A Simple Twist of Faith

How Beautiful Are the Feet

Today's reading as we celebrate the feast of Saint Andrew the apostle:

Brothers and Sisters: If you confess with your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.  The Scripture says,

No on who believes in him will be put to shame.

There is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

But how can they call on him in whom they have not believed?  And how can they hear without someone to preach?  And how can people reach unless they are sent? As it is written,

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!

But not everyone has heeded the good news; for Isaiah says,

Lord, who has believed what was heard from us?

Thus faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.  But I ask, did they not hear?  Certainly they did;for

Their voice has gone forth to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

Romans 10:9-18

 Lord, help me be those feet.

Surfer Girl

Bumblebee and I have been busy in the kitchen again.  Today, we baked a birthday cake for one of our friend, Surfer Girl.  We're no professionals, but we were proud of our results.  More importantly, Surfer Girl really enjoyed it. 

Bumblebee hard at work!

From Death into Life Part 4

" Come Back to me"

 

Over the past several Sundays, I have been sharing my personal journey back to the practice of my faith and full communion with the Catholic Church. How I lost my faith in God, and how through God’s grace and loving care I was able to repair my relationship with God our Father and experience the loving care he has for me in my life.

Here is Part 1

Here is Part 2

Here is Part 3

and here is Part 4

Take Control of Thanksgiving

(To be honest, the following was written by my husband, Rick)

For 16 years, we have held Thanksgiving at our house for the family--sometimes nearly 20 people attend this dinner held  in a tiny 1,200 square foot house. In those 16 years, we have found our "home court advantage," per se. Here's the run-down:

First, we get organized and delegate all the difficult dishes to our family while we take care of all the easy stuff. If you are the one delegating, why not make your life easy? Believe me, if someone is delegating you to do something, it WON'T be easy--that's what we call, "home court advantage."

Secondly, this is all happening at your house. You REALLY should have to cook NOTHING because you have to set-up you home, pre-clean, and clean up afterward. Those are the biggest jobs of all and you don't need to also be doing all of the difficult cooking.

Decorating Day

I used to work retail for many years.  Even when I moved up to  the corporate offices, many times I was asked to work in the stores on Black Friday or during the Christmas shopping season.  That is not a part of my life anymore, and I was so thankful to sleep in this morning.

Today was decorating day, and it was relaxing, calm, and productive.  I forced myself to vacuum the house last night after everyone left so I could wake up to a reasonably clean house, well at least there wasn't any food on the floor.

By 9:30 am, everyone was feed, clothed, and had their teeth brushed.  Then my husband, pulled all nine Christmas decoration boxes down from the attic.  The girls and I decorated the tree with Christmas music in the background and sipping warm apple cider. Then my five year old niece came over, and played with my girls, they had a blast and I finished the rest of the job. 

I think it helped that last year I forced myself streamlined our decorations.  I have scaled it down to the Christmas tree, the snow village I have collected for years, and the Nativity set.  I used cuttings from our red berry Nandina bush to add natural greenery through the house.  I also took pictures of how my snow village was set up, so it took the guess work out of that task.

 Tomorrow, I will pull out my Christmas list and get busy, but I feel really good about today.  I think I just started a new Christmas tradition in our house:

Boycott Black Friday and establish "Decorating Day".

Baking Day

Wednesday was baking day.  My youngest daughter and I baked a pumpkin cheesecake, a chocolate tart, gingerbread, and cornbread.  She loves to help and her sturdy little hands held on tight to the mixer as I added the eggs one by one.  What a great day it was...

Thank you God.

Judge Not?

It is so tempting to judge, we, as humans, cannot help ourselves.  It stems from the first sin in the garden. Pride is at the root of this, we are all tempted to "be like gods".  One way is to see ourselves above our fellow human beings and judge them.  However, the gospel is very clear that when we condemn others, we condemn ourselves.

I know this sin quite well because frankly, I have a weakness for it...

 

       

A Little Powder...

and a little paint, makes a girl what she ain't...Saturday night, Rick and I stepped to the annual gala fundraiser for our parish's school.  I forgot my camera at home, hoping others will post pictures soon on Facebook. We had a great time talking, eatng and dancing.  So, we took pictures of ourselves when we came home. Either of us our great photographer, so here we are...

From Death into Life Part 3

" You shall cross the barren desert, but you shall not die of thrist."

  

Over the next several Sundays, I will be sharing my personal journey back to the practice of my faith and full communion with the Catholic Church. How I lost my faith in God, and how through God’s grace and loving care I was able to repair my relationship with God our Father and experience the loving care he has for me in my life. 

Here is Part 1

Here is Part 2

and here is Part 3

What's for Dinner?

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is about family, food, and fellowship.  For the past 16 years, Rick and I have hosted the holiday for his family and an occasional friend or two.  We usually have between 10-15 people, and everyone brings something so it is not too overwhelming for one person.

This year, I am planning to make:

Alton Brown's Good Eats Roasted Turkey

Paula Deen's Green Bean Casserole

Barefoot Contessa'sSausage and Herb Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes, courtesy of my FIL and his new bride

Sweet Potato Casserole & yeast rolls, courtesy of my SIL and her husband

Overnight Salad & a relish tray, courtesy of my niece and her husband

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Chocolate Tart

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?