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St. Me! About choosing a baby name by Daily Graces at dailygraces.net

Saint Me! Saint Me!

Published on October 13, 2016November 9, 2016 by Kate1 Comment

As with any pregnancy, I am frequently being asked the usual questions:

“How far along are you?”

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

“What are you going to name them?”

I love how excited people are for new babies (even if I usually also receive somewhat concerned or confused looks when I explain that this is my 4th baby, not my 1st. It’s ok people, I know how this all works, *winks).

To update everyone, here are the current answers to those questions. As of today we are 25 weeks and 4 days along (thank you pregnancy app for keeping track for me). We decided to be surprised with this baby. We found out the gender for both John and Rosie. When it came time to decide about Clare, we chose to be surprised. It’s easier when you already have things from siblings. It was so much fun! We decided (and the Air Force decided, since we had to move before we were far enough along to find out anyway) to do it again with “Peanut” as we affectionately are calling this baby.

As for the name, even though we don’t know the gender we could still decide on two names. Every family does it differently. We decided back when we were pregnant with John 4 things.

We wouldn’t officially decide on a name until the baby was born. We have gone into labor with our top 2 or 3 options, but we wait until we get to see our new gift before we name them.
Family names are important to us, but we also didn’t want the confusion that inherently comes with family names. Personally, I have a brother Michael, an Uncle Mike, a Great-Uncle Mike and my grandfather’s name was Michael. The name Michael clearly runs strong in my family. In order to honor that, we chose to give John the middle name of Michael. We keep the name alive while preserving a little sanity at family gatherings. We have done this with all our children’s middle names.
Our last name is difficult. It is pronounced nothing like it is spelled and unless you happen to be from a small corner of Georgia where it is also a county name you are probably going to pronounce it incorrectly, then question my schooling when I correct you. It’s ok. We all deal and the kids will too. But, Ben and I felt strongly that because their last name will be problematic, their first name should be simple and easily identifiable. We only deviated from this a little bit when we named Clare because we wanted her to have the same spelling as St. Clare who doesn’t use the “i” usually found in the spelling. Sorry Clare!
We keep the name options secret. Sorry guys!

Clare is actually what prompted this blog post. Every night we say prayers together as a family. We share what we are thankful for from the day and then we saw a few form prayers. We conclude with a litany of the saints that all have a special meaning for our family. Well, a few nights ago during the litany, Clare started shouting “Saint Me! Saint Me!” She was so sweet. At 2 years old she is already treasuring in her own way her namesake while at the same time challenging all of us to think about our calling to sainthood.

It got me thinking about this new baby. Ben and I have talked back and forth about whether we should give all of our children first names after saints. So far, they all have middle names after saints that also happened to be family names and the middle names we have in mind for this little one are also saint names. John and Clare have direct saint names. Rosie is technically Rosemary and though there is no St. Rosemary, there is St. Rose which seems close enough.

There are two ways to go. Naming your child after a saint guarantees that they will have a patron. Of course if your name isn’t a specific saint’s name you can always adopt one as your patron, there are plenty after all. But, from my perspective at least, there is something special about carrying the same name as one of these great spiritual persons.

On the flip side, by giving your child a name that is not already a saint’s name you are opening up the opportunity for a new name to be added to these spiritual guides. I’m not saying that all of our children will become named Saints in the Church, but wouldn’t it be great if among our generation there is a St. Jessica, a St. Riley or a St. Jackson?

So we are torn. Our child will definitely carry a saint’s name with them through life in their middle name. But will they also in their first name?

What’s your opinion on the matter? I’d love to hear thoughts on both sides.

Daily Advent Prayer Experiences for 2016 by DailyGraces.net

Advent Prayer Experiences – 2016

Published on October 6, 2016October 6, 2016 by Kate3 Comments

We begin another Church year very soon! Who would believe another year has flown by and it is time once again to prepare ourselves for the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we are settling into our new “home” aka vacation rental for the next 5 months before we move again to our next “new home” I have decided to try out some new cleaning routines. Nearly 3 years ago I commented to a friend of mine “You’re house always seems so decluttered and clean! I don’t know how you manage to keep everything in order, it always seems so overwhelming for me and I just give up.” She told me about the FlyLady’s system of cleaning and lent me the book. Basically, a woman (the FlyLady) started working in her own home to establish routines that would help her declutter, clean and generally regain control over her chaotic household. Today, she has multiple books plus an app. Needless to say, I flipped through the book and thought it was too much work because I am an all or nothing kind of person and it was too many changes at one time. I thanked my friend, said it was a really neat idea and maybe one day I would try it out. The notion stuck with me though and one day is finally here (I’m using this app)

At its most basic, the FlyLady’s routines and objectives are very much in line with my Lenten observance this year: to be a good past self. She divides your home into zones and each week focuses in depth on one zone. Every Monday has an additional “home blessing” where you spend 10 minutes in each zone sprucing it up without getting stuck in the weeds, or cobwebs, or legos, or whatever dust bunnies are slowly forming under your couch. What I am loving about this system (well, I think I’m loving, it’s only been a week so far) is that each day’s task that I have completed has not taken more than 15 minutes and I still feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Rather than saying to myself, “Today I need to clean the kitchen. The whole kitchen – shudder, dread, find other things to do, oops now it’s too late I guess I’ll work on that tomorrow.” I am saying, “I can definitely double check the refrigerator and make sure nothing is expired and wipe down the front and fronts of the shelves in 15 minutes, no problem.” Some other daily routines include making sure you clean up after yourself, immediately, and eliminating excuses by getting dressed right away (so that if the garbage needs to go out at 7am you don’t have to scurry about in your pjs or robe or choosing to live with a smelly garbage until you get around to it at lunchtime).

It’s doing a little everyday, rather than burning yourself out in one day and then not cleaning anything for the next 3.

“Your home did not get dirty in one day, and it will not get clean in a day either” to quote the Flylady.

So what does all this have to do with Advent prayer? As I was wiping down a bathroom this morning (yes, I’m cleaning bathrooms! In the morning! Shocking, I know. Right your seat and continue reading). I was thinking about the above quote and realized that a disordered, lacking or non-existent prayer life works in a similar way. We can’t expect to go from nothing to a full blown prayer routine overnight. Trust me, I’ve tried it. Many times.

For this Advent, I have decided to break up the 4 weeks into 4 types or themes of prayer. Each day will have an idea to ponder, a Scripture to meditate on, a prayer to recite, or some other kind of short activity that will guide you to a prayer experience. This is not supposed to be long, arduous or in any other way taxing. 5 minutes of your time, 10 if you get really into it. My goal is to offer a variety of prayer opportunities that will help all of us gain a deeper understanding of Advent and also learn what kinds of prayer brought us to encounter Jesus during our day. What better way to prepare yourself for the coming of Jesus at Christmas than by spending Advent discovering what ways you communicate with Him best?

Every day there will be a new post. I am planning on posting the night before so that you early risers don’t have to wait for the day’s prayer experience. Posts will be linked on the page “Advent Prayer Experiences – 2016” along the top toolbar as well as on the homepage.

Quality over Quantity

Published on October 3, 2016November 9, 2016 by KateLeave a comment

Part of moving to a new place, or even going on vacation, is finding where you will go to church on Sunday. I remember growing up and going camping for vacation. Part of the planning was always “Where and when will we go to church?” There were a few times that we genuinely couldn’t make it to Mass so we would read the readings as a family, light a candle, offer prayers and intentions and say an Our Father. Sometimes we even tried to sing. These were special moments for our family and memories I cherish.

This weekend was the first Sunday we had to venture out and try a new parish (we are spoiled, last week Ben’s uncle, a Dominican priest, said Mass for us and some extended family at another family member’s house). After talking to a few Catholic friends in the area we decided to try one parish that is quite close to our house.

The parishioners were very inviting and if we decide to attend there regularly during our stay in San Antonio we will be getting to Mass rather early – it’s a large community! Gotta get those good seats *wink. The kids did very well for their first time in the new space and even though it was such a large community we were still recognized at the end of Mass as newcomers. Even more surprising, people actually talked to us and said “Welcome! We hope to see you again next week. When did you arrive?” And I mean multiple people, not just those with name tags on who are part of the welcoming committee.

Quality over Quantity by Daily Graces at dailygraces.net — Mustard Seed by Quinn Dombrowski (2010) via Flickr. CC. Text and object added by Kate Taliaferro (2016).

The whole experience tied in very nicely with one of the priest’s main points during his homily (yes, the kids were so well behaved I was actually able to pay attention and retain what I heard for more than 3 words at a time). The priest talked about how the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith – to increase the quantity of their faith. He mentioned how in one episode prior to this question highlights the issue. They failed to drive a demon out of a boy because Jesus said they lacked faith. They thought they needed more in order to do more.

So much of Jesus’ message is that we should seek after quality, not quantity. The disciples didn’t need more faith, they needed a deeper faith. That is why faith the size of a mustard seed (which was one of the smallest seeds in the Middle East) can move a mountain. Think about the parables about the Kingdom of God. Jesus tells us about a man who sells all he has so that he might acquire the pearl of great price. The man doesn’t need a large quantity of pearls, he just needs the one which is a pearl above all other pearls.

Or try this on for size. Many people, myself included, often ask God for more patience. But is it more patience we need, or do we need to better use the patience we have. How many of us remember our mothers disciplining us in loud voice, say something along the lines of “I’ve lost my patience” and then answer the phone in a calm voice and carry on a conversation that required the patience that was supposedly lost? Perhaps that is a more autobiographical story than a memory…..

We have plenty of patience and, for those of us baptized and especially confirmed we have been given the gift of faith. We don’t need more, we need to grow it deeper. Consider another parable (Jesus was full of those, wasn’t he?). A man goes out and sows seeds. Some fell on rocks, others on the road, others on a bed of thorns and a precious few in good soil. The seed is faith. No matter how many seeds the man sows, if they fall on rocks there will be nothing for them to dig their roots in.

So how do we grow our faith deeper? To start with, we need to prioritize prayer. We need to go to Mass to receive Jesus. We need to talk about God in our homes, with our spouses, our children and our friends. We need to learn about our faith and understand why we believe what we profess to believe.

Now I know that not everyone likes to talk about Christmas when we are barely in October, but hear me out. Advent begins on Nov. 27. What is one of these things that you can really focus on growing in during the 4 weeks leading up to the birth of Christ? Personally, it is going to be prioritizing prayer in a more intentional way. And really, I should start today, not wait 2 months. (which means getting myself up before the kids so that I can pray in peace. Morning wake ups are not one of my strengths, which many of you who have been following this blog are aware.) Pray for me! I will be praying for you too.

Announcement!

You may have noticed that my blog has a new address! I’m so excited to announce that I officially have my own site dailygraces.net. Plus a snazzy new look. I’m so excited and thankful for the support Ben has given me during this transition. The old address will forward you to the new one so don’t worry about losing any links you may have saved or enjoy coming back to. Grace and peace for your coming week!

~ Kate