Little prayer for today

All for Thee, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

From A Lenten Calendar 2010

Second Sunday of Lent

Nachos for dinner while we watch Jesus of Nazareth. Daddy is TDY for a few days, so things are a little more relaxed around dinner time.

We enjoy watching this movie together during Lent. It gives much food for thought on the life of Christ.

40 bags - Day 10

Meghan is feeling better (finally!) after a five-day bout with a stomach virus. She's still a little whiny, but at least she isn't clinging to me. Back to work!

Laundry room shelf cleaned off. Cleared out a few things including light bulbs that haven't fit in a light fixture since two houses ago. Really, why do I keep these things that I might need someday and could easily replace someday for a couple of dollars?

Finished going through Joseph's dresser. He moved up a size, so we got rid of all the faded, holey outgrown shirts and pants, which filled a trash bag and left us with 1/2 a bag to donate. After the laundry is done, there will still be plenty of hand-me-downs in the box for Matthew. That's what happens when you have hand-me-downs from three older brothers.

Little prayer for today

My God, I give thee thanks for what thou dost give and for what thou dost take away; Thy will be done.

From A Lenten Calendar 2010

40 bags - Day 9

I had a major slowdown this week. With Meghan sick and clinging to my lap, I had to sit back, slow down, and let go of my plans for the laundry room and Patrick's bedroom and bathroom.

Sometimes God's plan for me isn't what I think it is. Sometimes He reminds me that I need to rest with the baby, to stop and spend long hours on the couch reading books to everyone who wants to listen. To reconnect with the little ones who won't be little for very much longer. When Meghan is well, she is a very busy toddler and doesn't often slow down to cuddle. And that is when I will get back to bagging.

Little prayer for today

O Lord, throughout this day, keep me free from sin.

From A Lenten Calendar 2010

Medals

During Lent, I try not to shop much. It's part of my plan to simplify my life and to give myself more quiet time for prayer and reflection, and maybe in some sense to give up a pleasure. Although I don't particularly enjoy online shopping, shopping with friends is a pleasure for me. Sometimes Katie and I shop online together, which is a lot of fun. (As long as it doesn't get out of hand, shopping is an allowable pleasure--one I can "take back" after Lent.)

But I do allow myself a little shopping time for Easter gifts. So that was why I was over at the Catholic Child website this morning. A couple of weeks ago, I realized that Meghan doesn't have a patron Saint medal. This is strange to me. I'm not sure how it happened because all of our other children received medals as infants and wore them pinned to the backs of their shoulders to Mass and at other times. So how I missed this with Meghan and didn't even notice for 20 months is a mystery to me. One reason may be that we don't have a Catholic gift shop or bookstore here, so I don't have occasion to see this type of item unless I go looking for it on the internet. Another may be that my focus has been spread a bit thinly among the needs of our oldest two children, Matthew struggling with asthma, that little thing we call home school, and baby Meghan for awhile now. I have been putting out fires, as they say, but not much else.

No matter the reason, I resolved to rectify the situation and find a St. Margaret Mary or St. Therese medal for Easter. And I was very excited to see the Saints Alive sterling silver medals. These look like they are good quality medals. Even better, they offer more than 120 Saint names. I was delighted to see some hard-to-find ones like St. Thomas More and Old Testament Saints like Benjamin and Daniel. I do wish the St. Margaret medal said "St. Margaret Mary" instead, but I suppose not every Margaret, Meghan, or Maggie is a Margaret Mary. :)

If you are looking for a medal for an Easter or First Communion gift, you might like to take a look. They also have around 50 different patron Saint statues and rosaries (the rosaries are more expensive). Nice to find so many in one place.

Little prayer for today

Teach me, O Lord to do Thy will, for Thou art my God.

From A Lenten Calendar 2010

40 Bags - Day 6

Meghan was sick today, so I did a lot of baby holding, but not much clearing out. The baby holding was a precious gift from my oh-so-active toddler, but I do hope she will be more herself by morning. It's hard to see her so limp and tired.

I was able to donate two pairs of old eyeglasses at the hospital when we went to base this afternoon, so we still got rid of something, even if it wasn't a full bag.

Hoping and praying for healthy children tomorrow.

Little prayer for today

O God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

From A Lenten Calendar 2010

Photos from the infirmary

Still under the weather

Books make me feel better, though.

40 bags - Day 5

One bag of trash and half a bag to donate all from the shoe cabinet, game cupboard, and Joseph's dresser drawers yesterday. We're catching up from our missed day on Saturday.

*cleaned the front hall, too, vacuumed away yucky dust and cobwebs from the top of the closet and under the game cupboard. Joseph even cleaned the mirror and front window. Now if we can just get the front door clean, the front hall will be finished. :)

The list is up

And Patrick's name is in the top 15. So he is off to Nagoya this weekend with the soccer team.

Congratulations, Patrick!

Go Eagles!

Update on Feb. 24, 2010: At last night's parents' meeting, we found out that the Nagoya tournament was cancelled, so it's another week before the soccer team will travel. Patrick was really looking forward to the trip, the game, and visiting a new city, so he is understandably disappointed. He'll just have to keep working hard at practice and make the list for the next trip. I know he can do it. :)

Sick day

Say a prayer for Meghan today. She caught Matthew's stomach bug.

While you're praying, please pray that the rest of us are spared.

Chuckle of the day

Link sent to me this morning by fellow homeschool mom, Therese. :)

40 bags - Days 4 & 5

Not a single bag out of here this weekend. Sigh. We had plans to go through the shoe cabinet, Joseph's dresser, and the board games. I thought we would have more time for this on the weekends, but it seems we had less. Maybe because the days are less structured?

Or maybe because they are more crowded with activities, chores, and craziness, like losing John's van key at the commissary somewhere. I realized it as I finished shopping and needed to be at the movie theater in 15 minutes to pick Katie up from the movie she went to see with a friend and take her and the groceries home so that I could go to a Pampered Chef party at my friend, Virginia's house. (Katie saw Alvin and the Chipmunks. She now knows what I mean when I say that movies can make you dumber.) Thankfully, Patrick was on base with my van and picked up Katie and then took us and our groceries home. I got John's key and Patrick took me back to base where I left my name and phone number at the commissary office and went late to my party in John's van. Phew!

On the bright side, Katie went to a movie with a friend on Saturday afternoon, and I went to a Pampered Chef party with my friends Saturday evening. And by the time I got home from the party, the lost van key was on the windowsill where it belongs. The commissary had called to say the key was turned in and Patrick rescued me again by picking it up before he came home from the base.

And yes, the party is related to the topic of this post because now I know I need to clean out my kitchen cabinets to make room for some stoneware. (It's on sale this month!)

Hah! I CAN rationalize anything. ;)

Old habits die hard.

Update on Monday morning: Just remembered that Sundays don't count in the 40 days. So we're not as far behind as I thought. Yay!

40 bags - Day 3

Today I took on the cabinet below our home altar first. I cleaned out several packages of candles that we have aquired from people who were moving away, which made room to reorganize the cabinet. It will be much more user-friendly now.

A few candles didn't fill the tall kitchen garbage bag I was working on, so I decided to be a little more systematic about this. With Katie along to keep me motivated, I moved into the front hall and took a look around. Front hall closet!

Filled a bag with coats, snow pants, hats, scarves, and so many things that were going unused, even by our crew of active snow-players. Filled half another bag in the kitchen with things to throw out. Katie did a lot of the actual work. I consulted while I made the soup for tonight's soup supper at church.

When she got to the top shelf she turned it over to me. It's full of mailing envelopes, packing material, etc. Not for the faint of heart. I threw out a few unusable envelopes and decided that what this shelf really needed was to be reorganized. These are things we use frequently to mail packages home, so they need to be handy and easy to find. So I was off to the 100 Yen store for a few things. I love the 100 Yen. I should take photos sometime. It is like a dollar store, only sooooooo much better.

Found the items I needed and was home in 30 minutes. Kids were still playing happily, Katie had transferred the magazines and catalogs to a Chinese basket that had been gathering dust on top of the closet and was preparing to throw out the old magazine basket. But Meghan took it over and started carting her dolls around in it. Very cute. Not sure which day it will be before we get that basket thrown out now.

Closet is cleaned and reorganized. Katie even labeled our baskets and the new storage bins for bubble wrap and torn books waiting to be taped. I have a great feeling of accomplishment, and it really didn't hurt to throw away irreparably torn and broken things or to give away good ones that we aren't using. This may be easier than I think. Having Katie along for support definitely makes the whole thing more fun.

Devotion

Yesterday after swim lessons.

Me: Okay time to scrub the ashes off your forehead.

Matthew: No! Mommy! I want to keep it. For all of Lent.

I washed around the ashes. They're pretty sticky, as it turns out. They've survived two showers and the swimming pool now.

40 bags - Day 2

Katie's turn. She filled a grocery bag. She's pretty good about cleaning out, so I'm not pushing for a larger bag from her.

The best thing was that she inspired Joseph, who came to me and said, "Mom, I have so many sweatshirts in my drawer that I can't close it all the way. Do you think I could get rid of some of those?"

Now I just have to keep myself from interfering too much with his discarding. His turn will come on Saturday, Day 4.

40 Bags in 40 Days

The tradition of spring cleaning likely comes from the Christian practice of Lent. We clean our souls by going to confession. Then we draw closer to God, responding to His love with our love, with works of fasting, penance, and almsgiving. By the end of Lent, if we have worked hard, we will have eliminated habits of sin. Our souls will have become more fitting temples for the Holy Spirit.

Catherine Fournier, in her Domestic Church. com essay on Shrove Tuesday, explains the origin of spring cleaning similarly when she says that

"Lent is a time for cleaning, in preparation for Easter and spring. First your soul, then your kitchen, then the rest of the house was cleansed and purified of the past year's accumulations. Old clothes are mended and new clothes purchased at this time of year. In the Ukraine, houses were whitewashed inside and out during Lent. In this way, everything was made ready to face the season of Salvation and Rebirth. Traditions of 'spring cleaning' stem from this religious observance."

The idea of a spiritual element of housecleaning intrigues me. It may be easier to focus on God in our daily lives if our homes are simpler, less cluttered, less distracting. For me, anyway, all that visual noise prevents focusing as I should on loving and caring for my family and our homeschool. To say nothing of what it does to my prayer time, and thus, my relationship with God. Medieval families had a winter's worth of spills, mud, and muck on the floor by this time of year, and they needed to put down new rushes. They cleaned out during Lent in preparation for the great feast of Easter. Our homes are full of the excesses our greatly blessed culture allows us to bring in. We often acquire things without really realizing how much we are accumulating. So we clean our homes as well at this time of year, both for the physical and the spiritual benefit.

That's why I was inspired by the idea of discarding/donating/redistributing 40 bags of stuff during Lent when I read about it on Faith and Family Live. Their site is full of encouragement, support for growing in faith, and tangible ideas for living the faith. It is a place I regularly visit when I have a little time to spend reading blogs. I'm hoping that this idea will draw our whole family into the house cleaning and, if we work hard, result in a less-cluttered, more spiritually inspiring home in time for Easter.

The 40 Bags challenge inspires me, but it also strikes a tiny bit of fear into my heart. For me, detachment is a struggle. I like to hold on to things. I think my German great-grandmother would sympathize. :) Inspired, however, by reading the life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who practiced detachment almost to the extreme (but whose actual needs were always met by God), I'm beginning this with some trepidation. I'll keep some notes on the blog about our progress, and mine, as I learn to let go of things we don't need.

Day 1: Mom's dresser drawers. (Do I really need to keep clothing that I have owned since 1995 and haven't worn since 2005? Why am I so attached to these things?) Dad's shoe shelf. (Not a whole lot here: he's better at this discarding process than I am.) Filled a bag!

Update: Here's a link this year's post in the place where (I think) this idea got started last year: the Shower of Roses blog.