Old beauty... new world for me.

Things are different in France and seem a bit unusual to me...

There is a undeniable beauty about it... we drove through lots of sunflower fields, and then hit the twisting and turning through the foothills of the Pyranies Mts... as we drove the hour trip from Toulouse to Saint-Pierre, where the Community of the Lamb has their main location or headquarters.

Such a delight to see the beaming face of our daughter, after a year apart, and realizing that she is the same girl we have loved and known... now happy and secure in her new family, and the Love of her life, Jesus Christ, her spouse!

Life is such an amazing combination of the old and the new.... making breathtaking beauty as a result of the combination of them!

We follow the road that leads us into new and different and powerful experiences!  We ooooh and aaaah over the beauty of the world around us... as we travel following our Lord and carrying our Cross.

Jesus, we trust in you!  Bless-bless, Barb

France - Out of the World!

Our hard and beautiful week with the Community of the Lamb on the occassion of our daughter, Little Sister Hallel's taking of her vows to become the Bride of Christ, has now been completed... yet we are feeling the glow in our faces and our hearts as Moses did after speaking to God on the Mountain!

How we wept and continue to weep at the depth of the experience that is only to be described as out of the world!  The rustic conditions in which they live and work accentuates the poverty that they have embraced and vowed to follow to prevent the distractions of the world to come between them and their LOVE - Jesus Christ!  Our daughter lay prostrate on the ground - she is the one to the right having her scapular straightened by another little sister... we heard the words translated from the beautiful French as Fr Jean Claude homilized about their laying "with their noses in the dust" to remind them that they are totaly His and dependant upon him to arise from that dust!  "Your habits are the color of the heavens and take the shape of the cross as you lay prostrate before Him."  Can you imagine the river of tears that flowed?

The celebrant spoke these words to these 8 that took their "first vows." 
"Little sisters, the Church gives you three years in order to persevere in the apprentiseship of this life.  But the temporary profession (vows) that you are about to pronounce consecrates you from now on to the Lord.  In truth, He is the Bridegroom and you the bride.  Be faithful, do not grieve the Holy Spirit; in all things, give thanks to God.  That which God has begun in you, may he bring to completion for the day when Christ comes."
Little Sisters:  "Amen!"

So much in my heart after not only being at the most powerful liturgies... in which there can be no doubt of Christ's presence in the Word and the Table of the Eucharist, but also living the life and sharing in the life of our daughter in the Community of the Lamb! " The 'Purpose of Life' of the little sisters of the Lamb, for three years, in order to apply myself to faithfully live out the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, following the Lord Jesus poor and crucified.  He,'the Lamb who is the Way, the Rule that will bring me to the port of Salvation' " (from the Act of Profession)

Her peace and joy carried us through the week, and we could only rejoice with her!  Jesus, may we carry forth into the rush and distractions of this life we are living... the reality of YOU and YOUR CROSS, which we need to embrace as you did!  Jesus, we trust in you!  Amen and Halleluia!

Bless-bless, Barb

"Come forth, Lord Jesus, on the day of your wedding feast.  Receive her who has already consecrated to you in her heart and who will now consecrate herself also through her profession.  Fill her with the knowledge of your will.  Make firm, from the beginning, her steps on the way of salvation, in the spirit of holiness and true faith.

So will your servant say: 'You hold me by my right hand.  You guide me by your counsel and you lead me to glory.' (Ps 73: 23-24)  Open wide your hand and satisfy her soul with blessings, (Ps 145:16) so as to save her who trusts in you." (Ps 26:2)  From St Ambrose and read while they are lying prostrate on the ground!  River of tears!

Home from France!

Dragging our bones to bed after 24 hours getting home from France...  we are filled with such deep feelings and love!

Our short week with our wonderful daughter as she takes this huge step of vows to be the spouse of Christ!  Her father in all his wisdom said to her yesterday as we shared some "family time."  "What I want for all my children is for them to reach heaven, and I feel that you are working at following the Lord's call and answering it whole heartedly!"  Hallel then asked for her dad's continued prayers to help her in this intention and desire that they both share.

Today on to France!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I talked to Maria as she was driving from the St Louis airport to her husband... all went smooth even with some thunderstorms that had gone through Chicago airport... she was getting home to her husband on time and without any major issues with her two little ones. I was in the backseat as my son in law drove us the 11 hours to get home, and my rosary was very busy when I knew she was taking off and landing and just most of the way home!  My heart was bursting with the joy of the week with my wonderful family in my wonderful Michigan, and yes there are some anxiety butterflies about heading to Fance this afternoon!

The getting away from here is always so hard for Pat as he has over 100 cows and calves out on pasture that he is worried about and responsible for.  The heat and humidity here has been so horrible these last few days... I am sure that Ruth with her 3 will be enjoying the coolness and the beauty of the big lake for another week. 

Our days there are going with me so strongly and now to share a bit of that with our daughter in France - Hallel!

I have to go and get things all lined up for this amazing craziness that I am in the middle of... literally...Today's morning prayer that we shared together to start our day on the right foot... was all about how we are to trust in the Lord to look after our every need as he does the wonderful earth that He created and all that dwells within it!  So good for us to hear with our ears, our hearts and our souls!

With beauty and joy within me... I read with my husband and son this morning an "Hallel psalm" of complete praise and joy to the Lord and it was so appropriate for us as we are preparing to leave today, that I would like to use this as a parting anthem as we travel across the ocean to be with our beloved daughter Little Sister Hallel, who we so honored to know... Her beloved Spouse, Jesus Christ, called her to Him and she answered Him with great Joy and Abandon!

Psalm 104

"Bless the Lord, my soul!

Lord God, how great you are!

You make the grass grow for the cattle

 and the plants to serve man's needs,

that bring forth bread from the earth

 and wine to cheer man's heart;

oil, to make him glad

 and bread to stengthen man's heart.

The tress of the Lord drink their fill,

the cedars he planted on Lebanon;

there the birds build their nests:

on the tree-top the stork has her home.

The goats find a home on the mountains

and rabbits hide in the rocks.

I will sing to the Lord all my life,

make music to my God while I live.

May my thoughts be pleasing to him.

I find joy in the Lord.

Bless the Lord, my soul."

Lord Jesus Christ... how I love you and thank you for all that you have showered down upon me and for the opportunity we now have to join our wonderful Hallel with her community in France.  WE know without a shadow of a doubt that you love us and care for us and fill our cup to overflowing!  We put everything into your hands and ask that we can have the peace which passes understanding.  Jesus, we trust in you as we look at the world around us and see your fingerprint on all!  Amen and Halleluia!

Bless-bless, Barb

"When our Lady's little boy tumbled and grazed his knees, what acts of faith she must have made as she bathed them - faith like that which enabled her to believe, when she saw the Son of God fall beneath the cross and could not pick him up.  Awareness of the presence of the Divine Child in us draws us off from every distracting and destructive preoccupation, such as self pity, anxiety, irritability with other people, the morbidity which leads us to dwell more upon our own sinfulness than upon the beauty of God.  In the wonder of his awareness, we are able to accept the humiliation of being ourselves."

Caryll Houselander (1954)

Act of Faith

"O my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I believe that your divine Son became man and died for our sins, and that he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the holy catholic Church teaches, because in revealing them you can neither deceive nor be deceived. "

On the road and on to France tomorrow!

My two sweet granddaughters are going to say goodbye shortly as we take Maria and her two kids to the Green Bay airport to fly back to Missouri to be with their husband/dad, Joseph.  He is in the army training there and happened to be out on maneuvers for the week, so the window opened for the family to come and bless our week with their longed for presence!

Little Dave has been such a loving and cute little guy.  He speaks of Boompa and the cows and tractors all the time, because he loves him and misses him... as we all have this week... I think that he transfered his love from grandpa to me, as he has been so sweet to me with hugs and kisses and holding my hand and walking on the beach... looking for "fossils"... he picks up a certain size rock, shows it to me, and then proudly and carefully carries it on our long journies down the beach.  I say that every rock is a fossil rock in this place, so he does in fact have a fossil rock!  He is such a blessing!

The two 3 year olds will miss each other... their greetings after being apart for a couple months is always filled with many bear hugs, and chasing one after the other.  They call each other on the phone to lessen(?) the sadnes of being apart.  They have had a wonderful week in sun and sand and cabin time sharing toys and watercolors and David's 3rd birthday, and yes a few power struggles.  Davey didn't want to have his picture taken here, but...

for grandma...Jesus, be with us as we head in many directions in the next few days... Missouri, Minnesota, and Michigan, then tomorrow France!  Jesus, we put it all in your hands, you are in control!  Jesus, we trust in you!  Amen and Halleluia.

Bless-bless, Barb

Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury,pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

and where there is sadness, joy.





O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

Making cards to go to France..

There is much activity going on here making congratulation cards and well wishes for Susan/Hallel and for little Sister Dorotha, who we have discovered will have no family there with her as she takes vows with Hallel next Saturday.  We have plans to have another spell at the beach before Nancy and Bill leave for home shortly after lunch.

Therese and her stainglass watercolor creation... many ooohs and aaahs from all those gathered around her in the sun and the wind and the family!

Our family will be going in manydirections starting today.  Nancy and Bill and baby Gus leave for their home,so that Bill can get back to work in the morning.  Then in the morning I leave with John and Paul, Maria and her kids... we drop them off at the Green Bay airport to fly back to Missouri and her husband, Joseph, who is in the army there.  It will be hard to leave them there, but I am forever grateful for our week together with our precious little Joe and Maria family.Ruth and her 3 kids will stay for another week in paradise.

The sweet baby Gus has been so deligtful and so much love  has been showered upon him.... he is so responsive to the hugs and kisses from the other kids.  He turns his face towards them, and looks at them and tries to study their adoring faces.  It is like how he turns to the sunlight he sees coming in fron the windos.  He is turning towards the light of love!

/The heartwarming family gathered together to share for a week in our lives... getting away from the craziness of life to just visit and enjoy...

We are soon to go to the beach for our last time at the beach with all the grandkids...  We cherish the time together.

Gus loves to hear the waves and feel the breeze on his toes... a year will find him n the beach probably eating sand.

How I will cherish the many pictures that I have to remember this time... Babies change so much in that first year so this is special to have so many of Gus at 6 weeks... He is a beautiful gift!

Jesus..Thank you!  We are off to the beach and I ask that the weeds of pride be weeded from me... humble me Lord!  Jesus, we trust in you!  Amen and Halleluia!

Bless-bless, Barb

The Gospel for today the weeds in the wheat..."Christ's parable today make this conjoined point: go in his providence will use even the apparent evil that attends us in life to some perfecting purpose; out of our littleness, our emptiness, our nothingness God's greatness will flower in an astonishing way.  God's greatness will flower in an astonishing way.  The parables verify that our God who has 'the care of all'- of every situation, every circumstance, every moment, God shows his might precicely when 'the perfection of his power is disbelieved.'  'The Spirit comes to the aid of our weakness.'  We can cave in to our weakness our of despair... or we can pray with faith, 'Power, whenever you will, attend you."  see http://www.magnificat.com/  

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