Winter Ordinary Time 2022: Word on Fire illustrated Bible...

Hello all and happy end of week! It's SUPER chilly in my part of the world, and I'm tucked up cozy with Barney as I write this. 

*blissful sigh*

I get very inspired by the starkness and freshness of winter, and this year is no exception. I'm thinking ahead to Lenten planning (doesn't start until March this year, so still plenty of time!) and getting so excited! In the meantime, I'm enjoying the slowness of this particular part of Ordinary Time and just savoring small joys as they roll in. Related to my last post, I added a Great Feasts icon to my home icon wall, and a small and *adorable* Christ and Theotokos chapel icon set to my desk at work. I'll post photos next time as I forgot to photograph the desk set in particular, and those are just spectacular! 

I've also been allowing myself to read more this winter, and just enjoy some of the books, both fiction and non-fiction, that have been sitting on my Kindle for a long time, awaiting my attentions. One of my New Year's resolutions was to be more active on GoodReads again, keeping track of books that I'm actively reading and those that I would really like to get to in the near future. (I enjoy inspiration romances, romantic suspense, religious non-fiction titles, fitness and dance memoirs). This has helped me to stay focused on making steady progress with books, rather than allowing days to go by without reading at all (or, a single minute of reading in bed on my Kindle before my eyes drift closed). One of the things I'd like to examine for Lent is to select 1-2 non-fiction Catholic titles on my bookshelf and dedicate myself to finishing them before the end of the season. Selecting them will be the most fun!

In that realm, I got an email earlier in the week that the long-awaited new Volume II of the Word on Fire Bible was ready and available for purchase, this year it's Acts, Letters and Revelation:

I learned my lesson from last year (the Gospels) and immediately braced myself for the cost of the leather bound version, because I know now that that is what is want. :-) And there is a GREAT bundle available to purchase both Volume I and II! My order is in, and was shipped yesterday. 🙌

This will be a lifetime project to get through, to be sure, but I'd like to pick it up regularly over Lent. *quiet squee* I cannot wait to structure out my reading plan! I believe that the next volume, for 2023, will be the Pentateuch, so exciting. 

Any other Word on Fire Bible fans here? How have you been approaching reading with yours? Each evening or some other system that you have? I would LOVE some ideas as we approach the start of Lent 2022!

New books and new inspiration...

Hello friends, and I hope that you are well! We wrapped up Anne's school year this week, much to the relief of the entire family. :-0 I'm praying that the kids are back in school in the fall, and it looks like they are planning to make that the case. She needs a school environment in order to thrive, that definitely became clear during the past 3 months! So we now have two and a half months just to take it easy and not fret about school work, and that definitely feels good. Both of the kids are registered to go back to their Catholic schools in September, and we're just hoping that all goes smoothly!

I've been amusing myself by taking an introductory ballet class, and you can see my fancy setup here:

:-0

It's all very low tech in the dance studio of the Catholic Librarian, but we make do where we can! I'm really enjoying taking a dance form at which I'm a total beginner. Technically, I studied ballet when I was a child, but that was so long ago that it's essentially like starting over. Our session is being extended by another 4 weeks, so I'll be happily plie-ing in our guest room all through July. I've also been doing a lot of belly dance, but that's par for the course! There are certain commonalities between the 2 types of dance (posture, arms, long and graceful lines, strong feet, and connection with the floor) that I'm enjoying honing in ballet so that I can apply it to my belly dancing. I'm feeling quite inspired by it all!

In other news, my Word on Fire version of the Gospels arrived this week!

I'm loving it, and apparently these are nearly all sold out until the fall already! I'm hoping I don't regret not getting one of the sturdier covers (I went with paperback), but I absolutely love it. There are a few paperback copies left to purchase as of when I'm writing this, and I will say this particular paperback is much thicker and sturdier than usual! I just started reading the opening commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, and so far, I'm intrigued. :-)

I also made a purchase I can't believe I didn't already have:

I mean...this is perfect for me, right? How did I not already own this? :-0 The Catholic All Year Compendium has suggestions for liturgical home living for the entire year. My sister mentioned populating her new academic planner with the designated "meat Fridays" (that fall on solemnities) for the year, and I was instantly interested. We don't abstain from meat on Fridays outside of Lent, but when have you ever known your Catholic Librarian to shy away from a challenge? ;-)  Lots of good stuff in here, I'm excited to get started!

Do you have any new books or new inspiration this week? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Some Catholic uplifty things for June...

Hello all! Happy Friday to you, and I hope that you are doing well.

*group hug*

I've had a good week, truly. Henry is done with his school year, and Anne finishes today. Can I tell you that I have NEVER been so happy to finish a school year before? :-0 It was a tough year, not only because of unexpectedly doing it all at home for the past 3 months, but also because each of the kids went through some growing pains this year, with Henry transitioning to high school, and Anne getting used to being at school without him for the first time. But we made it!

This week, we've been talking about summer plans, which I'm looking forward to despite this particular summer looking quite a bit different than usual. We'll still carve out some nice time with the kids and with our parents. Both Mike and I will be working from home until the fall semester starts, so that will help out a lot with family time.

In Catholic stuff for June, the Pentecost novena that we prayed together really lifted my spirits. In that vein, and prompted by the Pray More Novenas site, I started the Sacred Heart Novena a few days ago:

I love the prayers associated with this novena. You repeat the intention that you are praying for, and your hope and trust in the Sacred Heart of Jesus, three times, and it just really lifts me up. You can easily play catch up if you'd like to join in!

Also, the new Word on Fire Bible (the Gospels) is finally available for purchase, and I've had my eye on this one! You all know how I enjoy collecting Bibles. :-)

This edition is GORGEOUS with full color artwork and lots of great commentary from Church Fathers. It's the Gospels, rather than the entire Bible or even entire New Testament, but I feel like this would make a nice travel companion when you want ot focus just on those. I'm definitely tempted to order a copy to read this summer! But the key question is what cover type should I pick? :-0 I'm thinking hardcover!

How is your June shaping up? Are you praying the Sacred Heart novena? I'd love to hear from you!

Scripture reading plans and Bible journaling...

Greetings all on a new week! I have lots going on this week, including a big MEET UP WITH SAMANTHA!!

*streamers!*

More on that to come later this week. But I'm terribly excited!

Going into this week, for whatever reason, I've had Bible study and reading plans on my mind. I'd like to read some Scripture each day, even if it's only a small snippet. So, I was on Amazon this morning, surfing for Scripture reading plans. I came across a number of interesting titles (like How to Read Your Way to Heaven) and had in mind to find a plan I could use with my existing Bible (the beautiful Catholic Women's Devotional Bible). I'm definitely intrigued by How to Read Your Way to Heaven, which includes not only a Bible reading plan, but also the Catechism as well as other important spiritual works, but right now I really need something SMALL. :-) Just a way to organize myself each day to read a little Scripture. As I was searching I realized that my Bible *does* include a reading plan in the back, I'd just have to flip back and forth to find the necessary verses each day. Plus, happening upon Daily Mass Readings books on Amazon reminded me that I also have a subscription to Magnificat magazine. So I do already have a few tools at my disposal. This caused my little mind to be all awhirl.

As I was searching, I discovered something else terribly interesting. Remember that journaling post from a few weeks back? That got the most hits of any post in April, and a lot of interaction in the comments. Journaling definitely seemed to touch a chord with all of you, even if we collectively aren't all that great with being consistent with it. ;-) Suddenly, I came upon this:

A Catholic Journaling Bible (for Psalms and New Testament, and there is also one for the Old Testament). Cindy!!! I immediately thought of you! :0 Cindy had mentioned in the comments of the journaling post that she loved the idea of a journaling Bible, wherein you could write your own notes in the margin, but that she hadn't yet come across a Catholic one. These are brand new, came out in 2017. They include pages for painting or coloring, and a wide margin with thick paper for drawing or writing on each page. It's only *11.69* at Amazon right now for the New Testament volume! The Old Testament is more expensive at $29.99, but that makes sense in terms of length. What do you think, are you all intrigued?! I'm tempted to order the New Testament volume! My only qualm is with the font layout and size. Go read the comments over at Amazon and you'll see what I mean. There are no paragraph breaks aside from chapters, and the text size is somewhat small. So it's just low rows of continual text. That might be hard on these already compromised eyes, I'm not sure. But I LOVE the concept of this and wanted to show you all! What do you think of this idea?

Also, do you have a Bible reading plan? Which Bible do you use? I'd love to hear from you in the comments!

Of saints, socks, new Bibles & podcast foibles on this Lenten Monday...

Well, isn't this a surprise? Tiffany with blogging time on her hands on a Monday? It's spring break, so let's get all wild! ;-) The schedule around here may be a bit different next week too, given that I'm taking time off from both work and blogging for the Triduum. But one day at a time, yes?

This particular Monday is also my big day over at CatholicMom.com. This month we're discussing child saints and how our own children are inspired by, and can relate to, them. Come join in the conversation over there in the comments!

In other news, on Friday I got home to a few exciting developments. Lovely spring flowers in my signature colors with accompanying sassy preschooler:

You might want to see if this package deal is still available in your local supermarket ;-)

...and a new Bible that I am *super* excited about:

 I was a busy knitter, and finished a gift sock this weekend:

Now I just have to, you know, make her a second one. Because apparently she's a diva and needs TWO of them. ;-) I already cast on for sock 2, which I think should earn me future purgatory points. It's always hard to not move over to a brand new, fresh project after you finish something, and instead diligently make an exact replica of the thing that you just made. When you go the former route, this is called Second Sock Syndrome, which my husband thinks is hilarious and that I made this cute thing up. I assure you, the Second Sock Syndrome struggle is very, very real. :0

How are you, dear reader? How is your last full week of Lent going? Are you looking forward to the new podcast? Do tell me all about it in the comments!

Children's Bible? I need your input :)

Morning all! I was doing saint stories with Henry last night, like usual (he has the 2 volume Illustrated Lives of the Saints, which is working out really well), and he asked me to read to him from his Bible for a few minutes. Now, Henry has this tattered, beloved children's Bible that he received when he was about 3 years old. He LOVES this thing, it's like his blankie or something. I have tried to get him other Bibles, you know keep things interesting, and he has always refused them. He loves the illustrations, and the stories that it contains. Not all children's Bibles are created equally in this way, I know. Anne's toddler Bible leaves out the Crucifixion. :( Henry likes all the heavy hitting Old Testament stories (David/Goliath, Jonah in the fish, Daniel in the lion's den) and lots of detail in the New Testament.

He will now be 8 in November, and last night has really shown me that he has outgrown this Bible. But I don't know what to replace it with. Does anybody have any suggestions for a good children's Bible for a boy his age? He definitely still likes the "Bible story" approach rather than a more sophisticated Bible.

All suggestions appreciated in the comments section!

I'll be back tomorrow for 7 Quick Takes Friday. Are you just hoping to see a picture of me dancing while balancing a tray of flowers on my head in a wind gust? Tune in tomorrow. :)

Study Bible review

Recently, with a Christmas gift care, I picked up a copy of the brand new Ignatius Catholic Study Bible - New Testament. I own a few Bibles, and I do have a favorite, but I don't own a study bible. I've always wanted to participate in a formal Bible Study, and our parish holds them regularly, but my schedule simply doesn't allow it right now.

So, when I saw this, I got excited. This bible is edited by Dr. Scott Hahn and Curtis Mitch. I've read many of Dr. Hahn's books, and his conversion story, Rome Sweet Home was instrumental in my own reversion back to the faith as a young adult. This study bible includes the entire New Testament with extensive footnotes, maps, a concordance, easy-to-read introductions to each book, and topical essays. Have you ever seen all of those slim paperbound study guides to each book in the New Testament in your local Catholic store? I have, and these are all of them, bound up into one volume. The Old Testament is only just beginning :) so no accompanying volume on that yet. But it's in progress.

I've started making this my evening devotional, and it's really wonderful. It's much more "approachable" than, say, the New American Bible footnotes, which oftentimes feel a bit scholarly for me. :) I find these very readable, and they use a series of icons to let you know what type of issue a comment pertains to

I have the leatherbound version, and the cover is quite nice and durable. It comes with 2 gold ribbons for page marking, which is a favorite feature of mine. Check it out if you're interested in a home study Bible Study. :)

A new Advent wreath, and some book reviews that are simply PRECIOUS

Yesterday I had a wonderful, wonderful day off with Henry. I had a hard time coming back to work today and leaving him. I miss him. :(

We started the day off at the grocery store, and it got me all excited scoping out Thanksgiving turkeys. I'm terribly excited about Thanksgiving this year, it's one of my favorite holidays. Definitely my favorite of the secular holidays. It was so nice being in the store during a weekday morning. So much less crowded and so much more pleasant. And Hank was an excellent boy. As he lounged in the cart, munching on a slice of bologna that he charmed out of the lady slicing our deli meats, I thought ahead to my maternity leave late next spring. My maternity leave with Hank was a bit dicey. You see, I cried, well, ALL THE TIME. In retrospect, I'm pretty certain I had a fairly substantial case of postpartum depression, but I was simply unprepared and didn't know what to do about it. It was a difficult thing, and sometime during my pregnancy I'll devote a whole post to it. It's a very important issue, and the only way to help women is to talk about this and increase awareness. So, that's coming, but in the mean time, I'm trying to prepare for a mentally healthier time for myself after this baby is born. This time, I feel hopeful that my preparation will serve us well.

Anyway, we loaded up on food for the week, and after stashing everything in the refrigerator, we headed out to the local Christian goods store. Hank had never been there before, and he was enthralled. He was very good, but as you parents might have already discerned, him being enthralled means me not being able to focus on anything else for longer than a 10 second interval:

CL stops to look at gift Bible selection.

Hank darts off.

"Mommy, look at this ornament! It has baby Jesus on it!" (from 2 aisles away)

"Ok Honey, but remember, look but don't touch."

"It has a jingle bell, Mommy!"

*jingling, followed by a small crash*

A little bit stressful. But I managed to pick up a few gifts, AND, *drum roll*

A beautiful new Advent wreath. :) It looks very much like this one:
What I like about it is that it's very traditional, and what I've always wanted. Pine cones, greenery, purple ribbons. Mine has a bit of glitter on it, including some glittery gold balls. The clincher was that this model has little spikes in the candle holders, to secure the tapers. This is my main problem with the wreath that I currently have, my fear that they will tip when lit. It was only $24, and every year that I put out my old one I long anew for a wreath such as this. I figured I deserved one. :) So I scooped it, and soon it will adorn the center spot on our dining room buffet. *proud*

Hank especially liked the Advent section. We spent about 20 minutes in there poring over various details. Well, Henry pored and I supervised. I really, REALLY enjoyed it.

Then I lured him over to the childrens book section, because I wanted to get him a new Bible. I've mentioned before that Hank loves his original Bible, this one:

We read through it about 3 full times, and it's all beat up and tattered. I felt that he was outgrowing it a bit, so I replaced it with another one that I chose. Big fat failure. For whatever reason, Hank just did not dig this Bible. Illustrations are big with him. They have to capture his imagination. And the stories can't be too lengthy; it simply won't hold his attention. This new Bible just did not have the mojo that he needed to keep up our nightly Bible reading habit. So, at the store, I encouraged Hank to pick out a Bible that he did like, and that we could start reading again before bedtime. He chose this one:

I would rather that he picked a Catholic childrens Bible, but no biggie. I have to say, this one has GORGEOUS illustrations. The scenes depicting the first Christmas took my breath away. And it is in fact slightly larger than his old Bible, thus including some stories that he hasn't heard yet. That was my goal in the upgrade, so I was happy. It was also very reasonably priced, about $14 for a hardback. Last night we read about Gideon, new stuff for Hank. I'm very glad that we're picking up this tradition again.

Finally, I spied a book that I simply couldn't resist, and have been dying to blog about. It's called Angel in the Waters and is published by Sophia Institute Press.

This is a story of an unborn baby, adjusting to life in his mother's womb, and being comforted by his guardian angel. He grows and grows, enjoying his aquatic existence, until he becomes so big that he can't swim anymore. He knows something is changing, and his angel assures him that there is a larger world out there that he will be entering soon, but everything will be ok. The parts with the baby being upset at his water leaving and frightened by the sudden sensations made me cry.

When he is born, he's very disoriented, and can't find his angel. At this point of the reading, Hank, who despite initial protestations at wanting to read something of his own choosing, was listening with rapt attention and wide eyes, and declared:

"MOMMY, WHERE IS HIS ANGEL?!"

We read on to find that the baby indeed sees his angel again, but also comes to be comforted by his mother and father. The angel tells the baby that even when he can't hear or see him, he'll always be there. When we got to the part about the angel telling the baby that there is even a larger world than this one out there, and that one day, he'll lead him there too, I couldn't help it. I simply burst into tears.

This is a wonderful book. At $6.95 it was a few dollars more than I wanted to spend on a childrens book, but it is WELL worth it. This is an easy and enjoyable read (for parents too!) but it is not a quickie read. You know, those hardcover books for kids nowadays that you can spend $12.99 on and it turns out to be about 5 pages total, all of which are fluff. This is a substantial read, and there is a good amount of sound content. The illustrations of the baby growing are too freaking precious for words.

For anyone with a baby on the way, or just looking to share a pro-life message with children, this is an outstanding resource. Definitely check it out.

Daily Bible reading revisited...

A few months ago, I wrote about trying to re-form my habit of daily Bible reading. Someone suggested a one year Bible, which I granted was a good idea, but I thought that I would slack off with that too.

Well. Last week, while I was teaching at Vacation Bible School, I was re-inspired to give daily Bible devotions another go. I needed the spiritual fortitude, believe me :) My sister had also mentioned recently that she had picked up a daily Catholic Bible, in the Good News translation, and that she'd been using it and enjoying it.

I perused my book shelves (how I long for my own personal library to keep my beloved books in) and pulled off the daily Bible that I'd bought when Hank was a baby. This particular copy is entitled My Daily Catholic Bible. This is the Revised Standard Version, Catholic edition, and the translation is quite beautiful. For each day, there is an Old Testament selection, and a shorter one from the New Testament. I gave it a whirl.

One week in, and so far it's working :) I've been reading it before I go to sleep, and I'm definitely enjoying it. I'm hoping that I'll persist. I've tried it out before, as evidenced by the highlighting I keep coming across, but I don't think I kept it up past a few months or so. We'll see how I do this time. But I do recommend this particular version. It's nicely done.

Right now, I'm mired in Proverbs and the Gospel of John. Good stuff.

Steadfast in faith

Today started off a bit like yesterday - I was having a hard time physically shaking the emotional black cloud that seems to be perched stubbornly over my head. But when Hank hustled upstairs to tell me that he found a small package waiting for me inside our front door that we hadn't seen when retrieving the mail yesterday, I perked. My Garlands of Grace headcoverings!

*sigh* The silver headband was cute as a button, and I popped it right on my head. The black and white scarf, on the other hand, didn't make it. Accidentally, I had been sent a plain white cotton covering, in the long length style. I emailed them right away, and I'm sure they'll take care of swapping it for me, but it was a bit of an omen of the topsy turvy day to come. In preparation, I kept the silver headband on. It soothed me.

I got to the breakfast table, and Mike reluctantly handed me the front section of the paper. Our state legislature passed the proposal forcing us to be furloughed one day per week, beginning next week. I suppose this isn't a surprise, but it hit me hard nonetheless. There are many things I could say about how I feel about all of this, but I won't say them, because frankly, they aren't helpful for me to dwell on. I just have to remain strong and trust that the Lord will see us through this.

I started my rosary on the way into work, and have kept it by my side, another soothing element. When I arrived at work, I found a panic stricken student outside the closed library. She had an exam inside a library room and wanted to get in to get herself situated. We let her in, and the circulation coordinator let us know that there would be a fire drill in 15 minutes. *another sigh* This did nothing to soothe the poor, frantic law student who had an exam beginning at that exact same time. I sent many sympathy vibes her way as we all shivered outside during the fire drill. There's a cold spell here this week.

I just opened my purse-sized New Testament.

Philippians 2: 27-30

Only conduct yourselves in a way worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or an absent, I may hear news of you, that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind struggling together for the faith of the gospel, not intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is proof to them of destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing. For to you has been granted, for the sake of Christ, not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him...

It made me feel a little bit better.

A weekend of faith, fun, and crafts

Thank God, today is Friday. Every day at work for the entire semester has been so intense, particularly the past few weeks. Luckily, exams are here, and things seem to be winding down. I'm looking forward to working on some writing this summer.

This morning, Mike had an exam at 8 am, so things were pretty hectic for me since I was getting myself and Henry ready solo. Hank insisted that he wanted to get dressed himself (I was pretty skeptical) and I was amazed when he came down with (a) clothes that matched, and (b) clothes actually *on* his body. Luckily, I thought to check that he had underwear on (yep), and that his pants were on facing the right way (nope) before heading out to pre-k.

When I finally had everything ready, and was ready to go, naturally, Hank had made a beeline for his toy room. I approached the room to the sounds of a Rescue Heroes alert:

"Attention Rescue Heroes! A tornado is approaching! Everyone, take cover!"

And with that emphatic declaration, the Rescue Heroes song kicks on with much inspiration. I walk in to discover Hank dancing dramatically around the room. It was so funny, I didn't mind the fact that I could have been halfway to work if I only had myself to get ready. Ah, the life of a parent. It's a joy, so we keep signing up.

I've been working away on my summer table set, and I'll post pictures when it's done. So far, I've crocheted a table runner and 2 place mats. They all incorporate in summery yellows, pinks and greens. I have 2 place mats to go, and then they all need to be blocked so that they'll lay flatter. I'm enjoying my new seasonal table set habit. I hope to have the summer set done by Pentecost. Liturgically, it's still Easter, so that's what I tell everybody when they wonder why I still have pastel Easter eggs and coordinating colors out on my table. So there :)

I'm all inspired by my desire to start back up an official evening devotion time, per yesterday's post. Poor Hank went to bed sobbing last night, because he wanted to do our prayers first, and we hadn't done them yet. Sweet little procrastinator. He was SO overtired, and he's suffering from seasonal allergies, so he just needed immediate rest. But I like that he treasures our usual night routine so much. Tonight, I'll make sure we get it in before he gets too rundown.

At any rate, I may stop by our local Christian bookstore on my way home today, see if any inexpensive Catholic Bible study catches my eye. As for the Catechism, I think I'm going to try out using it as spiritual reading in the evenings in the form of a reference tool. Each night, I can think of a topic that is on my mind, or page through the index for inspiration, and then read the section(s) dealing with that topic. I'll let you know how it goes :)

This weekend, I'm planning on doing some gardening, crocheting, playing with Hank, and having my parents over for dinner. It'll be fabulous to have a break from work.

Evening devotion time...

Lately, I've gotten out of the habit of my evening Bible reading time, and have been trying to jump start back in. What I find, is that I'll read a chapter for a few days, and then for a few days I'll forget or it'll take longer to get Henry to go to bed, and then I don't have the energy. But the evening just seems like the best time to do it, to me. It's when I'm most relaxed.

I also have a nice copy of the Catechism that I enjoy pulling out to look things up. And I'd like to read through the whole thing. Problem is, as soon as I start reading from cover to cover, I give up before we even get past the reason for our belief in God. Maybe I should see it more as a reference work? But I feel like, as a Catholic, it's my duty to read the Catechism. We have a nice, bound book with all the details of our faith and why we believe in them. How can I not read that?

I have the attention span of a 2 year old. That's part of the problem right there. I've bought booklets with reading suggestions so that I could read through the whole Bible in a year, just picked a book of the Bible and the Catechism and just tried to read a section per night, I've tried all kinds of things. What works for you? I need suggestions. Comments, please :)

Trying to tone up, both physically and spiritually...

So, with the arrival of spring, I've been thinking more about getting into better shape. I still have the perpetual 8-10 lbs I'd like to lose to get to my ideal weight. But more importantly, I do want to just generally improve my physical fitness. I eat pretty well, and I'm fairly active, but I've slacked off really exercising in depth. I walk and dance weekly, but runs have been pretty sparse in recent months, and strength training downright unheard of. I feel a bit out of shape, and I'd like to remedy that, and drop a few unwanted pounds in the process.

So, now what? Sigh. I work full-time outside the home plus I have a small child, so time is at a premium. I'm not a gym person (don't have the money, or the inclination). I've been trying to renew my power walking at work during my lunch hour, which is when it's easiest for me to exercise. I also dragged my hand weights back out in the hopes of getting that in 2-3 times per week at home. I'm going to try that tonight, with Hank. We'll see how that goes. I hope we don't break anything.

I'm going to try and report in weekly on my progress, perhaps this will motivate me. I won't be saying what I actually weigh, not that it's atrocious or anything, I'm just way too vain for that. I can admit that openly :) All I'll say is that I have an average build and I've never been a size 0, nor will I ever see two 1's put together in my weight ever in my life. And I never will. I think my *bones* weigh more than that. We'll use my secret weight from yesterday as my starting point. *makes mental note* As of this morning, I've lost 2 ounces. Ugh. We'll get there. By the end of the summer I'd like to be at my ideal weight. I think that's reasonable. It's about 8 lbs. away.

In terms of spirituality, I've been trying to pray more. God is always in my thoughts, but I wasn't actively praying as much as I should. I've renewed my efforts in my morning offering, my daily rosary (at least 2 decades), spontaneous prayer throughout the day, and evening devotional time with my Bible.

I've been wanting a small purse-sized New Testament so that I could have that for anytime I wanted or needed the scriptures. Yesterday, on my way home from work I stopped off at the local Christian bookstore to peruse. They had lots of small New Testaments, but only 1 of the Catholic variety, the St. Joseph New American Bible, Vest Pocket Edition. It was exactly what I wanted, though a few dollars more than I'd planned on spending. It has a leather cover, instead of the paperback I was expecting. I ended up getting it, figuring the sturdier cover was better for getting stuffed in my purse anyway, and it's working out well. I already used it this morning when I arrived at work.

In other devotional news, my fellow (and favorite!) Catholic blogger Cam is having a rosary giveaway in honor of her new etsy store over at her blog. Enter A Woman's Place... rosary giveaway by leaving a comment, and/or check out her etsy store, Full of Grace Creations! She has some beautiful rosaries and rosary bracelets for sale.

Passing on the faith...

Well, I made it through the 5 classes that I had this week. I'm exhausted, but no rest for the weary. I have 2 more next week that I need to plan for, plus I need to get my Catholic behind in gear and finish the book chapter that I have due the second week of November. I'll get there.

Yesterday, while taking my dinner break before my evening reference shift, I was browsing on Amazon and thinking about a topic that has been on my mind lately. That is, passing on my Catholic faith to Henry. I take this very seriously.

Certainly, when he's adult he has to make the faith his own; my prayer is that he does this. There's always the possibility that he will choose to do something else, and when he's adult, I can do nothing but pray for him. But while he's a child, I believe that it is my job to raise him in the faith and show him the beauty of its traditions. In fact, I took a vow to do this during my and Mike's Nuptial Mass. I hope, as all Catholic parents do, I'm sure, that the things that I do now will have a positive impact and cause him to study the faith on his own as an adult and choose to live it out and pass it on to his own children.

A complication in all of this is that my husband is not a practicing Catholic, and I feel a heavy responsibility to be the prime Catholic example for Henry. Mike was raised Catholic (his mother is a weekly Mass-goer; I believe that her prayers and mine were what brought Mike and I together :), has an appreciation for the faith, and is 100% supportive of Henry being raised Catholic. I pray daily for his return to faith; please join me :)

So anyway, I was pondering all of this and thinking about the things I've done so far. Henry is 3, about to be 4 next month. (my baby!) And given his age, I think my efforts have been pretty good with introducing him to the faith. Together, Henry and I:

(1) Attend Mass weekly. There have been short stretches when I didn't take him with me because it was just too hard to keep him quiet for an hour; par for the course with young children. But really, for most of his life, he has come to church weekly. He loves the holy water font, knows how to haphazardly cross himself, puts our envelope in the collection basket, and enjoys walking up in the communion line with me. He also enjoys lighting candles with me in church and receiving an individual blessing from the priest.

(2) Pray the traditional Catholic prayers. He knows the Hail Mary pretty much cold. We're working on the Our Father and the Glory Be. We always pray for daddy when he has a test to take at school, and after communion at Mass we pray for a bunch of people.

(3) Read a children's Bible. Henry received a copy of The Beginner's Bible as a gift, and we read a few stories from it each night before he goes to bed. He loves it, and retains the information to an unbelievable level. He breaks into discussions of poor water-logged Jonah and Daniel with those pesky lions in everyday conversation. And he actually pointed out the Stations of the Cross to me in church the other week and noted how it showed the story of Jesus carrying the cross from his little Bible.

(4) Read Catholic children's books. I got him the St. Joseph's 'Carry-Me-Along' Board Books collection a few years ago, and he still loves them. His favorite is We Go to Mass.

(5) Practice Advent traditions. Last year, I got him an Advent calendar filled with chocolate, and as you can imagine, it was a huge hit. I could barely get in the door from work and he'd be begging to open the little window of the day. I have another for him this year, but I also received a traditional Advent calendar as a gift last year that we can use come December 1st. It's a beautiful wood one, and each day you take out a tiny piece of the nativity scene that you hook on. We can do that together. I also purchased an Advent wreath last year and we lit the appropriate candle(s) each Sunday after dinner.

Ok, so, this is all good. But I would like to incorporate things a bit more into a daily routine, along with the nightly Bible reading. Lots of thoughts pop into my mind - prayers each night? It's tough because Mike is usually the one that takes Henry up to bed. But I put him to bed 2 nights per week while Mike is in class, so I could at least do it then. Grace before meals? We never did that in my house growing up, so even I have not been able to develop this habit.

The rosary is something that I'd really like to develop a daily practice with. Henry knows about the rosary; he's had 2, and broken them both. Now that he's a bit older, I think maybe I should try having us say a decade together each day. And this time, I'm eyeing up a rosary specifically for children, like this one. Super duper extra strength cord.

In my Amazon browsing, I found a book entitled The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Everyday. I'm intrigued. The public library has it, so I'll be hitting that on my way home. Has anybody found this book helpful? Any suggestions for other ways to have a Catholic home? My younger sister recently starting teaching CCD for her parish in North Carolina, and her lessons have been so creative and interesting that it's inspired me to want to take a more proactive approach to my Catholic mothering.

When I was growing up we really didn't do anything special to keep a Catholic home. I'll have to blog about my faith 'reversion,' if you will, in a future post. But suffice it to say that my sisters and I attended Mass twice a year on Christmas and Easter and went to CCD classes because my mom made us. The faith wasn't meaningful to any of us at that time. When I was in high school, my mom came into a deeper union with God and her faith, and my dad converted to become Catholic. We started going to Mass weekly, and then my own faith deepened. So I don't have a real grasp of what things would make a young child appreciate the faith

Thoughts? Suggestions? Please post a comment :)

Mary: One With Us

"Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister..."

Today is the feast of our Lady of Sorrows, and the entry in my Living Faith booklet discusses Mary's suffering. I've always admired Mary, the mother of our Lord, but I find that I identify even more with her now that I'm also a mother. It's no easy thing, being a mother. It's a combination of extreme highs and lows, and requires a staggering amount of self-sacrifice. Whenever I pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, I dwell on this theme: The annunciation to Mary that she would be the mother of God's son, as a young, unmarried woman; her visitation to her cousin Elizabeth during their mutual pregnancies (need that female support time); Jesus' birth; his dedication in the Temple; and then his being lost and found amongst the teachers in the Temple. That one always gets me - how can he not know what he put his mother through?!

Last night, providentially enough, Henry and I picked up his little children's Bible and opened to our bookmark. We were at the Last Supper. We've been reading the stories all the way from the Creation, and I've been dreading this point since then. This Bible doesn't dwell on the Crucifixtion, but obviously, it's covered. It's a pretty important detail. But we haven't talked to Henry much yet about death, and I wasn't sure how I was going to explain everything.

As would be expected, I was peppered with questions throughout:

"Mommy, who's that? Judas? Why does he have that beard? What is he doing? He's bad? How come he's bad? Why is he talking to those bad men? How come he's doing that? Where's Peter, Mommy? Where is his bread? Oh, look at that cross, Mommy! Like at chooch. Where is he taking it? Why is he doing that? Is that Mary? What's she doing? How come she's hugging the cross? Why is Jesus on that cross?

Henry was particularly interested in the picture of Mary standing in front of the cross, with the bottom of the cross, Jesus' legs included, visible behind her. He was demanding to know what everybody was doing, and I did my best to explain it to him.

Precious little angel. Someday he's going to grow up and make his own choices, and sometimes they're going to be painful ones. And I'm going to have to live with the results. It won't be easy, but it's part of my vocation as his mother.

Night life of a pre-schooler

Henry and I are progressing slowly but surely through the Old Testament in his little children's Bible. Last night we read about the Tower of Babel. It's all very cute. He's still a huge fan of Jonah (as well as Goliath; ah, well) and we have to read about those guys every night.

"Mommy. I want to see the fish. Why is he in there? What's that mommy? How did he get in there?!"

But I'm enjoying this particular children's Bible, because it's larger in size than the other board book Bibles that Hank has accumulated (there is more to the Bible than Adam and Eve, Daniel in the Lion's Den, Jesus being born, and Jesus greeting the children, which is all one of the editions that we have includes), but the stories are short enough so that he won't lose interest. Three year olds have an attention span of approximately 10 seconds. All in all, the Bible is very well done. Mike notes that children's Bibles seem to make God very petty: "I really don't think God got angry because this one guy was being a bit cavalier, which is how the story makes it sound..." but that's hard to avoid with these sorts of things. Hank is excited about reading the Bible, which is making me really happy. He also has a bedroom freshly painted 'surf green' at this request, with a little cross above his adorable toddler bed. Precious little soul.

Our beautiful son. Who has somehow incorporated the word "awesome" into his vocabulary. As in, "Iron Man. Awesome!" And who has demonstrated to me that certain things are ingrained into all of us from birth.

"Hank honey, have you been going potty at school?"

"Yes mommy. I goed all by myself"

"Have you pooed at school, sweetie?"

"Oh no, mommy, I couldn't possibly do that. No poo. Oh no, not at school. Just pee pee."

Apparently some things are just common human desires, regardless of age.

My little Bible Scholar

My grandmother passed away this morning. We spent some wonderful quality time with her this weekend, visiting her at the hospice facility. Rest in peace, nana. We love you.

Last night, Henry was being an especially good boy. I asked him what story he wanted to read before heading up to bed, and he duitifully went off and brought back his little book of children's Bible stories. Isn't he so precious?

So, we settle in for his top 2 requests: Jonah and the whale, and David and Goliath. We read both of those. I suggest that we start from the beginning and read a few of the stories each night, before bed. He readily agrees. We begin with the creation story. He liked seeing how God created "earf" and when all the animals starting coming into the pictures. Then we moved on to Adam and Eve, which we've never read together before. This particular children's Bible called the story "The Sneaky Snake." "The Sneakty Snakey?!" Henry was downright doe-eyed. We read through the goings on with Adam and Eve, Henry rapt with fascination. When I finished, he repeated the mantra that parents of toddlers are so very used to:

"Mommy, I like that one. Let's read it again!"

It was very, very cute. He's my precious little angel.

New Bible :)

I always love the joy of researching how I'm going to use my Christmas gift cards. And there is no gift card that I adore more than one to my favorite online shopping destination, amazon.com. I've been wanting a nice Bible for a long time, one that is attractive but small enough for travel and personal devotions. I also wanted a "study" format with notes of some kind, in a Catholic translation. I read the scriptures often via Mass readings and in the Liturgy of the Hours (I'll post about that separately one of these days), but I've never kept up a daily devotion of reading the Bible chronologically each day.

So, with my amazon booty this year, I thought ahead to Lent and the new devotions I'd like to start in the hopes of fostering a new habit that I keep up, and I researched Bibles. As quickly becomes the case with any online research I do, I became absorbed and wiled away hours and hours doing this, and I loved every minute of it :) I looked into the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, translated by some highly regarded Catholic apologists and published by the orthodox Ignatius Press. Impressive, definitely, but I have to admit it's a bit too "scholarly" even for the Catholic Librarian. I also couldn't find one in the format I'd like, aesthetics-wise. I have paperback Bibles (they rip) and plain hardback (binding broken). I wanted something a bit sturdier. I'm hard on books :)

My interest was piqued by the New American Bible, frequently used at Mass. I had a paperback of this translation in the past, and it was always my favorite. It disintegrated rather quickly, but I used it in a Bible study that I belonged to in law school, and I really liked it. It has extensive footnotes included throughout the text, and the translation is more aimed at regular people, if you know what I mean, but not as loosey goosey (not a bad thing at all, it's just a difference) as the Good News Bible or The Message. I own a copy of the New Testament edition of The Message and really like it, that's just a completely different entity. Check it out at amazon, it's the Bible translated sort of like a novel. It's cool.

Anyway, I viewed numerous adorable New American Bibles. Different colors, cute zip-up cases, one with a magnetic close. This was more of what I was looking for. I finally settled upon a New American Bible published by Fireside, a well-regarded publisher of Catholic Bibles, called the Catholic Companion edition. Couldn't you just die with how cute that name is? It has a soft, faux leather cover, and is embossed with a crucifix on the front, and a full rosary on the back:


I received it this week, and it's *beautiful*. I chose the burgundy, pictured above, but they also make it with a black cover/tan back, and ivory cover/pink back, and these have a one decade rosary on the back. They are all really, really pretty. You can see them here. They have a full dictionary at the back (the librarian in me really digs this sort of built-in reference material) with all kinds of cool entries, like "Patron Saints" with a full listing of key saints (I found that St. Ferdinand III is the patron of engineers, at Mike's request, just from this list), and "Eastern Catholic Churches" with a full description of each. They also include maps, a listing of all popes with years of reign, and a beautiful silk ribbon to keep your place. I love mine, and I've been a good Bible reader and have read a chapter each evening. I'm starting in the New Testament (I get very bogged down in the Old Testament right around Leviticus) and so far, I'm loving the footnotes and the format. It only takes a little bit to make the Catholic Librarian very, very happy.