Walking Toward Eternity

Ascension Press has become my favorite publisher for spiritual studies.  I generically call them "Bible Studies" partially because I started with their Great Adventure Bible Timeline study.  (Then studied the Gospel of Matthew and then Acts of the Apostle.)  They are well prepared, the resources well produced and the courses have been an immense benefit to me on my personal journey of faith.

Dennis and I act as facilitators for our Thursday night group.  Working through these studies with him is just an added bonus.  (Yes, I know, I have the best husband ever.  I am so blessed that he takes his role as a Christian man seriously and endeavors to live that role daily.)

From January - March, our group began a new series that Ascension Press has, Walking Toward Eternity.  I cannot praise this program enough.  It is advertised as giving practical ways to put your faith into practice.  It is that, and so much more.  That I can extol this program having missed 5 of the 8 classes (remember this was Feb-March when my life was in chaos and I wasn't in town) is amazing.  Dennis and I are finishing up the study at home (one of the perks of being facilitators is having the DVDs readily available).  

From the Publisher:  Walking Toward Eternity: Daring to Walk the Walk is an inspiring series designed to help you live your faith more fully. Through daily prayer and meditation with Scripture (lectio divina), you will be drawn into an intimate and life- changing encounter with Christ.

Daring to Walk the Walk introduces seven key virtues and outlines practial steps for living them out in your life.

You will learn how to walk in:

• Love • Humility • Forgiveness • Prayerfulness

• Faithfulnesson• Sacrifice • Thankfulness

We completed the lesson on 'sacrifice' last night, so I've been pondering this idea the past week (as I completed the 4 different days of assignments) and have just had so much click into place from years of learning about sacrifice.  Jeff Cavins does a great job of explaining exactly what it means when someone says to 'offer it up' (a Catholic mom-ism for sure).  The connection between sacrifice and servant is so obvious but I'd never quite put them together this way.  I am certain that the lesson resonated with me because of the months of turmoil I just went through. And it has help me process and deal with all that has come my way.

It is hard to pinpoint 'the' best part of the program, but that each lesson ends with you spending time in prayer with God discerning what you need to work on, how you plan to work on it and when you will implement the plan is definitely the part that I love.  I'm great at the head knowledge of faith, but this puts it into heart/soul knowledge....conversion at it's best.

So today I'm infinitely thankful for this program and am eager for next part of this program, Engaging the Struggles of Your Heart.  We start May 30!

Carded at 50

I think the thing I like most about my husband is his ability to laugh (and get me to laugh with him).  I so believe that laughter is a balm for the soul.  It's been a rough few months, so finding things to laugh about is crucial.  Well, Friday night Dennis and I went grocery shopping to pick up essentials: beer, ice cream, milk, bananas and cantaloupe.  I was standing by the credit card reader with the shopping cart behind me and Dennis was behind the cart.  The cashier looks at me and says, "Do you have ID?"  I thought she was joking!  I know she knew I was over 21, but the sign says "We card anyone who looks younger than 40" and as I am a month away from 50, it's pretty funny to get carded.  Funnier still, I didn't have any ID, so I tell the cashier, "No, but he does," and I felt 20 again going to get alcohol with my 21 year old friends.  We chatted with the cashier and told her we thought it was funny.  She was so relieved.  Apparently people get offended when they get carded... not sure why.  So I think we made her day brighter.
I'm thankful for laughter and a sense of humor.  And thankful for my husband.

Texting While Driving

I heard on the news yesterday that Florida is trying to get a law passed that makes texting while driving illegal.  Florida remains one of the few states that does not currently have such a law.  Having driven up and down I-95 several times in the last few months, it made me think of the large sign you see when entering Georgia: "Texting while driving in Georgia is illegal"  The sign makes me laugh....I think it should have a second half, "Texting while driving in Georgia is illegal, and texting while driving anywhere is just plain stupid."
Had a marvelously uneventful weekend.  Felt like Dennis and I relaxed the whole weekend, yet last night when we listed what we accomplished, it was quite a bit.  Amazing what you can get done when not unpacking from a trip, or packing for an upcoming trip.  Garden is weeded and tended, lawn mowed, flower bed weeded, laundry clean, great dinners cooked, pool cleaned, patio washed down, scrap book stuff organized.  We still have a list of to do's in order to catch up from our absences from home, but we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
Looking forward to lunch with a good friend today.  She lost her dad a year ago October.  It's nice to have someone who has been through the emotions of losing their dad.  I know people sympathize with my loss, but there is a connection that is only there with someone who has actually experienced it.

Castle

For the past 6 weeks I've been on an emotional roller-coaster.  And my faith in God and the support (both literal and prayer) I've gotten from Dennis and my friends have gotten me through it.  But I've also needed an escape.  A 'safe-place' to go.  A place where I don't have to think.  That place has been the TVshow, Castle.  

I guess I had heard about the show when it began 5 years ago, but I didn't watch it until last Fall/Winter.  When Dennis spent the month of September in PA with his parents, his sister told him all about it and said we would love it.  Sometime after Dennis' dad died in November, we ordered Season1 from Netflix.  And I fell in love with the show and the characters and preceded to watch Seasons 2, 3 and 4.  The writing is really good.  The banter entertaining and inevitably it causes me to laugh out loud.  I am a firm believer that laughter is necessary for a healthy life.  And that laughter helps us maintain a balance in our emotions.  So when my life started unravelling, and we had just finished watching Season 4 on Netflix, my husband went out and bought me Season 4 to take with me on my travels.  As my life continued to become crazy and I was spending more and more time in hotels, he went and got me Season 3...I now have Seasons 1-4.  I spent a lot of time with Castle and Beckett (aka Caskett according to Richard Castle, since they're now a couple) the last weeks, especially in Omaha where it was 17 degrees.  

In one of episodes, it is mentioned that Richard Castle's books helped Kate Beckett get through her mother's death...and escape.  Well, the TV show Castle has helped me through this time and I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this show, and let's face it, turning to a TV show to numb my emotions for a while, sure beats the alternatives.

It's A Small World

Saturday night I was honored to watch my niece, Lauren, fully enter the Catholic Church with her Confirmation and First Communion.  The entire Easter Vigil celebration is absolutely beautiful.  The whole experience left me amazed at how small the world really is.  We went to the church hall after Mass and met a friend of Lauren's grandma who came to see Lauren.  The grandma did not know Lauren personally but the grandson had blogged about Lauren so the grandmother came.  As it so happens, this friend of Lauren's actually graduated from Belmont Abbey with my Megan.  Then to really be amazed at connections, the woman that brought the grandmother to Mass was Lauren's kindergarten teacher!  What a small world.

I just got home from the dentist.  Finally finished with a process that began Feb 13 (just days before my trips away from home began).  I had a root canal.  Then had a temporary crown put on.  I had to cancel my appointment for my permanent crown as I was in Sumter with my dad.  While in Sumter, my temporary crown broke and I had to go get another temp put on in Sumter.  Then between my dad's funeral and my trip to Nebraska, I went to get my permanent crown put on, only to have the crown not fit.  So... I got ANOTHER temp crown put on and today I finally had my permanent crown put on.  I hate going to the dentist and to have to go 5 times instead of 3 does not make me happy.

It's raining today.  My garden looks dead after we were gone for 6 days and we got no rain while we were gone.  I was thinking of giving up on my garden since I know I'll be gone for a two-week period later this summer, but if the plants bounce back after this rain, I guess I'll keep working the land.  I know the food tastes better and is better when it's from my garden, but it is super frustrating to put so much time into the process and have the plants die because I must travel.  My tomato plants were doing so well, too.  

Looking forward to having dinner with a friend tonight and lunch with another friend Monday.  I feel like I've been on an island with only my family.  I haven't spent any time with my friends for ages.  I'm thinking I'll feel lots better after getting to spend time with some girlfriends.