Getting settled into new routines often means that I have gotten to the point where I am familiar enough with something that I am tempted to cut corners.
My husband's new morning routine is getting that familiar. It is very tempting to wait until morning to fix the lunches, even when we take time in the evening to plan out the next day. These evening planning sessions are not really anything more than brief conversations that start with something like, "Tell me again what your schedule is for tomorrow..." For someone like me who is completely willing to roll with the punches and take things as they come, such conversations are all it takes to completely revolutionize my life. There are two blessings held within them. My husband and I are making a more deliberate effort to face our days together and God is giving me a very simple and recognizable way to resist temptation.
This little fight with temptation, prep meals tonight vs. waiting until the morning, will equip me to face a much more difficult temptation in the morning: get out of bed early and put on workout clothes and exercise for the second day, or give up and sit on the couch in my jammies for half an hour sipping coffee. If I get off the couch tonight and win this fight, it will be that much easier not to sit on the couch in the morning.
That being said...
Monday, March 9, 2015
Sunday, March 8, 2015
Wanting to Give a Gift Well
I'm doing a favor for a friend. He is reenacting a Fulton Sheen presentation for a charity fundraiser. His costume is amazing... because it's real. Our archbishop lent him his own cassock, pellegrina and fascia to use for the show. It fits remarkably well save that it is far too long.
My friend asked me if I could put in a temporary hem. I was happy to do so, but am torn about how good a job to do. I put in a quick tailor's stitch without pressing it because I don't want the archbishop to be stuck with a crease at the bottom of his cassock the next time he has to wear it. At the same time, I want the garment to hang well while my friend is wearing it in his performance.
It is tempting to worry over such a conundrum. Thankfully, my guardian angel reminded me of how grateful my friend is for the help in the first place and of how fond I am of both my friend and my archbishop. They are both good men and I was mindful to stitch love for both of them into the garment with my thread. With that, I can trust in the generosity of both of their spirits and know that the work I have done, whatever the outcome, was done with the intent to please both of them.
ON A SIDE NOTE, how cool is it that I got to work on a real archbishop's cassock? Who gets to do that? I love living in a small remote diocese. It's cool enough that I know my archbishop and what a kind and personable man he is.
My friend asked me if I could put in a temporary hem. I was happy to do so, but am torn about how good a job to do. I put in a quick tailor's stitch without pressing it because I don't want the archbishop to be stuck with a crease at the bottom of his cassock the next time he has to wear it. At the same time, I want the garment to hang well while my friend is wearing it in his performance.
It is tempting to worry over such a conundrum. Thankfully, my guardian angel reminded me of how grateful my friend is for the help in the first place and of how fond I am of both my friend and my archbishop. They are both good men and I was mindful to stitch love for both of them into the garment with my thread. With that, I can trust in the generosity of both of their spirits and know that the work I have done, whatever the outcome, was done with the intent to please both of them.
ON A SIDE NOTE, how cool is it that I got to work on a real archbishop's cassock? Who gets to do that? I love living in a small remote diocese. It's cool enough that I know my archbishop and what a kind and personable man he is.
Oops
Yesterday evening, my thoughts we so full of doing things for others that I did not remember to post. It looks like Saturdays will be my particular challenge.
Friday, March 6, 2015
Joy is Contagious
By no means was I having a bad day today. I would easily call it fruitful and productive.Even if I brought some of my own baggage into it, it was a good day. Nothing to complain about.
My just happened to end very, very well. Tonight is Game Night in the upper school building. About once a year, the seniors will organize a campus game night social a fund raiser for prom. The kids were about an hour into their play when I wandered in to get my coat and leave. My husband, who is rather fond of my students, came in with me when he came to pick me up from work. It was delightful chaos. Everyone was having fun. One classroom had been cleared out for barefoot soccer and knee-hockey. The tables of another room had been rigged with a ping pong net. Video games were squirrelled away in a back classroom that was reasonably full. Board games were not nearly as popular, but the group playing "Say Anything" were having fun together. Best of all, Nerf gun wars were dominating the hallways and the junior high was holding its own pretty well against two of the teacher chaperons.
Seeing everyone play makes me so happy. They were relaxed and joyful while taking their games so very seriously. Their whole selves were devoted to what they were doing. They were truly alive... well, I have some doubts about the video game room but everyone else was.
They kids (and chaperones) played the way we are supposed to live. We are supposed to live joyfully, giving it everything we are. Live wholely in the moment, even when you plan for the future, for our end will come like a thief in the night. What a shame if the thief found nothing there to steal.
My just happened to end very, very well. Tonight is Game Night in the upper school building. About once a year, the seniors will organize a campus game night social a fund raiser for prom. The kids were about an hour into their play when I wandered in to get my coat and leave. My husband, who is rather fond of my students, came in with me when he came to pick me up from work. It was delightful chaos. Everyone was having fun. One classroom had been cleared out for barefoot soccer and knee-hockey. The tables of another room had been rigged with a ping pong net. Video games were squirrelled away in a back classroom that was reasonably full. Board games were not nearly as popular, but the group playing "Say Anything" were having fun together. Best of all, Nerf gun wars were dominating the hallways and the junior high was holding its own pretty well against two of the teacher chaperons.
Seeing everyone play makes me so happy. They were relaxed and joyful while taking their games so very seriously. Their whole selves were devoted to what they were doing. They were truly alive... well, I have some doubts about the video game room but everyone else was.
They kids (and chaperones) played the way we are supposed to live. We are supposed to live joyfully, giving it everything we are. Live wholely in the moment, even when you plan for the future, for our end will come like a thief in the night. What a shame if the thief found nothing there to steal.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
He's a Keeper
I want to brag about how lucky I am to have the husband I do. It amazes me that so many people are willing to live as if they were sharing their lives with another person whike all they are really doing is sharing living space.
The difficulty is not in finding the right person but in wanting to be the right person and then finding then finding the one with whom you are. Do you find your mate interresting enough to pay attention to things you are not inclined to notice on your own? When you care about them enough to learn about their interests in a real way, you become a greater person while truly suporting them. That is the kind of thing love is made of.
I am blessed in that I share that with my sweet, attentive and generous husband.
The difficulty is not in finding the right person but in wanting to be the right person and then finding then finding the one with whom you are. Do you find your mate interresting enough to pay attention to things you are not inclined to notice on your own? When you care about them enough to learn about their interests in a real way, you become a greater person while truly suporting them. That is the kind of thing love is made of.
I am blessed in that I share that with my sweet, attentive and generous husband.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
Dinner with Friends
Casual friends can be a blessing, just as close friends are a blessing. Tonight we had dinner with friends that we rarely hang out with. It was a great evening. The kind of evening that leaves you wondering why you don't do these things more often.
I can't really say why we don't. Sure, I can describe what we normally do with our weekday evenings but an efficient cause is not a final cause. I don't know why I gravitate toward quiet nights at home and rely on social obligations or requests for help to get me to be sociable. I like the company of others, at least in small groups. I can also talk your ear off. Out of habit, I hang out with my husband and my best friend and don't get out much.
I am grateful for the reminder of how many friends I have.
I can't really say why we don't. Sure, I can describe what we normally do with our weekday evenings but an efficient cause is not a final cause. I don't know why I gravitate toward quiet nights at home and rely on social obligations or requests for help to get me to be sociable. I like the company of others, at least in small groups. I can also talk your ear off. Out of habit, I hang out with my husband and my best friend and don't get out much.
I am grateful for the reminder of how many friends I have.
Monday, March 2, 2015
With week 2, we start to see whether I can turn this into a habit. Ironically, it was easier for me to sit down and focus on deliberately finding something good to say when I had the same old things to complain about. Filling the void really was an apt description of what this blog is meant to be for the first six weeks. The odd thing is that I have a harder time sitting down to write about one good thing when my whole day was pleasant and I don't have much to complain about.
Sure, I could find things to complain about if I wanted to. I have even lapsed in my goal since last Monday, but I have been much happier and more at ease since starting this project. Now that things are easier to deal with, it is not as easy to focus on doing this.
I find that most of my faith practices are like this. It seems that there are two general faith responses to extreme situations. I am aware that many people have lost their faith when tragedy or severe struggles come their way. Hardship can lead some to question and doubt. Pain can lead someone to blaming God for misery because He is the author of fate. On the flip side, there is the old expression, 'no atheists in a foxhole.' This expression addresses the natural human tendency to look to a higher power when things are beyond your control. My faith is my life raft in times of difficulty. I do not falter because I doubt. I falter when I get comfortable. I get complacent and lazy. Perhaps I can convince myself of the dangers of complacency and fight it as if it looked like the grave and pressing danger it is.
I pray for the protection of my guardian angel and for the intercession of the saints. Oh, dear saints, while you are at it, please pray for everyone who has asked for my prayers and for whom I have said I would pray. I mean well but I forget. Please remember for me and pray for them as I intended.
Sure, I could find things to complain about if I wanted to. I have even lapsed in my goal since last Monday, but I have been much happier and more at ease since starting this project. Now that things are easier to deal with, it is not as easy to focus on doing this.
I find that most of my faith practices are like this. It seems that there are two general faith responses to extreme situations. I am aware that many people have lost their faith when tragedy or severe struggles come their way. Hardship can lead some to question and doubt. Pain can lead someone to blaming God for misery because He is the author of fate. On the flip side, there is the old expression, 'no atheists in a foxhole.' This expression addresses the natural human tendency to look to a higher power when things are beyond your control. My faith is my life raft in times of difficulty. I do not falter because I doubt. I falter when I get comfortable. I get complacent and lazy. Perhaps I can convince myself of the dangers of complacency and fight it as if it looked like the grave and pressing danger it is.
I pray for the protection of my guardian angel and for the intercession of the saints. Oh, dear saints, while you are at it, please pray for everyone who has asked for my prayers and for whom I have said I would pray. I mean well but I forget. Please remember for me and pray for them as I intended.
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