Sacrament of Reconciliation ~ Much Needed

March 13, 2023March 13, 2023 LadyEm63Leave a comment

Comfort Zone – Post 2

Dear Ones,

I’m making my way back to full-union with the Church. Sigh. It’s a process y’all. And I’m trying to be honest about it, so that others know it is ok and you can always come home.

After the Pandemic, we didn’t have a set Priest here in our MIL Parish. Lack of Confession (Reconciliation) and such created the perfect storm of “why bother?” And “Let’s just stay away.” The new Priest has been here for a year or so – maybe 18 months. I can’t remember. And I sent him an email, literally titled, “Worst Catholic Ever?” I’ll spare you the text, but suffice to say, I set up Confession for my husband and I. Neither of us had been for at least 18 months. In our defense, it’s NOT readily available. And the Parish here has not been well-manned. But – we could have arranged it, so I shall step off that broken record.

We worked to get on his calendar, and it ends up, we confessed our sins on Fat Tuesday. What a great way to kick off the Lenten season. On a related note, we have a Parishioner who has a very sick child, and they will make their way back to the states soon. In the meantime, I have taken over their CCD Class. You see, during confession (here in Italy, a lot of times you are looking at the Priest. It takes some getting used to.), the Priest and I also spoke about my not feeling like I belonged here at this Parish. So many things happened within the Command Chaplaincy, and rude parishioners… that many of us backed off. It’s a strange thing to come from being so active and fairly respected in your home Diocese, to being treated very poorly and disrespected by folks. I’m not the only one this happened to, and it’s in the past… but you now have a little background for when I say “feeling like I didn’t belong”. I mean it was to the point, I was doubting my faith.

So back to Father. He said, “we may need you to teach a CCD Class”. HA – how could I say no! I wouldn’t have anyway… it’s just funny. He’s done so much good for this little Military Parish. Including recruiting a teacher for CCD. I had taken this year off as I was truly unsure if I was going to be able to manage my son being so far away (5018 miles, but who’s counting?!). And my husband and I just thought we needed a break this year. God knew what I needed, and I am excited about the next few months.

I got a little head’s up about extra confession coming up this coming weekend, and I decided that after my class and I met, and chatted through introductions, we’d pick up one of my favorite children’s confession booklet and talk about Examination of Conscience as it pertains to the Ten Commandments. It’s by TAN Books, and it’s called My Confession Book (click on it and it will take you there). First published in 1958! Old school. The kids really enjoyed it. And Father stopped by to talk to them about confession and invite them to partake this weekend. YAY

During our discussion in class, one of the children said when he went to confession it was like a huge weight was lifted and he was floating. Y’all – it’s so true. My head was so chaotic as our life got crazy here in Italy… and being away from Sacraments during the Pandemic and after – it really took its toll. We are already feeling so much better about things here.

It’s now the 3rd week of Lent and we are enjoying being involved and going to Mass/Being in full union again. The first weekend of Lent I was in Assisi with a group of Catholic Women (Yes, I do owe you a post or ten). We have been participating in the meatless Pot Lucks on Friday evenings (I will share my recipes used soon). We will hopefully go to Stations of the Cross this weekend. Sunday I am bowling with children from a local Orphanage here in the Naples Area. I love kiddos, so that will be fun.

Because of anxiety and depression, I had honestly let a lot of things go… and I’m also purposing to be a better and more joyful home-maker, and make the house more pleasant for my husband too. It’s not like I was horrible to him, but I don’t have a full-time job here, and I could do more… so I am. Today, I am baking corn bread, and organizing a few things at home. We also have a guest bed here, and the tech is coming to put it together this evening and then we will officially have a guest room – YAY.

Signing off for today. Tomorrow, I should have a Gospel Reflection going live. I will share it then.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

Anxiety and Fear · Catholic Faith · Comfort Zone · Emily (Me) · Italy · LadyEm · Lent · Mental Health · Sacraments · Self Improvement

Underestimating God ~ Trust is a Process

March 6, 2023 LadyEm632 Comments

Comfort Zone – Post 1

Happy March 6th y’all. Happy Second Monday in Lent.

On February 16th, I posted the below on my FB Wall. Over the past several years the tragedy of my life – as a child, as a young woman, and even the past decade has weighed on me to the point it really broke me in many ways. And I am thankful.

In the broken, I have been able to handle the pieces of tragedy in a way more positive way. I prayed before I wrote this post because in so many ways, it’s like a broken record. Holding myself accountable and taking responsibility for my lack of focus – on God, on my health, on so many things. And Lent is my saving Grace this year. Learning to fully rely on and trust God – not in a way that I “thought” I was… but truly realizing me that I can not say “Yes God, I trust you. But I’m gonna do what I want!” Trust is hard for me. Anyway…. Read these two pictures, and I will give an update at the end!

The book this passage is from is the Magnificat. I placed the link on the word. If anything happens to the link, go to http://www.magnificat.net and you will find it (and about a zillion other books you may “need”).

Just like the Israelites, mentioned above, I don’t trust God enough to believe HE will do what HE says. So Lent, for me, is a succession of stepping out of my comfort zone moments… in which I let God, my Father, guide me. Imagine that?!

Update: When I spoke to the doc, he said he wanted me to up my BP Meds (because I have a hereditary high BP). And he also recommended that I wean myself off the Anxiety/Depression meds slowly. I went to 1/4 of the dose and after a week realized half the dose is my number for now. Sadly – due to all I’ve walked through, I may have to be on meds long-term. Doc says that’s ok. It’s nothing I am doing wrong. Sigh. I am thankful for friends and family, and for praying people who have bolstered me throughout this period.

I love my medical team here in Italy. Truly they care. They have been instrumental in my learning to care for myself. I’m so thankful. And now that I am headed back to a better relationship with the Catholic Church and God (oh yes, I was flailing/failing both)… things are really looking up.

I will share with you, that a few weeks before Lent started, I reached out to our new Priest about confession and discussion. I hadn’t been to confession in about 18 months or so – not a stellar show of faith. I’d really given up in many ways. Sigh. But when I was speaking to my son about what he needed to do to get back to faith… I clearly heard THE FATHER speaking to me, through me. Sigh.

Now, I am off to do my Italian homework, and make a few cards. I will share the cards on the blog. Soon, I will share about a woman’s retreat I went on to Assisi. Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone. LOL You’ll see. Until Then…

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

Fridge or Pantry · Good Cheap Eats · Homemaking · Pantry Challenge · Perseverance

Pantry Challenge – Thawed Out

January 9, 2023January 9, 2023 LadyEm633 Comments

Happy New Year Y’all.
On New Year’s Day, I posted about the yearly Pantry Challenge. I had meal prepped, and menu prepped…and I was excited to get back to it and use what I have over the next couple months. If you don’t know Jessica of Good Cheap Eats, get to know her – she is amazing. Regular mom logic. AND here is her info about the Pantry Challenge. But as life does on occasion – we came home to a change of plans. Our electricity was off and we lost all our frozen/fridge food.

We cleaned up the mess, cleaned out both fridge/freezers, and then washed our pups (who were with a sitter whilst we were gone, who has other animals and watches lots of dogs) and finally got to bed about 2am. I have not given up though.

January 5th was my hubby’s 63rd birthday, and by this past weekend, we were semi stocked up and ready to participate again. We only replaced parts of what we lost and didn’t buy new pantry items… and though we won’t technically save money, we have pledged to eat at home for the next few weeks, and were creative with our purchases.

Speaking of Creative… I wanted to share with you how I made my kitchen bigger by extending/creating a wall. Here, I extended the living room wall with bookshelves and a hutch (it needs painting and was free):

These pics show the pantry (aka the backside of bookshelves) and the refrigerator behind the red piece. The meal calendar was what I’d done before I left.

Our Second fridge/freezer is on our enclosed porch. I will be contacting our insurance company today about how to recoup anything we can. And later on this evening, I will post pics of our apartment we moved into in September (not duplicating today’s pics). Other than power outages, we are really enjoying it.

Don’t let anything sway you from your plan. Regroup and get back to it.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,
LadyEm

Emily (Me) · Fridge or Pantry · Good Cheap Eats · Pantry Challenge

New Year – New Pantry Challenge

January 1, 2023 LadyEm632 Comments

It’s the most budgeting time of the year! Are you singing it with me? Uh… my husband says, “everything is NOT song.” I beg to differ.

This year for New Years, we visited The Netherlands. I will post a few pics, but you can click on the link, “The Netherlands” to see the album on FB. It’s public.

So for the past 10+ years… I have participated in the Pantry Challenge, hosted by Good Cheap Eats. You can read Jessica’s thoughts on it by clicking the link. But for me – and everyone, it can be adapted to your own goals. I use Pantry Challenges to work through the pre-cooked meats in our freezer, as well as foods that may expire in the pantry. But more than that, I also challenge myself to only buy peripheral goods during this month – six weeks. For me, that means dairy, produce, etc. Let me lay it out in bullets:

LadyEm’s Pantry Challenge Goals:

Use Pre-cooked meats.
- And meats that are dates November or earlier in 2022.
- The reason behind this is that in Italy, meat and foods don’t have preservatives, and you can’t keep them, even in the freezer, for more than say four months.
Use soon-to-expire goods.
Shop my pantry/freezer.
- Cans of tuna/veggies
- Pasta/rice
- Flours, etc.
Bake my own breads and muffins, etc.
Only buy dairy and veggies…ok, maybe paper goods.
Participate at least six weeks.
- Many only do 30 days, but we have things to get through.

I get home late tomorrow, but I knew the challenge was coming, so – I have two weeks meal plan done, and a list of items to buy. In this way, taking Jessica’s classes on organizing my kitchen and knowing what’s in my freezer/pantry is an amazing way to live and not waste in my kitchen and in many ways have helped my family and I be more creative.

Now that we are empty nesters, we are even more creative because no one is saying “I don’t want to eat that!” Ok yes, we miss them all. But you know what I mean.

I hope, if you are reading this, that you will do the challenge with me. Check out Jessica’s Blogs and her Good Cheap Eats FaceBook page.

I will post more of our plan on Tuesday.

Until then…. Enjoy the beginning of 2023. My word of the year is PEACE. I intend to seek it, through faith and surroundings.

Love and Hugs,
LadyEm

Counting Blessings · Davis Family · Emily (Me) · EmptyNest · Italy · Marriage · Parenting

Becoming Empty Nesters

July 25, 2022 LadyEm63Leave a comment

Please note, I’ve updated the name but not the URL for my blog. In a world full of Catholic Bloggers, I just want to be me. I’m unapologetically Christian/Conservative, but I’m a lot of other things. I’m not the great writer others are…. and I am just going to journal and play here. I hope you like the new lightness of the blog (ok, not always light). LOL

August 3rd, we will have been in Italy for four years. I can’t believe how fast and how slow it’s gone. You know what I mean?

On July 6th, our youngest left for Texas to go to Engineering School. He got into so many schools, it was hard for him to decide where to go. We landed at a small school in Texas. I say WE because we had tons of family conversations about it. And although pop culture tells parents they have no say, I beg to differ.

You see that young man… he’s going places. And his daddy, friends, a few teachers, coaches, family and I all worked as a village to make sure of it. He did the majority of the work, but I won’t be dismissed.By the grace of God, he is continuing to stay focused and spread his wings. We could NOT be prouder.

My cousin Laurie and her hubby and our family friends Andi & Jay are standing in for us in Texas. We also have my bestie Kelly and approximately a zillion family/friends (ok – I’m exaggerating). We couldn’t be more thankful and blessed with their influences in his life and their love for all of us – I mean – it’s not an easy task I’m sure. We’d all do it for others too… but it’s amazing and scary in some ways. Sigh.

So anyway, today is the 20th day we are living alone. It’s weird currently. There is so much to do. Let me catch you up…

MAJOR TASKS/LIFE CHANGES:
- Bud graduated
- Sorting Through 19 years of stuff.
  - The big toss
  - Shipped the rest
- Bud left for Texas.
  - Orientation – Andi took him
  - ROTC Camp – we will drop him off
  - Buying lists of things – Andi & I
  - Driver’s License – Andi & Fam are helping him
  - Gym – they take him daily
- Tarleton Conversations and emails…
  - I will say this. I literally sent the Prez/VP of the college an email after how great the entire Admissions/Advisor/ROTC team treated us. They answered a billion questions and called us, emailed us – and yes, even heard back from the VP. Can not say enough.
- Planning our Trip to Texas
  - Getting Bud to FW
  - Graduation Party – Thanks Laurie & Mario
  - Visiting Friends & Family
  - Visiting Lake House – and fishing trip – Thanks Mario & Laurie
  - Finding dog sitter – Check! Thanks Rachel.
- Finding a New Place To Live
  - We did it. We found a new Realtor. We told them exactly what we wanted, and how much we wanted to pay. We looked at half a dozen places and found one that we are super excited about.
  - We are moving to a town called Teverola. Many Americans live there, but it’s also very Italian. And we are happy. It’s a one-story, bottom floor apartment. 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, fireplace, pizza oven, nice porches, living area and kitchen are open. And plenty of storage. It’s nearer to the Support Site and we are going to start going to the gym there. Very excited about that.
  - But mostly – it’s a small Italian town with little shops and people say they walk everywhere, etc.
- Marque’s Job
  - We are now hoping our contract is renewed.
  - The word is, no matter who wins, Marque will stay.
  - Pray for us, my nerves are continually shot here. LOL
  - Marque is not worried at all.
- Pet Update
  - Gianna is going to live in England at the end of July. There is a group there who works with dogs who have behavioral needs. It’s best for her… also, it’s best for us. She has never allowed us to bathe, brush, or even pet her. She was abandoned, and she just never came around. And she’s gotten progressively aggressive – but she can’t help it. The vet said she is the most anxious dog he’s ever seen. Who knows what she has been through. We have nearly had her for two years and have tried everything. Trust me.
  - Melvin has been with us since January. He was about 5 weeks old when he was found on the streets of Gricignano and we have had him since that day. He’s 7 months old now. Strangely – they look like siblings, except Melvin won’t ever weigh over 7.5 Kilos (16 lbs). It’s been so nice to have a dog who greets us and wants to play, love, etc. You know? Sigh.
  - Goose & Mavericks are outdoor cats and we rarely see them. They are neutered but it’s so common for cats to be outside here. Unsure if they will come with us to new place. Doubtful. Being outside has thinned them up. Funny because they love the puppy and Gianna continually tries to eat them. LOL
- Health Updates
  - Marque has Type2 Diabetes. After his colon cancer he got thin, and was being careful. But with the pandemic stress, senior year stress, etc… he gained it all back. He’s currently working with our doc to get it straightened out. All diet and exercise related. And trust me, we are working on it.
  - I am working on truly getting over past trauma. It has affected my blood pressure, and anxiety in ways that I have to prayerfully and purposefully learn to control. Sigh. I’ll tell you about the book/workbook another time. Once we settle in our house I will have plenty of time to work on me. Blah.
- Em’s Volunteering
  - No CCD this year. Parents here don’t take it seriously and it’s frustrating. In fact we have taken a step back from the base Parish. Gotta find a good Mass and Parish experience. It’s super sad. But I am continuing to work on my relationship with God. Need to talk to the new Priest. I miss a Parish to get involved in and make good friends. It’s not how it works here. Sigh.
  - IC Club – all is well there. I’m the Events Coordinator for this next year. So exciting. Happy to say that we have a positive and helpful team. So thankful.
  - NMCRS – I am hopeful to get back involved there.

If you made it through that – you’re awesome. I will tell you this… as much as we miss our son (and for that matter all our people), we are loving hanging out, and working together to sort through things to downsize. It’s so easy to cook for two people. Y’all, I’m serious. If you want to know the truth – it’s only been 20 days that we’ve been alone. But we are a great team. And we know once we get through actually dropping him at college, the process of downsizing our stuff (which thanks to black mold won’t be hard – you’re welcome)…, moving again, getting through contract renewal… it will be smooth sailing.

We will likely be overseas until bud graduates college. But we hope to travel and spend some time in the states, and have some visitors over here.

Enjoy these pics of Melvin and Gianna – wait till you see how alike they are –