The Pat and Barb Verly family and their 5 children, in laws and grandkids along with many prayer warriors have been drawn together by John's cancer... sharing daily for 8 months started this blog- Family Soul Story - Our faith, family, farm and now our cancer journey called HEALING have colored and deepened our world. WE continue to share and depend on the support of our prayer warrior community, that has lowered us into the Lord's presence for His healing!
The first few bites of applesauce he made a face, and then he fussed. No, he wasn't fussing because he didn't like it... he wanted grandpa to feed him more!
He liked it! "Keep it coming grandpa!"
Rose thought it was really funny to see her baby brother eating applesauce! Luke got to join the crowd of hungry eaters tonight!
"Thanks Grandpa! I am ready to eat and I really like that applesauce you made for me last fall!" That's why we do the work little Luke - to see that dirty smiling happy face covered with his first applesauce! Bless-bless, Barb
Love to see those big huge farmer hands feeding the babies! It makes me smile with warm feelings of love and gratitude for my life on the farm!
Once again I have my friend... Scott Hahn, to thank for posting this today! As a woman, who has had 11 pregnancies, I know very personally and profoundly the knowledge of "Light of LIFE" within me! All LIFE is a gift, but for Mary she is the temple, gate, beacon, root, wheat, mirror... bringing into the world ALL LIFE, All Light into the darkness of sin and death, and ALL LOVE from which we are healed and forgiven and allowed to go forward as His!
How I love our old fashioned farm house. The other day Rose woke up from her nap in one room and standing out in the hall I could see the kitty on the other side of the wall in the next room. She heard the word kitty and she was out of bed, and...
was delighted to find the soft kitty to pat in the next room! Cute 21 month old granddaughter with a snuggly kitty equals photo op... John shared a great article this morning about how important it is to attend mass together as a family. They way she put it... "My parents made me eat 3 meals a day! Then they made me go to Church - both are dealing with LIFE or death!"
"Church isn’t a place you go to get pumped up about life. It isn’t entertainment like a movie or concert. It is literally a life and death matter. Eternal life. Just as a loving parent wouldn’t allow their child to wander in the road or to quit school, a loving Christian parent also does not give the option to their children about going to church, learning Bible stories at home, and praying together. Do your kids always jump for joy when they hear you say, “Time to get up! Let’s get ready for church!” No. They won’t. Do they get excited for school every morning? Hardly. But you still make them go. Why? Because you are the parent and you know what’s best. Even when they complain, you serve them healthful meals and limit their junk food intake. You set boundaries for their own safety when playing outside. You insist they go to school because you’re looking at the long term picture. And you are right to do those things. How much more so are you responsible for doing all you can to secure their eternal well being?
Yes, kids can be brought up in a loving Christian home and still turn away later. That’s on them. But you, parents, have a task of the utmost importance. God has placed these precious children into your homes for such a brief while. You have them with you for perhaps 1/5 of their lives. Set a strong foundation while they are under your roof. Take them to church. Make sure they understand that they are sinners and that Jesus is their Savior. They are never too young to learn this. My one-and-a-half year old sees a cross and excitedly shouts, “Jesus!” Don’t use the excuse that “they wouldn’t understand this.” Try them. I don’t understand it all myself, but I still believe. And you’d better believe that the Holy Spirit works in their hearts effectively. My children sometime amaze me with the insights they pick up during devotions or Bible readings. The strength of their faith often humbles me. Once when I was having a terrible day, my oldest asked, “Can I pray with you?” He was nine at the time. He knows there is power in prayer. He perceives that sometimes there’s nothing he can say that will make it better, so he’ll just go straight to the One who does have that power. Do my own kids complain about church? Yes. Do they tell me it’s boring? Sometimes, yes. They say the same things about school. But church and school are different environments for a reason. School is centered around learning and thus has its own schedule and structure. Church is a hospital for sinners. That would be all of us, mind you. You, me, the drug dealer a few streets away- all of us are sinners in need of a Savior. So what do we do at church? We confess our sins. Why do we do this at the start? To “wipe our feet” before entering God’s house, so to speak. Then we are assured of forgiveness. We hear God’s Word. We sing hymns proclaiming what Christ has done for us. We hear sermons where our pastors preach Christ. We don’t go to church to hear what we have to do to gain heaven. No, Christ did it all. 100%. We can’t do one thing to merit salvation for ourselves. That’s why we hear sermons about Jesus and not about us. We take the body and blood of Jesus in Holy Communion for the strength of our souls. And we depart refreshed to serve God by serving our families, friends, and neighbors in Christian love." Ruth Meyer http://truthnotes.net/2014/03/24/why-i-would-never-force-my-kids-to-go-to-church/ For the entire article... well worth the read!
Grandma caught in the act of trying to capture cuteness!
A better angle...
Pat and I just had a special laugh together after going to Maria's blog and discovering a vocation story rooted in their attending not just weekly mass together, but daily mass as a family!
"This morning at Mass the homily was about vocation and how Mary accepted hers from God. After it finished, David leaned over to me and asked me what vocations were. I said it was what he would decide to do when he grew up, whether he would be a priest, a Little Brother, or a dad.
He thought momentarily and then very seriously responded with this:
"Mom, I don't want to be a priest or a Little Brother or a dad when I grow up.
When I grow up I want to be a…(pause for thought)…a... (obviously having trouble thinking of the right word and then a look of excitement when he thought of the proper term)…an altar server!"
Yeah - pretty much the best!"
The picture of David that went with this adorable sharing! Pat and I both commented that we were sure he would name one of his favorite super heroes - Robin Hood, Spiderman, etc. Knowing that he attends mass daily with his mother and siblings and these are the kind of discussions that result along with the thinking he has going through his young head, heart, and soul! As Maria says - "pretty much the best!" So true! Knowing the Maria that discovered her Catholic Faith that first year at St Thomas in Catholic Studies, and attending daily mass ever since... this is just so wonderful to witness the fruits of that deep Faith discovered when she was about to leave the Church for E-free! Here again a story of parents being firm and not caving to the whims of their children! When we looked at colleges with Maria, she decided on another private college - "They are all the same, anyways." "No! If we are paying for a private college - it will be Catholic!" was our firm stance. She went to St Thomas, and in the first week asked a seminarian where she could find an E-free church. "We need to talk." That talk brought her to the realization of what she was walking away from, and I received this letter from her at a TEC retreat I was working... it is forever taped inside my Bible!
Mom, I love you! I have been stubborn lately about this statement, but it is true. You have always loved me, even when I totally turned against you and all you believe in. Well, now you know that prayers are definitely answered, because I know that my faith filled a lot of your prayer time in the last 2 years. My relationships at college have really helped me. I have definitely renewed my love of the Catholic Church and everything in it, but I am still in need of prayers for me to continue to grow in this faith.
I don't think I've ever told you this, but you and dad are amazing. You raised all of us in His Church and built us a faith foundation on which we can now grow on. Thank you! Maria Theresa
Maria last week after daily mass at a special birthday party others had to surprise Therese on her 6th birthday! Truly a family of Faith!
You can only imagine the tears that flowed when I received this precious letter! As a result of this there are two girls/women I have included on Maria's decade of the rosary daily that are struggling with making their faith their own. I pray that they too will write a similar letter to their parents someday - finding the Truth and appreciating the all important prayers we say for our children every day!
Lord, today in the Gospel you remind us that the Law/Commandments are there to guide us to the goodness and the right path. That narrow path we are to walk down following You and carrying our Most Cherished Cross! Every day we are called to pray for the needs of those in our domestic Church/family! At times it seems that we see no hope or answers, but when we look back and remember the miracles and blessings - we are filled to overflowing with your goodness and LOVE and care and concern for each one of us. You have counted every hair on our heads and you knew us from conception on! There is no reason to hide from your LIGHT, as you know all! We are yours and we long to leave behind that selfishness and self concern that keeps us from being totally Yours and allowing your Holy Spirit to live and work within us! May we as parents know that all of Faith begins in the home! We share our Faith with Joy in our domestic Church/home! We attend mass daily/weekly together, as a family, from the first week of birth on. We gather to pray, to read the Word, to share the lives of the Saints, to share family meals begun with a prayer of blessing over the food we are about to eat, to discuss the deep meaning of vocations and callings from God - what He wants us to be when we grow up and not the self-centered ideas we might have, to value all life and to open to LIFE and how it calls us to give of ourselves for the new life we are there to nourish and to raise with the right values and morals of The Church... not out of duty, but rather seeing that it is right and just! How do we do all this? Not on our own, but by dying to self so that Christ may live in us! He is our strength in our weakness - He carries us in His arms and shows us the Way, the Truth and The LIFE! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Oh, Lord, for the warmth for shirt sleeve weather once again!
"Your word, O Lord, for ever
stands firm in the heavens:
your truth lasts from age to age,
like the earth you created." Psalm 119:89-90
"Listen, my children." Proverbs 7:24
Carrying our Cross - easy and light? Jesus, assures us and I trust HIM!
Danielle Rose - Psalm 139 Fearfully and wonderfully made!
Lead me to the Cross
Casting Crowns - The East is from the West
I love this picture and when I took it and looked at it just days after the birth of Therese to Maria and Joseph... I realized that Therese had been to mass every day in the womb and now was returning the first day home from the hospital outside of the womb. She has attended mass most every day since, and now Maria is carrying her 6th in her womb - she has lost two to miscarriage on her journey.
Three sisters with newborn,Therese!
As I pray for Maria and her child daily - I am filled with much peace knowing that this new life is also getting the great graces and blessings as well as nourishment of the Bread of Heaven and earth in the Body and Blood of Christ! Maria is going forth filled with Hope and Faith as she looks to her older sister, Ruth, who has now had her 3rd miracle baby after rupture! So we Hope and Pray for Maria and this new Life!
Grandma holding this gift of LIFE... soon two more as Nancy and Maria are both expecting!
Susan/Hallel holding her Goddaughter March of 2008! WE know of her prayers for all as she receives Christ daily in His Word and Eucharist! As she kneels before Him in the monstrance in Adoration! We are lifted on the wings of eagles!
Godmother, Little Sister Hallel, with her Goddaughter, Therese last April in Kansas City! Sharing the blue!
Recently I have become Scott Hahn's friend on facebook, and it gives me such a shot of JOY when I read his posts! Recently he was with his wife and son in Rome, and realizing the roots of his journey into the Church just makes each sharing about the Pope and The Church that much more wonderful and powerful! This morning he had this picture and spoke about The amazing feast day today of The Annunciation with these words - Scott Hahn
"A blessed Feast of the Annunciation to all! Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us, that we may love and serve your Son, as you always do." Knowing that as a Protestant Mary would be totally disliked and misunderstood and neglected - it just makes his proclamation to the world of her being #1 The Mother of God and #2 the path to loving and serving her Son, and #3 bringing our needs to her in prayer that she in turns prays for us... it just makes the Truth of our amazing True Church that much more rich and glorious to share the discovery with this on fire convert or should I say revert? Nancy and Bill went to a marriage day for those that have been married 7 years of less, and the priest there said that those that have entered the Church are not converts but reverts in that we are coming back into the True Church! Take note, dad!
Sunbathing claves out on fresh bedding... caring for little ones is a lot of work for the farmer and also for the mothers of all new life. This day is the beginning of all renewal of LIFE... through God entering the world in human form in the womb of Mary. So cool the way the Church has this feast 9 months from the birth of Jesus! I love our Church, and it is a joy to share that with those that feel the same way about it! With all the greatest minds, hearts and souls of the world working to get us to heaven - guiding us through the dogmas, the sacraments, the Word, the Saints, Our Lady, Queen of the Saints, the sacramental, more than we can ever need! Just reach out start those Hail Marys - as we say these words from the Gospel over and over a peace fills us and "the Word of God germinates in our soul." see www.magnificat.com That was amazing to read this morning as Pat and I shared prayer before the day ahead of us! All I know is that these were my constant source of strength and comfort as we faced John's battle against brain cancer, little grandson, Patrick, born dead and then brought back to healing in NICU for 2 weeks, the pregnancies of Ruth and now Maria, each and every one of the challenges we face with our kids, kids-in-law, grandkids, my own, my family's challenges, Pat's family's challenges, our parents... the list is very long and all we face is lifted to Jesus through Mary and her prayer of the rosary.
Mother cows standing over their little ones and licking them in love and care.
Today I long to get into Adoration and there I am filled with great sustenance as I place all those in our families in the monstrance with Jesus! Knowing that my family is over 100 and Pat's is not that much behind... you can imagine how powerful it is! I find myself smiling broadly and raising my hands with praise as I am newly aware of a new one to add - most recently it was a baby expected by a niece as well as a new grandchild Maria is expecting at the same time. There is no secrets or holding back in our family as we know the importance of the prayers, and want those to surround the new little life as soon as possible! How powerful to know that the Word we say in the "Hail Mary" causes that Word to germinate in us! May we die to self, so that You may live and move and have your being in us, O Lord! There is nothing more special and exciting than to feel that new life within you moving for the first time! After the first months of the yucks/morning sickness and fatigue, the stirring of that little one in your womb is a private "thank you, mom, for suffering for me to have life." The movement is very inward, and private, and personal, and brings joy!
The rosary gifted to Patrick early in his rebirth and fight for LIFE from an older man attending a mass for him. We found out later that many of the prayers on this beloved mended rosary were said for his grown son with Downs Syndrome, Patrick! Such a powerful testament to the power of prayer, and now to Patrick's healing!
The most recent picture of Patrick from Maria's blog yesterday! The beauty of healing for all to see! In a few months Patrick will be a big brother! Please continue to pray for a safe pregnancy for Maria and the baby on this feast day for all LIFE! Jesus, we are filled with such Hope for all our needs this day as we are reminded of the salvation we have been given through the womb of Mary, the Mother of God and our Spiritual Mother of heaven and earth! "In Jesus, God has placed, in the midst of barren, despairing mankind, a new beginning which is not a product of human history but a gift from above." Pope Benedict XVI "Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will." Psalm 40:8-9 from mass today. This is what Mary said to the angel, and so we were blessed with newness of LIFE! We were given the ability to be totally Yours, O Lord. To die to self, so the Holy Spirit may dwell in our hearts, minds and souls! Such a blessing to sit in the confessional last evening and lay my burdens at your feet - it hurt to see how sinful I am and to acknowledge this, yet to know of your unconditional LOVE and forgiveness for me! May I go forth now closer to You and serving you in all those I encounter in my domestic Church/family. Jesus, I trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your Word." Mary to the angel in the Gospel today!
"Hail Mary
full of grace
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed are you among women,
and Blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen"
I sat further back in Church tonight at mass and I looked around to see children with their parents - I mean a 50-60 year old child with her aging parents, parents there who I know have a 40 something married daughter with severe cancer, a young man in his 30s, who has had a cancer battle over the last year, with his parents... before me the Truth I have known most especially through my years in hospice. When all the fluff is taken away by facing illness or dying - what really matters is Faith and Family!
As I was praying my rosary today - this picture grabbed me and wouldn't let go... this was a picture of how John's brain cancer brought our family together to face and fight together with Jesus in the front of the boat and in control in the midst of the storm! Susan returned from France and we were together united in our Faith in Jesus, and his Bride, The Church! When John's article appeared in the Prairie Catholic - this was the picture he wanted to include as for him having his family around him was everything along with the Faith he had half-heartedly prayed for. "Two weeks later I had brain cancer." Jesus, we trust in YOU. Bless-bless, Barb
I added Susan to this picture as I drove to Sioux Falls early in John's battle...
Soon she was really there, and we were united in LOVE/LIFE/LIGHT! John was in the arms of his family, and that is all he ever wants or needs.
Pat walking down the streets of Kansas City with two of our little sisters of the Lamb! John and I just encountered them in our morning prayer. When we read Jesus mention the widow of Zarephath in the Gospel we know well this story and how it relates to Our Community of the Lamb! I Kings 17:5-24 is the story of Elijah and the widow - this is where Little Sister Marie was led when she asked the Lord to show her how He could be asking her to beg for their food from the poor! It tells of a severe famine and a widow and her son, who were going to make their last loaf of bread and then starve to death. But Elijah told them to make some for him of their last flour, oil and water and they would never run out! So it happened as he promised. You can imagine the stories that has come back to them from those that have shared what little they have with the Community as they go out on "mission" and knock on the door of the poor begging for their food... they have received back in their giving!
Newly married - Pat and I about 35 years ago in our work clothes after milking cows in the morning. Pat loves to share a story Little Sister Alma shared with him as they walked through the poor neighborhood they live in there in Kansas City a few years back! They knocked on the door of a home and a young woman answered the door with tattoos showing that she had been in prison and was in a gang. She was very angry that they would come asking for food from her..."I don't even have enough for my kids!" As they shared with her and spoke to her about Christ and His love for her - they represent Christ knocking on the door... she finally said to Little Sister Alma - "I could give you a glass of water." Little Sister Alma was very moved and excited to see this girl come to a place of giving and tending and caring for the needs of others, and taking a step towards healing and recognizing the face of Jesus. "She came a step closer to heaven that day." In this small story of an encounter on a mission we can see how this radical call can touch those that have not before encountered Jesus.
The Word come to LIFE!
Little Therese with her Godmother, Little Sister Hallel, and Little Sister Alma a few years back in KC! Now Therese has her own habit to tie her closely to this wonderful Community!
Therese hugging a statue of Bernadette! Now she has a cousin, Bernadette, to hug!
Therese and her Godmother a few years back. When I prayed for Hallel today - "That we won't miss her too much." Well, having Krusties pancakes for breakfast and now all these photos and prayer-time... well, I am majorly missing her!
Nancy's wedding dress! A shared celebration!
No longer is this big brick rectory on the hill... now the new little monastery. How we love that they have put down roots in the heart of our country! How our country needs this heart beating with LOVE and burning for Christ to help us find our way out of the darkness and into the LIGHT of Truth! Lumen Christi - the LIGHT on the hill!
When I saw this icon while in KC - I thought at first that it was Isaiah 55:1, but then discovered that it was John 7:37! So much these last few days about the healing of Life-giving waters! The water and blood that flowed from Christ for us on the Cross! "The Lord washes clean in the waters of life all who approach the stream of living waters seeking pardon, healing, and peace." see www.magnficat.com The first reading is also a wonderful one of the healing of Naaman the leper by God through the prophet Elisha.
Jesus, we are blessed and enriched to have our Community of the Lamb in our lives! The Lamb slain for us - YOU, O Lord, the spotless Lamb, pierced for us and pouring forth upon us the food of Your Blood and the healing of the waters! John and I are watching a cow have her calf on the cow TV now. John says that he can tell that I am commiserating with her pain, and we have a dialog of what she is thinking and experiencing with her up and down and mooing in the labor pains. So, I apologize for the distracted sharing today. I guess life is just that way filled with all that comes at us to enrich and make us pause and realize the wonder of this world we are surrounded by. Yet, there are also those moments that are hurtful and painful - the times of suffering that comes with each day. The difficulties we all face in our domestic Church/family - the Most Cherished Cross which if we embrace we find - LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT! The Cross hurts and we need to continue to LOVE without counting the cost! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"He has chosen our impotence in order to give us the power of his love, our weakness to give us the strength , our fear to give us his courage, our ignominy to give us his majesty, our pain to give us his peace, our wounds to give us his power to heal, our dying to give us his life; our interdependence that we may give him to one another...
Yes, and behold in him yourself. Each one of us can recognize himself, a sinner, in the disfiguring, the bruising, the ugliness, hiding the beauty of the fairest sons and daughters of men. And there can be few who do not recognize themselves, too, in the midst of the crowd that lately spread their garments to be trodden by the little donkey he rode on, and now clamor for his blood." Caryll Houselander (1954)
Calves love fresh bedding in the sun, and they just make you smile to see them healthy and happy!
John and I rejoice at the birth of the new calf - being licked by its' mother, who is hugely relieved to be done with labor and welcoming her newborn!
Lord, thank you for the gift of all LIFE! It blows our minds to see your creation so close and personal day to day. Life is good!
Francesca Batistelli - Lead me to the Cross
I love this and it is so True!
Therese and Patrick from Maria's blog!
Now the brothers - David and Patrick!
I was remembering when little Dave would sing this while I lived with them for the birth of Patrick Oct 2012! He would roar like a lion!
