Greetings, April!

Lent has flown by this year…hard to believe less than two weeks left!! I’m working on putting together fun Easter baskets for Stephen and Monica! Any suggestions?

This weekend was some of the best quality time Stephen and I have had in a while, although Stephen had to work until Saturday morning. As I’ve mentioned, he has been working a lot recently and this has definitely taken a toll on family time. This, combined with travel and visitors has made time together quite hard to come by. This weekend we had nothing planned other than Mass Saturday and Sunday which meant we were able to just hang out for the first time in weeks. It was so appreciated and much needed.

How was your weekend?

Here are my five things:

END TABLE

This has been a long time coming. Since we moved in a year ago (!!!), we’ve been missing an end table next to our couch. This meant that our lamp has been sitting on the floor, often with a pile of books next to it, looking very dorm-esque. This weekend we went to another antique store where we finally found the right sized and decently priced end table, it’s a pretty dark wood and even has a drawer. The living room looks a million times better now (IMO) and I so glad to have this piece off my list.

COOKIE BUTTER

Reason #4,658 to love Trader Joe’s. This stuff is too good. We made crepes yesterday for brunch and the cookie butter on them was just delicious. Really you can put it on anything or eat it straight out of the jar (I won’t judge). I highly recommend giving a jar of this a try if you haven’t already.

FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION

This weekend, our priest reminded us of the First Saturday Devotion. This goes back to the Apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima. She talked a lot about the dangers of Communism and how to prevent the spread of this poisonous ideology. She requested two things: Consecrating Ukraine and Russia to her Immaculate Heart, as well as the First Saturday Devotion, also known as an Act of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary which includes going to Confession and Mass Saturday mornings, receiving Communion, and saying a Rosary. With everything that is going on in Eastern Europe, I was glad to hear that this is something I can do to potentially help the situation.

A SONG FOR LENT

One of my favorite parts about Lent is doing the Stations of the Cross. Obviously you can do them whenever you want, but I love doing them in a church with a group of people like we do on Friday’s during Lent. Something about it just seems so beautiful and so appropriate for this season. This song is by one of my favorite singers/songwriters and it’s about the 13th station: Jesus is taken down from the cross. It is written from Mary’s point of view which I absolutely love. I recommend doing the Stations this Friday or saying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary and then listening to this song.

INTERIOR PEACE

Something that has been on my heart recently has been this idea of being at peace. I find that I’m very drawn to those who are deeply at peace with themselves. Not in the sense that they are oblivious and/or don’t care about their faults and imperfections, but a type of peace that is accepting without pride or a false idea of who you really are. This isn’t about being ‘zen’, or doing some more meditation/yoga…it’s about finding your identity in God and acting in accordance with that reality. Jordan Peterson phrases it well: “You’re a child of God, act like it.” It takes courage and discipline to act in a way that truly reflects this, instead of acting how we know people expect us to act—or even reacting to the way we think of ourselves. I think we are all called to this type of peace, but it takes time and effort to come by. Reading Searching for and Maintaining Peace has helped me understand this idea, and I want to keep learning.

And that’s all for me today!

Cheers,

Miranda