Diocese of Fargo, ND

Little Flowers and Blue Knights are mentioned as options under the Youth Programs for the diocese of Fargo. Check out this link:
http://www.fargodiocese.org/EducationFormation/Youth/Local&Regional.htm

I lost my glasses and found some perspective

I have had my glasses for over a year now but continue to lose them regularly. I will admit that I don't like wearing glasses as they are an outward sign that I am getting older. When I was younger, I wanted to wear glasses like my best friend, Lorraine. She looked so much smarter and cooler in my eyes due to her glasses. She knew then, as I do now that wearing glasses is a struggle.

You need them to see clearly but you are weighed down both by the pressure they exert (however slightly) on your nose and ears and by the reality that they are there on your face - all the time. You seem to know you weren't born to wear these but they are result of our flawed bodies in a imperfect world.

So I spent last night and most of today without my glasses (hence my late post) and I really need my glasses to see clearly and go headache free. As a result, I was unable to do much of what I usually do and left to do only the essentials of my life. No late night post for you, no early morning e-mail check for me. I was left to keep my hands off the computer and eyes off of books. I could not do what was important!

I was left to do such things as dress my little ones and get my kids breakfast. I did laundry early and cleaned my room (hoping to find the glasses). I was reduced to a pre-computer life and I found myself out of sorts (which at times I took out on myself and my children with snippy answers and general grumpiness).

However, by mid-morning, I had to realize my mood was ruining everyone else's and I needed to make some apologies - to my children and to God. After that was done, I realized I getting quite a bit done despite impaired vision. In fact, I was doing the work I needed to do, really needed to do - the work God intended me to do. Perhaps, as my grandmother would say when things didn't go her way, God set some things aside so that what He wanted could happen without us (and our plans) getting in the way.

What God wanted this morning was children dressed and fed and household chores completed. Not that that doesn't occur every morning in my house but I usually do those mundane chores on my way to other 'more important' activities (those aforementioned emails and postings). Today, they were my only activity as I couldn't manage anything else with my fuzzy vision.

Taking care of my children should never what I do on the way to something else. As important as e-mail has become and as important as impacting on the world via the internet can be (just ask the Pope), our family is our first and foremost vocation and path to heaven.

I found my glasses - hence this post - but I am considering setting them aside each morning until after the important stuff is done. The e-mails can wait, a blog will still be there and a post can be delayed - a bowl of Cheerios and a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt might not!

Looking for an alternative to Girl Scouting? Look HERE!

Recently, the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute recommended Little Flowers Girls' Clubs as a Catholic and family friendly alternative to Girl Scouts.

Want to find out how to find or start a Club in your area?

To find a club: check with your local parish or Catholic homeschooling support group. Each group is run independently and there is no national registration of groups.

To start a club: Check out the materials on the website: http://www.littleflowersgirlsclub.com/ and see what we have to offer to start your own club. It can be done at home, in parish, homeschool group or school! It is flexible, faith-filled and fun! Best of all, use the promo code: LEAD50 until March 31 and get all Leader's Manuals 1/2 price!

Don't forget to check us out on You Tube, also:

Are you asking for your inheritance now?

Today's gospel is so familiar that I was taken off guard when, during Mass, I was struck by a new thought - am I asking God for my inheritance early?

The first son is so easy to 'not like'. He is eager to cast his father aside, run away from where he knows all is well, food is plentiful and life is good! He is not content to wait for his inheritance, he wants it NOW!

I have found, at times, that I am the first son who is standing at his father's feet with his hand out demanding his inheritance. I am not content to wait.

And what is our inheritance - heaven! Heaven!! That is what is waiting for us when we are done here. But, I want heaven now! Not only do I want it - I expect it!!

I want my life to be perfect, I want no more tears, no more illness, no more sorrow and I want it now! I refuse to accept, to believe that my expectation is not only as greedy as the son but impossible to grant. I am asking God for what I cannot have. What He cannot give because it is not for now, it is for later - forever! But, every day I demand it and every day I find ways to blame others (and God) when heaven is not here. And the results of my demands, my impatience for my inheritance is as awful for me and my family as it was for the son. Perhaps, even worse.

What does my impatience create? Stress and a lack of acceptance! I am short-tempered, harsh on myself and my family. I want heaven now and perfection now! In my greed for the future, I am missing out on the now, on what I am supposed to be doing right now. I am losing out on those 'immediate moments of holiness' that come along every moment, every day. So eager for what God has promised me for tomorrow, I am missing out on what He needs from me today!

Expecting my inheritance, heaven, now, demanding it now is a sign of disrespect for not only God but for all those around me. My inheritance is there - heaven is waiting.

Let us practice patience for ourselves and for our daughters by living a life that works hard on today knowing that our reward, our inheritance is waiting. Reminding ourselves of that truth, that reality will help us be more focused mothers and teachers. Let us keep our eyes on today and know that God has taken care of tomorrow!