I LOVE your drawing! Kate Post #1

I want to write to you, and I will tell you why:  I  LOVE the emotion you draw into your drawings!  

I'll write to you on this blog since I don't want to clutter your inbox (though I'll clutter your bookshelf once I publish all the letter/blogs I'll write you!).

Plus, I enjoy seeing your use of colors,

of seeing so many different expressions, 

seeing many poses,

(Oh, wait, you are posing!)

clothing, 

interaction.

Hang on, 'cause this is a deep message--I want to write to you, and I will tell you why!

I'll write to you on this blog since I do not want to clutter your inbox (though I'll clutter your bookshelf once I publish all the letter/blogs I'll write you!).

I  LOVE that you draw!  

I don't usually think how helpful and encouraging it is to hear that your artwork is a treasure to me!  At times, it feels like it is in such abundance, like the dandelions you would pick for me.  But now, with you off at high school, I remember those dandelions fondly.

I want you to know I value your drawings like I do the dandelions you used to give me!  I am marveling at the creativity that comes from you.  They are not only gifts for me--but for everyone who sees them. (Sure, you will improve and add on techniques, but the act of drawing is already the gift you give.)

Then, I read an article (by Jon Acuff who has a blog to help writers) which opened my eyes to see why I don't write: I do not want to be criticized.

It is good to hear my weakness called out along with the solution!

Hail the size of ...

The hail came down so hard, late at night, dark out.  It felt like it would shatter the windows.  And indeed, it shattered many skylights in the area.  Many have been temporarily covered up with a tarp or boards.

Jesus comes down to be with us.  He comes down from on high.

Instead of damaging us like the hail, He repairs our relationships. The next morning, in seeing the damage done, in getting some roofer come by to ask about fixing roof damage, I see a parallel to what happens on Good Friday.  Jesus knows we are damaged and have suffered.  He takes the initiative to fix things.

The hail in a modern day parable could stand in for the sin that is faster, bigger than we realize. We are astounded by its impact, its suddenness.  It comes suddenly, then seems to be gone, but it is has left its mark.

We need fixing.  And in the roofer, the Savior, we find that fix.

I was humbled by the size of that hail.  It also makes me think I need to work on the inside of me.  And I won't be alone when I do that :)

Don't get lost... in the negative!

I will not expect the doubts to go away.

I just learn how to face them, acknowledge them, work past them. Housework overwhelms me, leaving me wondering when I will read, write, connect with friends.

The work doesn't go away, but when I face it, I grow--and then I can give to others, especially those nearest to me.  I want to give them God's love not my frustration.

Pick up on what you are always talking about already.  Then branch out and help others with that :)

Research and put down what you learn.  Or say it with a photo...

Integrate things or close the door and move on. Have an impact!

Use your energy well by living right where you are -- not thinking in the past or into the future, even if that means clearing a counter for a clean home or baking a pie for a surprise dessert or saying a prayer to get closer to God and others.

Complex ideas -- simple steps -- take action -- make it happen -- that is the creator part in us that we share with God by being in His Image.

Be gutsy.  Be proactive.  You are the one that can make that particular thing happen!  God is always showing us the way we are to go.

Your Today Message: Move forward!

How to advance?

Bit by bit.

Look around at what needs doing.

Do something now.  Begin. Your talents kick in once you throw your hat  in the ring!

One can miss the action of the moment by not observing what is available.

Say "I  am enough.  I have enough."

He is always providing.

Walk with Him.

Your talents  can help you give, and then you receive so abundantly!

I have been stuck so often, wanting to know the next step!

Children often go forward in confidence, curiosity, and creativity!

So, I take a step into inviting you in, not having the blogs for future days written now, but come back as things unfold, bit by bit to observe the blooming of it all!  Not just my blooming, but yours, as well.

Take control--take the steps!

Whenever, it seems, that I mention I have four children, I get the question of how do I do it.

"How do you get done so much?" is probably the question.

The simple answer is "I am not alone."  I have God's help, my husband's support, and friends and family. Well, that is my answer on a good day.  

As a woman, especially on long, tiring days, I deal with my internal voice which asks the question: "Why can't you get things done?  You fail to execute on those plans you write down on your to-do list!"

One key factor is for getting things done is to:

the emotions!

By controlling my emotions, like the one of despair or frustration, I regain control over my thinking which helps me get things done rather than stewing over how I feel.  

It is a relaxed control rather than frenetic activity.  Simply put, it is the ability to look at the situation, think and reflect on options, and act appropriately.

That is, not just going on knee-jerk reactions, explosive reactions, impulses, and fears.

My husband can be quite good with relaxed control, thinking things out and planning.  Seeing him to it, I've learned how to do it, to some extent!  In fact, this year, I planned the family vacation!

He and I had wanted to go see the U.S.S. Lexington for quite some time in Corpus Christi!  We anticipated seeing aircraft carrier built for the Navy in WWII  was commissioned in 1943, saw action in the Pacific, got remodernized in the 1950s, served as a training carrier for 30 years, and was decommissioned in 1991.  It was an amazing adventure for my three sons who are WWII buffs.

I have been using this technique of controlling my emotion of anger when I hear some snippy remark from my teenage daughter.  She doesn't mind pushing buttons...

 and so I push back by taking control and addressing the deeper issues.  I ask what she is going through.  (Plus, she is REALLY good at apologizing on her own!  I make that easier by not pushing back and staying open to her.)

In the process, I am taking control.

I know appreciate that God is ALWAYS open for us!  He is also the One in control of everything... like helping my friends I visited in Corpus Christi this last July to move back to the Dallas area this March!  He takes control and asks us to move in His Plans... living our vocation brings great joy and growth for ourselves and others (though it isn't as easy as pushing a button!).

Then we won't have regrets!

I had been thinking about how to live Lent this year, ready to get going, thinking of it a month before it arrived!

Why mention that?  Let's put it this way, I was not always ready to meet Lent head-to-head.  It's that Cross stuff, you know!  Suffering and for what?

Well, I've been going through some suffering--emotional and physical--and now I realize that one needs to accept what one cannot change.  To have the courage to change what one can (like someone hunger), serenity to accept the things one cannot (that one gets hunger daily), and wisdom to know the difference.  

During Lent, I can work on serenity and on courage.

I used to really get frustrated in college that Holy Week was during Spring Break.  Why did I have to be in the church full days when others were at the beach?  Alright, didn't I already do this last year?  I remember that He died for me.

Now I know that I DO NOT remember He died for me.  It is a constant gift, at each Mass, giving Himself to God the Father to intercede for us.  He doesn't complain that He did it yesterday and the
day before, just as a woman in love doesn't complain she did a loving kindness yesterday and the day before, so why again today?!

Some show up at church twice a year: Christmas and Easter. That is enough, right?  The rest of the year, they can handle things on their own.  We can handle our lives, right?  We have the serenity and courage on our own, right?  Yes, I do forget that everything we have, even the serenity and courage, come from Him.  He calls us to Himself, not to tolerate us, but to love us profoundly, in the midst of our temptations, dreams, and battles.

Life is a constant battle of choosing the good over the bad, of living just the way I want to and of living the way that will really bring me joy and fulfillment.  Lent helps me find my way back to knowing what is really good, what joy really is.  I find my way back to God.

Back to the Check-in-twice-a-year style:  it acknowledges Christ's Birth and Christ's Death.  Christmas and Easter are such huge days that "Christmas Day" and "Easter Day" actually cover a period of nine days and into Christmastide and Eastertide for about forty more days of reflection on the Birth and the Death of our Redeemer.  

We get ready for those times with time before it.  In the end, we will realize that we were living our Forty-Years-in-the-Desert during our lifetimes, always lead by Him, always getting ready for the time when we will see God face to face!  For He is indeed, the Promised Land!  He leads us in the Eucharist so we may "see" Him this side of Heaven.  The desert is hard... that's true.  Drink often of His Ways to not get parched and lukewarm, dehydrated and in survival mode.  It makes you stronger in dealing with life.

 In the desert, He is the Living Water; we won't complain the times we thought of Him, drank Him in, dwelt on Him, over and over again.  Blessed Lent!

I shut it down!

There was amazing classical music as I grew up...

until my teenage brothers began playing music and drowned it out. 

My mother stopped playing her classical music on the radio.

Now, as I am a mother of two teenagers (and, as of today, being a half birthday for Dymo, let's include a 12 1/2 year old.  Art, I haven't forgotten you, but you are not yet double digits.), the music issue raises its head in my life again.

(OK, I'm back.  My sobbing has settled down.)

The classical music wasn't put on the radio anymore because of the teenage music. I didn't fight for it. I gave it up. I felt hurt by being "overtaken."  I shut the musical part of me.  I didn't fight back and play it on my own.  

How did I find out today that I had done that?

Lately, I have been listening to (been invited to!) the YouTube channel for "The Piano Guys" by Dymo and Art (They go there after homework is done or listen to it while they do homework!).

Some of their songs have 40+ million hits!

And their songs are not even with lyrics.  They play cello and piano usually in amazing on-site, no-green-screen locations, such as the beaches, cliffs, Berlin, snow covered areas, forest-river areas.  

In this, I have found such joy in music!  

I had shut down after many examples of music just appealing to baser instincts.

I have come alive, and it feels amazing!  Thank you, my two older ones, for seeing the good in music and bringing it home to me, helping me past an issue I did not even know I had!

What issue is there that lies hidden in you?  What will make you feel more alive?

We prepare for Christmas now, and He is the One to show us that joy and life... with His witnesses, with His Life, with His Birth, with His Death, with His Resurrection and Acension into Heaven.

Something to sing about!