My Random 5: April 11

1. My 3-year-old great-granddaughter is taking ballet lessons.  

God bless the young women who teach dance to children who are this young.

Myah's momma took this picture.

2. Two of my granddaughters called me this week to tell me they miss me.  

What heart-warming sounds for this grandmother’s ears.

 Granddaughter's sister took this picture.

I snapped this photo 

while granddaughter was working 

in the pharmacy.

3. Thursday, my soul was bolstered when I went to confession face-to-face. 

I had concerns that needed being addressed and our pastor, 

like all good priests I presume, is an exceptional listener.  

He also gave me suggestions to help me improve my prayer time.

4. What a pleasure it was to be outside yesterday 

without having to don a coat!

5. I look forward to Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. 

 Holy Thursday at St. Francis helps me feel a oneness 

with Christ and His Apostles by having my feet washed by another.  

In turn, each person washes another person’s feet after theirs are washed. 

It’s both humbling and fulfilling. 

In addition, each person brings a towel 

to be used for wiping one's feet and then left 

to be given to a charity.

sharing with

Nancy Claeys'

Random 5 Friday

My Random 5 for March 28, 2014

1. I am anxiously waiting for my friends to arrive for our Friday Night Book Club.  The book we’ll be discussing is Victims by Jonathan Kellerman.  Afterwards we decided to read something more light-hearted for our April meeting. So we will be reading The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan.

  

2. Yesterday evening was Eucharistic Devotion which ended with the dedication of a Rosary made from the funeral roses of our beloved Father Keane.  The rosary now hangs on the hand of the stunning statue of the Blessed Mother.  I am using an image I have shown before.  I neglected to take my camera last night so I will update Mary’s image with the new rosary as soon as I can. 

3. A book I ordered on Tuesday from Amazon arrived just a few minutes ago.  It is entitled Surviving the Angel of Death: the Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz by Eva Kor. 

I saw a live stream of Eva on a university’s site.  I had already read a different book by another Holocaust survivor.  It was called Sevek and the Holocaust: The Boy Who Refused to Die by Sidney Finkel.  You can read about his presentation at a nearby school on my old blog-Scrappy Grams.  That post can be found here.  I lost my Scrappy Grams’ dashboard so that I could no longer write on that blog.  It saddened me, but as you can see, I’ve moved on.

4. I am still wrestling with the idea of having only one blog.  I started Faith in a Bottle to share my faith with others, but I see many whom I admire write all their posts, spiritual and otherwise on one blog.  Then I think, “Do I just dump one or do I create another new one?”   hmm…

5. I saw on Facebook that my newly engaged granddaughter is going to use Ball jars in some way for her wedding reception.  I wonder…

sharing with

Nancy Claeys'

Random 5 Friday

My Random 5 for March 21, 2014

1. My 3-year old great grand-daughter’s first day of daycare was this past Monday.  

One of the caregivers was surprised to learn that it was her first day because how she seemed at ease with her surroundings.  This relieved her momma, Nana and myself.

2. I am feeling exuberant for the actual onset of spring!  

I have even viewed the first signs of spring in my yard.

3. I kept my best friend, who is also the wife of my middle son, 

company while Son went to Comic Con with his grandson.  

We all had a full weekend. 

4. Daughter-in-law and I spent Saturday morning 

at St. Mary’s Day of Recollection in our parish hall.  

It was well attended and enhanced us in our spiritual growth.  

The main speaker was the diocesan Vicar-General 

who happens to be our pastor’s brother. 

5. One of my former students is now in her 5th year of remission 

from her cancer.  She celebrated that fact recently.  

I pray that she remains so.  

I find it troubling that I know many people battling with that awful disease.  

Note to those who pray to saints for intercession to God: 

St. Peregrine is the patron of those who have cancer.

St. Peregrine "was cured of cancer,
after he received a vision of Christ on the cross
reaching out His hand to touch his impaired limb. 
He died in 1345 and was canonized in 1726.
He is the patron of cancer patients."

linking with pleasure to

Nancy Claeys'

Random 5 Friday

My Random 5 for March 7

1. Our Bible Study celebrated Mardi Gras.  

I blogged about our fete on Tuesday, but I had no photo of our group yet.  

Thanks to one of the ladies who took our picture, 

I now have one to post. Thanks, BJ.

2. Having missed a few Bible Study meetings 

because of my anxiety about driving on snowy roads,

 I was greeted with “I’m glad that you’re back.”  

What a wonderful boost that was for my sagging psyche!

3.I bought a Samsung 3 Tablet last Saturday.  

The advantages I’m enjoying are- 

reading an ebook with much less swiping it 

to turn pages 

and I can journal at my kitchen table 

with less strain on my arthritic neck. 

I passed my Kindle on to my daughter.

4. Speaking of reading, 

I am currently reading Victims by Jonathan Kellerman.  

I really like the  yin and yang of the two main characters Alex Delaware 

and the policeman Milo.  If you like mysteries, it’s a real page-turner.

5. The sun is shining and the high predicted for today is 60 degrees!  

Note to readers, my daughter is healing quite nicely from her surgery.  

God is good and so are my friends who prayed for her!

hop on over

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Random 5 Friday

Random 5 Friday: My Random 5

 Random 5 Friday

February 28, 2014

1. I am grateful for the successful gall bladder surgery 

on my daughter this past Tuesday. 

2. I am proud of my granddaughter who showed such thoughtfulness 

in providing these services for her mother- she (and her sister)

cleaned her home; Charley also cooked meals to be served in the days 

following her hospital release, and

provided transportation to and from the hospital.

3. I welcome the sunshine and its ability to bring cheer 

to my psyche in spite of the frigid temperatures 

keeping me inside except for only the most necessary outings.  

4. I have started Jonathan Keller’s book Victims on my Kindle.  

One of my friends also received the same book, 

so we’re reading it for our March book club meeting.

5. I am sifting through my spiritual needs 

in order to choose 

what I will do for my Lenten sacrifice.  

One of the devotionals I will use is Lent with the Saints.  

I also ordered 

The Ignatius Workout for Lent: 40 Days of Prayer, Reflection & Action, 

but it has not been shipped yet.  

So I am wondering if it will arrive 

in time for the beginning of Lent.

Here's hoping it does!

linking to

Random 5 Friday

at Nancy Claeys' 

A Rural Journal

Random 5 Friday: Really Random

Random 5 Friday

February 21, 2014

1. Dramatic news from oldest granddaughter! Her boyfriend proposed to her on a ski-lift this week. 

note: I assembled this ecard for them

with my Creative Memories 

Storybook Creator program.

2. Today marks two days of temperatures about freezing mark.  However, I still have thick ice still on my driveway.  Thus, I’m still walking gingerly when going to my car or the mailbox.

3. I was tickled to scrapbook with my sister-in-law and a friend yesterday evening.  We hadn’t met for two months because of inclement weather.  I’m working on an album of vintage family photos and ephemera from 60 and 70 years ago.

my mom's mint green Buick 

with white hard top

On the back she'd written "my old buddy."

4. I noticed a U-Haul moving van in front of a young couple who lives across from me.  We weren’t close, but friendly, we chatted whenever we saw each other.  I hope the new neighbors will be as cordial.  

5. Our parish has received a book each Christmas from our present pastor since he was assigned here.  The book we received this time is Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic by Matthew Kelly.  About 30 of us are meeting on Sunday mornings for six weeks to discuss the book and how we can make the changes in our own lives, consequently in our parish by implementing the positive elements.  I find myself peering into my spiritual life and already making some changes, hoping to grow in holiness.  
Kelly uses the term “a better-version-of-yourself.”  I prefer saying ‘growing in holiness’ since Jesus spoke about becoming "holy, as your Father is holy." Perhaps I’m getting too bogged down in semantics; I hope not because I reflect and work at choosing just the right way to communicate my thoughts.  

linking to a wondrous meme

Random 5 Friday

hosted by Nancy Claeys

Random 5 Friday: Winter

1. I am weary of subzero temperatures, 

arctic winds and high mounds of snow.

2. But joyfully, I am not suffering depression nor cabin fever!

3. I had the pleasure of taking care of my two sweethearts, 

Myah and Leannah, for a short time yesterday.  

I am pleased that my granddaughter 

has trust in my being able to handle that responsibility.

4. Yesterday I received a book that I’d ordered; 

it’s called Thirty-Day Devotions for the Holy Souls by Susan Tassone.

I started reading and praying it this morning.

5. We had a goodly number of ladies present 

at our Bible Study this week.  Weather caused cancellations for us in January. 

We rejoiced that we finally got to meet.  

But that was not true for our Women at the Well group. 

It meets at night 

and causes concerns for the safety of us all, 

which is very important. 

for Haiku My Heart-

Wintry weather brings 

tribulations of all sorts,

mounds of snow, iced streets.

Links:

Random 5 Friday

hosted by Nancy Claeys

on A Rural Journal

Haiku My Heart

hosted by Rebecca Brooks

on Recuerda Mi Corazon