Ice Cream & a Bible Study

This weekend I made two gallons (actually I'm not sure if it's exactly one gallon) but I made two big containers of homemade ice-cream! We love it - it's so fresh with all the best ingredients.  Especially the strawberry -- amazing! I used sweet, fresh strawberries, hulled and chopped up. It makes the best ice-cream!

I also made 'smores! {with marshmallow cream, graham crackers, and chocolate}

I love to have all kinds of homemade treats on hand and ready to go whenever I need them for something like this:

I did a 'birthday tea' bible study with Abigail on a busy Tuesday evening in between loads of laundry and me writing report cards and her writing a paper for a lit class. 

Not everything needs to be pretty. It just have to have love. I can reach the heart of my daughter and guide her in the direction of God and love of Jesus on a full table with notebooks and report cards. 

That's why I love to have homemade treats on hand -- instant bible study/tea party!

I did decide to hold on a birthday gift from last week. I saved it for her birthday 'tea party' bible study which was actually a homemade ice-cream party. 

Thoughts on Remembering

I read in my devotional today, 

"Thanksgiving is intimately tied to remembering. If you can't remember what someone has done for you, how can you be thankful? The Bible uses various forms of the word remember more than 150 times, and very often the idea of remembering is tied to thanking God."

"Why all the reminders? Because, quite simply, people forget. And when they forget or don't notice, they tend to whine or complain." 

"The Israelites forgot again and aging about God's faithfulness and His plans for them, and they complained a lot. We all do." 

~ Mom Heart Moments, Sally Clarkson 

 This reminded me so much of the feelings and the 'why' I blog. I blog for remembering. I don't blog to share my opinions, my 'how to be', right ways to live. We all make our own choices. 

So many times I can feel God's presence and touch in my heart. So many days, or moments are filled with his graces pouring out on me, and I know it because I can feel it. But then there are days that I don't feel that. But in the remembering I can look back and know that he is there; he has always been faithful. 

He has been faithful through the fun and silly times. 

He has been faithful through the worried seasons that seemed like years. 

He has been faithful through the waiting times. 

Always there. Always faithful. 

Remembering reminds me. 

"When it comes to God's work in our lives, we fall so easily into spiritual amnesia. This is why from time to time we need to stop the busyness in our lives and remember. Even better, we need to create reminders of God's faithfulness." 

And so I blog. 

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Other posts you might like on remembering and God's faithfulness: 

We Planted the Seeds

Blooming 

Blooming

There is so much of life that has changed. It just whizzes by. Those thirteen magical years I was home -- those baby, toddler, elementary school, middle school thirteen years I thought would last forever. Try as I could, I just could not let those days stay forever. They slipped through my hands. I adored those thirteen years but I'm hear to say that T H E S E years are just a formative -- just as mentoring -- just as sweet and important. 

(2015)

Like the past two evenings; my phone call with Anna in college. We talk every night. Mostly longer on the weekends we I can really sit down and listen carefully without the worry of time and so much to do on a weeknight. But always we talk. Most of the weeknights in our home are hustling. There's cooking, laundry, cleaning, school work (for all three of us), and all of the other things of course that we all do. But in a limited amount of time (gosh, I sure do fit in a lot from 4:15 (ish) til I fall asleep) Anna conversations just join our full nights. She's often on speaker phone while dishes clatter in the background, while I fold laundry and run to put another load in the dryer, etc. It's happy, and full and she fills me in. I get to hear her voice and all is well. 

But once in a while, like last night and tonight she shares a piece of her heart in a way that God has been leading her and it stops me. All those years. All those years pouring, mentoring over cups of tea and cookies. All those Bible verse read, hearts shared, Masses attended... somehow I get to hear that it sunk in. That she believes. That she's using her faith in her daily life. That she loves the Lord and wants His presence in her life. That she's listening. 

Last night so much of our talk was about social media and how we both gave it up for Lent and how fruitful it was and still is now. She shared some powerful things with me and how God used Lent to teach her. So beautiful. 

Tonight we were just chatting about some things that were bugging her. Not a big deal, just little annoyances. After we hung up she called back (we were all sitting down to dinner) and she told me she didn't like the way she felt when we were done. We reassured her it was okay to share her feelings. We happened to be in the middle of our family devotional time. (I read the daily readings from Mass each night at dinner along with a devotional that goes along with it) And somehow among a big pot of soup and yummy bread the reading today reached her heart in a beautiful way. I wished she was physically around our table sharing our dinner with us, but so grateful I could still reach her heart. 

Love this reading: 

1 Peter 5

Beloved: Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: 

God opposes the proud

but he bestows favor on the humble. 

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all of your worries upon him because he cares for you. 

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith...

The devotional talked about how when Mark wrote the gospel he included the part of Peter's life that were not perfect. You would think that Mark would steer clear of those stories out of reverence for Peter. But Peter wanted them in Mark's gospel. Maybe so we could see that he struggled to believe. How he slipped up. How regular life was not perfect for him. 

So much of life is not perfect. So much can be 'slip ups'. But I'm just so grateful to witness that all those hours, all that love, all those 'pouring in' mattered. Where I held onto faith -- my tiny mustard seed planted in Anna became great faith. 

This year, 2023, the cherry tree pictures without Anna here. This Anna tree bloomed even with her away. And it's a reminder -- the sweetest reminder that I get to be a witness to God's glory unfolding - unfolding in the heart of my daughter. 

Because I held on to my beliefs. 

Because I never let my ideals go. 

Because I prayed. 

I was not perfect all those years -- but I believe that God used the little I had and multiplied it. 

Just This...

(music first)  

... just this place.

I love this place so much. A little corner tucked away in our living room. Not a fancy place. Not a fancy picture. 

I wonder how many, just how many hours,

how many prayers

how many longings

how many verses written out

how many pages turned

in my Bible time. 

Countless

I have no idea where my family would be without those hours pouring out to God, learning from His Word. 

I have no idea where my lovely, we are still in love, marriage would be without day after day there, year after year after year after year would be

I have no idea where my beautiful, strong, wonderful Chinese daughter would be without my years there

I have no idea with my fun, loving, compassionate teenage daughter would be without her mama pouring her heart out here her whole life long. 

I never want to know. I will meet with God there every single day I am alive. 

Pointing my heart to Him. 

Pouring out to Him. 

Loving and worshiping Him. 

Being held by Him. 

Praise God from whom all blessings flow... 

July & August Prayer Table

Oh boy! I never meant to skip a month of changing up this prayer table area but somehow I must have because of the flurry of vacation and such. 

I always want to remember the sweet and very simple place I created for the rosary. 

My morning time, my Bible time, my devotional time, my study time is at my desk in the living room. 

The prayer table at the top of the stairs is just a simple place purposely NOT filled with devotionals, study books, the Bible. Just a place to pray the rosary and quiet my soul. 

Here are a few things I love on the table this month/s : 

I love this new to me rosary - the heaviness of the beads, the color, the size. 

I love this new statue of Mary and how Jesus is reaching up and touching her face. 

(This is part of a seasonal collection I found - this of course being the summer one) 

During the day light is the best. Since I'm home this summer I can find the time during the day. During the school year it's evening for me here. I love how the sunlight pours in in the afternoon. 

And that's it for July and August - I'm pondering what to place here for September. I know that month (and May) are my busiest months of the year (ok, well December too) so I know I'll need this space to pull me close. I know that my busy months it is of dire importance to be here, to slow my thoughts. I want to put some thought into this space for the upcoming month. Pondering... 

 

Visiting the National Shrine of Devine Mercy

Oh my stars -- this is such a holy place and we were so blessed to have found this place. 

On this quick, one night, beginning of summer, get-away to the Berkshires (post back here) (and here), 

I found some information on this beautiful place. 

It is called the National Shrine of Devine Mercy (website here) and stepping on to these grounds brought me instantly back to 21 year old Tara who in college made a summer pilgrimage to Denver, CO for World Youth Day. 

On our pilgrimage we drove from Danbury, CT all the way out to CO and our bus stopped at every single shrine along the way. 

Some times the priests at the shrine would open up a large area for sleeping and eating. We traveled in huge groups and our sleeping arrangements were often the floor of Catholic school gyms or those in a parish that would spencer a small group of us. It was a a wild and holy journey, one that shaped me into who I am today. One of these days I will dig out my photos and put together a blog post on that amazing experience -- one day -- but for now our day at the National Shrine of Devine Mercy... 

Although it wasn't a sunny day, we had the Shrine all to ourselves so it actually felt more holy to us. 

The backdrop was spectacular! (that is Scott way down there on the lawn) 

They have Mass on the weekends in this outdoor area. That would be spectacular -- another time for sure! 

I know in our time there that we didn't discover everything -- it is enormous but we did find some areas that were pretty amazing. I love this photo below with that huge old tree sheltering this one area. 

Inside, candle for intentions and a statue of the Holy Family. 

We took our time and looked at everything within walking distance. 

 This is the statue of Jesus's grandparents:

And then we entered the church -- the actual shrine (of Devine Mercy) 

We were the only ones there and we couldn't believe that we were able to be in such a holy place. My heart we so full of World Youth Day (1993) memories of visiting holy ground like this. We just sat in the pews and prayed for our little family and all of our intentions. It was really powerful (and hard to put into words) 

That painting (Devine Mercy) I had been reading about lately and it was beautiful right above the tabernacle. (a bit of the history is here) 

I couldn't get enough of the beauty of this place. 

Honestly, just when I thought it couldn't get any better I turned the corner (there were several smaller shines to certain saints) and I saw this. 

My eyes filled with tears as I couldn't believe my eyes... a shrine to Saint John Paul II. 

He was Pope John Paul II when I traveled on my pilgrimage in 1993, a college student. I was at the Mass he presided over with over 800,000 youth from around the world. 

There are really no words to describe my feelings except to say that I have a deep love and admiration for this saint. He will always be special to me. 

In never thought it could be any more but there was! 

Saint John Paul II, rosary and his Papal cap. Oh my! 

By the time we finished visiting and praying the bookstore closed so we drove back the next day (it was actually on our way) and shopped. I brought home some really unique books and a few other things. 

I am so grateful that we found this place and that we were able to share it together. 

We will be back again! 

June Prayer Table and Answer to Prayer

I can't believe that we are half way through the year. I started this idea of a prayer table / home alter back in January and it has been such a blessing to me and my family. 

I take great comfort in praying the Blessed Rosary each evening -- often my girls joining me. 

This month of June I also prayed a Novena (nine days of a devoted prayer time) to Saint Lucy, patron saint of eye disorders. I had been struggling with some irritating eye issues for several years, recently getting quite worse with no medications being able to help me. 

In April I began working with a doctor who is devoted to getting to the root of the problem and using a unique therapy to help the glands around my eyes begin to function again. It has been quite a painful (and expensive) and time consuming procedure but all of a sudden after the fourth procedure my eyes completely worked. I am not sure the relief is here to stay but I attribute it to my prayers to the Blessed Mother and to Saint Lucy. {and of course to this amazing doctor} I praise God each day that my eyes are fully functioning the way they are supposed to. 

Here is a look back at half of the year of prayer tables. 

January

February

March

April

May 

May Prayer Table

This little space upstairs, just down the hall has been such a gift to me during a very full season of my life. May is like that; well from about May 15 - June 15 is that time for me. 

Both in education. And of course both of our girls are on a school schedule and it often leaves us excited about summer break coming up but some exhaustion thrown in too. 

I have been praying the Rosary every night I so love this book for its paintings and reflections. The Rosary brings me to a place of peace and calm. It centers me and helps to take my mind off of some small health issues I've been dealing with. It helps me take my mind off the end of the school year. Focusing on the Mysteries has been a gift. 

I change it out each month. I try to put an few new things each month buy yet keep it simple. May had me using this French wooden Rosary and a heart marble dish to keep it in.

I love this spring Madonna statue and how she is cradling Jesus so tenderly in her arms. 

This week I am recommending this book: 

Sunday Ponderings ~ Holy Week

 All glory, laud, and honor

To you, Redeemer, King!

To whom the lips of children 

Made sweet hosannas ring. 

You are the Kind of Israel, and David's royal Son,

Now in the Lord's Name coming, Our Kind and Blessed One. 

All glory, laud, and honor

To you, Redeemer, King!

To whom the lips of children 

Made sweet hosannas ring. 

The company of angels 

Are praising you on high;

And mortals, joined with all things Created make reply. 

All glory, laud, and honor

To you, Redeemer, King!

To whom the lips of children 

Made sweet hosannas ring. 

Their praises you accepted, 

Accept the prayer we bring, 

Great source of love and goodness, Our savior and our King. 

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Oh how I love that hymn on Palm Sunday. 

And how I love this week. 

I am so grateful that we have no school and that our break lined up with Holy Week for I would have a hard time reflecting this week and being in prayer in the midst of teaching. 

This week we will study the lives of the saints, 

attend Confession, 

and Adoration of the Eucharist. 

I will spend less time on line reading others views of Holy Week (although I've often been in awe and inspired by Catholic accounts I follow) and instead listen to my own heart and what God would want to teach me this week. 

I will keep a song in my heart and a prayer on my lips. 

I will say the Holy Rosary each day reflecting on the Sorrowful Mysteries. 

And above all I will be grateful, so grateful for Jesus's love for me. 

This is Abigail at our church today. 

And this is a little clip Anna sent me outside her church on campus as they began Mass outside and processed in. 

This week I recommend this book: 

When I first got this book I read it cover to cover. Now it is out on my nightstand as a reference book. I love it for the simple prayers: 

Lord Jesus Christ, 

Son of God, 

Have Mercy on Me a Sinner