of kitties and rosaries

 

Our newest family member, Mr. Tumnus!

Or just Tumnus, as I lazily call him. He is the new baby, behaves very much like a human baby/toddler and loving to be held and petted. He has the evening active/crazy period that babies often do, racing around and occasionally having humorous clumsy moments, like leaning backwards and rolling off whatever he was laying on, or running so fast he bumps into things,  and mewing for our attention. He is not terribly aloof, quite well behaved and full of personality. He is somewhere around 14 weeks. He romps around like your usual kitten, plays with his little toys but he has one big favorite...paper. If one of us is holding a book, magazine, letter from the mail, paper towel ---watch out, because Tumnus believes all the paper in the house is his domain, and he will do his best to snatch it from our very hands. And he has. Then he will run around with it, and if very lucky, we will have left him a brown grocery bag to go into with his spoils, so he can be in paper heaven. If the book or magazine is too large to grab, he will make do with gnawing on the corners.

He also likes to sleep on shoes.

He really is a sweet kitty, doing his very best to be a model citizen (or should I say kitt-i-zen? --.no, I probably shouldn't...).  He went straight to scratching post and litter box, and eats the dry food we give him. 

On another note, I have remembered, because of the grace of God, that He is my lifeline in every situation. And here is the tangible gift He sent for us to hang on to-

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:12-13

 

 Peace to all who came by here today-

+JMJ+

Kelly

Bob's at it again! come and vote!

.http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/205246/voteable_entries/55468015






Hi Everybody!

Bob is auditioning to enter the Van Cliburn Amateur Piano Competition..This stage requires votes from the public. The winner gets to enter the contest free of charge. Otherwise, he can still enter, but for a fee. If he is chosen, he will compete in Texas in May of 2015. It's a pretty big deal!


If you would be so kind as to listen and vote for him, we would be so grateful. He is working really hard at something he loves. It would mean a lot to compete on that level.

Voting can be as much as once a day (once every 24 hours to be exact) until August 10.

If you would like to leave a comment on the voting page, we welcome them! If you want us to know it's you, please leave your name in the comment. Bob tries to respond to each one personally. 


Thanks for your kind support!

snowed under in July and a birthday party

Here are some pictures from a fun thing, my son Ben's 17th birthday.

This was the Birthday Hat, and the Birthday Shirt. Rachael made the shirt. It has some significance to a show and video game. We went with  video game as the theme. The hat was just because. One year he wore a clown tie. It hung in the coat closet pictured, and for a long time it stuck out the side, giving the impression we had a clown trapped in our closet.

So happy Dan could make it. We all miss him!
He gave Ben a new drum throne, a really nice one with a tractor style seat. His old one had broken and he was using an old kitchen chair.

Here he is opening it.

 the old style Nintendo controller cake. The Cake Boss can rest easy.

 So this was what they mostly did. You know, just to keep with the theme. We had about fifteen or so people. It was a nice day, I think Ben had fun.






It took me pretty much a full week to recover from the prep and carrying out of this, though. Sometimes I wonder why I am so easily worn out. Other times, I am pretty sure it is a stress reaction. For me, they come way after the event(s). Sort of a chickens-coming-home-to-roost effect. I can function pretty well in the moment of a crisis, and be fairly clear headed. But later, all the residual exhaustion gangs up, hunts me down, and ambushes me when I least expect it. Yes, I have a lot on my mind presently, ( I won't list it out here, I might scare myself)  but it seems it is all I can do to get through the day, and that sometimes, just barely.

Guess it is time to regroup. Again. I want to go back to daily mass. Now that I am not in school, I hope to be able to. Getting up early, once something I did easily and enjoyed, is now difficult and far from enjoyable. Some combo of stress, middle age and all its accompanying changes, and my old cross, depression are OUT TO GET ME. Oh and maybe a touch of paranoia. Haha.

Nothing God can't handle. Praying He will soon do just that!

urgent prayer request--update to the update

My grandson just fell from an 11 foot pool ladder onto his head.


Please, please pray for him.

these were taken just today.

when he first arrived at the ER

and on the way out--


I don't know everything yet, just that he has a broken collarbone.

All the prayers were VERY effective.

Thank you ♥

 here he is the next day. Guardian angel, thank you!

A good explanation of freedom and reponsibility

Archbishop Chaput

As Disciples of Christ, 'You and I Are Responsible for This Moment'

an excerpt from his homily -- given at the closing Mass for the Fortnight for Freedom, July 4 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C.

    ...The implication is clear: To be made in the image of God is more than a pious slogan. It’s a statement of fact. Every one of us shares — in a limited but real way — in the nature of God himself. When we follow Jesus Christ, we grow in conformity to that image.
Once we understand this, the impact of Christ’s response to his enemies becomes clear. Jesus isn’t being clever. He’s not offering a political commentary. He’s making a claim on every human being. He’s saying, “Render unto Caesar those things that bear Caesar’s image, but, more importantly, render unto God that which bears God’s image” — in other words, you and me. All of us.
And that raises some unsettling questions: What do you and I, and all of us, really render to God in our personal lives? If we claim to be disciples, then what does that actually mean in the way we speak and act?
Thinking about the relationship of Caesar and God, religious faith and secular authority, is important. It helps us sort through our different duties as Christians and citizens. But on a deeper level, Caesar is a creature of this world, and Christ’s message is uncompromising: We should give Caesar nothing of ourselves. Obviously, we’re in the world. That means we have obligations of charity and justice to the people with whom we share it. Patriotism is a virtue. Love of country is an honorable thing. As Chesterton once said, if we build a wall between ourselves and the world, it makes little difference whether we describe ourselves as locked in or locked out.
But God made us for more than the world. Our real home isn’t here. The point of today’s Gospel passage is not how we might calculate a fair division of goods between Caesar and God. In reality, it all belongs to God, and nothing — at least nothing permanent and important — belongs to Caesar. Why? Because just as the coin bears the stamp of Caesar’s image, we bear the stamp of God’s image in baptism. We belong to God and only to God.
In today’s second reading, St. Paul tells us, “Indeed, religion” — the RSV version says “godliness” — “with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it” (1 Timothy, 6:6-11).
True freedom knows no attachments other than Jesus Christ. It has no love of riches or the appetites they try to satisfy. True freedom can walk away from anything — wealth, honor, fame, pleasure. Even power. It fears neither the state, nor death itself.

Who is the most free person at anything? It’s the person who masters her art. A pianist is most free who — having mastered her instrument according to the rules that govern it and the rules of music and having disciplined and honed her skills — can now play anything she wants.
The same holds true for our lives. We’re free only to the extent that we unburden ourselves of our own willfulness and practice the art of living according to God’s plan. When we do this, when we choose to live according to God’s intention for us, we are then — and only then — truly free.
This is the freedom of the sons and daughters of God. It’s the freedom of Miguel Pro, Mother Teresa, Maximillian Kolbe, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and all the other holy women and men who have gone before us to do the right thing, the heroic thing, in the face of suffering and adversity.
This is the kind of freedom that can transform the world. And it should animate all of our talk about liberty — religious or otherwise.

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/as-disciples-of-christ-you-and-i-are-responsible-for-this-moment/#ixzz1zlMBEUqq

The image is my addition. I refrained from adding political cartoons because I didn't want to distract from the message. But it was tough. There are some good ones floating around. 

Aside from relating to the music reference, I appreciate the archbishop's explanation of how we can fuse living our faith and living as responsible citizens of our country.

I highly recommend reading the whole homily~

Peace~

Kelly

Fr. Euteneuer update

Article by Jen Giroux- former Executive Director of HLI America

We are Here, We are Here, We are Here!

 Our country is descending into tyranny.


There are two elements that stand out.

1. The spiritual.
The day Barack Obama was elected, I said to my husband that I believe now all Christian believers' faith is going to be tested. One choice is to go along, get along, and compromise ourselves into something that cannot be recognized as Christian. Some are doing that. Catholics for Choice comes to mind here. The other is to become firmly rooted. To learn, know and live out our faith, and if things keep going in a direction pointed directly in opposition to God and to freedom and liberty, then believers will stand out in more and more relief against the backdrop. Our call to be salt and light will be the rubber hitting the road. I didn't really want to be right about that, but in the wake of yesterday's Supreme Court ruling, I feel it all the more, times ten. We will be sifted like wheat, believers. We will either cling to God and His way, or we will not.

2. The Natural.

For all people of faith, and for all others that want to live in a free America , we must get out of bed, literally and figuratively. Wake up and see that America as we have known her is slipping away.  We have to fight for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren. We have to be an example of fortitude. And above all -- because this is the only way we can make our voice heard -- on Tuesday, November 6, we ALL get up and go vote. Every last one of us. The media would have us believe we are a small, fanatical segment of the population, like one of the *Whos in Whoville,  too small to be heard. We are not, in reality, that small, but the principle applies. To every  *JoJo out there -- if we all speak on November 6, it will be a resounding WE ARE HERE!, shouted to this administration. We must encourage every single person that their vote matters. I live in a city that is heavily democratic. But I know that my vote still matters! I live in a city where Black Panthers stood in front of a polling place with billy clubs to intimidate those that would not be likely to vote for Barack Obama. So guess what folks--that means OUR votes are worth suppressing. (a little aside -- those Black Panthers got off scot- free because a certain attorney general did not think it necessary to prosecute them.) (oh, and in my city, dems are boiling mad that people will have to show a valid ID to vote. Speaks volumes.)

You get the point.  Vote. And get everyone you know to do the same.

 *references, to those not familiar, are from Horton Hears a Who, a very prophetic story, full of spiritual truths.

the rest of the analogy is also quite apropos-

 "Rot, rot, rot rot! It's a plot, plot, plot, plot!
We’re the Wickersham Brothers. We're on to your plot.
Pretending to talk to Whos who are not.
It's a deep dyed evil political plot.
Pretending your talking to Whos who are not.

We’re the Wickersham Brothers. We’re vigilant spotters.
Hotshot spotters of rotters and plotters.
And we’re going to save our sons and our daughters -from you.
You’re a dastardly, gastardly, shnastardly schnook,
and you’re trying to brainwash our brains -with this gobbledygook!

(spoken) We know what you’re up to, pal.
You’re trying to shatter our morale.
You’re trying to stir up discontent...
(sung) And seize the reins of government.

You’re trying to throw sand in our eyes;
You're trying to kill free enterprise;
And raise the cost of figs and dates;
and wreck our compound interest rates.
And shut our schools, and steal our jewels,
And even change our football rules;
Take away our garden tools,
and lock us up in ves-ti-bules!
...But for-tu-nate-ly, we're no fools.

We’re the Wickersham brothers. We know your type!
And we're putting a stop to this trickulous tripe
We’re the Wickersham brothers; we're squashing your plot.
There'll be no more talking to Whos... who are not!

There'll be no more talking to Whos who are not!
There'll be no more talking to Whos who are not!
There'll be no more talking to Whos...
-no more talking to Whos... who are not!"