Every Sunday, our family offers your prayer intentions during our family Rosary. I can't say that it is always (or ever) an evening of quiet, meditative prayer with our young children, but I can say that we lift up your prayers with sincere hearts.
It has been humbling to unite with you in prayer, to see how God is working in your lives.
Please let us know how we can continue to pray for you during our rosaries and through your week.
It's Superbowl weekend. I almost forgot. To me, it is Mary's Mantle Adoration Kickoff weekend. We are so humbled to be able to move to a new, stunningly beautiful location this spring, and are kicking it off with perpetual adoration from February 1 - 4. If you are local and want to know more, email me or leave a comment, and I will hook you up with the details.
I may or may not have broken a frame whilst hanging up the photo wall of babies who have been born in residence.
As for the Superbowl, I've got no skin in the game. I mean, I grew up in Iowa and now live in Detroit - I will likely NEVER have skin in the game. A friend from high school is a big shot over at Budweiser in PR & Marketing, though, so she's got skin in the game...the commercial game. I think they're aiming for a tearjerker again this year!
Last Superbowl related take, promise. My cousin-in-law posted this earlier on Facebook, and it always brings to mind the utter disparity that exists. Cheering, money-throwing, rowdy fans versus those with nowhere to lay their heads...or in this case, very limited means to feed their family.
I witnessed a man get arrested for shoplifting a gallon of milk and a bag of bread this morning while making my morning run for Starbucks.As he was being led away from his car, that was missing the back window, he pleaded with the security guard to allow him to get his young son out of the car. The guard allowed him to get his child. I offered to pay for the bread and milk but it was against store policy. I get that the man was wrong and should have sought help but how desperate he must have felt to steal milk and bread from the local grocery store. With the Superbowl and Phoenix Open in town and the great wealth associated with the two events, I paused, and hope you also pause and remember all those who lack the basic necessities of life. Pay it forward today.
He admits, as do I, that there are places this man could go for help. That doesn't negate the fact that he needs help to feed his family. I do so wish stores wouldn't have such black and white policies on generosity in the face of bad decisions. The man wasn't lifting an Xbox - he needed a breadbox. Why not let my cousin pick up the tab and let the man be on his way with a warning instead wasting time, money, and energy prosecuting him? Jail won't fix his problem. Generosity may have. I won't even get started on the whole shipping out the homeless when the Superbowl is in town rant... You can thank me later.
There is a new feature up now at The Pitter Patter Diaries. Sunday is our family rosary night. Every week for the past year, we have been offering our rosary for prayer requests that you have sent us via Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Now, there is a spot on the right sidebar where you can submit your prayer requests at any time. We will, of course, offer prayer immediately, but these requests will then also be offered during our Sunday Family Rosary. I've written before that I started soliciting prayer requests on Facebook as a whim. It is so humbling to see how this has become a family ministry of intercessory prayer, and the truly intimate prayers that people have entrusted to us. It is equally humbling to watch how the Lord answers in His own way and His own time. The lesson here is truly that the Lord uses us as He chooses, not how we always dream to be used, and not always in ways we feel well equipped to be used. I suppose that is where His glory shines brightest, isn't it?
I posted this mug on Instagram for Blessed Is She's #ProjectBlessed yesterday and got a phenomenal response. It is now sold, but I think this quote will become a standard store item!
I saw this on Facebook today, and while I too love my mug design, this wins all the mugs. Do you think this fits the "bringing light to the darkness" mission for my store? Laughter is light, right? I'm thinking this might have to hit the virtual shelf in the shop soon as well.
February is right around the corner! It's love month...and also the start of the Lenten season. I think perhaps this year there will be a little L&L (Love & Lent) going on around here in very strange ways as I continue my Project Empty. In the Love Department, look for musings on how we can grow in love and do it better over the next several weeks...and maybe a little giveaway from the Etsy shop.
As for Lent, I am all ears for ideas to fast, pray, and give. Currently, I am thinking of adopting the Whole 30 for Lent and turning it into a Whole 40. There will be more on that if the Hubs agrees (because I cannot do a food journey alone) in a new Project Empty post next week. I think Lent will be about simplifying and going a little gangbusters with Project Empty around here. More of Him, less of me...and my stuff! Have you thought about how you're going to fast, pray, and give this Lent? I'd love to hear what you're thinking!
There are many reasons to like and/or dislike social media. Many treatises have been written on both the power of Facebook and its perils. This will be none of those things. I simply share with you how the Holy Spirit worked in our family through the use of social media. It is possible, which is why I'm a fan.
Image by Owen Brown from flickr.com
If you follow The Pitter Patter Diaries on Facebook or Twitter (or me on Instagram), you may have noticed that we have started a new tradition of intercessory prayer during our family rosary on Sundays. It all began rather small.
We had discerned a need to pray more intentionally together as a family, so last year at some point, the Hubs designated Sunday evenings as family rosary time. Li'l G gets into praying with us, though in tried and true toddler form, she would like to "do it myself!" So we whisper and she prays...until she gets distracted, also in true toddler fashion. Sometimes, she likes to sing the prayers. We roll with it.
On a whim one Sunday, I happened to post on Facebook and let people know they could leave prayer requests in the comments or message me. We had the fascinating phenomenon at first of people simply "liking" my status, which left us scratching our heads. Do they want prayer, or are they just giving us a thumbs up for praying? At first we went with the latter.* We have also had our stragglers, asking for prayer a few hours after we had concluded the Rosary. God isn't bound by time, though, so we always go ahead and add intentions through the night.
Over time, I have been astounded at the prayer requests that have come our way, both in need and in thanksgiving. More recently, I have had many private messages with quite serious requests for prayer, so much so that I've had to wonder if I wasn't maybe parading around as a bit of a fraud. I'm not really sure my prayers are all that powerful, or that I am quite so devoted as I should be to constant prayer. God uses the weak, though, so in that I am certain that he hears these prayers.
We have had prayers from people suffering abuse. We have seen prayers from people with cancer and those with family members suffering from debilitating diseases. We have seen prayers from people with troubled marriages and heartbreak in pregnancy. It is mindblowing to see the prayers people entrust to us as intercessors. Recently, these prayer requests are coming to me mid-week from childhood friends, school friends, obscure relations and acquaintances...all because they have noticed us weekly asking to pray for others. Mindblowing...and a little daunting.
Because the needs of those asking our prayers are not limited to a short rosary on Sunday, this last weekend we began the Casa McCormick Prayer Book. All prayer requests coming our way through the week and on Sundays are now kept in this book so we can remember them as we begin our nightly prayer practice at dinner. Inspired by the Whitakers, the thought was that we would keep the cards we have received at Christmas and other announcements in a basket at the dinner table, and each night we would select one card and pray for the sender and their family. Now with all the requests that have been coming in, we are adding this prayer book to the nightly routine. All the intentions are offered up to Jesus nightly as we pray after dinner and break open the Word from the day.
As I mentioned, I am not the most disciplined in prayer, so there will undoubtedly be nights where things are hectic and we forget...like Wednesdays when dinner is rushed so the Hubs can get out the door to teach a night class. This is what I love about the book - I can simply offer up all the intentions as I pray at night even if we miss our dinner prayer.
To think - we would never have been entrusted with these prayers if I hadn't decided on a whim to hop on Facebook before our Rosary one Sunday last year. When we crack open the door (or status updates), it is unbelievable how God uses that for His glory. I sincerely hope that all those who have asked our prayers have felt the peace of the Lord in their soul. We hope that if prayers are answered, they will let us know so we might offer up a prayer of thanksgiving and see the hand of God at work.
Next up on the intercessory prayer agenda: placing all the names of those asking for healing on the tomb of the Venerable Solanus Casey. I may need to ask Sally's help in this one since I can't make it down to the center every week.
Pray on, my brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray on...
*Also, now if you like our status update asking for prayer or a photo on Instagram, we pray for you and your family and add you to our prayer book for continued prayer. Seemed better than basking in the kudos while we prayed for others.
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As we are on the tail end of Casa colds, the Hubs and I split Mass again this morning and the kids stayed in their pajamas. I could insert a photo of what they wore today, but I'm guessing that's not quite what the ladies at Fine Linen and Purple had in mind. As for me, well I dressed down with jeans and a sweater this week again...a very light sweater since it is almost 60 degrees. No picture given the rain and all, so I will refrain from breaking the rules and linking up sans photo...
Two things from Mass stuck with me through this day. The first was from the homily. Father pointed out that our lives are filled with challenges no matter how holy we are, but most of those challenges arise when we stray from God's will or His way. Frustration arises out of a growing gap between how God would have us act and how we wish to act (or have another act). We can only control our own behavior, so the more we stay centered on what the Lord wants, though challenges may still face us, the more peaceful our hearts will be.
The second thing was a quote from St. Bonaventure a seminarian shared as he was speaking after Mass. "If we have everything and do not have Christ, we have nothing. If we have nothing, but have Christ, we have everything."
Sunday is family prayer day. While every evening we make an effort to pray together, Sundays we pray the Rosary together as a family. Li'l G knows almost all the prayers (the Fatima prayer still escapes her), so she likes to pray along, which we encourage. Tonight she was a little on the vocal side that she wanted to say the prayers by herself. We also say the Hail Mary with her at bedtime and then bless her. So for the first few times, when she said the Hail Mary, she ended with "Amen and God bless you," and then air-blessed us from her chair.
Before we started the Rosary this evening, I decided to put a note on Facebook and Twitter asking for prayers. I had put something on Twitter last week, but got no responses. We got many requests for prayer tonight, so we will be making this a new family prayer tradition (unless my mind fails me and I forget...). Every Sunday, a half hour before our family Rosary, we'll be sending out a call for prayer requests, so if you follow the 'Diaries on Twitter or Facebook, look for it!
That's it for now. Back to preparing the Scripture readings for our Advent calendar. Can you believe it is only a couple weeks away?
UPDATE: OH! How could I forget?? We also watch the Father Brown Mysteries on PBS (originally on BBC), and for weeks have been nagged by the feeling we had seen the actor who plays Father Brown on something before. The Hubs finally figured out tonight that it is Mr. Weasley! I can't believe I didn't figure that one out right away!
Here's a glimpse into a few things I'm enjoying this week:
1)Vintage/Retro fashions: I've been struggling with my post-mom figure as many of us do. Combine that frustration with the modern day cuts and styling, and my prudish sensibilities along with curve discomfort have been at an all time high - I can rarely come home from a shopping trip with things I really like. Recently, I made a commitment to try to "thrift before new retail" for my wardrobe. This weekend, I hit the jackpot! (Look for another Nifty Thrifty post this weekend!) It's not all retro/vintage, but the pieces I picked up that were fit me to a tee and make me feel beautiful and confident. I figured it out - I just don't fit in today's sizing and styling. Dear current fashion world, it's not me, it's you. You suck so I'm going to search out your older and wiser forerunners. Sincerely, me.
2)Lip Gloss: What are two beauty items my mom never leaves home without? Powder and lipstick, neither of which I use on any regular basis. Let's be honest - with two littles, we are lucky if I remember to wash my face if we aren't going somewhere! While that may not be entirely true, the old makeup regime is just now making a comeback, and the lips are generally ignored as I run out the door. Enter lip gloss. Love. My friend bought me one with a little shimmer a few years back as a joke (we had a funny conversation about the fate of children named Shimmer and Sparkle that was less than gracious so it will not be detailed here), but I loved it. So when I saw a similar tube at Payless of all places, I picked it up with high hopes. It did not disappoint, except in failing to have a built in locator as it is always hiding. It's sheer enough that I don't feel too painted, but adds just enough color that it makes me look and feel a little more lively. Sadly, the Hubs is not a fan of lip gloss smooches, though generally that presents itself as a challenge. Challenge accepted....
3) Dove Beauty Experiment: We always talk about how we are our worst enemies when it comes to body image. This video from Dove highlighting a "sketchy" experiment allows us to concretely visualize how true that is.
4) Rosary App: While there is no substitute for the full sensory experience of praying the rosary with beads in hand, I always seem to need something to keep me focused and on count. I recently came across an app for that. There are certainly many rosary apps to choose from, but I love this one created by Valent Richie. You can read an interview the Hubbers recently conducted with him on his blog, Catholic Bibles, to find out more.
5) Pajamas: Let's just say it has been a long while since mama has had some real pajamas. Since the birth of Li'l G, I've basically paired whatever pair of knit or flannel pants were close with a t-shirt that would eventually end up dirty anyway. Enter March 2013 and new, real pajamas. Now we're not talking anything fancy or lacy or racy, because let's be real - I still have mom duties in the wee hours and I'm definitely all about comfort these days anyway. They are, however, matching capris and t-shirt, with cute grey, yellow, and white flowers/polka dots. I hear grey and yellow is all the rage - look at me being all fashion current! Anyway, love the pajamas - they actually make me feel human and not like a slovenly monster that mopes around the house running after little people.
To see what other superfragilistic favorites people are talking about this week, visit Hallie at Moxie Wife! Be sure to tell her how beautiful Charlie is!
4) Rosary App: While there is no substitute for the full sensory experience of praying the rosary with beads in hand, I always seem to need something to keep me focused and on count. I recently came across an app for that. There are certainly many rosary apps to choose from, but I love this one created by Valent Richie. You can read an interview the Hubbers recently conducted with him on his blog, Catholic Bibles, to find out more.
