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 girls are no longer together, but they start me on a happy note after some days away from the computer and making unexpected trips up to the Cities, and the stress of preparing taxes for our farm and family, and being put down for a day by illness... I am brought to a place of pondering if I am being told, as my daughter mentioned this morning, that I take a break from my blog for Lent... "Why would I do that Maria?" "It seems mom that your writing in the past was a form of prayer for you, and maybe you need to get back to that and contemplate where you have come to in your writing for the blogosphere." It makes me feel panicked and sad to think of not writing every day, and the messages that burn in me, and she did mention that I could go back to writing in a journal for Lent..."Well, mom, on days that the Word leads back to some of your sharings. You could include a former post, or share on facebook that link to share your message with others."
Yes, we were in St Paul midmorning yesterday... I dropped Pat at the Capital for some testifying for mowing ditches, and the Cathedral just ahead beaconed me forward.
So perfect on the Feast of the Chair of St Peter to see this chair where the Archbishop sits, who heads our Church for the Archdiocese in this gorgeous church! So loved my time here praying many decades of my rosary and the chaplet, and watching those bent in prayer in such a holy presence and filled with the richness and beauty of The Church!
St Peter's altar holding the keys to the Kingdom as mentioned in the Gospel yesterday. John had a horrifying Spiritual nightmare in the early hours of the morning yesterday and came into our bedroom describing the real feeling of being held down and unable to move by something evil. "I screamed out 4 times, and wouldn't open my eyes to see him. I was so terrified and know that we need to put a crucifix in every room of the house!" Knowing that evil forces are real of both good and evil... we had John accompanied by Little 4 year old Patrick go up with holy water and pray and sprinkle the water throughout his bedroom and the upstairs. "Patrick was such a sweet helper. He prayed for me and his family everywhere. I had a good night with all cleaned out by the blessing with Holy water." John was on my mind, and so it was very special to light candles and ask for the intercession of many great Saints... Saint Peter on his Feastday!
An amazing mural on the ceiling over the altar to St Peter... calling Simon Peter the fisherman.
"Do you love me? Feed my Lambs..."
Peter being crucified upside down...Wow! St Peter, intercede for us...
Candle lit and prayers said, and much comfort gained... the Spiritual world is all around us!
Praying to St Patrick! Good overcomes Evil!
St John the Baptist... one of John's patron Saints is a powerful warrior for Good!
St Patrick set to do battle and fills us with confident peace!
St Therese is perfect prayer warrior and shows us how to give it all to Jesus and he is always there to show us the way of LOVE!
Of course, Our Lady, Queen of heaven and earth answers our heartfelt needs!
This greets you as you enter the front door and fills you with the meaning of dying to self so that Jesus may live and work through us!
In the Gospel today we are reminded of our responsibility to share The Truth with others, and so that makes me pause when I think about taking Lent off to pray with my writing and not spreading The Truth with others. I have a week to pray and ponder...
It seems that Evangeline is telling me to lighten up. Thank goodness the taxes have been unsnarled and figured out, and peace has returned to our domestic Church/home. Once again I have been shown how I fail and need to do better. Once again the resolve is in my heart, and I humbly say..."Lord help me to do better with my responsibilities. Am I responsible to share your Truth or not?"
Jesus, I am yours, and only long to share the Truth with any and all that will listen to me. How I love, love, love you, my Jesus, your Bride The Church, your glorious Mother Mary the Mother of God, and all the Saints, and your Word. Each day we learn from Jesus, you, in The Word! The Good is above all and over all and evil is cast into Hell! Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
My girls and their girls helping me to lighten up about myself and maybe a reminder to spend my lent in a more personal prayer... Lord, I only long to serve you! Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Lent should be filled with plenty of these too! "Help yourself during this troubled period by reading holy books. This reading provides excellent food for the soul and conduces to great progress along the path of perfection. By no means is it inferior to what we obtain through prayer and holy meditation. In prayer and meditation it is ourselves who speak to the Lord, while in holy reading it is God who speaks to us. Before beginning to read, raise your mind to the Lord and implore Him to guide your mind Himself, to speak to your heart and move your will." – Saint Pio of Piectrelcina / Saint Padre Pio
ST Polycarp joins the spiritual army today... protecting us from evil... St Polycarp, pray for us!
Lent begins in one week!
I'm reminded (and inspired) by St. Francis of Assisi, who told his fellow friars near the end of his life: "Let us begin again, for until now we have done nothing..." May our Lord give us the grace of such humble and holy zeal.
The two youngest sharing mass in their matching outfits thanks to Great Aunt Mary. Just as quickly as the huge tidal wave of family was all around us over these last days... it has now come to an end with Nancy and family heading back to KC, and Ruth's family down with the flu, and Maria's family trying to regain some normalcy without their dad, who has months of training ahead and in between homes. We are all thankful that the weather was nice and the many little ones could play outside in February! Today with the rain and wind... we are trying out best to make it a good day.
Rose by the roses and wearing roses on her dress. Every time we say the Creed and come to "rose again" she beams ear to ear! " I am Rose Again!"
Father and the kids after mass!
Visiting St Joseph..."lets all pray for our families and our dads to look up to St Joseph, who cared for the Holy Family."
The Gospel today really speaks for me and how I long to believe and follow all that Jesus shows me in Word and The Church... yet, I know that I falter and fail and sin and mess up and that I am tested by all the life I cannot control... Jesus, is in control!
Yes, grandma played with her two live dollies. It is a good thing I did this when I did, because they are no longer together until we can see Hallel at Easter in KC!
I am feeling a bit run down, too, so I think this will be thankfully short for today. The first reading from Sirach is a powerful reminder that The Holy Spirit brings us to the place of Wisdom through the mind of God. "It is the Lord; he created her through the Holy Spirit, has seen her and taken note of her. He has poured her forth upon all his works, upon every living thing according to his bounty; he has lavished her upon his friends." What? Divine Wisdom! We find this in our prayerful reading of The Word, The Sacraments, and Looking to The Church's direction in helping us get to heaven forever with Jesus, Mary and All the Saints including St Joseph!
Big helper Therese!
Love that tongue and it looks like she might get her dad's blue eyes!?!
Jesus, keep us healthy and may our faith grow with each new day, and may we rise forgiven and once again love and serve you through dying to self and serving each other. Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Three of the girls with my Mary Statue in the bright springlike weather and smiles as bright make me happy... they know what makes grandma smile... Our Lady and pictures of my sweet grandkids! I am here in the midst of the LIFE our family has grown to embrace! Pat is gone on his retreat sharing his talk about the Sacraments, and missing all the wildness I am sure. The older bunch headed out with rubber boots to the creek in the pasture for an adventure. The younger boys are here playing with toy tractors, and the moms and dad are visiting and caring for the babies. All 14 of the kids ranging from 12 yrs to 3 months are together for shared family time exceptional and unusual with Maria in the - we take what we get!
Therese can teach the girls a thing or two about baby dolls... she has always loved dolls and plays with them hours at a time since she was very young. Her love continues on with babies! She is so much help with her baby sister.
The 4 year olds love hanging out. They all have their rubber boots on and are on an adventure together... thankfully there are big kids to supervise!
The big girls and the baby girls!
The girls while the babies still had the topknots that grandma put in after breakfast this morning. The Barn still says the Truth; "Family Time is the Best" Bernadette didn't like her hair brushed, but tried really hard to show us her face... I love my picture of LIFE!
My day is full and I need to get away from this computer, but I am overflowing with so much! It was so sweet to hear John telling the little girls how lucky they are to be born into this family! I know that John comes in contact with families that are raising LIGHTS and those that are broken and raising broken children. His heart breaks when he sees the hurt and pain and longs to help them come to a better place, but how do you take away all those years of brokenness? "I hope that I can somehow help even without words." says John.
Grandma got to do topknots this morning! Love!
Lord, you fill our lives with so much LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT if only we die to self and be open to LIFE and raise them as LIGHTS! The Blessed Virgin Mary shows us how to say "yes" to LIFE! She brings us to her Son, Jesus Christ, in order to "inherit the righteousness that comes through Faith." Hebrews 11:7. How we love to share your LOVE and Truth each day of this amazing journey! Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Be still my heart! Grandma's JOY abounds with the simple things in life and after having my 4 girls in a row... this truly fills me with so much happiness!
Hail Mary, Full of Grace, The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit... of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of death. Amen.
A house full of grandkids and 3 of my daughters sitting around visiting and caring for the kids. My two youngest granddaughters are sharing laps and looks of wonder and delight in just 6 short weeks their other girl cousin will be coming to share in the family time. Just in time for our first home visit in 4 years from our nun daughter, Little Sister Hallel! She called from Rome yesterday to tell me..."Mom, your prayers have been answered! I am coming to Kansas City for Easter and then two weeks later I will be coming home for a home visit." Yes, we are all excited and making fake plans left and right!
5 months apart and Evangeline will be 5 months older than Ruth's little girl due to arrive on March 31st, just 2 weeks from Easter on the 16th and then a couple weeks later Hallel will come to the farm. Her quiet contemplative life will be torn asunder! She will survive for the 3 days here with us. We could try to have David's first Communion in that time as well as Baptism for our new little girl!
I need to go and have some intense family time, but the reading in the Gospel today is ringing it's Truth in my heart and soul this day... In taking up our Cross of sacrificing our daughter to Jesus, her spouse, He has blessed us with the most perfect of time with her... here while Maria and her family are still here before they head to Washington State. When Ruth has welcomed her new baby, and possibly getting Baptized with Hallel! All of us together here and in KC for such a glorious Easter with Hallel and her wonderful Community of the Lamb! Pat will be busy with planting the crop, but Hallel can spend some farm time with him here and there. I am filled with so much excitement and JOY and thankfulness that it looks to be the very best answer to all our hopes and prayers!
Patrick's turn with grandpa in the tractor and the truck! How grandpa loves to share his farm with the kids!
Doughnuts are a quick and much beloved breakfast by our house full!
Checking out the place where the jaccuzi will be soon!
A lot of development can happen in 5 months...
Family time is calling, and we are all making fake plans left and right for as much time with Hallel/Susan as we can manage to work out. I would love to go down with a couple of the granddaughters for some days of sleeping at Nancy's and going over for some prayer time and some meals with Hallel and the Community!
Two of the 4 year olds hanging out together. Jesus, we love you and long to come closer to you with each new day. Jesus, we trust in you. Bless-bless, Barb
Loving moments fill my day along with the ups and downs of living in close quarters with Maria and her 5 little ones. As usual I try to capture the cuteness probably too much, but I know these 5 months will quickly pass, as we are already into our second month soon. Then the missing them will begin, as they will be 3 days trip away living in Washington State on the West Coast. It is almost like I need to keep these times recorded/put them in a bottle and keep them forever...
As quickly as the babies change and grow in front of our eyes with each new day. It truly is like a flower unfolding before us! Nancy will be arriving with her little ones tonight, and we were told that her baby girl is now crawling and "getting into a lot of trouble!" The last time we saw her she wasn't able to sit up on her own, and that was just at Christmas! That first year of life is astronomical for all the changes and it truly is a daily changing!
This quilt appeared with the move and now I love to put it over the back of my couch at the foot of my bed with this fabric painted quilt square I made of my family on the farm standing on the hill with our farm behind. I am yearning to make one of Ruth with her 6, and the farm has totally changed behind. The house is the same on the outside, but changed on the inside as Ruth's vision of being able to see the yard and a canning kitchen with a large porch soon to be added this year.
Yes, I took many and couldn't choose just one!
Just back from traveling with my husband to get the last of our tile for our final bathroom remodel about 1 1/2 hour away. Pat will be giving a talk about the sacraments at a retreat this weekend, so much of the time was going over that. But what really struck a cord with me was a brief sharing with someone about my age. He shared that he had learned from his mother that you kindly and sweetly mention that a turn is coming up when his dad would be distracted and talking, so as to keep the peace. I realized that I can be snappy and short. We both in that moment realized that when you take a challenging situation and are meek and gentle and loving in your response that it will bear calmer and better results. He has carried this over to when his wife is driving, and it was powerful to see that the hard lessons we learn in our families can then bear fruit for us in our own relationship with our spouse! "I never realized til now how much I did learn from my mother's example." he shared with me.
Sharing that the Sacrament of Matrimony is a daily sacrament, and that it is s a daily cross we are called to carry/drag down the narrow path... I was struck by how we can learn some good habit and values and morals in our domestic Church/family. Pat and I had that talk on our first date that showed us clearly that we shared the same values - Faith/Family/Farm so what really prevented us from going ahead and quickly? http://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html
The Holy Spirit spoke through Pat when I got confused by all the others at our engagement encounter saying that we should only bring 2 kids into this messed up world at the most. "Are we being selfish to have a lot of kids?" "No, the world needs lights." All my fears melted away and vanished into thin air! How my heart is saddened by all the lights that have been extinguished by abortion! Lord, may this horror and evil come to an end!
Romeo eating his 3rd bowl of tomato soup! All Maria's kids love our soup and applesauce! That is why we do all the work... this dirty smiling face is a testament of love for a grandma!
"She's belted in and ready for a ride!" David is in charge of his sister while mom is away.
Therese and David modeling for their baby sister how to work/do chores to help out... It is so cool to see how natural the baby is in her arms, and how loving they are toward their precious baby sister. "Babies are a lot of work, but we love them." says Therese.
How we love new life in our families... The words of God to Noah today are the Truth that our Church upholds to us as we are called to be open to LIFE and raise our children as LIGHTS for the world in our domestic Church/families as we share our Faith with great JOY! "Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth..." Genesis 9 Yes, having large families brings us to sacrifice ourselves and die to self, but isn't that exactly what we are called to do as we humbly serve God?
Some beautiful roses a day after Valentines Day from my husband next to the sweet bouquet from Maria's Joseph. A testament of their love in the beauty of God's creation...
Jesus, our family will soon be complete... all but Hallel, although we know she is with us in spirit and her prayers for us, and Joseph, who is away in training. Nancy and Bill are arriving tonight, Lord, asking for safety in travels for them. I might have to add the two missing to the family pictures we will be taking over our time together. Give us the best of Family time as we share our Faith/Family/Farm in this beautiful spring like weather. Nancy was reminded that rubber boots will be a must! Lord, Family time is the Best! May we serve without counting the cost. Jesus, we trust in you. Amen and Hallelujah
The two girls are so sweet together! How we are enjoying this sweet little girl along with her siblings. Bless-bless, Barbara Luke
Family meals are big and the family time at it's best!
Pat and Paul testifying in front of the legislature yesterday
"Lyon County Farm Bureau members Paul Lanoue and Pat Verly, along with MFBF President Paap, testified before the MN House Transportation and Regional Government Finance Committee today supporting HF125, which prohibits road authorities from establishing certain requirements and permits that govern road ditch mowing." Pontifical High Mass in the Ordinary Form celebrated ad orientem by Archbishop Emeritus of Lipa, His Excellency Ramon Arguelles "Do you believe in the power of prayer? Let's renew our covenant with our Lord today, and ask Him to do a great work of mercy in our nation, our families and culture, and in the hearts and lives of all His people throughout the world. We certainly could use a special grace of deeper conversion."
