Matthew Kelly is Coming!

Next week is our PArish Lenten Mission and our speaker is MAtthew Kelly. We are all looking forward to it and ahve worked hard to pull it all together. We ahve babysitting, a children's mission, and dinners before so as many people can attend as possible.

Motherhood

You know, as an adult with two adult children, I sometimes wonder about my mom always saying you never really stop worrying. Because lately I have, mostly due to much soul searching and prayer and the realization that very little is in your control anyway. So, last night, I was in the ER with my man-boy 21 year old son who collapsed at work and was taken to the hospital. It reminded of the last time I sat stood next to him when he was 9 and getting 16 stitches or so above his eye. Blood everyone, him very pale, not letting go of my hand. This time he was not so compliant or happy. I will attribute that to his racing heart rate. All the tests came back negative but next week we have to go to the neurosurgeon and probably have an EEG. He is not happy and difficult to reason with, because he feels fine. So, back to worrying, no, not really, I keeping offering up the prayers and remember that as much as my husband and I want what is best for our son, God does even more.

Sick

I am sick, again. This time with an awful cold/cough thing everyone in the office has or had. I really do not like being sick. And with this, I start coughing terribly whenever I talk to much. Of course, my boss (the pastor) and my husband are not really too concerned with that little problem.

February

February is why I live in South Florida. Even though this year we have had warmer than average temperatures, it has been wonderful weather. I can go for a walk or bike ride and be comfortable. When I lived in New York, February was the longest month, always dark, dreary, and damp. Here it is so beautiful. Yep, February really makes it worth the heat and humidity in the summer.

RCIA

On Monday it is my turm to give a talk to the group. The topic is "Change my Heart." I will use different encounters with Jesus from the gospels to show how we can be transformed through an encounter with Him. My focus scripture will be the Samaritan woman at the well. I'll add as I go through the talk. I started it today in Adoration.

Dinner with the Folks

So, my parents are here in Florida for a visit. They are at the house my grandmother lived in before she died. Now it belongs to my mom and uncle. Tonight I am preparing dinner: lamb (pre-seasoned by my son, the chef), spinach, eggplant with goat cheese. I hope it's good!

Ignatian Exercises

Today I finished my Ignatian Exercises I have been doing with a friend. We were both sad to be done, but we have journeyed well together with Ignatius as a spiritual guide. We both have grown in our faith and also grown closer to each other. Next week we'll attend a parish mission with Fr. John Powell and then we'll work on a book about Thomas Merton. It is so important to keep learning and growing spiritually and to have people in your life who you can be transparent with and have no fear of judgement.

Parish Hall and Kitchen

Does every parish have problems with the hall and kitchen? This morning I got to church a little early and was greated by a terrible sight. The new cabinets we had installed in the kitchen were in pieces outside the kitchen. I go in the kitchen and the Knights of Columbus are cooking for the monthly pancake breakfast. Well, apparently, when they arrived to start getting ready they found two big problems. 1: the cabinets were on the floor and food everywhere along with broken containers. A huge mess! 2: the hall was not set up properly from last night's event so that also needed to be done.
No one was happy and since working with the ministries is part of my new job, I heard about it, repeatingly, from many different people.
But worst of all will be what I hear when the person who put the cabinets in, finds out what happened.
Of course, some of you folks may be asking how did this happen? Well, the cabinets were about 8 feet high, 3 separate ones, which were attached to each other but not the wall. The middle cabinet was full of #10 cans on the upper shelves and paper goods on the bottom. So, all fell together. That's all I know. I think we need to bless our kitchen!

DSL

Okay, this is very, very late in the internet game, but we finally have a DSL line! No more dial up. Wow, we're in the 21st century.

Lent

Lent will be here in two days and I have yet to decide on my sacrifices for the season. We discussed it at our Mardi Gras dinner the other night. One friend really wants to give up chemo, but she won't. Her last treatment is during Holy Week. Another family will focus on praying the Stations of the Cross every Friday at church. I am considering giving up TV and maybe wine and getting to daily Mass. Anohter friend wants to get to daily Mass. Through the years we've done various things: given up meat entirly, no TV, no computer games, coins in your Rice Bowl for an offense, always going to confession as a family.
I'll need to spend some time in prayer and make some decisions.

Super Bowl

YEA GIANTS!!!!!!!!!!!My family is so very happy the Giants won. I am happy they are happy.