Kayla's First Reconciliation

Kayla received her First Reconciliation this past Saturday (March 4, 2017).  She was so excited to be able to receive God's graces in this beautiful Sacrament.  

Here she is saying some prayers and waiting her turn to meet with the priest for her very first confession. 

I snapped a poor quality, but also very stealth photo of her across the church confessing her sins to a very dear priest, Fr. Luis and praying with him.  

 

While the second half of the families went to confession, we worked on a few crafts.  A miraculous medal craft and a craft about what our families can do this Lent to share the love of Christ with our family and others.  

She picked out a Holy Card from the bookstore and Fr. Luis signed it (Fr. Javier, our pastor did as well).  

She told me later that as she told Father her sins, she felt a special new feeling inside her that she'd never felt before.  When she was finished she said it was just such a special feeling that made her feel really really happy.  (that's grace, little sweetie.  Never forget that wonderful feeling and the outpouring of God's love into your soul.)  

They lined up to get a little gift from the church (a medal I believe)

 

And then there was cake.  :)  

And I finally got a picture of Kolbe with our pastor Father Javier, who baptized him in December.  

Snapshot of Memories-Spring 2016

A Snapshot of Memories--Spring 2016

I love this idea that I saw on Britt's blog --to take stock of what's going on each season and capture some of those very normal, everyday memories and moments as well as some that are more long-term and far-reaching.  So here goes...

making: plans for the summer-still all in my head

cooking: This BBQ chickpea salad and some fresh fruit for dinner.  Meatless, summery-light Friday meal.

drinking: water mostly, but I mixed it up with sparkling lime water today.  What a rebel.

reading: The Mother of the Little Flower (by Celine Martin) and You Did it to Me (by Fr. Michael Gaitley) plus renewing my Marian consecration with the 33 Days to Morning Glory book

wanting: my current online scoring session to end...it's so tiring...but this section of Mother of the Little Flower was helpful....

looking: for some hand lotion to put on my hands AGAIN because this move to Colorado has been a tough change for my susceptible-ness to dry-skin patches.

playing: Peek-a-boo (Bee-a-boo!) with Sophie all the time.  She's liked the game for awhile, but is recently into covering her own eyes much more and cracks herself up.

wasting: too much time worrying about things I can't control.  Perhaps because of my mom's influence, "Jesus, I trust in You" has been my go-to prayer for--well, pretty much forever.  And it's a constant one for me since I'm a pretty strong choleric.  :)

sewing: nothing-that's not really a talent of mine, but if we are speaking of crafting...I'm working on a few Letter Y projects to complete with the girls.

wishing: those last few boxes would unpack and organize themselves....

enjoying: this point in pregnancy when I feel the wondrous kicks from inside often throughout my day.  Sweet reminders of life, but not yet strong enough that I've had to start wondering if my uterus is suddenly going to just fall out...that time is on it's way.  For now, "Hello, sweet bouncing baby!"

liking: a quiet moment here and there to read

wondering: who our little baby inside is and what sort of perfect fit God has made for our family this time.  Each time we welcome a new little one I'm always so contented with God's choice in creating such a perfect, unique individual to add to our family dynamic.

hoping: to find my patience again.  It was gone when I woke up and I've been trying to reclaim it.

marveling: at the great blessings God has bestowed on me and trying to be humble and thankful.  "Everything is a grace" -St. Therese (and repeat)

smelling: lilacs.  Every house but ours in the neighborhood seems to have a bush.  Brings back memories from my childhood in Spokane.  I can't get enough of that scent.  So back up to wishing and wanting...a lilac bush.

needing: a few moments in the quiet of my husband's arms

wearing: one of my new dresses on Sunday--still have to decide which one!!

following:  This mama who is due anytime with a little surprise, and of course, getting a chuckle from the wit of Grace over at Camp Patton. Clearly also, keeping up with the beautiful photography and writing style of Britt, which is where I even got this idea in the first place.

noticing: how quickly my girls are growing up.  Kayla just got a new, bigger bike, so that Elise can take her former one, and now it's little Ava's turn to learn to ride!! Sophie isn't to be left out and hops on anything with wheels when she gets a chance...not always a great idea....

knowing: the truth of the words of this song- "Lord, I Need You"

thinking: about what might happen in tonight's Person of Interest episode...as well as pondering the beauty of the last episode we watched in which one life was spared even though the possibility of many harmed was at stake.  A reminder of God's mercy available for us ALL!  EACH and every ONE.

bookmarking: this Fr. Riccardo podcast that Britt recommended.

opening: the cover of a sweet book with my girls.  Most recently, Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile, a sweet story recommended by my MIL.

giggling: at the sound of my girls giggling when Daddy plays with them at the playground.  He can dissolve them all in sweet giggles when he pushes them high on the swings or makes whatever that teetering-tottering contraption in the picture below is twist and shake and bump and bounce.

feeling: blessed.  Oh, so blessed.

A Romantic Valentine's Day Evening (that was anything but)

Before I begin this post, I need to make a few disclaimers:
** I am not writing to make anyone feel badly about loving and enjoying a really romantic Valentine's Day with their spouse or significant other.  If you are the type of person who loves all things Valentine's Day and doesn't feel jaded about it like I do, POWER to you!
 **I am not writing to get some kind of pat on the back or because I'm looking for sympathy or pity. (You may find that hard to believe as you read through, but once you get to the end it will all pull together, I promise).   Because I repeat, I'm NOT asking for pity.  In fact, I don't want your pity and you'll see why later.   And I repeat, I'm not trying to tell you how I'm some supermom either.  I'm sharing an experience that I learned from and that is all.

And there will be randomly placed pictures of smiling 1 year old throughout.  For no apparent reason.  She's just cute and you might need a fun picture break every so often.

Ok, so here we go.

Just for good measure we'll start off with a cute picture. 

It shouldn't be new news that Chris and I have never been huge Valentine's Day fans.  We see it as a big marketing day to make money off of things that people should be doing a whole lot more regularly than once or twice a year.  Plus everything is marked up.  Because it's a Valentine's Day bouquet, it's twice as much.  Because it's Valentine's Day chocolate, it's twice as much.  And we've always thought that going OUT to dinner on a day when all the other couples in the world are also going out sounds like a nightmare.  Totally not us.  To each his own.  But that's just not how the us in this marriage works.  

So Valentine's Day around here usually consists of some simple homemade cards (that those who can create, create) and a dinner prepared by one or the other of us adults; often we each do parts of it and thus work together.   And then we usually have a sweet treat (this year was chocolate covered cherries and almonds) together-just the two of us- after the kids are in bed.  

This year was mostly the same routine.
Until it was time to put the kids to bed.  

Elise had had a low-grade fever that we'd been keeping an eye on all day, but there weren't really other symptoms so we just had it in the back of our minds.  So we put Sophie down about half hour before the other gals and she falls right to sleep.  As we are putting the other three down, suddenly Elise is a basket case.  A complete basket case.  I had put a little lavender oil on her forehead to help with the fever and to help her sleep.  But she was worried, OH SO WORRIED, that it was getting in her eyes.  And suddenly, (of course!) her eyes feel funny.  And she's crying and the tears might get the oil in her eyes.  And on and on.  You really have to be present for an Elise-fear-meltdown to even come close to understanding what it's like.  There is NO talking her out of anything.  Just crying.  And more crying.  

And then Ava decided she didn't want to say our family decade of the Rosary, so she starts crying too.  Chris and Kayla keep praying the decade.  Ava keeps crying.  I keep quietly whispering to Elise her special Bible verse, "When I am afraid, I will trust in You," and begging for the intercession of St. Dymphna (patron Saint of anxiety), Mary, and Jesus.  And eventually Ava gives up and stops crying.  And eeee-ven-tuaaaally, Elise slows her cries to little whimpers and those pitiful little cry hiccups (you know what I'm talking about right?).

We get the girls to bed.

And they are quiet for a few minutes.

Then Elise is crying again.  I sit with her and rub her back and hold her hand and whisper a few "decades" of a Chaplet of Mercy slowly and she falls asleep.

Now Ava is making noise again.  So I sit with her and we pray the rest of the Chaplet together slowly.  She finally seems to realize it's bedtime and she is a bit tired and lays still, so I tell her I'll be back to check on her and tiptoe out.

Finally it's time for Chris and I to watch our latest show, Person of Interest, on Netflix.  Sunday is our one day to watch TV and snack since we're giving that up for Lent, so we grabbed our goodies and sat down to enjoy our little show date.

I told you there would be random photos...

Part way through, right when we're at a cliff hanger, I hear something.  Chris pauses the show and sure enough, Elise is crying again.  Up the stairs I go to see what the problem is.  She has to go potty.  The tired, frustrated part of me wants to scream (or at least berate her), "Then JUST GO!  You are 4 years old.  Open the door to your room, find the bathroom, and go potty!!!"  But she's little.  And she's tired.  And she's not feeling 100%.  And she's Elise.  Everything is a big deal.  So I hold her hand and take her to the restroom.  And when she's done, I hold her hand and bring her back to bed.  Kisses and snuggles, we say our verse again and she closes her eyes once more.

Back to the show.

Another cliff hanger (it's kind of that kind of a show...) and I hear more noises.
Elise again.  We had watched Cinderella as our family movie night earlier that evening and when I went upstairs to see what she was crying about this time, it was the movie.  She was bummed that Cinderella went away from her home in the carriage with the Prince at end of the movie.  "WHERE were they going?  I want Cinderella to come back to her house!!" she wails.  I explain a bit about that and rub her back, give her some hugs and kisses, and we repeat her verse a few times more.  She settles back down uh-again.

Back to the show which we finished and then we headed off to bed.

And just as we are laying down, I hear the sound of a door opening...

Ava.  She had to use the restroom.  This happens almost every night, and recently it has meant that she begins crying almost hysterically throughout the process until she is returned to her bed.  So there was that.  Back to bed for her.

And back to bed for me.  And then more wails.  This time it was Sophie and Elise.  Elise's ear was bothering her a little.  Chris got her some ibuprofen and I put Sophie back to bed.  She was not happy about that at all.  Apparently Elise's cries had woken her up and she is crankypants when she gets woken up in the night.  So she cried, while Elise got her medicine and I tried to soothe her (because Elise is pretty always a basket case when she wakes up in the middle of the night).  Eventually after more prayers, I finally calmed her down enough that I could convince her to go back to her bed and I took Sophie out and brought her to bed with me.  She quieted down a little, but wasn't going to sleep.  Her restless little toes kept digging into my side, so I put her in the pack n play which we still have set up in our room for naps for her some days.  She cried momentarily and then gave in to sweet sleep.  And so did I.  For a blissful little period of time.

And I honestly can't remember much of the rest of the night except that I got up again with Elise and had to calm her down again and again with Ava who was a huge basket case herself that time and wanted me to lay with her (that's her thing recently).  I give in sometimes, and this was definitely one of those nights.  Normally though, she falls back asleep quickly and I can retreat silently back to my own (now cold) side of the bed in my own room.  But that night she was all kinds of restless and squirmy and oh my goodness.

And then she was in my room whining for "bwekfas" at 7:01am and I couldn't even.   I just sent her to get the pile of books that I knew was laying somewhere on our floor from the last time that a scenario of this general nature happened and she sat semi quietly on the bed between Chris and I and looked at the huge stack of books while I lay there in my daze.  Eventually I felt I could peel my eyes open enough to walk down the stairs without tripping over and we commenced with the breakfast eating.

My friends, I am still not sure that the calm woman who handled that Valentine's Night(mare) was me.  I'm not going to lie and pretend that normally when I get up in the middle of the night with the kids that I'm patient and cuddling and nurturing mom.  I'm usually cranky, tired, deep-angry-sighing mom who gets to the nurturing once the kiddos are back in bed by remembering a kiss and a hug and a "Sleep with the angels" (because despite my tired, crankiness, I do love my kids).  But the mom from Valentine's Day night was loaded up with grace.  Jesus and the Saints must have given me a few extra helpings of grace because I was actually able to embrace my crosses of suffering and they became joyful.  I wasn't resentful of the many trips I made that night to comfort, help in the bathroom, soothe fears based in fantasy, or cuddle restless children who seemed to want anything but the sleep I so craved.  Because I craved loving them, specifically, loving them as Christ does more than I craved sleeping.
  It was incredible.

The next day, I saw this quote on Blessed Is She's Instagram page that I had somehow missed on Valentine's Day, but which spoke to me so much more deeply the following day because I had just experienced it in such a tangible way.
"Pure love knows that only one thing is needed to please God: to do even the smallest things out of great love- love, and always love. " -St. Faustina

This Valentine's Day was one in which I can definitely say that I experienced true, pure, raw love.  Love and marriage are about sacrifice.  Sure, there's lots of joy to be found in love and in marriage and in romance--I know, I've experienced that too.  But this year my Valentine's Day was spent reflecting on love in a much different way than I'm used to.  It was spent living it.  And I know without a doubt that I was given special graces to live it well this year.

Our kids are a true blessing in our lives, but it's not just because of the joy and smiles and cuddles they bring.  Kids also have needs, and they are their own stubborn little people who push your buttons and make messes and get in the way of what you want to do sometimes.  There I said it.  It's true.  But when we choose to open ourselves to God's grace and sacrifice our own wants and needs to meet theirs, it is a truly amazing and incredible experience.  Because of my husband and kids, I have daily opportunities to grow in virtue by sacrificing myself and choosing to love my family through tiny tiny acts of service.  And when I choose to embrace what many look upon as annoyances, I can see that they are truly beautiful expressions of pure love.

Do I go back and forth, fighting against the idea that losing myself is actually how I find myself in Christ?  Yes.  But I'm grateful for nights like these that remind me that God's grace is truly enough.  And that choosing joy is always an option.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day, friends.  I hope yours was filled with the love and joy of Christ, whatever that might have meant for you this year.  

The Sacrament of Reconciliation-Why I'm so bad at it

Perhaps I am the only one who dreads the confessional.  But after reflecting on it for awhile, I realized why.  

It's pride.  

I hate going to confession because it makes me feel like a failure.  I am constantly committing the same sins over and over again, and the words of Saint Paul to the Romans ring true, "I do not understand what I do.  For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do."  (7:15)

Pride.  

I am treating Confession as a "Get-out-of-Jail-Free" card instead of as a Sacrament which has layers of grace for me.  See, even though I know better, I tend to fall into the habit of treating Confession as just another "obligation" that the Church requires in order for me to be an active participant.  It's like I have a checklist and expect to get gold stars for each one when I've fulfilled my "duty" or something: 1. Go to Mass every Sunday--Gold Star!  2. Give up meat on Fridays in Lent--Gold Star!  3. Go to Mass on Holy Days of Obligation--Gold Star!  4. Go to Mass with kids--2 Gold Stars! :P  You get the idea...

Sure all those things are requirements, but they have no point without love.  As it says in 1 Corinthians 13, "if I speak in the tongues of men and angels, have the gift of prophecy, have faith that can move mountains, and give all I have to the poor, but have not love, I gain nothing!"

God's forgiveness and mercy are always there for me, but am I receiving them?  Am I going to Confession with the right mindset, with the right heart?  More often than not, I would have to say no. 

Today I pulled out the Catechism to get some more insight into the Sacrament of RECONCILIATION.  What does it truly mean to reconcile with God and the Church and others?

First of all in the Catechism 1422, we read, "Those who approach the sacrament of Penance obtain pardon from God's mercy for the offense committed against him, and are, at the same time, reconciled with the Church which they have wounded by their sins and which by charity, by example, and by prayer labors for their conversion."

Yeah, I've never really considered that my sins have wounded the Church, but they have.  How many folks leave the Church because of hypocrites?  How many people leave the Church because they see rule-followers, but don't feel loved?  My sins, my failure to love wounds the Church and contributes to that.  

Also we see that there are layers to the Sacrament when we read on in the Catechism 1423-1424, 

"It is called the sacrament of conversion because it makes sacramentally  present Jesus' call to conversion, the first step in returning to the Father from whom one has strayed by sin.  

It is called the sacrament of Penance, since it consecrates the Christian sinner's personal and ecclesial steps of conversion, penance, and satisfaction.  

It is called the sacrament of confession, since the disclosure or confession of sins to a priest is an essential element of this sacrament.  In a profound sense it is also a "confession" --acknowledgement and praise--of the holiness of God and of his mercy toward sinful man.  

It is called the sacrament of forgiveness, since by the priest's sacramental absolution God grants the penitent 'pardon and peace'.  

It is called the sacrament of Reconciliation because it imparts to the sinner the love of God who reconciles: "Be reconciled to God.'  He who lives by God's merciful love is ready to respond to the Lord's call: 'Go; first be reconciled to your brother.'"

Pretty profound really.  And much deeper than simply going and telling the priest that you did something naughty and getting a brief scolding of sorts.  The Sacrament requires many things of us, the first of which is a truly contrite heart.  One that leaves pride behind and embraces humility and more humility.  

Reconciliation isn't just about us.  The dictionary defines reconciling in several ways, "to win over to friendliness", to "compose or settle" (as in a dispute), "to bring into agreement or harmony", to "reconsecrate", to "restore".   If we are truly sorry, if we have said yes to Jesus' call to conversion and taken steps toward penance and restoration, if we have humbly admitted our fault and acknowledged God's great mercy, and accepted His love for us, we make amends.  We change our lives.  We can't help it.  We recommit in real, intentional ways because we never want to wound Christ and His Church again.  

image found on Pinterest

I'll close with this section 1434 of the Catechism which sums up reconciliation and also the general sentiment of Lent:

"The interior penance of the Christian can be expressed in many and various ways.  Scripture and the Fathers insist above all on three forms, fasting, prayer, and almsgiving, which express conversion in relation to oneself, to God, and to others.  Alongside the radical purification brought about by Baptism or martyrdom they cite as means of obtaining forgiveness of sins: efforts at reconciliation with one's neighbor, tears of repentance, concern for the salvation of one's neighbor, the intercession of the saints, and the practice of charity 'which covers a multitude of sins'".  

Image found on Pinterest

Do you have thoughts about #Reconciliation?  Link-up here with the Blessed Is She sisterhood, in the comments or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter using the #Bissisterhood hashtag.  

Let's trust in the mercy of God today and let it transform our hearts. 

Jesus, I trust in You. 

Image found on Pinterest

Have mercy on me, and on the whole world. 

God's Word-filled Wednesday: Psalm 19:14

When I read this verse, I alternate between viewing it from two different places.  

Let me explain....

On the one hand, I feel as though a verse like this would be just the sort of thing the Pharisees would have loudly prayed for all to hear.  I know I'm tempted to read it and think, I've been pretty good here, haven't I, God?  I say the right things and I try to think about you and say my prayers.  I'm pretty good, aren't I?

But isn't that prideful?  Even if I'm not loudly proclaiming it, I'm allowing pride in.

Shouldn't I be more like that poor sinner who beats his chest and cries out, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" ?  

It's true.  The moment I think that I'm doing pretty well, I'm letting pride creep into my life.  

One of the lessons I am ever so slowly learning is that I can do nothing on my own.  It is only "by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me." (1 Corinthians 15:10)

Then, of course, there is the flip-side of that pride, which is to feel as though nothing I do is ever good enough to be acceptable in the sight of the Lord. A false humility, really, because I am denying that God has given me grace enough to do good and worthy things. Shall we refer once more to the verse from 1 Corinthians? "By the grace of God I am what I am." To believe that I am not enough is to accuse God of not being enough and His grace of being ineffective.

But let's read the verse again...

This time, I read a humble, beautiful cry to the Lord.  I know that I am completely unworthy of God's love.  I fail time and time again.  I try so hard to do the right things, say the right things, and think the right things, but I'm human.  

Knowing and understanding that, I see this verse as a humble appeal to God's divine mercy.  

You may be familiar with the message of Divine Mercy entrusted to St. Faustina.  I have read only bits and pieces of the actual diary (it's quite extensive!), but I am doing my best to go through it little by little.  Let me share a few thoughts about God's mercy from her diary:

“I am Love and Mercy itself. When a soul approaches Me with trust, I fill it with such an abundance of graces that it cannot contain them within itself, but radiates them to other souls.”

“I have opened my Heart as a living fountain of mercy. Let all souls draw life from it. Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death.”

The ocean at sunset always reminds me of the message of Divine Mercy. 

The sun (SON!) presiding over a sea (of Divine Mercy).  

Le sigh.....

These are some of the lyrics from Hillsong United song, "Oceans". 

It reminds me a lot of God's divine mercy.  At one point, the words are: "Spirit, lead me where my trust is without borders".  That is the kind of trust we all must have in the great mercy of our Savior.  He alone can fill us with grace enough to be holy as he is holy.  He alone can fill the voids in our lives, in our hearts.  He alone is enough.  And we can rest in the embrace of His ocean of mercy that flows over us and "envelops the whole world".  

 When I rest in His embrace and in the knowledge of His great mercy for us all, I am able to truly and humbly pray:

So the key is really true humility, true contrition for my sins, and trust in the love and mercy of God. If I can just acknowledge my own sinfulness and inabilities, and instead trust in the mercy of God, He will fill me with an abundance of graces.  

Come Holy Spirit, fill me with your grace. 

Oh, how I need you!

Marriage: Where the love story really begins...

I don't know about you, but I love me some romantic love stories.  I love the classics like Pride and Prejudice (really, anything Jane Austen, let's be honest) and I love the sappy stories like Ever After, the ones with humor like The Princess Bride, and the ones with music like The Sound of Music and Singin' in the Rain.  The tough part about movies and books is that the romance is generally about the "falling in love" portion of the relationship.  The story usually ends once the couple has fallen in love and gotten married.

But that is where the love story really begins.

Love isn't just a feeling; it's intentional. (I'm telling you, that word is on my mind a lot). 

In marriage, you see the other person's faults and failings, but you love them anyway.  Every day.  Even when they don't deserve it.  Especially when they don't deserve it.

The ultimate purpose of marriage is not to make us happy, but to glorify God.  

Wow.  

What I'm saying is that sometimes all the romance and frills aren't naturally there pouring out of your heart like the good ol' days.  It's not that you don't love each other anymore.  It's often that you are busy (read: KIDS, job,  church functions, hobbies, social engagements, etc) or sometimes it's just because you almost become a little too comfortable together.  It's easy to forget that love is a verb and we must be intentional about it.  In all manner of ways.  

All this to say, that marriage is difficult.  

It's beautiful and completely worth it, but it is not easy.  

Once you have really let it sink in that the "happily ever after" isn't going to just happen every minute of every day, you are ready to begin formulating a bit of a game plan for protecting and cherishing your marriage.  

After all, marriage is a Sacrament that is supposed to reflect Christ's union with the Church.  

"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior....Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy..."  

-Ephesians 5: 22-23, 25-26a

Any married woman can tell you how hard it is to submit to your husband at times.  I mean, he forgot to take out the trash (AGAIN!), so why in the world should I listen to him about anything important? And any married guy could tell you that it's not always easy to love your wife because there she goes nagging me (AGAIN!) about how I need to do this and that and then I'm somehow supposed to be ready to just sweep her off her feet with a kiss and smile even though I'm tired and stressed.

Like I said, marriage is tough.

So back to the game plan.  Here are some things I/we try to do to keep our marriage happy and holy and intentional.  If you aren't being intentional in your marriage, Lent is a good time to start the habit back up again.  

• Read the Bible together (we are reading a chapter of Song of Songs each night currently; Ooo, romance!)
• Pray together (even if it's just a quick Our Father to begin and end your day)
• Pray for each other (make it a habit to pray for your spouse in some of those little moments of the day- like a bathroom break, making a meal, washing dishes, getting a drink of water...)
• Write love notes (they don't have to be long; just a note every week or two to make sure they know they are loved and appreciated)
• Intentional gifts (perhaps they've been talking about something they'd really like to purchase or you see their favorite snack/sweet/food at the store...)
• Thank your spouse.  And perhaps keep a gratitude journal and make sure that at least a few days of the week you are intentionally looking for things about your spouse to be grateful for.  
• Cook one of their favorite meals.  
• Drop everything when he arrives home and greet him with a hug, a kiss, and ask him how he's doing (or vice versa)
• Make a special project with the kids just for your spouse and have them write notes, draw pictures etc.  
• Read a good book together. 
• Try each other's hobbies or at least ask about it and really listen.  
• Make a point of doing things you love together on a regular basis.  
• Play your favorite game. 
• Compliment each other.  As often as you can.  
• Dress up for him/her.  Wear that skirt he loves or that shirt she loves....
• Be realistic.  Your spouse makes mistakes.  So do you.  Forgive.  Say you're sorry (and MEAN it).  And keep doing it over and over. 

What sort of little day to day things do you do to intentionally show your spouse that you love them on a regular basis? 

Be intentional about your marriage.  Your marriage is worth it.  Your spouse is worth it.  You are worth it. 

Help each other get to heaven.  

That's true love. 

For some really amazing blog posts about marriage, follow this link to the BlessedIsShe weekly link-up.  This week's theme, of course, is marriage. 

God's Word-filled Wednesday: Hebrews 12:15

The first Mass reading today was from Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15.  I highly recommend reading it in it's entirety.  You can do that and read an awesome reflection on the readings here at Blessedisshe.net .  Blessed Is She is a community of women, who as their "About" page states, "seek support in their relationship with the Lord, need to connect with Scripture, and are reaching for the same goal--eternity." Sounds like exactly what I'm needing, so I signed up to get the daily devotions (readings plus a reflection) sent to my inbox everyday.  For Lent I'm also going to try out the Blessed Is She Lenten Journal (more on that in a Lent post, but you should totally check it out, too--Looks awesome!)

Anyway, I digress...the readings.  I just pulled the very last verse of today's first reading to use for my scripture for God's Word-filled Wednesday today.  

I love this.  Look after each other.  

Pray for each other.   Bless each other.  Speak kindly to each other.  Build each other up.  Forgive each other.  Don't gossip about each other.  Love each other.  

Each and every relationship in our life affects all the other relationships because it affects us, and we affect others.  Let's help ourselves and all those we know receive all the grace that God wants to give each of us today.  

God's grace is sufficient. It says so in 2 Corinthians 12:9.  It's enough for ALL of us.  So let's not leave anybody out of receiving God's grace.   Even that person in your life who drives you bonkers.  Even that person who let you down.  Even that person who lied to you and broke your trust.  Even that little one who whined about everything today.  Even yourself.  

Let's pray for God's grace to come down on all of us.  And let's keep praying it.