Let the children come to me...

Growing up Roman Catholic, it was a big adjustment to enter the Eastern tradition in the Melkite church. Many small differences were hard for me to accept at first. However, I have to say that I am SO grateful that our girls have already received their sacraments and can receive Holy Communion. Tonight, as we attended the Vigil Liturgy for Theophany, Maddie told me, "I want Jesus." She was ANXIOUS to receive Him in Holy Communion. My four year old desires to be close to God and I could not ask for more. TRULY.

May God's Spirit dwell in our girls and fill their hearts with His joy and peace. Amen.

My saint in training, wrapped in Mommy's coat at church.

A year in review

Today, I am sick...ugh...but I believe this is God's way of forcing allowing me to sit (even for one day) and reflect on the previous year. This is difficult for two reasons:

1. I am not good at sitting still. Ask anyone who knows me. In fact, it makes me anxious to sit and "do nothing." Which, in turn, defeats the purpose of "relaxing" when I am not relaxed! But, if like today, I am forced to sit still and think...

2. This constant need to move and do projects makes it a struggle to stay in a reflective mindset for long. Once I find something that needs to be worked on, I feel prompted to immediately do something about it. If, for example, I reflect that I need to lose weight and focus more on what my family eats, I jump up to start a project on a new recipe binder, complete with meal plan ideas for weeks, instead of simply logging that thought and continuing on with my reflection.

That being said, as I was looking through my pictures for this year...I wanted to share some highlights and reflect on the things that I am thankful for with you. And, in turn, I am feeling very blessed. It is so easy for me to dwell on what God has NOT blessed me with. I am glad today to think of everything HE HAS given me. Here are some blessings...month by month...that brought a smile to my face today.

January...I am thankful for my dad...who cracks pecans with our girls in his backyard and lets them eat them right then and there.

February...Grace's Valentine concert...I'm thankful for the pure joy in this picture. My amazing husband who provides for and protects us all...and our not-so-little anymore girl who is thrilled to have him in her life.

Still February...at the children's retreat at church...I'm thankful for my mom and my friends who rallied around me and really helped make this rainy day a success!

March...House blessings...I am thankful for my Bible study friends...the five of us along with Fr. Peter, our husbands, and our children, blessed all of our houses in ONE day! At each house, we ate or crafted, prayed, and sang. We talked and laughed as our caravan of 11 adults and 15 (or so... I lost count!) kids prayed all the way from south Gilbert to Scottsdale.

March/April...Our girls' birthdays! We did a very GIRLY tea party this year and a small party with just immediate family...quite a departure from my usual HUGE parties. It was very fun though! (and I'm thankful there was nothing for me to clean up!)

April...The girls received their first Communion and Chrismation!!!! They now are able to receive our Lord in Holy Communion! I am so thankful that even now, months later, they are still so excited to go up to receive Him each week.

And somewhere in there...though I don't have a picture...I celebrated my first wedding anniversary with the love of my life, Zyad. I could not be more blessed! I am thankful to have the marriage I always dreamed of.

May 2010... Speaking of that amazing man...Zyad has entered the Deacon's program for the Melkite Catholic Diocese of Newton and has begun a new journey of discernment. I am thankful for our faith!

June 2010 was our big move to the West side...I am thankful for little girls who LOVE to play outside...no matter how much (or little) they have to play with!

July 2010...Brought our annual Melkite Convention, this year it was in Seattle, WA. Z and I had wonderful time! I was elected as a member of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and am looking forward to helping our Diocese to grow. I am so thankful that we also had time to travel down to see my sister and brother in law in Portland and visit the rose gardens there. It was my first trip up to see them though they have lived there for quite a while!

August 2010...Grace started 1st grade at her new (private, Catholic!) school and we decided to keep Maddie home for "home-school" preschool. We LOVE Grace's new school, as does she, and Maddie can't wait to start this fall! I am thankful for my in-laws (especially Teta) who help us to get Grace to and from school and watch Maddie as well!

September...We celebrated Fr. Peter's 10th Anniversary of being a priest. I had so much help from those around me with creative ideas and talents! It was a perfect night and I think Father really felt appreciated! I am thankful we have such a loving, prayerful man leading our parish.

October was the All Saints Day festival and speeches at school. Grace was St. Therese of Lisieux (of course!) courtesy of my mom's sewing skills. She memorized her speech and delivered it perfectly! It was a proud moment for all of us, even her little sister! I am thankful for these memories.

November is Thanksgiving, and of course, this year would be incomplete without mentioning my joy and gratitude to God for helping my nephew, Max, to heal and grow! It was not that long ago when we weren't sure he would get the chance to play the piano with our girls! But, here he is, the most adorable, sweet boy I know! Check out his story (if you don't already know it) here.

And finally, December...family pictures that made us all look so glamorous! Plus, a perfect Christmas celebrating the birth of our Lord with so many of our loved ones around us!

Can you see now why I am BLOWN AWAY at the generosity of the Lord?! What a year we've had! I can't believe we packed it all in to just one year. I'm honestly hoping 2011 is a little less eventful. But knowing me...it won't be!

Sunday school starts back up in two weeks and I am hoping to be able to keep this page up to date with at least some of our crafts and activities. See you then!

Feast of St. Nicholas

Happy Feast of St. Nicholas! A few links to resources that I have used for this day:

This site allows you to send an email greeting with an icon of St. Nick

While this site has great ideas, stories, and crafts to do as a family and to discuss both "Santa" and St. Nick.

Still working on preparing some organized posts about preparing for the Feast of the Nativity of Christ...but wanted to at least get a few links up for this special day!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving, and I have so much to be thankful for.  But, I am especially thankful for my faith and the gift that my parents gave me raising me in the Catholic Church.  I ran across this story today of a family's conversion and I think the story is thought provoking and beautiful.  I hope you enjoy it!

I'm working on my first Lap Book ever...preparing Christmas crafts and already planning for the next holiday!  Can't wait to share with you the finished details!

The Entrance of the Mother of God to the Temple

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God to the Temple.  I found a beautiful contemplation on this subject here.

As I reflect on my thoughts about Mary, my thoughts often wander to her suffering.  She loved the Lord perfectly, always accepting His will, yet she still suffered.  She watched Him die.  Cruelly.  As a mother myself, I don't know how she could bare it.  Yet, she did.  Moreover, she did it gracefully.  And three days later, she saw the redemption of all people.

There was a time in my life of deep sadness.  I remember laying on the floor, talking to my mom, the only words that could come to my lips were, "I'm just suffering."  Sadness consumed me.  I waited, as Mary waited, to see what good God would bring from this time.  For me, it took three years, not three days, but the redemption of my broken ideas, hopes, and dreams for my family came.

A friend called me today, crying and struggling.  She is in a time in her life that is full of dealing with exhausting things.  Small children that need her constantly, in addition to all of her day to day activities feel overwhelming.  One harsh word from another just pushed her beyond her limits.  I listened and comforted her and promised I would pray for her.

But, I also asked Mary, the Mother of God, to pray for her.  She knows all too well that even when we love the Lord, we are not spared the hard times.  However, we are promised that there is more to come.

There is always more to come.here

The whole trouble is...

I don't know where to start.

My journey to this moment started with Google Reader. Really. I know that sounds like a "plug" for them, but I never followed blogs until my husband showed me how to use it! Then, I was hooked! I have truly been blessed reading about other people's lives, current events, crafty ideas, inspirational stories, and much more. I actually have to limit my time on there because I get so lost in all the posts!

Step two came in desperation looking for more ideas for my Sunday school kids and also ideas for living our Catholic faith in the home with the girls. I am not a very creative person, nor am I a very patient person. But I am good at implementing other people's ideas! Buying crafts or looking through books was tedious and expensive, but I found that I could quickly and easily (for a lot less money!) implement the crafts and activities I found online.

Step three comes from the fact that I have had a hard time finding blogs that really fit what I am doing. That is, being an active, Melkite (Byzantine) Catholic. There are lots of Roman Catholic ideas out there (love them!). I have even found some great Orthodox resources. But Eastern Catholic blogs seem to be few and far between (correct me if I'm wrong here!).

Step four. I wanted to have a place where other families like ours could come together and share ideas. A place to be inspired, as I have been, by other people's ideas and efforts to live a faithful, creative, and joyful life.

And now, here we are:

Me.

Attempting to blog. (is that a verb?)

Not sure how to begin or where to start.

I will probably share a lot of other people's ideas. And some of my own thoughts (because I have a hard time keeping my opinions to myself anyways!). I can never go too long without 'loving on' my husband and kids and telling you the funny things they do, so I'm sure that'll be here too.

So, along the way, I hope that you enjoy it, as I already am. I am excited about the opportunity to share. In the end, I hope that I end up with a beautiful record of glimpses of my family life and a great resource for families looking for simple, fun ways to live out their faith.

My Start

"The whole trouble is that -- literally -- we do not know what is good for us; and what makes the trouble still worse is that we think we do. We have our own plans for our happiness, and too often we merely regard God as somebody who will help us to accomplish them. The true state of affairs is just the opposite. God has His plans for our happiness, and He is waiting for us to help Him to accomplish them. And let us be quite clear about it: We cannot improve on God's plans."
This Tremendous Lover, M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R.