If you know me, you know I love celebrations. But, I have to be honest, I grow tired of special days set aside for this and that. In my house we celebrate each other daily – I mean – maybe not with presents, etc. I hope you know what I mean. Sometimes my attitude about things doesn’t mesh with societal norms – but I have to be honest – I’m ok with that.
So many beautiful women have influenced my life. Truly – from my Grandmothers, Aunts, Cousins, Sisters,,, to many friends and acquaintances that have become family-like. I’m so thankful for each and every lesson, example, piece of advise, every book you have written, every way you have inspired me, etc. I just want to make sure you know I’m thankful for you all EVERY DAY, not just today.
With that, I actually did a google search wondering if others felt the same. There are so many reasons that the Catholic Church/Faith fits me so well. Check this out:
While the world may celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th every year, these saints prove that the Catholic Church celebrates women’s day every day of the year. Check out these women and how they impacted the Church! 25 Women Saints Who Prove Every Day is Women’s Day!
Thank you EPIC PEW!!!
I’m not going to pontificate about being a woman/mom means to me… instead, I am going to leave you with a few quotes from my favorite Female Saints:
And Let us not forget our Blessed Mother, who taught us to Trust God, Say YES to Him, gave birth to Our Lord! There could be no better example on International Woman’s Day than a young, innocent girl who risked it all and gave us EVERYTHING! Amen!
Happy International Woman’s Day. Wherever you are – be blessed. If you have influenced me and I love you for it – I’m sure you know.
Happy Monday! Happy 24th Day of 2021! I hope it’s going well so far, for you.
I’m sorry it’s been three weeks since I’ve blogged. What you need to know about me is – when I get worried or life gets busy, I don’t tend to come to my blog. Why? Because I don’t have a lot of nice things to say sometimes. The boredom of not working and being shut down in a foreign country, the lack of Mass and normalcy, and all the political and COVID news has stunted my brain. Our home is full of angst-ridden people. Sigh.
Take heart… there is so much HOPE! Today we celebrate the Conversion of Saint Paul. And I have to say, when I was reading this morning about him, I was reminded how awful he was to Christians. He sought out Christians to have them out to death for following Our Lord. And as I sat there reading about his conversion in The Acts of the Apostles, I thought to myself – “Look what God did with Saul/Paul! There is HOPE FOR ME!”
You know, my WORD OF THE YEAR is TRANSFORM (Thanks @Jennifer Fulwiler). And while I know it must seem lame to y’all that I just can’t get it together, I can assure you that it’s no joke to live it. When Mama is out of sorts – the house crumbles, y’all. Sigh. And while I am working hard to remain positive and get things done, I also keep things REAL!
PLEASE NOTE THE WORD CONVERT!
After much prayer… it’s clear that this is the year of ME. Now wait a minute – you know, if you follow my blog that I do many things for everyone else, to the point that I don’t always get done what I need to get done. I need to take a step back from humanity… and I need to get healthy mentally and physically and take back my life a little bit. In a way that may sound selfish but is completely necessary. God has really put on my heart that I need to transform the way I live… the way I think… the way I pray…. I need a conversion of heart and mind. In all the woes of life, I really have lost sight of my purpose. Which sounds entirely ridiculous. But it’s true. Things I am working on in my conversion…
Putting Catholicity First – Living Liturgically — in a way that we have not done here.
When we homeschooled and were super plugged in to our great Parish in Fort Worth, it was so easy. But the transient Military Catholic Church is not the same. Sigh.
Revamp my prayer life.
Get mentally and physically healthy
Get back to Blogging for the Lord
Get back to working a job (any job)
Get back to crafting more. I miss it.
I think part of my exasperation comes from feeling separated from Jesus in the form of the Eucharist… Yes, we do say the Spiritual Communion, but I feel like HE IS MISSING from the Mass when we watch from home. Because of our lack of Eucharist and Sacraments, I believe we ARE distant from our Faith – in a way that I can only describe as climbing a mountain that keeps getting taller. You just can’t reach the top. Sigh. We do go to Mass every couple weeks. And we count ourselves blessed to be able to receive Jesus. Pray for Us!
Funny enough, my SAINT OF THE YEAR is ST. TERESA OF AVILA. It is not lost on me that she is the patron of People in Need of Grace, amongst other things. People are always saying, “Emily, you need to give yourself grace!” Sigh. Part of my giving myself grace is transforming myself back into a more organized, self-healing kind of lady. I’m going to spend my year getting to know her.
Back to Saint Paul’s Conversion… if you are feeling low, and full of angst, anger, doubt about faith, our world, and other things. Put yourself on the path to Damascus with Saul (now Paul – Paul is the Greek translation of the Hebrew name Saul, fyi) and ask God to help you transform whilst you walk with Him. God took a murderous atheist that was hunting Christians and not only forgave him but converted him into one of the Apostles, and builder of His Church. And God will certainly come to us when we call on him as we walk our own continued conversions. But it’s up to us to listen for and act on God’s plans for us. We must learn to control our thoughts. We must put our pasts behind us. This is the hardest for me. But it hit me today that I am JUST AS FORGIVEN and malleable as Paul. And I am so thankful for the Saints before us and their great and HOLY examples.
I am hopeful and determined today, Dear Ones, and I hope you are too. No matter what – Jesus loves you. Walk with Him!
I’ll be back soon. Love, Hugs & Blessings… Lady Em
Dear Ones, Today, I am 57. Phew. We had plans to go out with friends, Covid-19 slayed that. Additionally, our son was supposed to have his wisdom teeth out on the 30th and it was moved up a couple weeks. There is a lot of fear we are moving into another lock down. It would not surprise me.
Anyway – I share my birthday with Saint Luke. As in The Gospel of Saint Luke, the Acts of the Apostles, not to mention he was one of Saint Paul’s companions. Read about him – HERE. He authored the Gospel of the Repentant sinners and Merciful Heart. I’m pretty sure he talked directly to Me in much of it. I’m not kidding. The Gospel of Saint Luke is my favorite Gospel, though I love them all. His name means “bringer of Light!”
When I found out bud was having surgery this weekend (10/16), I was like – BOO. I’ve gotta change all my plans. Sigh – you know, because in that split second it was all about me. But as a mother, there is no room for selfishness when it comes to our children’s health. No – I don’t say that because I was beating myself up. But I can’t make anyone feel badly – that’s NOT what Jesus would do. But seriously – my name means INDUSTRIOUS LIGHT (Emily Helen). And I truly aim to live up to that. I was faced with a choice… to be happy today in all it’s changes or to Sulk. And I chose happiness. I choose LIGHT. And that is NEVER a bad choice. I’ll get back to my birthday in a second.
Let me explain how things work in Italy. So – when you work for the Military, in a foreign country, you follow the Base Command’s directives as those directives are based on the laws/directives in the country you are in. If you follow my blog, you know we are in Italy. Our region was the first RED area in Italy this Fall (see Map & Link Below):
Additionally, the numbers are rising daily. In fact, if you look at the Campania Region, the numbers “Resting in Domicile” have doubled in the past three weeks. Below are yesterday’s Numbers. Todays have not come out yet.
So when the region or country changes rules about how they are approaching Covid, we have to follow suit. Further, the Command has requested we not dine out (we can do takeaway) and has given us other directives – all so we can thwart this thing and avoid another lockdown.
Why do I tell you the above? What you need to know is this… Happiness is a CHOICE. My family is here. My neighbors and friends in Italy are fantastic. My family and friends from home are showering me with love. My kitchen and home are all stocked up in case of a lock down. I could feed half the base LOL just kidding – but a lot of them. HA
I’ll admit, being here is lonely at times. But – this weekend has been quiet and full of family time. Bud is healing, though today is probably not his best day. My husband and I made a birthday cake. We took soup out of the freezer and will make some fried eggplant and zucchini later. We will have wine with our neighbors. And my 2020 birthday is NOT ruined… you know? Does it look different – YES.
Friday night, a friend brought us dinner. Veggie and Cheese pizza. AND sweet potato fries. Thanks Dawn. A few people sent cards and/or dropped off sweet presents. My husband bought flowers from he and our youngest… and I ordered a tan jacket with a burberry lining for my birthday. I mean it’s FAR from bad. I will share a few pics, then I will continue my story:
Marque is in fact a leprechaun! haha
Flowers from my guys.
From top left – Wine glasses from Dawn, cards from Kelly and Dawn, Gift bag from my friend Julie and her family, and Flamingo Assortment from my friend Gen.
Literally the best gift ever. Purple Playdoh from the heart of a 3 year old. #imnotsharing
But let me tell you what made me cry. You see that purple PlayDoh. That is from my bestie Ms. C. She is a 3 year old and I adore her. We have similar spirits – which should tell you something about my maturity. Her mama, my friend Julie, left me a bag by our gate, and When she told me that me that her sweet girl had sent me something too…… Y’all, this precious girl – she gave me her play doh. And that is something — you know? How humbling is that?
So I ask you – in the spirit of Light and Salt of the earth – I’m pretty dang blessed. the people I “let in” now, they mean something… And I’m humbled and thankful. Not because of the gift of things, but because of the awareness that I care for people and they care for me too. That, Dear Ones, — THAT is the best gift. Love of others is the gift worth cherishing.
Jesus is the true light! We are to emanate Him. So I say – be humble and shine your light.
Happy Sunday. I pray last week was great for you, and that this week brings great things. To you and your families!
I am excited to share with you that today’s Gospel Reflection over at Catholicmom.com was written by me! Go read it! It’s not bad if I do say so myself.
Here is part of my post: “When I was walking through miscarriages, I clung to the fact that Elizabeth had her son in “advanced maternal age”: Saint John the Baptist, cousin of Jesus, the man whose solitary purpose in life was to walk before our Lord, proclaiming Him as the one and only sacrificial Lamb that we must cling to. I clung to hope that God knew my heart and would give me a child of my own. Praise God, I carried my one and only living child, a son, while in advanced maternal age. While I don’t compare my son to Christ, or Saint John the Baptist, I know in my heart, the power of one! And I know that God has plans for my son (and all of our children)…” GO READ THE REST THERE! Lol and please leave a message there if you like it!
I will be back tomorrow with successes from last week’s pantry challenge and what we are doing this week. Also I have a few crafty posts that I haven’t shared, so I’m gonna.
Today is a family day. Yesterday we had a visit from our Bishop and a small potluck, where I made these:
Happy Feast Day of Saint John Capistrano. He is the Patron Saint of Military Chaplains.
Happy Wednesday. Please join me in praying for good men to join the Chaplaincy. We need Catholic Priests to serve the military. If you knew how taxed our Priest was. Sigh. Saint John Capistrano PRAY FOR US!Let us ponder the Gospel of Luke today… Specifically Luke 12:48. Here are a couple translations:
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much.” or “To whom much is given, much will be required.” What does it mean?
If we have been blessed with talents, wealth, knowledge, time, and the like, it is expected that we benefit others.
When I was young, people used to always tell me that as a leader, others looked up to me so it was so important I act a certain way, dress appropriately, etc. I used to think the things school administration, teachers, and my parents & grandparents said to me were manipulative. But you know what, they were for my own good – mostly. I say mostly, because… I am the person who puts a LOT of pressure on myself to get things right. I am a naturally anxious person who likes for things to go a certain way (aka a Control Freak)… So much so, it’s a regular item in confession because at this point I am so stressed out with it, my quality of life can be diminished by it.
I say to you all, MUCH HAS BEEN ENTRUSTED TO ALL CHRISTIANS! Yes yes it has. We must be vigilant in our faith. We must memorize prayers and parables, and as much of the Bible as we can. Why, you ask? Uh – because we don’t know when Jesus is coming back to get us and we need to get this right. In today’s reading from Saint Luke (12:39-48) the bottom line is – those of us who know better are held to a higher standard and WILL be punished for not doing the right things in a much harsher way than those who do not know.
We must remember we are sealed by God and have made vows, through our Confirmation as Catholics to be disciples and live a Godly life – to the best of our ability.
Additionally, I believe these verses tell us what not to do – but in a bigger way, they tell us what to do. And I tell you – no matter where you live, you must do for others. You must live like the Saints before us. You must buy that cup of coffee for a stranger, or pick up the items someone dropped, give clothes, groceries or even cash to those who don’t have. All of them, no matter what they look like, no matter what you THINK they may have or may do with the items you give them – YOU MUST serve them as if you were serving the Lord.
My grandmother and all the influencers in my life, taught me to do for others. I love to serve…. and I’m good at it. Truly – it’s such a blessing! I can’t always spend $$, but I can give my time and talent for CCD or in volunteering in umpteen ways. And remember… I don’t do things because I always want to or because I am a great person. I do things because GOD said to do them…. The Glory is GODS! Trust me.
I leave you with two things.
We serve a forgiving God. But forgiveness is NOT an excuse to go sin. We, through the Sacrament of Confession, promise to try our best NOT to sin.
LadyEm ~ Under Mary's Mantle 