"Thanks Dad for listening to the Holy Spirit all my life!" Barb - two days before Pentecost

Looking through some older farm pictures seem to be calling me to share with my writing today...  How the farm - a way of life not just a job- is woven through the fabric of our lives and marriage.  I am quite revved up today after sharing with great joy and enthusiasm my story of conversion and love, love, love for the True Church!!!!  When people thank me for sharing - I feel so much that I need to thank them for this amazing opportunity to remind myself of how God has touched me over and over and over and always!!  Jesus has asked me more than 3 times if I love him, and I never feel shaken by it or tired of Him asking me if I love Him and His Bride/Body, The Church!  Yes, I always write Bride, but have been reminded in scriptures of St Paul - like in I Corinthians that The Church is also His Body with the hands and feet and beating heart of Prayer that reaches out to touch the world with Truth!  How do these two fit together?  Just thinking about marriage and how the two will become one - it makes perfect mystical sense for the Bride to become The Body united with Christ - the Bridegroom and the Head of all!

"Mary can I have a bite of that yummy cookie, or lick it off your face?"  "Sorry cow - eat your hay!"
 I think you can tell that I am super fired up today.  I just had to call my dad about plans for this weekend, and my dad picked up the phone.  You have no idea how this still is the most amazing thing, because my dad could not hear and you could never have a conversation on the phone with him, and now it is possible since his cochlear implant!  I was struck while talking to him that here is the man that is responsible for my amazing journey into the Church that I love, love, love, love, love!!!  I shared that thanks to our ability to talk with him now I have discovered even further back how he heard the call to the ministry while on guard in the army in the Philippines!  One more God-moment - speaking of the Holy Spirit to my dad and his answering it!  The constant movement of the Spirit in my life thanks to my  parents faith and listening to the call... so out of this world/amazing/life-changing/ earth-shaking/too much to keep inside!!!  It comes pouring out like a flood to crash over many in my path... beware the dam has a small opening and the trickle will turn into a river - much like the story in the Bible from Ezekiel 47... the trickle from the base of the Temple goes out to the size of a river with the Tree of LIFE growing at it's banks!!!  I was close to tears as I thanked my dad - "Thanks, Dad, for listening to the Holy Spirit all my life!"  "Your welcome."  So thankful!!!  He has no doubt that he has listened and answered HIM!

This joyful picture of Simon and Mary tossing straw to the wind expresses how I feel inside right now, but really every day thanks to the amazing Church and how each day is filled to overflowing with Christ and His Church!!!!
The Gospel today is from John 21 - when Jesus asks Peter 3 times if he loves him and to feed his lambs and sheep.  How I burn to evangelize my Truth with others, Lord, and I love to share my stories far and wide.  John came with me last night, and came down this morning for breakfast and shared morning prayer together saying; "Your talk was like chicken soup for the soul all connected and with the theme of The Holy Spirit.  It was very good to hear, and your enthusiasm woke me up and held my interest even though I was tired."  There is so much to share, and I am afraid I ran on a bit long, but got a lot of people saying that they enjoyed it all.  How I love to be able to share my story/journey of Faith/Family Farm and LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!!! 

Sweet Simon loves his tractors!!!!  Here he is so sweet about 5 years ago on his bouncy seat tractor.
How, Lord, do we feed your lambs or tend your sheep?  By listening to the Spirit and even more by asking the Holy Spirit to do its' work in and through us as we totally die to self!  I can not imagine how hard it was for my dad to leave the Protestant ministry and join the Catholic Church!  Yet, a few years later the Lord blessed him with an amazing ministry in the Catholic Church as he became a Permanent Deacon with the first class of Deacons in the Archdiocese!!!  He did everything he had done as a Protestant minister - he married, baptized our kids and gave some amazing homilies over the years!  Knocked our socks off with the Truth and led me and my family deeper into the Kingdom of God!  How do we evangelize this to all those in our lives?  How do we leave all behind and "follow me?"  By seeing with eyes of Faith and listening to the Holy Spirit fill us with all that it True and LIGHT and LOVE and LIFE!   How do they know us to be followers of Christ and His Body/Bride, The Church?  By our fruits they will know us!

The first 4 fruits of our children - soon there will be a total of 12 with 2 in heaven!!!!   That is the Fruit of LIFE/LOVE/raised to be LIGHTS! 
Jesus, there is just too much filling me this day of journey!!!   Sharing that blessed narrow path carrying my Most Cherished Cross with others fills me with such JOY!!!  I am wanting to shout from the mountaintop for the world to hear... "Our Lord Lives... His Spirit is alive and active and on fire with LOVE for all the world!  He wants to come into our hearts, minds and souls... let go of all that comes between us and Him!!!  All that glitters in this world is pointless and passing and will lead to darkness and death... come into His Marvelous LIGHT and see the Truth that will set us free to find all the Fruits of His Spirit and may that grain of wheat fall into the ground and die and bear fruit a hundred fold!!!  John 12:24  If Life is overwhelming and hard - do not run away from it but embrace that Cross and find the LIFE everlasting that we are given since Christ suffered and died for our sins and then sent His Holy Spirit to allow us to "feed my lambs and tend my sheep." "  I thank and praise you Lord to the hightest heavens - Hallelujah is the highest praise!!!  Psalm 100 from mass today is a grand Hallel psalm!!!  "Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all my being praise his holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."  I will never forget all you have done for me my Lord!!! It is pouring out of me and all around me better be able to swim in the flooding river, and after over 3 inches of rain yesterday that is true for some around us here!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Hallelujah

One of my all time favorites!!!  Mary is curly haired 2 yo'
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Dom Mauro Guiseppe Lepori writes about "Do you love me?" and Jesus giving St Peter the keys to the Church:
"Everyone was asking Peter for everything, and Peter responded to everything and to everyone.  But he also responded by asking for everything from the Lord Jesus, who gave him his Spirit, the Spirit of the Father... Ever since Jesus had begged for his love - 'Do you love me?'  - Peter lived by begging for his own, begging for everything from him.  For this reason, the immense demands of the mission that Jesus had entrusted to him was not a burden.  Everything was embraced in the exchange of love with the Lord, and it was a delight to hear himself called by the Lord in the voice of the poor, the sinners, all the people in distress.  It was a gift to be able to answer the Lord over and over again:  'You know the I love you!' in every word he spoke, every action he performed, every step he took.
He no longer said, 'I lay down my life for you!'  He simply said, 'Take me!' " Dom Mauro
So powerful and true are these words for us as we embrace The Church and reach out with our hands as hers and go down the path with our feet as Hers!

 Basking in the Son!

 One of the best!!!

 Farmer with life in his hands - with this rain this morning Pat prayed thanking God for the Life-giving rain!  When you have 130 cows with 130 calves on them, and over 2,000 acres of crop you can pray that from your heart!!!!

 Cute alert!!!!

Miss my family in Texas - here they are with #1 - Therese... soon they will welcome #6 - 2 in heaven and 4 with us on the narrow path of LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!

Precious Mary now 8yo and with her new glasses - "I can see things more clearly now."  That is always a good thing!

Casting Crowns - If we are the Body

The Afters - Broken Hallelujah
As we traveled to my speaking engagement last evening we listened to Christian music and this came on!  I wept at the words and knew that they had to spell it "Hallelujah" - meaning giving God the highest praise!!!  Our Little Sister Hallel was close to me as I shared and how can I leave her journey out? - it is part of mine!

Rain and glasses

 A morning rain - one inch is such a gift and so welcomed!

Something new!!!! Sweet 8 year old Mary in glasses!  "I can see things clearer now."

Looking good!

Sundress, daisy and new pink glasses - a statement all her own!  Now the complete picture of Mary...

 

 

"The miracles, the healings, and the LIFE!" Barb during prayer

Here is a photo that represents the "miracles, healings and the LIFE" that make up my walk with our Lord.  Why today?  I am preparing on all levels of my being for a sharing/talk I will be giving this evening at the Serra club about an hour away.  I am sharing my conversion story, which I have dedicated a page to here...  http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html.  But really that is just the beginning of my journey.  As John and I were just praying morning prayer in the Breviary I thanked the Lord for all "the miracles, the healings, and the LIFE, and The Church, and The Church, and The Church, and The Church!  How I love The Church!"  Sitting next to my son, who has been healed from brain cancer, and now to gaze upon this stunningly beautiful picture of little Lamb, Patrick, gazing at his mother, Maria... there is so much that fills me and yes, it is all overwhelming to feel the fingerprint of God upon my life so profoundly!  So much LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT!!!  With two daughters now carrying new life in their wombs - how they have been surrounded by prayer from the moment we knew of their finding LIFE there!  So powerful, and as I have been known to be kind of a nut about LIFE... being pregnant constantly, having 12kids - 5 with me and 7 in heaven, and on and on and on!

One more angelic picture of Patrick - his hands folded in prayer and the cross of LIGHT on the plastic of his bassinet.  How Patrick discovered the Cross as it was set upon his shoulders in the womb - about 20 minutes before he was brought into this world through an emergency C-section... born dead and brought back to LIFE!  He was an innocent Lamb led to the Cross and such a symbol to so many praying of the power of prayer, and how The Trinity is there to LOVE us and come to our answer our every need!  http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-story-of-little-lamb-grandson.html
Today the Trinity is so evident in the Gospel as Jesus is talking to His Father at the end of his time here on earth, and the LOVE they share is the Spirit, "Father, they are your gift to me.  I wish that where I am they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world.... that the Love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."  John 17:20-26  The Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within each of us that believe, and ask for Him to take over our lives - Come Holy Spirit and dwell within me, so that Christ may live and move and breath within me!  May I die so that You may live, O Lord!

Who better to instruct us in the ways of self-forgetfulness than St Therese?  Just now as I gazed at this picture... her lips are in the sign of the Cross!  How can we not be happy if we forget ourselves and embrace our Most Cherished Cross? 

My Most Cherished Cross on our wedding day at the Basilica of St Mary, my parish church in Minneapolis.  Yes, I am a city girl come to the farm! ...  The letter from our Daughter, Little Sister Hallel, to her sister, Nancy about 4 years ago on the occasion of her engagement to Bill...
" Nancy, Look I am writing you a letter... aren't you impressed? Well, you better be because both you and I know how often this happens. I am writing to tell you now extremely excited I am about your engagement to Bill. I have to admit, when I got the news I wasn't really shocked but that night as it sunk in during adoration and the next day during mass I was so happy. My heart overflowed with joy for you. How beautiful to know that you have found your... most cherished cross. While I have never had the experience of being married, from what I hear is that he will truly be your cross. But not your cross as human eyes look at it, as a thing to run away from, as a thing of torture but rather as that which is truly the tree of life. It is only when clinging to the cross that one can truly live, it is the source of all life and of all love. Your marriage to Bill will be this, not something to run away from when it gets hard and when it hurts, but something to hold tight to, especially when it hurts because it is in this that you will find life and love. Know that it is through your marriage that Jesus wants to show you his great love for you and also that the best example that you can give to the world of Christ's love is a marriage lived in truth. So, in other words, know that I am so happy for you and that I love you a whole lot. Know that you are in my prayers during this crazy time of wedding planning; that you may not go crazy but rather learn to love each other better and that you may both have great joy and great peace. Remember to pray for me too! God Bless, Your little Sister Hallel"
How the Spirit has worked through Patrick Gerard Verly!  His statement to me - "The world needs LIGHTS." set the stage for all that we have lived by in our marriage/domestic Church and now that of each of our children!  http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html

Me pregnant with my second daughter, Nancy, in the barn- my coverall made room for her.  The other day when Nancy was here and we were sending out our fat cattle... she reminded me of this time!

Life is a precious gift to be cherished and protected at all costs!  Just look to the example of the Pro-life Saint - St Gianna Molle to see how far that can mean sometimes! 

	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gianna_Beretta_Molla Clouds are such a symbol of glory and beauty to me!  To put my toes in the reflected clouds last evening was a thrill to my heart, mind and soul! Lord, my story is so huge and enormous and amazing and miraculous and filled with LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT, and filled with my Most Cherished Cross, and makes me cry both times I prayed with Pat and John this morning because it is too much for me to take in!  It is God within me and working through the fabric of my life is such beautiful ways - An ongoing masterpiece of unbelievable price - the pearl of great price...  I am the lost sheep that you found and placed upon your shoulders and carried me into the fold - Your Church - along with 12 members of my family against the tide of those leaving at the change of Vatican 2, I am the one You asked to consider a call to religious life, showing me the beauty that lies in that LIFE with You as a spouse.  Yet, I was led to my Most Cherished Cross and by embracing him I have found LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT, and those LIGHTS have each listened to what you want for them - 3 have considered a "call" and one is now Little Sister Hallel, and as John prayed this morning -"Hallel brings your LIFE and LOVE and LIGHT to the world."  I did not lose a daughter, O Lord, I gained many more daughters and sons and so many loving prayers that are the wind beneath our wings!  With John and Patrick's healings their prayers were huge and powerful!  Thank you, Lord!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Hallelujah   My youngest grandson, Luke, with two more to join our family soon!  Three new little boys to grow up together - so different after we had our 4 girls and then a boy!   Many boys are in heaven praying for us, and that could be instrumental in the change... Christopher, Thomas, Joseph, Paul, William, Robert and Mary pray for us - we certainly feel and know of your prayers for your old mom on this journey of LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!  Keep me in your prayers this night as I share from the heart, mind and soul! Bless-bless, Barbara Luke "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us."  Romans 8: 16-18 St Paul... I love your revealing the Truth to me! A year and a half later - face to face with St Patrick at the Cathedral of many prayers for little Patrick's miraculous healing!  The 13 just around the time of our conversion into the Church - Isaiah 55:1-2  The 5 brought together by John's brain cancer - Susan back from France!  June 2009  Little Sisters come to the farm shortly after coming to the U.S. - Kansas City  in 2008  Susan tells us in front of Our Lady of Guadalupe in KC that she is joining the Community of the Lamb - summer of 2008 The 5 with first grandson, Simon in 2004... Why is our family so close, because we shared the pain of the Cross called being open to LIFE and many losses along the way. I will end for now, but I need to keep my talk to half an hour and that is going to be a challenge for sure! Danielle Rose - Give and Take The first song we heard this amazing young woman sing - she writes all her music in front of the Blessed Sacrament in prayer! Casting Crowns - Praise you in the Storm Peter Mayer - Holy Now

A beautiful day to be alive, and....

Smell a beautiful lilac tree...

learn from big sister how to smell lilacs!

The chickens come outside for the first time and Mary discovers that her pet has green eyes!

 Mary shows her brother Luke a white chicken they call long tail feather because he has some long feathers.  Luke has a wonderful life filled with a lot of experiences that a lot of 7 month boys don't have on a daily basis!

 One of mom's first daisies and some pottery slip left on her face after pottery class.

Snuggles with sister in the bright sunshine.

 A dip in the pond of Camden - as Ruth says this is a place we spent a lot of time when she was growing up... now with her 5!

 A walk in the clouds!!! Amazing reflection to stick my toes in!

 Sweet Luke loves to cool his toes in the pond...

Cool cute alert!!!

Rose poses with a colorful beach towel and the purple phlox that are everywhere these days.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  bless-bless, Barb

"Your Word is Truth." John 17 Jesus to God then came the Holy Spirit!

I know that two days ago was Maria's anniversary #7, but after a friend shared that her daughter is in China due to her having a exchange student from China this past year... Well, it brought back the miraculous gift we received to have a foreign exchange student from Italy the year Ruth and Paul were married and because of that they were able to have their marriage blessed just a few days later by now Saint John Paul II!  What did Paul ask him for?  "Please bless us with a happy healthy family."  That prayer is being answered with each new day!

The beautiful answer to that prayer!  Each one of these children have a reason not to be here... yet look at their health, beauty, and LIGHT!  I will not go down the list, but when I mentioned to John that Ruth and Paul have 3 miracle children, after being told no more children when giving birth to Mary ruptured her uterus... "No, mom, they have 5 miracle children."  Yes, St John Paul II is truly answering their prayer as he reached out and blessed them in Rome in November 2003!  This picture could be very different without that amazing blessing that keeps on giving... they received over 10 years ago!  They are a poster picture of trusting his The Word, Christ, and His Bride, The Church!  Today's Gospel is from John 17 and it is Jesus at the Last Supper speaking to His Father..."Consecrate them to the Truth.  Your Word is Truth... I consecrate myself to them, so that they also may be consecrated to the Truth." 

I love the behind the scenes/getting ready pictures!  It is a big job to get all these little ones ready for a keepsake picture.   Are all faces clean?  Are all clothes presentable and most importantly are all of them making nice faces - not frowns or tongues out or underwear showing... much can go wrong with 5 kids to get presentable.  It makes for a lively active and never a dull moment job!
This morning I am overwhelmed by the goodness of Our God for our needs - when we are told to ask and receive by our Lord - it is so true!  We are given all we need to walk down the path of Truth!  This means taking to heart all that The Church teaches us and asks of us - not picking and choosing what we like and don't like.  We cannot be shopping cart Catholics!  When Ruth and Paul were told no more children they were first of all crushed by this news, but secondly they were wondering what they should do about it... sterilize, use artificial birth control.... No!  They prayed about it, got a second opinion from the Catholic surgeon, who saved her uterus, and when they were given a 90% chance for all to go well with time to heal and close monitoring... they learned a natural method - Creighton Model.  Not only did they learn it, but Ruth became a Creighton Model instructor and now works with other couples in following the Truth the Church has shared.  That LIFE is a gift and we are to open to LIFE in our marriages and allow God to be involved in the decisions about Family!  http://www.creightonmodel.com/  And if you want to contact Ruth - 507-532-1019

Dave came in the house with mismatched clothes and dirty feet and legs below his new shorts... "What are you doing today, Dave?"  "Dad is powerwashing off the manure spreader."  "He should powerwash off your legs too."  "I know."

Just filled to the brim with all that we are blessed with if we only put our lives in His hands and He will send His Holy Spirit to show us the Truth!  Many would have heard those words from their doctor here in Marshall, and taken drastic steps to prevent LIFE... misled and led down a wrong path out of fear and trust in the world!  But Ruth and Paul were filled with the blessing they were given by St John Paul II and also convicted by The Truth presented to us by Jesus, the living Word made flesh, as well as the Wisdom of His Body - The Catholic Church!  They could not go there, and asked the Spirit to show them the path to take... as a result this is the picture of their "happy healthy family" to this day!

A masterpiece called LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT as they share Faith/Family/Farm with their "happy healthy family!" 

Jesus, there is so much filling us each day if we will only remember all the ways we have been touched by YOU!   Your fingerprint is upon our lives in such powerful ways as we look upon the beauty of the LIVES we have been blessed with!  Each new life is a gift to be protected and cherished!  What anguish and desperation fills us as we realize the innocent lives in the womb that are in danger of being destroyed and killed this day through abortion!  Please, Lord, save lives this day!  Our Lady intervene in the thoughts and intentions of women, who are not aware that this is a precious LIGHT to be protected and cherished at all costs!  May they see in ultrasound that little beating heart and arms and legs and recognize the Truth - this is a LIFE!  End the horror of abortion!  How can this taking of the tiniest little ones continue, O Lord?  There is nothing more horrible than all the LIGHTS that have been extinguished!  This world could contain so much more of your Truth with so many more.  The stories of those that have escaped an abortion attempt with their lives fills us with the Truth - that LIFE is a gift!  May we listen ever with our hearts, minds and souls to your Word!  "Your Word is Truth... May we be consecrated ... solemnly dedicated to a special purpose... in Truth." Jesus, may we die to self so that the Truth may always live and work through us changing the world by bringing LIGHT into the darkness.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Amen and Hallelujah

Ruth's adorable playhouse she made for her kids... I just called her and could hear the happy voices of her kids calling to her as she worked on the porch and they were inside happily playing.  As Pat says of Ruth - "She is a hard worker!"  For a farmer dad to say that about his oldest daughter is a tribute to her!

Bless-bless, Barbara Luke

"Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, My love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you."  Isaiah 54:10

So close to Isaiah 55:1-2 - used by the Holy Spirit to bring us 13 into the Church!

http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html

Third Day - Trust in Jesus

Dave and dad powerwashing off the spreader. 

 

True total surrender!!! There is nothing left of her selfish desires!  Help us on our path of surrender St Therese!