Getting a baby girl and kitty in the clouds

This is as close as I can get to 13 month old Rose in the clouds with a kitten.   It's cute but not perfect.  When you deal with babies - you are satisfied with cute.  One thing about pictures is that you always can work at getting better ones, and that is a chore that I love to have.  Now granddaughter, Mary, is now getting ready to take pictures for the fair so she is always mentioning to me that maybe we should be working on "fair pictures."  So now I have another one pushing me to be taking pictures, too!  Just what I need, right?

So here is the photo taker in front of the camera showing her baby sister how to do it.  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

Even grandma got in the pictures when Mary took over the camera...

His name is JOHN! St John the Baptist is born today!

John out powerwashing last evening - he is home looking for work in the real world, and while he waits -trusting that there is a plan - he is helping out around the farm. 

Today is a very special feastday in the scheme of things - the birth of John the Baptist.  This was the day 4 years ago that we heard the word tumor for the first time in a most shocking proposal made by an arrogant neuro surgeon.  He told us that he wanted to do horrific brain surgery on our 20 year old son, and we were shocked to our cores.  We then found the best neuro surgeon in the world in St Paul, and asked for a second opinion - he told us that it was not even a consideration to do such a thing!   Even if he had told us that he would do it - I don't think that we ever could have said yes!  Now after 4 years and most miraculous healing the words that John and I just read together from the Gospel for today ring so powerfully true...'What then will this child be?'  For surely the hand of the Lord was with him."  Luke 1:66  John laid his head on my shoulder as we fought back tears - knowing that we know this to be true in his life - the burning question - "Why was I spared,Lord?"  is leading him onward down the narrow path carrying his most Cherished Cross.  A year in seminary and now work where, O Lord?

This is what greeted us at St Joseph's Hospital in St Paul - the vision of St Peregrine, who was cured of cancer when the Crucified Christ reached down from the Cross to heal him!  Daily I would attend mass in this chapel and then spend time with my rope holding me as I dangled on the side of the bottomless cliff - brain cancer in my 20 year old son- my rosary with the constant prayers for strength and the ability to Trust in her Son to Our Spiritual Mother!  Today celebrating this amazing feast day of our son, John, we are reminded that he truly has caused many to ask - "What will he be, for surely the hand of the Lord was with him?"  John, finds in his life that each day he is asking the Lord this exact question.  He feels that he Lord told him to not go back to the seminary next year, but to take some time to get out and "live" in the real world with a job and all the responsibilities that comes with it.  Yet, it is not coming very easily.  He is determined to find something in the area of home, and he is facing some raised eyebrows and opposition to this.  So on this feastday as he prayed for the Lord to help him find work that will use his God-given gifts and talents to serve others and to share with the world around him his amazing story of Faith received after a half-hearted prayer.  His story from his perspective was shared so powerfully in this article in our Diocesan Newspaper - the Prairie Catholic - http://dnu.org/news/documents/JAN.2013MASTERISSUE.pdf  It was such a blessing to his family to hear the story from his perspective!  To know that he feels cancer was an anwer to his prayer to find Faith in Jesus and His Bride, The Church!  Now what burns most deeply and powerfully inside of him is to share this story with all around him... by presenting himself and writing a book.  Recently we heard of another young man, who has gone through the battle for his life against cancer, and although he is on the point of entering internship to be a doctor - he merely wants to write articles to share the wonder of his experience also! 

June 24th - 4 years ago we stopped in at Ruth's on our ways from Sioux Falls to St Paul as we changed hospitals.  John was in shock after 4 days of entering "The Storm."  Ruth is expecting her 2nd child since this all happened, and we are called to pray each one here from the minute we know they are in the womb! What we find to be most interesting is that there are 9 years and one month between my oldest, Ruth, and my youngest, John.  And there will be 9 years and two months between Ruth's oldest, Simon, and this new little one!  There are patterns in our lives that make us pause and feel the hand of God upon us so strongly!  Ruth was the best oldest sister to her siblings!  

Lord, we are filled with such feelings of YOU this day!  We have a wonderful feastday going on here with this day of great power in our lives.  I was telling John today that for the first 3 girls - my boy's name was Luke, but it got to be overused at the time with many in the media.  So we changed it to John by time he came around.  We all kind of joke that it was another Sesame Street influence with an adorable black boy named, John-John.  But I truly believe now that it is our love for Blessed John Paul II, who was our Pope for our entire marriage until he died in 2005.  How we loved him, so now I see that this was truly the reason for John and why I loved the name so much by that time!  He is John Patrick, yet he is the reflection of our LOVE and devotion to Blessed John Paul II.  I have prayed to him for years, so for the day he will be Sainted will be a big crazy amazing day around here!  Lord, you spoke us through the Spirit and told us that our only son to walk this earth with us would be JOHN!  "John is his name."  said his mute father when they asked him!  Jesus, John and I just shared his burning desire to share his story... and he is looking making that his "Job" of sharing and working for Christ!  Jesus, we look to YOU and Your Truth and sharing Your LIGHT with all those that are longing to find a way out of the darkness as YOU are there with your arms wide to welcome them.  We are weak and we need you, Lord!  Jesus, we Trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

John wearing the silly glasses that he was prescribed in his early journey of double vision.

Bless-bless, Barb

"The nativity of St John the Baptist is a sacred reminder of the fact that I need to be born in my life every day:

-Someone who leaps for joy before the presence of the Lord, making me want to live my own relationship with Jesus with greater ardor and fervor;

-Someone to prepare the way of the Lord and to give me knowledge of salvation through forgiveness of my sins;

-Someone who turns my attention away from my distractions and perconceptions so that I will behold the Lamb of God as the true desire of my heart;

-Someone who models for me that there is no greater love in my life than for Jesus to increase and for me to decrease, especially in regards to my self-reliance, my self-assertion, my self-importance;

-Someone who is a burning and shining lamp whose radiance gives LIGHT to my path and courage to my heart, making me want to live for others;

-Someone so committed to the Truth that he is willing to lay down his LIFE for the Truth-become-flesh - witnessing to me that all true happiness comes through self- sacrifice;"

Fr Peter Cameron  Wow!  St John the Baptist, pray for us and for all those named Johh this great day of celebration!

4th of July 2009 - the day of celebration at Ruth and Paul's for all of our supporters in prayer.  Caringbridge site was started on June 24th, 2009 - the day we arrived in St Paul!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/johnverly  So many prayers came to us through this site and led to me writing this blog when it ended with John's healing.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=danielle+rose+-+pursue+me&mid=904BEDF5EB5B98D9973A904BEDF5EB5B98D9973A&view=detail&FORM=VIRE5

Danielle Rose - Psalm 139 - the Psalm read in every Catholic Church around the world at mass today!!!  The best!!! And so true of each one of us - Our God loves us this much!  Protect LIFE, Lord, and end the taking of innocent LIFE in the atrocity of abortion! 

John helping his dad with a humble acceptance of serving without counting the cost.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=God+Is+Danielle+Rose&view=detail&mid=BB09E9A81D230F3832E2BB09E9A81D230F3832E2&first=21&FORM=NVPFVR

One more Danielle Rose singing Hail Holy Queen!!!  Our Spiritual Mother protect us from harm!  May we find warmth held close to your mother's heart!

Fed from the Heart of Jesus!!!

I found this in my emails and just had to share it here...Take the time to read it as it speaks of a Eucharistic miracle that reminds us of the Truth as we receive Jesus in His Body and Blood!  I asked Simon, my 8 year old grandson, who had his first communion just about 2 months ago now.  What can I tell your aunt Little Sister Hallel about your receiving Jesus in Communion now.  "I feel closer to Jesus."  Simon simply said.  What else is there?  And we are fed from his Heart filled with burning LOVE and Mercy for us in our weak and humble state!


June 14, 2013



Dear Children of Medjugorje, praised be Jesus and Mary! 1. On June 2, 2013, Mirjana received her monthly apparition at the blue cross, surrounded by a huge crowd of pilgrims. After the apparition, she conveyed the following message: "Dear children! In this restless time, anew I am calling you to set out after my Son - to follow him. I know of the pain, suffering and difficulties, but in my Son you will find rest; in him you will find peace and salvation. My children, do not forget that my Son redeemed you by his Cross and enabled you, anew, to be children of God; to be able to, anew, call the Heavenly Father: 'Father'. To be worthy of the Father, love and forgive because your Father is love and forgiveness. Pray and fast, because that is the way to your purification, it is the way of coming to know and becoming cognizant of the Heavenly Father. When you become cognizant of the Father, you will comprehend that He is all you need. I, as a mother, desire my children to be in a community of one single people where the Word of God is listened to and carried out.* Therefore, my children, set out after my Son. Be one with him. Be God's children. Love your shepherds as my Son loved them when he called them to serve you. Thank you."

* Our Lady said this resolutely and with emphases. 2. June is a month rich in feasts for the Church! There is the celebration of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Heart, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Trinity! Contrast these with the "feast" celebrated by the President of the United States who has again declared the month of June "gay pride month," and the "feasts" of some French who stormed three different cathedrals in rebellion against the Catholics who oppose gay marriage which was legalized there in May. So, it is more important than ever that we welcome the immense graces that come through our celebrations of God and His saints. These graces are a light in the middle of the darkness that is now overtaking so many children, young people and older people. "He who looks to him will be radiant", says the Psalmist (Ps. 33). And looking to Him simply means adoring Him. In addition to celebrating the graces offered by God during the feasts this month, we can also prepare our hearts for the anniversary of the apparitions in Medjugorje by saying the prayer given by the Angel of Fatima to the 3 little shepherds in 1916 from the bottom of our hearts as often as we can. The novena celebrating the 32nd Anniversary of the Apparitions begins on June 15th and ends on the anniversary itself, June 25th. This prayer dispels so much darkness! It would be a lovely gift of thanksgiving to offer Mary for her 32 years of apparitions! God alone is able to dissipate the density of evil that attacks us every day, but the worshiper powerfully assists God's action by begging for His mercy. One can always hope for better politicians, but he who can and will change things is you, today! It is you, it is I, it is us, those who wish to adore the Living God in spirit and in truth. May the true worshipers grow in number and in quality, and the face of the world will be changed! Here is the prayer that came to us from heaven at Fatima:"Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifference by which He is offended. And through the infinite merit of His Most Sacred Heart, and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of you the conversion of poor sinners." 3. Miracle in Buenos Aires! In 1996, when Pope Francis was the auxiliary bishop of Cardinal Quarracino in Buenos Aires, a remarkable Eucharistic miracle occurred. The present Pope himself examined the issue and requested that the object of the miracle be photographed. The results are amazing. On August 18, 1996, at 7 pm, Father Alejandro Pezet was celebrating Mass in the church that is in the center of the city. He was about to finish distributing Holy Communion, when a woman came to tell him that she had found a host that someone had thrown away at the back of the church. Fr. Alejandro went to take a look and saw the host. It was in poor condition and soiled. Because he could not consume it, he put it in a small bowl filled with water and then placed it in the tabernacle of the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. On August 26 he opened the tabernacle, and to his great amazement he saw that the host had become a kind of bloody substance. He informed Mgr Jorge Bergoglio, who gave instructions to have the host photographed by professionals. These photographs, taken on September 6th clearly show that the host, which had become a fragment of bleeding flesh, had significantly increased in size. For several years, the host remained in the tabernacle, and the entire matter remained a secret. Because the host was not undergoing any kind of visible decomposition, Mgr. Bergoglio decided to have it scientifically analyzed. On October 5, 1999, in the presence of Mgr. Bergoglio's representative, (who had become Archbishop in the mean time) Dr. Castanon took a sample of the bloody fragment and sent it to New York to be analyzed. Because he did not want to influence the results of the examination, he decided not to tell the team of scientists where the fragment came from.One of the scientists was the famous cardiologist and forensic pathologist, Dr. Frederic Zugiba. He determined that the analyzed substance was actual flesh and blood containing human DNA. He stated that: "The analyzed material is a fragment of the heart muscle which is found in the wall of the left ventricle, near the valves. This is the muscle that contracts the heart. We must remember that the left ventricle of the heart acts as a pump that sends the blood through the entire body. The heart muscle is in a state of inflammation and contains a large number of white blood cells. This indicates that the heart was alive at the time when the sample was taken. I confirm that the heart was alive, because white blood cells die outside of a living organism. They need a live organism in order to remain alive themselves. Therefore, their presence indicates that the heart was alive when the sample was taken. In fact, these white blood cells had penetrated into the tissues, which is an even stronger indication that the heart had been subjected to intense stress, as if its owner had been severely beaten on the chest."Two Australians, journalist Mike Willesee and attorney Ron Tesoriero, witnessed the tests. Knowing the origin of the sample, they were taken aback by Dr. Zugiba's statement. Mike Willesee asked the scientist how long the white blood cells could have stayed alive if they had come from human tissue kept in water. Dr. Zugiba told him that they would have ceased to exist after a few minutes. The journalist then revealed to the doctor that the substance from which the sample was taken had first been preserved in ordinary water for one month, and that after three years, it was preserved in a bowl filled with demineralized water. Only then was a sample taken to be analyzed. Dr. Zugiba was very embarrassed by this information because he said that there was no way of explaining it scientifically.Dr. Zugiba then asked the following question: "Please explain the following to me: if this sample comes from a dead person, how is it that while I was examining it, the cells of the sample were moving and pulsating? If this heart comes from someone who was alive in 1996, how can it still be alive?" Only then did Mike Willesee reveal to Dr. Zugiba that the analyzed sample came from a consecrated host (white bread with no leavening), which had mysteriously been transformed into human flesh and blood. Astounded by this information, Dr. Zugiba said: "How and why could a consecrated host change its nature and become living human flesh and blood, this will remain an inexplicable mystery for science - a mystery completely beyond its competence." Then, Dr. Ricardo Castanon Gomez arranged for the laboratory reports written after the Buenos Aires miracle to be compared to the reports that were written after the Lanciano miracle, again without revealing the origin of the test samples. The experts who proceeded with this comparison concluded that the two laboratory reports had analyzed test samples coming from the same person. They further pointed out that the two samples revealed an "AB positive" blood type. This blood had the characteristics of a man who was born and lived in the Middle East. Only faith in the extraordinary action of God can give a reasonable answer! God wants us to be aware that He is truly present in the mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharistic miracle of Buenos Aires is an extraordinary sign, witnessed by science. Through this sign, Jesus wishes to awaken in us a living faith in His Real Presence in the Eucharist, real, and not symbolic. It is only with the eyes of faith, and not with our human eyes, that we can see Him in the form of consecrated bread and wine. In the Eucharist, Jesus sees us and loves us and wishes to save us. Don't miss this link, where you can read about how Dr. Castanon, an atheist who became a Catholic, explains this miracle (in Spanish)! http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DAPz1v8oz1ms&h=oAQGQBzhw&s=1

4. Filip Pavlovic. On July 3rd, the nephew of the visionary Marija Pavlovic-Lunetti will be ordained a priest at the church of St James in Medjugorje. He received his calling at the age of 4, and since then never thought of changing his direction. Let us pray with him and for him! As Mary tells us, let us love our shepherds as her Son loved them when He called them to serve us! Dearest Gospa, I see so many of your children who know nothing at all about faith, but who are calling to you from the depths of their misery! On this Anniversary of your apparitions, we beg you, spread upon us graces of light and love, help us open our hearts to welcome these graces as never before!

Sr. Emmanuel +  



Children of Medjugorje, INC
Box 8
Medjugorje
88266
Bosnia and Herzegovina

Simon on the day he received Jesus for the first time!  "I feel closer to Jesus.  He is in my heart."

Patrick makes his namesake very happy!

Grandpa Patrick saw this super cute picture of little grandson, Patrick, on Maria's blog today and he laughed with great glee!  Notice the big hands and the underwear with only a backpack on... both things that are so true of his grandpa on this rainy Sunday of rest.  They share the big hands and the state of dress or un...  We just had to laugh when Paul and his two boys stopped in to find grandpa in his comfortable state, and then to find out that his namesake in their hot El Paso is comfortable around the house in similar fashion.  His brother and sister helped Patrick get on his backpack and ready for a homeschool day around thier house on the army base.  How we love to see Patrick and his family now that Maria has started actually using her blog on a daily basis to give us a 5 minute update of what they are up to in their lives.  Thank you, Maria!  We are happy and smiling at your sharings!

We love you and miss you, Patrick and family!  Wish you were coming to Michigan with us in a week. Think and pray about it, OK?  Jesus, nothing can replace the family!  Jesus, we trust in YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb/grandma

Peaceful summer night on the farm- after all the rains for the last few days we have lush grass and a full birdbath just with rainwater, and the air is still and filled with the peace of a calm after the storms.  Herbert, the cat, is taking in the quiet of the world and on the lookout for birds or rabbits.  I just discovered that the rabbits ate all of my beets that had come up so nicely.  Good thing that Ruth has a lot to share- she is my master gardener, and keeps her mom in vegetables!  Thanks Ruth for the wonderful yummy bag of lettuce you sent with me last night!  So gooooooooood!!!!!   Thank you, Lord, for the bountiful rains that bring LIFE to the crops.

The corn is nearing knee high with the wonderful rains and now the heat.  Prayers being answered! 

"His wonderful LIGHT..." I Peter 2:9

I know that I am a broken record when it comes to LIGHT, but that is what our entire family is based on!  Back before we were married at our engagement weekend Pat calmed all my questioning fears about being open to a large family with this statement- "The world needs LIGHTS."  The road has been rocky and up and down... I would say that this statement from Christ today in the Gospel pretty much describes our childbearing years and pain that came with our losses in our quest for Family

"If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his lfe for my sake will save it."  Luke 9: 18-24  Yes, Lord, sharing the pain of our 

lost children - 7 of them - was something that I prayed my girls would never have to go through in their quest for family, yet it was what bound us together so closely with LOVE for each other.  We are very close as a family and sharing that pain/cross is the reason!  Through the Cross we found LIFE and LOVE and being a LIGHT was a part of that also.

Such amazing LIGHT on this day out in the pasture!  My Sunday afternoon nap is calling me, so I will just say that it is through the Cross that we find LIFE eternal.  Jesus, doesn't just say this for nothing and He didn't just model for us how he suffered and died on the Cross and then rose again to Newness of LIFE!  This is true for us also as we lose our selfish life to save it and bring it ever closer to Christ's LIFE eternal!  We can find a little slice of Heaven here on earth if we look to Jesus and his example to us.  Jesus, we are Yours and want to die to self so that you can live and reign and have your being within us!  Jesus, we Trust in YOU.  Amen and Halleluia

 

Bless-bless, Barb

"Crosses are the great means which God employs to destroy self-love in us and it increase and purify his love within us... the Crosses finish the work; without them it would be imperfect...There are so many different crosses that it is impossible to enumerate them all; and the same crosses are capable of infinite variety.  They change according to different characters, different circumstances, different degrees.  Some are simply painful, some are humiliating , others unite humiliation to pain.  Some assail man in his worldly possessions, in those who are dear to him, in his health, in his honor, even to his life.  Others assail him in his spiritual interests, in that which touches his conscience, in that which concerns his eternal salvation; and these are undoubtedly the most frequent, and most destructive, and most difficult to bear...

All have an effect upon us which inward mortification is unable to produce, and without them we cannot expect to attain to an eminent degree of holiness."

Fr Jean Nicolas Grou (1803)

Praying the office with John - What JOY!

Lots of rain - the water is deep and flowing!

The Lord spoils me with a redo of those wonderful times with my kids now with grandkids!

This is a repeat of Ruth 25 years ago - she had a daisy behind the ear of her calf Winnie.  Now Mary is the young girl with her calf Snow Crystal about a month and a half before she will be showing her at the fair.  We will be heading to Michigan in a week, and I remember that we took that picture of Ruth with Winnie and their daisys just before we headed to Michigan for the first time as a family.  It really gets me choked up when I am blessed with a  repeat of times past with my girls now with my grandkids!  The Lord just spoils me sometimes, and I so love it!

Even better now with mom and sister with the daisy!  Then there is that beautiful red barn in the background too.  I love to take pictures at Ruth and Paul's!

Grandpa teaches Simon the science of doing a cow wash - start at the top and work the soap down to rince well.  "She loves it when you scrub her hard after all those flies sitting on her back and biting on her out in the pasture, Simon."  "OK, grandpa."

Simon and Mary giving her a two sided scrub, and she seems to be liking it!  This is the cow that Mary named Banana three years ago, when she was a calf.  John told Mary to name it something that started with a "B" after her mom, Bertha - yes, for all you Bertha fans - this is one of her daughters, and really reminds John of her in the face.  John cried when Bertha was finally sold for slaughter, so it is wonderful to have daughters that are good cows like their mom was.  Another redo now with Bertha's daughter being shown by our grandkids at the fair.

Grandpa is starting to break in 1 year old Rose, and she is watching grandpa's every move with total concentration.  I think that soon she will be learning at the feet of her farmgirl sister, Mary.  Mary admits that she is a lucky farmgirl and is truly interested in her cows and calves. 

A good day of learning and Banana getting a cool and refreshing bath with an audience there to watch.  Much to learn from one generation to the next, and it feels like summer to see the kids working with beef.  Life is a gift and so wonderful to have those good memories repeat from one generation to the next.  Jesus, we trust in YOU and thank YOU.  Bless-bless, Barb

Queen Rose watching from the 4 wheeler.  She's getting the curly hair too!  So fun!