It's Gold...

The Dutchess has honored me by awarding me the GOLD. Her site is delight to visit. She has such wonderful pictures and poetry. It's a lovely world to visit in which our imaginations are allowed to run wild. Please drop and visit her and see if what I say isn't true. Thank you most sincerely, Dutchess.

Since I was privileged to receive this award, there are also responsibilities that come with it. One must share the "wealth." Please visit these friends, too. And so I begin...

Laura at Exuberance
Kelly at Musings
Angie at Sonflower
Tracy at A Catholic Mom in Minnesota
Laura at Catholic Teacher's Musings

The Blogging Friends Forever Rules are:

1. Only five people allowed.
2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new, or recently new to your blog, or live in another part of the world.
4. You must link back to whoever gave you the 'Blogging Friends Forever' award

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For Family and Friends,
Thanks Be to God

Thought for the Day...

looks-like-a-heart-to-me-
Originally uploaded by strangemagee

"When God measures a man, He puts the tape around the heart instead of the head." ~God's Little Instruction Book~
_______________________

"...for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ~1Samuel 16:7~

For this I say, "Thanks be to God!"

My Life is a Magnet...

If you looked at my refrigerator you would ask yourself, as I have many time, why doesn't this freezer door just fall off? I have collected magnets for some time. I have my treasured Colorado Aspen leaf and the Corpus Christi sea shell. There are magnets from the Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Evansville Museum, the High Museum in Atlanta, and the ultimate museums, The Smithsonian. I have magnets from Dublin and Mount Rushmore. I have gifts from Rome and Ontario. For goodness sake. I don't need to write a book...My life is on my refrigerator.

*_*_*_*_*

Thanks be to God!

Another Remodeling Update...

Welcome to the world of remodeling. I can tell you this project is going much more smoothly than either Ron or I could have imagined. As a matter of fact they measured for the carpet and soon we'll have a comfortable room in which to gather.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Remodeling Update...

Because The Dutchess was interested in knowing how the family room remodeling was going thought I'd send a quick pic.

Ron cut this piece of drywall out of one sheet. No piecing, looks nice and clean...Good job, Ron! A work of art to me...though others may see it otherwise.

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Again, thanks be to God!

The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Amy Welborn, in A Catholic Woman's Book of Days has written a reflection about humanity and me as a woman that I would like to share with you. She touches on every part of my evolution as a woman. I wonder if she will touch you in the same way. I believe that this is relevant to men as well because they, too, are asking the same questions.

First let us hear St. Paul.

It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual
body. If there is a physical body, there is also a
spiritual body.

~1 Corinthians 15: 44~

Since conception, my body has changed dramatically. What began as a single cell is now a bit larger than than. The soft skin of infancy is getting worn. Reading glasses are becoming a necessity. I wonder as I watch elderly women [men] walk past me in the grocery store, in a few decades, who will I be?

I will be the same person, in a body that so mysteriously changes but is somehow still me and will, God promises, remain so for eternity. One more great change will take place, one that I cannot even imagine, but I will remain myself, only whole.

This is what we celebrate today, what God has shared with Mary: eternal life of our whoe selves. There is nothing to fear, for life is the victor!

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Lord, thank you for the gift of eternal life.
Hail Mary...

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No, I don't feel a day over 40, but I am. Yes, I still look at others and see them as older. Then there's the reality check. I am the others. But the truth is my salvation is guaranteed and I have the consolation of knowing that, body and soul, my Holy Mother is in Heaven with her son and one day so will I! Halleluia!

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And Thanks Be to God!

It's so nice...

"Morning Walk"
James R. Roybal
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Today marks the 7th day where no air conditioning has been used here at the Keller homestead. The windows are open, the cool air is flowing unrestrained through the house. For Indiana in August this is unheard of and so I say, "Blessed be God, forever!" Please, everyone, enjoy today!

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Thanks be to God!

Behind in your reading?

I finally picked up my copy of July/August Ligorian. It has some wonderful stories. The cover displays a beautiful picture of St. Paul and the cover story "The Jubilee Year of Saint Paul." There is a "Department" called Catholic Calendar and during the months of July and August the Church celebrate the live of 32 Saints. August holds a wealth of holy men and women, two of which are martyrs for the faith in our time, Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein).

In the article, written by Norman J. Muckerman, C. SsR., Edith Stein was the 11th child in a Jewish family. She studied philosophy, earned her PhD and became a professor. She was introduced to Catholic thought by a fellow professor Max Scheler. So interested was she in this new "philiosophical world" that she had to learn more. So it was that she read the autobiography of Saint Teresa of Avila and it became a turning point in her life. She was baptized, taught in Catholic schools for a number of year and then entered the Camelite monastery. Seeking to protect her from the Nazis and their widespread persecution her community sent her to Holland where she "lived, suffered, and prayed for the next eight years." She was later captured and sent to Auschwitz with her sister, Rosa, also a convert where they were put to death in the gas chambers.

Needless to say, I know very little about the life of this courageous lady and perhaps it is time I made an effort to become more acquainted with her. Have you met a saint today? I did and now just like any new friendship, it's time to learn more about her.

Wishing all a Grand day!

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Thanks be to God.

What happens...

What happens when you find
you're not flying high...

in First Class anymore? You see that the summer is waning
and the sun is rising later and setting sooner, what happens?

Well, in our case, Ron decides now is the best time
to remodel the Family Room.
So on Saturday about noon, because it
was cool and not so humid,

off came the paneling. Yes, we were off
to the friendly, neighborhood Lowe's.

By last evening he had two wall insulated and
and had dry wall in place.

THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS
here.

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I believe the carpet is next to go
so I won't have any reason for
Stanley Steamer to come
and clean it.

I'm here to wish you all a
GRAND week
and stay tuned!
Who know what might happen
NEXT!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Paul the Parent

Photo by Luis

On the day after our newest grandchild made her entrance into the world I had a revelation. As I read this reflection from Praying with Saint Paul, I had a vision of Paul as a parent. I don't think I ever thought of him like that before ( and only now probably because parenting is an immediate and timely subject for me). And in that light I see him as a stern but loving parent. And I realized that as I read this. I have always thought of him as teacher, preacher and example, but not as a father. Amazing! And so I share it with you.

Zeal for Souls
by
Father Gary Caster

Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may
be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in
the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom
you shine like light in the world, as you hold onto the word of
life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not
run in vain or labor in vain.
(Philippians 2: 14-16)

The affection Saint Paul has for the Philippians reveals the true nature of zeal for souls. He know his life to be so inextricably bound to theirs that he cannot possibly imagine "the day of Christ Jesus" apart from them. Because Paul cannot think of or envision his own relationship with God apart from the Christian community he runs his life for others, seeking to build up the children of God according to the same word of life that changed his own. Paul encourages the Philippians to do the same because he encountered this word of life in a man whose flesh and blood perfectly communicates the Presence of the Mystery that is God. Paul is pleading with them from his heart, trying to persuade them according tot he truth which is also in theirs. His singular concern and the effort of all his labors is that the Philippians will faithfully adhere to Christ, "without grumbling or questioning," because trust is the hallmark of Christian discipleship. Paul knows that if they trust, if they hold fast to Christ in the act of following him, their lives will "shine like Lights" and become beacons of hope for the rest of the world. Paul has seen for himself and can testify how the very light of the Son of God radiates from those who labor according to God's wishes, serving him with gladness and freedom of heart. Paul knows that Christ has not left the world, but remains present through his Body, the Church, in an active vital way. The hope for any generation lost in the perversions that result from the disorders of sin is to be reborn as sons and daughters of God. To remain "without blemish" is truly possible to the extent that one remains open to the Word of life and continues to explore what Christ makes possible in the act of following him.

Heavenly, father your zeal for us is revealed in the life, death and resurrection of your Son. Let my heart be consumed by this same zeal so that others may come to know and experience what I have found in you.

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It is worthwhile then, to reflect as parents and grandparents on the lessons of Saint Paul, the concerned father of children entrusted to his care. And so when we want to "grumble or question" perhaps looking to the lessons of Saint Paul, we can best be reminded that trust in the Almighty and his goodness and generosity will bring us into the Light of Christ. Maybe we should look to Saint Paul when trying to improve our parenting skills.

Father Gary Caster is a priest of the Diocese of Peoria, IL. He is Catholic chaplain of Williams College in Massachusetts and the author of Mary, in Her Own Words: The Mother of God in Scripture.

Thanks be to God!!