The 7 Quick Takes That Wasn't

1. I really wanted to publish a 7 Quick Takes post tonight. I have all kinds of thoughts in various word documents on my computer, waiting for me to organize and compile them into a summary of seven ways that technology has enhanced my spiritual life in one way or another. I want to tell you about certain apps I have on my phone and my iPad, some I use all the time, and some that I want to learn how to make better use of. I want to tell you about some websites with fancy interactive prayers and scriptural Rosaries. I want to share some of the Catholic books that I've downloaded and read on my iPad Kindle app. And I want to ponder the question, am I relying on technology too much, and is it really bringing me closer to God? And how I miss the days when I would just sit quietly with a cup of coffee, my Bible, and a Rosary.

Instead I'm giving you a few random takes about other various things and hope that post will materialize between now and next Friday.

2. I'm actually kind of excited about my New Year's Resolutions, even though I've made way too many. Last year I made only one: To go on a gluten free diet sometime during 2011. Right before the beginning of Lent, I took the plunge and I've never looked back. (Well, maybe I have looked back just a little: all the times I've opened a gluten free beer for myself and a Fat Tire for Larry, wishing I could have one of those instead; making chocolate-chip cookies for everyone else, and wishing I could have just one; when the server in a restaurant brings out steaming hot bread, and darn it, I wish I could have some...) I've also decided that if I'm going to keep any of my resolutions, I'd better not push myself to try and implement all of them at once. Like that exercising 20 minutes thee-times-a-day thing? Hasn't happened yet.

3. I went to confession last night. I'm hoping--it isn't really a New Year's Resolution, but almost--to take advantage of the Sacrament of Reconciliation more often--once a month, ideally. I'm thinking maybe on the Wednesday before First Friday...we'll see if I can keep that one. For the first time I took my phone into the confessional with me, with my list of sins I generated with the help of the confession app. In the confessional I told Father I was trying out the app for the first time and I'm not sure if I liked it or not. Young Twenty-something Father B laughed and said he prefers the manual version, but if I wanted to use the app that was fine with him.

My take on the confession app: I have it on both my iPad and my Android phone. It's a great tool for my examination of conscience, but I think I'd have to agree with Father: I'd rather write down my sins and bring that with me rather than trying to fumble with my mobile device.

I wrote this in my journal last week:

After receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, I feel more grateful to God for His gift of forgiveness, and I'm overwhelmed at how much He loves me even though I don't deserve it. I'm kinder to everyone around me.

Boy, is that the truth! Each time I go I feel just a little bit closer to Christ. I didn't want to leave the church afterward; I just wanted to sit with Jesus. And I have been kinder to everyone today, I think, including myself.

4. I wanted, in my 7 Quick Takes Post That Wasn't, tell you about my new efforts with a prayer journal and how I'm using technology (Microsoft Word and the Internet) to do that as well. A few thoughts I wrote--er, typed--down last week:

Do people know I'm a follower of Christ? They hear me talk the talk and say nice words but what do they see? Too often they don't see much of anything, I fear.

What star guides me toward the Lord? My family. My gift? My willingness to do whatever I need to in order to help them on their journey toward Him, so that they will reach Heaven.

Jesus is the Bread of Life. My Sunday School teachers used to tell me that I received the Bread of Life by reading the Bible. I know it's more than that, of course, but those times when I used to read the Bible every day (or nearly) I felt closer to God and much more at peace.

And this:

Years ago when I rationed coffee to myself (and only drank wine on the weekends, and exercised regularly) I used to pray, "Hey, Mary, I'm tired and I still have a lot to do before retiring. Could I get some extra energy to get through the rest of the day, like a second wind? Thanks." It always worked.

This week I've been saying this prayer almost every evening. And it does work, just like before.

5. Guess What!

It's still Christmas!

Happy Epiphany, and have a wonderful weekend!

And please visit Jennifer's Conversion Diary blog for more Quick Takes.

Ramblings and Resolutions

The weather has been so warm this week that Moe decided to make a "mud man" since he won't be making any snowmen in the near future. It's expected to turn colder in the next couple of days; I know it's wishful thinking to hope for some snow. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. For me, Christmas break was just the right balance between celebration and relaxation, and now I'm ready to get back into our normal hectic routine.

I don't usually make New Years' Resolutions, because I'm not very good at keeping them. I was looking the other day at my very first post, and the resolutions I listed there. I actually kept some of them, at least for a while. I started writing out some new ones for this year, and my list kept getting longer and longer. I probably made too many:

Exercise 20 minutes a day, 3 times a week, minimum.

Expect more chores from kids. And maybe call that housecleaning lady.

Read 2 books a month: One spiritual and one fluff.

MAKE time for prayer EVERY DAY, even if it's only five minutes. Maybe ten.

Put Jesus first, others second, myself third.

A relatively nonspecific career-related resolution, basically telling myself to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life--and do it already.

Quit sleeping in on the weekends.

Go to at least one additional Mass every month, besides Sundays. Holy Days of Obligation don't count. Or maybe they do. Baby steps.

Limit my online time and stick with it. This includes Twitter, blogging, Facebook...Spend some of that time reading a BOOK. Spend my time online carefully. This may mean less blogging. Get over it.

Invite people to my house more often. This includes priests, friends I don't get to see as often as I'd like, people I don't want to lose touch with. And relatives.

Support my favorite charities actively and consistently. Make a plan and stick with it.

Don't rely on Facebook to keep in touch with people I love. Pick up the phone and call them. Make time to visit them.

Plant a garden. (This is the one I'm least likely to keep, but there it is.)

(Hah! I've gone and done it. This is Moe. He took advantage of the warm weather to feed the goose and the ducks.)

I woke up this morning with some nagging thoughts about how I spend my time, and whether or not I should spend less time blogging or just quit altogether. Just this past year, between my two blogs, I put up 92 posts. If I spend an average of two hours on each one (let's be realistic, shall we?), that's 184 hours I spent here, and 184 hours that I wasn't doing laundry, cleaning, reading, exercising, or just having a conversation with someone in my life.

Sometime late yesterday afternoon I decided to put together a post for Cooking Nick's Books. I figured Christmas vacation was almost over and we're having leftovers anyway, so I sat down and started writing and going through pictures. Right around 6:30, I asked, "Is anyone hungry?" We had eaten a late lunch, and I figured we'd have a light supper. My husband said, "Not really, but I will be." OK, I thought, I'll sit here for a few more minutes and then go heat up the chili from the other night. Suddenly I heard my husband say, "Are we going to eat?" I looked down at the little clock at the bottom of my computer screen and realized an hour had passed. Moe said, "Mom, you were sitting at your computer for like three hours." Now, I had spent some time printing out work for my Religious Education class and browsing Catholic education sites for ideas I could use (and I adamantly pointed out this fact) but I wondered, Is this really how I need to be spending my time? Granted, my husband was watching a football game I wasn't the least bit interested in, and Moe was working on some homework, and the other boys were playing their new video games they got for Christmas, but still.... And then after dinner I wanted to finish the post while the boys headed into the living room to watch an episode of Star Trek. Joe asked me if I wanted to join them, and I declined.

So this morning as I tossed and turned in bed trying in vain to go back to sleep, I was thinking, maybe I should seriously just quit this fruitless endeavor and spend those hours doing something more tangible. I asked God to help me figure out a way to either a) use my love of blogging to enhance my relationship with Him, bring others closer to Him--and to genuinely touch the lives of others (including friends, loved ones, and strangers); or b). give me a sign, a thumbs up ("Keep it up!") or a thumbs down ("It's time to move on.")

On my last post, I received five comments. Five! That may be a record. Usually I get none. Which is OK, because I'm not looking for recognition, but when people say nice things about what I've posted it gives me the encouragement I need to keep going. Just listen to Gardenia's comment:

"Sharon, that is indeed a beautiful olive wood carving. you have a thoughtful husband I can tell! I love Mary so much and will be checking out your posts on the Blessed Mother. Happy Blessed New Year! "

Every time I seriously consider quitting my blogging habit (I wonder if it's an addiction, kind of like people getting addicted to video games or gambling?) I get a message like this. People do read my posts and enjoy them. Does this mean God wants me to keep blogging? Maybe, but I also know that I do need to spend more time nurturing my relationships with friends and family ("face-to-face people") and doing more tangible and practical things, too. (As for my other blog, Cooking Nick's Books-- that's a whole other dilemma. I don't want to quit that one, but am I spending too much time with it? Dear Lord, send me a sign...)

Happy New Year! I'm looking forward to sharing many more musings, memories, and photos with you in 2012, and to reading many more of yours, too!

THe Holy Name of Jesus

Last night as I was poking around the Internet, I learned that January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. I looked around a little more this morning, and discovered that January 3 was declared by Pope John Paul II to be the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, and that the Church dedicates the month of January to this devotion. Now, I know very little about devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus; other than a few factoids about things like the Chi-Ro symbol (the Greek letters that come at the beginning and the end of the Greek word for Christ) and "IHS" being a monogram of "Jesus Christ"; plus the fact that the third commandment (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain) compels us to keep the name of Jesus holy. This got me thinking: Wouldn't it be great if every Christian (doesn't matter if you're Catholic, Protestant, or any denomination) made a commitment to invoke the name of Jesus OUT LOUD to at least one person every day this month? Now, I know many of us use Jesus' name in not-so-nice ways all too often; of course what I'm talking about is mentioning him in conversation in a loving way. I'm thinking if we made a conscious effort to make Jesus a part of our everyday speech, it would become habit. We could start in our own families; or if we're already used to talking about Jesus at home, try mentioning Jesus to close friends and then go from there. Of course, by putting this idea out there it means that I should make an effort to do this; I can consider it a New Year's Resolution of sorts, and maybe even ask Our Lady for the courage to try. (Check out this article about how Mary can help us make good resolutions, and how she can help us keep them.)

Hopefully I'll be able to learn a little bit more about the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, and the history behind the devotion; meanwhile, I'd like to ask for your prayers to help me give this little gift to Our Lord and to challenge you to do the same. Praise the Holy Name of Jesus!

Seven Quick Takes Friday--looking ahead to 2010

Happy New Year! Since it's the first day of 2010, and it's also Friday, I thought I'd tell you about some things I am looking forward to in the coming year.

1. I'm to become the mother of a teenager. Our oldest son, nicknamed Larry here, turns 13 soon. Last year for his twelfth birthday he invited some friends over for a slumber party, and since normally the boys get a party with their friends every other year, I thought I was off the hook for his thriteenth. Yesterday my friends informed me that 13 was a BIG milestone for a kid, and I needed to throw him a party. Any ideas?

2. Speaking of milestones, my mother and both of my husband's parents will turn 70 in 2010; my dad will reach his 75th birthday. Looks like we have some party planning to do.

3. My brother is getting married! I'm looking forward not only to the wedding festivities, but to many years of getting to know my new sister-in-law, and *hopefully* welcoming some new nieces and/or nephews in the years to come.

4. A weekend trip to New York City. Every Christmas, instead of buying toys and gadgets for us that might break or get lost, my in-laws give us gifts of special memories with them. Last year it was a day spent at a water park; another year we all went to Disney World. This year we are planning to spend a weekend in New York and an evening with Blue Man Group. I've only been to NYC a few times, but I love it, and I can't wait to go there with the whole family!

5. Confirmation Prep for Larry. I got an email a couple of months ago from the youth director at our parish asking if I would be willing to be a team leader for Larry's confirmation group. I don't know how it's done in other places, but in our parish the kids preparing for confirmation are divided into groups of 10 or so kids, and together they are expected to perform three corporal works of mercy and three spiritual works of mercy. Each team has one or two leaders--usually parents--who are in charge of planning activities and making sure all the kids participate. Fortunately I'm working with another mom, so I'm not having to do it all myself. We have until the end of the year to complete all six works, and I'm happy to say that we're already planning some for this winter. Once all the preparation is done, he'll be confirmed in 2011.

6. Enjoying our new deck, which was officially finished on December 30. It's built over the spot where I had my experimental container garden last year, so most likely I'll put out some pots on the sunny part of the deck, but I'm thinking I'll just have a few tomato plants and some herbs, and skip trying to grow other vegetables. At least for this year. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to many outdoor meals, and many hours lounging on the deck with a good book, a rosary, or stimulating conversation with friends and family. Curly already suggested we get one of those ourdoor fireplaces--the freestanding kind that people can gather around. We'll see; maybe that can be Dad's Father's Day present.

7. New Year's Resolutions? Pretty much the same as last year: more reading, more prayer, more exercise, etc. Last year I resolved to expand my garden, which I did, but I never got around to buying a composter. (That's probably a good thing; I'm not sure I'd really know what to do with it.) I did get more involved with the pro-life movement, but the part about volunteering at a crisis pregnancy center didn't happen. Maybe this year...the same goes for my resolution to eat something healthy with every meal and exercise every day. HAH! Not happenin'. Again, maybe this year...

I hope you all have many blessings in 2010! Today is my first "blogaversary," and I'm looking forward to another year of blogging. Think I can write more than 69 posts (my 2009 total)? We'll see. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with all of yours. Now it's time for me to go work out with Wii Fit. Or maybe my elliptical. After I throw a load of laundry in the wash...

HAPPY BLOGGY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!

p.s. Don't forget to go to Mass today, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God! We're going this evening; we all slept in this morning, and today we plan to watch football and start taking down our Christmas decorations.

Shouldn't we all make New Year's resolutions?

It's past 10 pm, and I have no less than four baskets of clean laundry waiting for me to fold and put away. My husband and kids are starting to complain that they're running out of things to wear. Right before Christmas, I announced to the boys that they would from now on be responsible for their own laundry. They balked at first, then allowed me to teach them how to use the washing machine and to fold the clothes reasonably neatly. The clothes (clean and dirty) are piling up again, so my first New Year's resolution is this:

1. Get most of the laundry washed, folded, and put away tomorrow, and get the boys to help.

That's a New Year's resolution I feel I can keep, because it's for only one day. Maybe all of our resolutions should be like this. Doesn't everybody make out a to-do list for every day? I know I never get everything done, so we can't expect ourselves to keep every New Year's resolution we make. Somehow we find ourselves setting lofty goals that will be difficult to accomplish. This year, I'm making smaller goals for myself, hopefully easier to manage, and maybe I will keep all my resolutions. So in no particular order, here is the rest of my list:

2. Pray every day, no excuses.
3. Eat something healthy at every meal. This means if I grab a Lean Cuisine from the freezer, I eat an apple with it. Choose the salad at McDonald's.
4. Grow at least three kinds of vegetables in the back yard this year. Last year I had two tomato plants in pots; this year I want to have four of those, plus peppers, lima beans, and squash. Or something.
5. Learn to make cheese.
6. Read at least one book a month.
7. Get a little bit of exercise every day, even if it's just a walk in the neighborhood with the dog.
8. Involve myself more fully in the pro-life movement. I'm working on the specifics; possibly to volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center.
9. Buy a composter, or at least create a compost heap somewhere behind my house.
10. Have a consistent plan for the boys to complete chores and homework; and stick with it.
11. Every day, only write EIGHT items on my to-do list. For years that's been the most reasonable number I've been able to accomplish. Too often I write down too many things, and then I feel badly if I only get five of them done.
12. Create a limit for how much time I spend at the computer. (One hour? Ninety minutes? That seems like a lot. I'll have to figure that one out soon.)
13. Send birthday cards to friends and family. Too often I forget.

Today at Mass for the Solemnity of the Mother of God, our priest told the congregation that he hoped 2009 would be the best, most prosperous year we've ever had. I like that wish, but I think my wish for myself and for you would be this: May every day in 2009 be full of little joys. Even in difficult times, may we find things to be grateful for, and may we love one another every day. Happy New Year!