Working hard on 3 month pictures of Augustino...

\I always like the pictures I get when I take them by my big beautiful picture window in the front of my house... so Gus and I headed over there when he was in smiling and happy mood, but then it struck me that it is hard to manueuver with a little one that can't sit up on their own... much less stand.  So Gus was a good sport none the less, just a little different grabbing him in the armpit.

This one was a bit better, and you can get lost in those big brown eyes of little Augustino...  This is the version of Augustine's name in Portugese and what Breno's mom coos to little Gus as she sings and plays with him.  He has no language barrier and loves to smile at her too!  It is wonderful to have him here to fill their arms and time with baby fixes!

Augustino's dad is from Pittsburge and hence he already has a Steeler's jersey and looks very adorable in it out by the bales... Big cousin, Mary, provided the support for him to sit in the midst of the bales for a shot...

Mom's arms are the best of all for the 3 month pictures... that is where little Gus can feel safe and secure.

Too small for the swings...

Not sure about the big black dog washing his foot, and those big rough grandpa hands too...

Then there are those big walls of hay that are all around him... they smell different than the city smells, but then you will have to get used to that Augustino... your mom is a farm girl and you will be visiting often! 

Guests from Brazil, and a long lost son.

Ten years ago we had a son for a year from Brazil...Breno.  Well, he brought his parents now 10 years later to see the farm in America where he lived and learned about a Catholic Midwest farm family.  He was a joy to have, and now we are meeting his parents for the first time too!

Nancy and Gus were the transportation to the farm, so grandma got some time with him and Ernie... Gus isn't too sure about it.

Nancy and I sat at the table before breakfast this morning, reading about ST Peter Claver, and marveling how he served the African slaves in the 1600s.  He recognized that they were human beings with needs and ministered to them... "The slave of the African forever."  We need to pray to him as the carry over of disrespect has continued to this day for many African Americans... they have still the damage done to them as they were stolen from their homeland and made slaves with no worth other than a possession.... How deep does that go from generation to generation.  St Peter Claver intercede for your beloved Africans!  Jesus, we trust in you!  Amen and Halleluia!

Thank you for bringing Breno and his parents.  May the blessings of family grow and grow to embrace many.  Bless-bless, Barb

"Come, you whom my Father has blessed , says the Lord:  I was ill and you comforted me.  I tell you, anything you did for one of my brothers, you did for me."  Mt 25: 34,36,40

"Susan, I miss you!!!"

Going up to clean in preparation for company coming today... Our foreign exchange student from 11 years ago... Breno from Brazil, along with his parents, will be arriving this afternoon!  Being in the room that Susan and I painted and put up a cow border when Breno was here for that year... it brought back just how much I miss having her around, and a frequent part of my life.  I found myself yelling at the air... "Susan, I miss you!" 

That afternoon the phone rang and on the other end... I heard a sweet..."Mommy?"  It was Susan/Hallel!  She was calling to see if we had made it home OK from France over a month and a half ago now.  It was a wonderful conversation filled with laughter, and a few tears on my side of the ocean.  She shared with me the experience they had at WYD, and when I told her that we had seen them at the final mass... she didn't seem too surprised by that!

They had sung on the stage a couple of times - leading prayers, but not when the Pope was present.  She and I spoke so lovingly of the beautiful way that Pope Benedict brings us to Jesus, as did his predecessor, Blessed John Paul II!  "I feel that the two men are the same, in how they bring us to Christ, and LOVE Christ so totally and beautifully."  I was totally blown away by the words and gems that Pope Benedict shared with the youth, as well as the world, on how we are to look to the man, Christ, and follow wherever He will lead us!

Susan/Hallel shared that there is a news correspondent that followed JPII everywhere, and reported on his travels... she is spending time with the community now.  She shared that she had a chance to meet him, and pondered what the sentence that she should say to him.... "You usually have an oportunity to say one line."  Finally she decided to say to him; "Thank you for loving Christ so much."  He was very advanced in his disease of parkinsonism... "One eye wouldn't open, and he drooled, but his one good eye gleamed at her, and he took her face in his shaking hands."  How he loved Christ, and he is now at his feet praising him, and taking all of our needs to him.  He was a warrior of prayer for all of our needs... all those in the Church and without too! 

I felt so joyful to have had this time to share with Hallel.  It was a relaxed and happy sharing and the tears were those of deep joy at the beauty of our amazing last 2 popes!  How we love and are blessed by the True Church!  Well, I am back to the grind of getting all ready for our guests.  It will be good when they arrive and I can sit and enjoy their time here on the farm! 

 Mary has regained her head, and just in time for the feast day today of her birth!  I am sure the the community of the Lamb is having a rich and beautiful celebration today! 

Our Savior Jesus Christ, along with the mother that was chosen for you from the womb....The birthday of the Blessed Virgin Mary..."her soul was the space from which God was able to gain access into humanity."  Pope Benedict XVI  "Vine of life, the Virgin is the root from which you sprang"... "Living Bread, the Virgin gave you the flesh of the human race." ... "Sun of Justice, the Virgin was born before you as dawn comes before the day."  see http://www.magnificat.com/  We love you, and ask that we can find the joy, and peace, and love that comes from your coming into the world through the Virgin.  We are yours, and we go forward strengthened by your grace, found in our faith in you, and your Mother of Heaven and Earth.  Jesus, we trust in you!  Amen and Halleluia!

Bless-bless, Barb
"When the most holy Virgin was born, the whole world was made radiant; blessed is the branch and blessed the stem that bore such holy fruit."  (Liturgy of the Hours)
"Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." 'Mt 1: 23
"Blessed are you, Holy Virgin Mary, deserving of all praise; from you rose the sun of justice, Christ our God.  Halleluia.  Halleluia."

Random thoughts before work at the NH

Off to work this morning... I haven't been able to take any pictures much, so I borrowed some cute ones of 3 month old Gus out in the grass enjoying the evening last night from Nancy's blog - http://thegreatgusadventure.blogspot.com/... I think that she is enjoying sharing her time with her precious son, especailly since Bill is very busy getting a new accounting system going at Cargill.  Bill's family is in PA, so sharing Gus with them in this way is special too! 

He sure loves his mommy and spending time with her... you can see it in his eyes and his smile is saying it loud and clear too!  I bet he is cooing and trying to talk to her... trying to put into baby words his joy and love for his mother!  Nothing like it in the whole world! 

Davey telling me about his little tractor and always about grandpa and his big tractors... The Gospel for today are the Beatitudes from Luke..."Blessed are you who are now hungry, for you will be satisfied."  How I look forward to my times of prayer and reading morning and evening prayer and reading of the readings... I am hungry and I am fed so satisfyingly by him and His Word!  Such a blessing and gift!

Lord, thank you for the love of mother and child and the filling of us, who hunger for your Word and Truth.  Both are so beautiful and give us strength to face all that comes to us with each day.  Use me to your honor and glory this day, and keep my mind on the task at hand and my heart reaching out in love.  May your Word seed take root in my heart, mind and soul and bear bountiful fruit!  May I be humble and poor for -"blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours."  Luke 6: 20-26  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

"Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you, and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.  Rejoice and leap for joy on that day!  Behold your reward will be great in heaven."  Luke 6

"Fullness of the diety bodily..."Colossians 2

Today in the Gospel is another amazing one from my paton saint,Luke!  Jesus goes to the mountain to pray all night to God.  Then when he comes down he names the apostles and a great crowd gathers around him...  "They came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases... Everyone in the crowd sought to touch him  because power came forth from him and healed them all."  Wow!  This picture of him deep in prayer with His Father, and then carrying forth his "diety" as the Son of God in the POWER to heal!  We yearn for this healing in all areas of our lives!

The sacrificial Lamb of God - slain for us to take away our sins and with that comes our healing!  "Everyone in the crowd sought to touch Jesus because they recognized in him "dwells the fullness of the deity bodily."  We share in the fullness in him through the ministry of the apostolic Church, Christ 'brought us to life along with him through faith in the power of God."  see http://www.magnificat.com/

Sharing with people that have not known Christ in their families growing up and now into their own families... my heart is aching for them!  What can I do Lord?  Gently ask them if they have considered sharing some faith in their relationships and homes?  Invite them to mass?  Lord, use me to your honor and glory, and may I be open to share the Way, the Truth and the Life! 

Two of the apostles were names Simon...so in honor of them and for their namesake my oldest grandson, Simon Lanoue...

Lord Jesus, how I long to share the beauty of knowing you, and following after you carrying our cross.  Those that do not know you suffer so much from the seperation from True LOVE!  Use me to share the Light and the Truth of knowing and loving you.  And the hard way of the cross - "wounded, I will not cease to love."  Give us the strength to embrace the hard things in life - knowing that we are better for them. Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Halleluia

Bless-bless, Barb

"Anyone who excludes God from his horizons falsifies the notion of reality and, in consequence, can only end up in blind alleys or with recipes for destruction...  If we do not know God in and with Christ , all of reality is transformed into an indecipherable enigma; there is on way, and without a way, there is neither life nor truth...  God is the foudational reality, not a God who is merely imagined or hypothetical, but God with a human face; he is God with us, the God who loves even to the cross." 

Pope Benedict XVI

 

Sharing faith centered family values!

I was just looking at Maria's blog. I loved this picture, so within miunutes, I borrowed it and put it on my blog.  It helps me feel like I am having them here a bit more to read about their day to day playing and learning.  Maria is starting 3 1/2 year old Therese on homeschool preschool, and the two of them are loving it!  It reminds me of our Saturday art days that the kids and I did, and how much they loved it.  Therese and I had started doing watercolors here, while they lived with us for those 3 months, over the winter.  Now she is painting on her own, while her brother sleeps longer naps than she does.

Nancy too loved her homeschool art classes as she was growing up... she loved them so much that she has an entire room in her home dedicated to her many fun art projects.  Little Therese, cousin Mary, and grandma find ourselves down there working on this project or that...

Nancy called a bit ago to say that she is starting a blog too!  I will share her link with all those interested.  

http://thegreatgusadventure.blogspot.com/


 I think that my girls have much to share with the world on how to live a life of Catholic faith in this world of crazy messed up values!  I had another hard night working with a girl, who comes from a fractured and messed up home, and is now carrying that forth into her own life.  My heart breaks for this sad cycle of throw away marriages!

There is so much joy to be found in a home with two loving and committed parents.. that put their faith first in their marriage and their domestic Church - family!  There is so much heartache and pain to be found when there is no faith involved in the family. 

Lord, may the cycle of brokenness and lies stop with the Truth!  Help your light to shine in our hearts and minds and spirits!   Come Holy Spirit!  Fill our lives with the strength we need to face the lies of this world, and shout to the highest rooftops that Jesus lives!  He lives within us, and we are called to love and serve Him in all those around us, but foremost those within our families!  Jesus, we trust in you!

Bless-bless, Barb

Prayer of a Divorced or Separated Person

"Father, I belong to you. I place myself anew in your hands and acknowledge you as Master and Lord of my life. Grant me the gift of a forgiving heart and cleanse me of any anger, hostility, or revenge. Heal my hurts and teach me to rely on your love. Grant me wisdom of heart and strengthen me by your grace to move on in faith, in trust, and in love. Thank you, Lord, for your love in my life."