Hi all,
We are going to go to Canada tomorrow morning vs Friday as previously planned.
Brians dad is now in the hospital, with pneumonia and is intubated as of this morning.
He has been fighting cancer, and we pray we will make it there before he passes on.
Please keep him and Brian's family in your prayers. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas,
with many of Gods blessings in the new year.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Prayers for the families in CT
Please, let's all pray for the families in CT suffering from the tragic events outside of Danbury.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Monastary Promo
Well--Almost a week after leaving for our 4th Monastery Advent Retreat I feel the need to share a bit of what a blessing this event has been for our family.
I remember well the somewhat tense homeschool group meeting we had before our first trip. All us Mom's were a bit anxious about the details and how everyone and everything would get taken care of. We brought coloring pages, readings, games, and activities of all sorts. Our anxiety was not eased when we saw the "Quiet! Silent Retreat in Progress" signs in the Guest House!
But that first year went off very well, and began the traditions of hiking to the Chapel to our Lady on Saturday afternoon, Movie with the priests and Brothers on Saturday night, and confession (my favorite!).
This year my own personal challenge was baby induced sleep deprivation, along with some spiritual warfare, and any other excuses I can think of, that made me a real monster to be around all Thursday night and Friday Morning. John and I were both tempted several times to just quit and stay home. But we didn't--the pressure of at least 5 children knowing where we were headed kept us going.
Our Group were the only people in the guest house, which, since the first year, is the usual state of things. It was wonderful! All of the Liturgies of the Hours (except the one at 6 am) are preceded by a bell 10 minutes before, and a bell when they begin. Some are longer, some shorter. Children and adults alike gather each other up to go to the different prayers. The down time is happily spent on walks, playing on the nice lawn beside the house, or at the basketball hoop, reading, playing games in the living room, hide and seek or sardeine's games, or napping. The children are able to be rambunctious without it causing stress because the house is so big, and we are far enough away from the main house that we are not disturbing the priests and brothers. The relationships that our children have developed with the religious of the community are irreplaceable. Living in Maine, with so few communities near us, I cherish my children knowing these priests and brothers, knowing that they are funny, human, thoughtful people who said YES to Jesus even though they are really quite normal. Still River Abbey is looking for vocations, and I think the best I can do for them right now is keep my kids going so they may be more likely to say YES to a religious vocation in the future. Not because the Abbey is particularly holy, or because we are particularly holy, but because we are all here together, working for God in our own little ways. Everyone especially loves interacting with Brother Joachim, or Bro Jo!
So expect me to exert some positive peer pressure next year to get those of you who have never come on board. It is SO WORTH IT!!! (Did I mention that they feed us!) On Monday morning the first thing Blaise said was "Are we going to church?" He was sad that we weren't. The rhythm of monastic life is easily adopted!
Agnes as St Lucy this morning, since I don't have Monastery Photos.
ps-are we doing our Yankee Swap next Tuesday the 18th?
I remember well the somewhat tense homeschool group meeting we had before our first trip. All us Mom's were a bit anxious about the details and how everyone and everything would get taken care of. We brought coloring pages, readings, games, and activities of all sorts. Our anxiety was not eased when we saw the "Quiet! Silent Retreat in Progress" signs in the Guest House!
But that first year went off very well, and began the traditions of hiking to the Chapel to our Lady on Saturday afternoon, Movie with the priests and Brothers on Saturday night, and confession (my favorite!).
This year my own personal challenge was baby induced sleep deprivation, along with some spiritual warfare, and any other excuses I can think of, that made me a real monster to be around all Thursday night and Friday Morning. John and I were both tempted several times to just quit and stay home. But we didn't--the pressure of at least 5 children knowing where we were headed kept us going.
Our Group were the only people in the guest house, which, since the first year, is the usual state of things. It was wonderful! All of the Liturgies of the Hours (except the one at 6 am) are preceded by a bell 10 minutes before, and a bell when they begin. Some are longer, some shorter. Children and adults alike gather each other up to go to the different prayers. The down time is happily spent on walks, playing on the nice lawn beside the house, or at the basketball hoop, reading, playing games in the living room, hide and seek or sardeine's games, or napping. The children are able to be rambunctious without it causing stress because the house is so big, and we are far enough away from the main house that we are not disturbing the priests and brothers. The relationships that our children have developed with the religious of the community are irreplaceable. Living in Maine, with so few communities near us, I cherish my children knowing these priests and brothers, knowing that they are funny, human, thoughtful people who said YES to Jesus even though they are really quite normal. Still River Abbey is looking for vocations, and I think the best I can do for them right now is keep my kids going so they may be more likely to say YES to a religious vocation in the future. Not because the Abbey is particularly holy, or because we are particularly holy, but because we are all here together, working for God in our own little ways. Everyone especially loves interacting with Brother Joachim, or Bro Jo!
So expect me to exert some positive peer pressure next year to get those of you who have never come on board. It is SO WORTH IT!!! (Did I mention that they feed us!) On Monday morning the first thing Blaise said was "Are we going to church?" He was sad that we weren't. The rhythm of monastic life is easily adopted!
ps-are we doing our Yankee Swap next Tuesday the 18th?
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Christmas Vacation
Hi everyone,
Mary Kay Blazt, one of our All Saints Catechists, just emailed me to see if there would be any interest in a service/field trip to the Sky High center which does and adult day care. The kids could visit with the folks there (who presumably have dementia and/or physical impairments), share a snack, maybe recite some poetry, and just practice a corporal work of mercy.
She is thinking about setting something up for vacation week.
What do you all think?
stacy
ps: sorry about my three email invite....
Mary Kay Blazt, one of our All Saints Catechists, just emailed me to see if there would be any interest in a service/field trip to the Sky High center which does and adult day care. The kids could visit with the folks there (who presumably have dementia and/or physical impairments), share a snack, maybe recite some poetry, and just practice a corporal work of mercy.
She is thinking about setting something up for vacation week.
What do you all think?
stacy
ps: sorry about my three email invite....
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