Why we must gain that pearl of great price for ourselves first and foremost!

The bean snapping crew involves one with a cutting board and a knife, and one eating every other one, and some getting the seeds out to examine.  Life on the farm is one large learning experience. 

Pat and Rose buckled into the seat next to him putting the bales on the two long piles.  I went into the house to get Pat some cold water out of the refrigerator and had a kitten jump out of the fridge!  Such a life filled adventure happens over there with the young family living on the farm!

All the way to the top of the pyramid...

Now the bottom row again...

Luke waiting his turn to go with grandpa and pick up another load of bales.

"Rose was counting the bales."  Lots to learn on the farm even counting hundreds of bales can give you a math lesson.

John helping with bale pickup and stacking...

These kids are the best eaters!  Grandma made them spaghetti and they dug in!  They are a joy to feed and I wondered if it saddened them to be sitting at their old table eating supper 4 months after our move.  They seemed content with the change and not too nostalgic about leaving this home behind.  The farm is better for the change!

Rose has adopted her brother, Simon's, habit of eating his plain with no sauce.  We do make wonderful spaghetti sauce which we will be making soon...

The tomato crop is huge and our work is cut out of us... thank goodness I have Ruth and her hard working wonderful kids to give me a hand, and yes, Pat and Paul help when they can, too!  John is around this year and he has always wanted to help in the kitchen with the girls on canning days... well, John it looks like your wish might come true this year.

I miss this... these are from Ruth's garden this year which was my former garden.  I had wonderful vines and loads of wonderful squash blossoms, not so much here,  I snapped some of these beauties the other day.

Finally concentrating on the Gospel for today after reading it 3 times already.... John and I just shared morning prayer/office and his take on the Gospel was that it seems like a selfish reading in how we find the pearl of great price and sell our all to obtain it for ourselves.  The Meditation for today by Servant of God Monsignor Giussani (2005) speaking about the Presence of Great Price...

The Presence is the reality that stands before us and, by the power of his Spirit, is in us.  It is permanent in our life, and is so powerful that, in our adherence to it, it makes a new creation possible in us... his life goes on, like a fresh spring, which no limitation of ours can stop.

God's artwork found in our humble farm garden with each new day and then the fruit that it bears to feed us!

We see that to share our faith/the Truth with those around us most especially with those in our domestic Church/family... we must obtain that pearl of great price and place it foremost in our lives which is the fresh spring, which no limitation of ours can stop!  How uplifting and refreshing is that to ponder while I am watching the Holy Father arriving in Krakow on World Youth Day.  Lord, bring LIFE into your Church through the young people selling all for the treasure of great price! 

Lots to do and animals to care for and projects to work on for the fair coming up... and kids get tired!

Lord, yes, we have found your forgiveness and love through the Cross... the Way, the Truth and the LIFE which is a well springing up in us, and we cannot stop it through our sinfulness and smallness and weakness and illness and missteps and steps backwards and selfishness and indulgences... it will not stop!  We long to water the seeds that have been planted and bear much fruit!  May much come of this WYD in the land of my hero, St John Paul II!  St John Paul II, St Faustina, St Maximilian Kolbe, Our Lady, pray for us!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

Keeping Luke safe until his turn to ride in the tractor with grandpa Pat.  Being open to LIFE and raising them as LIGHTS for this world of sin and darkness.

http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html

Bless-bless, Barbara Luke

Some special time with Pat stepping back to our early married years as we say goodbye to an old friend and her family.  Visiting an artisian well - "I would come here and get water for the archery club.  This well has been running continuously for the last 60 years, and cattle would drink here years back." 

The "fresh spring, which no limitation of ours can stop."

Just outside our bedroom door... mom and dad swoop at us when we go out to the clothesline!

The squirrel got away, but the cat had hope in his heart...

So wonderful to have time to pray with the start of the new day...

5 years ago we were in France for Hallel's first vows - today she is in Krakow for World Youth Day!  May many hear his call and respond!

http://www.dosmallthingswithlove.com/2016/07/on-welcoming-a-new-baby.html

Love this sweet post by my Nancy in the midst of her ocean of wonderful LIFE - 4 with her oldest 5! 

"I stitched up these cute little baby feet for my younger sister who is expecting her fifth child this fall.  She told us the name, Evangeline, and we are all over the moon excited that it’s a girl, since her last three have been boys.

But, we’d be excited anyway.  Even though it’s her fifth.  Even though babies aren’t anything new for us or for her, it’s still very very exciting.
When Josie arrived this spring, even though she was our fourth, even though I had been through this three times before, it all felt new with her, new in every since way.  It felt just as scary and thrilling and strange and so deeply sweet.  A lot of these feelings I recalled feeling with my other babies, but even still I was swept away by them once more."  Nancy

Nancy's sweet kids on a children's farm trip to other day by KC!

Another one of grandma and the bean crew making short work of a pile of beans!

Pursue me - Danielle Rose

Grandparents love from heaven!

Nancy has given me permission to use her great pictures when they are on her family blog, so she was my photographer today while they went to a children's farm near by their home in Kansas City.  It looks like Josie slept through it all, but will be remembered in the picture of the 4.  Things sure look lush and green there, too!

Tractor climbing is always part of farm life...

One animal we have never had is goats, except for a visit from a neighbor goat for a farm trip one time.  Nancy revealed her love for them and shared that they will own goats someday!  Dominic looks like he is ignoring this one or not aware that he is being followed.


With this being the feast day of the earthly grandparents of Jesus, the parents of Mary - Joachim and Ann - I am pondering the beautiful power of grandparents watching out for us from heaven and their great joy at the children of their children.  For their Mary to be the chosen vessel to bring God into the world... it doesn't get any more wonderful than that!

Gus with the goats that are in his future!


These thoughts of our grandparents, who go before us, carried over to my sister, Mary, who died 30 years ago from cancer leaving her dairy farmer husband and 20 month old daughter.  Well, her daughter just announced that she will be having a little girl in December!  I am thinking of the joy in heaven as my sister, Mary the Mother of God and our Spiritual Mother, and Joachim and Ann, and all the angels are Saints are rejoicing with each new life!  It was a mindset that really took me out of the "gloom of my heart" into the clouds of the beautiful heavens above the worries and burdens of this world!  This words at the end of our morning prayer/office shared with John really led me out of the distracting worries I had for this day... "let the radiance of your love scatter the gloom of our hearts.  The light of heaven's love has restored us to life: free us from the desires to belong to darkness."

Goats do not have a shy bone in their bodies, and they are very curious.


Why the burden of gloom today?  There is much pressing on me to accomplish and a lot of it involves dealing with on line stuff that tends to make me overwhelmed and unsure.  I am just accomplishing small things that I have been putting off one baby step at a time today. It is also the interruptions and unexpected changes in plans that disrupt my thoughts and plans.  That's life as they say!

Thanks, Nancy, for sharing great pictures of the grandkids 7 hours away!


We are heading their way in a week and a half with John, who is to be the Godfather of Josephine.  Her Baptism will happen a week from Sunday!  I take my role as Godparent more and more seriously for my 5... the days of presents has turned into praying for them - I have a special decade of the rosary that I try to pray each day for them - The Baptism of Jesus/the first Luminous mystery as I was at their baptisms and pledged to pray for them and help them on their journey of faith!

Loving the goats!


Lord, today in the Gospel you remind us with strong words that we are to open our lives to be fertile ground to good seed!  We are to be open to life and raise LIGHTS for this world of darkness.  This requires that we share our faith with JOY, and not allow the gloom of our hearts to keep us apart from your light and love and life!  May we cast our burdens upon you and allow your Truth to set us free.  What is that Truth, and where do we find it?  In your Word and Sacraments and ALL that your Bride, The Church, holds out to us. May we make progress this day by doing small things with great love!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

How do you get all looking at the same time?  It's hard but I have found that if I make crazy monkey noises it could work?!?

Bernadette has something going on in her head that looks a bit devious... Bless-bless, Barbara Luke

Nancy must have been making some animal noises at this point... just kidding, kind of.

I pray for my grandparents this day, too!
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-condemns-absurd-violence-after-priest-is-killed-in-french-church-55847/  Such sad news at the martyrdom of this elderly priest killed during mass in France!  Lord, help our world!






Praying for all the youth - the future of The Church that are called to bring LIGHT Into the darkness of sin and the culture of death.  Lord, may your seeds planted find fertile rich soil and bear 100 fold!
http://drjamesdobson.org/news/dr-james-dobson-on-trumps-christian-faith#.V5F-1L6gTJe.facebook
Dr Dobson addresses Trump for president...  I will listen to him!

Danielle Rose -   Small things with great love

St James - lessons each day on becoming the last!

Thrilling news yesterday that another niece is expecting a little girl this year!  That makes a total of 6 new great-grands and pushing us over the 110 mark of the Cross Clan!  Wow!  We are on our way to 120!  Today being the feast day of St James... I am thinking of my brother in the blue shirt seated just down from my folks... James Joel.  It was good to share some time with Jim and his wife just on Saturday as we spent some good hours sharing a ride on the St Croix together.  He is the father of 6 and loves The Church!

Asking without end for mercy!

It was Christmas in July yesterday as Pat and I along with a brother and his wife, and my youngest sister, Carol. met up with my parents for lunch on this river boat!  My wonderful parents are always looking for ways to bring our family together and we went down the river in the rain and had a fun time sharing what is going on in our lives.  Thanks mom and dad for all the efforts you do to mend and heal our family and thank you Lord for having both my parents together still to share time with! 

My sweet wonderful parents will soon celebrate 67 years of marriage in August!

I could tell that something had triggered that feeling of intense awareness of each word at mass this morning!  As we did our general confession and we pound our chests 3 times... these words grabbed me - therefore I ask Blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints and you, my brothers and sisters to pray for me to the Lord our God.

Wow!  I thought that is a lot of prayer power and with all that I should be feeling better about my life and myself and my situation.  There are things lately that have shaken me pretty bad and I knew with some brief examination that this way why each word of the mass was a bell ringing loud and clear and The Truth and beauty of each word filled me with wonder and hope!

Some beautiful roses at my mother-in-law's house along with a statue of Mary gifted to her and her daughter since her year and a half on hospice. 

I am reminded that I so want to be forever in heaven with Jesus, Mary and all the Angels and Saints, and so I ask without ceasing through prayer for mercy to be shown to me in my weak, sick and sinful state.  Life is a struggle sometimes and as Father said in mass today - we need God and he certainly doesn't need us, yet he loves us and if we are persistent in asking for his mercy - we will receive.

Lunch of zucchini bread, coffee, Our Lady and the roses while mom does her reading from devotional books in her wonderful sunroom.

From the Gloria - You take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us;  You take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;

Exactly says the words of my heart this day!  The Gospel from Luke 11 give us the promise...

And I tell you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Listening to mass at the Cathedral in Sioux Falls after we shared the Eucharist with Pat's mom, The Bishop shared this story;  "For Christmas a little girl prayed for 1,000 dolls. When Christmas came and she didn't get them her father said; 'Well, I guess that God didn't answer your prayer.'  'Yes, he did.  The answer was, No."    A sobering reminder that sometimes the answer is not the one we want and think we need, sometimes it is "No."

Jesus, I will not stop praying and asking and hoping and dying to self so that you may live  and work through this poor and lowly vessel.  Sometimes the answer comes contrary to what we hope for, but we trust that you are in control of our lives.  Jesus, we trust in you.  Bless-bless, Barb

Together they are more sturdy and helping each other along the path towards the end of their long journey together!  A picture worth a thousand words to me their eldest daughter of the 11! 

http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html

They listen to the Holy Spirit in their lives and from that I have received tremendous blessings!

The year of Mercy in our Church is so powerful!

Also from the Gospel for today - no where is I, me or my a part of this prayer!

Like I said...