The Pat and Barb Verly family and their 5 children, in laws and grandkids along with many prayer warriors have been drawn together by John's cancer... sharing daily for 8 months started this blog- Family Soul Story - Our faith, family, farm and now our cancer journey called HEALING have colored and deepened our world. WE continue to share and depend on the support of our prayer warrior community, that has lowered us into the Lord's presence for His healing!
Pat has discovered that Simon's high school on line doesn't start til 11a, so Simon is his helper til then. With 10 new calves yesterday that means a lot of moving around those new babies and helping them nurse on their mothers. Thanks, Simon!
Getting ready to go to school after homeschool in the barn with grandpa Pat. Grandma was impressed to see that he is reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Such an amazing book!
I have been to 2 different vets and on the road in my sudden chapel on wheels to get meds for my farmer hubby.
One Vet is 20 minutes away so the beads were lifting up my thoughts and prayers for my 5 kids and their families on the 5 decades of the rosary each day, and I added one for Pat - the crucifixion as we are helped to die to self in our marriages, right? Then I pray one for my Godchildren - the Baptism of the Lord as that is when I became their Godmother for my 5 Godchildren. There are 3 other decades I pray for my family, Pa's family, and The Church, but those will have to wait for later.
My farmer husband this morning as he headed over to face another day of calving and whatever it may hold. His parting words were about how as a farmer you just keep going forward with "crazy busy" days in this spring calving time of year followed by or on top of the crops going in according to Mother Nature getting the soil warm and dry.
The last two years have been very wet and cold with a huge April snow storm. How we pray that this year we will have a nice warm spring. The crop will go in regardless of the world's situation.
The wall of "famous" family pictures and my hard working farmer - an essential worker as they feed the world!
A sign of the times! Pat's mask reflected as he picks up some things from the animal nutrition and vet store. Speaking through the window and they hand what he needs out the door keeping social distances, yet knowing the the farmers need medicine to keep cows and calves healthy.
Pat had 10 calves yesterday getting our total up quickly to about 60! Two sets of twins in two days and 6 sets of twins this calving season!
Pat in Walmart with his mask. He knows that he needs to stay healthy, and is very much motivated to be careful.
"When people saw me in the mask they seemed to keep more a distance from me."
All of a sudden I was called upon to run to two different Vets for meds... one was 20 minutes away, so suddenly I was gifted with my chapel on wheels. Quick morning prayer with Pat along with the Gospel for today...
First reading from Numbers 21 today sets the standard of healing being raised up for the Israelites - a bronze serpent on a stick. Bitten by the seraph serpents and facing death, if they look upon this image they are healed! Jesus tells us of what he will do for us... So Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me. The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, because I always do what is pleasing to him.” Because he spoke this way, many came to believe in him. John 8 They believed because of what he said, but the world was changed and redeemed by his being lifted up on the Cross for us! Dying for our sins and if we look upon him with Faith in our hearts, minds and souls... we can then follow him bearing the Cross we are given to find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!
Joy will have her birthday party quietly at home today in the midst of calving busyness! I just watched 3 calves born in about 5 minutes on Cow TV! Joy is lucky to have 5 siblings and her parents, an instant party!
Grandma popped in for a short visit after dropping off the meds with grandpa Pat.
French braiding her hair special for her birthday we headed out to look for the mother cat as she had her kittens on Joy's birthday last year. A stop on the swings!
Boots on the wrong feet adds to the cuteness... small green appearing in the grass.
The addition and remodel is now officially done!
Belly full of kittens - Joy brings her in the warm house with hopes that baby kittens soon will appear.
An arm full!
the basket is all ready for momma kitty!
This so reminds me of her mom, Ruth, when she was a little girl! She loved the baby kitties and soon her farmer dad was allowing her to have them in the house in the clothes basket. Now the next generation!
Jesus, our heads are spinning and our hearts are full and our minds are overwhelmed by this world we are experiencing these days of fighting the world epidemic at the same time as working on the farm, studying from home, keeping social distance even from our own family, praying without ceasing for all the world... The Psalm today - 102 reminds us of how you are with us and we can trust and give you the control! Let this be written for the generation to come, and let his future creatures praise the LORD: “The LORD looked down from his holy height, from heaven he beheld the earth, To hear the groaning of the prisoners, to release those doomed to die.” R. O Lord, hear my prayer, and let my cry come to you. Yes, Lord, we trust in you. Amen
Twins that Pat pulled at about this time yesterday - 10 calves yesterday and just now 3 in 10 minutes!
The kids sure liked that I found these Easter doughnuts on the day old rack on Sunday! I had to make breakfast for the work crew out getting everything dried out after an inch and a half of rain!
Lilac branches budding out in the warm weather...
Big kids give Joy a turn...
Ruth helped me get my lilac branch for my Easter Tree 2020! My mother's icon, too!
Easter butterfly from 3 years ago! Joy's Baptism in the midst of David's first Communion! We also went to KC for Easter with Hallel!!!
The Cross I made for last year - "I promise unto death" Hallel's final vows in France with the 21 and John and Bobbi's wedding!
This year my cross will be my mother's passing to LIFE Eternal! I am so excited to make this in her honor and to hold as a precious memory on my Easter Tree!
The Cross from the previous year...Soon the leaves will come forth here in the house in time for Easter!
Walked out to find this lone robin singing her heart out at the top of the tree by the barn! True sign of spring!
Decked out awaiting the leaves and lilacs in time for Easter! Also awaiting the Cross and the Butterfly for 2020 Easter!
Nighttime with the glowing icon! My mother's work of love that I am so blessed to have in my home! It is as if she were sharing her Faith with JOY, as we did every time we came together. It was often over these last years of her increasing struggles with dementia, and I thank my husband for all the time he allowed me to spend days with my parents with his blessing! Bless-bless, Barb
Baby shark for JJ's birthday #3!
Joy, Jojo and Evie are all 3 today! The 3 year old club! How I hope that soon they can come together!
Danielle Rose - True love/the Cross
kutless - take me in to the holy of Holies
3rd Day - Cry out to Jesus
Heard this my chapel on wheels today! sounds like Joseph!
Third Day - I need a miracle
True for our world! Look upon our Lord on the Cross and have Faith!
What an amazing gift this was to find from Washington on a nice Sunday walk! Maria said that it was in the 50s with the sun peaking out from time to time. She also said that all were in good moods and no tears or fake smiles through their struggles of life.
Here today we are having SUN and it could reach 60! I think that Ruth will be working on getting her porch ready for spring, and Pat is thrilled to have the big rain drying in the warm sun. He prayed today in thanksgiving for a calf they had treated during the cold wet who is now much better!
LOVE this too! They are healthy after going through the virus as a family some weeks back. So close to home to realize that this feared world epidemic touched our family.
So much thinking about my mother as she is gone 2 weeks today. The readings from mass today portray 2 other women one unjustly condemned and the other justly. Mom has gone to face her maker, and over these last few years she has been so childlike struggling with dementia, depression, and chronic lung issues. I would look back and see her standing in the doorway watching me leave after repeatedly asking me to stay with her. There is comfort in knowing that she went quickly to be with Jesus with only about 8 hours of suffering. A wish of hers granted.
The words from the Gospel yesterday allow me to find peace as none others in my mother being alive for eternity with her loving and forgiving Lord, Mary, all the saints, and all those that have gone ahead of us. I will pray for her soul and her journey along with my sister, brother, and Pat's parents, brother, and all the dead... Yet, Christ's words fill me with JOY and Hope! Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die..." John 11 My mother struggled with many difficult things over these last years, yet there was never any doubt that she loved her Lord, and followed Him the best she could! Being able to share our journeys as much as we did was my most precious gift!
Pat home from a very big day of caring for his cows and calves - 5 born including a set of twins. Listening to the Gospel story of Lazarus and Father preaching about mercy. Today's readings are very powerful in reflecting on my mother's journey in light of these two women... My mother, like Susanna, would stand up for the Truth no matter what it meant for her to deal with. Family drama, misunderstood intentions for her children, speaking out her message of wives being submissive to their husbands much as St Paul teaches in Ephesians... talk about a hotly misunderstood teaching in this day and age!
Ephesians 5:22-33 MEV
Wives, be submissive to your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, just as Christ is the head and Savior of the church, which is His body. But as the church submits to Christ, so also let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, and that He might present to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. In this way men ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord cares for the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Nancy and Bill uses this in their wedding sharing that after going through Theology of the Body by St JPII this was important to them, and Truth!
The setting sun last evening while we shared our parish mass on TV. I am soon to get my lilac branch to bud forth in the Easter tree! Very excited to watch this happen in my home!
The amazing Gospel today from John 8 - the woman taken in adultery! How does this relate to my mother? The unconditional LOVE and Mercy from Jesus towards this woman caught in sin. He asks her to go and sin no more - Then Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”
Yes, we are forgiven over and over by Jesus as we lay our sins at the foot of his Cross in the Confessional and leave there filled with The Holy Spirit to lead us better down the narrow path carrying/dragging our Most Cherished Cross to LIFE eternal! My mother strived and burned to share The Truth with ALL - visit her site where all her books and studies appear! https://www.catholicdiagramteacher.com/
The world grows dark yet His LIGHT shines forth!
So much comfort today in the 23rd psalm from mass most especially... He refreshes my soul in regards to my mother now in His LIGHT - bright sunlight in this pasture!
R. (4ab) Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage. R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side. Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; And I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come. R. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side.
Forgiven, O Lord, we bow down before you and ask that we can die to self so that you may live in us and use us to your honor and glory! May we be your hands and feet and mouth to share The Truth! We are called to face the persecution and criticism and misunderstanding - may we go forward down the narrow path carrying/dragging our Most Cherished Cross without fail! You are in control and we are nothing without you. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen
My father now alone... another voice for The Truth! How I have been blessed by having both of my parents together and united in our Faith in Jesus, Mary and The Church! Two weeks ago this changed, yet there is huge comfort in knowing that my mother now is able to see perfectly how each one of us need her prayers and help on this journey of LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT! Bless-bless, Barb
Danielle Rose - The Saint that is just me
Danielle Rose - Nothing compares to you
O God, beyond all praising - St Michael Catholic Church, Stillwater
My wedding day with my parents 41 years ago in my home parish, The Basilica of St Mary in Minneapolis. We had become Catholic 7 years before, and I have since come to know that my husband was praying and waiting for a Catholic wife!
Knowing how determined my Patrick is, I have come to realize that his prayers are instrumental in my coming into The Church along with my 10 siblings and my parents! Each day since has been a blessing including meeting the love of my life, Patrick, the farmer from Southwest Minnesota. Intrigued how a city girl could end up on the farm... here is our story! https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
My mother holding my 4th daughter, Susan/Hallel, while Maria and Nancy meet her with tender touches. This was in 1985, I had two losses after her, then John and finally 2 still births at 20 weeks and finally a last miscarriage. Not quite what I had hoped for our large family, but it brought us very close sharing the pain of loss.
The huge picture window at Ruth and Paul's farm house...
Today I rose as usual on Sunday and got dressed for mass. Tuning in I was able to virtually be at mass just as we would gather as a family every Sunday at 8a at our Holy Redeemer...
A friend posted this of their mass at home.
The creek in the pasture by our house swollen after an inch and a half of rain over the last 2 days. This morning the rain stopped so all hands on deck at the farm to get the cows and calves on dry bedding and out of the wet rain soaked yards.
After mass I headed out to get the day old rolls, fruit and juice to make Sunday breakfast for the workers.
My chickens have returned to my place and I am once again the chicken farmer...
Eggs for our breakfast plus about a dozen others for the big gathering of hungry farm hands!
Recalling that this is the 5th Sunday of Lent... next week is Palm Sunday followed by Holy Week and Easter like none other. Unable to go to mass - we must watch it on TV and have a Spiritual Communion...
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.
So special indeed!
Today was the amazing Gospel of the raising of Lazarus! John 11! It was wonderful to read last night and this morning and then to listen to Fr Mark proclaim it during mass! With my mother's passing so recent... the Words of Christ to Martha really rang like a bell of comfort and Truth to me! “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” John 11 Yes, Lord, I know that my mother never doubted you and was devoted to your Bride, The Church! Even though my father was a Protestant minister, she listened to the Holy Spirit on her journey and found The True Church bringing my father and all of us 11 kids with her! https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html Shortly after our coming into The Church at "the farm" in Miltown,WI.
Mom and dad 20 years ago! These words of Christ to us this day tell me that my mother is truly with him and has not died from my life or this world! She is loving me more perfectly as God does, and she knows now what each of us needs! Some of that could be hitting rock bottom so that we can deal with what is separating us from our loving and forgiving Lord.
Today Fr Mark preached on Mercy...mentioning Divine Mercy from God. Spoke about reconciliation/confession also being called the Sacrament of Mercy. How I long to get to reconciliation in the next few weeks, O Lord!
65+ years ago...
So comforting to know that my mother has met my 7 children that are also there with our Lord! Finding much comfort this day as I have joined my Lord in weeping at their grave and their loss this last week.
The softness lends itself to this sweet moment of mother and her first child... me.
We have had 4 calves today... it seems that they waited for the storm to end, but we are frantically trying to get them in dry bedding and the yards scraped clean. Lord, help keep the baby calves safe and healthy. Also our country and world at this time of fighting this epidemic. Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barb
The last time we visited my parents on Feb 29th/Leap Year day. I had fake plans to visit them the weekend before she died, but we couldn't because of the restrictions. I did travel up to spend her last few hours with her, and that was a very much cherished gift!
Out to see the ducklings after our Sunday breakfast in the midst of caring for the cows and calves after our big rain.
Joy and Luke... Joy will be 3 on Tuesday!
One more for good measure..
Learning to hold it gently.
We believe!
We Believe - Newsboys
Praise Him in the storm!
Casting Crowns - Praise him in the storm
The shop has become a play ground and place for the ducks to grow safe.
Joy and I found the rhubarb growing where there had been snow last week! Amazing is God's creation!
Ruth's home on the farm - maybe Joy's birthday on the porch?
Bringing in some rhubarb to show mom!
A borrowed picture that is so much speaking of motherhood!
