Follow the Breadcrumbs to the Exciting News

Click to visit Conversion Diary.

*1*

I'm going to give you some clues for the exciting news I introduced a little while ago.

This is the Internet, of course you can just scroll down to the bottom to see the surprise, but what's the fun in that? Pretend you just received this in a ridiculously long chain email that tells you to avoid scrolling down to the bottom for risk of erasing your happy destiny.

I'll alternate between clues and non-clues.

*2*

Non-related, non-clue:

A friend posted this great collection of 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy. Among the are some of my worst vices, including: Give up your need to always be right, give up your need for control, give up your self-defeating self-talk, give up the luxury of criticism, and give up living your life to other people’s expectations.

Okay, now to implement...

*3*

Clue:

*4*

Non-related, non-clue:

Andrew and Cristina may be my favorite heroes-whom-I've-never-met. They allow the Holy Spirit to RADIATE from them, and all I have to judge that is their blog and a few emails we have exchanged. It is just so clear that God has placed them on an incredible path and they are so willing to let Him guide them through it.

They need our help! Read about it here. All it takes is a few clicks of your mouse and a vote.

Considering they're spending a lot more money than the young couple expected to spend in their first year of marriage due to an intense surgery to correct their in utero daughter's spina bifida, they could also use your donations. If you are able to donate and/or you feel called to donate, please visit here.

*5*

Clue:

I love First Graders.

Can you guess?

*6*

Non-related, non-clue:

The Bikini or Biki-no discussion is heating up. I'm hoping to read a full post or two from the folks who take a more pro-bikini (more accurately, but less succinctly described as "not against bikinis/raising the issue that the modesty talks don't seem to apply to men/to each her own") folks. If you haven't read the contributions thus far, here's your chance to catch up:


Bikini or Biki-no? Part 1 - The intro. Here you learn how the whole discussion began and we get @Palaminko's voice on why he would request (if he could) that women avoid wearing bikinis.




Bikini or Biki-no? Part 2 - Chase chimes in and points out protecting the feminine genius doesn't mean dressing like a nun.




Bikini or Biki-no? Part 3 - I take a whack at it. My opinion shifts often on this topic. Here I take a look at why the bikini option seem so appealing, yet why that also shows me why I should probably avoid them.




Bikini or Biki-no? Part 4 - A Father and Husband's POV - Val wrote an email to me (just as you are welcome to do) and explained his aversion to bikinis on the women in his life, namely his wife and daughters. As my dad said, "He makes good points!"

So far, the non-bikini-wearers have the loudest voice, measured by number of people commenting for this "camp" of opinions. I would really love to hear from someone who sees a lot of good in bikinis or would like to explain, in a post, why bikinis are a good option.

This has been a great discussion thus far. If you're game, I'd like to continue it.

*7*

Did you guess?

Will they have nap time in grad school? You know. For practice.

Drum roll...I'm going to grad school! I got accepted into a masters program for elementary education!

In about a year and a half I will be certified to teach elementary schoolers! (note, schooler is not a real word. I suppose I'll have to stop being so colloquial so I can put sum guud learnin' on da kids)

I'm so grateful to my family, my wonderful boyfriend, my elementary school teachers, the first graders I taught last year, and GOD for helping me discover this calling! I can't wait to begin this journey!

I love 1st graders! Week 22

A little late...

This week the kids finally learned why we do the Sign of the Cross and fold our hands when we pray! It occurred to me, once again, that my friend and I are making an impact on the memories of these kids.

It's a little bizarre to think that when they're explaining the Sign of the Cross to someone else later in life, they might use the techniques we taught them!

The biggest event of the class had nothing to do with the reverence packed into the Sign of the Cross or kneeling at Mass...

When we were sitting on the floor, per usual, I saw a little movement out of the corner of my eye. A GIGANTIC brown, fuzzy spider scurried next to my leg and started running toward one of the girls.

I had a little scratchiness in my throat for a few minutes after that, so it's safe to assume I screamed.

This is his cousin, George.

All I remember is shooting up and grabbing the hands of the girl to stand up as fast as possible. When she got to her feet, her flip-flop crushed the 1.5 inch diameter intruder.

I jumped on it again for good measure before I scooped it up and flushed that bad boy down the toilet, shaking with the hibbie-jibbies the whole way. Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck.

The girl slayed the dragon! Our knightess in shining armor!

The kids handled it really well. The immediate, mini-diaspora that happened right when we discovered the spider didn't distract them for very long, but no one sat on the floor anymore that day.

One of the girls, not the dragon-slayer, told me, "I think you gave the spider a heart attack with your loud scream."

Perhaps, but he started it.

7 Quick Takes Friday, Volume 24

Click here to read the original post at ConversionDiary.com

*1*

Thank you for your prayers last week! My Gramma passed away on Sunday.

One of my cousins was in Europe for the semester and I am so grateful that we had the means to fly her home in time to see my Gramma before she passed. I can already feel the bond tightening a little between our families.

My favorite picture of her.

I definitely know my way around a funeral home now and the most distinctive observation I can make is how much good pours out of situations like this. When there is sorrow and a thirsting need for love, people step up.

It is beautiful to look in the refrigerator and count the number of people who loved us with their ovens, or to stand at the funeral and watch friends who interrupted their days to comfort you at the wake or funeral.

I woke up early on Sunday morning with no prompt. Yet, as I stared at the ceiling, I knew she was "one in that number" of saints in heaven. I could feel it.

I doubt Rome will ever canonize her, but I can safely say she was the holiest and most incredible woman I've ever known. It's my job to insert her -isms and her habits into my own life.

I wrote about her in our first Bright Maidens week.

*2*

As you read this, I am in New Mexico preparing to be a good bridesmaid and aide for my best friend from middle school. This is a spunky, beautiful woman with a lot of spice, so I'm sure the wedding will be very joyous!

I am not sunburned anymore.

*3*

The Bright Maidens had a great week! We were featured by the Pulp.It, the National Catholic Register, and New Advent -- thank you all!

Trista, Julie and Elizabeth (I?) are very happy to announce that we have picked our final post topic... for the Lenten season. We're even happier to announce that we will be continuing the Bright Maidens series on a bi-monthly basis and we want you to join us!

First things first, our topic this Tuesday will be "why we chose Catholicism."All of us are cradle Catholics, but everyone has a conversion story. We're going to tell ours.

Secondly, we will not be posting on April 26, but we will be posting on May 3. We'll announce the topic and the date for our future posts on the FACEBOOK PAGE. It is important you "like" us if you want to participate because you will need to post a link to YOUR posts there.

Let's say our first communal topic is: Our favorite ice cream and of which book in the Bible it reminds us.... You write your post before the correct Tuesday (after seeing the announcement on the Facebook page) and post the link to our wall! Easy Peasey. If you any questions, email me.

*4*

I had to miss my 1st grade religious education class this week because of my Gramma's wake.

1. Two beautiful friends joined me at the wake along with a host of wonderful people celebrating my grandmother's life. 2. We still went to our weekly burger and beer night where... 3. My friend and co-teacher handed me a stack of folded yellow construction paper.

The little boy who looks like Rolfe (if you don't know which Rolfe... oy vey) had asked her if the class could make some cards for me to tell me how "sarey" they are that my "grandmuther did" (died).

It was the CUTEST present I have ever received and I'm bummed I can't share it with you because I'm not in Virginia... sometime soon.

*5*

My beautiful mother accompanied me on this trip to New Mexico. We landed in Roswell (in a plane and I have yet to see an alien). Enjoy this building painted near the McDonald's:

*6*

And we drove to another town a few hours away. What a completely different climate and progression of scenery!

*7*

Have you met Kendra? She's new, soon-to-be-married, and an avid Twitter conversationalist.

Hop over to her blog and read her first in a series about a childhood staple: Disney Princesses.

I love 1st graders! Week 21

About what do you pray? What do you say when you talk to God? Do you only talk to Him when you're sad or angry? Or do you let Him in on the fun when you're happy?

This is a sampling of what our kids said:

This girl is the sweetest

That last one says "Casey and Elizabeth"... us!

This boy wanted to pray for pie, pizza, God, bugs, gold and games.

We went outside in the gorgeous 80 degree (about 27 C) evening to observe the things for which we are grateful.

Besides some ants-in-the-pants issues with one of the kids, it was a good class with a lot of discussion about why we thank God. The "innocence of a child" came to fruition in these sharing sessions.

This innocence became even more prevalent when we read the Passion story from the children's Bible. We learned about Judas and how he betrayed Jesus, even though he was his friend. The class clairvoyant made yet another poignant statement, "I can't believe he would do that to Jesus when he was His friend."

Choking back a severe case of the "Awwww"s, I agreed and told her about the pharisee's reward to Judas for his betrayal.

"I would rather have Jesus than 30 pieces of silver," she said.

Of course, Jesus needed to die so our sins could be forgiven, but we all choose the silver over Jesus on a regular basis.

Abortion is choosing the silver (the life you once foresaw for yourself, which this baby threatens). Taking the job that combats your ethical or moral conscious is choosing the silver. Yelling at or physically abusing someone is choosing the silver. Skipping Mass to go to a concert, to go to a movie, or to sleep in is choosing the silver.

"I would rather have Jesus than 30 pieces of silver," she said. Thirty pieces of silver seems pretty trivial compared to the great banquet.

I love 1st graders! Week 20

Forgiveness and love: two simple words with humongous baggage.

Today we focused on the seventy-times seven times forgiveness rule and saying we're sorry when we hurt someone. At the beginning of class, they were to take a crayon to paper to color around words on the worksheet that related to "forgiveness" or "love."

One of the words was "sin" and every single first grader asked us what that meant. After we explained it to them a few times, it occurred to me that we just opened them up to committing sin... now that they know that doing something they know is wrong is called a "sin," they can't get away with it using the naive card anymore!

I feel like a terrible person now... but in a different way, I'm glad I got to one of the ones to let them in on that definition.

Perhaps I will pop through their mind when they reflect on the word "sin" when they're driving their hover mini vans through the air, fiddling with the flux capacitor and tasting blood in their mouth rather than yelling at their spouse.

My co-teacher and good friend organized a craft for the day: Forgiveness bugs. "Catch the forgiveness bug!" we wrote on their wings. The kids haphazardly marker-ed all over the little egg carton mounds, designing their own breed of "bug."

I forgot to take a picture of one of the completed bugs, but they looked similarly to this:

They were like this, sans legs. Lady bugs don't even have legs...

When the kids were doing that first worksheet activity and coloring the words related to "forgiveness" and "love," one girl spoke up and said, "Oh no, I just circled sin."

"You can erase your sins, don't you know?" said a little boy who looks like Rolfe from Sound of Music, miniature-sized.

Why yes, Rolfe, yes you can. We can erase the grudges we hold against others as well, just catch the forgiveness bug!

I love 1st graders! Week 19

Not only am I surrounded by wonderful, giving, beautiful people, I am surrounded by sneaky people who finally succeeded at a surprise party.

There we were, learning about how important it is to love and respect one another, and knock, knock, knock. My mom and my sister were at the door with the batch of cupcakes they were making before I left for class! They had told me the cupcakes were for some other kind of nonsense, and I believed them.

After years of failed surprise birthday parties, this was a success! I was caught off guard, red as a firetruck, and well-loved. I got to spend my first celebration as a 24-year-old (official birthday: Wednesday) surrounded by people 1/4 of my age and 3/4 of my height. Who could ask for anything more?

On top of that, this was a great manifestation of today's lesson about showing respect and love toward other children of God. Sometimes those of us above the age of reason avoid showing affection or accepting affection when it's offered.

Yum.

These kids got to see my sneaky friend and co-teacher help my sneaky mom and sister bring a red-faced grin to my face.

They saw us hug and giggle. They also enjoyed one of God's greatest gifts: chocolate cupcakes. Hopefully they hang on and pay attention to these daily displays of love when they leave this blissful stage of childhood.

"...but Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.' - Matthew 19:14

Respect others and revert to childhood. Love others and let yourself be loved. That is a lesson these kids teach me weekly and I got a healthy dose of it tonight!

I love you, Mommy, Christine and Casey!

I love 1st graders! Week 18

The Ten Commandments: As drawn by 1st graders

1. 1. I am the LORD your God: you shall not have strange Gods before me.

"That guy has two gods."

Zoom if you must.

2. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. The girl who looks just like me drew a picture of a guy with a big blob of brown coming out of his mouth. She said he was being pushing into the ground for saying something bad about God.

3. Remember to keep holy the LORD'S Day.

 

Impressive, is it not?

4. Honor your father and your mother. The girl who drew this one included a picture of her bearded father and her mother. I've seen them both, it was fun to see them in cartoon form.

5. You shall not kill. The kids were jumping to be the one to draw this one. It's the one they most easily remembered. Heard in classroom 210: "That's a girl who is burying her friend because she killed her." Nearby the grave was a road sign labeled, "No Killing." Obviously the state should invest in larger signs.

6. You shall not commit adultery. Let's not pretend this wasn't a tough one to explain. My brilliant co-teacher decided we would say this means we should value our relationships and be kind to one another.

7. You shall not steal. 

Yellow robber on the right says, "Let's steal." His friend replies, "No."

8. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. I half expected to see a grizzly bear on the page, but the student did a good job of explaining lying with crayons.

9. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife. Another tough one... The boy who drew for this one drew two people saying hello and giving each other bombs... My co-teacher made sure he drew a big "No" and pointed to the less than neighborly gift exchange.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. The boy who drew for this commandment showed two children playing and sharing together. "Thank you for sharing your toys," one said. "Your welsldkfjaljasdf," he replied.

Kids say the darndest things.

I love 1st graders! Week 17

A few blurbs from this, the pre-Ash Wednesday 1st grade class:

*"But why do they call it Good Friday when they killed Jesus that day?" -- This is the same girl that sparks almost every 1st grader post I write.

*There is a copy of the Crucifix of San Damiano on the wall in the room.

We start talking about Good Friday and how they hung Jesus on the cross.

Teacher: "Do you know what they put on Jesus' head before they hung Him on the cross?"

1st grade boy having a seizure with arm in the air: "Uh, a... sun... thing?"

* We went into the church to learn about Ash Wednesday and they knew they were going to be crossed with ashes on their forehead. This is the South, not very many of these kids have more than a gas fireplace. The concept of "ashes" is almost foreign to them.

Over heard:
* "They're going to burn paper in church."
* "Are the ashes on my head going to be hot?"
* Teacher: "Does anyone remember which color we use during Lent?" 1st grader: "Black?" Pointing to freshly crossed forehead.
* Teacher: "If we we wanted to draw a drawing to show Easter Sunday, what would we draw?" 1st grader I: "A cave" 1st grader II: "Jesus going up to Heaven." 1st grader III: "A big rock." 1st grader IV: "Jesus, on the cross, inside an Easter egg."

They were really good today and I would love to do a full post about it, but I have to get ready for the BRIGHT MAIDENS series for tomorrow! Remember to click over to Julie's and Trista's blogs for their version of tomorrow's (today, if you're reading this on Tuesday) theme: Are women in the Catholic Church oppressed or repressed?

I love 1st graders! Week 16

I have been traveling for about two weeks at this point and I'm sorry to say I'm a little strapped for inspiration on this one...my next post will explain some of that.

The major theme tonight was:

Greatest Commandment: 
You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and love your neighbors as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

As members of God's community, God's people we should treat everyone we meet with Love.

The thing that jumped out at me tonight was the major learning difference in first graders and tenth graders. I spent this weekend as a chaperon at a confirmation retreat for a local Catholic Church.

At one point tonight we made a chart of the talents that God gave us. We learned that we can use these talents to help and better others, like when we use our math skills to help someone who has questions. The chart was on the chalk board and the kids were bouncing to answer.

This weekend, because social norm ruled the cool factor, there was little bouncing. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get an answer out of these kids. I adored the weekend overall, but this stark difference in 9 years of school was loud tonight.

Conveniently, as I was reminded of this discrepancy in attitudes, I was also charged with teaching the first graders a valuable, pertinent lesson: Love everyone, even if they sit there, pretending to be grumpy. Love everyone, even if they are too cool to sing during praise and worship sessions. Love everyone, even if they are jumping up and down to answer your questions, though you've told them four times to sit on his or her bottom and wait patiently.

Simple? Yep. Not easy, but simple.

7 Quick Takes Friday, Volume 16

Click here to read the original post at ConversionDiary.com

*1*

Last week I told you about Patty and Phil who are looking to adopt and are printing their advertisements in many Virginia and university newspapers. Thank you, faithful readers, for clicking on the link to their website.

The attention provoked Patty, of Patty and Phil, to email me. In our exchange, it became even more clear how driven and called this couple is to adopt a new member of their practicing Catholic family (what are the odds?!). If you're new to this blog, check out Patty and Phil.

Even if you are not currently pregnant or in the situation that so many young women are in at this time, visiting the website will drive more traffic and may introduce this couple to the woman who can make their expanding family hopes come true.

You're reading this for a reason, so take it a step further and click.

Their daughter helped decorate the website!

*2*

My mom emailed this to me this week:

"Perhaps we, at times, see God as a kind of rival. Perhaps we too are blind to His signs, deaf to His words, because we believe that He puts limitations on our lives and does not allow us to dispose of our existence as we wish. When we see God in this way we end up feeling dissatisfied and discontented, because we do not allow ourselves to be guided by the One Who is the foundation of all things, We must remove all idea of rivalry from our minds and hearts, the idea that giving space to God is a limit to the self. We must open ourselves to the certainty that God is omnipotent love which takes away nothing, which threatens nothing. Quite the contrary, He is the only One capable of offering us the chance to live a full life and to experience true joy." 

-Homily, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Vatican Basilica, 6 Jan 2011

*3*

Last Friday, my mom and I went to a fundraiser for the Catholic, all-girls school alma mater we share (I'm a third generation alumnae, whoop whoop!). It was fun and I enjoyed getting dressed up. I saw a lot of people I knew and met more that my mom grew up with in Catholic Richmond (it's a very small world and I'm related to half of it, making dating difficult).

There was a photo booth with a professional photographer snap*snap*snapping away. When he set up the picture (he put my mom on a little stool, I'm not that short), I thought he was going to make us do the classic prom picture with my back to my mom... thank goodness, he had more sense than that. 

Look at my beautiful mom! Yes, we got the "you could be sisters!" comment.

 *4*

If this was 1951, I would probably be a female failure. Good thing it's not 1951... because I'm not a cook. I'd like to get better (and not because I'm a woman. Because I'm someone who eats food) and I love the idea of being creative with food. A GUY told me about a book, Ratios, that teaches you the basics of flavor combination and the chemistry behind cooking.

I haven't gotten it yet, but I will soon.

*5*

In our Monday CCD class, I told the kids that Jesus was arrested and one boy said, "No He wasn't!" I proceeded to tell him, essentially, "Yes, huh." 

I told them why He was arrested and that the people who arrested Him hurt Him and then hung Him on the cross. The one girl who is the source of MANY of my post catalysts says, "But that's really mean. Why did they do that?" It was the cutest, sweetest little thing I've ever seen. She was so concerned for Jesus and how unfairly He was treated. 

Basically, I told her that the people didn't believe Him and they didn't like what He was saying and she said, again, "But that's so mean. Just because they didn't like what He was saying?" 

This girl asks the best questions that bring up a lot of thoughts. Just because they didn't like what He was saying, they killed Him. And He went through with it. 

"We love because he first loved us." -1 John 4:19

*6*

I don't own the rights.

I bought Jason and Christalina Evert's new book, How to Find Your Soulmate, and I'll soon write a review. I trust these co-writers of my Theology of the Body textbook will do justice to the teachings of the Church. I'm interested in doing God's will, no matter what that is...

However, I'm very excited to hear the Evert's explanation of how women called to marriage can transcend this secular world and find who God knows is best for them.

*7*

After a Twitter conversation with the lovely Julie Robison on Wednesday, I determined for the 2,546,541st time in my life that I over think things routinely.

I talked to my wise sister, Christine, who told me to pray the Hail Holy Queen every time I'm starting to over think. "It is less familiar, so it will be less automatic than the Hail Mary," she said.

It will also be good to use an already existing prayer for these moments. Otherwise, my prayers sound more like, "MARY, WHAT THE HECK?! Help me!"

I love 1st graders! Week 15

You know what happens to elementary school students on ValenTIME's Day? They eat a lot of sugar.

It was Halloween part II, but they were still very manageable. This week's topic was "God's family and my family," so we got to hear a lot of interesting comparisons:

* We all Love each other.
* We all go to church on Sunday.
* Mary and Joseph don't eat spaghetti anymore, but I do.
* Jesus doesn't wear shoes in heaven, but moms make you wear them.

The most jarring part about the lesson was learning our "faith words," matrimony and marriage. As I was reading out the simple sentences explaining that matrimony is what a man and a woman enter into when they love each other and want to commit to be together for the rest of their lives... I knew I was reading to a room half-filled with the products of divorce.

I don't own the rights

The statistics were better than I'd hoped, but I think three out of ten had divorced parents and they are still at the age that sharing this is just a fact. The emotional tire marks have been left, but I don't think they have processed them consciously yet.

Immediately I reverted to my semi-childish and certainly simplistic confusion about divorce. I understand that there are abusive situations and those are tough. I do not presume to understand divorce from a first-hand perspective.

HOWEVER, there have to be moments while a couple is dating or is engaged when the hesitant thoughts or red flags perk up, suggesting it is not right. "I am not really willing to commit to this person, for better or for worse."

As a puritan, I firmly believe sex plays a big role in keeping people on the path to marriage when it's not the right path for the couple. I also know that many people don't trust that they can find someone for whom they would not be settling. People do not want to be alone.

So they take a leap that was never meant for them. And now their kids are in my classroom and I have to teach them about this holy sacrament through a vocabulary word and a definition.

I love 1st graders! Week 14

You're either in tears, celebrating, or indifferent about the results of last night's game. I'm not going to reveal my stance... but what a cool segue that the first thing Greenbay's Greg Jennings said at the end of the game was "Glory be to God!"

I noticed his prayerful kneeling at the end of each touchdown, which was such a cool affirmation about the lives of some of these players. AND his end of game comment glorifying God brings us right to tonight's lesson! We learned the Glory Be!

The lessons in this book are less than exciting, to say the least. My co-teacher is brilliant and comes up with fun routines. Today I looked up the American Sign Language words for the Glory Be... what an adventure that was:

Glory be to the Father

to the Son,

and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning,

is now, and will be forever.

Amen.

I don't usually get to share helpful things with moms readers, but this is really fun! This one is for Spence Ohana who also teaches CCD. Maybe you can use this!

The kids BLEW ME AWAY with how fast they picked it up and they seemed to enjoy it! They were so quick, they could return to their seats and start filling out "kindness coupon books" that my friend and co-teacher made.

"This coupon is good for one hug."

"I will help you with the dishes."

"I will help my mom make her bed."

Several munchkins said they would make dinner... let's hope mom and dad avoid using that coupon. Ovens are tricky.

A superb weekly reminder is that these kids really retain what they learn and what we discuss. They ask questions and genuinely want to know answers.

"...but Jesus said, 'Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" (Matthew 19:14)

It makes more sense to me each week.

I love 1st graders! Week 13

Whew! That was a long time to go without the unconditional love of the shortest people in my life. Oops, make that the second-shortest (see #4).

A month and a half, a whole liturgical season, and one sick week later, the kiddos were back in the classroom and we were back in business learning about how much God Loves us!

I'm not a mom, so any moms reading this will think, "Yes, they tend to do that." What do they do? They ask pertinent questions way above their supposed understanding. God is laughing at us adults, thinking we know more than these kids. We don't.

When we were talking about the Trinity, "Fahhther, Son and Hol-lee Speer-eet," one girl quietly raised her hand and said, "I don't understand."

Today, we were talking about the Mass and she said, "Why do we do it? Why do we go to Mass?"
Did I mention I love these kids? It's a simple question with a lifelong answer.

So, why do you go to Mass? Is it to get the Eucharist? That is certainly the greatest possible gift and we are not worthy, but God has said the Word and we are healed.

Is it to see your friends? Community is certainly important. Is it to make new friends?

Is it because your priest gives awesome, fulfilling homilies? Do you go despite your priest's homilies?

Why do you go?

The same wise friend I quote most of the time I'm explaining something profound shared with me a metaphor he recently heard: the Mass is like a big balloon launcher. You enter the room, God pulls back the sling shot. You hear the readings and the homily, God tugs it back farther. Jesus enters and offers himself to us in the form of the Eucharist, God inserts a big ol' water balloon in the sling shot, pulling back farther.

The priest tells us to "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord." WAPPO. There we go, armed with the Eucharist and our community to serve God and spread His word.

I love that. Whatever you do, do not bring a balloon launcher to Mass. They won't like it. Just "get launched."

I love 1st graders! Week 11

I'm going to miss those little goofballs! Today was the last class until late January and it is Bummer City in my heart.

On many occasions I have thought, "Wow, I really love this!" and "Teaching is fun, I love trying to find a balance between discipline and entertainment" (while teaching... okay you caught me). However, tonight revealed the most overwhelming feeling of deep-rooted Love for each of these precious little people.

The hang up is: I don't know how much I'm allowed to show. The training they make religious ed teachers undergo paralyzes me a little--thanks, lawyers. My twin snuggled up next to me while we were sitting and it was all I could do not to put my arm around her for a little side-hug. I want to show each of them how much I'm growing to Love them, and, you know, try to share Jesus' Love, but I feel like I can't.

Next time, I'm going to keep the motto I've tried to tattoo to my heart: Love always. As long as we're all together as a class, I can adore these little chillins all I want!

Jesse Tree

Tonight we joined the other classes to celebrate the Jesse Tree prayer service for the kiddies. That meant a squall of elementary schoolers attempting to sing a song I sang when I was in their shoes, about 17 years ago... a lot of high pitched mumbling to the tune of The 12 days of Christmas.

That also means: party time! We asked them to bring in a treat to share (this is a test for moms and dads more than it is for our students...) and we brought gifts!

My lovely teacher friend brought in gold ornaments that she decorated to give them along with these cards (pictured at right). It is rotten quality because I used Photobooth to snatch a picture of it when I was in weird lighting. They enjoyed the gifts!

Parents: I'm really sorry for the amount of sugar in their bloodstream when you picked up your little darlings. I hope you only heard 5 or 6 verses of the song we sang before they fell asleep.

I love 1st graders! Week 10

There are as many paths to the Catholic faith as there are Catholics. There are converts (shout out to Kassie at Secret Vatican Spy who will join at the Eucharistic table this Easter!), cradle Catholics (here's to Rebecca at Modestia!), "reverts," and double/triple/etc. reverted reverts. We love and welcome you all (and non-Catholics, no hatin' here).

One thing is for sure: to be a Catholic, you must have sturdy knees.

This week I ... abandoned my co-teacher. Don't fret, I checked with her first and she said everything went fine, though it was a full house of kidos. The University of Virginia's Catholic Student Ministry hosts a praise and worship once a month entitled Ignite.242. Last night was the final Ignite.242 of the semester and a friend of mine was the guest speaker.

My friend used the word "given" as a spring board for the talk, following up on previous talks covering "chosen," "blessed," and "broken." These four words are the key chapter titles in Fr. Henri Nouwen's book, The Life of the Beloved (one I will have to go buy).

He explained how even those who are materialistically poor or poor in health can develop a strong and healthy community, inciting joy.

In the last year he spent time in Mexico and Haiti, building, teaching, and helping where needed, while exposing himself to some of the most needy, yet joyful people he's known. He said some of the orphans in Haiti had just lost their parents, but they showed great love and sought attention from him and his mission buddies. A woman in Mexico, who cannot afford any kind of material comfort or luxury, somehow managed to make cookies for the missionaries and walked the miles to deliver them.

The sense of community was a source of true wealth and it does not have to be isolated to those in dire situations. You are my brother. You are my sister. We are a community, we need only to act like one. Working to please ourselves and achieve success for ourselves alone will not only leave us unfulfilled, but it will prevent us from creating our community.

He elaborated, reviewing a lesson I will never hear too many times: imagine how good you feel when someone smiles at you on the street. Think about how much of a relief it is to start up a random, friendly conversation with someone when your day was spinning down into the dark. Haven't you seen how fulfilling it is to be the one to smile at someone on the street or to act friendly toward a stranger? You are my brothers and my sisters, I want to act that way.

I do not own this picture.

Sing sing sing ... my friend spoke ... sing sing ... and then a priest walked in with a consecrated host in the monstrance, aka Jesus joined us in the flesh. There is always such a rush when you first see this during adoration, I love it. The rush blocked out the thought, "What's the plan? How long will this be?"

I promise this was not out of impatience, some adorations are longer than others. We're back to the tip about having good knees... let's just say it was quite a while. My stubbornness and pride got in the way, so I wound up kneeling at a perfect right angle, on the naked floor for ... a long time. Serves me right.

During one of the knee-numbing cycles, I recalled something my friend said in his talk. He shared with us the example of his parents who show him the devotion and commitment of real, true love everyday. His mother is ill with chronic pain, yet he said his dad shows heroic patience and love for his wife a several decades. His dad is an inspiration of what true love looks like in his own life.

God came to Earth and joined us in flesh. As God and man He allowed Himself to become arrested, beaten, scourged, embarrassed, and hung on a cross, all so that we might spend eternity with Him. God is Love.

Like I said, I will always welcome a refresher of this truth. Even if it costs me my knees.

I love 1st graders! Week 9

"Is Jesus a saint?"

I asked my first graders this when we were learning about the community of saints.

"Yes, no, maybe so?" was the response.

Go ahead and form your own answer. G'head.

Later that night I posed the same question to a group of friends and my wise friend said that yes, He is. The definition of a saint is someone who is in heaven... this we know of Jesus. This means Jesus is a part of the community of saints and he is above the community of saints, as God. 100% man, 100% God.

I have to be honest, I didn't think of this. I like to think it's because I was trying to translate the messages into 6-year-oldese, but he's exactly right. It's another wonderful relationship we have with God and I am grateful for it!

I told the first graders that He wasn't a saint as a segue into a review of the Holy Trinity. They made me proud: "Father, son and Holy Trinity, I mean Holy Speereet."

We both come to some new clarity today: I realized I have another connection to Christ and they remembered some details about the Holy 3-in-1. Yay for learning!

7 Quick Takes Friday, Volume 4

Click here to read the original post at ConversionDiary.com

*1*

See if you can guess my pattern here.

*2*

Here we go, once again... Just as the leaves took forever to turn rusty colors... my inevitable autumn sickness took forever to turn its ugly head. I don't want to siphon all the blame onto my 1st graders...but they are probably the Mary to my Typhoid. Watch out people, the stomach flu is out there and it is kicking and screaming all the way home.

*3*

Home handcuffed me to the sick bed and I managed to keep that stomach flu to myself! No one in my family got sick, which is a true miracle. You know who you are and I love you, but some people in my family pick up more colds and flus than mess around the house.... I guess I could be pointing that at all members of my lovely family. Family, forgive me for this.

*4*

This is the weekend. I am going to conquer this digital stack of graduate school applications and I'm going to conquer it good. Call me Joan of Arc, my weapon is my keyboard.

*5*

Keyboard (more likely a piano), guitar, drums, base, and a beautiful voice. Those are the weapons of choice for many a talented musician. I am in awe of anyone with musical talent, but one of my favorite Christian musicians is Phil Wickham. Tis the season and this wonderful man just released his Christmas CD! This is a CHRISTmas CD, so check it out! It's almost Christmas!!

*6*

Christmas movies are really failing us. How many new Christmas movies, versus "holiday" movies, have you seen lately? This is one of those typical complaints that is easy to make and easy to get people to agree with, but why can't we come up with another movie that makes us feel the way It's a Wonderful Life makes us feel? How hard can that be?

*7*

Be merry and full of turkey, mashtayders, caohrn, peeaz, cRANburry sawce, rolls, ham biskuhts (if you're lucky enough to be from Virginia), pAAHHHHH, and family in one week!

(Did you catch the pattern?)

I love 1st graders! Week 8

InthenameoftheFather...andtheSon...andtheHolySpeereetAaaaaaamen.

We start every class with the Sign of the Cross, the Our Father and the Hail Mary because they're on big poster boards, stapled to the wall. First graders in our diocese concentrate on learning the hows and whys of prayer, so this is our routine (if you know any 6-year-olds, you're correctly picturing the 1/3 eager beavers who do the Sign of the Cross with rapid quickfire speed, 1/3 who look around with the "are you serious? We do this too much" eyes, and 1/3 who go forehead-chest-right-left, by accident).

Today we learned the Holy Trinity. Yup, simple as that. They all know it now, it's down cold.

Right.

Jesus was the Son and He told his friends that His Father was going to send a "helper" to live in us and teach us while He's in heaven. The Holy Spirit, the great mystery, is probably one of the hardest things to grasp. I admit I can only vaguely understand it, which sometimes proves its essential existence.

One of our students, a real sweetheart who always cuddles and loves us, looked confused as we explained the Holy Trinity.

"I don't understand."

Understatement of a lifetime, girly, believe me.

So I explained it as a tricycle, to make the connection with the Latin (I know they're six, okay? I think kids can handle more than we give them credit). My brilliant friend and co-teacher said, "So just like a tricycle, you need all three wheels otherwise it will be unbalanced and fall over."

Sadly, in ten years, this sweet girl will not voice her confusion. What makes us think that we have to understand every last part of this life? Fear. If we ask the question, we're in a limbo where the answer may tug us one way or another. Asking the question catapults us into that place of uncertainty.

However, if we don't ask the questions, we are as uncertain, yet less inclined to pull ourselves out of the confusion. I'm proud of her for asking and I wanted to hug her and say, "I know, not very many people do. It's the kind of thing you learn over several experiences as you pick up on things through life."

As we addressed a few weeks ago, kids have the perfect mindset for coming in contact with Jesus' teaching. It's the rest of us who have to hear it, translate it, translate it back, answer it and then translate our answer.

Hopefully we land somewhere near the "be like a child" target for which Jesus called us.


Need to see the whole picture?
*I love 1st graders! Week 7
*I love 1st graders! Week 6

I love 1st graders! Week 7

My first graders were a little harder to love this week, but we managed. This one goes out to Halloween candy, thanks BIG GUY! You plotted, you schemed, you fought your way into my little angels' bloodstream and you launched a big, fat raspberry right in my face. Thanks a lot.

We talked about the church calendar's five seasons on Monday. The kids knew about Christmas (Santa), Easter (the Easter Bunny) and Lent ("like the stuff in your belly button"), but Advent and Ordinary Time were new for them. In a circle on the floor, we went over what each season means, how and why we celebrate them.

Again, one more thank you to my frienemy, Halloween.

During the hour and a half, I hit that mental stop sign where I looked both ways, said to myself, "Parents must get more tired than I realized," and rolled forward.

We have one kid who talks CONSTANTLY. No one has to be listening, he'll faithfully inform the air. One girl is obviously bored, but wants our approval so she spends her time on a seesaw between listening while tap dancing and looking at us from the flat of her back.

One of our kids (my education-masters-holding good friend and co-teacher tells me he's trouble, but he's got me fooled) is so cute I want to gobble him up. He's polite and uses the magic words, yet talks while we're talking. He asks permission to go to the bathroom, but stands on his chair. This kid is so adorable and charismatic, he's going to get a lot of attention when he grows up. Right now, I'm sure he gets a lot of attention from his daytime teacher. Like my friend, I doubt he/she thinks he's as cute as I do.

All in all, this was the most rambunctious class we've ever led.... not too bad when all we have to blame or complain about is a sugar high.

This weekend I met a wonderful and energy-filled young woman who teaches CCD to fourth graders in Harlem. One told her, "I don't have to listen to you, I'm Puerto Rican" -- which is so much funnier when you can see the sassy mouth, wide eyes and sassafras finger waving in her rendition. Siblings are constantly pummeling each other in class and she hears stories about these kids who are just a few years away from some potentially dangerous ages.

She said she sees more sad than funny days in that situation, yet she chooses to return to class to teach every week and love them. That is not easy; I'm sure hearing about the home life of a Harlem kid when trying to explain the Bible can knock on her head for a long time.

On Monday, we kept a level head, taught them about the Catholic Church calendar and loved them. I'm grateful for the days I spend with these lovable, tiny people.

I'm also grateful for the very large beer I ordered in our traditional trip to the local bar that night.
Take that, Halloween.

Miss this one?
* I love 1st Graders, Week 6

I love 1st graders! Week 6

A great friend of mine from college called me up a few weeks ago to ask if I wanted to help teach a class of 1st graders (say it with me, awwwwwwwwwwww) for religious education at our church. YES! Of course, I'd love to!

Well, they sure were cute, harmless, tiny little people on the first day, but they intimidated me. We all know the real story: I intimidated myself. I have led the Vacation Bible School activities station for years, thus I have seen ADD/ADHD and BOY at their worst in the most freeing environment. "We're outside, why not?" "Because if you pop that balloon over her head, she will get all wet." "Fine, I'll save it for later."

Sheesh. I loved that too, I just needed to find my balance in the chaos.

In this class, we're forcing these kids to "go to school" for an extra hour and a half after the last school bell rang for the day. They just had dinner, they don't know anyone in the class and they don't have any of the prayers memorized yet. I think that formula inspires ADHD in every 6-year-old in America.

Despite my anxiety hiccups on the first day, I loosened up, I'm having fun, and I've received the best compliment a non-teacher-teacher can receive: when we sit in a circle on the floor, there are always a few requests to sit next to them. When we pick our spots, I get cuddled and hugged as I read and ask them questions. Talk about warm fuzzies!

Now that you have some background - Week 6

This is me... not a very recent photo, but am I not adorable?

There is one girl in my class who looks EXACTLY like I did as a 6-year-old, spooky. When her dad picks her up at the end of the day, I fight the urge to say, "If you're wondering what she'll look like in 17 years, I can pose for a picture." She's a really neat kid (I'll call her Grace). Grace is always enthusiastic when telling a story, she wants feedback on her drawings, but doesn't ask for it. She is really friendly, though she joined our class in the 4th week, when friendships had started to form. Grace is exactly the kind of kid I want to have someday.


The Bible story of the day was Jesus inviting the children to come listen to him and telling the grown ups that they could learn a thing or two from kids like Grace. We did a skit. THAT was an adventure in child psychology. Some were outgoing, but acted like they had a camera on them. Others were just smiley and quiet.

Grace's reaction broke my heart. She was supposed to ask Jesus some questions that she had practiced. When we were all performing, her hands came up to her face and her eyes opened wide, letting the white show around the corners. When we looked to her to ask Jesus about loving others and being kind, she shook her head and mumbled in a high pitch. Poor Grace's stage fright was twisting her mind into a panic, so we quickly moved on.

After the play, she was cuddly, normal and cool-Grace-like, having waved the play (and the fear) goodbye for the day. It struck me as especially pertinent for the lesson.

Jesus asks us to be like children, to breathe in the world the way they do. Grace has either made the switch through the age of reason and feels the same anxiety jellyfish the rest of us do, or her reaction gives us insight in another child-like behavior. When I face something with which I am not comfortable (performing on my kickball team is spiking my anxiety, lately), I put up some version of Grace's hands on my face. I can chose to overreact, curse when I mess up, or start beating myself up. OR I can chose to have my little panic and move on, be cuddly and Grace-cool when the game ends.