Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Cleaning Fairy...

This last weekend, the priest at our parish was telling the First Communion kids (including Chocolate Chip) that sloth is one of the 7 deadly sins, and that an example of sloth is not putting your dirty clothes in the hamper (go, Father!). I admit, that while I was going to explain this to Emma, as well, I haven't done it yet. That said, the Cleaning Fairy (my alter ego), and her friend the Laundry Fairy (my other alter ego) were at my house just now, gathering up stray books on the floor, and tiny clothes from Emma. But, wait...there was also a decent amount of Chocolate Chip's things scattered about - including her First Communion dress, and sweater on her bed where the cats could lay on them and get cat hair all over. *sigh* I guess we'll need a refresher on that whole sloth speech...

Although, it isn't the dirty clothes on the floor that bothers me. It's the clean clothes mixed in (on the floor) with the dirty clothes - mainly from Chocolate Chip. When deciding what to wear, she often takes something out of her drawer, for whatever reason it is then rejected, and tossed onto the floor among the dirty clothes. I come in later, not knowing what isn't dirty, or trying to remember what I've seen on a body recently. I've tried explaining that it creates more laundry when she does that, and that the Laundry Fairy doesn't appreciate it. It doesn't seem to matter much. But, like a friend once said, "when a mountain of laundry has you down or overwhelmed, just thank God you have a family who needs you to do it". So, I'll just thank God a bit more, I guess.

Dana

Monday, April 22, 2013

My Summer Look!


I got my hair cut on Friday (which Emma did NOT approve of). I was very excited, and had the image in my mind of how it would look. I ended up a little dissapointed. Here's what it was supposed to look like (except still brown):
Cute, right?


Well, I went in, all set. I had looked online at the official Pantene rules for donating hair, and it was supposed to be 8 inches. I had 9 I wanted to cut off. Well, the girl insisted that it had to be 10 inches for Locks of Love (a totally different organization), and didn't collect it for me, because I only had 9 inches. Then, she gets finished, and it doesn't look like the picture. Yeah, it's cute, and I can have it fixed when it grows out a little, but it wasn't what I had envisioned.



 
 
So, I was talking to a friend at church yesterday about it, and she was telling me a very interesting theory she has, that made a lot of sense. She said that she thinks women are always upset about their looks because of Original Sin. She pointed out that all women have something they wish they could change about themselves: their hair isn't right, their waist is too big, chest is too small, whatever. Right after the Fall, God told woman that her desire would be for her husband. Perhaps an effect of that is woman's displeasure with herself. A feeling of lacking in some way, that comes out in our obsession with how we look. Or, maybe it comes from a deep longing for God that we can't quite recognize because of the Fall. Whatever the reason, I think we can all agree, it stinks. One more reason to look forward to Heaven, where things like big hips, uncooperative hair, and flabby arms will no longer matter, and even better, will finally be seen as God sees us: utterly perfect for who we are supposed to be, and look, just as He created us.





Monday, April 15, 2013

Kermit Gosnell, Round 2

The Twitter campaign was a HUGE success! Some of the mainstream media have started covering the trial, and letting people know how horrible, disgusting, and just downright dangerous his clinic and practices were. However, the people that organized the "TweetFest" are concerned that if we back off of the media, that they will stop covering the trial. This is extremely important, that they keep covering it, and letting people know how horrible this is. It could get a good number of people who "would never get an abortion, but want to keep it legal for others to have that choice" to consider just how awful abortion really is, and maybe get them thinking about how violently these babies died, and if they had been just a few inches up the birth canal, it would have been perfectly legal and socially acceptable.

Therefore, we are going to be having another "TweetFest" on Wednesday, this week. If you already have Twitter, please consider joining us. If you don't have Twitter, please consider joining it (for free, very easy to join), even if you only plan on using it for things like this. As a full-time mom and housewife, who works outside of the house part-time, I know how busy life gets, and how hard it can be to be as active in the pro-life movement as we would like to be. Using Twitter and/or Facebook to get the word out, is so easy, and so effective! I can do it while the kids are eating lunch, napping, playing outside, whatever. It doesn't require me to go alongside a busy street with a 4 yr old and pray in front of an abortion clinic. I don't have to organize some massive movement, I just spend a couple of seconds on my phone or computer throughout the day, as often as I can. Any help is greatly appreciated. If you decide to participate, please remember to use the hashtag #Gosnell in your tweets (this allows the relevant tweets to be counted and polled). Once again, if you are on Facebook, there is a page where you can find all kinds of information, pictures to share, and already written tweets that you can copy and paste (or you can write your own)!



Even just changing your profile picture on Twitter/Facebook to this or this would help spread awareness about this trial.


God Bless!
Dana

Friday, April 12, 2013

Kermit Gosnell

If you've been on Facebook or Twitter today, you've probably been seeing the name Kermit Gosnell a LOT. For those that don't know who he is, or what it's all about, here's why all of Social Media is buzzing with his name:

Kermit Gosnell is a late-term abortionist in Pennsylvania. He has murdered at least 7 newborns (born alive) by "snipping" their spinal cords, separating the brain from the body, essentially beheading the children. There has also been at least one mother die from his "care". He is currently on trial for these charges (click here for the timeline).

His clinic is/was so filthy, and disgusting, that it has been nicknamed the "House of Horrors". Blood everywhere, severed feet of babies in jars, bags of waste tossed about, just horrible. The whole reason for the social media campaign today, is that the media has blacked out this story, and coverage of his trial completely. The goal is to let as many people as possible know that "back-alley" abortions still take place, sometimes forced (see video), and to do the job that network news stations refuse to do. If this is the first you've heard of it today, it's not too late to help. Even if you aren't on Facebook or Twitter, you can spread the word via email, or just talking to your circle of friends about it. Be disgusted, be horrified, but please do not be silent.

If you do use Twitter, please tweet with the hashtag #Gosnell.

If you are on Facebook, you can go here to get ideas and more information.

God Bless, and please pray for the conversion of all abortionists.

Dana

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Skirts, skirts, skirts!

I recently went to a class on modesty at my parish that was very interesting, and eye-opening. We were given a book at this class called "Dressing with Dignity" by Colleen Hammond. I admit that while I love to read, it generally takes me months to get through a book these days. I read this one in just a couple of hours. In this book it talks about the different fashions of women throughout history, and what the different popes at the time said about them. We were also given CDs with talks about modesty. One of the things that struck me the most on the CD was this: men are the physically stronger sex, and should always use that strength to take care of women, never use that to harm or dominate them. Likewise, women are the spiritually stronger sex, and should always use that to help men, who are weaker and more prone to temptation than we are.
 
The biggest thing I took away from the book (which was also on the CD), was that when a woman wears pants, a man's eye tends to follow the line of her pants all the way up to her bottom in the back, or her crotch in the front! Since learning these things, I have stopped wearing pants completely, except around the house, in front of only my husband. Of course, I really only had two skirts that were long enough (one of them wasn't quite long enough, but close, so I added a ruffle to the bottom), and not enough money to give myself a makeover. So, I have taken my favorite pairs of pants, and turned them into super-cute skirts! It was hard to rip apart my first and favorite pair of jeans, but once I got over it, I haven't looked back.
 
 
 
After just a few days of wearing skirts, I put on one of my favorite pairs of jeans to get an idea of where to cut them to make the skirt, and couldn't believe I'd thought they were so comfortable before! They felt so tight, and they weren't even leggings! It was crazy! I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it. It also gave guidelines for dressing modestly, and a list of stores and websites at the back of the book where you can find modest clothes to buy.
 
I think in my upcoming posts, I'll give instructions and pictures on how to turn pants into skirts in case you want to make some for yourself.
 
God Bless!
 
Dana

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

I'm 3 years old now!

Three years ago on April 3, I was baptized, entered into the Catholic Church, and became a child of God. It was by far, one of the best days of my life!


Me getting baptized, with my sponsor standing behind me (woman on the left),
my husband behind her, and my mom beside them (face behind the water pitcher).
 
 
Looking back, it amazes me how far God has brought me in the last few years. Four years ago, I was one of those non-denominational Christians who went to church at Christmas and Easter. Occasionally, if we had nothing better to do, and the mood struck on a Sunday, we might go to church besides those two days, but nothing consistent.
 
Then, one day, four summers ago, I was driving home, and happened to stop at a stoplight around the corner from my house. The car in front of me had a bumper sticker for 89.1 FM, Catholic Radio Indy (the local EWTN radio station). I don't remember seeing the name of the radio station on the bumper sticker, just the number. I have never again seen that same bumper sticker. Anyway, I tuned into the station, and started listening. Before long, I heard my first Mass on the radio. I knew right away, that I needed to find out more about this Catholic thing. I often drove past a Catholic parish on the way to my mom's house, so one day, I stopped in to ask for more information. Next thing you know, I'd signed up for RCIA (the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults), and was on my way to being Catholic. I wanted to be absolutely sure that I was going to join the Church, before I told anybody about it, even my mom and my husband. For the first few months, I just told both of them that I was going to a Bible study (not completely untrue - we frequently talked about the Bible, and where the Church got certain things from). Then, when I was sure, I told my mom. At first, she couldn't understand why I would want to be Catholic. I explained to her that it was like the Jewish part of her heritage, and the Christian part of my dad's heritage had merged and created the Catholic Church. I was home, and I was NOT leaving. We went together many times to talk to the director of religious education, where my mom would ask questions that I just wasn't knowledgeable enough to answer yet. When I told my husband, he didn't understand, but was supportive.  
 
Fast forward to three years later, and I am not only Catholic, but I'm so excited about my Faith, and am always trying to be a better Catholic. Any time somebody questions my Faith, or tries to attack the Catholic Church, it leads me to do more research to answer them, and every time, I fall even deeper in love with the Church that Jesus gave us. We are all called to be saints, and we can't do that if we just sit on the couch and relax. We always have to keep going, and keep trying to be better people, Christians, Catholics, if we want to get to Heaven. Being a saint takes more than going to Mass on Sundays. You have to LIVE your faith, every day. For those that already do, great! Keep it up! For those who could do more, just try it. I'm sure you can do it. You won't regret the extra effort, I'm sure. :-)
 
Save a soul, get an EWTN bumper sticker! You never know who you will touch with it, and who they will later touch. Because of that bumper sticker on a stranger's car, I'm now Catholic, raising my children Catholic, my mom is Catholic, and hopefully, someday my husband will be Catholic too. That's a minimum of four souls touched (not counting my husband yet), not including the souls that we will touch, or have already touched, that we don't know about, and the chain reaction of the souls that they will later touch, etc. It's so easy to get one, and think of the eternal reward, for just driving around with one silly little bumper sticker! When I'm in the car now, EWTN is pretty much all I listen to, except when the kids want princess songs or something. :-) I love it, and am always learning more!
 
Dana

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Why I veil at Mass

Last fall, I joined a new parish, and for the first time as a Catholic, I saw women of all ages wearing veils at Mass. Not just old ladies, but young women, teenagers, and even little girls would wear veils when attending Mass. Before I found my new parish, I thought that old women wearing doilies on their heads was a quaint custom that they had done before Vatican II, that they just grew up doing before women were more fully appreciated. When I discovered young girls veiling, I decided to look into it, to see what it was all about. I could not have been more wrong. There are several reasons to veil in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament (not just at Mass). The first reason I discovered, is that women are sacred, much more than men, and the Church has always veiled sacred things. For example, in the Old Testament, the Holy of Holies was veiled, in our Church the tabernacle is often veiled, behind that veil, is the Body of Christ, which is veiled behind the accidents of bread and wine, and women are living tabernacles, because we have the ability to carry another life within us. When we are pregnant, the Hand of God is active within us, forming the child in the womb.

 Another reason, is that it is an act of humility. When you are in the presence of an earthly king, you do certain things to show that you recognize their power and authority. So, when we are in the presence of the King of Kings, we should do even more. For example, when men go into a church, they should take off their hats, revealing their balding heads, which is an act of humility. Likewise, a woman's hair is her glory, and should be covered, to show humility.

It also shows our longing to be the bride of Jesus when He enters into our bodies in the Eucharist.

Finally, it is a physical reminder of where we are, and Who we're with. I find it helps me to concentrate more fully on Jesus and the Mass when I veil.

I first started veiling just after this last Christmas. At first, I felt awkward and embarrased when I would go to daily Mass at other parishes, where I would be the only one veiling. I even went to one parish where people were staring, pointing, and whispering about it. Finally, I decided that God had called me to veil for a reason, and that was just between us. If people thought I was weird or crazy because I wanted to humble myself before God, then that was their problem. I still sometimes have twinges of awkardness now, when I go to Mass at different places, but mostly I'm fine with it. I like to think that when I veil at other places, it will remind others around me who may point or stare, that we are in the presence of God, and that maybe they should try to be more reverent too. Of course, I'm not saying that I'm perfect, or that I never get distracted at Mass. Even when I get to go to Mass without kids (very rarely), my ADD frequently gets the better of me, and I start looking around, or thinking of other things. But then, my veil catches my eye, or it starts to slip, or itch, and I remember to focus my body and soul back on God.

So, that's why I've started (and will forever more) veil in the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Maybe you will think about it, pray about it, and start veiling too! Give it a try, I think you will soon see the beauty in it too. And, if you want a nice veil, I got my first one at http://veilsbylily.com/ (I think the average price on there was about $25 plus shipping). I really like mine, but I love the way the one I made for my mom came out. (See my first post, "Welcome!") Let me know if you want me to make one for you!


I also love how my veil now smells forever like incense! :-D
 
 
Dana