7 Quick Takes About "Contemporary Sainthood," "Losing Nothing of Ourselves," & Other Fantastic Ideas

--1--

"Contemporary Sainthood"
I just listened to a very inspiring Lighthouse Catholic Media talk entitled "Contemporary Sainthood" by Mark Hart. Although he is addressing an audience of teens, the message applies to anyone aged teen and above.  In the first talk (it's a double feature), Mark Hart contends that if we are constantly bitter, angry, or bored, it could be due to our lives not being in line with our call to be saints.  He shares ideas regarding how to "unleash" the power to becoming a saint, as well as a profound insight from Pope Benedict XVI that I want to remember always:

 "You were not designed for comfort; you were designed for greatness." 

--2--

We Lose Nothing of Ourselves
In my most recent post, I reflected on ideas for increasing simplicity, appreciating beauty, and finding truth.  I shared some thoughts on Jesus's call for us to give to others, without a calculation of whether or not we will get some type of return on our "investment":

"...we are called to love, help, and be kind even to those for whom it is difficult to love, help, and be kind.  This can be very difficult.  It requires a firm foundation in identity, a knowledge that we are loved immensely by God, maturity, humility, and the understanding that if our gift is not reciprocated or even if it is rejected, we have not lost anything of ourselves.  Nothing is lost when you attempt to give genuine love to others.  Love is multiplied no matter the response."

--3--

Not the Right Season
With having a toddler, I am not able to volunteer at my older son's elementary school during school hours.  I was able to do that quite often before my younger son was born, so it doesn't bother me too much.  However, when I do feel a tad bit guilty that I'm not willing to find a daytime sitter so I can help with lunch duty or room parties, I think of this helpful post from Kathryn at Team Whitaker.

--4--

"Listening Room"
I absolutely love the tone of this post from Nell of Whole Parenting Family.  Her idea of making it known to your child that you are listening to him or her is such a tender, yet firm approach to parenting a sensitive child.  I just love the idea of a "listening room," where he knows you have heard him, and he also learns to hopefully hear you.   The entire post is helpful, because it reinforces that you need to have a plan of what you will do when your child begins to melt down.  For me, a plan = less yelling.

--5--

"Little Moment Parenting"
Another blog post that I really appreciate is one by Bonnie Engstrom of A Knotted Life, in which she explains why she has decided to go from "Big Picture Parenting" to focusing more on the day-to-day opportunities. Very enlightening.

--6--

Skyview App
As part of my older son's scouting activities, we visited a nearby planetarium and learned interesting tidbits about the constellations, the stars, the planets and more.  With this newfound appreciation for outer space, I decided to download the free app, SkyView.  It's a lot of fun to hold my phone up to the night sky and find constellations, names of stars, planets, the international space station, and information about the moon.  It's a great app, and it's FREE!

--7--

Scarf Tying Tutorial
Some international co-workers of my husband visited the U.S. over the summer, and they brought a gift for me.  I was surprised and delighted; that was really thoughtful of them!  They gave me a scarf (for fashion, not warmth).  Well, it has some beautiful what-I-would-call fall colors, so I decided to give it a try on Sunday.  I figured I could find a nice how-to guide online regarding how to wear it, and I found this video, which I really liked.  Since there are only eight main examples, I didn't feel too overwhelmed, which was important to me since I'm a newbie.




Thanks for hosting, Jen!  For more Quick Takes, go to ConversionDiary.com!

7 Quick Takes About Sewing Cub Scout Patches, Scheduling Breaks and Confession, & Catholic Psych's Blog Post

--- 1 ---

~Sewing Cub Scout Patches~
My family moved this past summer, so my son is in a new Cub Scout Pack and Den.  This requires new patches.  The first time I sewed patches onto his Cub Scout shirt, I did so while an infant napped on my lap.  That was fun and not difficult at all...   So, I was not surprised when I dreaded updating his patches.  I ended up searching for some tips online, and now I think I can somewhat tolerate sewing on any new patches.  I plan on dedicating a separate post to my tips for sewing on Cub Scout patches, so stay tuned.

--- 2 ---

~Weekend Dread~
The other day, while waiting to pick my son up from school, I overheard two moms discussing the upcoming weekend.  One mom reported that she felt excited about the weekend, but then quickly questioned her happiness, because hasn't she learned that the weekends bring chaos and more craziness than week days?  Unfortunately, I have felt this way before, too, but I don't want to live like that!  Now I just try to focus on the fact that it's very nice to be able to hang out with my entire family.  Also, a few alterations upon entering the weekend have helped relieve the dread...

--- 3 ---

~Communicating Weekend Expectations~
As a person who often just "goes with the flow," I have occasionally resented how my weekends turn out.  This is typically due to me not making my desires for the weekend known to my spouse.  Simple communication to him regarding what I would also like to accomplish can be enough to help matters.  For example, if I am feeling that I need a break, saying so can sometimes afford me an hour or two by myself, which does wonders for refreshing me.

--- 4 ---

~Scheduling Confession~
Just last weekend, I recognized that I was in desperate need of going to Confession.  Before the weekend began, I added two calendar entries to my husband's and my shared online calendar.  I even "invited" him to the events so that he would surely see them.  One event was for confession on Saturday afternoon, while the second was for Sunday morning's.  With his attention already drawn to the idea that I wanted to go, on Friday evening, I asked him which day would work best for us.  Since I added it to the calendar, it became an official event for our weekend, and thankfully I did get to go.

--- 5 ---

~Overscheduling~

Back to the topic of extreme busy-ness, sometimes I wonder what the purpose of over-scheduling is.  What is the point of being so busy that there is no time to relax?  I guess some people probably thrive on it, but I know it is unhealthy for our family.  We need down time.  When my older son was in two after school activities following the birth of our second son, we finally nixed one of the activities.  It was simply too much for us.  After that, we could breathe again, and the chaos subsided somewhat.  I don't know about anyone else, but I almost feel that homework is almost like its own extracurricular activity.  Upon arriving home from school, after you factor in snack, chores, homework, supper, and bedtime routine, there's not much time left to play and be a kid.  It makes me a little sad.

--- 6 ---

~Interesting Blog~
I recently began following the Catholic Psych Institute's blog, and I found the most recent blog post to be quite thought-provoking.

--- 7 ---

~Housework Tips~

Over the years, I have collected many tips on housework that I think could be very helpful to others, so I plan on putting together a blog post of those tips, too.  

Thanks for hosting, Jen!  For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!