Daily Graces

Worth the Making

Published on October 18, 2016November 9, 2016 by Kate1 Comment

For me, holiday season means baking season. I know we aren’t quite there yet but this weekend I made a big batch of sugar cookies for Halloween. I didn’t decorate them like I normally would have which makes me a little sad, but we truthfully don’t have the counter space or storage space for such an endeavor. Just making the cookies themselves took me 3 days. The kids helped make the dough on Friday and then I spent 2 days baking them.

Normally, it doesn’t take 2 days, just a few hours. But when you are living in a space that isn’t your own and you don’t have your regular tools and pans, things can get a little tricky. Like in this example, where the largest “cookie sheet” I have isn’t actually a cookie sheet but a 9X13-ish cake pan. The most cookies I got on that thing was 9 at a time and that was pretty squished. This recipe made nearly 60 cookies (I know, I should have halved the recipe, I usually do. I blame pregnancy on that particular decision-making moment).

As I was going through this baking marathon, before I had decided not to decorate them, I found myself wondering if it was all worth it. I mean yes, these cookies are good, but they aren’t the best cookies I’ve ever eaten. Yes, they can look super cute when they are decorated well, but to truly decorate them well would have taken at least another 2-3 days depending on how long naptime was. To really go all out with these cookies is a multi-day extravaganza that usually leaves me with cramped hands, sore feet and no tupperware left.

For what? Someone to walk in and eat 2 cookies in under 2 minutes. Days of work for a brief moment of enjoyment. Surely it would be easier to go to H.E.B. (Texas’ version of Kroger/Jewel/Raley’s) and buy a box of cookies. Why pour my soul into something so fleeting?

I believe that we do these kinds of things because of the way we were created. God didn’t make us up or imagine us, He gave us life as a reflection of His very self. God poured His breath into Adam while fully knowing that this firstborn of creation would choose disobedience over obedience. God creates us still knowing that now, because of original sin, our lives on earth are but sparks in the night, there for a moment and then extinguished.

We are capable of reflecting God in all things, even in our creativity. Think of someone who is passionate about gardening. They work their soil, preparing it for seeds year after year, constantly trying to improve its nutrients and suitableness. They weed, they prune, they cultivate. They marvel at each flower and enjoy the fruits of their labor. They do all this, knowing full well that these plants that they have loved into existence will die come winter.

Or consider the people who have booths at your local craft fair or fall festival. These people have worked all summer, some all year, long to bring you their merchandise. The hours spent deciding on paint color, harvesting the right kind of wood, repeating the same pattern over and over, was done out of love for their craft. Of course, the financial compensation is also a motivating factor, but for many items these crafters are making pennies on the dollar when you consider an hourly wage and the cost of the materials. Their passion is both a testament to their creativity but also a reflection of the creative God who made them.

Naked pumpkin sugar cookies from the post "Worth the Making" on Daily Graces at dailygraces.net — Naked pumpkin sugar cookies. Copyright Kate Taliaferro 2016

So yes, the cookies are worth it. Even if this time they are naked =)

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.