With Gratitude...

Kathleen at Daily Grotto and Kaila at Ego me bene-With me all is well both surprised me and humbled me by nominating me for this award. Thank you so very much. It is grand when a gift like this is received. Better yet is the opportunity to give it away. I will do my best to gather 10 people. If you have received it before please accept it with my sincere thanks for all the pleasure you have given me.

The rules:

By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want-even those that have received it already, but please award at least 10 people.

1. Beyond Horizon3
2. From Where I Write
3. A Crocus in the Valley
4. This I Do
5. Mommy of Four
6. Musings
7. Poetry, Prayer, and Praise
8. What I Choose Today
9. Unexpected Journey
10. Contemplative Haven, asylum for your refugee soul

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Thanks be to God!

I Really Must Catch Up...

I was tagged for this MEME by Kathleen at Daily Grotto a week ago. I have some catching up to do...So here goes!

1. Were you Named after anyone? Yes, my Great Grandmother, Catherine Leadon and St. Catherine of Siena (and baptized at St. Catherine of Siena Church) .

2. When was the last time you cried? When I viewed 99 Balloons at Sailing by Starlight.

3. Do you like your handwriting? Yes, but I like my daughter Laura's better and she can do calligraphy, as well.

4. What is your favorite lunch meat? Chicken salad, plain or with bread.

5. Do you have kids? 2 daughters and 3 sons.

6. I you were another person would you be friends with you? Absolutely

7. Do you use sarcasm a lot? Yes, I can get away with it in fun.

8. Do you still have your tonsils? NO

9. Would you bungee jump? No...nothing could entice me to do so...

10. What is your favorite cereal? Frosted Mini Wheats.

11. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? Yes

12. Do you think you are strong? Not really, then only courage I ever seem to have is when bolstered by the Holy Spirit...I'm a real "scaredy cat".

13. What is your favorite ice cream? Peppermint, and it's only seasonal.

14. What is the first thing you notice about people? Their smile (whether they have one or not)

15. Red or Pink? Pink. I never got to wear it until I had gray hair (had red hair, blue eyes and freckles as a child but mainly the red hair!)

16. What is the least favorite thing you like about yourself. My tend to nag. Still it is a mother's job isn't it. (It is so hard sometimes to "butt out"!)

17. Who do you miss the most? My dad's Aunt Ida. She was a wonderful cook and a smile and a laugh that could brighten and entire room!

18. What color pants and shoes are you wearing? Brown

19. What was the last thing you ate? A Stromboli last noc for dinner.

20. What are you listening to right now? The Best of Andrea Bocelli

21. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue or Green

22. Favorite smell? Tulips, mountain pine trees, Honey Suckle, baking brownies, spaghetti sauce and vanilla.

23. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Marianne

24. Favorite sports to watch? Live basketball, baseball, football...but I try not to watch much...I get too emotionally involved, especially if the Broncos are playing.

25. Hair color? Gray

26. Eye color? Blue

27. Do you wear contact? No, glasses.

28. Favorite food? Spaghetti with meat sauce, "funky" chicken...a family recipe.

29. Scary movies or happy endings? Happy endings.

30. Last movie you watched? The Sting (on DVD)

31. What color shirt are you wearing? Tan

32. Summer or winter? Spring and Fall...Oh, those weren't the choices. I guess either, one is too hot and the other too cold.

33. Hugs or kisses? Hugs

34. Favorite Dessert? Chocolate cheese cake.

35. What book are you reading now? Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly, et. al.

36. What is on your mouse pad? I don't used a mouse pad.

37. What did you watch on TV last night? Mansfield Park on Masterpiece Classic...was very good.

38. Favorite sounds? "The Sounds of Silence"...

39. Rolling Stones or Beatles? Beatles

40. What is the farthest you have been from home? Mundesley, England on the North Sea. A lovely village.

41. Do you have a special talent? If talking too much is a talent then I am truly gifted!

42. Where were you born? Denver, Colorado

Now I must tag others...in hopes that they have not already been tagged. Here goes...

This I Do

Unexpected Journey

La Dolce Vita: The Sweet Life with Three Sons

Mommy of Four

Musings

cascadingwaters

Or as Kathleen would say anyone who wishes to do it...Please let me know so I can read your answers. And if you have already been tagged let me know so I can read yours too.

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!!!And for all this fun!!!

~!Thanks Be to God!~

THANK YOU

Well, it is with sincerity that I say "thank you" to all who prayed for me while I was giving my RCIA presentation. God has called, and these men and women have said, "Yes" to the Call to enter the Church. They appear sincere in their faith and grateful for those who are on the journey with them. And so it is with all those who in this process everywhere. I pray that the Spirit will guide those who instruct and that He will continue to be with those who inquire.

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For all who have entered my life and support they have given me, I say, thanks be to God.

RCIA

Dear friends, Sunday is the day of my RCIA presentation of the Healing Sacraments. If you could send up a prayer that I be a TRUE instrument of the Holy Spirit and that His voice is the one they hear and it is his Love that is shared.

The Spirit really is a true friend. One I have come to rely on for some time. Thanks to my dad, who said he didn't start his day without a word with Him, I think it is now second nature to me.

I really was having trouble with organizing the "Breaking Open the Word" portion of the presentation, but after my son, David, and I prayed together it just seemed to come together. Thanks be to God and David's phone call.

So the work is done on the presentation. Now the work starts with me. "Just Pray," Mom says, "the rest comes together." So I think with an army of prayers I should do okay.

!!!!~~~~~~~!!!!

For you all who give so generously, I say,
THANKS BE TO GOD!

Right to Life IX

Montgomery Falls
Quebec, 2003

Day Nine
Meditating on the Gift of Life

Prayer
Father of life, may the mysteries of our Redemption stir us to contemplate with wonder the invincible hope which is our in the Gospel of Life.

A Reading form the book of Revelation 22:1-5
An angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like the crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of its street. On either side of the river grew the tree of life that produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month; the leaves of the tree serve a medicine for the nations. Nothing accursed will be found anymore. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it , and his servants will worship him. Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun. for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever.

(silent reflection)

Prayer
God of all creation, may men and women of every time and place proclaim the Gospel of Life: a Gospel of God's love for us, a Gospel of human dignity.

A Reflection by Pope Benedict XVI*
[The] Eucharist is far more than just a meal; it has cost a death to provide it, and the majesty of death is present in it. Whenever we hold it, we should be filled with reverence in the face of this mystery, with awe in the face of this mysterious death that becomes a present reality in our midst...Death is the ultimate question...Only when this question is answered can men truly celebrate and be free. The Christmas feast, the Eucharist, plumbs the very depths of death. It is not just a matter of pious discourse and entertainment, of some kind of religious beautification, spreading, a pious gloss on the world; it plumbs the very depths of existence, which it calls death, and strikes out an upward path to life, the life that overcomes death.

Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, God is Near Us: The Eucharist, the Heart of Life, p. 44

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Spiritual Adoption prayer

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to
spare the life of ( Baby' s name) the unborn baby that I have
spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion."
- Prayer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen-
~*~*~*~*~*~

I have added this prayer that was first displayed by Kathy at Daily Grotto. It is an example of what to say when you desire to pray for a child you do not know and will never know, yet one who needs your prayers. I will be praying for "Matthew Thomas". I had decided that as soon as I read Kathy's plea.

And as God would have it, I had made the commitment to pray for "MT". Then my son, David, called to tell me he and his wife were going to the Dr. that day. Kelly is with child. This will be their 5th and I will be a grandmother once again. And so it is with joy I will be praying for two wee ones now. "Matthew Thomas" who I beg will be spared and another who will be loved and nurtured and cherished. God Is GOOD...all the time!

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I truly say,
Thanks be to God!