Thanks Be to God...

and to all of you for your prayers!!! Laura had her colonoscopy and she apparently has developed ischemic colitis. It is a condition in which there is a limited supply of blood to the area affected and infection has occurred. It is most uncommon in adults her age as it usually happens to older individuals. At any rate the treatment is a round of antibiotics and all should be well. I am so grateful for all your love an prayers!!!

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For you all, I say,
"Thanks be to God!"

Easter Prayer

Risen Lord, Oxford
Picture by Lawrance OP
uploaded 5/17/2007

We sometimes forget that there is more to Easter than the celebration of our Lord's Resurrection Day. In fact, we have the privilege of celebrating it for seven weeks. I was reminded of that as I picked up Fr. Rohr's Radical Grace, Daily Meditations. Here's today's reminder that we should still be having a party!

A Week of Easter Prayers:
Make Us Truly Catholic

God Make us truly catholic people. Make us bearers of the Incarnation. Make us not afraid of life and not afraid of this earth. Make us strive for justice and believe in peace. Make us not afraid of the cross and neither afraid of the Resurrection. Make us, Creator, not afraid of enjoying this world, of celebrating and protecting this world.

Teach us, Jesus, how to do liturgy, how to do life. Teach us, God to continue to make things beautiful, because you have made us beautiful by your choice of flesh.

We thank you for this world. and we thank you for our Holy Catholic Church.

Eternal God, make the Catholic people truly catholic. Make us whole. Renew our Church, Lord, in our time. And make us a whole and holy people. Heal us, Lord, from our hurts from Holy Mother Church. Show us how to forgive our Mother. Reconcile us to our tradition, to our past, so we can move into our future, so we can walk with your, loving God.

We ask for all of these blessing. We invite you into our world. We invite you into our lives in Jesus' holy name. Amen.

from The Price of Peoplehood

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Thanks be to, God.

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I would also like to ask you to pray for our oldest daughter, Laura, as she undergoes a colonoscopy today to find out why she is having such severe abdominal pain and why her colon is inflamed.

Imagine...

The Duke

Belle, Wally and Duchess.

Yes, just imagine 4 dogs and 3 adults. I realized this weekend that having that many dogs in one space at the same time, well...leaves me speechless. You might say, "Why do you have that many dogs?" This weekend was Ron's birthday, and though three of the kids and their families had some distance to come, Marianne came from INDY.

Let me explain. We have two dogs, The Duke and Duchess of Keller. Duke the patriarch, being 15 years old, really is not interested in play and the antics of his young friend, Duchess. Marianne has Wally, the Earl of Keller and his friend, Belle, and were coming for the weekend to celebrate Dad's birthday. Well, if you can imagine the barking, posturing, and rivalry of three of the dogs with the Master simply looking on. (Oh! and Sam, the Secretary of State--the cat, who is the epitome of diplomacy, merely avoiding the entire group.)

This was a tremendous learning experience for us and in all honesty, except for the first 30 minutes after their arrival, Duchess and Belle got on pretty well. Except when Belle, woke up in the middle of the night lost and frightened in a new environment with a blood-curdling howl. The girls especially liked running in the muddy backyard together. (Yuck!!!)

Blackberry Pie Birthday Desert

The party was grand and after dinner we played party games. We played Rummiekub and Clue and it was late enough that the decision-making during Clue became laughable at best. We had so much fun and really hated to see it end.

All in all it was a grand weekend.

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Thanks be to God!

Funny story about me!

I just came from a visit with Mike at This I Do. It was all about waiting on the Lord and receiving answers in his good time. It really struck home this morning. When I pray, you know, being patient is not what I do best. But of late He has been asking me to do just that.

I can give you a personal illustration, and an image of how impatient I can be. Remember the YouTube video a few days ago titled "Alleluia by Randall Thompson"? Well, I tried to upload it directly on Monday, not once, but five times. Each time I would wait and check the blog and it was not there, so I'd do it again. Finally, I was able to use another process and I was successful. When I opened my blog this morning, much to my surprise, there were ALL five uploads. Now, I don't have any idea where these were for the last three days. Floating around in cyberspace, no doubt, and finally decided to land. I could only laugh at myself and at the zeal with which I wanted you all to experience my excitement.

Yes, this morning I see it as a lesson I must be taught again and again about being patient. And, I suspect, until I get it right. Only He knows when I will be even slightly successful.

Though this project did not have anything to do with prayer or being sure I am following his plan for me in my life at that time, it just goes to show that if I would just WAIT, there would be an answer. It doesn't mean I should stop praying, it teaches me that maybe I should not nag (uploading, uploading, uploading...). In three days I got the answer, not yesterday as I hope, but an answer nonetheless. And yes, I got it...in three days! As Mike says, "May we know His strength as we wait upon the Lord."

God is Good!!! All the Time!

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Thanks, Mike, and thanks be to God!

Seven Random Things About Me!

Eileen at Eileen on Him...at least, I try! asked me before Easter to do this and I postponed it until now. I know there are those out there who have been just holding your breath to acquire this information about me. First I must say thank you to Eileen for tagging me...Now I must THINK (not an easy task some days) of seven things you absolutely must know about me.

First, here's the list of rules....

1. When tagged place the name and URL on your blog.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write 7 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Name 7 of your favorite blogs.
5. Send an email/comment on their blog letting them know they have been tagged.

Well, here goes...

1. When I was a freshman in high school I was playing softball with some classmates. I was tall and "skinny"--at the time--I'm still tall, but "skinny" has been gone for some time--At any rate, I hit a home run. The supervising teacher yelled, "Splinters, I didn't think you had it in you!!" Thus, the nickname.

2. I have five children, two girls and three boys. The girls are the oldest and the youngest with the boys sandwiched in between (the meat between the delicate bread).

3. God planned the family that way...He knew I would need at least 10 years between the girls in order to plan the weddings. He did such a good job that the youngest is still a maiden and her sister is now married 16 years. (but I see a wedding in the future...)

4. None of the children wanted to go into nursing. They were most adamant. Just didn't want to work in the medical profession...like there mother. So, Wes is an athletic trainer who works for orthopedic physicians and is a trainer and cast tech. Marianne works for Eli Lilly as a study coordinator working with physicians on a regular basis...Yep, and I'm still working as a nurse.

5. I love to travel. And though our trip to Ireland has been put on hold until next summer (we WILL be going) we plan trips to Montana and New Mexico this summer, all family related! Yeah!!

6. I love to knit and crochet. I'm working on the baby afghan for David and Kelly's new arrival in August. She will be my 4th granddaughter.

7. Finally, I really, really like the West Wing and think Martin Sheen should run for President!!!

Since I realize that nearly everyone who is reading this will have already done this MEME, I will invite those who are new to my blog to pick this up and run with it...It was great fun and hope if you do you will let me know so I can read yours.

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Thanks be to God!