated with a true spirit of gratitude, we will walk in the footsteps of your Divine Son to reach the heavenly Jerusalem where a storm-less eternity awaits us. Amen.
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