Monday Color

Oh Beauty, ever ancient, ever new.

~ St. Augustine

When an almost-three-year-old asks if he can paint, it is an invitation to watch wonder in progress.

Exploring colors, feeling textures, and watching joy happen.

Swirls of color, intersecting imagination and reality.

Fingers cast in new shades of bluish-reddish happiness.

Wanting forever to hold onto the magic that is unfolding as delight and curious abandonment is happening....

And loving this sweet face that is still filled with such overwhelming joy and new delight in this big, wide, wonderful world of ours.

Valentine's arrows

I adore my little family. My boys. The creatures that really are just....different than girls. Beautifully different. I recognize that they bring a sense of the silly and help me to see the world in a brand new way (with or without sunglasses).

As my oldest, Joe, has bravely faced a new school year, we have certainly had our blissful ups and devastating downs. My headstrong, bright boy continues to struggle with friendships and understanding the world....("No mom. Seriously. We can eventually find warp speed and then go visit the saints.")

So I thought nothing of it when I asked Allison at Totus Tuus Family blog to give us the name of a saint to walk with us through the year. We love the saints and talk to them and about them. (You would think that St. Anthony lived in the bedroom down the hall for all of the times that we walk around muttering for him to help us find things..... And that St. John Bosco is a new favorite, one of Joe's companions on the journey.)


Allison gave us the name of Blessed Leonie Martin, the sister of St. Therese. Oh St. Therese. The "little flower" who I so want to imitate and have as my companion. I didn't know much about Leonie, however......


And then I read this...

Blessed Leonie Martin

(Celebrated June 16th)

"Your little Leonie may be changed, not only in name, but in everything which might be displeasing to Him whom

alone she wishes to love." "It is inappropriate for me to moan over my faults as I have done until now. That is pride.

As our Holy Founder said, it is no wonder that weakness is weak; I must humble myself, not vex myself.

Pray for children who are not understood

Have you ever stared at your computer and felt the hair rise on the back of your neck? That brush with the Holy Spirit can be downright electrifying..... 


So on this Valentine's Day, the day usually filled with candy and other sweet things.... And a day that precedes Ash Wednesday by only 8 days this year.... I ask you to remember this:


Remember the arrow that comes from Cupid? Well. It has to pierce....to wound....in order to create that love. 


Remember that love isn't only sweet. It is brutal. It is hard-fought before it is won. It can make you fall to your knees with its power.


Remember that the love of Jesus is like this. Piercing thorns, nails of sins, and a broken, wounded heart....


But, ah... he did rise and brought redemption. (And trueness of love found in Him is worth that wounding....isn't it?!)


SO for me.... this struggle of understanding my child only brings me closer to that cross. To the side of Mary who grieved for her son. And yes, into the arms of my husband who never, ever gives up on me and our children. Whose love makes the journey bearable.


God Bless you on this Valentine's Day. Look to the ones you love in a new way and recognize the GIFT that it is... And as Tom Hanks says in "A League of Their Own".... "The hard is what makes it great."  


Joining in here today:

pretty, happy, funny, real {saints and wimps}

{ pretty }

Curry coconut chicken

Not at all sure of what I was going to make for dinner on Wednesday, I went to the pantry and found a can of coconut milk. I had chicken defrosting. SO. I stir fried some garlic, onions, carrots, peppers, chicken, coconut milk, and voila. Thirty minutes later, my kitchen smelled heavenly! I loved the way that the colors looked in the pan.

{ happy }

St. John Bosco

It was the "Saints Hall of Fame" today at school and Joe was St. John Bosco. Did you know that he juggled to entertain young people? I loved Joe's happy face in this picture as he marched in with the other saints.

{ funny }

waiting......

We were able to score a ticket to get the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book signed by the author, Jeff Kinney! So exciting. Joe has devoured these books, and my goodness, to meet the author? Cool. And. We. Waited. In. Line. In the cold. For. Two-and-a-half-hours. This pic is of how we passed some of that time....

{ real }

*dead battery

Wouldn't you know it, my camera battery died as soon as we got up on stage.... only me, right? Luckily, one of the workers was sweet enough to snap this with her phone (since mine is ancient) and e-mailed it to me. One of the reminders that there are real people out there who can touch your heart at the strangest moments! Thank you, for that random act of kindness so that we can have a photographic reminder of tonight!

Sharing here:

All Saint's Day

Photo Credit

Today, as we celebrate the feast of All Saint's Day, may you recognize your beauty, and the gift of your life. You are a unique soul created by God. (How wonderfully amazing is that?!)

This lovely prayer is taken from the Collect:

God our Father, source of all holiness,

the work of Your hands is manifest in Your saints, the beauty of 

Your truth is reflected in their faith.

May we who aspire to have part in their joy

be filled with the spirit that blessed their lives,

so that having shared their faith on earth

may we also know their peace in your kingdom.

As you lift your eyes to the heavens today, and recognize the great gift of all of God's saints, may you meditate on the fullness of life that awaits us in heaven. I don't know about you, but I just love the idea that we are all connected, even after this, our earthly life.


Also, as Advent approaches, I love the idea of traveling with the saints toward the manger. I am pondering this book:

Advent with the Saints

Along with brief reflections on the daily readings, there are saintly connections included as well. All of this, in order to help us slow down and savor the beauty of the Advent season. The season of waiting. The season of hope.

Won't you join me in traveling to the manger?

Participating in....

And here:

Catholic Icing Linky