"What does your daughter's order do?"/We share Christ's Compassion-Passion/"Tommy is so sweet!"

Sweet little Maggie almost 2 months after we gathered around her in prayer and caring as she had reconstructive surgery to her skull. She is now perfectly healed and will have a normal growth of her brain with the help of modern medicine and so many prayers!  

She is the symbol of 4th of July from Fort Lewis, WA!  We were sharing our 4ths across the country with each other and we all were so happy to see our Maggie!  She is now walking and they will be coming through here in a week as they move from one coast to the other coast this summer.   From Washington to Virginia!  

With cousins out watching the parade as it passes by on base!  

Nancy's family spent the holiday in Pennsylvania where Billy grew up.  So fun to see 6 month old Regina Maria in the pool smiling with her family!  She is a JOY and a delight!  

Our 4th was finally getting some hay baled across the road from our place.  It has been down for quite a few days with some drippy rain on and off.  Pat raking ahead of the baler where Paul snapped this picture.

Bobbi and the kids back from camping with family - pitting cherries that they picked.

Walked down from their house to the park to watch the fireworks together.

Yes, Pat and my memorable 4th weekend was spent in Kansas City with our nun, Little Sister Hallel, on the 36th anniversary of her Godmother's death from cancer. 

 I was very close to Mary, and pray so much for her journey to heaven.  She truly suffered with the Lamb as she hoped to even survive enough to live in a wheelchair and see her daughter grow up - she shared with me towards the end.  Now she is in heaven joined by my parents and interceding for her daughter, Audrey, and her two Godddaughters, Nancy and Susan/Hallel! 

Mary Godmother to Nancy in 1982 - she lived with me to help me while I was on bedrest due to hypertention.  She then married her farmer and had her daughter on the dairy farm in Wisconsin.

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: The amazing story of the 13 becoming Catholic! 
 

Hallel humoring me with a picture with her Godmother.  Our trip was very last minute and very wonderful filled with morning and evening prayer followed by Adoration and of course mendicating the Word - Gospel for Sunday of sending forth his disciples 2 by 2!  

At Swim aerobics this morning I shared with a person about our weekend visiting our nun.  When she asked me what Hallel's order does... I was disappointed that there was not time to explain their amazing life to her except to say that they are "contemplative."  

Hallel describes their life simply as "prayer and dishes."  It was a good time to visit while I helped in the kitchen preparing food for lunch and supper.  

I found this site and am using their own words to explain how they go on mission...

Missionary Life

Witnesses of the mystery of the Lamb, the little sisters of the Lamb go as pilgrims, praying, poor, and begging in the footsteps of Saint Dominic and Saint Francis to encounter the poorest of this world, so that all, rich and poor alike, might receive the Light of the Gospel: Jesus, the Lamb of God – the tenderness of the Father for all men.

The Church sends us “as lambs⁵” in the midst of the world. As we go, in the footsteps of the Lamb, “wounded, we will never cease to love” (Motto of the Community).

Yes, they knock on the door of the poor begging for their food from the poor, and to share with them the Gospel.  One of Pat's favorite stories is of a young angry woman, who answered the door with tattoos indicating that she had been in prison and was gang related... "Why do you come asking me for food, when I don't have enough for my own children?"  After sharing the Gospel with her - her response - "I could give you a cup of water."  The Gospel coming to LIFE!

They have built their Little Monstery - Lumen Christi/LIGHT of Christ in the heart of the poor in Kansas City, KS!  They are the poor!  

At the foot of the Cross with our daughter, who said "yes" to the call she heard back when she went to Schoenstatt camp when she was 10!  

Hallel's own words about answering her call.

Hallel knows how hard it is for her dad to get away from the farm!  He is truly planted, but the rain made a way for us to come on the spur of the moment.  It is so special to see how much Hallel looks up to her dad and his life lived out on the farm!  

Borrowed these pictures of fireworks in Washington DC!  

Now Hallel shares with us about her Community of the Lamb!  

So many prayers for our torn country!  I had to finally "unfriended" loved ones, who are attacking me for my morals and values for LIFE and my beloved Catholic Church.  It was a hard step to take, but I have felt so sad at the attacks, and just know that I will be able to do a better job of sharing the Lord's Compassion/Passion as Fr Tony reminded us as he preached today the Gospel...

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.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”  Matthew 9 

So beautiful to honor our country on the 4th of July!  How I pray for the morals and values to come back to our country!  

From FOX news today!  Thank you!

Pope Benedict speaking about the morals and values that are the necessary to build a better world!  How I pray for this and want to assist the Lord to bring his Truth to all those I encounter.  I long to be his hands and feet and voice for LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT as I embrace my Most Cherished Cross and die to self! 

My dad in morning prayer this morning - he has come to the holy Mountain of heaven with Jesus, Mary and all the Saints including my sister and brother, and 13 losses among my children and grandchildren!  

Dad and St Clement asking the same questions that are plaguing me.  Some fiends that I share my Catholic Faith with are attacking me for my Prolife stance, and I am baffled that there can be any justification of taking the innocent life of an unborn baby in the womb!?!  They are a LIFE to protected and cherished from conception to natural death!  

I even encountered this with my own father at the end of his life.  Some wanted to pursue treatment that would have been over and above - "I am not ready to lose you yet, dad, so go to the hospital and get a transfusion."  Dad would have had to go off of hospice for this temporary fix.  No!  Dad was ready and we did not need to prolong his last few weeks of life!  Natural death for a 95 year old Permanent Deacon in the Church, who was ready to go to the holy Mountain of God!  It was a beautiful and peaceful and "natural" end to his life!   

Stunning restaurant in Italy under lemon trees!  So tight that rain does not come through.  It would feel like a fairy wonderland indeed!  

8 years ago in Michigan at our beloved cabin!  We had 11 grandchildren with one due in September!  Today we have 22 with one due in January!  Double the LOVE!  I am so sad to no longer have our wonderful cabin with my parents living down stairs for daily visits while I was there for my week - usually the first week of July!  

Now Hallel shares what it is like to be married to Jesus - "Jesus loves me!  I am so privileged to be Bride of Christ."  

Now Hallel speaks about prayer and if that gets boring - "hours every day praying!"  Sometimes it is a little bit difficult  - yer every day it is a different story - Good news - new today and it will say something to my heart today."  "God's Word is new, alive, and living."  

Hallel shares if she is sad not to be able to have children...   She speaks about the 22 going on 23 neices and nephews she is able to spend time with and pray for!  She really fell in love with the 3 new little ones - especially Tommy on the farm!  

Tom today at 7 1/2 months is a delightful little sweet boy!  I will be sending these pictures to Hallel as she will not be able to see him again before she heads to France on July 22!  

Oh, grandpa is falling in love with Tom!  He stops in to get a smile and hold him through the day!  Soon Tom will be running up to grandpa to give him a hug like Joy has for the last 5 years!  

He was smiling and giggling for grandma, and wanted to come to me - jump into my arms!  I will have to keep Hallel supplied with pictures as we now are able to email her except during Lent and Advent!  

The look of LOVE that I will share with his Aunt Hallel!  

Sitting up well now with the box of toys from his big sister, Joy!  

With a bigger smile!  

Ruth says that he is starting to get different places by rolling, too!  

About ready to crawl...  So precious!  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 51 - 34 with us and 17 in heaven including our parents.  I should say 53 as I am so much thinking and praying for my sister, Mary, and brother, Lincoln, too!  

Parked here for the night... now they are baling in the heat.  

Danielle Rose 

Danny Gokey 

God Bless America - Land that I love!/22 hours in KC with our nun and her Godmother in heaven

th

Thanks to the drippy rain we are getting on and off on the farm - we suddenly made a trip to see our nun in Kansas City for the 4th of July weekend!  Actually we arrived late afternoon on Saturday the 2nd and left midafternoon on the 3rd - 22 hours in Kansas City with our family of the Lamb!  

The little sisters of the LambMissionaries of the Holy Face and Mendicants of the Holy Trinity - Community of the Lamb

Humid and hot in KC, but we are so happy to spend some time with our daughter and her wonderful Community of the Lamb!  We are allowed to join in her LIFE!

Contemplative Life

“Before all else let God be loved3!” “Seated at the feet of the Lord4” we keep the Word of God and, with the Virgin Mary, ponder it in our hearts. We draw this Living Water of the Word of God from the pierced heart of Jesus on the Cross, from the daily Eucharist, from Eucharistic Adoration, and from the long celebrations of the Divine Office, day and night, in this contemplative life that reveals to us the mystery of the Lamb.

At the foot of the Cross with Lumen Chrisit Monastery/LIGHT of Christ monastery behind us.  

Pat cutting hay fills his day - he is concerned about the rain, but he goes ahead since it is blue skies and sunny now.

Ditches look scary to me with the angle he has to mow... so many prayers and really enjoyed our 7 hours together on the road coming and going - we covered a lot of territory miles wise, and also in our lives shared - Faith/Family/Farm!

So powerful to take Mary along with me!  My younger sister, Mary, who died on July 3rd- the feast of St Thomas 36 years ago.  I also lost a baby with her!  I received a call that my baby was dead in the womb at the same time that Mary was peacefully passing from this world!  I named him Thomas.

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: Our marriage stories - "The world needs LIGHTS!" 

Evening prayer - Hallel led the singing which makes up all their prayer!  

Adoration morning and night!  Pat and his 4th daughter, Hallel, who blesses us with sharing in her religious LIFE!  

Mary's graduation picture is unique and so special for me to see her with Jesus - the LIGHT/LOVE/LIFE!  Pat and I were left alone with Jesus as the little Sisters and Brothers left for a while to say goodbye to a girl that had lived with them from Spain for 3 months.  

I walked right up to be close to Jesus on the altar and the tears just flowed!  So close to Him, Mary's goal to reach heaven for which I have prayed daily for there 36 years!  The loss of my many children in heaven with her - 7 including Thomas, whom I lost the night before her wake - I hemorrhaged so badly that I thought I might join Mary that night!  So powerful that the healing of the woman bleeding for 12 years is in the Gospel today!  

A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him
and touched the tassel on his cloak.
She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”
Jesus turned around and saw her, and said,
“Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.”
And from that hour the woman was cured.  Luke 9 

With the icon of Jesus eating the chin of Mary out of LOVE for her!  Mary left behind her daughter, Audrey, who was 20 months!  

I feel assured that Mary is truly and joyfully gazing upon Jesus in heaven forever with both of our parents joining her along with my brother, Lincoln, who lived only 2 days.  Also the 13 losses - children and grandchildren!  That is a chorus of great Rejoicing!

The Psalm from mass today is an Hallel Psalm - total Praise to our God!  Hallel comes from Hallelujah!

Responsorial Psalm PS 145:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9

R. (8a) The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Every day will I bless you,
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
Great is the LORD and highly to be praised;
his greatness is unsearchable.
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.
Generation after generation praises your works
and proclaims your might.
They speak of the splendor of your glorious majesty
and tell of your wondrous works. 
R. The Lord is gracious and merciful.

At breakfast after we have shared morning prayer, mendicating the Gospel for Sunday and time with Jesus and Mary in adoration - we went around and shared how the Lord spoke to us from His Word- the Gospel!  Jesus sending out the 72 - 2 by 2 with nothing but Jesus to share with others!  Hallel spoke about how it is humbling to want to serve, but he chooses many more to accomplish his works!  It was very enlightening to consider that if we truly go with nothing of our own - money, sandles, etc... then we share Jesus in Word alone!  

Hallel with her Godmother, Mary.  Hallel was only 8 months old when Mary died from lymphoma cancer.  She was sick when we decided to have Mary and her husband be Susan's godparents - I thought that the Lord would spare her to live for her husband, daughter and my two daughters, Susan and Nancy, who are her Godchildren.  The Lord had other mysterious plans that we will know someday.  

The Word is Jesus coming forth at mass to bring us to Truth and reveal the LIGHT to us!  

Hallel using grandma Ann's ice cream scoop, which Pat's mother gave to them when then visited her many years back!  The Community came to the U.S. to Kansas City on the invitation of Archbishop Joseph Naumann in 2008.  Susan had just left for France, and 6 Little Sisters came to visit us on the farm, and also to visit Pat's mom.  A year later we had the battle of John's brain cancer...

Family Soul Story - Choose Life!: John's cancer stories

John's story overlapped with Hallel's - miraculously we were able to be there for Hallel's taking of her habit and changing her name to Hallel!  

When we crossed over into Missouri - the corn was tasseled!  We are quite a ways from that here.

Driving through Iowa and Missouri to get to Kansas during the daylight we appreciated the differences in the crops as we drove South, and the next day back North.  Today being the National holiday for our country - we had heavy hearts after the last few weeks of being attacked for our Prolife

The Truth and how I pray each day that innocent lives in danger of abortion are saved and protected!

the best time of my week!  I am blessed with the first hour of each Monday with Jesus in adoration, and super blessed to overlap with John with whom we usually pray for half an hour together!  Than I also have an hour praying with 7 Sisters for Fr Denny each week on Friday in the beautiful church in front of the tabernacle!  

Our country needs prayer!!!  We need to come back to morals and values that are from our Lord and Lady and The True Church!

St Thomas - I repeat his words when the Body and Blood is consecrated - "My Lord and My God."

Yes, embrace our Most Cherished Cross to find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!

So many prayers and so sad at the attacks from family and friends.  

My parents' paver at the grotto of Mary in Manistique, MI.  How I long to be there this time of the summer!  

Honoring Mary at the Lake years ago.  My weeks there would be over the first week of July, so I would honor her where we shared many close times of walking and talking as we looked for fossils on the beach in Grand Traverse Bay - she was 7 yeasrs younger than I, so she would fit under my arm as we walked together.  

Each life is to be proteced and cherished from conception to natural death! 

Little Sister Olivianna wearing Pat's prolife hat - "its a child, not a choice!"

Now with mom Verly's ice cream scoop!  

Hallel looks up to her dad, and it is so special when they can share time solving the world's problems and sharing their love for the farm!  Hallel has learned that she really loves to work with her hands and do carpentry work building things - a chip off the old block!  

When we arrived we had a whole hour to visit - just the 3 of us! 

May we learn from St Mother Teresa of Calcutta - how to be humble!  

Jesus will not abandon his ship!  

I even got ridiculed for sharing this!  That day Pat got home at 10p after leaving at 7a to begin cutting hay!  Have some respect for all the work the farmers do to feed the world!  Please!!!

Friday July 1st at daily mass - Fr Denny raises the Cup now the Blood of Christ!  TAKE THIS ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT, FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.  DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME.

Jesus, I am overwhelmed by your Plan for us and all the ways that you give us so many blessings and graces!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

A year ago Major Joseph returned from Afghanistan to meet his new daughter, Magdalene Rose, for the first time!  

Visiting the Grotto with granddaughter, Mary, and her namesake, Great Aunt Mary about 6 years ago.

Hear my prayer for LIFE!  

A new sculpture on Hwy 19 in the Rosary garden - the Scourging!  So powerful! 

Wonderful - look at the scourges on his body even!  

"You can never love Mary too much!  You can never love her more than Jesus does."  St Maximlian Kolbe

My best hours of the week!  

I do love our country - just sad that our Lord has been taken out of it in so many ways!  

Dad today really spoke to me as we just spent amazing time with Jesus/The Word in KC with Hallel and The Community of the Lamb!

A year ago - Happiness with Major Joseph and his 7 wonderful children!  Now for the big move from one coast to the other. Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barbara and the 51 - 34 with us and 17 in heaven!  

Italy - so stunning!  

Mackinaw bridge today.  

Danielle Rose 

Oh my heart!  Just as the Community sings it at the end of the day - Salve Regina - Hail Holy Queen!