Still Time

I received this message from John who received it from Fr. Wayne of St. Barnabas.
I just had to share it, I love it!

My dear spiritual sons and daughters:
I copied this from an Orthodox site, written by an
Russian Orthodox priest's wife.


Congratulating everyone on having reached the middle of the Fast.

There's still time, even if it is later than we thought. Time to start the
struggle. Time to increase prayers.

Time to refrain from things we haven't gotten around to refraining from.
Time to make a positive difference, to visit the sick, to give alms, to be
nice to strangers, to be patient with loved ones.
God still loves us. There is still time.

If you haven't been to PreSanctified Liturgy or to an Akathist yet, there is
still time.
If today's lunch wasn't fasting, tomorrow's still can be.

If you didn't say Morning Prayers, you can still say evening prayers.
If you quarreled with someone who still lives, you can still make peace.

If you haven't been to confession and Holy Communion yet, Sunday approaches.

There is time to purchase egg dye and almonds and raisins for the festal
foods.
There is time to save oatmeal boxes, coffee cans, onion skins.... and your
soul.

Not over yet, but still halfway over.

In my kitchen

Thank you, Arielle-Juliana, for inspiring me to try something new. I have never baked pita bread and you gave me the courage. Here are some pictures of the outcome. They don't look quite as good as Arielle's but it was so fun and yummy. And the best part...it was entertaining for the children. They loved it.
Also, you will see my chopping helper hard at work. The girls take turns chopping the salad vegetables each evening.

Prayer

As I was searching the Orthodox areas of the internet on praying to the saints I ran across this little piece of information that made me stop in my tracks. I just had to read it again and again and ponder on what it is really saying. You can find the whole article here.

The purpose of prayer is to have communion with God and to be made capable of accomplishing his Will. Christians pray to enable themselves to know God and to do his commandments. Unless a person is willing to change himself and to conform himself to Christ in the fulfillment of his commandments, he has no reason or purpose to pray. According to the saints, it is even spiritually dangerous to pray to God without the intention of responding and moving along the path that prayer will take us.

Back in the real world...

Mary Dawn and I returned yesterday evening from a most fabulous time at St. John the Forerunner Monastery. It was very relaxing and inspiring. Everytime I go I gain a greater respect for my faith and especially the Eucharist. It inspires me to strive even harder on my path to God. I pray the effects last a life time.
Here are just a couple pictures but will post more on the photo blog.
On Sunday afternoon we received a beautiful layer of snow. We couldn't help but hike around in the snow and take pictures...those will be on the photo blog.

I came home to find a letter from St. John of San Francisco Monastery and learned that they are in escrow on a place outside of Redding. You can see it here, and WoW! Sooo, an english speaking monastery will be about 12 hours away, a little further than I'd hoped but it will be good to visit someday.

Off we go...

Mary (Dawn) and I are headed to Goldendale to the St. John the Forerunner Monastery for 2 nights. I'm really excited as this is my second pilgrimage, the first was one year ago on the same 1st weekend of Lent, and this is Mary's first pilgrimage to the monastery. (At the monastery you typically go by your patron saint name.)

Please pray for safe travel as we travel over 3 mountain passes.

Sophia

"A Mother's Rule of Life" Part 3

Well, I'm on the last chapter of "A Mother's Rule of Life" by Holly Pierlot. I blogged about the beginnings of it here and here as you can see by the title. But I just could not leave it at that as I've come to a close on it.
This is by far one of the best books I've read on homemaking, mothering, and faith all wrapped into one and I've read a lot! As the whole purpose of this blog was started to find our for me what motherhood and homemaking were to be I've researched and read and prayed. God has definitely answered my prayers in this book! I am actually considering writing a letter to the author (she has a blog) to convey my gratefulness.
I cannot tell you enough how this book is (hopefully) opening my mind and clearing my senses on so much regarding prayer, marriage, mother, homemaking, etc. And to boot...it is very orthodox in it's thinking and is VERY faith based. Can you believe or imagine...I never dreamt I'd find something so close to my faith and on this topic! It is written by a catholic woman but I'd never know except for the mention of numerous western saints.

I briefly touched on this in a comment on one of the earlier posts but want to expand on it.
The Mother's Rule is based on the 5-P's of the married vocation that a priest told her about early in her marriage. I'll name them and then tell you at least one thing that really caught my attention about each. (Sorry this might get long as these have been so eye opening to me...I can't help it.) These are in order of the priority we should keep them at.

First P= PRAYER
Theology professor Fr. Tom Daley once said, "We must realize that law precedes love. The laws that God imposes on us from the outside are meant to discipline us, to help our hearts grow into the laws of love which motivate us from within." ...So I was to obey... So our Christian calling wasn't only about avoiding sin, but about taking positive steps forward to complete the mission God has entrusted to us. My Mother's Rule of Life, then, was obedience to God's will by using my freedom to work toward my vocation, my mission on earth.

Second P= PERSON (This entire chapter is quite profound.)
Our spiritual health directly affects our personal health...
That problem was a nasty little personal motto that had followed me all my life: "But I don't want to!" Of all the difficulties I had encountered in my search for personal wholeness, perhaps my greatest enemy was my interior spirit of rebillion. My reluctance to let go of my own will and my resistance to doing what I was supposed to do instead of what I wanted to do were preventing me from moving closer to God and to happiness. Fr. Tom Daly says, "Freedom is taking responisibilty for who you are to become." Now that was not a familiar concept. Our society's idea of freedom, and the one I had functioned with for so long, meant the "right" to do whatever I wanted, free from external restraints. True freedom, then, Christian freedom, is when we willingly take the steps needed to return ourselves to the internal order God intended... Thus, there has to com a time when we begin consciously to act in conformity with what we know to be good. This means engaging the will. I reached a point where I realized I had to stop so much reading and beging DOING. To make a straight path to God in my heart, I had to train myself to do what is right.

Third P= PARTNER
And as with Holy Orders, we need to realize that the sacrament of Marriage is meant to enable us to fulfill a mission--in this instance, a mission of service and love toward our spouse.

Fourth P=PARENT
It took a long time for me to realize I had been chosen by God to be a mother and that I myself had chosen to be a mother. It took a while to see that, yes, my talents and interests and training were all important things, but my family duties would override any calling outside for a good long while. And I'd come to learn, slowly, that the seemingly mundane and unimportant work of a mother--loving God, living a holy marriage, and raising happy, balanced, holy children--was in the grand scheme of God's plan more important than the many projects and ambitions I had in other areas. I had to learn, over the course of years, that relationships were more important than tasks, that being was more important than doing.
"What can I do that will really make a difference in society?" Raising my children with a Christian worldview was the biggest contribution to society that I could possibly make; giving to the world healthy, holy citizens who would spread their influence in an exponential way...My work with my children was the very core of societal change. I had discovered the mission of motherhood!

Fifth P= PROVIDER
Many times, our responsibilities in this area can overtake some of the higher priorities of family life because our home duties and money concerns are so varied and often time-consuming. Here we want to examine our provider role as God intended it, devote to it the necessary dignity it deserves, yet simultaneously streamline our efforts so that it assumes its rightful place in the five P's of our vocation. Above all, we need to understand that all our work in the home is good and ordained by God.

This book is better than I ever imagined and I pray that God will open my mind and heart to all that I have learned as I try to grasp the understand of my vocation here in my home...as it is ordained by God.

A blessed Lent to you all.

Great Canon of St Andrew of Crete--Kontakion for Monday

Kontakion, tone 6:

My soul, my soul, arise! Why are you sleeping? The end is drawing near, and you will be confounded. Awake, then, and be watchful, that Christ our God may spare you, Who is everywhere present and fills all things.

Please forgive me

Sunday, March 5, 2006
Sunday of Cheesefare (Forgiveness Sunday)

The Lord said, "If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men and their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."


We begin Great Lent, our journey to Pascha(the Resurrection of our Lord) with Forgiveness Sunday. We are to "forgive men their trespasses" and as Alexander Schmemann says in Great Lent
The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness: the return to unity, solidarity, love. To forgive is to put between me and my "enemy" the radiant forgiveness of God Himself. To forgive is to reject the hopeless "dead-ends" of human relations and to refer them to Christ. Forgiveness is truly a "breakthrough" of the Kingdom into this sinful and fallen world.

So as we start Great Lent I would like to ask forgiveness to you, my blogger friends, my family and those dear to me. Please forgive me.

God forgives all.

from the mouths of boys...playing and singing

"bah bah black sheep have you more wool.
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.
one for the master, one for the rain, one for the little boy who lives down the drain.
bah bah, black sheep have you more wool.
yes sir, yes sir, three bags full."

"A Mother's Rule of Life" Part 2

"Schedules might be limiting" Holly says, "But disorder is more limiting."
I understand that Jesus is perfectly willing to bless my efforts, but first had had to have efforts to bless. I had to do all in my power to fulfill my obligations.
She goes on to say...
Jesus was asking for the dedication of my entire self to my vocation.
Thus "A Mother's Rule of Life" was born.
A rule of Life is a traditional Christian tool for ordering one's vocation and the duties it entails, and the development of a schedule for fulfilling these responsibilities in a consistent and orderly way.
The Catholic Dictionary defines "The Rule" as "a happy disposition of things...a multitude reduced in some wise to unity."
She goes on to say "That is just what I wanted: "a happy disposition," and to reduce all the overwhelming tasks of motherhood into a nice, single unit of work I could handle. And in my mind, I couldn't see any extreme difference between a religious community and a family community: there's still the mother abbess (mom), and the postulants and novices (the little ones mom needs to raise), and the professed sisters (the older children who can help)...
But there was something else I found intriguing about the whole notion of a Rule of Life: that it was also suppose to lead me to holiness.

This is all very profound to me and extremely appealing. Making more sense than anything I've ever read. I've read so much about the importance of schedules to make a home run smoothly, a schedule to help stay on task, etc. But to look at it all as my vocation in life given to me by God, likening it to monastery life, brings so much more meaning to me.
We must analyze our vocation. She goes on to say...
We see, then, that the practical element of a Rule is a reflection of the aims and mission of our vocation, whis should determine how we spend our time.
Now, I had tried schedules before and had failed. Was that because I was trying to order my life according to goals that didn't reflect what my calling as a Christian, a wife, and a mother demanded? Was the stress I had been experiencing the result of an imbalance in my priorities? Seeing how I was so often confused about everything, did I even know what my primary daily duties were supposed to be? After all, a Rule of Life deals primarily with essential responsibilities. How could I know whether I was giving these the primacy they deserve?

Okay, enough of my quoting the book. All I know is that I have found a book that really spoke to me in making me see that my life has far more meaning than I ever imagined. It is helping me prioritize responsibility and the first is God Himself.

Learn more...find the book at your local library (which is what I did) or find it here. It is profoundly beneficial!!!!

"A Mother's Rule of Life"

Because this blog really got going because of a desire to learn about what my "job" is and the majority of my posts are on this topic (Homemaking and Motherhood) I just had to share this book that someone just introduced me to. I've joined a yahoo group title Orthodox Classical Homeschool and someone brought up the question about the mundane and sometimes boring life of homemaker...wanting to know if they were alone in feeling this way from time to time. Someone replied with a book suggestion called "A Mother's Rule of Life" by Holly Pierlot. The author is Roman Catholic, wife, mother of five and homeschooling mom. I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful this book is and I'm only on chapter 3! (She even has a website/blog.) My hope is to wet your whistle with quotes from the book today and in future posts. It is very Orthodox in it's thinking in many ways and really has given me a new perspective on my role and homemaker and mother. I hope to learn a lot from it. I know it won't "cure" the mundane or the sin for that matter but it's a hope, a new way of looking at my role that God Himself has given me.

Excerpt from the Introduction
"What does it mean to seek Christian perfection? A long time ago, I thought it meant perfect behavior---that if I just did what I was told, strictly followed all the rules, fervently prayed all the paryers, and spent a lot of time on aching knees in a quiet chapel somewhere, then I'd be "perfect"....
Later I developed a totally new concept of Christian perfection. It meant being a "saint"...
At another point, I thought Christian perfection meant being a nun...
But somewhere along the way, I realized Christian perfection had to mean something else. It had to be something just anybody could do, because Jesus said, "You...must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect," and he addressed this to all of us.
In my study, I came across a definition of perfection that finally made sense to me. Perfection is "union with God, which is possible in this world..."
To seek perfection in this life is really to seek union with God through love.
Perfection is for all of us, even for busy mothers stuck inside four walls, because all of us are called to love, We are all called to be saints, (although we are not all called to be canonized). We are all caleld to holiness, which is nothing more that the perfection of love within us. And as mothers, there are lots of people we can love!


More to come...because I just have to share.

trip to Kitsap Peninsula

We returned late last night after a weekend on the Kitsap Peninsula. We had a grand time crossing on the ferry, visiting our dear friend Dawn, meeting new friends at St. Elizabeth Orthodox Mission, and visiting Chief Sealth in the cemetary right next to the Mission. The weather was absolutely perfect!

Thunder and Lightening

I love music! And recently I've realized that I rarely listen to it anymore, but when I do it really changes the atmosphere and attitude of my home.
Lately I've been listening to some of my favorite, old Christian music...you know the ones...Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman and even Keith Green! The ones I dared not touch once I became Orthodox because they just weren't, well orthodox. I don't know why, I think it is the typical knee-jerk reaction most former protestant make when running from protestantism. But you know what? I love this music! I miss it! *shyly admits*
There is one song in particular that I've looked at differently lately. I used to listen to it and "judge" my poor dad or others close to me who didn't know God and I still can listen to it and pray and hope that he will someday stop "waiting for lightening" and listen for God "as He quietly whispers" his name. (I secretly hope and pray the cancer is that lightening.) But the other day as I listened I heard something else.
What about me? Yes, I know God, I love God, I yearn for God. But I get in these slumps, I forget, I sin, I become complacent, lackadaisical. What am I waiting for? Do I need a "feeling to take me by storm" to remember my goal?



Standing on the edge of the truth,

Looking out at the view

Of all you used to believe,

From where you are you can see you’re far away from home.

Echoes of the life you once knew

Call out to you from across the divide,

And you know it’s time to step back over the line,

But you’re . . .

CHORUS

Waiting for lightning,

A sign that it’s time for a change;

And you’re listening for thunder,

While He quietly whispers your name.

Night falls and the curtain goes down;

No one’s around,

It’s just you and the truth.

As you lie in wait

For a feeling to take you by storm,

Somewhere in the depths of your heart,

Where it’s empty and dark, there’s a flicker of light,

And the Spirit calls,

But do you notice at all;

Are you . . .

(chorus)

But the sign and the word

Have already been given,

And now it’s by faith

We must look and we must listen,

Instead of . . .

(chorus)

Sun Sun Sun

I was almost giddy today with the sight of the golden sun shining from above all day long! It was absolutely gorgeous today...all day. As I drove the girls to school and we headed east at the top of 228th hill the view of the Olympics was breath-taking. As I picked them up 6 hours later it was precisely as I had left it. We had spring fever and stopped off at the park on the way home. Here are a few pictures of the kids soaking up the sun!

A tribute

This is a tribute to one of my and Sara's favorite foods as we've posted on our blogs recently.
She tagged me for the 4 meme and we both listed homemade bread as our favorite food...it made me hungry. So today I pulled my grandma's whole wheat bread recipe out and baked....mmmmm, it was delicious!

Okay...so it sure tasted good but it seems a bit short. It seemed to not raise well the second time around. I seem to have this problem a lot. I wonder if it raised too fast or something. It appears to have gone down once I turned the oven on (the bread was on top rising) and I wonder if the heat from the preheating oven was too much. Any thought from those of you who bake bread often. I've gotten into baking quite a bit but am still learning.

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by Sara

Four jobs you have had in your life
1. Reservation Agent with Northwest Airlines
2. dry cleaner presser
3. mailroom attendant
4. office cleaner on college campus

4 Movies You Could Watch Over and Over
1. Parenthood
2. An Affair to Remember
3. When Harry met Sally
4. Sound of Music

4 Places You Have Lived
1. W. St. Paul, MN
2. Costa Mesa, CA
3. Bellevue, WA
4. Bothell, WA

4 TV Shows You Love To Watch
1. CSI
2. Survivor
3. 24
4. Law & Order

4 Places You Have Been On Vacation
1. New Mexico
2. Montana
3. Campgrounds all over MN/WI
4. Campgrounds all over WA

4 Websites You Visit Daily
1. Paradosis
2. Blue Canopy
3. Chronicles of Mary
4. In the process of weeding out....AND MANY MORE BLOGS

4 Of Your Favorite Foods
1. Good ice cream
2. Fresh-baked bread with butter
3. Spaghetti with Browned Butter and Mizithra Cheese
4. stove-top popped popcorn with real butter

4 Places You Would Rather Be Right Now
1. Minnesota
2. walking on a beach with James ( preferably a cool climate)
3. visiting Alaska
4. St. John the Forerunner Monastery in Goldendale

4 Bloggers You Are Tagging
1. Anyone who wants to
2.
3.
4.

Update on my dad

Here are my original posts #1 and #2.

Thank you for all your prayers!!! I just spoke with my dad today and learned that he has been almost completely smoke-free for 2 weeks now only have 2 cigarettes in the last 2 weeks!! He smoked nearly 3 packs a day prior to this! His spirits are high and I was so excited to hear how well he's been doing.
He goes in Wednesday to set up for 6 weeks of radiation at 5 days a week! There is a possibility that through the radiation his throat could get so sore he would not be able to eat. If this happens he would have a temporary feeding tube put in.

Thank you for your prayers and your continued prayers!

The clergyman of our family.

Here we have Fr. Nicholas and Dn. Joseph ready to serve. I created a pattern and sewed up these vestments for the boys for Christmas...they just opened them today on the 10th day of Christmas. We had to pry them off to get ready for bed. They took a bowl and filled it with lincoln logs and said it was the antidoron. I took a bell and tied rope on it for a censer.

Feast Day of St. Juliana and St. Seraphim

Christ is born!
Glorify Him!

I just wanted to write a little today as today is the feast day of two my favorite saints!

St. Seraphim of Sarov...a wonderful website here with his life and some of his writings. St. Juliana of Lazarevo...her story here.
A year and a half ago I taught vacation Church School and my class studied St. Seraphim. It was really a wonderful time and I love his story and the writings I've read so far.
St. Juliana was brought to my attention sometime over this past year, I came across this site and found her listed under Saints for the Kitchen and Home and investigated. If only I could develop even half of her virtue!

Oh most Holy St. Juliana and St. Seraphim, please pray unto God for me.

Troparion - Tone 4
You loved Christ from your youth, O blessed one,
and longing to work for Him alone you struggled in the wilderness in constant prayer and labor.
With penitent heart and great love for Christ you were favored by the Mother of God.
Therefore we cry to you:
"Save us by your prayers, venerable Seraphim, our father."

Troparion - Tone 4
By your righteous deeds you revealed to the world
An image of the perfect servant of the Lord.
By your fasting, vigil and prayers,
You were inspired in your evangelical life,
Feeding the hungry and caring for the poor,
Nursing the sick and strengthening the weak.
Now you stand at the right hand of the Master, Christ,
O holy Juliana, interceding for our souls.

And for those who have taken them as their patron saints....Many Years!!
Many, many years to Nathan Seraphim, Juliana Plew, and Arielle Juliana and Seraphim (Sky)!

A Christmas Greeting to share

I just recieved a greeting yesterday from a couple at Church. There are a few of you who know who this amazingly inspiring couple is. This Christmas Greeting was quite inspiring and encouraging and I had to share it.

Beloved Friends, Near and Far...
Like a silent mist descending upon a valley, the holy season of Advent has settled over our lives once again. As it has throughout the centuries, these blessed weeks of waiting help us focus on the holy birth soon to take place, a gift of time to prepare the manger of our hearts. This year especially, Advent provides our troubled souls a chance to pull away from the ceaseless images of suffereing thrust upon us throughout the past many months, and the vague feelings of apprehension, disquiet, and helplessness that yet remain. Dictionaries of facts and pictures have pummeled our tired ears and eyes; we drop our donations in the offereing plate or mailbox, but still the strange unrest lingers. And around the corners of our minds, unnamed and invisible, creeps a pervasive fear: will it-- can it-- happen to me...to mine?
Why should we not be afraid when gale force windes pick up cars and buildings; city streets turn into navigable rivers; the cost of heating our homes and driving our cars mangles the budget; the earth roars, splits, and tens of thousands perish; and bird flu may be just a flight away? Fear marches in the forefront of our minds; behind it, like ominous shadows, slink its elusive cousins named anxiety and worry. what if the layoffs include me? What if the blood test isn't normal? What if the furnace gives up for good, and a new one wipes out the savings for Sam's braces? What if he, or she, or they...?
"...do not be afraid," the angel commanded Joseph, who being a just and merciful man was unwilling to expose Mary's supposed sin when she was found to be with child. "Do not be afraid," the angel Gabriel reassured Zacharias, after telling him that his years of prayer for a son would be answered. "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God..." the angel said, comforting Mary when she was troubled by his words. Do not be afraid...Do not be afraid! In every possible situation of life, God commands us not to be afraid. Why?
Because when the radiant star appears in the black sky and Christmas dawns at last, a Virgin shall bear a Son who shall be called Immanuel, "God with us." Always, He is with us-quiet, infinitely courteous, patient, listening for our words as a parent bends low to hear the whispers of a small child. He answers the cry of our hearts through the balm of holy Scripture, in the sacred sameness of our daily lives, and always, as we kneel or stand before Him in silent adoration and wordless prayer. He is everywhere, He has spoken, He speaks to each of us this very day, this very moment. Immanuel! God is with us!