Annual Patron Saint

Years ago, when we lived in Kearney, NE, I was introduced to the idea of annual patron saints. The idea is to randomly pick a saint from a pile or group; and in the coming year, you are to learn about that saint and ask them for intercession in your life. Some say that the saint chooses you.

Early in the new year (or maybe it was December), while shopping at a local Catholic bookstore, I picked out an annual patron saint at the checkout. What a wonderful project for a store to undertake...making sure their 'patron's' have a patron saint to help them through the year. The saint's name and a verse were written on a thin strip of paper. Mine was St. Helena and I'll admit that I don't know much about her, other than remembering she is credited with finding the true cross. If I could find the strip, I'd share the verse, but I can't find it. I distinctly remember Graham holding it and that I took it and put it somewhere safer. Ha!! Haven't we all done that! Anyway, I hope to share more as I learn more.

Shrine to Saint Helena at St. Peter's Basilica

Then, at our first Family Formation parent class in January, I was again given the opportunity to pick an annual patron saint from a face-down pile of cards. After asking if it was okay to have two patrons - as if I don't need more help! - I chose one for myself and my husband, who wasn't able to attend. My second patron for the year is the Infant Baby Jesus. The card showed this beautiful picture of Mary and Jesus with the following phrase and prayer:

Newborn Baby Jesus

"Today when Jesus is born and by His birth brings immeasurable joy, love and peace, I call you, in a special way to say your 'yes' to Jesus. Open your hearts so that Jesus enters into them, comes to dwell in them and starts to work through you. Only in this way will you be able to comprehend the true beauty of God's love, joy and peace." *

~Let the baby Jesus be your guide, pray that all mothers would choose life for their unborn child.

If you don't have an annual patron saint, but would like to participate, go grab a saint book. With your eyes closed, flip through the pages and just stop at some point. Consider this your 2009 annual patron saint. Live and learn with your saint over the coming year.

*From page 321 of 'The Visions of the Children: The Apparitions of the Blessed Mother at Medjugorje' By Janice T. Connell. Check here for more information on the book and author.

Crop Judging

On Saturday, Dash and Angelina will enter the realm of 4-H Crop Judging by competing in their first meet. To prepare, they've been studying weed mounts, weed seeds, crop seeds, and grading grain samples since the beginning of January.

Dad has been leading this endeavor as I've never crop judged; my closest experience would have been an Agronomy course in college. From my own experience in the class, I can tell you that judging will involve a lot of memorization and attention to detail.

I'm looking forward to seeing how the kids do at the contest. A little competition is good and at best, it will create a little motivation for self improvement.

Barley Sample

Are you a MOON mom?

The Spring-Summer-Fall mom spends quite a bit of energy trying to keep sand out of her home, but the cooped-up Winter mom lets MOON SAND into her home!

Step one: The child plays and has a great time!

Step two: The child is done playing and gets up to find MOON mom.

Step three: MOON mom starts the clean-up and realizes she forgot to sweep the floor before playing began. So once again, the MOON SAND on the floor probably shouldn't be saved. MOON mom sees the positive side and realizes that there is less MOON SAND in said home.

P.S. Let it be known that this MOON mom did not buy the MOON SAND.

What to do??

Each year, I save the best Christmas card 'fronts'. In the past, I've saved religious and non-religious themes to use for gift tags - I have a manilla envelope full of potential tags. I've used quite a few, but I must not give out enough gifts because it really doesn't seem like I've made a dent in the pile. Now, I only save the religious themed fronts; except for the snowman on a metal rim tag, that was just plain cute.

These are my picks from Christmas 2008 and 2007*, and they are beautiful. Some of them are definitely frameable. I am compelled to save them and must find a way to display them (maybe a picture here will suffice)!

*Yes, that's right, 2007. I just went through my Christmas 2007 cards! That means I moved a pile of old cards when we moved out to our new home. But, I'm done much earlier than usual with the current year.

Tote Bag Meme

Jamie tagged me; so here's the scoop on my tote bag/purse.

This is my tote/purse. It usually gets tossed on the floor beside my desk & ends up looking like this. It's a good, sturdy tote, though, and has served me well. I found it at Kohl's on sale & then used a coupon. I tend to use my purses until they fall apart, and I like it even better when I can get someone else to do the purse shopping for me (last time, my sister & mom picked out my purse). My requirements are a zippered section for personal items and that it is large enough for my wallet, checkbook and Catholic Woman's Daily Planner.

I know the picture is fuzzy, but that is because Angelina is a first time photographer on my camera. It took quite a while to get this shot & I didn't want to sit any longer! This is the corner of Angelina's newly cleaned room. We'd been working on it all afternoon. 1 black garbage bag later, the room was in tip-top shape. It seemed appropriate to take a picture. This is me, in her reading chair.

I'm usually wearing jeans. Nice solid top - yes, it is long underwear! Cuddle Duds to be exact. For those of you who live in warmer climes, this may seem strange, but long underwear can be stylish and it always keeps me warm. I do not wear this combo out of the house...

Last, but not least, notice my cup of chai tea in hand!

As far as who to tag, how about Michelle and Kimberly.

Intercession

A while ago, I was having an especially difficult time with one of my children - in every area of our relationship. On quite a few days, my mother listened patiently to my struggles and offered me encouragement and solace. After one particularly trying day, she sent me an email with a list of the following patron saints.

This is another of those lists that I paste in my dayplanner.

A few of my friends remember this time in my life and are now at a similar point with one or more of their own children. (This post is for you!) The intercession of these saints, the prayers of my mother, and a lot of forgiveness (70x7 rang in my ears often!) has finally started to heal the relationship between me and this child.

St. Thomas Aquinas – Academics
St. Ambrose – Learning
St. Nicholas of Myra – Children
St. Aloyisius Gonzaga – Youth
St. Jude – Desperate Situations
St. Gregory the Great – Teachers