Word for 2017-- JOY

The semester that I spent abroad in Austria, Fr. Dave Pivonka had all the students pray about a WORD for their semester there.  I prayed and eventually felt drawn to the word, BEAUTY.  I spent a lot of time that semester contemplating God's beauty, the beauty of nature and the Church, and my own beauty in the eyes of God.  It was a wonderful semester for me spiritually.  Not because EVERYthing in my life went well (though I did meet Chris and start dating him that semester which was an amazing gift as well), but because I took the time to reflect on my life, on God's love and the way He was speaking to me through all my experiences that semester.  

2016 was a bit of a tough year for me personally.  I struggled a lot emotionally and spiritually, though I gave it all I had.  There were many blessings in 2016 (Kolbe Christopher being the most obvious one, of course!!), but there were many trials and the journey through this past year was filled with deep pain too.  I learned a lot about true faith, about TRUSTing in Christ, and about trying to live a life filled with gratitude.  But I failed a lot at all of that.  My life just wasn't as rooted in trust in the Lord and gratitude for all things.  

Because I struggled so much in 2016, I had been thinking back to Austria, a time that was so lovely and uplifting.  And that reminded me of Fr. Dave's suggestion to pray about a WORD.  So I thought I would pray about a WORD for 2017.  

And just before the new year, I got news of a terrible accident involving my sister's little niece, Joy.  She fell into a pool, nearly drowning, and was rushed to the hospital.  It has been about 5 days since the accident and we have been praying up a storm for this sweet little 1.5 year old girl and her family.  She is improving and the prayers are sustaining the family who is of course, beside themselves, but resting in the heart of Jesus and depending on God's grace.  It has been truly beautiful to witness their faith and trust in the Lord, and what an honor to be able to intercede for dear little Joy and ask the Holy Spirit to heal her little body.  

As I texted my sister over the past few days, getting updates about Joy, asking what more we could all do, and praying furiously, I suddenly realized that my WORD for 2017 was JOY.  

And not only did this family and their beautiful daughter serve as my sign from God (read: big waving hands saying "Laura, the word is JOY!  Are you hearing it?  JOY!!!!) but they also showed me what true JOY is all about.  It's not about getting what you want.  It's not about being happy all the time and never having anything bad happen.  It's more than anything about trusting the Lord and praising Him in ALL things.  The blessings and the trials.   

It's about choosing to have faith even when you can't see for all the darkness surrounding you.  It's about choosing to have hope even when it seems like nothing will ever change.  It's about choosing to love even when you are tired and feel you have nothing left to give.  It's about trusting in God's plans and not your own.  It's about praising Him and thanking Him for both the blessings and the sufferings.  It's about smiling through the suffering and holding onto Christ's strength and not your own.   

Praying with this family and reading the updates and the words from Kristin and Matt and others on FB and Instagram showed me that there can truly be JOY in all situations.  This situation is ugly and heart-wrenching and so very painful in the eyes of the world, but when you add the love of Christ and choose to trust Him and praise Him and rely on Him, there is so much joy.  So much Joy!  

Please, please, will you #prayforjoy with me?  Will you pray for this sweet little child?  Will you pray for her healing?  Will you pray that the witness of her family and the power of prayer continues to  touch the lives of many?  Will you pray for true JOY to erupt in our world as the love of Christ touches us all? 

Will you pray for me this year that I allow the Lord to heal me as well?  Will you pray that I learn to trust Him and His plan, forgive, and move forward in the JOY of Christ?  

I found many incredible quotes about joy, which I am sure will get shared throughout my year, but I wanted to share just a few of them here with you in this post right now as we begin 2017.  What are you praying for this year?  Have you considered finding a word for your year?  Perhaps one that will challenge you and point you in the right direction to make the changes you need to make to live fully.  To live JOYfully. 

Thank you for your continued prayers for little Joy.  She has been opening her eyes a bit today and is breathing more and more on her own.  Let's pray right now.  Let's ask God boldly for a miracle for this family.  Let's live a life FULL of JOY today. 

As St. John Paul II said,

 "God made us for JOY!"

Musical Monday- "When God Ran" plus some recipes

 In my post about our plans to celebrate the canonization of John Paul II (see here), I said I'd let you all know what our dinner plans ended up being and here I am to do just that.  It. Was. Delicious.

• Pierogies (while I'd love to try making pierogies from scratch sometime, these were the frozen store bought variety)

paired with Sauteed Cabbage and Apples

• Baked Carrots with cumin
• Sausage (Polish would have been preferable since we were going for a Polish meal, but we had sweet Italian sausages in the freezer, so we figured we'd honor John XXIII, who was Italian....win, win!)
• Mizeria (Polish cucumber salad)

And of course, we made the delicious "Pope Cake" (see the link about our celebration plans).  Ava absolutely LOVED it and begged for seconds.  

Each Monday, I try to find a song to expand your musical horizons, make you reminisce about a past event/time, or reflect on God's great love for each of us.  Today, the song I chose is one that I hadn't listened to in awhile, but there was a time where I would listen to it on repeat several times through, and just listen or sing out my praise for a God who runs to us with his love and mercy.  

                       

"When God Ran"- written by Benny Hester.  This version is sung by Phillips, Craig, and Dean. 

What I Wore: April 27

My outfit was nothing terribly exciting or terribly unique.  I have worn outfits quite similar, but hey, isn't that what mom style is really all about?  Mixing and matching the items you have to make "new" outfits, even if they aren't ENTIRELY new?  I think so and so does my clothing budget.

Today is the celebration of many wonderful events in the Church.  We are celebrating the canonizations of two Popes, now Saints, and of course it is the feast of Divine Mercy!  Here are some fun ideas for celebrating, many of which we'll be doing/have already done. John Paul II and Divine Mercy Sunday.

And because my daughters and I got weary of the traditional pictures for What I Wore on Sunday, we started taking selfies of the various emotions.....

 

May you have a blessed feast of Divine Mercy!

Saints John XXIII and John Paul II, pray for us!

Sunday style link-up!  Add yours and check out some great outfits from some lovely ladies.

Finelinenandpurple.com

Celebrating the Canonization of John Paul II

Pope John XXIII is also being canonized this Sunday, and I feel like we are leaving him out, but the honest truth is that I just don't know all that much about him except that he wrote some great encyclicals and that he was a very humble man.  Perhaps when I no longer have a child under the age of 4, I will have more time to read up on him and his encyclicals too!

 Saint John XXIII, pray for us!

And that brings us to the man who was Pope when I was born, a Pope that inspired me, and a man I traveled across the United States to see at World Youth Day.  Even after his death, I have studied about him and been inspired by his life.  When I  studied abroad, we visited Poland and were guided through several areas that were significant in his life; his city of birth, Wadowice, and a school where he studied.  We even enjoyed a bit of Polish cream cake, now referred to as "Papal Cream Cake" or simply "Pope Cake" because he apparently loved the stuff so much.

 

The hubby and I met that semester abroad, so we share these memories, but what also really made me smile was finding out that my hubby was also present at World Youth Day in Toronto and shared that experience with our beloved Pope too.  We didn't know each other, but God brought us to the same place to be blessed by an amazing man who had so much wisdom to share and whose life was truly one of spreading the gospel in love.

You better believe we will be celebrating his canonization and sharing what we can about him with our children.  For Sunday, here are the grand plans:

1. We are making some "Pope Cake" in honor of JPII.  I found a fairly simple recipe here.  You might also check out Catholic Cuisine for a variation.

picture from about.com

2. I'm planning a Polish meal- some of it is still to be determined, so I'll have to do a follow-up post with pictures of how everything turned out...  My current thought is Perogies and Polish sausage at least...

3. We may be sporting some hipster JPII looks just for fun.  Seriously, the man was the coolest.  If you don't believe me, check out these 21 awesome facts about him.  Did you read them?  DO IT!  He is just incredible and amazing.  I've already decided that the next book I'm reading (and actually finishing!) is going to be this one as soon as I can get a copy.

4. We will be doing some fun crafts.  Definitely the cute John Paul II paper bag puppet (see the pic below and one of the links for direction), but perhaps more...Check out some fun stuff you can do with your kids at Catholic Icing HERE!  and also here on Catholic Icing.

5. Watch one of the Pope's (supposedly) favorite movies.  I came across a few sites that listed some and we have chosen Life is Beautiful.  (It's Uh-mazing!)

6. Go for a family hike (or do something outdoor-sy).  Pope John Paul II was an avid outdoorsman, who loved to ski, swim, hike, and kayak among other outdoor activities.  

found on usatoday.com

 And let's go back in time... to Pope John Paul II's beatification!  Check out Kayla's little project from back then.  And just look how little she was.....

Saint John Paul the Great, pray for us.  

Remembering World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto with John Paul II

             In just a few short days, John Paul II will be canonized a Saint.  He was the Pope for 17 years of my life, and some of the most formative in my faith.  I was raised Catholic, but 8th grade and my high school years were when my faith really started becoming my own.  It was at this time that I went to several Steubenville summer conferences and World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada.  If you went, you will recall this

World Youth Day was my first and only encounter with John Paul II and it is one I will never, ever forget.  When he passed away in 2005, World Youth Day memories filled my mind, and again, as he is soon to be canonized a saint, my memory revisits those brief days I spent in Toronto with a beloved and aging Pope.  

For my group, our memories do not just consist of the actual World Youth Day events.  We traveled by bus from California to Toronto and stayed at different parishes along the way in gyms and parish centers.  We met many new faces and had many long days on the bus that involved praying the Rosary together and playing "Big Booty" (or "Praise Jesus" as it came to be called on our trip).  We made rope rosaries, and wondered what WYD would be like when we arrived. 

found on archdioceseoftoronto.blogspot.com

Here are some of my favorite memories from WYD:

• Staying with a wonderful family in St. Peterburg.  My mom, and 3 of my brothers were also part of our group, so my whole family got to stay with this Canadian family in the days leading up to the event in Toronto.  It was amazing to be able to really be a part of the culture for a few days
• Meeting Catholic "friends" from all over the world and trading shirts, pins, backpacks, and flags. 
• The lines of Portable bathrooms. 
• The lines to wait for food and confession. 
• The horrible weather.  It rained and rained.  Apparently there was even a possibility of an evacuation due to tornado warnings.  We all had sleeping bags and were in a large field for the night leading up to the Pope's arrival and it was flooding, but we all banded together as much as possible and made shelters and awaited the arrival of our beloved Pope.  
• When he arrived (no joke) the sun started shining.        
• chanting "JPII, We love you!" over and over.  What an amazing Pope.                                                   
• One of my brothers and a couple other friends braved the crowds along the route the Popemobile would take to get a closer view and wave to the Pope.  It was a long wait and it was wet, but some great memories I share with my brother.  Thanks for being there with me for that, Scott!
• The music in so many different languages, but most of all the theme song, "Lumiere Du La Monde- the Light of the World" (listen below)

                   

• Listening to an aging, but nonetheless beautiful and amazing Pope exhorting us, "You are the salt of the earth...the light of the world" and encouraging us to be brave and courageous and not be afraid to stand up for our faith. 
• His parting words, “You are young, and the pope is old; 82 or 83 years of life is not the same as 22 or 23. But the pope still fully identifies with your hopes and aspirations. Although I have lived through much darkness, under harsh totalitarian regimes, I have seen enough evidence to be unshakably convinced that no difficulty, no fear is so great that it can completely suffocate the hope that springs eternal in the hearts of the young. You are our hope, the young are our hope.  Do not let that hope die! Stake your lives on it! We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

Some more great quotes from his 2002 visit to Toronto found here

What are your favorite memories of John Paul II?

Pinterest Project - 5th Edition - OktoBEERfest

OktoBEERfest

Some wonderful friends of ours recently moved to the Chicago area.  For several years they invited us over for an OktoBEERfest every October.  They would cook a delicious feast and every dish would incorporate beer.  We decided to carry on the tradition ourselves when they left so I took upon myself the task of finding a bunch of beer recipes for the celebration.  As usual, I overdid it, and we all were stuffed by the time the actual dinner course was served, but that's ok, that just means yummy leftovers.  After deciding upon recipes, I gave the list to the hubby to figure out what beer to put in what.  When a recipe calls for "beer", let's face it; you are fooling yourself if you are just throwing any ol' beer in.  I was further impressed when the hubby took my list and came up with beers that would work nicely and he didn't even have to make a trip to the store.  That's the kind of beer selection we've got.

here are some of the store bought beers we used

It was several courses (did I mention that I kind-of overdid it?), so I was in the kitchen all evening and didn't get pictures.  But that's ok, because the websites I pinned from have plenty of lovely pictures.  The recipes below have links to the actual websites where I found them, but if you would like to check out my Mamalaurarose OktoBEERfest pinboard, you can find these recipes pinned there as well as other beer recipes I plan to try at some point in the future.

The Appetizers

Beer Battered Onion Rings -     Beer used- Shift- This is brewed by the New Belgium brewery and is an excellent canned beer. It is a pale lager.

The review- Delicious and they paired VERY nicely with the beer cheese dipping sauce below.

picture from thecozyapron.com

Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce-     Beer used- Speakeasy Prohibition (pictured above) is an amber ale.

The review- Also a hit!  We used this as a dip for the onion rings as well as store bought honey pretzel bites

Soup Course

Bacon Beer Cheese Soup -    Beer used- Deschutes Chainbreaker pictured above) is a white IPA. The recipe called for a Belgian style wheat beer (they suggested Blue Moon).  Hubby says the Chainbreaker is a Belgian Wit (White Wheat Beer) so it fits the style the recipe calls for, but it's an IPA, so a bit hoppier than a Blue Moon would have been.  

The review- This was definitely one of my FAVORITE recipes of the night.  It has a bit of a kick (that's from the cayenne) I did not use the full amount and it was perfect. ( I believe I used about half.)  I omitted the croutons and used 2% milk instead of half and half.  After I cooked it, I threw it all in the crock pot on low to marry the flavors and keep it warm to serve later.   We served the soup with the beer pretzel bowls below. 

picture from theslowroasteditalian.com

Beer Pretzel bowls -  Beer used-  Home-brewed California common- This beer was brewed by my hubby's friend, who introduced us to the OktoBEERfest tradition.  Prost, Miles!  FYI, Anchor Steam is a type of commercial California common beer that you may have heard of or seen in stores, so something like that would be good if you don't have a homebrewer in the house.    

The review- The recipe was not difficult, but it did take time, and I was disappointed in the results given all the time I spent.  Perhaps I needed to pay more attention to exact rising times and that was my problem.  I also greased a pan instead of using parchment paper as suggested and used normal flour instead of bread flour.   Anyway, the end result was pretzel bowls that were not puffy round balls and were a bit soggy on the bottom.  They tasted just like I wanted them to, but the texture and look left me disappointed overall.  I'd like to try this recipe again and see if I can make them look like the picture on the website.  

Dinner course

Autumn Pear Salad with Wheat Beer Vinaigrette -   Beer used- Home-brewed american wheat.  This beer was brewed by the hubby.  

The review- Mmmmmmm!  I love a good salad.  I did make some changes though.  We omitted the chicken (we had it all over the place elsewhere in the meal)  and the goat cheese.  We used Bartlett pears (our favorite) and used toasted almonds instead of toasted pecans.  The vinaigrette was very yummy with this salad.  We have leftovers, so I think I will add some cut up avocado to it today (we love avocado around here!)

Beer battered asparagus with lemon dipping sauce -   Beer used- Home-brewed White Smoke Munich Helles ("And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it") .  This beer was brewed by my hubby with his buddy shortly after Pope Benedict resigned and while we were waiting for our new Pope.  

The review- Everyone enjoyed these.  The comments from others especially noted how delicious the dipping sauce was paired with the asparagus.  

picture from menumusings@blogspot.com

Chicken with Honey Beer Sauce-  Beer used-  Sam Adams Latitude 48 (pictured above) is a citrus-y IPA.  The hubby actually had the Munich Helles earmarked for this chicken and the citrus-y IPA for the asparagus, but in my rush, I accidentally switched them.  They were still very yummy, but I am sure my husband's original choices would have been even better.  

The review- This was a very good recipe.  Because of all the dishes I was preparing, I precooked the chicken which dried it out a little more than I like.  We added slices up brats to the dish as well since, after all, it was OktoBEERfest, so brats were kind of needed somewhere.  :)  Delicious.  

Dessert

Guinness Brownies -   Beer used- Home-brewed chocolate cherry stout.  The recipe obviously called for Guinness, but when you have not just a stout, but a CHOCOLATE CHERRY stout home-brewed by an amazing man, the obvious choice is to use the chocolate cherry stout.  

The review- This was my VERY FAVORITE recipe of the day.  Moist, rich, chocolatey goodness with a hint of the chocolate cherry stout.  It was heaven.  I think the hubby has one more bottle of this and I'm already planning the next batch of brownies AND I will soon be pressuring him to brew another batch of the chocolate cherry stout as well....SO GOOD!

picture from napoleongrills.com

Here are my two eldest girls enjoying the day

Saint Francis of Assisi

I love Saint Francis of Assisi.  I went to the Franciscan University of Steubenville so it's kind-of required.  But seriously--what an amazing Saint.  He is often attributed with the beloved Prayer of St. Francis as well as the saying, "Preach the Gospel at all times.  If necessary, use words."  He was the son of a wealthy merchant and God spoke to him asking St. Francis to "rebuild my Church."  He gave up his former life, creature comforts, and even family, and listened to God's call.  At first he simply took God literally and  loaded up stones and rebuilt an actual church.  As He allowed the Spirit to work more in his life, he did indeed do a lot to rebuild the Church. He loved the poor, was kind to even the animals, and inspired others with his quiet, sacrificial love of God and love of neighbor.

Another poem attributed to Saint Francis is the Canticle of the Sun.  See the full text here

Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord!  All praise is yours, all glory, all honor, and all blessing.  To you alone, Most High, do they belong.  No mortal lips are worthy to pronounce your name.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made, and first my lord Brother Sun,  Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.  How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!    Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;   In the heavens you have made them, bright and precious and fair.

Saint Francis

It has been a busy week here for us, so I chose not to reinvent the wheel and instead found some fun activities to do with the girls over at 

Catholicicing  

This is my favorite from her compilation.  I think we'll try a bird

 Catholicinspired

SO CUTE!

Happy Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi to all, especially to my fellow Franciscan alumni and to our Holy Father, Francis. May we each be willing to help Christ rebuild the Church as He calls us to in our individual vocations.   Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

Easter Crosses

As promised, here are a few pictures of the Resurrection crosses that the girls colored (the fulfillment of the Good Friday cross project)

 

The following is one of the best reminders and most simple and AMAZING quotes ever.  Meditate on this for awhile.  Simple, yes.  Deep, OH YES!

"Do not abandon yourselves to despair.  We are the Easter people and 'Hallelujah' is our song." -John Paul II 

Habemus Papam (We have a Pope!)

I signed up for the Popealarm (text and email alert),but it was the hubby's sister whose text we got first.  I can hear my children move an inch in their sleep, but somehow I didn't hear the text message jingle from one room away.  The hubby keeps his phone on him though, so he got his sister's text with the news that there was White Smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel's chimney.

What a beautiful tradition

We waited anxiously, watching NBC's coverage to see who the new Papa would be.  When the doors finally opened, we were introduced to our newest successor to St. Peter, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.  He took the name of Pope Francis.  I am an alumni of the Franciscan University of Steubenville, so I like to think he was thinking of St. Francis of Assisi.  St. Francis is one of my favorites.  Poor, humble, and so ready and willing to serve others.  We visited Assisi during our semester in Europe and that place is about the most peaceful place in the world, I think.  I am excited to have been able to follow the process of electing a new pope and even more excited to welcome our new Papa, Francisco!

We are having a party tonight.  I haven't decided if the food will be geared more toward Argentina or Italy (his parents were Italian).  But what I have decided is that we will be having Pope cookies for dessert.

          Sugar cookie dough


Roll it out.  Now this part might sound sacrilegious at first...but use the gingerbread lady cookie cutter (if you have one) because then it looks more like the Pope wearing his white cassock.

Bake the cookies to perfection

Frost them and voila!  Pope cookies!  I used a few dried cranberries to make one of the Pope cookies have red shoes like Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wore.  

 Habemus Papam!  

Conclave!

If you are Catholic, then it is likely you know what the Conclave is.  If you are not, you have probably been seeing posts about it from your Catholic friends all over facebook.  A Conclave is when the College of Cardinals meet together to elect a new Bishop of Rome (that's the Pope). Here is a cool website explaining more How Does A Conclave Work?

It's a pretty big deal.  I saw this Novena for the Conclave posted on Facebook this morning and thought I would share.  You can join and have the novena sent to your email each day so you don't forget to pray it (am I the only one who does that?)  Here is the actual Novena prayer:

PRAYER FOR THE CONCLAVE TO ELECT THE POPE

Heavenly Father, we pray in union with the whole Church for the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Cardinals. May the Princes of the Church listen attentively to Your Spirit during the conclave.

Almighty God, we pray that the conclave brings us a Pope who pleases You by guiding Your Church to grow in faithfulness to You. We pray together with the intercession of our Mother Mary and all the Saints. Please Lord, protect and guide your Church during this time of transition.

Amen.

The decision as to who will be elected Pope is not one to be taken lightly, so prayer for the Cardinals and the Church are vital.

I was reading today in Will to Love of the importance of "the interior life, the life of silence, prayer, and of love for God".  St. Maximilian Kolbe said that "to the extent that we will burn with the love of God, to that extent will we inflame it in the hearts of others." Another great Polish Saint, Sr. Faustina Kowalska, offered a beautiful prayer to God that should echo in our own hearts "Trusting in Your mercy, I walk through life like a little child, offering You each day this heart burning with love for your greater glory". 

It is important that just as the Cardinals are retreating to a place of quiet and solitude to pray and discern who the next Pope will be, that we, too, retreat to a place where we can be silent and pray.  The Cardinals are going not just for some big "show" as the media tends to view these types of events, but because they know the power of God and know the importance of listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit.  My prayer for our new Pope is that he will 'burn with the love of God, inflame the hearts of others, and give all the glory to God'.

In honor of the beginning of the Conclave today, March 12, 2013, we made our felt Pope some red Pope shoes.

Farewell to a Beloved Pope

Our girls are still young.  They don't understand very much about the Pope and have never had the chance to see him in person.  But we pray for him and are doing some projects to honor him and the work he has done as the Vicar of Christ.

Here is the felt Pope that we made this morning just before the world became "popeless" for a time.

 

In the next few days, I will be working on other outfits for the pope to wear. I finished a few more outfits this evening to add to the Pope's wardrobe. 

   

    

It is also my hope to eventually add this pope to a quiet book themed for church.  I made a quiet book for my daughters earlier this year  and this page would be done in a similar way except instead of a girl with regular clothing, it would be the Pope with various outfits.  There might also be one for other important persons in Church life. 

Here are some other Papal ideas (some of which I hope we can do this evening) from a favorite website of mine Catholic Icing .  These are geared more for younger children.
At this website Shower of Roses, you can find a really awesome Papal unit for older students.

And I have heard this website to Adopt a Cardinal being promoted on Immaculate Heart Radio.  It has been shared all over Facebook as well.  We adopted a few Cardinals to pray for as they meet to elect a new Bishop of Rome (yes, the a new Pope).

The following prayer was found here

Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI and his successor.  

Lord, source of eternal life and truth,
We ask your blessing upon Pope Benedict XVI.
May he be filled with the
spirit of courage and right judgment
as he concludes his papacy as
successor to St. Peter and Vicar of Christ.
And bless Your Church
that we may be unified
in this time of transition
as one Body of Christ
gathered in prayer and thanksgiving
throughout the world.
Amen.