Lions & Tigers & Bears

How does that saying go?
Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!!!!
A camping we will go! A camping we will go!!

And a camping we did go, over a month ago, I took some special, young friends of mine camping for a night. Nothing extravagant or fancy, but for four little kids, it was the time of their lives! And for me!! :)  My special Peter, and his brother, along with their nanny, and their two neighbor girls, all decided to go camping before school started and everything gets really busy again. I got everything prepared, and had the trunk of my vehicle packed. We picked up the kids in the afternoon, and headed to Fremont Lakes! I personally had never been to those lakes before, but have heard so many good things about them. And the kids have never camped before, or slept over somewhere without mom and dad or grandparents. So it was exciting for all of us!

These specials!! <3

We can't ever be together without a "silly" face picture!

When we arrived, we got to pick the campsite we wanted. That was fun for them! Somewhere close to the water, park, and swimming! We found the perfect spot!!

Perfect spot! We were only about 20 feet from the beautiful lake!

So peaceful!

This tent, was a little bit of a challenge... you see it's my family's tent (6-8 person tent), and to be quite honest, I haven't exactly put it up recently. So... I tried to get some advice from my sister Angela.. but we still had some trouble. As we had to make sure the #6 poles connected to the #3, which then connected to #1.. , etc.. and then somehow pull it all up together. Well... with little kids, who've never did it before, I will just say it was the biggest challenge! BUT we did it!! We got it up!! And after face-timing my sister to make sure it looked right to her, a few giggles, and a lot of sweat, we decided it was good! And the kids biggest fear never happened... the tent never fell on us!! That has to equal success, right?!?!!! :)

Home sweet Tent

So what do we do next?? Swim of course!!! Who cares about eating! We want to get our suits on and get in the lake!! It was the best! We played all sorts of games. But I think the one the kids liked the best was something they called "latch on" Two of them would grab on to us, and we would have to try to pry them off... while they tried to stay on! Let me just say, a few scratches were made. Haha! But it was still fun! So many giggles!! And the water being sooo green... that was new to them too! ;)

Playing in the sand!

Ketchup mustache!! :)

And note to self... for when I do this again, or have my own kids someday... when one takes little ones camping, grill out, etc... bring hot dogs, not brats! :) And all you moms out there that are laughing at me right now... I thought having "maple syrup" brats that tasted literally like pancakes and syrup would have been a hit. Haha! Nope! It's just plain old Oscar Meyer hot dogs that they love! :)

Then after supper... more lake time it is!! So much fun! And the sunset was beautiful!!

Thank goodness for a selfie-stick! :)

This... sunsets... will always be my favorite!! God smiling on us!

Goof Balls! ;)

:)

Love!!

:)

They love her!! 

Real life... when I mention.. "one more picture... please!!" haha!! :)

Now what they have been waiting for all night long... S'MORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And s'mores we had! Thank goodness I brought extra marshmallows and chocolate!! It was the best!! And I'm pretty sure everyone had at least 2-3. And Peter.. I think he was up to 5! :)  Perfect way to end the day! And definitely worth the sugar high right before bed! ;)

Wish I had a post picture... covered in marshmallows and chocolate everywhere! We should have gotten back in the lake to clean off! :)

And then it's time for bed. We are camping, so of course we are staying up way past bedtime hours! And as we all climb into the tent... we realize it's sooo HOT!!!  Thank goodness after we opened the windows, there was a little breeze. But it all makes for the camping experience! And as you can see from the picture, everyone is sleeping on top of their sleeping bag.. all except Peter! No matter how hot and humid it was, he wanted the full experience... inside the sleeping bag, all zipped up! :) I tried to talk him out of it, but no go. It took awhile for all to fall asleep, but eventually all scary things and missing moms all went away, and we slept! Well mostly.... minus the trains that blew their whistles every 20 mins ALL night long!! Haha!! oh well... so so worth it!!

Then, I also forgot, that no matter what time kids go to bed, they always get up at the same time the next morning!! So yes, we were up by 6:30am ready for breakfast and more lake swimming!! :)

Morning sunrsie!

Breakfast time.... donuts and orange juice! 

Looking for treasure!!!

Early morning swim!! Pretty sure we were in the water by 8am!! :)

Building a village for the ants! :)

His face says it all.. yes, it was a little chilly so early! 

I love this! ;)

So many little homes for the ants. And so much thought into how to keep the water out! :)

Finished product!! :)

Love these guys!! 

And the geese! Next to our campsite! When asked if wanted to feed them bread, "No, we want to chase them!!" Haha!! What was I thinking!! :) 

They eventually did decide to feed them, and collect feathers!

 And then... before we all pack up... "Can we have more S'mores?!?! Please!!!"  Of course!! So, started up our little charcoal grill again, and s'mores for a morning snack we had!! :)  It was the best!!

Love!!

:)

Then once home... we were pooped! So movie time it was! :)

Then a few weeks ago, one of the girls had to write a story in school. Her mom sent it to us, said she found it in her backpack. So funny what little kids remember most! What is silliest to them!! :)  Children sure keep us young and real! And just another reason of the little things meaning the most!

  

Privilege

Something short.... but I really wanted to share this. A challenge maybe, more so. As what I am about to write, made me really stop and think, and feel sad for our young.

Today I ran to HyVee to get some groceries and necessities. While in the check-out line, I asked for a book of stamps. The kind girl checking me out, didn't know if she could get them or not, so ended up asking for help. She found out, she was able to get me stamps and someone went to the customer service to get them. When the "book of stamps" was delivered to her... she looked at them, asking... "This is the book of stamps?" To her benefit, the smaller side of stamps was all she saw... eight of them. I then showed her the back, and explained, yes.. 20 stamps in a book of stamps. She couldn't believe it! $9.40 for only so few!! I said, yes, that is how much stamps cost now, 47 cents.  She said, "Wow, I thought they were still like 15 cents each." I chuckled, and said, "No, they haven't been that cheep in a long time."

When leaving the store, I couldn't help but realize... wow, our young culture is sure changing. They are losing what was so special. Sure, things change, times change. But it makes me sad to think that handwritten letters are not being sent anymore. It's all technology... emails, snaps, texts, facebook... it's all instant. Instant gratification. And not as personalized. I just ordered a book called, "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains." I'm excited, yet a little scared to read it. But I think what it will say, is true. Sometimes the hard facts are hard to swallow. Don't get me wrong... Technology is a great gift! It has helped people do incredible things. But that doesn't mean we can't change a little. Hold onto the past just a little. Sure, maybe I'm a bit old fashioned. Maybe I still remember those times when writing letters was a gift. Having a pen pal back in grade school. Getting those special letters and pictures in the mail at college, when my heart was aching with homesickness. I don't know. Maybe I'm one of the few that would so much rather have a hand written letter then a material gift. Maybe I overthink... but then again, maybe I don't. In 20 years, will these kids be able to read the real Declaration of Independence?? That is written in cursive. Will they be able to read letters their great great grandparents wrote while overseas?? It's something special, the handwritten letter. Opening the mailbox, and being surprised by getting "real" mail. The one that someone took the time to sit down, write, and address the envelope, instead of just pushing send, with a message full of acronyms. I know I'm at fault for this too... as my sisters who moved to college over a month ago, I still never sent them real mail. I'm late at sending thank yous and birthday cards out... but I promise, it's on my to-do list. I will get it done.

So I guess, all I'm asking... is with times changing, which they always will be... maybe we could be sure to teach our children and others about the importance of sending real letters. Of sending real mail. Instantaneous is something we all take advantage of, I know I do. Then I think to the "olden days" when the people would wait a week for the mail to arrive, hoping they would have a letter from a loved one states away, or I think of men fighting for our country miles and miles away, and all families could do was pray and trust. And so I think... we can't let the art of writing letters die. We have to pass it on, we have to savor their importance, their specialness. I have many letters saved in boxes, from special people, special friends, that are not longer with us. And I treasure them dearly. I have letters saved from people still living. I can't seem to let them go. Maybe I'm the odd one here, but it's something I hope I will never take for granted. And something that I hope I will never stop doing... sending mail with stamps.

I once read that it's a privilege to have someone's mailing address, because you have the ability to bring love to part of their day. I truly believe that 110%! Make a difference in someone's day. Just try it, and I guarantee you will never regret it. :)

Book Study

I may have talked about the book study I joined about a year ago at this time. It truly has been such a grace to me, to meet such amazing and incredible ladies, that have a similar love for Jesus and our Blessed Mother as I do, have same values and morals, and have the same concerns, anxieties, worries, joys, sorrows that I do. These ladies have become some very special friends to me, and we have been there for each other each week to encourage each other, to support each other, to cry with each other, and to celebrate so many joys and graces, and to laugh!! :) They have been such an incredible blessing to me!! I am so grateful to Jesus for each one of them! They have challenged me in my faith, in my daily life, and just enriched me in my Catholic faith and the importance of the friendship of women. 

We try to do our best of meeting each week for a couple hours. It usually lands on a Wednesday. We always start out going around the group of about 10 of us, talking about our "Happy, Crappy, and Grace (God) moment" for the week. It's a time we get to become vulnerable with each other, and just being true, real. I love these moments, as they not only are a beautiful way to get to know each other, but they also have helped me tremendously in realizing I am not alone. We all have struggles, sufferings, and heartbreaks. We all have joys and excitements. We all have special and simple things that make us smile. As there have been times in my past, where I have thought that there must be something wrong with me, for still feeling a certain way, but came to realize... no, there is nothing wrong with me. We all have these feelings, it is okay. And with each others help, we offer it up, and through that we become closer to Jesus. 

We then pray together. There have been times where we have even written down things we needed prayers for, and each of us were dedicated to a certain day.  So one knew that we were being prayed for on that day. How cool is that?! :) We then discuss a book we have decided to read as a group. When I first joined, we discussed parts of the bible... but in the past months, we have turned to reading some pretty great books. I wanted to share them with you, in case any sounded like something you'd want to read. I highly recommend all of them!!

1)  These Beautiful Bones by Emily Stimpson

     I loved this book! It is related to Saint John Paul II's Theology of the Body. However, this takes it on a different route, showing how we can relate the teachings to everyday life. Not just to the bedroom. It talks through seven different areas of how we can relate the teachings of Theology of the Body. These seven areas are work, spiritual parenthood, manners, well-dressed man, gift of food, prayer, and culture of distraction. Each chapter shares so much, and opened my eyes to so many ways we share our bodies with each other in everyday interaction. And how each little act means so much in so many ways. It reminded me a lot of using our bodies for sharing in the water of grace. 

   It's a great book. I will just share a few points I highlighted as reading.

"Life is about eating and drinking, dressing and cleaning, working and playing, laughing and talking, running and dancing, crying and fighting, forgiving and being forgiven. It's about thanking God and wrestling with God, falling on our knees before Him in perfect contrition and adoring Him for being with us in the midst of the whole beautiful mess. Life is about God. It's about falling in love with Him and becoming like Him so that we can be with Him forever. Life is how we become saints."  

"Without our body, we couldn't love. Nor without the body, could we receive love. That's the gift of the body. It reveals our soul to the world, enabling us to love and be loved, to create and be touched by creation." 

"We're all called to give ourselves away in love every day, to friends and family, co-workers and neighbors, even perfect strangers. We're all made to be a gift. And we become that gift by using our bodies to serve, teach, comfort, correct, feed, clothe, shelter, heal, encourage, lead, suffer, sacrifice, and pray for others." 

"More than what work we do, it's how we do our work that matters. It's how we talk to our patients, secretary, old man sweeping the hallways. It's also how we treat those who work for us and with us--with kindness, compassion, and justice. And how we show understanding and respect, how we offer criticism and guidance, how we exercise integrity, and how we make every minute of our workday a silent witness to the God we love. When we do all the rightly, we make a gift of ourselves. Also creating an environment where the people we work with can become more capable of making a gift of themselves."

There is so much goodness in this book! I highly recommend it! :)

2) A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Edward Sri

     I loved this book too. It literally walked us through every part of the Catholic Mass. Every section, every word. And explained why we say certain things, where they came from in the bible or in history of the church, and what they mean. I learned so much. Yes, I am called a "cradle catholic," born in a strong Catholic family and community. Growing up, the Catholic church is the only thing I knew. Not until I went to college, did I really start to understand other faiths, and be challenged in why I believed in my faith, in the Catholic faith. So I loved that this book, helped me understand even more in detail of the whats and whys of what we are doing and saying in Mass each time. And discussing it, gave me more of a love for the Mass. The more one thinks about it, it's pretty darn awesome how the Catholic Church has been doing the same thing for thousands of years to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus, the unending love He wants to share with us always, starting way back from the Last Supper. And my favorite thing about the Catholic Mass, is that ANYWHERE one goes... it is the same. I could be in small town Nebraska or in Rome, Italy, or in Beijing, China, and it's all the same. I might not know the language, but I know what is happening, I will be able to know when Jesus becomes alive in the Eucharist. And I think that is pretty darn incredible! :)

3) Therese, Faustina, and Bernadette by Elizabeth Ficocelli

     We are currently reading this book right now, and only to chapter 5, but love it already. It's about a women who looked to these three saints through different times in her life, to help her and grow in virtues of faith, hope, and love.  One thing so far that really stuck out to me was this, "Hope inspires us and keeps us from discouragement. It sustains us during times of abandonment and preserves us from selfishness. Hope also affords us joy, even (and especially) in moments of great trial."  After reading this, I realized I really need to pray for more hope. To ask Jesus to help me grow in this hope. Another thing, "Virtue is not just about improving ourselves and enhancing our relationship with God; it is about the powerful effect virtue can have on others." The effect on others... I love that. That every little thing we do, every little positive can make a different for others too, not just ourselves.

4) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

     I'm reading this one on my own. It was recommended to me by a few friends and a podcast. So decided to dig into it. I am half way through, and am liking it. It's about World War II, a German boy being trained by the Nazis and a blind, French girl trying to stay safe. Each chapter goes back and forth between these two individuals, so can be slightly confusing, but also keeps one well intrigued by the story. I really enjoy reading about our history, even though it's so sad at times, knowing how we treated one another, or how things like the Holocaust could have happened. I think it helps keep our eyes open to what is going on around us, and help to prevent terribleness like that happening again. And a good reminder to always keep our country, it's leaders, and the people in our prayers. 

What books have you read recently, that you would recommend. I am always looking for a good book to read. And our book study is always open to suggestions for our next read.

So, yes, I have really loved my new friends, my new companions, my new group. They are what I was looking for, praying for. And I love how God answered that. One of our books (#3) talked about the importance of women friendships. 

"I believe, as a woman, that having true female companions on our journey through life is a good thing.  In fact, I think it essential. We may be blessed with adoring husbands, loving children, supportive parents, or loyal and friendly co-workers, but those relationships are never quite the same as having a close girlfriend or network or available female companions. Girlfriends fill a need for women that other people simply cannot fill." 

Funny thing is, I met this group by my mom. She was at a study, in which two of these girls were there too. She got to talking to them, and said, "My daughter would really like you both. Could I get your email address?"  How great is that... so yes, about three months later, I randomly emailed them, and yes they remembered, invited me with them... and the rest is history. So thank you mom!! :)

"It's precisely in our relationships with others that we best experience God's love for us and best reflect that same love to others. God wants us to be people in relationship. He wants us to share our journeys with one another."

Receive My Mercy

This past Sunday, at Mass, was the gospel of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:1-32) A beautiful story of Jesus's Mercy, of His Love, of His Compassion. Whether we reflect on the message as the son returning to his Father, as the Father enveloping his son in mercy, or as the brother being angry and jealous... Jesus is just wanting us to know how very, very much He loves us. And how is is always with us, always. And asking us to please, let Him Love us!  Our priest at my church, Fr. Jeremy Hans, has some of the best homilies. So simple, yet so full of meaning. I asked him for a copy of this homily he gave, as I just thought it was so beautiful, as if Jesus was personally talking to each one of us. Hope it speaks to your heart also.

"My child, receive my mercy.
As the father longed to embrace his prodigal son, so I long to give you my mercy.  But you must receive it.
I have called you to be an instrument of my mercy, to be merciful to others, but to be that instrument of My mercy, you must first receive it.
To receive My mercy, My child, you must first know that you need it.  I know that you can see that you are not perfect, are not whole, that you have wounds, that you long for something better, for something more than you can give yourself, though you’ve tried.  Like the prodigal son, you can see that seeking things in that distant country, that land away from Me, has left you lonely, empty, tired.
To receive My mercy, My child, you must then desire My mercy.  Ask, and you shall receive. Turn to Me, take that one little step towards home, and I will come running to you.
My children, I see all the unforgiveness that goes on,  in your families, in your communities, in your lives.  I see how this holds you back, weighs you down, how it only allows you to be a fraction of who you could be.   But when you receive My mercy, then you will become a font of My mercy.  Then, you will be able to forgive.  Then you will be whole, you will be strong.  Then I will heal all your wounds.  I will heal your communities.  I will heal your country.
Open your heart to My mercy.  So many resist My mercy.  So many make excuses to not fully receive My mercy.
The prodigal son had a speech all prepared for his father.  the father wasn’t so interested in his speech as he was in the fact that his son came back to him.  My child, do not dismiss My mercy.  Do not talk yourself out of it.  Do not say it is not for you, not your thing.  Do not say you don’t really need it.  Do not say you are not good enough.  Do not say you are not worthy to receive My mercy.  Be quiet, be still.  No excuses. No rationalizing.  Just let Me pour My mercy into your heart and your soul.
My child, I am pleased that you have come here today in some way in anticipation of My mercy.  Let me love you, let me pour out my mercy upon you.  Let me clothe you in robe, ring and sandals.  Let My blood and water which flows from the depths of My heart engulf you.  Let the torrent of My mercy which flows from this altar wash you away in its warm flood.  Do not resist. Take it in, drink it in, and know My healing, know My peace, know the depths of My love for you.
My child, receive My mercy."