Words from Bishop Robert Barron

Friends, in today’s Gospel we meet a prudent steward who serves his master wisely. I would like to say something about prudence and wisdom. In the Middle Ages, prudence was called "the queen of the virtues," because it was the virtue that enabled one to do the right thing in a particular situation.  Prudence is a feel for the moral situation, something like the feel that a quarterback has for the playing field. Justice is a wonderful virtue, but without prudence, it is blind and finally useless. One can be as just as possible, but without a feel for the present situation, his justice will do him no good. Wisdom, unlike prudence, is a sense of the big picture. It is the view from the hilltop. Most of us look at our lives from the standpoint of our own self-interest. But wisdom is the capacity to survey reality from the vantage point of God. Without wisdom, even the most prudent judgment will be erroneous, short-sighted, inadequate. The combination, therefore, of prudence and wisdom is especially powerful. Someone who is both wise and prudent will have both a sense of the bigger picture and a feel for the particular situation

Children of God

Children are exhausting to me, but I get them. For some reason I can connect to them. In Felicity’s class there is a boy named Logan. He’s always happy and smiley. He doesn’t take life seriously, and I like that about him.  He’ll have plenty of time to be serious. He was my field trip partner one year. We held hands for 5 blocks as we walked to the firehouse with the whole class. Since he’s become my buddy-always giving me high 5’s or a squeeze in the hallway. And always flashes me a smile!

Yesterday was school picture day. Eva is 4 and someone mentioned they knew her mom. She was just about to have her picture taken and immediately started crying due to missing her mommy. She was red-faced and inconsolable...not a good pic to hang on the wall. The helper apologized since she didn’t know how sensitive Eva was about missing her mom. I’ve seen Eva cry everyday her mom drops her off. I get it. I gave Eva a hug and reminded her that she’ll have her picture taken (smile nice so Mommy has a beautiful picture on her wall!), she’ll go have snack, play, have recess, eat lunch, have quiet time and then go home and she’ll have 6 days off until she has to go back to school (MEA wk). I told her I’m nearly 40 and I still miss my mommy, and that’s ok.  She quit fiddling with her necklace, dried her tears, and took a beautiful picture.

Sadey wanted to play on the monkey bars, but couldn’t reach. Her parents were present and I asked if I could help her. With a “go ahead” I lifted her and she monkeyed all the way across. Ever since she gives me a wave and a smile each time we pass.

VBS kids are always sad to leave their moms. But with a kind word, reassurance, a hug (always visible to the crowds so you aren’t violating any rules), and usually a snack, kids feel the reassurance they needed at that moment. They don’t quickly forget it. I find it weird my kids’ friends like me to have lunch with them. They have the funniest conversations and I always get dragged into them. I don’t just visit my child, I visit the whole lunch table, and they love it. Weirdos! 😆

Who was that person when you were a child?  Who listened to you when you needed to be taken seriously, who reassured you when you were down, who gave you a squeeze when you felt empty? Be that person you needed as a child.  It takes a village to raise a child, not just to teach or discipline, but to make them feel loved and special.  I appreciate it when my children express admiration for other adults.

These kids don’t know my name. I’m either Felicity’s mom or Elizabeth’s mom. That’s ok. As long as they see the love of Jesus through me I need no title.

F Lost Her 1st Tooth!

While the rest of her cousins & classmates her age are looking like jack-o-lanterns, my baby kept wiggling her loose tooth. I finally gave it a tug while distracting her with the story how I met her daddy and out it popped. She cried because of all the stress & emotion. I cried because my baby is growing up. She no longer that little squishy thing that likes to cuddle with me. She’s a skinny, leggy thing that runs away from my hand to the school doors or to gymnastics with a “see ya mommy!” Ugh, times like these are tough; sad for me, but so happy for her.

F - 1-handed Cartwheel

Sunday, Oct 13th Updates

I love my blog. Sadly I’ve mostly ignored it since it became more difficult to get pictures from my phone onto the website without having to download them onto the computer first. Plus there’s no blog app any longer, so that’s an inconvenience. BUT I think google did an upgrade because I can now post pics from my phone directly to the blogger website ... so here’s hoping. I like being able to look up some of my favorite recipes or when we changed something or watch the kids grow through my blog. FB just isn’t the same.

Anyhow this pic represents our first snow of the year (thanks to “global warming”), our new motion night lights on the attached garage I’ve been wanting for a while, and the gone garage. David took this summer to take down the garage and break apart the concrete in order to lay down 12” of sand to prep for the new building. We were hoping to have the slab in place by this time, but EVERYTHING in life seems to take longer than expected.

Women’s Beaver Hockey

Giving High 5’s to the players as they came out 

Fizz loved the hockey game! 💚 Asked a LOT of questions though! 😁