Happy Saturday! I’m catching up on a few nuggets of food for thought I’ve been stashing away until I had enough to share. En-JOY your weekends!
This is excellent advice! Teachers, parents, friends, spouses, this is a very simple yet highly effective way to apologize. I’m definitely teaching this to my kids. Oh and the first sample dialogue was almost verbatim to what I say to my kids to “make them” apologize.
Give Me Gratitude or Give Me Debt –
This is a great one. I love how she flipped her perspective and looked at her “messes” in her house as the great blessings they are instead of burdens. I have been walking around my house and trying to look at my “messes” through with a more grateful eye. If you don’t like looking at blogs that only show the “perfect” side of living, you’ll appreciate her very real and honest pictures.
How Missionary Life Has Blessed Our Family
And on that same note, here is a great post from some friends who recently sold everything – EVERYTHING – and became a missionary family in the Philippines. They share here how this has blessed their family.
Depose the Diet Demigod – This is a good reminder to keep food in it’s place. Even though I agree we should always try to eat healthy and not put real junk into our bodies, I feel like we – as an American culture especially – sometimes take the healthy eating a tad too far. Food is important, but…it’s not THE only thing that matters, it too is only a temporal good necessity.
14 Kid’s books I could read 14 times a day – A lovely little round-up of some of my friend’s favorite children’s books that are tolerably read over and over and over…
Censoring St. Thérèse 5 things you didn’t know about the Little Flower. This is a very important read about St. Therese, especially if you are prone to comparing yourself unrealistically to the lives of the Saints – or at least to what we think we know about the Saints. It is a few pages long but well worth the read. I appreciate knowing that St. Therese suffered from the same “darkness” that plagues me with my own Faith and life. Most people just assume she always believed and was never troubled with doubts but it’s not so – everyone has moments of doubt, even the greatest of the Saints. I also felt relief knowing I’m not the only who struggles with “aridity” of faith when it comes to praying the basic “rope” prayers.
“I feel then that the fervor of my Sisters makes up for my lack of fervor; but when alone (I am ashamed to admit it) the recitation of the rosary is more difficult for me than the wearing of an instrument of penance. I feel I have said this so poorly! I force myself in vain to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary; I don’t succeed in fixing my mind on them…Sometimes when my mind is in such aridity that it is impossible to draw forth one single thought to unite me with God, I very slowly recite an “Our Father” and then the “Hail Mary”; then these prayers give me great delight; they nourish my soul much more than if I had recited them precipitately a hundred times.”
And, the information about what a rotten toddler she was gives me great hope for my trying children, especially our little 4 year-old…
Elsewhere, St. Thérèse provides examples of wonderful things her mother had to say about the toddler-turned-saint. Her mother clearly loved her dearly. But, there was always the acknowledgement that this was a particularly trying child at times. Her mother wrote of St. Thérèse and her sister Celine: “My little Celine is drawn to the practice of virtue; it’s part of her nature; she is candid and has a horror of evil. As for the little imp, one doesn’t know how things will go, she is so small, so thoughtless! Her intelligence is superior to Celine’s, but she’s less gentle and has a stubborn streak in her that is almost invincible.”
Great reads Erika!