Friday, December 13, 2013

Control

For those who know me IRL - I am pretty much a control freak.

OK, it may not look like it, from the chaos,
  from the horrifying mess,
from the untidiness of my lovely home.

I am more of I need to know what is going on at all times and be able to find everyone and make what I am doing as perfect as I can do.  That is part of the reason we have an untidy (yep, gonna stick with that) home - no one wants to do things my way so I am just going to quit.  I know, very grown up of me.

So today Baby Bear was done with school very early and was totally bored.  Like sit in front of the TV and complain bored.  Given that I have a monster cold I was not in the mood to argue with said child that there was plenty to do around the house from crafts to cleaning.  Hmmmmmmm, what can I do that requires minimal physical and brain effort on my part but will fulfill some sort of learning on the part of the child....

So I decided that we could cook something.  I like to cook.  I can do many of my favorite recipes without even looking at them.  I just needed one that required attention for short periods of time.  Papa Bear has informed me that we are out of bread.  I can pretty much make bread in my sleep and it is very forgiving as long as one stays within some boundaries.  Perfect!

Unfortunately Baby Bear has caught on to the fact that I want things done a certain way and I am not very good at letting anyone else do something unless it is done to my specifications.  Well, since I don't feel terrific and this is for family consumption only, I decided to relinquish control and work on both of us learning something.  Baby Bear's face lit up with I explained that I was only going to give instructions but do none of the work.  I now have a batch of wonderful smelling dough in the middle of the first rise sitting in about the only warm spot in my house that I could find.  I have Baby Bear looking very proud.  And I have everyone caught up on their school work.  But the best part was listening to to the child tell me why we did things a certain way, and watch the light go on as a concept was realized.  I was informed, in fact, that baking bread with me has now become so much fun that the next lesson needs to be how to hand knead dough.  I think that is going to have to wait until I way over this cold!

While I may  be an old dog, and while I may be set in my tricks, it is possible for me to learn some new ones so that I can create Messy Miracles with my cubs.

Thursday, December 12, 2013

My Quote of the Day

I know, I am way behind in listing my "thankfuls", let alone getting them scrapped.  But I am working on it.
In the meantime, I need to get back to writing....
    it is a way to cleanse my mind and focus on the moment.

I am a Roman Catholic Christian.  I am not sure I ever specifically said that on this blog.  I have been an RCC since my parents had me baptized as an infant.  But just because I have been raised as one does not  mean that I have always acted in a manner in keeping with the rich tradition of my faith.  Nor does it mean that I know and understand everything that my Church teaches.  But since having children, and knowing that it is my responsibility to pass on the faith to them, I am always on the prowl to find new ways of learning and understanding.  I have found 2 excellent resources, both of which just stated this week.

The first is a study of the Gospels....
It is a daily reading from the Gospels along with a short commentary that comes to my email each morning.  By the end of the year I will have studied all 4 Gospels.

The second is a study of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).  Many people mistakenly think that the CCC is our "other Bible".  That is so not true.  It is a compendium of the Catholic Church's interpretation of the Bible (you can't read any of it without running into biblical references), along with the teachings of the "doctors" of the church.  It is no different than reading a book written by a pastor. The only difference is that our CCC is based on the teachings and preachings and oral traditions passed on for the last 2000 years.  The nice part about this study is that there has been a catechism written for "youth" (read that for anyone who finds the full CCC a bit intimidating to read) and the study is using that as the basis with links back to the "whole" CCC.

Today both of the lessons really had points that hit hard for me.  I will spare you the entire writing I could do on the Gospel reading for the day.  The reading was the Slaughter of the Innocents in the Gospel of Matthew.  Suffice it to say that I was filled with compassion for families who have lost children, particularly those who have lost children as a result of selfish acts and tragic brutality by others.

From the CCC lesson there was a quote that I found beautiful....

Every man is receptive to what is true, good, and beautiful. He hears within himself the voice of conscience, which urges him to what is good and warns him against what is evil. Anyone who follows this path reasonably finds God. (YOUCAT question 4)

So my miracle today are the lessons that are sent my way, through books, through others, and even through e-mail.