Cherishing time with mom/The Lord loves his people/Mom reading about family and marriage from Pope Benedict XVI

What JOY!!!  Mom and I had the gift of another trip through the countryside and even made the turn to visit the old farmhouse we had spent summers painting, putting in windows and sanding floors and making it a habitable place for us to spend time out of the Cities in the summer.  It never had heat other than the woodstove or running water!  Here it was close to completion in 1971...

And it was hard to see it so disheveled yesterday... the gold paint still visible on the bay window now 48 years later...

The brick barn was a thing of beauty and strength it would seem, but no longer is it standing although the silo was still there but there was too much junk to even get a picture of it.  After we left there cows were milked in this barn once again for a time!

Many of the same trees in 1977 when I sprained my ankle at Marge's wedding where I met Pat and a year later we were married!
https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/my-most-cherished-cross-patrick-gerard.html

 Beautiful clouds, silos, bales and crops as we shared a trip down the highway visiting and looking at the beauty of the Lord's creation.  It was so good to have my mom good enough to share a trip and then to recall that it had happened and how much she enjoyed it!

 The bean fields much like home are golden and ripening with each day!

 Pat says that the corn probably needs another month to dry down and ripen properly.  It is all in the Lord's hands!

 The milk cows in the green pasture were still delightful to behold with the green lush grass and the stunning clouds.

 Then we spotted 2 splendid swans on the pond by the cows and calves and some were on the edge drinking from the pond.  My picture while driving does not do it justice, but it was so special to behold with my mother sitting next to me sharing a peaceful journey together.

Truly the words of the Hallel Psalm from mass today resonated with us.  Psalm 149
Let them praise his name in the festive dance,
let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp.
For the LORD loves his people,
and he adorns the lowly with victory.
R.The Lord takes delight in his people.
Let the faithful exult in glory;
let them sing for joy upon their couches;
Let the high praises of God be in their throats.
This is the glory of all his faithful. Alleluia.
R.The Lord takes delight in his people.

All the beauty around us and the peace within us made us aware of how truly the Lord loves his people and that brings to us much JOY!

 A farmer chopping silage is a true sign of fall.

Pat reports at home that the silage is being chopped, too!  He will be busy hauling, and piling sorghum silage this year.  The first time ever doing that due to the wet spring we had, and could not get corn planted at all.  It will be interesting to say the least!

 Up a hill behind a young woman with a blond pony tail and a mower behind her...

An old School house that is where I took some pictures of my sister, Mary, almost 50 years ago on one of our adventures around "the farm."  Mary died of cancer at age 28 in 1986!

Mary was remembered and shared by mom and I!  How we miss her a love her.."She was a precious girl." said mom and yes she was!

 Last evening a large machine arrived with someone to train us in it's use for mother.  She was not impressed but was cute and made me smile...

One amazing special thing about this vest developed by a doctor at the U of M is how it has given a much longer and better life to those that are born with Cystic Fibrosis.  "They can now live long productive lives thanks to this helping them with their secretions."  A great thing indeed, but mom is not impressed.  She did suggest that you distract her with Dr Pol.. her favorite program to watch in the evenings.

 Mother got out her prayer book this morning and joined us in morning prayer!  She has not done this for weeks! Hopeful that we are starting to see improvement in her depression.  All our hard work to help her gives us hope that it is starting to turn the corner!

 How I love to sit at the feet - actually on the couch beside him - and be taught by his wisdom and deep love for Jesus and His Bride, The Church, into which he brought our entire family of 13 into in 1971!  Each day since has been a blessing for me!
https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-amazing-story-of-13-becoming.html

 This chair will be moving to their new home in a little over a week from today!  It will be sad but for their good we all hope and pray.  To be closer to family and better medical care will be what should happen.

Sharing our Faith with JOY!

I asked my mother to read to me what she was reading from Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in his daily sharings in his Book Benedictus... I was so filled with wonder and awe to hear my mother reading the Truth she and dad lived out in their family and now have passed on to us!

Pope Benedict speaks to how we are to be open to LIFE and when we close that off or "the suppression or manipulation of unborn life is contrary to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman."  He also speaks about how we need to share our marriage with Jesus.."the building of each of the Christian families is framed in the context of the great family of The Church, which supports and accompanies it, and guarantees that there is a meaning and that in the future there will be the "yes" to the creator.

Mom was a day ahead, but it was a gift to me to hear her read these amazing words!

 Then she went back and read to dad and I today's sharing, too!  Equally amazing and also pertaining to the Christian family!
The Truth of Marriage!

How about this???
Just as the Incarnation of the Son of God reveals its true meaning in the cross, so also the authentic human love is surrendered of oneself; it cannot exist if it avoids the cross.

Please take the time to read these words of wisdom about Marriage - and so true that our spouse becomes our Most Cherished Cross!

 A very special sharing of our Faith indeed in the light of their home of the last 9 years, which is soon to change to the Cities.

Jesus, how we love to be taught by your Church and those that love and share the Truth that will set us free from the burdens of this world.  We are asked to take nothing for the journey but the love you pour upon us and the ability to reach out and heal those around us... if only we humbly give without counting the cost!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

 Joy out assisting as fence was put in this morning aorund the farm.  She loves to be out with mom and dad and grandpa.  Guardian angels keep her safe!  How we are filled with so much light from our sweet Joy and her sibs and cousins!  Bless-bless, Barb

Hector is sitting up in Washington!  He is now 6 1/2 months!  He is enjoying a beautiful sunny day in on base!  LOVE!  As Maria said they could be her two oldest Therese and David about 9 years ago... LIFE is a gift!

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart,

Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being loved,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being extolled,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being honored,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being praised,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being preferred to others,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being consulted,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the desire of being approved,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being humiliated,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being despised,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of suffering rebukes,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being calumniated,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being forgotten,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being ridiculed,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being wronged,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

From the fear of being suspected,

Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be esteemed more than I,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be chosen and I set aside,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may be preferred to me in everything,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,

Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

now to music - Litany of Humility by Danielle Rose

"Take nothing for the journey"/A toot with Mom looking at farmland, cows and crops and red barns

Memories from 5 years ago are filling me with a lot of warm feelings and thankfulness for the Lord's hand in my life and that of my children and grandchildren.  I was in El Paso again not for a month, but for a week at the birth of Romeo.  Returning there after my month with them almost 2 years before for the traumatic birth of Patrick, was very powerful indeed!

 5 years ago today was the baptism of Romeo... I shared that it was so emotional to see Patrick dressed in his white shirt for his brother's baptism day when I had been the one that had baptized Patrick in the middle of the night just shortly after he was born dead and brought back to life!

https://familysoulstory.blogspot.com/p/the-story-of-little-lamb-grandson.html

 My JOY!!   Praying the office with my deacon father in his good and robust health today and my mother joining in on the parts that she has memorized after praying with dad morning and night for these last 43 years!

His well worn book of Prayer... I am on my phone on the ibreviary ap.  It is free and you would really be fed by the prayer of The Church!  There is so much power and might and glory in sharing the prayer that is prayed in convents, monasteries, by deacons and their wives, by husbands and wives, by cancer survivors that discerned out of seminary and their mothers, by daughters and their deacon father and mother...  Around the world united in prayer for The Church, which needs many prayers to be sure.  We love, love, love The Church and take all that it gives us as Truth to follow Jesus!

Today he sends out the twelve today:
"Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority
over all demons and to cure diseases,
and he sent them to proclaim the Kingdom of God
and to heal the sick.
He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey,
neither walking stick, nor sack, nor food, nor money,
and let no one take a second tunic.
Whatever house you enter, stay there and leave from there..."

With the move on the horizon this seems hard to wrap our mind around indeed.  There is much that needs to be prepared for the journey it seems.  It does speak of total Trust in The Plan the Lord has for us and that He will provide for us!

Luke 9

Yes, Romeo is one of our 2 red haired grandchildren!  This was taken a few months ago when our family was together on the farm for a precious week!

How I am rejoicing at a special time I was gifted to share with my mother yesterday!  We jumped in the car on the spur of the moment and went for a drive through the farmland surrounding us here in Wisconsin.  Mom was always loving to get in the car and drive into the country on a Sunday afternoon.  We would call them "toots!"  Mom was famous for having dreams about fixing up places and we would call those pipe dreams.  We visited and ooohed and aahed about the crops, cattle, dairy cows laying down in the green pastures, and of course the adorable red barns and farmhouses along the way.  Mom has said many times that she really enjoyed our special time together and I will cherish these memories deep in my heart!

Beautiful clouds, cows and calves in the green grass of the pasture.  Mom and I were looking for fall colors but decided that they are dull around here.  But we enjoyed seeing the farm life a lot!

So many prayers for a happy transition for mom and dad in a couple weeks.  How we ask the Lord to give them peace and trust in His Plan!  Dad read these words to mom today in the responsory...

 My red barn which said; "Heavenly Family Time" as a backdrop for our family pictures in July!

 Our 11 grandsons with the barn backdrop!

Now with the 7 girls!

RESPONSORY

Incline my heart according to your will, O God.
– Incline my heart according to your will, O God.

Speed my steps along your path,
– according to your will, O God.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
– Incline my heart according to your will, O God.

Jesus, how we are weak and lowly and need you to show us the path you have for us to take as we follow you down the narrow path as we carry/drag our Most Cherished Cross!  May we die to self this day so that you can be alive in us and we may be your hands and feet!  Jesus, may be bring nothing but ourselves to you and go with you alone for the journey.  Leaving all behind!  Jesus, we trust in you.  Amen and Hallelujah

 The 3 granddaughters with the green grass and the cows in the pasture by the house in July.  Another precious moment to hold close to my heart!

Oh, my heart!!!  Bless-bless, Barb





Once again this is so true and my rosary is calling out to me!

Danielle Rose - Small things with great love

Danielle Rose - Nothing compares to you

Danielle Rose - Pursue me

"O sacrament of devotion! O sign of unity! 

O bond of charity!"  - St Augustine

"There is nothing littler, meeker or more silent

than Christ present in the Host.

This little piece of bread embodies the humility

and perfect silence of God,

His tenderness and His love for us.

If we want to grow and

to be filled with the love of God,

it is necessary to plant our life firmly

on three great realities:

the Cross, the Host, and the Virgin:

crux, hostia, et virgo. ...

These are three mysteries that God gave to the world

in order to structure, fructify, and 

sanctify our interior life and lead us to Jesus.

These three mysteries are to be contemplated in silence."

Robert Cardinal Sarah

in The Power of Silence 

Against the Dictatorship of Noise (57)

http://www.stgemmagalgani.com/2010/07/patron-saint-of-headaches-and-migraines.html

For a friend who is suffering from migraines while having chemo for breast cancer!  We are never alone there is a spiritual all around us fighting the battle with us!  Bless-bless, Barb

We are all his family/He changes us!/Hearing the Word and acting on it

Pat and I at the rodeo at the County Fair in early August!  Summer is now gone for 2019!

There is a sadness and anxiety related to summer being gone.  With the future up in the air with major changes for my parents, and the uncertainty of how the crops will be this fall and all the new crops planted that will be chopped and piled, and being called away to help my parents, and helping John with his course work, and the huge crop of tomatoes we are called to deal with each week... new positions for me that keep me awake in the wee hours of the morning... my stomache is churning with anxiety today!

St Pio was big on not worrying, but putting it in the Lord's hands, and so I need to.

And this!!!  How I agree with this Truth!  Yes, prayer is where I find peace within, and after spending the 4 hours in my chapel on wheels last night coming up here where I can pray all 10 decades of my rosary for each of my kids, Pat, Godchildren, My family, Pat's family and The Church... So powerful and peaceful and reassuring to place them all with Jesus and Mary and Trust!

 Joy in her FFA jacket worn by her older sibs over the year.  She will have a strong dose of agriculture in her life and schooling in school and living the life of a farm girl on a huge farm!

 How I pray to her guardian angel as she is always outside following her mom and farmer grandpa around the farm.  Please protect our sweet happy joyful JOY!

 One more for good measure...

I am a bit out of this today.  I liked the way they spoke to the Gospel today from Luke where his mother and family ask for him and her reminds us that we are all His family if only we...
He said to them in reply, "My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it."
Luke 8:19-21

The word to us is there with each new day in the readings from mass read and preached all around the world in The Church from the tiny church in Cottonwood, MN to St Peter's in Rome!  That knowledge makes the words so powerful and important as we share His Word and find Jesus there speaking to us and helping us as we stagger down the narrow path dragging our Most Cherished Cross and finding LIFE/LOVE/LIGHT!

From 5 years ago in Michigan, which is a treasured summer memory for all of my grandchildren... Nancy has added 2 more here and 3 in heaven over the last 5 years, Maria has added 3 including Romeo soon to arrive here, and Ruth has added Joy since, and John has added Jude...  Our love grows more and more!

6 years ago... 1 1/2 year old Rose again soon to be a big sister to Luke.  Luke will be 6 on November 1st!  My Mary garden and the broken and scrawny pine tree that used to stand here are now gone along with all the changes of making the farm their own.  We are so happy to have a young family living there and taking over the farm work and life!  It is truly a way of life!

Many times over my 30 years of living here the kids and I would go and visit Mary and show her our love and devotion!

Tomato soup 6 years ago... in my farm kitchen which now is Ruth and Paul's master bedroom/bathroom.  They are certainly making the farm their own and the house Ruth grew up in is in the process of another remodel to make it nice for their family of 8!

 A window sill full of tomatoes for my mother, who could eat them with each meal including breakfast. Notice the huge one in the middle!

 Mowing by the bean field by our house yesterday... it is starting to look like fall finally

 The leaves are starting to fall and we are holding our breath to see how the crop will yield after such a late start this spring.

 Lots of golden bean fields as I traveled through farm land to reach my parents' home.

 Praying with my parents this morning is the best start to our day!

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!"

Then he said, "Write this down, for these words

are trustworthy and true." - Rev 21:5

"My Lord and My God!"

Today we are called to embrace The Truth from Jesus in The Word!  We receive so much with each new day and we are called to act upon it in all the ups and downs of life!

An amazing story of recognizing Jesus in The Sacrament as well as The Word!

During a visit to the Philippines, Sister Gertrude from the Sacred Hearts Community

in Hawaii relayed this story (when she was over seventy) to Msgr Josefino (Pepe)

 Ramirez.  He passes it on in a Chapter of his book, Letters to a Brother Priest:

"When (Sr Gertrude) was a young nun, one of the old nuns was dying. The custom at that time was for the community to gather in prayer around the one dying.  ... the nun was breathing her last breaths.  Suddenly, she opened her eyes, stretched forth her arms and exclaimed: "O my Beloved."

Then she sat up and gazed lovingly at the Blessed Sacrament,which she had permission to have in her room since she had been too weak to go to the chapel. What happened next had never been told, until Sister Gertrude shared it with me.   The old, wrinkled nun changed to a strikingly attractive young woman, radiantly aglow with a countenance that put the rest of the nuns into ecstasy just looking at her. After what seemed like a minute or two, the transformed nun went back against her pillow, turning old again and died.  When the Sisters came out of their ecstasy, they were stunned to discover that this extraordinary event lasted for more than one or two minutes. The Sisters were in ecstasy for over thirteen hours!  

... If only we could see the change that takes place in us at each Holy Hour we make.  We are made new in the Eternal Youth of Christ.  We are made innocent, without blemish, as we are cleansed in His Precious Blood, in the folly of His surpassing love. "

 Little Mary visiting Mary in my Mary garden over 10 years ago...

 LOVE!

 Winter hugs!

 Lilacs, old fashioned dress and rubber boots!

 Simon and Mary with the statue which we now have at our home

 Mary and the cows in the pasture...

 Blue eyed baby David, who is now 11...

 Keeping Mary close to her heart!

 2 year old Therese with a statue in the back yard in the Cities.

 Mary,  David and Therese... this is a day of randomness and lots of interruptions by phone by health care people and a nurse visit... It seems to show here as there is no real rhyme or reason to all this today other than to say that our farm has changed now, but we still love Our Lady, Jesus and His Bride, The Church!

Morning star in the sunrise over our farm.  She is my Mother of Heaven and earth!

What JOY I find sharing my Faith with my family on the farm!  Truly we are all family of Jesus and we find direction and all the help we need to navigate this world through the wisdom and Truth of The Church!  Jesus, we love you and Trust in you.  We lay all our worries and anxieties at your feet and know that you are in control.  Amen and Hallelujah

An adorable bird giving Mary some adoration on the deck...

Mary with a snow topknot... my signature that she honored one winter.  I am so blessed to have Mary as my constant companion on the journey.  My rosary beads are calling out to me.  Bless-bless, Barb

Susan with Simon and Mary before she headed to France in 2008 to become a Little Sister Hallel!   A year ago we all gathered in France for her final vows!

10 years later Simon and Mary with their Aunt Little Sister Hallel in France a year ago!  They are so lucky to be able to have these mountain top experiences of Faith/Family/Farm!

Yes, maybe a bit bigger than our pot for canning... but not much!

The Saint that is just me - Danielle Rose

Ryan Stevenson - Eye of the Storm

Ryan Stevenson - The Gospel