Seasons

In almost every preschool and kindergarten curriculum we find an emphasis on the seasons of the year. Spring, summer, winter, and fall influence décor, songs, art and science projects, and even television programming for the younger set. This is why we take such pains to emphasize the Liturgical seasons of our Church at Making Music Praying Twice. Everything from song selections to the color of our book and CD covers are influenced by Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Easter and Pentecost.

Lent and the Little Things

I’ve had some pretty stellar mom years, if I do say so myself. There were years when most of my time and energy could be spent focusing on the Liturgical Seasons, including Lent. We’ve made special table center pieces, baked homemade pretzels each week, said special Lenten family prayers, attended daily Mass and added Scripture reading. One year we made meatless dinners based on peasant food around the world while saving money for the missions. Another year, we ate only pre-prepared casseroles that I made prior to Lent.

Pleasure

Recently I heard a podcast featuring Daniel Levitin and Adam Gopnik discussing the neuroscience behind our emotional responses to music and individual taste in music. Our brains are amazing, complex creations which help us to negotiate and experience the world. Whenever I read or explore more about the growing brain and music, I am amazed at how little we really know about it.

Fresh Baked Bread

A few days ago, knowing that I was having a very difficult week coping with stress, pregnancy, and some medical complications, a friend invited my boys over for a playdate and sent home dinner: lasagna and freshly baked bread.

Valentine’s Day

Each February, our society puts tremendous pressure on us for romance and intimacy that is, at best, contrived. Commercials for flowers that can help your sweetie one-up her cubicle neighbor are followed by teddy bear, greeting card, chocolate, and even sexual enhancement advertisements. While St. Valentine is credited with supporting young love and is the patron of love, young people and happy marriages, this is certainly not a celebration of his journey to sainthood.

Having children in your life gives you the opportunity to return to the fun, innocent Valentine’s Days of our youth. Cutting out hearts, consuming sweets, and exchanging cards with friends and family celebrates love in a more Platonic, human-family kind of way. This is closer to a saint’s perspective, if not quite on the mark. How many people know that St. Valentine was a martyr, a priest (maybe even a bishop), or in addition to the above mentioned, the patron saint of bee keepers, epilepsy, fainting, travelers, protection from the plague, and Bussolengo, Italy.

Wrapped in Mary’s Robes

We needed a break. It seemed like trial after trial was coming our way. Amid the normal fears and financial tribulations of running a two-year-old business that we are passionate about, I’m dealing with the hormone shifts of a young pregnancy, and everyone must deal with me while adapting as a family to the changes that came with our 19-year-old niece moving in to help us out as a part-time nanny. Our homeschooled clan is missing Mommy’s attention and the guilt is as powerful as the fatigue and morning sickness. Suddenly, I’m faced with a couple of serious pregnancy complications, and health-insurance nightmares that keep pushing me toward a pro-choice prenatal clinic. Our son is diagnosed with Lyme Disease, and my father-in-law dies of a sudden heart-attack. We are trying to work out doctor’s appointments, plan a last minute 12-hour road trip for a family of seven complete with funeral wardrobe, and deal with the stress. All of these trials are part of the normal storms of life, but it happened all at once.

Stuck Inside?

I love winter. I love the snow, the chilly weather, Christmas, cozy clothes, all of it!

But the down-side to winter, especially if your children are young, is the cabin fever! If you are a homeschooler or schoolteacher you may be feeling this even more!

When I was teaching at a Navajo Mission School in New Mexico, some of the little boys just could not handle indoor recess. I would create pretend tasks for them. “Mark, help me. Run this note to Mr. Jacobs! Its very important. Run!” The note usually said, “Help me get this kid some exercise!” Mr. Jacobs would send him on some other urgent tasks or we’d keep sending the note back and forth for a while. Luckily our school “hallway” was the desert floor and the open sky. Mark never minded freezing cold or rain. I did have him wear his coat.

Routine

Last week, our routine was severely disrupted. My husband was on his way into the church to help dismantle the Christmas decorations, when he got the dreaded call. His father had a sudden heart attack and passed away. Our plans for the week changed drastically. In the middle of medical issues for me with a complicated pregnancy, and my seven-year-old son who had just been diagnosed with lyme disease, we had to be ready for a 7-person road trip to Michigan, with very specific clothing needs, in a day.

Of course, one side-effect of being a parent is that when something like this happens, you have little time to grieve. The needs of your children continue and we are about to severely disrupt their routine. Hours in the car, close quarters in hotels, eating dinner at 9PM, were unavoidable, as the children’s needs took second fiddle to the hours of the wake and funeral. Naturally, the child least able to cope was our youngest at three-years-old.

Keep Christmas

Do you ever feel like going out on the front porch and yelling, “Christmas didn’t end on January 2^nd!"

The world has closed up shop on Christmas. Kids are back in school. Everyone is back to work. The stores have a few sad baskets of 99 cent leftovers of candy and decorations. A FB friend of mine actually posted a picture of a display for Easter Candy at the store! The retail world has moved on.

Resolutions…

Years ago, a close friend, the godmother of my youngest daughter, presented me with the Inventory of Charisms by the Catherine of Siena Institute. It was a great opportunity to reflect and think about what God wanted of me based on the Charisms the Holy Spirit had manifested through me in my life. But, in reflecting on where the Lord has led me now, as a wife, mother, and co-founder of Making Music Praying Twice, I find that the inventory brings me to my knees. I need God to fill me with His power with charisms that make up for my failings so I can serve Him better.

So, here are my very personal prayer resolutions: