“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
Our youngest son celebrated a birthday recently.
And both Cuppycake & I were so very grateful he invited us to share this special day with him.
(At least we were invited to parts of it!)
Whenever we are together there are so many smiles to go around it is like a bathtub filled with bubbles! And always one must check themselves at the end of the night to remember & take their smile off at the departure door. I’ve caught myself, on occassion, wearing the same smile hours after we’ve left him! (Removing a frozen smile can be a painful experience, although who can complain?)
I decided however, this time as we said our good-byes, to leave the smile in place for the Monday giggles which were just around the corner!
So today I dedicate these special giggles to my tender-hearted-little-boy-now-turned-creative-young-adult-man and thank him for all the smiles he so generously provides to all whom he meets!
My dear son,
in honor of the bubbles you chase & those you create…
I feel so blessed God gifted you to our family!
Never sing in the bath! Singing leads to dancing. Dancing leads to slipping. Slipping leads to falling. Falling leads to Paramedics coming and seeing you have no dance-moves. So, don’t sing in the bath!
The following bath bomb products were created by our son & his business partner, who recently started providing these lovely products to others through their company,
Helen, (the best golden-retreiver in the Universe) & I were just fortunate enough to be included in our Diocesean Faith Magazine along with her!!!
Faith Magazine of the Erie Catholic Diocese, the largest family publication in Northwest Pennsylvania, contacted us for an interview…and today the April edition was released with Helen & I in it!
FAITH Magazine was introduced in January 2005 by then-Bishop Donald Trautman. Today, Bishop Lawrence Persico serves as publisher of the award-winning magazine. All 62,000 Catholic households registered in parishes throughout the diocese receive the magazine, free of charge, every other month as part of a major restructuring of evangelization and communications strategies. Bishop Persico and the local parishes are committed to reaching out to every Catholic home with FAITH Magazine because they want to remind us that we belong to something — our local parish; and we belong to someone — Jesus Christ.
Why did the Diocese of Erie commit to FAITH Magazine?
Many Catholics attend Mass weekly and are active participants in their parishes. At the same time, a growing number of busy families and individuals find themselves participating in the life of the church less and less. Still others may have had a negative experience, become lukewarm or fallen away altogether. FAITH Magazine was created to reach out to all Catholics with stories of inspiration. The magazine is also designed as a formation tool, providing answers to common questions as well as a glimpse of international, national and local news.
The Diocese of Erie was the third diocese to affiliate with FAITH Magazine first published in the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan in 2000. Today that number has grown to more than two dozen dioceses and institutions! You will find that the major feature stories, as well as local news stories, are based in the Diocese of Erie. FAITH Magazine is part of the diocese’s answer to Pope John Paul II’s call for a “new evangelization.” The magazine is designed to touch the hearts of people both within and outside of the faith.
I have never been shy regarding my devotion to the Divine Mercy. And I truly enjoy cyber-journaling about my personal experience of growing closer to God as a result of this devotion. I usually dedicate any journaling I do on Wednsedays to this topic, which you can easily find under the Divine Mercy heading of my toolbar. However, I was completely surprised & humbled when asked to participate in a publication sharing tangible ways to explore mercy more fully.
When Anne-Marie Welsh, editor of the magazine, interviewed me for the article I had not anticipated just how much JOY would leap out from inside of me, as we spoke of St. Faustina! I felt like a giddy-school-girl introducing her new BFF from summer camp to the friends I already knew well! Jesus said to St. Faustina: “Let no sinner be afraid to approach Me.” And by the grace of God, THAT IS NOW ME!!!
In Faustina’s “Diary,” Jesus invites each one of us to yield to His infinite mercy, to trust in His compassion and forgiveness. Great graces are promised to all those who proclaim His great mercy. And so it is, that I am resting in the peace which comes from trusting His unwavering love for me as I strive to know, to love, and to serve Him, despite my human inclination of falling into sin.
“I shall protect them Myself at the hour of death, as My own glory. And even if the sins of the soul are as dark as night, when the sinner turns to My mercy, he renders Me the greatest praise, and becomes the glory of My Passion. When a soul praises My goodness, Satan trembles before it and flees to the very bottom of hell” (Diary, 378).
One of the many things I have discovered, through reading the Diary of St. Faustina, is that the simple message of mercy is this:
That God loves us, all of us,no matter how great our sins!
He wants us to turn to Him so that He may bless us,
He wants us to recognize His mercy, andallow it to flow through us to others.
(As St. Faustina did.)
In this way, all will come to share in His joy!
God wants us to approach Him.
We need only repent of our sins and ask for His Mercy.
Are you ready to completely Trust?
God wants us to know the graces of His mercy,
which are merely dependent upon our trust in Him.
Jesus, I trust in you!
Will you?
Divine Mercy Sunday, St. Joseph/BOL Erie, Pa
You never know…youmay be in a publication with Helen one day too!!
Auto-Paw-Graphs given on request!
hugs n’ blessings to all those who are trusting in Him!
“Lucy the Lamb, will you give me a hand? I need to remind her it’s cookie baking time!”
Tip-toe,
Tip-toe.
“Excuse me but we have something to say, ‘Did you forget Cookie-Baking Day?‘”
No, Helen & Lucy, I did not forget!!! I’ve just been busy with bridal showers and wedding duties and lent and stitches and stuff. But let’s not delay any longer…
Won’t you please help me to pick what we shall bake this month?
And so it shall be:
Lemony ‘Lucy’ Sugar Cookies
2 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract
Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and lemon extract; mix well. Gradually stir in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.
Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight until firm.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place on greased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice
3 to 4 drops Assorted Food Colors or Egg Dye
For the Icing, mix all ingredients except food colors. (Stir in additional lemon juice as needed to thin icing or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, if needed.) Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired. Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.
nibble, nibble, nibble…
crumbs on the plate.
nibble, nibble, nibble…
it’s almost too late!
Hurry-Up!
Or you’ll miss the last bite
of something that is great!
The perfect thing to do at the end of Cookie Baking Day…lie down with the lamb.
“There is within you a lamb & a lion. Spiritual maturity is the ability to let the lamb & the lion lie down together. ” Henry Nouwen
hugsnblessings 