Foresight

Published on by KateLeave a comment

Happy Friday! I hope you all have had a good week and are looking forward to a fun, relaxing weekend that isn’t as hot as it will be here!

Thank goodness for my husband. Sometimes I’m not sure what he is thinking, but it usually turns out well.

We both have been complaining for more than 2 years, probably, that we needed a new printer. The printer we had was from Ben’s college days and he found it at a thrift shop. We had pretty much stopped printing anything because it seems to run on ink rather than electricity. Each time we had family come to visit we would have to purchase a new ink cartridge so that they could print their boarding passes. That’s about all the printing the printer would handle before claiming to be out of ink.

Instead of dealing with the root of the problem, we just stopped printing. Then, after a particular round of complaints last month (delivered by yours truly but without any real intention to replace the printer), Ben said, Let’s just go and get a new one this afternoon.

My new love ;-)
My new love 😉

Now, usually when Ben makes an electronics purchase involves a few weeks of reading reviews, comparing products and prices. But this time was different. We went, he compared the few in the store, read a review or two on his phone, and made a decision. I minded the kids, knowing that his knowledge base in this area was better than mine. Though I was  concerned we were making this purchase a little hastily. When I spoke to Ben about it, he was so confident that this was the right time and the selection he had made would fit our needs and budget.

I am so thankful that I trusted him, rather than arguing. We are homeschooling both John (kindergarten) and Rosie (preschool) this year. When we were struggling with the old printer, I hadn’t thought of the possible need I would have while working on schooling for the kids. With this new printer, I’ve printed already probably more than we had as a family 3 years! Even some things in color (please insert a shocked sound here).

Now this may seem like a simple, silly little story. But it illustrates a very valuable thing about the sacrament of marriage. Catholics believe that the 7 Sacraments (Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick, and Reconciliation) are specific moments of God’s grace. Grace is all around us and God is always extending the gift of grace. However, we understand these sacramental moments to be time of specific grace, grace designed for a certain purpose. At Baptism, we are welcomed into the Church and original sin is washed away. We are given grace for our new journey as Christians on the way to heaven. At Anointing of the Sick, the person receiving the sacrament is anointed with blessed oil, symbolically putting on the armor of God. They are spiritually strengthened to face their illness, be it physical, emotional or psychological. In marriage, each spouse is gifted with specific grace for the other. Part of the covenant of marriage is a commitment to help one another journey to heaven. Each person’s journey is unique, but in Marriage the spouses journey together, called to become one.

stock-photo-gold-wedding-rings-118390207I personally believe that Ben has been given specific grace by God that is for my benefit and growth. I believe I have been given grace in the same way for him. Though my printer story probably wouldn’t show up in a slide show of defining moments of my faith journey, it was an opportunity for me to recognize and respect the strengths that Ben has been given and the insights he has. Looking back, I could have fought his decision. I’m thankful that I resisted that temptation. 1, because now my life is way easier with the new printer. But more importantly, it was an opportunity to practice looking beyond myself and allowing the grace Ben has been given to flow through him and into our marriage. This was just a small thing. Someday, I’m sure there will be something much larger and more significant. I pray I will be able to recognize God’s grace working through him and instead of pridefully standing in its way, I will have the humility to let the grace of our shared sacrament bless our marriage.

If you are married, have you experienced any moments like this? If you aren’t, do you have any memories or experiences where you felt grace from a sacrament? Looking forward to hearing from you all!

They’ll be here any minute!

Published on by Kate1 Comment

Everyone knows the feeling. Company is coming for dinner, the bathroom still needs to be cleaned, floors are barely swept and you are frantically changing the baby’s diaper explosion. Ok, so maybe not everyone knows that specific scenario but insert your own life experience and I’m sure you’ll get the picture.

Anyway, that was us to a a certain degree today. It seems to me that I am the most efficient cleaner in those few minutes before the doorbell is expected to ring. Also, I must have a second set of eyes, because I am able to much more clearly see all the things that need to be cleaned or dusted that apparently I was unable to discern just days prior. It’s rather embarrassing really. We are capable of being much more prepared.

Maybe you’re not like me. And if you aren’t like me, I’m rather jealous of you. If you aren’t like me, then you sweep and vacuum your floors often, and if you happen to have a dog that likes to roll around in the dust and dirt then you sweep and vacuum multiple times a day. You also don’t have a 4 year old boy using your bathrooms. And you have some kind of stain and grease resistant kitchen counter tops that don’t require constant scrubbing.

I’m being sarcastic of course. I know that there are people out there who are much better cleaners than I am, and I’m sure somewhere there is someone who is a worse cleaner (maybe). Regardless, I am always amazed at how much cleaning I get done before someone comes over. Amazed and dismayed. If I can clean this well and quickly before someone comes to my house, why can’t I do it all the time?

9GDUA0UARDAs I was musing on this while sweeping the floor this afternoon, wishing I was more prepared, I thought about how I’m not the only one with this kind of problem. In fact, there were people with my same or similar issue all the way back to Jesus’ time. Think about it, especially as an issue of preparedness. Jesus tells a parable about 10 virgins waiting for the bridegroom to arrive. 5 were wise and prepared, bringing extra oil with them just in case the bridegroom was late. 5 were not so wise. When the bridegroom did arrive, late, only 5 women had enough oil to light their lamps.

Cultivating a habit of preparation might be in order for our household. Rather than frantically piecing together the house, we are very capable of systematically keeping order, if we make it a priority.

Jesus told His disciples that He would return again, and the early Christians believed that His second coming was imminent. Time has continued to pass and we are still waiting for Jesus to come. The Church hasn’t changed it’s stance on this, we are in fact still waiting for Jesus to return. Even though so much time has passed, our level of preparation should not be any different than those early Christians.

Just like our physical houses need to be kept clean and orderly, so do our spiritual houses, our inner selves. Do we pray regularly? If we do pray, are we taking time to listen to God as well as speak to Him? Do we spend time in quiet reflection, contemplating how we make decisions and discerning the direction of our lives? Do we belong to a worshiping community that helps us stay accountable to the morals and virtues espoused by our faith? Do we share our faith with others, especially our spouse and children?

Personally, I believe that when I have good spiritual habits and practices, it is easier for me to keep other areas of my life, my home included, in good order. What do you think?

Feel free to leave comments and join in the conversation! =)

That thing you’ve been meaning to do….

Published on by KateLeave a comment

LYI2FLC9GNWe all have something we’ve been meaning to do or take care of. Maybe it’s folding the laundry and then actually putting it in the drawers. Maybe it’s clicking “Unsubscribe” on the daily junk email or advertisement you keep deleting and it keeps coming. Maybe it’s writing your son’s thank you notes for his birthday that was 3 months ago (not speaking from experience here at all…sorry everyone).

Perhaps the thing you’ve been meaning to do is less tangible. Maybe it’s calling a friend you haven’t spoke with in a while. Maybe it’s finding some space in your day for quiet stillness. Maybe it’s a lifestyle change – food, exercise, schedule, etc.

0903152048Something I’ve noticed about putting things off, tangible or not, is that the longer I wait, the larger the task becomes. It’s easy to see with the tangible things. For example, the laundry. The longer I leave the basket of clean but not folded or organized clothes out, the harder it becomes to put away. Everyone starts shifting through the clothes, finding what they need and leaving the pile behind them. After a few days, it almost makes sense, in some twisted logic kind of way, to just leave it. The basket is half empty and laundry day is coming up again soon anyway. Just let it ride and I can try again next time.

For some things, it becomes embarrassing. Take the example of the thank you notes that in no way are one of the key points of inspiration for this blog post. The longer we waited to write them, the more embarrassing it got in my head. But, instead of buckling down and just writing the darn things, I would conveniently find something else that needed to be done since I didn’t want to own up to the fact that the cards would be so late.

Procrastinating on more intangible things is just as problematic. I think we all probably have a friend that we wish we kept in better touch with. I know I do. Quite a few in fact. We have so many means of communication at our disposal – email, Facebook, texting, a phone call.  But, at least for me, I find it hard to connect with someone when we’ve been out of touch for a period of time. Maybe this is a side-effect of our ability to have constant communication and connection. Since I don’t know everything that has happened to them over the past few months and they don’t know what has happened to me, how can we possibly catch up all that time? It becomes a barrier to reaching out at all, which means I’m missing out on some special relationships because of my own hang-ups and tendency to over-think everything.

While I’ve been thinking about things I’ve been meaning to do, coincidentally while avoiding doing these exact things (a laundry basket is within eyesight, I promise to fold it tonight….or tomorrow), I stumbled across the thought that maybe this is one reason why it hard for people to start to pray after avoiding it. Think about the reasons why we might not strike up a conversation with someone who we haven’t talked with in a while. You don’t know where they are in life anymore. You don’t know what trials they have faced. What if you bring up something awkward or accidentally stir a pot you didn’t realize you were stirring? What they do the same for you? They don’t know what’s been happening with you. I imagine that some of these thoughts might be played out in our minds when we think about our conversations, or lack of them, with God.

The thing that we have probably forgotten in all our wonderings is that unlike our friend who hasn’t been walking our journey with us, God has. We might not have been talking to him, but He has been talking to us. While we were neglecting to include Him in our daily routines, He has been ever-present. So the thought that God may not know what we’ve been going through is simply not true. No matter what we’ve encountered and regardless of how long it’s been, God wants to renew His relationship with us.

Thankfully, God isn’t like the laundry basket, slowly being emptied only to be refilled with more dirty laundry. God is always ready for us, always willing to be with us and always, even in this moment, actively pursuing us. When coming to God in prayer, especially after a period of silence, don’t get hung up on what you haven’t been saying. Just start talking.

Pray as you can, not as you can’t.

God answers every prayer… and sometimes He says “No” or “Wait”.

If you experience dryness in prayer or a time when you come to Mass and feel like you didn’t get anything out of it, then that’s a good day… That’s a day where you get to choose to love God for His sake and not for what He can do for you.
Father Mike Schmitz