One of God’s Greatest Gifts

A Mother.

On Presidents Day my mom finally ended her battle with cancer.  God called her back home and now she can sing His praises with the angels.

While I was home last week, we had a chance to visit with our parish priest who was to celebrate her funeral mass.  One thing he said to us, which I have thought a lot about in the time since, is how my mother’s life (and all our lives) is a gift.  God gives us the gift of life and the gift of those who are close to us and then when he calls us back we must give that life back to Him as a gift.  Our lives have never belonged to us and we can only hope that we give God glory in the short time we have here on earth.

This has given me a lot of peace in the last few days as I think of all the times to come when I know I will miss my mom being here on earth. 

I want to thank everyone who has sent their sympathies and offered prayers for my mom and our family. 

Our Blessed Mother Teresa

Today was the day that all the little kids went in to Tyler’s office for some ‘trick-or-treating’ All Saints style.

If you remember from a few weeks ago, I shared that I had been working on Marie's costume. Thankfully I finished it up this morning and I think she ended up looking pretty cute!

The kids went from cubicle to cubicle collecting their candy. Marie was so sacrificial and decided to give hers to the poor :)

But we kept catching her trying to sneak a few for herself!

On the way around the office we ran into another Mother Teresa (Miss Cynthia) who organized the whole event.

The employees were encouraged to dress up as saints or figures from the Bible as well. 

Tyler informed me of this yesterday morning.  He wanted to dress up as St. Joseph of Cupertino (his patron saint).  I went to the thrift store hoping to find some brown fabric or sheet to use as a robe. But I had no success. So I went to Target and bought a king sized flat sheet and crossed my fingers that I could turn it into something that somewhat resembled a monk’s robe.

I’m happy to say that with a few hours of labor it turned out looking pretty good!

By the end, Marie was getting pretty tired and cranky.  As we put her in the car for the drive home we gave her a bite sized Hershey bar (in the wrapper) to play with and gnaw on.  Since she had been doing this for the last 30 minutes or so I didn’t think it would do any harm… until half way home when I could smell chocolate from the backseat.

I knew that the wrapper had burst and was sure Marie would be a mess by the time we got home.

This is how I found her…

… lesson learned!

Have a great Halloween and All Saints Day!

A Costume in the Works

I started sewing a costume for Marie today, and since this is my first attempt at costume making I wanted to keep it pretty simple.

I’m not sure if we will be taking her trick or treating this year, but Tyler’s office is letting all the little tykes come in on All Saints Day (Nov. 1st) to get candy from everyone’s desk.  I thought it sounded pretty cute.

The only stipulation – they have to come dressed as either a saint or a figure from the Bible.

Can you guess what Marie will be?

I’ll give you a clue – lots of white fabric and blue ribbon – that pretty much sums it up.

Ok, ok so some of you may say that Blessed Mother Teresa isn’t a saint yet… well give me a break!  She’s close enough and her outfit seemed like the easiest one by far!

I only have a few more yards of ribbon to sew and this little costume is done.  I’ll be sure to show our little Mother Teresa all dressed up with her candy loot that we are looking forward to eating for her!

It’s My Feast Day!

It's St. Therese's feast day today and I'm so excited because that means it's my feast day! 

I was confirmed when I was 14 and since I was joining the Church at the same time it's safe to say I didn't know a whole lot about Church history - or saints.  So when I had to pick a saint name for my confirmation name I was clueless.  I asked my dad if he knew of any good saints (silly question, now that I think about it) and he told me he really liked St.  Therese and gave me a book about her to read.

I don't know if I was being lazy or just led to choose her as my saint, but I didn't look any further.  I'm not even sure if I read five pages of the book!

It hasn't been until the last few years that I have really learned about and grown to love St. Therese and her 'Little Way'.  I have read many books written about her and continue to be drawn to the simplicity of her devotion and sacrifices.

"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me.  The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."

I hope you all have a blessed day!