We have a Godson!

On May 16th, we became Godparents. We were very happy to do so. It is a commitment to pray for the child throughout our lives and to give guidance when needed. There are several things need for the sacrament of Baptism and Chrismation: olive oil, white towels, soap, a cross, decorated candle, and icon. These things serve duty for anointing, baptizing, representing the new man in Christ, the newly illumined soul, and the icon of course, to teach the child of the body of Christ, most specificly, its namesake. Our James' s parents chose James the Brother of Christ as his Saint's name, so we got him this icon.

It was a wonderful service, and is the same throughout the Orthodox service. I highly recommend all believers of any denomination witness this historical sacrament. The prayers and petitions and commitments are just so heartfelt and moving. Who can say that tradition is dead? It is living, breathing, just as much as the Church itself is alive. Tradition holds to what is true and is not swayed by changing times an opinions.

After a wonderful service, through which James cried and fussed, we came back here to our home and celebrated. It was a fun day, encouraging and overall great blessing. May God grant you many years, dear James! We love you!

Insert prayer of my heart early in the morning, and bring forth righteousness throughout the coming day;

"Grant unto me, my Lord,

that with peace in mind I may face all that this new day is to bring.
Grant unto me grace to surrender myself completely to Thy holy will. Instruct and
prepare me in all things for every hour of the day. Whatsoever tidings I may
receive during the day, teach me to accept them calmly, in the firm conviction
that all eventualities fulfill Thy holy will. Govern my thoughts and feelings in
all I do and say. When things unforseen occur, let me not forget that all comes
down from Thee. Teach me to behave sincerely and reasonably toward every member
of my family and all other human beings, that I may not cause confusion and
sorrow to anyone. Bestow upon me, my Lord, strength to endure the fatigue of the
day and to bear my share in all its passing events. Guide my will and teach me
to pray, to believe, to hope, to suffer, to forgive, and to love. Amen. "

It is truly good to bless the Lord. And indeed it is good to restrain our passions, focusing our eyes on Christ once more. Lord, as we celebrate the gift of your Holy Spirit this week, we are also preparing to enter a season of fasting. We remember your command to go into all the world, make disciples of them and baptizing them in the Name of the of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Give us the courage to follow this command, be it at the grocery store, in our neighborhoods, at our churches, in the streets or in our families. Your Holy Spirit empowers us to wisely use our time and efforts for the glory of your kingdom; help us to listen and obey. Have mercy upon us and save us oh Mighty God. May your love shine to all people through us, your servants, Amen.

Month of May...

... is nearly over. I can hardly believe it! May is one of my favorite months, as flowers and trees fully bloom into summer, the end of the school year approaches and the anticipation of a new season keeps me motivated to get things done. I am happy to say that there is only 2 weeks left of school before the kids are done! Then they will be home with me. I am excited!

I will start putting together my project ideas for summer activites this week. We're gonna learn about the ten commandments, Albania, work on handwriting, math facts, telling time, learn to ride bikes (yeah, they're behind), and Nathaniel has to learn phone numbers and address, 911, fire drills, and of course all the fun stuff like gathering friends numbers for playdates and planning Ariel's birthday party. She's gonna be 8 in less than 3 weeks! It'll be her first sleepover and she is so excited! I'm limiting it to 3 guests and I think that'll be enough excitement for her. Playing hostess can be a hard thing to do, and I don't want to overwhelm her. I just got her list together for that and we have to make up invitations and party favors, activities, dinner, breakfast, etc. Fun stuff!

Let's see what I've missed blogging about this past month. Well, most notably, Silas ran away. It was a couple weeks ago- Dustan and I were staying up late, fiddling around on our computers. I was sitting here on the couch, and he in his big chair. The cats were playing chase with the moths that had gotten in the house. I was musing that "we never stay up this late, we should go to bed", and then all of a sudden Dustan turns around and exclaims, "Floyd is outside!" "WHAT?" How could that happen? Well, the sliding door had been open as it was a great night out, but the screen WAS closed-- aparently not well enough.

By the time I got outside, Floyd was at the corner of the house with Silas underneath of him. He had that happy, playful look on his face. In my stern voice I said, "floyd, COME HERE!" At which point he pounced the cat instead. I caught him at the front of the house, Dustan came out with the leash and I took him back inside... however Silas ran off and would not come. This behavior is actually quite normal for him- he does NOT like to be approached at all, but I thought that maybe with flashlights we could catch his eyes gleaming in the light and find him. Nope. The only thing we accomplished was scaring the neighbor lady and losing our kitty.

The kids are saddened, though not as bad as they could have been. Chester seems to be a little lost, but now that it's 3 weeks today since Silas left, Chester has gotten into a new swing of things and is settling down little. He's definately more friendly and even picks fights with the dog again for some entertainment.

Other things I have worked on throughout the month... planning Ariel's room project and my landscaping project (well, that technically will never be done- as a true gardener, I can't commit to anything and love just about everything! lol). I just can't decide what to put out front under the windows, and so I had to plan out the whole yard to determine what would go with the tress I want, etc, and now I have to go price everything to see what I will actually get, even though I'm not getting it til next spring. The thing is my birthday present 2 yrs ago was that my in-laws were going to buy whatever I wanted to put under the windows, and my mother-in-law has been on me to choose. :P So, I thought I'd get my list together, and I like whats on my list, but I have to see it in person before I commit to what I want to place where and if I can afford my selections or not-- some of them are more rare (which is half the draw), and therefore more expensive.

I have put homeschool research on hold for the past couple of weeks, excepting to say that we ARE homeschooling next year! And we decided that we need to do it as free as possible-- it's just too late in the year to adjust the budget. However, many people do it free, and with all the homeschoolers at our church and several teachers with lots of resources, and the library, we should be good! I will be picking up my homeschool research next week as we have a couple of meetings with friends that are helping us, so all is rolling along nicely.

I think that sums up the month of May for this year... we are looking forward to this Memorial Day weekend; we shall see what it brings! And oh yeah, here's the kids new haircuts!

Who needs sleep?

It smells like Grandma's house. Every morning this spring I have walked out of my bedroom and into the hall, and that is the frst thought that flashes thru my mind. I don't know why it reminds me of Grandma-- it's not like we have the smells of coffee, hairspray and cremes floating through very often. Maybe it's because we sleep with the windows open at night, and that somehow coming out from the fresh air into the enclosed air somehow traps a timeless, comforting smell of home. Who knows?

But, this being Saturday and I have a busy day ahead of me, I cannot sleep any longer. I woke up about an hour ago, and finally gave it up to sleep anymore. So, I left the room so as to let Dustan sleep in. He deserves it. He's a hard worker and doesn't rest enough.

I have had Ariel's room on my brain for a few days now, working on putting ideas together for decorating it, as I had promised to do so for her 8th birthday that is coming up. We wanted a story book atmosphere, conducive for play-acting, writing and reading books-- an all around fun room. That meant I wanted vintage classic, and she wanted bright, fun patterns and colors. So we are blending the two together. I found this pattern online, which she really likes. I am trying to incorporate other fabrics, something similar to these. I just have to find something local, as the prices are better- so far anyway. Looking at all these patterns makes me wish I was savvy on the sewing machine. Ariel is adorable in about everything she wears, it's just now coming up with appropriate clothing for her age. It can be a hard thing to come by. Maybe I'll just get Aunty Monica to do it for me. Yeah, that's a good plan!

Be Thou My Vision

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,
both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,
be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;
be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
be thou my whole armor, be thou my true might;
be thou my soul's shelter, be thou my strong tower:
O raise thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
be thou mine inheritance now and always;
be thou and thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of heaven, my treasure thou art.

High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

To hear the hymn sung by Fernando Ortega, click here.

Important Ramblings

So, I was just sitting here thinking that maybe I should ramble. I mean, I do it often enough to my mom and certain friends; so why not do it here too? I was just eating my lunch of bratwurst, mac-n-cheese and cheetos, thinking of all things that I COULD be doing, or SHOULD be doing, or HAVE to do in the upcoming month (yeah, nothing beats not having a deadline, so I've got to make ones up for myself). As a healthy distraction, I facebooked my lunchtime away, while my dog begged for my lunch and the cat jumped off the stairs, throwing up promptly on the floor in the hallway, and in one swift movement had jumped into the next room, where who knows what he continued to do. That was 20 minutes ago. I have yet to get up and take care of it, and the dog is waiting patiently for me to do so, as I've already warned him to leave it alone! These are the things that take up my time in a normal day... the things I don't really recount when asked what I've done today, but somehow are the very same unimportant things that really is the bulk of my time spent.

Then there are times (such as Lent we've just completed), that I analyze my life and wonder how I'm going to get to the next stage; how all the things I've wanted to do with my life in some ways have been fulfilled and in other ways are steadily elusive, and the path is confusing to try to mentally configure the future. I suppose that is why we are told to trust in the Lord in Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand. " Ps. 37:23-24

So, I suppose the goal here is to be found the good man in His sight. What constitutes a good or righteous man? Well, a lover of good, a person after God's own heart; someone who embodies the beatitudes, who obeys Christ's commandment to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. There are some who have spent a lifetime accomplishing this, and all I can tell is that I am sure that they struggled, as I, to become truly as Christ is. But their success was acheived only a day at a time; no, more like a moment at a time, a decision at a time. I am finding that I am more painfully aware of every word that proceeds from my mouth.

For those of you who know me well, you are aware of what a biting tongue I truly posses. But that is the key -- it is mine to control, mine to be responsible for, and mine to be accountable to Christ on that dreadfully anticipated last day, as well as the condition of my heart, wherefrom my tongue speaks its evil. The day that we face Christ and He asks, "Why was it more important for you to facebook than to be reading the Scriptures, or better yet, helping someone in need?" That will be the terrible day indeed, when I am shown for what I really am. These types of questions have been haunting me daily, and I have grown quite restless this past year. I have been lonely for the lack of children running under my feet. I have been disorganized, and indecisive. I have become more honest with myself, and therefore more honest in my presentation of myself to Christ, and each day more aware of how much I truly do need Him. I must continually come humbly before to ask for forgiveness, and Lord, PLEASE help me actually DO what is right in your sight!

Then there is another biggie- how I've used the blessings He's given to me and let them become more important than Himself. I cannot allow things or even people to take the place of Christ. Finding the balance between God, the all-consuming fire, and my everyday life is found in this; Let God be Who He Is-- He is the all-consuming fire. And He in me will reach out His love, using my hands to reach those who have no other hand to help them along life's journey. That is the purpose of this life-- to find Christ, to become part of the body of Christ, and to function as the body of Christ- as Saint Patrick so perfectly put in his Breastplate;

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through the belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness Of the Creator of Creation. I arise today Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism, Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial, Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension, Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom. I arise today Through the strength of the love of Cherubim, In obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In prayers of patriarchs, In predictions of prophets, In preaching of apostles, In faith of confessors, In innocence of holy virgins, In deeds of righteous men. I arise today Through the strength of heaven: Light of sun, Radiance of moon, Splendor of fire, Speed of lightning, Swiftness of wind, Depth of sea, Stability of earth, Firmness of rock. I arise today Through God's strength to pilot me: God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me From snares of devils, From temptations of vices, From everyone who shall wish me ill, Afar and anear, Alone and in multitude. I summon today all these powers between me and those evils, Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul, Against incantations of false prophets, Against black laws of pagandom Against false laws of heretics, Against craft of idolatry, Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards, Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul. Christ to shield me today Against poison, against burning, Against drowning, against wounding, So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right, Christ on my left, Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me, Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me, Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the threeness, Through confession of the oneness, Of the Creator of Creation.

In essense, every breath that I take, be it as Christ breathes, every word I speak, may it only be what Christ would speak to another. Not laying up my treasures here on earth, but looking toward heaven, and working towards the goal of eternal life with my Savior. This is the prayer of my heart today, and I pray that it might be so everyday til my dying breath.

Christ's Tomb

I took the idea of making a scene of Christ's tomb from another blogger. It was a great idea. It gave the kids something fun to do, made them conscious of the story of Christ's burial, and will help give a concrete image to the story of Christ's resurrection. The evergreen heather and suculants remind us of everlasting love of God and the eternal life we will have with Him. We planted forget-me-not seeds in it too, to remind us of our beloved Savior, and of our new life in Him as a Christian.

Nathaniel made the guard for the tomb, and Ariel has made an angel, in preparation of Sunday's miracle. And I must say a thankyou to my mother-in-law for helping us put the project together. This has been a fun way to mark the days of Holy Week!

Lazurus Saturday

This Saturday is Lazarus Saturday. This day marks the end of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. Lazarus was a personal friend of Jesus, and the miracle of his resurrection was a foretaste of Christ's own resurrection. It is a promise to us all that there is life after death! The story of Lazarus is as follows;

John 11
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” 13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life

17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles[a] away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was[b] in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”[c]
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.[d] And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus

45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, 50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us[e] that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death. 54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.
55 And the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves. 56 Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, “What do you think—that He will not come to the feast?” 57 Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should report it, that they might seize Him.

There is a song that is chanted regarding this event. Great and powerful words! (Read it here.) The video is moving too. Hearing it has such a different effect than only reading it.

Looking toward Pascha

While Lent is a time for remorse, repenting, striving anew to become the person God would have us to be, we are always hopeful for Christ has given us hope- he has paved the way for forgiveness of sins and of life everlasting. Christ has conquered death by death! So, while the journey to the celebration is humbling and painful, we cling to Christ, our hope and joy! Here is a fun Pascha video celebrating Christ's resurrection! Enjoy!

Preparing for Pascha

This month has been busy with a variety of work; spring cleaning, taxes, exercising, vacation planning, and last on the list but foremost in our minds and most importantly, preparing for PASCHA! This Lent has been interesting, and I have learned a few things, as one should. Details surrounding the story of the resurrection have been refreshed and relearned. Adding to that more church history to the traditions, such as Mary Magdalene's testimony to the Emperor of Christ's Resurrection, the study of the Myrrh-bearing Women (one of which I took her name as my saint's name- Salome. She is the step-sister of Christ, mother of James and John), and celebrating the Annuniciation.

I have found an encouraging blog that I have added to my list at the side there, and encourage you to check her out too. Filled with lots of ideas and information, encouraging journeys and helpful links, she is most helpful to me, that's for sure! I love her latest idea for Pascha and Holy Week... I will have to assemble them over the course of the year to be ready for next year's celebration!

This Sunday will be Palm Sunday. I always look forward to this joyful celebration! Even though the week that follows is solemn and heartbreaking, it points the way to the King and the Life we will have with Him!

Tuesday's Blizzard

A picture says a thousand words... well, in this picture, this was the second time Dustan went out to snowblow that day... fun stuff!!

Snow!!

Okay, so I am behind the times in the blogging world, but at least for memory's sake, it is worth posting about. Last weekend we had a record snow of 26" here. Saturday's big stack just wasn't enough, so another storm came last Tuesday, and we got another 20 inches! Today, being Presidents Day, means the kids and Dustan had a day scheduled "off". This is supposed to end the long weekend of 6 days, but it has started snowing yet again this afternoon, with 3-6 inches in the forecast. So, I guess we'll see what we end up with and if there'll actually be school tomorrow or not. The whole of the East coast has broken every record this year for snow accumulation. That just meant lots of exercise and no school for us!

The picture of the nearly 22" was taken from the first storm, at around 10 AM. The snow didn't stop coming down until above 5pm, but then the winds picked up and drifting problems started. The whole storm qualified as a blizzard, and they even shut down city streets. Tuesday's storm was a blizzard too, and they shut down the highway! That is VERY unusual for this area.

Here's Ariel with the second storm on Tuesday.

February!

I love February. Mostly because January is SO depressing! February always brings us closer to spring, and there's always something fun to do. People are in a happy mood and some are getting ready to celebrate Valentine's Day. Then there is Nathaniel's birthday- a great thing to party about in my opinion. And, now that we are Orthodox, we have been made aware of the importance of Great Lent and all that it entails. So, while most people may dread the coming of this season, we look forward to it; the season of repentance and forgiveness, of self-sacrificing, conciously disciplining ourselves so that we can separate ourselves from the things of this earth, looking towards heaven and our Master; setting our hands to do His work more fully. These things we should be doing all year, but this season is set aside to ensure that we make time to do these all-important tasks. We're looking forward to celebrating Christ's conquering of death, and of our promise of resurrection to be with the Most High King.

Giving me the run around....

...literally- the kiddos were being cute today, so I wanted to capture a picture of them, and yes, it is asking too much. They started running like crazy people, trying to get away. It was funny for a few minutes, and then when I made them sit, Nathaniel had a pouting session. Ah, well, I got a good shot of their backsides anyway.

I just love milestone photos, and though I don't actually do many of them, I thought it would be nice to get one of the kids in front of the door of our house, marking the passage of time. So here's the first picture, in what I hope to be a series in years to come, of Ariel & Nathaniel at home, ages almost 6 and almost 8.