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!
I am out to work on my gardens,but wanted to share this wonderful piece of Catholicism as Zach, a young man with cerebral palsy, meets and learns about Catholicism from a 31 year old mother of 5, who converted to the Catholic Church with her husband 7 years ago! She has really studied and knows her Faith and her Church! Wow! It is wonderful to watch and learn and grow!
Luke squealing with JOY on Rose's riding toy, while Rose hangs out in his swing!
I hope after watching the video that you too are filled with such JOY that you could squeal like ittle Uke as the Truth is revealed in radiant LIGHT!
"Come, my Way, my Truth, my LIFE:
Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:" From the opening hymn John and I shared this morning. Yes, Jesus, you are all these things to me - You are my ALL! Bless-bless, Barb
There is a barn swallow that we are getting to recognize and know as it roosts on Mary's head and scolds the cat and two dogs... it's nest must be in the close proximity filled with little ones. It recognizes Mary as his protector and a height from which he can survey the landscape. May we too find comfort and HOPE there.
Just wrote on a young man's caringbridge site - who discovered that his brain tumor is growing again and doing stronger chemo - "When we are weak we turn to Jesus and he picks us up in his arms - The Good Shepherd." Truly we belong in his arms! Also pondering the suffering Hallel is called to endure in the heat, in her long sleeve habit with veil, with no air conditioning, with no fans, with the burning desire to go jump in the ocean or the lake or the cool waters anywhere, and unable to... this is truly a call to suffer for her spouse! Here I sit in an air conditioned house in front of a fan in shorts and a sleeveless shirt, and in a few days I will be on the big lake Michigan and walking in sugar sand with my feet in the water. Hallel we miss you, and know that your love for Christ is calling for you to make the sacrifice! Enough of my rambling for now. Bless-bless, Barb
Danielle Rose - Pursue me
Third Day - Revelation for my son-in-law, Lt Joseph... we miss you!!!!
"Lord thank you for keeping me on my knees." John at morning prayer this morning. "But it would be nice to stand up sometimes..." There have been answers coming lately to John's future with negative responses... very hard, yet they are just that answers with the door shut and the knowledge that there is an answer to the Plan that God has for him... the door will open to that path and we trust and hope and know that will happen! The positive today - "Well, I will be able to lead the Catholic boys camp next month." There is nothing better than being able to share your LIGHT with youth that are looking for their Faith journey to begin - to make their Catholic Faith their own! With the play for the next 4 days - John is filled with excited JOY to know that the Lord is showing him that he still has what he needs to be on stage and make people laugh and enjoy themselves. With the hard knocks the last few days - there are also very positive things going on in his life!
Little Rose Ida out on the porch of their special playhouse that mommy built for them. She kept telling me with a big smile on her face that "Mommy" did this for me, because she loves me! Ruth is at the hospital working her 12 hour shift today.. she was on call but was called in this morning. On days like that she is not sure what the day holds and this line from Psalm 146 - a Hallel Psalm of highest praise to the Lord- "the plans that day came to nothing." How often does this happen to us? For me it is all the time! I often think that my life is not my own, and you may notice that I am writing this later today. My gardens are beckoning and I leave for 2 weeks in a couple days to our big inland sea - cabin on Lake Michigan. With the help of my husband I realized that I needed to work in the garden first thing in the morning and get to this later. It does feel mighty good to have one big piece done with some left for later today and over the next two days. I did get to take a break by picking up Ruth's 3 from swimming lessons and will see them again this evening as I watch them usually until Ruth gets home about 8p. Maybe this all boils down to giving without counting the cost/our lives are not our own/Jesus, I am yours!
Cute Rose had to show me the chalk board in the play house and the pretty flowers her mommy drew along with the cupboards, table that makes into a bed, and play stove too! For my 4 girls we had an old chicken house for their playhouse and we put an old table and chairs in there for them. Ruth went all out, and her kids are very much appreciative of mommy's hard work for them!
Well, my rosary is calling me, and I really can't be sure what is around the corner for me. I can think I have plans and then they change 10 times over. The ending line of the Gospel today is one that I love to ponder..."By their fruits you will know them." Matthew 7:20 It can lead me down judgmental paths, and I know that is not what the Lord intended. Look at it this way... by being willing and able to do things for others when they ask them of me and sometimes before they ask - you see the fruits of appreciation and happiness and good. But if I rejected these intrusions into my plans and resented them and did not do what I needed - the fruits of that would be anger and disappointment and bad fruit. I prefer the world around me being one of the best good it can be and the fruits to be those of the Spirit within me that allows me to die to self so that Christ may live within me and within my domestic Church/family!
Catholic tradition lists 12 fruits: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity. Galatians 5:22 Now wouldn't life be great if this is how we treated each other?
Thanks mom for LIFE and for showing me that you love me with this beautiful playhouse!
Jesus, these last two days have been some hard lessons on trust in YOU and knowing of your love and forgiveness and mercy for us no matter what! There are a lot of good that come from our hard knocks and disappointments in life. There is no doubt that you have the perfect plan to use our talents and time for the good and for the good fruit to fill our world with all that is GOOD! Jesus, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
"Compel your mind and heart to rise to God on high and, having produced in yourself a clear consciousness and feeling of God's boundless love and of his impartial truth, try through this to thrust out the passionate movement and to replace it by its opposing good." Fr Lorenzo Scupoli (1610)
May we find JOY sharing Faith/Family/Farm with LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT
This grabbed me today after a episode in the family that required getting away with Jesus to yell and PRAY!!!! I was in the garden tearfully praying as I put tomato fences on and pulled weeds. I knew that our family was united in prayer with all the Saints, Our Lady and Jesus! Why worry? "Do not be afraid." Jesus tells us over and over and over - 365 times in the Bible - once for every day of our lives! "Fear not." With time alone in prayer - we find ourselves at a better place tonight, and knowing that we are weak and need to keep those lines of communication - LOVE between Jesus and each one of us! Our love one for the other only means that we totally care, and pray, and hope, and give without counting the cost. Jesus, we are weak, and need YOU. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Bless-bless, Barb
Maria just read to her kids the readings for today as well as about the feast day today - the Nativity of St John the Baptist. She will be doing Catholic homeschool throughout her time here, and it is a gift to listen to all they are learning about their faith! So wonderful to see their shining faces gathered around their mom!
Here is Patrick now 20 months old... he will be a big brother to a baby brother in less than 3 months!
Maria is now off to spend some time with her grandmother, Anna, in town. John and I had a chance to pray together morning prayer - how I rejoiced with him on this his feast day of the Nativity of St John the Baptist! It is a most powerful day for me as I recall driving to Sioux Falls to be with John and sitting at his bedside reading these exact readings and prayers with him! Imagine the tears and emotion that coursed through me as I read - "You shall name the child John, and many shall rejoice at his birth." or from Psalm 71 in morning prayer - "from my mother's womb you have been my help. My hope has always been in you." and then Psalm 139 from mass today..."Truly you formed my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I will give you thanks for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are your works." Too much for words other than to say that the power of God at work in John's life continues on and on to this moment in this day! http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/johns-cancer-stories.html This is the page that goes into the story of John's battle.
It is so wonderful to see my daughter and family back on the farm as they begin their whirlwind journey reconnecting with family on a 3 week stay! Jesus, we thank and praise You for all the blessings we have in this life. We find a small slice of heaven in our family and sharing our life on the farm and our Faith. We thank you for the healing of John and of Patrick. Jesus, we trust in YOU always and no matter what we face. We know that you listen to our prayers - even when they are half-hearted. You know that deep down we long to be with YOU and to find The Truth in You and your Bride, The Church... there we find LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT! St John the Baptist on this your feastday - show us how to turn our attention away from distractions and preconceptions so that I will behold the Lamb of God as the true desire of my heart. Jesus, with St John, who continues to prepare the Way to YOU, we trust in YOU. Amen and Hallelujah
Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
May St John the Baptist remind us that every day we need "to leap for joy before the presence of the Lord making me want to live my own relationship with Jesus with greater ardor or fervor." see www.magnificat.com
Yes, we are building a new shop so it is quite barren behind them.
Third Day - Cry out to Jesus
Maria's husband sings beautifully and plays guitar. He sounds just like Third Day! Thinking of him today - Joseph, we miss you!
Mary was the star strawberry picker! We had our work cut out for us, and now have lots of wonderful jam made and strawberry shortcake for supper too! Thanks for all your hard work, Mary!
Maria looks over Ruth's playhouse and Patrick looks over the kitten that jumped in the window.
Simon working at cleaning the strawberries. Thank you, Simon!
Great fun on the trampoline! Family time is a gift!
Lots of action!!!
Patrick, Luke and Maria get some smiles going...
Therese has waited to hold big/little Luke for a long time...since Christmas. "He got really big!"
So nice to have a crew of my helpers there to help with the big freezer jam project.
Maria lucked out...
Rose and Patrick sharing (?) the scooter in the dappled light and Our Lady.
The kids out for supper on the porch - it was a very beautiful evening to share family time.
Ruth started giving grandpa a hair cut, then Maria's 2 boys and all 3 of Ruth's - even Luke got his 3rd haircut!
Then it was bubble sink time for the two youngest. Baths are done here and we are all heading to bed - so tired after a great day of sharing family time on the farm. Jesus, we thank you for safe travels and good times shared putting up food for the family and catching up after being apart for some time. Jesus, we trust in YOU. Bless-bless, Barb
