3 Things that Can Change a Family's Day

 

You must open your eyes wide so that you can see the opportunities to give free service, wholehearted, right where you are, in your family.

~ St. Teresa of Calcutta 

I read these words the other day and thought, "Yes, indeed, we must, and my daughter is such a model of this for me."

Whether she is making a cake for her father, but leaving the strawberries off a portion of it because she knows her brother does not like them...

... or going out to care for our gardens before I get to it...

...or offering to do someone's else's chores..

...or declaring, "I can help with that," while she jumps in to action before even being asked, my daughter makes efforts every single day to bless each person in our home with a kindness.

Sometimes, her efforts go unnoticed or get taken for granted, but she does not let that stop her. Recognition and thanks are not her goal. Simply noticing the needs and wants of others in our family and making concerted efforts to offer little acts of service with a smile or a word of encouragement or gratitude is. 

Her efforts are truly beautiful and the timing of them is often uncanny. So often, just when I get stuck in the mire of day-to-day life, her direct acts of service for me or the witness of her acts for others move me back to where I am meant to be.

As my daughter's Confirmation St. Therese said:

A word or a smile if often enough to put fresh life in a despondent soul.

Oh how very true that is. 

Open eyes, service within family, and a smile bring such fresh life. These three things can make such an impact on a family.

I encourage you - and me! - to open your eyes today to whatever service you can freely offer to others in your family and, while acting on what comes to mind, to smile.

Let's Get Real: The Story of Our Ultra-Imperfect St. Teresa of Calcutta Feast Day

Life is not always perfect.

Okay, it never is.

But, it is in its imperfections that we are often given the choice to move towards love or away from it.

We experienced a bit of this just this last year on St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day.

Initially, I wanted to celebrate the day with friends as we had the year prior but then I remembered that my youngest son had a medical appointment in the late morning and a baseball practice in the late afternoon. So, I pivoted potential plans and decided that we would simply celebrate as a family after my son's practice.

The plan was simple: Grab some favorite frozen Indian food and enjoy a faith-focused family meal with easy Indian eats, prayer, and conversation, inspired by St. Teresa of Calcutta.

But, you know what they say: Life is what happens when you're making other plans...

After my youngest son's morning appointment - which sadly ended up going quite long - as in into the afternoon long - we popped into a store for some frozen Indian dinners to make our feast day dinner simple yet special.

Lo! The grocery store that we went to no longer sells Indian meals - only Mexican, Italian, and Thai. So, instead of quickly buying dinner at that store, we ended up doing a regular grocery run there since we were there anyway, and, then, heading to a nearby discount store for boxed Indian dishes.

Thankfully, that store had plenty of Indian meals, so I filled my youngest's cup by letting him pick out all the dishes that looked tasty to him. He was delighted! It was his first day ever of baseball practice - a much anticipated day - and we would be following his practice with a huge Indian feast that he'd picked out. In his young mind, this was perfection.

But, nothing is ever perfect, right?

Enter my oldest child.

After my children and I had put away groceries, completed some chores, and attended to a few other tasks, there was just enough time for my youngest and I to sit down for his daily 1:1 lessons. So, I directed my two older children to ready themselves to depart with me for my youngest's practice in a half hour where we'd do their 1:1's.

A simple request.

Or not.

My oldest - in all of his burgeoning teen angst - found my direction inciting. He was indignant at the thought of having to go to his little brother's practice at all, much less to do his 1:1 with me there without access to an internet-connected computer where he could edit a story he's been writing with me.

Worse, instead of expressing his feelings appropriately, my eldest usurped the half hour before departure with disrespectful and oppositional blustering. Thus, my youngest got no 1:1, my middle child got upset, and my oldest escalated in poor choices.

It was not an ideal any-day occurrence, much less an ideal feast day unfolding...

Somehow, though, I stayed relatively calm and go everyone into the minivan, attempting to redirect us toward goodness through our habit of Gratitude and Greatness and our driving prayer peg . But these efforts only went so far.

We arrived at practice field in the nick of time with my youngest bowled over by the imperfections of the past moments and no longer sure he even wanted to go to practice. 

Truly wanting things to reset, I encouraged my youngest to try to forget the overwhelming awful we'd all just been experiencing and, instead, to just focus on enjoying his first practice. I gave him a hug, let him know how excited I was that he was getting to finally start the season he was so looking forward to, and brought him over to the baseball field, where I introduced myself to some kind baseball dads and was grateful when they promptly paired my youngest up with another child to play warm-up catch with.

Whew! 

With that child bouncing back and focused on good, I, then, sat with my daughter, who was brimming with emotion, engaged her in a calming chat, and focused on her 1:1.

Her reset began happening, too.

Meanwhile, my oldest son - not in reset mode yet - came over, quietly blustering, and handed me a scrawled note that was somewhat of an apology and somewhat of a demand.

I told him that we would need to wait to discuss it until I was done with his sister's 1:1. He could wait near to us, walk around the field, or go to the minivan.

He chose a different course of action - and not the wisest one. With one son on the field and a daughter who needed me next to me, I, then, chose to trust that God would send the Guardian angels of my eldest to look after him while I awaited the end of my youngest's practice.

Fast forward...

With thanks to my eldest's guardian angels, I found my oldest safe at home when my youngest's practice ended. That was good.

Not as good, my just-home-from-work husband and our oldest son were in the middle of a heated discussion when my younger two and I entered the scene, and, honestly, those two needed no more drama.

So, I quickly assessed things, closed my eyes, and prayed for the right actions and reactions to get back on better ground as a family unit.

I noted that my eldest had made a few good choices - putting in laundry, trying to heat up portions dinner, etc. - atop his bad ones. Still, he just wasn't ready to let some persistent vice go.

So, a weird, and very real period of rollercoaster parenting, feast day dinner preparations, and Lord-please-give-us-grace followed.

Before too, too long, however, we had the messes of the day under figurative wraps for a moment and also covered messes on the table that were just going to be too much to remove with a cloth. Then, we set out our feast day dinner - however imperfectly - and everyone gathered at the table.

A chat about St. Teresa of Calcutta, grace, and digging in happened.

Between delicious bites...

...I encouraged each person to reflect upon the day and the idea that, as St. Teresa has said, "Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”"  I asked us each to recall a moment in the day when we could have demonstrated greater love.

The idea that "Peace begins with a smile," (another quote attributed to St. Teresa) seemed appropriate, too.

For, despite all the hoopla earlier in the day - and even some that followed once dinner ended- we were somehow bathed in grace and - praise God! - at times some genuine smiles broke through.

(And maybe some not so genuine ones...)

St. Teresa took care of the poorest of the poor. Sometimes, even when we want to best for our families, we experience the poorest of attitudes, actions, reactions, etc. It is easy to swept up in the drama of it all, to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, foiled, you-name-the-negative emotion... But, it is also important to just keep loving.

St. Teresa once said, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." Imperfect feast days - and imperfect anydays - remind us that no matter what kind of time we are having as a family, there is always an opportunity - and a need - to love.

When one person in the family begins a downward spiral, we have a choice: get sucked in and move away from love or move back towards love.

The right choice is obvious - but not always easy.

Still, I pray we can each make that right choice. I pray that on ideal days and imperfect ones, we may find time to love those around us.

I also pray that by sharing this snippet of real life as we tried to live the liturgical year last year, you find some encouragement.

If your home and family are glaringly important, you are not alone. Mine is, too.

No judgement here. Just solidarity and prayer.

You've got this! And, if you don't, God does.

Praise God for that!

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Serving with the Saints: Make a Blessing Box for Saint Teresa of Calcutta's Feast Day

Got a box? Some art supplies? A friend in need?

Then, might I suggest that you and yours get together to make a blessing box for a friend or family in need as you observe St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day on September 5?

We did this last year and it was a simple success. 

To begin, I introduced St. Teresa's quote of  "I am in pencil in God's hand" and suggested we write loving messages and draw happy pictures for a friend in need and then fill a "box of blessings" with these messages and more.

The "more" can be anything you think the friend or family in need could use.

In our case, the recipient of our blessing box was a dear family whose youngest child, a baby, had unexpectedly undergone two heart surgeries within a month, rocking the entire family's world.

The family asked for nothing but prayers and well wishes, which, of course, were offered by many. However, as St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day neared and we thought about in our local circles might need some extra love and help, we all agreed that that family might be buoyed up practical helps along with the prayer power they were already receiving.

Thus, I put word out that anyone in our local homeschool community who would like to make or donate anything to a Blessing Box for them could get it to me right up until the date of our St. Teresa of Calcutta gathering, and, then, at the gathering, we'd put our Blessing Box together, which I would drop off to the family in need.

I encouraged people to offer whatever they could that might bless our friends and let the now they are loved and prayed for and passed along the following Blessing Box filler idea list:

• happy notes and pictures
• spiritual bouquets
• change for vending machines at the hospital
• healthy,nourishing shelf-stable snacks and drinks
• fruits and other nourishing, easy-to-pack-and-eat foods
• gas gift cards
• small baby toys
• fun things for the older sibling to use at home or at the hospital to keep them busy and make them feel special, too - coloring books, not-too-messy-craft kits, books, etc.
• healthy lunch items and afterschool snack items for for the older siblings to make Mom and Dad's lives a little easier
• monetary donations
• food gift cards and gift baskets (with information specific to the hospital policy on gift baskets, gift cards, food vouchers, etc.)

People dropped items off at my home beforehand and others brought things to our gathering, where the children enjoyed decorating and filling the Blessing Box, which we later delivered to the family in need.

The children in that family dug into the box immediately and the Mom was touched and grateful. 

Our mission - to be pencils in God's hand writing messages of love by serving someone close to us in spiritual and practical ways - was met.  

Today, I pass this idea forward with a prayer that it might inspire you and your children to serve within your own community circle, blessing someone close to you.

May you and yours be blessed and bless others, too, as you reach out with simple service!

Enjoy a St. Teresa of Calcutta Potluck-n-Play with Kids

Are you wondering how you might observe Saint Teresa of Calcutta's feast day on September 5th?

How about through a Potluck-n-Play time with with your children and some friends?

We enjoyed one last year with friends and found it so easy, fun, and meaningful for St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day.

What is a Potluck-n-Play?

In a nutshell, a Potluck-n-Play is a simple way to enjoy a feast day with friends. You simple pick a day, time, and location for celebrating...

... ask everyone to bring a feast-related dish to share, leaving the details of the meal up to whatever the Holy Spirit inspires each family to bring...

... decorate a feast table with some candles and images...

...share some stories, prayers, or teaching about the day's saint... 

...perhaps play a planned game, do a service craft, or introduce some planned activities....

... then, dig in and enjoy the food before further fun, free play, and fellowship.

Easy, peasy, and oh-so-blessed!

A Pleasing (and Simple!) Potluck-n-Play for St. Teresa of Calcutta's Feast Day

For our first St. Teresa of Calcutta Potluck-n-Play, everyone was asked to bring themselves and Indian-inspired dish, drink, or snack to share on our feast table.

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Upon arrival, children played, while some moms did last minute food prep or offered materials and decorations for our feast table, which I began to set up.

Then, we all gathered together and chatted about St. Teresa using a poem in Saintly Rhymes for Modern Times to get us started.

We talked bit about the three stripes on Mother Teresa's sari (and our candles), how the Missionaries of Charity live their calling, and how we can model some of our choices after theirs.

We also prayed Mother Teresa’s Nazareth Prayer for the Family as found on Catholic prayers Online.

Heavenly Father,

you have given us the model of life

in the Holy Family of Nazareth.

Help us, O Loving Father,

to make our family another Nazareth

where love, peace and joy reign.

May it be deeply contemplative,

intensely Eucharistic,

revived with joy.

Help us to stay together in joy

and sorrow in family prayer.

Teach us to see Jesus in the members of our families,

especially in their distressing disguise.

May the Eucharistic heart of Jesus

make our hearts humble like his

and help us to carry out our family duties

in a holy way.

May we love one another

as God loves each one of us,

more and more each day,

and forgive each other’s faults

as you forgive our sins.

Help us, O Loving Father,

to take whatever you give

and give whatever you take with a big smile.

Immaculate Heart of Mary,

cause of our joy, pray for us.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Holy Guardian Angels,

be always with us,

guide and protect us.

Amen.

We discussed briefly how we have our immediate family, but also "families" that extend beyond - our family of friends and neighbors - which we are called to love.

Using parts of Living Faith Kids: Meet Mother Teresa we chatted a bit more about how St. Teresa went from living with her immediate family, to her family of religious sisters in another country, to her mission in India.  We also traced where St. Teresa of Calcutta was born, studied, and began her "call within a call" on a globe.

Then, I challenged the children to think of ways they could be pencils in God's hands...

...writing love letters to family and friends...

... coloring inspiring sayings to give to others...

...creating get well cards...

... and decorating and filling a "blessing box" for friends.

As I read a biography about St. Teresa of Calcutta from the Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, the children worked on this project.

In fact, it was a joy to see how all of of the children were happy to help prepare this simple gift for a family we know whose little brother was in the hospital with a heart defect.

They each took a part in decorating the box, filling it with messages and cards, or packing the easy eats, grab-n-go treats, coloring books, soothing teas, gift cards, and more that friends donated for it.

After that, there was more play time as we finally laid out our potluck lunch feast and gathered to pray grace.

Of course, the children were eager to taste test different dishes - including the delicious "tasters" from Amy's Indian frozen meals line.

And, there was just so much yumminess!  

Seriously! How can you go wrong with Indian-inspired eats!

Thus, we all dug in, then, enjoyed more free time and fellowship together, all the while remembering St. Teresa of Calcutta's reminder to "do small things with great love."

It was a truly lovely feast day celebration filled with faith, food, friends, and filling the blessing box. I pray that yours is as delight-filled.

More Ideas


For additional ideas for celebrating St. Teresa of Calcutta with children at home as a family or elsewhere, click on over:

More here.

More here.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Celebrate Saint Teresa of Calcutta's with Food and Faith Learning

Saint Teresa of Calcutta's feast day is this week on September 5th.  If, like me, you are planning your meals and lessons for the week and would like some ideas for celebrating and learning about Mother Teresa, you may wish to take a peek at the bevy of ideas I shared last year.

Indeed, I am doing just that myself, smiling as I recall how unprepared for the canonization of Saint Teresa of Calcutta I was last year after having been mostly quarantined with my family the week prior, yet how beautifully the day turned out. 

Right before the canonization, I threw myself into collating wonderful idea after wonderful idea for celebrating the day and, then, extending our learning throughout the days that followed.  Doing so paid off with a fruitful, if simple, canonization breakfast using what we already had on hand, a second meal focusing more on geography, and chatting about missions, and further learning activities throughout the week.

Our Saint Teresa of Calcutta Breakfast

Since Mother Teresa wore a blue and white sari, we decorated our table with a white lace tablecloth and white candles with blue duct tape stripes.  These decorations became a teaching moment, too, because, when the children noticed the stripes on the candles, I shared excerpts of The Significance of Mother Teresa's Three Striped Sari with my children as we chatted about their symbolism.

I also printed out Jessica's canonization cupcake toppers, free at Shower of Roses, to put into our Canonization Waffles.  The quotes on these became copywork later in the week.

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On the canonization day, we had Van's Gluten-Free Waffles, So Delicious Coco Whip, and Chocolate Silk in the house as well as some fresh blueberries, defrosted strawberries and raspberries, maple syrup, and Earth Balance "Butter".  Thus, we opted to turn our typical "Assumption Day Waffles" of into  Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta fare.

Included in the symbolism we chatted about were the following ideas:

• The brown of our Chocolate Silk reminded us of our earthly humanity.

• The blue and white of berries and Coco Whip remind us of multiple things - the heavens, the colors of Mother Teresa's sari, and Mother Mary's colors (which are the colors Mother Teresa purposefully chose for her sari). 
  
  

  

• The red of berries called to mind hearts, and, in turn, the daily love and compassion Mother Teresa lived with, hearts for the poor (including the poor in spirit), hearts for Jesus, etc.
  
  

  

  
  
• The syrup reminded us of our Lord's sweet love poured out on the world, often through the "yes" of people who do small things with great love.
  
  

  

• The roundness of our waffles may reminded us of the earth, and how we are called to live our lives here with love for one another.  It also brought to mind the eternal joy of being in Heaven with Jesus. (For a circle has no end.

Our prayers and reading included:

   

the Mother Teresa excerpt from our copy of Loyola Kids Book of Heroes, which my oldest read to us.

and revisiting the Living Faith Kids: Meet Mother Teresa, which we had picked up at church the week prior. 

We will also prayed the Mother Teresa's Nazareth Prayer for the Family

A Taste of India

Later during the day, I ran our for some easy-Indian food and was thrilled that our local store carried Amy's Indian food, so we could enjoy some geography and culture in our day of celebration, by taste-testing different dishes without me having to do much more prep than cooking up extra rice and putting frozen dinners in the oven.
  

At this meal, we revisited more of Living Faith Kids: Meet Mother Teresa, found India on a small globe, chatted about how Mother Teresa's missionaries spread their work throughout the world, and chatted more about how we could be missionaries in our everyday lives.

We also, of course, enjoyed taste testing different Indian fare and each picked out favorites among the dishes we tried.

It was a yummy, educational, and faith-filled meal!

And More

We also, of course, watched parts of the canonization online.  Then, later in the week, we did more reading in library books, and spiced up our regular S.K.I.L.L. T.I.M.E. + lessons with Saint Teresa of Calcutta-inspired activities.

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us.

Other Ideas!

Since then, we've enjoyed the following activities and ideas.  Click on through to learn more.

Click through for an idea for Serving with the Saints.

Click through for ideas for a Potluck-n-Play feast day celebration!

The children and I enjoy living the liturgical year with symbolic eats, prayers, readings, and resources. So, if you have recommendations for ones relating to Saint Teresa of Calcutta's feast day (or any liturgical feast), please do take a moment to share with me.  Thanks!