Silence

This time of year is always difficult for me.  It shouldn’t be, but there is so much pressure, real and perceived, it makes me very anxious.  There are lights and noise everywhere.  Holiday, because we can’t say Christmas without offending, décor is out before Halloween.  Black Friday sales start on Thanksgiving Day making it increasingly difficult to be thankful for anything other than saving 15% off suggested retail price.  We, as a society, so all consumed with preparing for the next holiday, miss the wonderfully perfect gift of the here and now. 

So how do we come to enjoy just what we have been given without seeking more from the world?  How do we discourage the world from encroaching on the joy we have found in the present?  How do we allow our hearts to overflow with thanksgiving instead of worrying about tomorrow?  How do we put the thanks back in thanksgiving, the holy back in the holidays and Christ back in Christmas?

Silence.  Not like crickets chirping, “Bueller, Bueller” calling, anyone out there with an idea silence, but honest silence.

Let the silence recharge your battery.  Let His voice fill you with peace in an anxious world.

Take a few moments to enjoy the silence all around you.  As a mom to a 2 month old, I recommend 4AM as a wonderful time to enjoy the silence.  If you are not such an early riser, a few moments in the middle of the day or before bed work quite well.  During the rush of the days during the holidays, turn off the radio in your vehicle and just listen to the silence. 

Be as intentional about your need for silent time as you are about anything else you need to do.  Put silent time on your to-do list.  I think you will find a positive relationship between your amount of silent time and your outlook.

God Bless,

Hannah

The Farmer's Wife

Having Girls and Loving my Husband

Just logged on here today and realized it has been a full 2 months without a single blog post.  Wow!  I had no idea I had been that deficient in posting but I can't say there is not a legitimate excuse or at least a good reason :)

The past 2 months have flown by!  Around here school kids only get an 8 week summer break because of many schools switching to a balanced calendar.  And even though I don't have school aged children (and won't really have to worry about a school calendar because of our intent to homeschool) all of our friends and activities are affected by the scheduling so there is a slight trickle down effect.

Today, I was blessed with some quiet time while my girls took a much needed morning nap.  For almost a year now they have both been doing only 1 nap a day and it is usually in the afternoon.  But today was full of drama, hair pulling, toy stealing, and just general girl hormones that a morning nap was the only way I could see to get past the every 5 minute meltdowns of epic proportions.  Just one more thing I get to learn about because I have 2 girls.  I have never really been into drama, no teenage rebellion or fabricated scenarios to fight about with my friends.  I had 3 close friends growing up.  1 was my older sister, we had our "drama" but it was short lived and forgotten and the older we get the more we avoid any drama like the plague!  The other two were friends for as long as I can remember and we just didn't need drama to have fun with our relationship.  I really liked that, a lot!

So here's to hoping my girls aren't drama queens and that I have enough patience to guide them successfully away from situations that lead to drama (like intentionally stealing a toy from your sister and you are surprised she pulled your hair to try to get it back, really??)  Thankfully they are healthy, loving, adorable sisters and are best friends who can also drive each other nuts!

Anyway, the quiet gave me some time to check email, pay bills and actually read a few news stories.  Ok, maybe not technically news stories but entertaining articles that I never get to read.  One that I happened upon was 3 mistakes in marriage that lead to divorce.  Titles like this always interest me.  I am always optimistic that I will click on the article and mistake 1 will be not taking your vows seriously.  It is never that, and I am always shocked.  I guess I am a slow learner.

According to this article, mistake 1 is altruism or selflessness.  I don't know about you but selflessness makes my marriage work!  Jesus taught us to be selfless and He is the image I try to follow.  This idea that selflessness would lead to the ruin of your marriage intrigued me enough to keep reading.  The article's justification is that selflessness leads to resentment which can topple your marriage.  I laughed out loud, literally, and just shook my head.

What kind of moron equates selflessness with resentment?  If you feel resentment then your action wasn't really selfless.  You had an ulterior motive and it didn't get fulfilled aka selfishness.  Selflessness is doing something for someone else regardless of your own desires because you recognize that thing as good for the other person.  This doesn't mean rolling over and playing dead or never having an opinion.  Selfishness is doing something for yourself.  Always giving in to your spouses request for a dinner option because you hope eventually he will ask you what you want is not selfless, it is selfish and a little passive aggressive if you ask me.

Speaking of making a marriage work with selflessness, I truly do love my husband.  He is a great man.  He has struggled for the last 3 years with a lot of medical stuff but he has really tried to be a trooper through it all and keep his attitude positive.  Anyone who has suffered with a chronic illness or who has been associated with someone who has knows it is a daily struggle and a daily choice to be optimistic and positive.  He has put up with me and my whining through 3 pregnancies during his sick time and he really has kept us going as a family.  So now I guess it is my turn to be the selfless one :)

We recently visited a doctor that gave us a plan of action to get him healthy again!  I am hoping to write a blog about that in the future.  It has only been 2 weeks so I guess I would like to see some tangible results before I praise the doctor too much!  Anyway, Leron was put on a pretty strict diet.  It's hard on him, harder on me.  I am the menu maker, grocery shopper and cook in this house.  So I had to learn about his new diet more than he did.  I had to make sure I bought and prepared the right things to get him healthy and he just had to eat it.

So far so good, and again once I see some results, more than just 2 weeks of a husband with energy and hope again (such a relief), I will include recipes and details about all of it.

For now, prayers that we can continue down this path to recovery for him, lots of yummy meal inspirations for me, less drama from the girls and a smooth delivery whenever this little human wants to join us on the outside.

God Bless,
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

I need help!

Ugh! I need help...

This has become the most annoying phrase out of my child's mouth.  My adorable, almost 3 year old Nalley is much more competent than she gives herself credit for being.  Call it a personality flaw, but she likes to be acknowledged when she does something, anything.  She craves the attention, the applause, the smiles, the hugs, the "good jobs" and all the other fanfare that seems to accompany a small child's achievements.

There are days when I want to pull my hair out because I have 85 other things to do and her "I need help!" is not really a need as much as it is a want.  What she is really saying is "look what I can do, now do I get fruit snacks for that?"  On those days it takes every prayer for patience and sanity I have to keep my hair on my head.  Sometimes I fail, sometimes badly and more than a little is ripped out (it is so nice and thick these days no one could notice, thanks pregnancy!)

After several days of little sleep or interrupted sleep (thank you pregnancy again!) the hair pulling episodes for me seemed to be unavoidable.  I needed a break, I needed her to be self reliant, I needed coffee and apparently I needed to put my hair up in a pony tail to protect me from myself!  I had to come up with a better way to deal with her "needing" me before the resentment grew.

Isn't God wonderful?  You turn to Him in prayer and more times than not you have a nice answer or reply, sometimes it isn't quite what you expected or wanted but it is awesome!

So I start my prayer for more patience and it goes something like this, "Oh Lord!  She is at it again today and I need...

I couldn't even complete my prayer because I was struck totally and completely still and silent.  There were those words coming from my own mouth going up to my father's ears.  After a small little guilt trip for getting mad at my child for something I do a lot (hypocrisy isn't fun!), I said a quick thank you to the big man.

So here is what I took from my little needs based assessment...

Like any parent of older children will say, they grow up way too fast and you will miss these days.  I am sure I will miss Nalley asking me 92 times a day for help.  In the middle of it, it is annoying, but I will miss it.  I will miss her reaching for my hand to hold when we cross the street because she is big enough to do it herself.  I will probably cry a little when she tells me she doesn't need me anymore.  A mother knows her children always need her just not in the same way we once did.

In a similar way, we can NEVER outgrow God.  We will always need Him in our lives.  He wants us to be like a small child and ask for help so He can be here with us. God sees us as His children.  He wants us to need Him.  He wants us to turn to Him.  He doesn't even mind if it is only for a little bit of encouragement.

I am trying to be a good mother.  Sometimes my girls need to do it on their own.  They need to grow, they need to change, they need to recognize their value and their worth.  I have to allow them to fail every once in awhile, I have to take a step back and tell them no when they ask for help sometimes.

God is a good father.  He is always with us, just a quick request for help away.  But sometimes, He lets us grow.  He tells us no.  He allows us to remind ourselves about our own self worth and our value as His creation.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Those questions

I had a doctor's appointment today that included hopefully the one and only ultrasound I will need this pregnancy.  We did not find out the gender of little #3 but we did find out baby is very healthy!  We got to see the 4 chambered heart, the kidneys, stomach, spine, head, face, arms, legs, hands and feet. Can you believe how amazingly developed a baby is at 20 weeks?  My dates look almost spot on and our little one already weighs almost a full pound!

I have loved this little, growing person since I knew that he/she was growing inside of me.  Really I probably loved him/her before that because I knew that conception was such a real possibility.  To know that everything looks good and that baby is growing and should be joining us on the outside in September is almost overwhelming in a very, very good way.

I have just started to show and I have some amazing friends who understand that I am Catholic and that Leron and I  live our lives according to Catholic Doctrine so I have been able to avoid "those questions" until now.  You know the ones, was this planned? are you done? do you want a boy? if it is a boy will you be done? are you crazy? you know what causes that right? so how many more do you think you want? do you think you can handle three under three? and on and on and on... it is amazing to me how "friendly" strangers in the grocery store get.  But I thought I should get in a little more practice answering these mostly intimate, personal questions that are bound to come up more frequently as my belly grows.

Was this planned? Oh what a sticky question.  It kind of goes along with "You know what causes this right?".  If the question is did we sit down and look at our life calendar for the next 18+ years and decide if foregoing the vacations, fancy dinners out, and sanity were easily penciled in for this pregnancy and dependent care years of this child, absolutely not.  You can't plan children.  Did we even sit down and say of that could result in another summer pregnant in my third trimester?  Nope.  What we did do is much simpler than that.  We handed control of our lives over to someone who is a much better organizer.  He makes beautiful things and can make something out of nothing.  He can take a husband and wife and create a new life.

Are you done? This one makes me laugh just a little.  I am responsible for 1/3 of the baby making process.  Leron gives 1/3 but really it is that last remaining 1/3 that neither he nor I could do on our own.  I pray we are not parents to only 3 children.  I would love to have a full house of kids running around.  I also pray that I can accept God's will for my life.  This year He willed me to be a mother for the third time.  He may never will for it to happen a fourth or He may will that it happens 15 times.  I pray to be open to that calling.

Do I want a boy? Yes I do want a boy.  Will I be disappointed if they lay that freshly birthed child on my chest and there are not boy parts between the legs, not one bit.  I will cry with happiness for the miracle and blessing that the baby is not cry over what the baby is not.  I would love to give my big farmer man a little farmer boy but Leron loves the girls more than life itself and I am sure one more girl would just make us that much more of a happy family.

If it's a boy will we be done?  I am not going to put a limit on the gifts God wants to give me.

Am I crazy? Yes, mostly, but it is what you have to do to get by with a farming husband and two toddler daughters while pregnant with your third.  Life is more fun when you are a little crazy anyway.  Also crazy = blessed and given a huge amount of grace to live life.  I could not do what I do without God.

Do you think you can handle three under three?  No I know for a fact that I cannot handle having three children.  I cannot handle getting out of bed in the morning.  I live this life by the grace of God and not by my own ability.  I mother through grace.  I am a wife through grace.  I will only be able to "handle" three under three by the grace of God and leaning on His strength.  I also take great solace in the idea that He gave me these three gifts because He wanted something great to come from my life.  I will not let my fear of "not handling" them ruin the opportunity I have to impact the world not only through my life but through the lives of my children and all of the people we meet.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

I love Pope Francis!

Ok so up until this point the stuff on my blog has been my own stuff.  This was too good to pass up sharing.

This is the transcript from a never aired interview with then Cardinal Bergoglio, now Pope Francis.  This interview took place in the lead up to the recent conclave to elect the new Pope.  Sorry for the weird format, it is from an email.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A CATHOLIC TO APPRECIATE THIS INTERVIEW WITH THE NEW POPE.   The following is a transcript of an interview between CHRIS MATHEWS, MSNBC American journalist and then Cardinal Bergoglio. It is clear why the interview was never broadcast.This Pope is a breath of fresh air; a very enlightening, clear understanding of social justice. It is clear that Matthews never understood or learned a thing. And yet he professes to be Catholic.... CAMERA ON / BEGIN TRANSCRIPT REPORTER: Welcome Cardinal. BERGOGLIO: Thank you. Happy to speak with you. REPORTER: Well, let me get into it directly. Last conclave, you were almost elected Pope. Can this happen again? BERGOGLIO: What? That I will almost be the Pope, again? REPORTER: No. Will you be the next Pope? BERGOGLIO: Friend, I'm only jesting with you. I understand the question. I will not be the next Pope REPORTER: Why not? BERGOGLIO: I chose not to. God has someone else in mind I'm certain. REPORTER: But you would take the job if it were offered. BERGOGLIO: I think not. REPORTER: Why not. BERGOGLIO: I believe I'm too embroiled in the secular fiasco. It is a spiritual job, and I'm a soldier. Look at the nature of power. In Europe first and now in America, elected men have taken it upon themselves to indebt their people to create an atmosphere of dependency. And why? For their own selfish need to increase their own personal power. I've been a keen observer of the effect this has on the people, especially the poor. They are very good at creating poverty where there is no reason to explain it. My job is try to alleviate poverty and if that means to oppose the cause then I will not be Pope. REPORTER: But you are worried you would be a spend thrift pope? BERGOGLIO: Friend. Where did you go to school? REPORTER: La Salle College High School in Pennsylvania and. BERGOGLIO: And after that? REPORTER: College of the Holy Cross. BERGOGLIO: They told me you were Catholic. Once elected the Pope is by virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, the Pope is preserved from the possibility of error. God would change any spend thrift politician into a responsible Pope. I'm just saying I'm not that man. REPORTER: So what is your job? BERGOGLIO: My job is to ask you? Why are men creating poverty? REPORTER: What do you mean? BERGOGLIO: I mean that poverty is part of the natural condition and that is bad enough. But my task is to prevent the aggravation of this condition. The ideology that adds to the poverty must be denounced. I have and this is the reason I will not be Pope. I have a saying for myself, no more poverty than God originally intended in the fall from Grace? REPORTER: Oh. BERGOGLIO: It is a spiritual choice, and I'm a political person. I'm sorry. I know you will make more money from this interview if I'm Pope. Or want to be Pope. But I'm sorry. I can't help you. God has already chosen someone anyway. Right? You learned this in school? REPORTER: Yes. Well? Where are you on the issues that matter most, issues about contraception, women priests? BERGOGLIO: This might be a surprise to you, but I am Catholic. We are Catholic. It isn't an issue and for you to pretend that it is being debated goes against God. REPORTER: If you were Pope, then you would not change anything. BERGOGLIO: Certainly God would direct the new Pope to have more compassion for these newly created poor. And if there is any social justice in the Church, the new Pope would have a stern word for the creators of the new situation. REPORTER: But you are staunchly orthodox on the issues of abortion, contraception, and same-sex marriage. BERGOGLIO: I am catholic. REPORTER: You were punished for opposed same-sex marriage in Argentina. You opposed free contraception and the government exiled you. What do you have to say about that? BERGOGLIO: I am catholic. REPORTER: In the secular world, as you say, you follow the conservative line. You oppose, uh, same-sex marriages, very popular with young people. You are conservative on birth control. Won't that be the doom of the Church, alienating young people who support reality based faith? BERGOGLIO: Since God created the world, he also created reality. You seem to be arguing that a man can't be Catholic in reality. Son, you are a Catholic? REPORTER: Yes, of course. I meant no disrespect BERGOGLIO: You don't have to worry about offending me. REPORTER: Okay, good. Can a, uh, Pope even be elected if he is pro-choice or pro-love? I mean isn't the election sort of fixed in favor of anti-abortion and anti-gay marriage? BERGOGLIO: Yes, the election is fixed by God. REPORTER: Very witty. BERGOGLIO: Well, you did ask. REPORTER: It is being reported in America that you are against marriage equality. Is that why you feel that you can't be Pope? BERGOGLIO: God chooses the Pope, and God also made men and women different. REPORTER: But you are... a conservative and oppose abortion! BERGOGLIO: Friend the expression on your face gives you away. REPORTER: I'm sorry, I'm just trying to do my job. BERGOGLIO: And what job is that? REPORTER: I've been sent to interview eight men in line for the papacy. BERGOGLIO: And I guarantee you that they all oppose abortion. So? REPORTER: But? BERGOGLIO: So, you feel like you need to alienate the eight from the flock? REPORTER: That isn't it. How can the church attract young people when it is opposed to abortion and contraception? BERGOGLIO: Young people are just as attracted to the truth as they are convenience and expediency. So we will call it a draw. REPORTER: Doesn't the church need to modernize? BERGOGLIO: Finally, I've met someone who will advocate publicly painting over the Sistine Chapel with one of the contemporary street artists. Are you sure you support this and in public? REPORTER: What? BERGOGLIO: Forgive me, I was rude. REPORTER: Won't the new pope, don't these cardinals realize what they've gotta do if they want to attract young people to the church? BERGOGLIO: I am a cardinal. REPORTER: Won't the new pope, don't you and the other cardinals realize what they must do if they want to attract young people to the church? BERGOGLIO: I've explained the mysteries of the atom to rural young people and also I've explained the Grace of God. And you know what? They can understand both perfectly well. Frankly, I have more trouble with adults understanding both. REPORTER: But they have done focus groups; if you want to spread your message you can't have this position that's anti-gay marriage and anti-contraception. BERGOGLIO: And you treat the church as a political institution. REPORTER: So we were not gonna see any kind of change when it comes to things that matter like abortion or gay marriage? BERGOGLIO: All eight of the men you will be talking to are Catholic. REPORTER: Okay, I understand. Let's talk about your controversial stand on poverty. BERGOGLIO: You want it to be controversial? REPORTER: But don't you blame various governments around the world for poverty? BERGOGLIO: Some. Yes. REPORTER: But you refuse to blame corporations for their role. BERGOGLIO: Okay, they also told me you have a degree in economics. No buyer, or seller either, enters into any exchange against his will. It is the nature of the economy. Man is frail, and he makes mistakes and sometimes is greedy and they enter into exchanges that don't help them. Sometimes they become poor, but they made choices. There is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers. Chiefly, for me, it is an education solution on that side. And the Church has more schools around the globe than any other faith. I say teach the people to save their souls, and also teach them how not to become poor. And now not to allow the government to trick them into poverty. REPORTER: And you blame government. BERGOGLIO: No, I blame the self-serving politicians. REPORTER: So your solution to poverty is to change the nature of politics? BERGOGLIO: Please feel free to broadcast this; I don't want to be pope. Friend, you are a socialist and your friends are socialists. And you are the reason for 70 years of misery in Russia and Europe now is seizing in pain from your policies. You believe in the redistribution of wealth and it makes entire populations poor. You want to nationalize everything and bring every human endeavor under your control. You destroy a man's incentive to take care of his very own family, a crime against nature and nature's God. You want social control over populations and incrementally you are making everything against the law. Together this ideology creates more poverty today than all the corporations you vilify have in the history of man. REPORTER: I've never heard such from a Cardinal. I'm not sure if you are here to help yourself or disqualify yourself. BERGOGLIO: Please air this interview. People being dominated by socialists need to know we don't all have to be poor. Some poverty is part of our being cast out of the Garden of Eden. But look at the empire of dependency created by Hugo Chavez. Promising them, tricking them into worship of government and his very own person. Giving them fish but not allowing them to fish. If a fisherman does develop a talent today in Latin America; he is castigated and his catch stolen by the socialists. He stops? REPORTER: You would be the first pope from the Americas. BERGOGLIO: He stops fishing. I will not be pope, but yes I am from Argentina. REPORTER: And you didn't want to be pope? BERGOGLIO: God didn't want me to be pope. REPORTER: Perhaps he changed his mind. BERGOGLIO: Ludicrous. REPORTER: Okay, I'm sorry. I feel like we are getting off on the wrong path. I'm sorry. BERGOGLIO: Yes, let's be productive. REPORTER: You are a classic conservative Catholic theologian? BERGOGLIO: Of course there's politics clearly in the Curia throughout the Vatican, but in terms of church teaching, it's not a political institution. It's religious. REPORTER: I heard people, in fact, media people, "Is this cardinal, is he a liberal? Is he a conservative?" BERGOGLIO: Tell them please, He's a Catholic. It's no more complicated than that. Catholicism is what it is. You don't have to believe it; you may not. You don't have to follow it; you may not go to Mass. But it's not up to you to modernize us. REPORTER: You see no room for reform? BERGOGLIO: It's not up to any religion, although some do this, 'cause they want the money. They want the membership. But the Catholic Church doesn't do it. It's not up to them to bend and shape and mold itself to accommodate the shrinking depravity of a worldwide culture. It's to provide the exact opposite. It's to provide a beacon out of depravity, socialism and sin, among other things. REPORTER: If pope you would be bad news for the left. BERGOGLIO: I won't be pope. But I am opposed to abortion. I'm opposed to euthanasia. The pro-choice movement is a culture of death. I oppose the demonic same-sex marriage. I oppose gay adoption on the grounds that it is discriminatory to the child. I was exiled by the Cristina Kirchner government, but I hold no grudge. How is this bad news? REPORTER: John Paul II rescued you? BERGOGLIO: He made me the archbishop of Buenos Aires. Yes. REPORTER: And so you feel like you owe the Right some sort of repayment? BERGOGLIO: There are many values and many types of people. Perhaps it is my interest in mathematics, but I'm the type of human who is interested most in the truth. God gave me a healthy love for the truth. Loyalty is only a virtue if in support of the truth or another important value. REPORTER: Cristina Kirchner said you held a grudge. BERGOGLIO: Funny I've never spoken her name. Not once. And it is a battle of ideas not a battle of two or more people. I'm only concerned with ideas. REPORTER: She said you refused to speak up for civil rights violations. BERGOGLIO: As a spiritual leader, I opposed cultural modernization, and so I became a political enemy. I understand politics as well as I do mathematics. REPORTER: And the Jesuits, they were eager to cast you out, which they did. BERGOGLIO: So you are implying that I'm a vengeful priest? REPORTER: Do you feel that you need to erase the progress recently made in Latin America? BERGOGLIO: I say poverty. You say progress. REPORTER: Let's talk about poverty. BERGOGLIO: Sure, there is voluntary poverty that is virtuous. Many understood the nobility of making themselves independent of the fleeting things of earth. They are distractions from our pursuit of the truth. I have no problem with this. I only oppose involuntary poverty. REPORTER: That is what I thought you would say. BERGOGLIO: Why? REPORTER: Because you are a capitalist right? BERGOGLIO: Yes, I think capital is needed to build a factory, a parochial school, or a church or hospital, all. Do you oppose factories or churches or hospitals? REPORTER: Of course not, but don't you think the capital is sucked out of peoples hands by greedy business types to pay for these factories? BERGOGLIO: No, I think people agree, through their economic choices, that some of their money goes to build these. Capital building should be voluntary. Only when the politician confiscates their wealth to build government factories, government schools, government hospitals; only then do the people not agree. Money given voluntarily is legitimate to build with. Money coerced from the people is not legitimate to build with, because it isn't given voluntarily. REPORTER: You are opposed to all government? BERGOGLIO: No of course not. But it isn't the seat of wisdom in any society I've seen in my life. The best government was created by the Americans, in which they admitted that people are endowed by their creator and most of the administration of society was left to the relationship between God and man. However, slowly that has been eroded by the atheists on the left who would replace man's relationship with God with a new relationship with an opportunist like Hugo Chavez. REPORTER: I just found it fascinating that you were willing to stand up to an entire government in Argentina. You where cast aside. Didn't you care about your career? BERGOGLIO: Yes, there are people who cave to worldly authority. Even priests. REPORTER: But you didn't? BERGOGLIO: No, I changed nothing. How did I have the power to change anything in church teaching? My opinion? The democrats, seeking votes, only wanted me to change my opinion and legitimize their decadence. I did not, as evidenced by the fact that I was teaching high school math in small isolated town. REPORTER: I'm sorry that happened to you. BERGOGLIO: Why don't you feel for others oppressed for their interest in freedom. REPORTER: Freedom isn't punished anywhere, is it? BERGOGLIO: Certainly it is. REPORTER: In Latin America? BERGOGLIO: I'm afraid Latin America is lost. The people of the entire area are controlled by a bloc of militant socialist regimes in the region, most prominently Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and Nicaragua. They have a gun pointed at their head. So their heart is now captured. Who will save them at this point? REPORTER: So the game is over. Checkmate? BERGOGLIO: Friend, I've been studying America this month before the Pope chose to resign. You must not have fear at speaking the truth. It is for the salvation of souls and the recovery of Thomas Jefferson's people. America must not fall to the new painted communism. Even the low information voters don't want America to be sold into slavery. I pray they cast out the money changers in their government! What manner of government is there that condones sin? Abomination upon abomination--giving monies for the murder of children, giving monies for the murder of the elderly! You are an American. Your government, My child, has been infiltrated by men of sin. REPORTER: These are pretty radical ideas. BERGOGLIO: No. Perhaps reactionary. Radical means something different. But a very long time ago, Khrushchev warned that we cannot expect Americans to fly from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small injections of socialism until they suddenly awake to find out they have Communism. This is what is happening now in an ancient bastion of freedom. How can America save Latin America when they are slaves to the government themselves? REPORTER: I'm having a hard time digesting most of this. BERGOGLIO: The truth can be painful. You look angry; do you want to stop or ask a question? But you have created a new type of state, the so-called welfare state. This has happened in order to respond to the needs of the politically created poor. However, intervening directly is depriving the original society of its responsibility. Families escape responsibility in the welfare state. And churches even escape responsibility. People stop giving to charity and see every poor person as the government's problem. I am a Catholic priest and there are no poor for me to take care of, they are made permanently poor and the property of the politicians. REPORTER: I'm not sure this interview is going to work. BERGOGLIO: You asked and now you will listen, my son. The social assistance state leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more by bureaucratic thinking than by real concern for helping people. Needs are best understood and satisfied by people who are closest to them who act as neighbors and parish members to those in need. It should be added that certain kinds of demands often call for a response which is not simply material but which is capable of perceiving the deeper human need. This is not to mention the welfare states excesses and abuses. REPORTER: I think we are done. BERGOGLIO: Wait. If I speak on the ordination of women, on celibacy, on divorce, will you air this interview and my message? REPORTER: No, we are done. BERGOGLIO: Partially what irritates me to the core is the media's inability to look at anything without looking into the cause of the various problems. People are made poor so they will vote for the very candidates that made them poor. REPORTER: Have a nice day and thanks for your time. CAMERA OFF / END TRANSCRIPT

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Did you grow?

So Lent is over, and Easter is here.  He has Risen!!

The question is, did you grow during Lent?  Did you become the person God designed you to be?  Did you ready yourself for the greatest of all sacrifices?

Around here we did some growing for sure.  It may not be exactly in line with spiritual growth, but it is  definitely saying, "Yes" to God's plan and it is definitely growth.

The human kind

Yup that's right, over the next few months I will for the third time (in four years for those keeping track) get fairly fat, eat probably more than I should, have enviable breasts and eventually, around September 5 my doctor says, pop out our third child.

A new child is an enormous blessing and a true gift from God.  Telling people for the third time that you are gonna get fat is not really all that exciting.

But while I am not excited about the fat part, I am seriously thrilled about the baby part.  I would do just about anything for this little human being growing inside of me, gain any number of pounds, wear the ugliest maternity clothes ever, keep my head almost permanently in a toilet bowl for 14 weeks, feel like passing out every time I stand up and not have anywhere close to the amount of energy required to entertain a 2.5 and 1.5 year old.

You can never quite be ready for the adventure of a new child, but we sure are excited!

As in the past, we will take bribes for naming rights.  We gotta pay the bills somehow!

God Bless!
Hannah
The (Pregnant) Farmer's Wife

Stations part 5

Oh my, we have arrived finally at the fifth part of the stations.  I don't know about you, but my Facebook wall turned a little crazy yesterday.  There were a lot of red equal signs and a lot of back and forth discussion about equality and love.  A lawyer friend of mine pointed out the case in front of the supreme court has nothing to do with love and everything to do with the constitutionality of a voter passed amendment in California.  It is funny to me though because marriage has nothing to do with equality and very little to do with how the world defines love either.

Leron and I absolutely love each other.  This love is not the puppy kind of feel good thing society tries to tell us is love.  This is the love demonstrated by love incarnate himself, Jesus Christ.  This is the love that means even on days when I can hardly look at you because you are driving me crazy, I would still die for you because you are that important to me.  I would die for you because I love you and want to do that for you.  I would die for you and it doesn't really matter to me if you would die for me in return.  Our marriage is not about equality either.  We both know we must give 100%, not 50% each, in order for our marriage to work.  Above all, our marriage is a sacrament, defined and regulated by The Church not the government.

This may seem like a misplaced rant for a blog post about the 12, 13 and 14th stations but I promise it fits in, if only in my slightly deranged mind.  I also feel the need to defend myself right here and say I am not a bigot nor am I afraid of people with homosexual tendencies.  I am not sure if homosexuality is something a person is born with.  I am really torn on this one because I know God created us male and female with a very specific purpose in mind, to procreate.  Regardless if someone is born with homosexual tendencies or heterosexual tendencies, I also believe sexual acts outside of a sacramental marriage are sinful, possibly sinful on a mortal, or death to the soul, level.  I think a heterosexual couple living together engaging in sexual acts is not living the life God intended for us to live any more than a homosexual couple in the same situation or a divorced person who has been remarried.  What is important when regarding popular culture and their current agenda is to recognize what is truth, what is opinion and what is emotion.  When you can sort through those things, it all becomes a little easier to deal with.

Station 12: Jesus Dies on the Cross
I promised my marriage "equality" rant would tie in, so here it goes.  Jesus died.  He died for you and for me and for everyone before Him and us and after us.  He died for a crime he absolutely didn't commit (I mean really how could he break the laws he set forth??)  He died because he made people uncomfortable and telling them they were behaving wrongly.  He died knowing he would save the same people that would put him back on that cross each and every day.  And we do.  We sin and drive those nails in time and time and time again.  You would think we would learn what he meant when he told us to LOVE!!

So we are stubborn humans really set in our ways.  We don't like to hear that we are wrong or that we should be doing it differently.  We don't like to be confronted with the truth because once we know the truth we are required to change our way of life.  In Jesus' death he gave us new life, but he also showed us how to live and how to die.  In order to die well, you must live well.  Jesus demonstrated this clearly.  It doesn't matter the manner of death, or how unjust it may be.  If you live well, you will die well.  He also showed us who we should have with us while we live and when we die.  At the foot of the cross with Jesus were his mother Mary and his beloved disciple John.

Mary represents the church.  This is both the place and the people that make up the church.  We should carry the church with us every day.  The easiest way to carry the church with us every day is to be the church for others.  John represents the Gospel.  We are to live and preach the gospel every day.  A favorite quote of mine from Saint Francis of Assisi is, "Preach the Gospel always, if necessary use words."  It is this beautiful simplicity for our lives that means we are living well.

Station 13: Jesus' body is handed over to his mother
I just explained how Mary is the church.  Jesus forever rests in the lap of the church.  If you want to find him, find the church.  The church is not a building.  We are the church.  We need to have Jesus resting within us all the time so people can find him easily.

Station 14: Jesus is laid in the tomb
I have heard a lot about the two men who prepared Jesus' body for burial.  How these men risked their lives because they were secret disciples.  But that is not what I want to focus on in this station.  After all, these station are about how you are to live your life as evidenced by Jesus' death.

Think of Jesus entering that tomb dead and on the third day coming out alive.  Now consider yourself, if you could take all of the things that make you dead on the inside, dead to love, dead to life, and lay them somewhere and emerge without those things and full of life, what would those things be??

Take the things in your life and bury them in the tomb with Jesus on Friday.  Cast them off.  Let. Them. GO! Rise a clean new creation, remade in God's infinite love, this Easter.  Rise to new life with Jesus.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Stations Part 3 & 4

Ok so I have been slightly preoccupied lately.  I don't what this time of year is like for you, but as a farmer's wife it is kind of like hurry up and wait.  We have to be ready if the weather turns around and starts to actually feel like spring now that the calendar says it is officially spring.  But a few days in the 30s has given me some sure fire time to work on this blog again.

I am pulling double duty with part 3 and 4 of the stations, covering stations 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11.  That will leave us with 12, 13 and 14 during Holy week which seems much more planned than it actually was :)

Station 7: 2nd fall of Jesus
So we already discussed how difficult the situation is that Jesus has found himself in.  Wrongly accused, beaten, and carrying his own execution device through a crowd of jeering people who only a few days earlier were cheering and treating him like a king.  And if you will remember, station 4, 5, and 6 were the people God gives us in our lives to help us carry our cross.  So the question is, why does Jesus fall again after receiving all of this help?

The answer is easy, and I bet you already know it.  People here on earth are not enough.  Just like Jesus fell the first time because as humans we cannot bear the burden alone, Jesus falls the second time because even with the help of his mother and Veronica restoring his dignity and Simon helping him carry the cross, only with the help of God are we able to carry our burdens.

And again, Jesus gets up again.  No matter how many times we fall and fail, with God's help we can always get back up again.

Station 8: Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
So here is Jesus.  He has fallen twice and seen everyone he really cares to see on his death march.  Then he comes upon this group of women who are standing there crying and wailing.  Even in his exhausted state he reproaches them.  He tells them that crying and wailing is the same as doing nothing and even worse they are giving a bad example to their children.

These women are held in deep contrast with Mary, Veronica and Simon.  Those three did what they could.  It may not have been much but it was something.  The crying women are doing nothing but protecting themselves.  By crying that act as if they are offending by what is happening, but they do not do anything about it.  They do not speak out, they do not act out, they do not vote to change something, they stand back and wait.

We are called to do what we can to help those around us who face injustices.  We don't all have the same gifts or talents, but we can all do something.  We also have a responsibility to teach our children to speak out for others whether they be the unborn, the old, the disabled, the poor or any person who has had their dignity stripped from them.  Act and your children will learn from your actions, so make sure they are good, just, virtuous actions.

Station 9: Jesus falls for the 3rd time
Is it any wonder he falls again?  It is more marvelous to me that he can literally see the hilltop and what waits for him.  He is moments away from death and instead of laying down in the street and waiting for it to come to him, he stands back up, he carries his cross a little further and he looks death in the face.

Two lessons from this one.  1- Get up even when what is in front of you looks worse than what you have just come from.  2- Don't fear or run from death.  Embrace death because it brings us to our finish line, a finish line that we will never reach here on Earth.

Station 10: Jesus is Stripped of his clothes
This was done to humiliate him.  He had a little dignity left and the soliders, in their desire to inflict humiliation on those sentenced to the type of death Jesus was, wanted to strip him of that little bit too.  When we are stripped of our dignity, we require strength to endure it.  When we strip someone else of their dignity, we require forgiveness to undo it.

There is an interesting second part to this station that I had never heard before the parish mission.  In the garden of Eden, Adam and Eve are naked until they eat the fruit of the tree.  In the loss of their innocence, they put on clothing to cover themselves.  They are trying to hide the marks of guilt.

In the garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus goes to pray before he is handed over, a man runs away from the skirmish naked.  And of course on the cross Jesus is exposed completely naked.  This loss of clothing is an uncovering of the guilt and a restoration of innocence.

The need for Jesus as savior originated during the fall of man in Genesis, in the Garden of Eden.  The salvation of mankind was completed by Jesus's nakedness on the cross.

Station 11: Nailed to the Cross
We know what this station means for Jesus.  He is stuck.  He can't turn back.  There is no where for him to go.  Jesus accepted his mission willingly and lovingly.  But we sometimes force a similar mission on people who are not willing and cannot lovingly accept their mission.  This station for us is all about stereotypes.  When we stereotype someone, we do not let them change.  When we do this, we are nailing them to a cross.

We have all been unfairly nailed to a cross at some time in our lives.  Someone made a snap judgement of us and never changed their mind.  Or a single action we did as a teenager marked us for the rest of our life.  Whether the title be cheater, stupid, liar, drama queen, immature, these titles may have been accurate then, but are far from accurate now.

We need to give people a chance to change before branding them with a title for life.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Part 2: How God Helps

So in the first part of a different take on the Stations of the Cross, the first 3 stations remind us of our human failings.  In Part 2, we will discuss how God helps us.


God knows we will struggle.  He expects it.  He even invites it in order to make us ready to accept Him in our lives.  Just think of how thankful you are at the end of a rough day that you survived it and get to try again the next day, we use struggle to help us grow.  Sometimes this struggle is too much for us to bear alone.  God is so great that although he recognizes the value of struggle in our lives he loves us enough to not let us struggle by ourselves.

Station 4: Jesus meets His mother

Mom's possess a magic power.  Their kiss can heal a 2 year old's wound.  Their hug can mend a teenager's broken heart.  Their affirming words can lift up a wandering 20 something.  Their presence can calm a child no matter how old.  We all have a mother so we know what a mother means.  Just so you know, I have the best mother out there but I am sure yours is pretty great too!

I have been in some pretty rough places in life.  Looking back some seem pretty petty now but would earth shattering then.  Others still seem like quite a big deal, and probably always will.  My mom was there for me in whatever way was needed.  She told me I would find love even though my heart was broken.  She gave me a hug when I had a rough day.  She told me everything is going to be alright when I was holding a 4 month old baby in one hand and a positive pregnancy test in the other.  Boy am I glad that God invented mothers.  And I am also very intimidated about the fact that I have now inherited such a huge responsibility (but that will be a post for another day).

Jesus meets his mother along the way just like we meet our mothers along the way of life.  They lift us up.  Encourage us.  Help us.  Give us a warm smile and tell us everything will be ok.  Pray and be thankful for your mother!

Station 5: Simon helps carry the cross

Now this was not exactly a willing participant and sometimes those who help us carry our cross are not super willing either, but he still stepped in and helped.  He physically took the burden off Jesus' shoulders and put it on his own.  We need to be willing to look around us and see how we can carry someone else's cross for them.  And we need to let someone help us carry ours if they offer.

Who is helping carry your cross?  Your husband helps with the "burden" of caring for the kids.  I know how thankful I am to see Leron at the end of the day and hand the kids over for just a little alone time.  What about friends or neighbors?  How about that wonderful mother-in-law who willingly watches the kids anytime that is needed.  Or a doctor that helps cure your disease or that medicine that has made you feel human again.  How about a good friend who invited you over just to chat or grab some coffee.  Little helps are out there all the time.  Recognize them, be thankful for them and be one yourself.

Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus

What an absolutely beautiful story.  A woman, who we really know nothing about, emerges from the crowd that has gathered to watch Jesus carry his cross.  She goes to Jesus who is covered in blood and sweat.  He is exhausted.  Remembering that Jesus is fully human, you can only assume what you would feel in a similar situation.  He has been wrongly accused, vilified less than a week after he was received like a king, he has been beaten to within an inch of his life, he has been forced into the humiliation of carrying his own execution tool through a crowd on a Friday afternoon.  Veronica doesn't curse him.  She doesn't spit on him.  She doesn't pity him.  She cares for him and loves him.  She shows this love in the only way she can.  She wipes his face.  She returns the dignity that has been stripped away with one simple action.

We need to always be mindful of the dignity of others.  We need to restore those who have had their dignity stripped away.  We need to love and not pity.  Veronica didn't have the strength like Simon to take Jesus' burden.  She did what she could.  We don't all have excess money to give to the poor, sick, or hungry.  But we do have prayers, we do have love, we do have a smile and a look in the eyes instead of looking away.

All humans have a dignity that is given by God and should be respected by man.  How have you stripped someone of their dignity?  How can you repair and restore that dignity?  Pray for those who have helped you restore your dignity and be aware of those who need help in the restoration process.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Stations, Part 1

I had taken a little break from this blog for a short while.  I hadn't felt really inspired to write anything recently.  I am still not sure I feel totally inspired, but after reading some news online this morning, I was physically repulsed so I had to do something.  Amid the various stories, only 1 online news source reported a political story about Obama using the sequester to inflict a negative public opinion of Republicans via a leaked email, 1 had a story about how Mother Theresa wasn't as good as everyone thinks and is really a ploy by the Catholic Church to rally support in trying times of low public opinion, and several reported on how great Chavez is, oh respect for the dead!

It all makes me want to pull my hair out and scream.  Yes, truly human reactions to truly human actions.  But after screaming a little and counting to 10, I reflected on the amazing parish mission that was held at Saint Louis.  We had 3 nights of a great speaker covering 3 topics, the Eucharist, the Beatitudes and the Stations of the Cross.  Each night was enlightening but the talk about the Stations of the Cross really spoke to me more than the others.  Perhaps because we were in the midst of Lent and the Stations have such a tie to Lent or perhaps because I was guilty of several things discussed, either way or what ever the reason, it was wonderful.

There are 14 stations in the stations of the cross.  Each station depicts a stage during the crucifixion and death of Jesus.  So it is basically the last moments of Jesus' life, the pinnacle of His mission here on earth, His last act of selflessness to save our souls from certain death.  It is a beautiful story of our redemption that goes even deeper than the biblical stories.  In cinematic portrayals of Jesus, like The Passion, the stations are weaved in, like when you see Jesus fall (3 times) or greet his mother, Mary, or get his face wiped by Veronica.

The "original" stations are beautiful and moving all on their own.  The stations that our presenter, Franciscan Friar Brother Bob, talked about were personal stations.  How through the stations Jesus dies but teaches us how to live.  To keep these posts manageable, both for you to read and me to write, I am breaking it into 5 parts.  This is part 1.

Station 1-3, How we fail

Station 1: Pilate washes his hands of Jesus, whatsoever you do to the least, you do unto me

You can look at this station 2 ways, you are either Jesus or Pilate.  Hint: you are both at different times.  Sometimes we are "washed" away by someone.  A relationship falls apart and we don't know why, a wife/husband employing the silent treatment against you, etc.  Sometimes, we do the washing.

In either case, there is damage control that needs to be done.  If you have been washed, you need to pray for the person to reestablish the relationship.  If you have done the washing, you need to pray for forgiveness.  As Jesus says, whatsoever you do to the least, you do unto me.  Washing your hands of someone is like saying, "I don't care what happens to you" or worse saying, "You are dead to me."

Do you really wish that other person dead?  That is the same as killing them yourself.

Station 2: Jesus takes up His cross, it's not fair

We take up our cross everyday.  We each have a daily burden to carry.  When you look at this station, you are not to think, "It's not fair that I have this burden."  It definitely wasn't fair that Jesus had to carry a cross for a crime He didn't commit, is it?  Our lives are not fair.  We were never told they would be.  (How many parents have used that line?  How many kids have heard it?  I know I did almost every day of my life)  When we examine this station, we need to pray for the ability to carry our cross (the one weighing on us most heavily at that moment, it may not be the biggest on in our life) with purpose, faith and grace.  God gives us the ability to do it.

Just as in the first station, it is possible for you to be both parts of this station too.  Examine if you are a cross for someone else.  Pray for the ability to not be their cross anymore, whether that be for strength or wisdom or grace or forgiveness.

The most important take away from this station:  Life gives us the cross.  God helps us carry it!

Station 3: Jesus falls for the first time, life trips you up

We are human, we will fail and we will fall.  We have a heavy burden of sin that we are carrying around.  We, like Jesus scourged at the pillar, are exhausted from the beating that life gives us every day.  It is a struggle to live a Christian, moral life in a world that guarantees this is an uphill battle.  We shouldn't be surprised by the fact that we fail and fall.  We should expect it, embrace it as a chance to do better next time, and always get up and try again.

Embrace the suffering that helps you live like Jesus.  Don't be too proud to fall.  We cannot live this life without the strength God supplies so readily and abundantly.  If you feel like you have been falling a lot recently, pray for more strength and find away to relieve yourself of some of your burdens.  We have a tendency to carry around a lot of baggage that does nothing but weigh us down.  Past relationships that were never healed, past hurts that are still open wounds, let them go, feel the weight of those burdens lifted from your shoulders, get up and move on.

Next up Part 2: Stations 4-6, The ways in which God helps us up!

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Thursday

Does anyone else detest Thursday??  I hear people who work an office job Monday - Friday talk about how bad Monday is but Monday doesn't get to me.  Thursday gets to me.  I think Thursday might be a bully.

It is like he stands there almost close to the weekend but still requiring work taunting me that I must get through Thursday before any fun begins.  It is also by Thursday that any amount of rest and relaxing that I accomplished over the weekend is completely worn off.

Thursday around here is trash day.  We collect all the household trash, bag it up, and put it in our really big trash can and take it to the curb.  At first, it was a fun little mini date night with Leron after we would put the girls to bed.  We would have a good conversation walking up and down our driveway and we would even hold hands and look at the stars on clear Thursday nights.

I have changed into my pajamas by 7:30 the last 4 Thursdays.  I guess the magic of mini date night is hibernating until better weather comes around??

How do you cope with your day of the week that is a bully?  The challenge for today is offer your bully day up.  Yeah, I not that excited about it either, but I am going to try :)

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Forgiveness

Last night, Leron and I had the opportunity to attend a deanery mass presided over by His Excellency the Archbishop of Indianapolis, Joseph Tobin.  It was a beautiful mass with wonderful music and a homily I won't soon forget.

For anyone who follows the daily readings, last night's gospel was from Matthew and it was on how to pray. It detailed the words to the Our Father.  It also speaks to forgiveness.  More than just the words in the prayer, forgive us our trespasses, it explains that as you forgive others so you will be forgiven.

What a huge responsibility!  In order for me to be forgiven, I must forgive anyone and everyone of anything and everything.  That is a hard pill to swallow.  And speaking of pills, Tobin spoke of the anger and resentment that builds from a lack of forgiveness as a poison.  He explained that we often take this poison ourselves hoping it will kill the one who wronged us when in actuality it slowly kills us instead.

I really wish you could have been there because he did an infinitely better job than I could ever hope of addressing this topic with understanding and compassion fully aware of how as humans we like to hold onto resentment and have a hard time letting go.

In the end, he summed it up as this:

Be Holy, holiness is acting in the ways of The One who is eternally Holy

Forgive, forgive everyone of everything

Be Free

Today, I challenge you to forgive.  Forgive as much and as many as you can and when you hit a roadblock on an issue or a person, pray until it crumbles.

Be Holy, Forgive and Be Free... who could ask for more?

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Lessons from Dinner

We are pretty lucky when it comes to food at my house.  I enjoy meal planning and grocery shopping.  I enjoy spending time in the kitchen perfecting different dishes.  I am not a gourmet cook by any stretch but I can fix up meals that my family loves and because they love to eat them and I like to cook them, I cook a lot.    I would say we eat out less than once per month.

I think there is so much to be said for family dinners.  Some of my favorite memories and conversations happened around the dinner table growing up and I hope that our girls have a chance to develop some great memories of their own.

My kids are adorable, cute, smart and hilarious.  In case you think I might be biased (I'm sure I am by the way), they are also ornery, talkative, headache causing little cuties who I wish came with an off button or batteries that I could remove.  Dinner time with a 2.5 and 1.5 year old is not really my favorite time of the day.  It is usually a fight to get them to eat dinner and sit still.  Their "favorite" foods seem to only be their favorites once and the next time I make it they turn up their nose at it.  It is a constant struggle.

Last night was really no different from any other night, but I noticed a few things about Nalley that I just had to share.

Nalley is our prayer leader at meal times and bed time.  We said grace 4 times last night.  At first I thought she was just really thankful and had finally figured out grace is basically saying thank you to God.  Then before grace #3, she said her food was too hot, we needed to say grace.  By the 4th time, when she insisted Felicity's food was too hot and we needed to say grace, I finally figured it out.  She thought, and probably still thinks because I couldn't teach her through my laughter, that we said grace to allow our food time to cool down.

So lesson #1 from dinner with Nalley: Pray until things cool off

Nalley is also a bit of a neat freak.  She can't stand to be dirty.  She loves to clean and wipe things off.  It is helpful until she leaves a puddle of cleaning solution.  Recently, she has been obsessed with napkins.  She gets the smallest amount of food on her hands or cheek and she asks for a napkin until we give her one.  I am pretty sure most kids wouldn't notice or would just lick their fingers but not my sweet little Nalley.  She can go through 4-5 napkins a meal if undeterred.

Lesson #2 from dinner with Nalley:  If it is dirty, clean it!  Translation, if you are dirty/sinful, get clean/go to confession

And finally, Nalley is teeny tiny.  She doesn't weigh much more than 20 pounds at 2.5 years old.  I worry that she is growing enough, eating enough etc.  So I have been trying really hard to get her to eat more at meal times.  This has required a lot of incentives to be offered.  She loves fruit so we save that until the end.  If she eats the amount we set, usually 3 bites, she gets some fruit.  If she cleans her entire plate, she gets as much fruit as she wants.

Lesson #3 from dinner with Nalley: Do what you are told, get a sweet treat at the end

So I learned 3 things from having dinner with my daughter last night.  It will be a miracle if I can find a helpful life lesson from Felicity throwing her unwanted food off her highchair tray and onto the floor!

What have you learned from your kids at dinner?

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

New Christians

One of the most exciting things I have been involved in over the last 2 years is RCIA at Saint Louis Church in Batesville.  For those unfamiliar with the abbreviation, RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults.  The exact structure varies from church to church but the end result is new Christians brought into the church at Easter Vigil.

As a parent, it is always exciting, and a little nerve wracking, to have your child baptized.  It is a huge responsibility that you take upon yourself to bring your child up in the faith, to introduce them to Jesus and His teachings and set straight their path.  Choosing to discover faith (or a different faith than the one you were brought up in) as an adult is a whole different ballgame.

I said choosing but really faith is not a choice but a gift and often times it is a gift that is revealed at different times in our lives.  Some are blessed with an abundance of faith right from the start.  Others it seems live most of their life without an outward sign of faith. It is not up to us to judge someone based on the amount of their faith gift, but to encourage and support them where they are.  We want to bring more people to Jesus, not discourage them.

With RCIA, I have had an incredible opportunity to share and deepen my faith.  Just like with children, you think you are teaching them until one day you turn around and realize they had been teaching you all those years, RCIA has taught me more than I am sure I have passed along.  As children we had Sunday School or CCD as we Catholics call it.  But as adults we must be much more intentional about our faith education.

Today is a two part challenge.

First, I challenge you to pursue ways you can get involved, study and deepen your faith.  This could be more prayer time, visiting Jesus in the adoration chapel, an organized bible study or a mom's group.  There are infinite possibilities.  Sometimes we do a bad job of asking what is available if it is not right in front of us in the bulletin or in the announcements at church.  So this challenge might require just a little leg work from you or maybe just a phone call.

Here's a free hint to make it a little easier, many churches do missions during Lent.  This is an easy and great way to meet some new people and deepen your faith without a huge time commitment.  Saint Louis is hosting a mission next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.  If you want more details, I would be happy to provide them.

Second part of the challenge, welcome someone into the church.  This could be that new person you see attending your church service or someone joining the church at Easter.  It could even be your neighbor who you have never discussed religion with before.  We get all too comfortable with our routine and sometimes forget to look beyond ourselves.

We sit in the same pew every week, talk to the same people before and after church and shake the pastor's hand afterwards.  We even get upset when someone "new" doesn't realize that is "our" pew and instead of introducing ourselves or just striking up a conversation we (grumbling) find a new pew.

So step outside of your Christianity bubble and do something new with your faith today!

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

Fasting, Abstinence and Almsgiving

There are three things we are called to do during Lent.  They are fast, abstain and give alms.

Since it is the first Friday of Lent, I thought I would just touch upon abstaining today.

Abstinence is refraining from eating meat.  In lent we are called to abstain on Friday as well as Good Friday and Ash Wednesday.

This abstinence is a small sacrifice on our part to remind us of the huge sacrifice Jesus made on a Friday.  He gave us his life.

Growing up, I never really thought not eating meat on Friday was all that difficult.  I usually ate cold cereal and milk for breakfast before school so no changes there.  My school always offered cheese pizza or fried fish for lunch and there was always the salad bar.  For dinner, my mom was awesome and had that covered.

Now that I am in charge of the menu and we prefer a hot breakfast with meat and my kids aren’t in school and my husband eats lunch at home most days, no meat on Friday requires a little more work from me and I am finding it much more difficult than I once did.  It now means I have to plan a little, make a menu, go grocery shopping and be very active about my participation in abstaining.

So today I challenge you to take an active role in whatever you have dedicated yourself to for Lent.  Make a meatless dinner if you are used to going to the local fish fry or pack your kids lunches if you are used to letting them eat at school.  Your participation will make this Lent that much more meaningful to you and will deepen your relationship with Christ.  After all, one day of sacrificing meat is nothing compared to sacrificing your entire life on a cross.

God Bless!

Hannah

The Farmer's Wife

God is water

So yesterday, I revealed that we are dirty and then explained why that's not such a bad thing.  Today, I am going to give one more reason why being dirty isn't such a bad thing, and it is a HUGE reason.

God is water!

Think of water.  Water is clear, cool, refreshing.  Water can clean us.  Water is essential to life.

Now think of your 5 senses

You can feel water on your skin.  Think of how wonderful a dip in the pool is on a hot summer day or a nice hot shower at the end of a long day of work.

You can taste water.  Nothing can truly compare to the refreshment you feel when you get a nice glass of ice water.

You can smell water.  That wonderful after rain scent is the smell of renewal.

You can see water.  That image of a tropical waterfall or olympic size swimming pool or that image of the glass of water or rain, these are all beautiful images of water.

You can hear water.  The soothing pitter patter of raindrops or the steady flow of a stream is a relaxing sound.

Just like you can feel, taste, smell, see and hear water, you can feel, taste, smell, see and hear God.

Sometimes these instances are as simple as a cool drink of water on a hot day.

Today, I challenge you to look around and see the water in your life, all of those things you cannot live without.  Then, see God in them and thank Him for them.

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife

We are Dirty!

So I started this blog with Lent last year as a daily devotional and chance to grow.  It has been a long time since I did regular blog entries, but I am going to include it in my Lenten journey once again.  I am hopeful that these posts will be short, sweet and to the point.

I know many of you enjoyed reading the stories, thoughts, devotions from last year.  If there is any particular subject you want me to cover, you can post it in the comments, let me know on facebook or send me an email.

Ash Wednesday - February 13, 2013

We are Dirty!  Ashe Wednesday always reminds me that I am dust and unto dust I shall return.  What is dust if not dirt??  So essentially, I (and you) am dirt, I am dirty.  I don't know about you, but dwelling too long on that unfortunate little bit of humanity, can take you down to a not so fun place.

So how can we look at our dirtiness and see something great?

Here are my suggestions:
- We are dirt, but so is every other human being ever created (dirt loves company??)
- Dirt isn't all bad, it is necessary for growing things
- Dirt goes by the much more pleasant term soil once it is enriched
- Even though we are merely dirt, God created us in His image
- God even liked us dirt so much, that He sent His son to dwell among us, just like us, as dirt
- God even sacrificed His son for us

Suddenly being dirt doesn't sound so bad does it??

Today, celebrate the fact that you are dirt!  Because even though you are dirt, you are given more love than you could ever earn and you are expected to do great things!

Here is last year's Ash Wednesday Post

God Bless!
Hannah
The Farmer's Wife