I walked out of the bedroom to the sound of laughter and delight! Therese had found the stretchy bands that John had used for therapy on his arm and leg... to her and her 11 month old brother and the two kittens they were colorful strings to chase and get tangled in! As mom said to them... "get all tired out so that you take a nice nap!"
Little Alice (Allie) likes how it looks from an upsidedown angle.......too cute... on the cuteness scale of 1 to 10... definitely a 10! Maria shared with me what their day had been like... starting with first Saturday mass and confession... How do you do that with 2 little kids? I guess we don't have secrets in our family, and to go to confession with 2 1/2 year old ears there with you... could be interesting someday. I will ask her how she manages it and get back to you on that...
Then they all went to Great Grandma and Ratera's house... It turned into a morning of familytime... David took a nap in the bedroom and Ratera and Therese made lunch for everyone while Maria ran errands minus kids... that rarely happens for her. All in all Grandma had it quiet for sleeping after working all night and Maria and the kids had some family time...
So amazing to wake up to the activity of little ones... kids and kittens...They are so happy and comfortable here and it is a wonderful gift for us too! The house it full of LIFE! WE are blessed! Then the big news! Little Sister Hallel had tried to call all of us and finally gotten ahold of Nancy and they had talked for an hour! She hadn't gotten the news that John was cancer free, so she had called... She knew that the scan was to happen and needed to know the results! We had tried to let her know by calling KC and the Little Sisters there, but the message had not gotten passed on. At least we got to talk to her as a result of the breakdown of communication!
Nancy told her dad that it is the same old silly/goofy Susan... It is kind of wonderful for her family to realize that no matter what lifechanging experiences she is having... that no one will ever alter the person and personality that is underneath! We have not lost Susan/Hallel... we have just gained many more members of our family! It would have been good to talk with her, but I am happy for Nancy to have such a nice silly conversation with her Hallel! I am sure that the baby was a big topic of conversation! I know that Susan/Hallel has not had a chance to talk to her since the wedding and the new life news!
Little Davey is almost as involved in chasing the streamers as the kitties... For sure he follows everywhere his sister goes so that he can see all the action... usually as he is wrapped up in the middle of them with all the commotion! Grandma's camera cannot snap fast enough to catch it all! That's what you get when you try to take a movie of a lot of crazy activity with an old still camera!
"I will restore you to health; of your wounds I will heal you, says the Lord. From them will resound songs of praise, the laughter of happy men (and children).... they will not be tiny, for I will glorify them." Jeremiah 30: 17a,19 Pat is in watching Saturday college football, Maria after a short nap is washing dishes, and the kids are sleeping quietly after all the busyness of a big day ending with some activity back and forth in the house... the kittens are in a sunny spot and snoozing too! Baby animals and kids are what started me on my journey called..."Never go anywhere without your camera!" Oh yeah... one more thing... a hunky farmer husband didn't hurt getting me hooked on taking pictures to store all of the love and amazing things to see all around me! My 5 kids left home for college with a scrapbook for every year they had been alive! That is a crazy lot of pictures... talk about trying to have a big movie of their lives taken with still pictures! I know that when Maria and Joe were dating... they would take a scrapbook a week to sit down and share together...even Maria's awkward years were shared - now that is a sign of true love... sharing that humbling time in your life...
There is not much about Maria's life that Joe missed... when they were done with all of that! Now with digital...they are in my computer and on my blog... Therese will have to sit at a laptop to share with her future spouse! I know that it is a bit overwhelming, and a lot of bagage too... sorry about that kids! It is just that the farmlife with babies and baby animals and hunky farmer husband were too much for me to allow to fade into the sunset! All the hours I have spent on pictures would rival the hours I have spent in prayer and that is not a good thing... I know and ask for forgiveness, dear Lord and your wonderful Mother of all!
"Where is my girl and her colorful ribbons?" The psalm in the mass readings for today is called an Hallel psalm... there are many around Psalm 100 and the last 5... Psalm 145-150 are called "Hallel Psalms"... this means Praise and Joy and supreme worship of God! Think of the word "Halleluia" which is obviously the root word and you will see what it all means!
Psalm 147
Praise the Lord, for he is good;
sing praises to our God, for he is gracious;
it is fitting to praise him...
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
He tells the number of the stars;
he calls each by name.
Great is our Lord and mighty in power:
to his wisdom there is no limit.
The Lord sustains the lowly...
Blessed are all who wait for the Lord.
The Gospel for today... I can hear Hallel's community as they chant and sing these amazing words and actions of Our Loving and Forgiving Savior..."Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom,and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd...." Mt 9: 35- 10:1
His words to us as He felt such pity for those that are lost..."Go the the lost sheep... As you go, make this proclamation:'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received;without cost you are to give." Mt 10: 5a, 6-8 So many around me... everywhere I go...are as lost sheep...How can I make a difference? My heart is broken to hear of their confused and misled and sad lives without the knowledge and love of God. I will continually lift them up in prayer and love them... I can do that!
"This is the way; walk in it." From the first reading of the mass Isaiah 30... How powerful it is to know that there is a path laid out before each one of us to walk and to follow! I am forever changed and filled with wonder when I view my personal PATH!
Amazing meditation of the day today written by Fr Simon Tugwell... see
http://www.magnificat.com/ What the Twelve Proclaimed............"Whatever our problem is, whatever the anxiety we bring to the Lord, he has got only one thing to say, only one answer: himself... The only solution that God has to offer to all our problems is himself, is the fact that he is, that he is the kind of God that he is, a God who has a Word to utter,which he utters in an ecstasy of Joy, and ecstasy of giving,which we call the Holy Spirit... God has only the one thing to say, which is himself, he has only the one thing to give, which is himself. And he invites us to hear the Word, to treasure it in our hearts, and to find in it the source of all our bliss. He wants us, quite precisely, to enter into the Joy of our Lord (Mt 25: 21)... We must accept that God is the kind of God who, if he wants to show himself in our world, must do so in weakness and poverty..."
"God has never promised that if only we have enough faith, if only we pray enough, all problems will disappear... So we must respect the law of God's giving, letting him give what he does have to give, himself... This peace, this joy, can never be shattered because it's foundation is in God's own infinite joy and peace." Lord, we cling to you and know that we are loved and that fills us with JOY and Peace without end... no matter the storms of life that wash over us... you keep us afloat!
Well, I have written through the kids naptime and the activity is soon to begin again... Jesus, we love you and are filled with the joy that we see in the little ones in our midst! What a ministy these little innocent ones have to the world! May they change it for the better ast they pass on your peace and Joy! Jesus, we trust in you and thank you! Amen and Halleluia!
Bless-bless, Barb
"I , the Lord, am with you always, until the end of the world." Mt 28: 20
Thank you Lord for reminding us of the truth that an empty self-centered home is never better than a full one filled with laughter and love and sometimes yelling and crying and craziness... the sounds of family and all that means! Jesus, we trust in you! Amen and Halleluia! 
