A Simple Twist of Faith

Shepherd Me, O God

I have been suffering from a severe case of self-pity. I have a cold that has turned into a sinus infection leaving me cranky, and exhausted.  All around my house are piles of stuff; unfolded laundry, home schooling supplies, library books, and in box overflowing with papers.  I have neither the energy or the motivation to deal with them yet the sight of this disorder drives me to distraction. 

This morning I went to the bible study with an uncomfortable feeling  that I  did not adequately prepare the lesson.  The conversation was revolving the memory verse of the week, John 9:3 ,

 "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him." 

It was then when one of the Moms shared a story.  The night before she had been in a hospital waiting room with friends who had to make the heartbreaking decision to take their four month old son off a respirator.  My friend, with tears in her eyes, spoke how this baby with a rare  lung ailment was perfect in the eyes of God.  God was calling him home.  This child like the blind man had not sinned, but suffered so the works of God might be manifest in him. The faith in God this family had to endure this suffering made me pause and think of my own situation. 

I need a little escape...

Last week was full of laughter, sightseeing, and family with my sister-in-law and her family visiting our home.  We had a great time, but all that activity wore me out!   

This week sickness reigns at A Simple Twist of Faith.  I have a nasty head cold I cannot shake, and now my oldest daughter has it too.  Old Man Winter has decided to stick around in Tidewater Virginia, and we had a hard frost two nights in a row, and we live in Zone 8! Tomorrow will be more driving cold rain, and thunderstorms.

 

 

The Woman at the Well

from today's gospel:

"Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

Isn't it interesting that, Jesus chose this woman who had had five husbands, and now was living with a man who was not her husband to be the first to share the good news  and not Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin?  

The Samaritan woman was the first person to whom Jesus revealed himself as Messiah in the Gospel of John.  She became the first evangelist with spreading the gospel to the Samaritans so they could say:

“We have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

Sing it Mahalia Jackson!

 

 

 

 

Grace, Justice & Mercy

"Grace is getting what we don't deserve.
Justice is getting what we do deserve.
Mercy is not getting what we we deserve!"

Come & See Catholic Bible Study: Gospel of John

Chapter 8 

Project Simplify: Kids Toys

It's Friday, and I am participating in the third week of Project Simplify hosted by Tsh at Simple Mom.  This week's challenge was KIDS CLOTHES & TOYS.

 

This week was spring break for my eleven year old nephew, and we played host to him, and his family.  We had a great time and to check out our adventures, please click here.

In preparation for their visit, I cleaned our house including our girl's playroom.  I was able to rid it of many outgrown or unused toys.  My girls went through it a couple weeks before and sorted out what they wanted donate into a few large boxes. Then I placed them in the guest room and waited to see if they would miss anything.  Amazingly, they did not.  Last weekend, my husband took the girls to a birthday party.  I was able to clean the rest of the house and I felt so good when I dropped about six bags off at the Salvation Army.   

Here are the "Before" and "After" shots.

40 Bags in 40 Days

Instead of having a garage sale, I have decided to join my friend, Carmen, and participate in 40 Bags in 40 Days challenge hosted by Clover Lane as part my Lenten journey.  Less is more, and I think some old-fashioned spring cleaning is good for the soul too. 

Will you join me in the challenge?

Candy Godmother & Ice Cream Godfather

This week we played host to my sister-in-law and her family.  She and my brother-in-law are godparents to both of our daughters.  We have been having a wonderful time with them and their eleven year old son. They have been spoiling my girls so much, my five year old gave them new nicknames:

Candy Godmother and Ice Cream Godfather

Here's a few pics from the week...it sure went by fast! We will miss them all. 

Lost Boys...Lost Girls of Asia

My husband shared with me this article from the Independent entitled Abortions give rise to Asia's 'Lost Boy' Generation which he first read at The Deacon's Bench.  I thought would share it with you.  As many of you know our oldest daughter was adopted from an orphanage in Guangdong Province, China.  Lost boys, yes, but what of all the lost girls?

Please read the article and tell me what you think...

Happy Adoption Day, Bumblebee!

Friday, March 18th, we celebrated the first anniversary of the official adoption day of our youngest daughter, Bumblebee.  I say "official"  because she was adopted in our hearts and was our daughter in our souls long before the courts made their final order.

 

Project Simplify: Paper Clutter

Welcome to Week 2 of Project Simplify hosted by Tsh at Simple Mom. This week's hot spot is PAPER CLUTTER.

Let me say, this is my pet peeve, PAPER CLUTTER!  I cannot stand it! When my husband and I first started dating, I looked in horror at his dining room table.  It was piled high with junk mail, bills, magazines.  Yikes!  Now, here is my husband's IN box. Note how small it is.

I consider this a victory!  It is contained, I am satisfied.

This is my "IN" Box.  I dump everything I need to review in the wicker basket.  I TRY to clean it out at least once a week. If it doesn't fit, it gets placed next to it.   Most of the incoming paper is junk mail for us.  Last spring, when I first started staying home, I went through all of our bills and charitable giving, and requested the on-line paperless billing option.  Not only did this reduce the mail coming into our house, it also helped with the monthly budgeting.  Still, there is plenty of paper that comes into our house.  However, now most of it does not even make it to this basket, it is dumped into the recycling bin stationed near by.  

However, our biggest challenge in the war against paper clutter, are the papers from our children.  We  home school, so there is paper, paper, everywhere.  Worksheets, reports, coloring pages, assessments, craft projects, art work, the list goes on... and on.  I initially established a cubby system, with binders for each school subject.  The system works well, however, it still takes time to sort out the papers, hole punch them, and place them in the respective binders.  Some weeks, are organized and some weeks the task just gets away from me.  So, our home schooling storage area starts looking like this:

40 Words:Let's Pick Them Up

Last night, I shared the 40 words I will lay down during Lent. 

Here are the 40 Words, I will pick up.  How about you? 

For more inspiration, please visit my friend, Bridget at The Ivey League.   

Peaceful, calmness, happiness, patience

Trust, hope, joy

Generosity, Friendship, Security

Balanced,Approachable, Engaged

Selflessness, Community, Service

Compassionate, Caring, Encouraging

Courage, Strength, Peace of Mind

Fortitude, Reverence (Fear of God), Wonder, Gratitude

Focused, Organized, Energetic

Honesty, Integrity, Fairness

Obedience, Willingness, Humility 

Charity, Fraternity,Unity

But the greatest of these is Love