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.

A Simple Way to Involve Older Children in Almsgiving This Lent (or Anytime!)

When I asked my youngest what he thought we should add to our Pray-Fast-Give chain this year for fasting, one of his first answers was, "Buy food to put it in bags for the homeless."

I knew right away why he had said it.

Last Sunday, as we were on our way home from Mass, we pulled up at a stoplight where a homeless gentleman was standing. It was cold, and we had a blanket in the car, so we handed it out the window to the man, but, sadly, did not have any food, warm socks, or other things on hand to gift him.

So it is that, as a part of our Lenten practices, we are hoping to repeat a Works of Mercy effort that some of our homeschool friends and us got together for during Advent: Making Blessing Bags!

To make the bags, each family that was participated shared what they would be bringing using this helpful how-to as a guide for what the homeless might find helpful or not.

Then, upon arrival at the host house, we set up a "buffet" table of sorts with piles of 25 of each item.

Younger children went in another room and made hand drawn cards and pictures to include in the bags, while older children and parents each stood behind a pile and we passed a bag from one to another, filling it assembly-line style.

It took less than an hour to assemble all the bags, inclusive of the time it took to reassemble the few bags which had zippers break or were just not closing due to the way that space-taking items such as a bottle of water, thick socks, and foot warmers had been put in amongst smaller items.

So, making Blessing Bags truly proved to be a simple project that brought us together as a homeschool community to prepare to help our larger community.

We hope to have another Blessing Bag get together this Lent and encourage you to try it with family or friends.

Among the things in ours, were all the things pictured below, plus tuna and crackers and water.

We pray this idea inspires you in your almsgiving and would appreicate hearing your ideas, too!

Know Someone Sick? Make Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity!

Do you know someone who is sick that could use a meal dropped at the door? 

We've known a number of people over the past few months who fit this description, some who - Praise God! - have already begun healing and others who are very much in need of prayers.

Thus, I've had my children helping me to wash and chop vegetables and cook up chilis, soups, stews, and other dishes to share.

Among them was an Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity that we came up with after looking at a bunch of recipes online and seeing what was available between rummaging our fridge and cupboards and making a run to a local store. The result, I thought, was delicious. So, in honor of it being National Soup Month - and as inspiration for you to gift forward a meal to someone you know in need - I am sharing the recipe below and also as a free printable.

I will warn you that this recipe has a lot more ingredients than many others do and is a bit labor-intensive with all the washing, peeling, and chopping of vegetables. So, it definitely makes a good Sunday service / Work of Mercy project rather than a quick weeknight help. That said, it is chock full of nutrition and wonderfully tasty, so don't let the long list of ingredients and extra prep time scare you away from it.

Further, I want to suggest that, if you are short on time, you simply whip up you favorite easy soup recipe, because most soups make a wonderfully nutritious, warming, and flexible meal to share.

If brought over hot, soups can be enjoyed right away.

If the recipient is not up to eating or has been gifted ample food by others, soups can be refrigerated or frozen, then, portioned out and reheated easily on stovetop or in a microwave. 

Most soups are forgiving, too. So you can add and drop ingredients according to availability, taste, food intolerances/allergies, etc.

Oh, and speaking of intolerances and allergies, I often ask about those before making meals to door-drop, and, if I don't have a chance to do so, I typically will avoid ingredients that tend to be common allergens. So, for example, in the soup below, I would not add the corn. (In fact, in one of the batches we made, we purposefully left out the corn due to the family allergies.)

Similarly, because some folks are vegetarian or vegan, unless I know everyone in a family is a meater, I tend to make vegan options that meat and/or dairy can be added to. (So, for example, I cooked chicken, onion, and herbs separately when cooking up our 10-Vegetable soup and, then, packaged it in another container and wrote a note that suggested that family meat-lovers might like to add the chicken to the soup or eat it on its own.)

***

Oil-Free 10+ Vegetable (Chicken) Soup to Boost Immunity!

Veggies:

1 yellow onion, diced

2 carrots, sliced 

2 celery, sliced 

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded, diced 

4 garlic cloves, minced

Spices:

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon rosemary or marjoram

1 tablespoon basil

1 ½ teaspoons white pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon thyme (or a bay leaf or two)

Other ingredients:

2 tablespoons tomato paste 

4 15-ounce cans fire roasted tomatoes (or 2 28-ounce cans)

4 cups water (or veggie broth or chicken stock) 

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons liquid amino acids (or low sodium soy sauce)

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups frozen corn or 15-ounce can frozen fire roasted corn (optional)

1 cup frozen green peas 

Up to 3 cups fresh spinach, sliced (or a small package of frozen spinach)

Add in before serving, if desired:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 

chicken (pre-cooked with garlic, onions, and fresh oregano or just canned chicken)

Directions:

Put a very large pot on medium high heat and add just enough water or broth to cover the bottom. Heat until it starts to steam, then add the veggies.

Sweat/water saute the vegetables until they have softened, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add all the spices except the thyme or bay leaves to the pot and stir constantly for 30 seconds to activate the spices.

Add the tomato paste, cook for 4 to 5 minutes, and keep stirring until the paste begins to darken and starts to caramelize.

Add 1/2 cup of water or broth/stock and scrape the bottom of the pot with a spoon to scrape off any flavorful bits that are stuck to the bottom.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the spinach, lime juice, and optional chicken. Stir to combine. Cover and bring to a boil, which should take about 10 minutes. Then, reduce the heat to medium low, add the optional chicken in, and simmer for 30 minutes.

Uncover the soup and add spinach if you like more al dente veggies and call it done. Or simmer for another 45 minutes for softer veggies and, then, add spinach. Let the spinach wilt for a minute while continuing to stir.

Taste the soup and adjust any spices if needed, or add salt to your taste. Add lime, if desired, and enjoy!

Notes:

You can add any other meat, bean, or lentil that you like and/or “stretch” the soup by adding up to four more cups of broth or water.

You can also add up to 2 tablespoons chia seeds for a bit of protein and to gel-up the soup some.

***

Whether making this soup or not, I encourage you to cook up your favorite soup and bless someone forward with it this week! It would be a lovely way to live a Work of Mercy.

Someone's Serving Again...

This may be a quick, grainy snapshot, but I am glad I have it.

It encapsulates a leg in mmy boy's and in our family faith journey...

As happened with many in 2020, our opportunities for particpating in Mass changed.

Our local church collaborative closed to the public for some weeks, and, then, finally reopened with a variety of uncomfortable (to us) changes in place.

Thus, our family began to travel to a beautiful, somewhat local, small friary and, then, also to a larger, growing FSSP parish even further afield from us. 

Both were warm, welcoming places of worship where we were grateful to particpate in Mass.

That said, our youngest boy, who had been so excited the first time that he served at Mass and enjoyed serving many Masses after that with his big brother., was not comfortable offering to serve at the friary nor the FSSP parish.

He lacked the training to do so, and, among other things, distance and timing made getting to training hard for us.

Hard is not impossible though, and, as I often say to my children,"We can do hard things." So, with help and encouragement from friends, our youngest was able to make it to some trainings and - thanks be to God - is serving again.

What joy it brings my heart to see the little boy the little boy from three years ago gorwn up some and excited to be back to altar serving.

Thanks be to God for the way He works in our hearts and removes obstacles.

Why My Kids May Have Multi-Colored Hands for Corpus Christi

Want a fun - albeit messy - project for Corpus Christi?

Take a little water, add a bit of dye, and stir in some sawdust.

Mix it around with your hands to get the color good and even.

Spread it on tarps to dry in the sun.

Do it again and again.

Create a palette of different colors.

And wait to see what another can create.

A beautiful sawdust carpet!

Ready for a Corpus Christi Eucharistic procession.

The simple act of service in helping dye sawdust can turn into a beautiful temporary work of art that becomes part of a day that honors the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

O God, who in this wonderful Sacrament have left us a memorial of your Passion, grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood that we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption. Who live and reign with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, on God, for ever and ever.

 ~The Collect

May your Solemnity of Corpus Christi be blessed!

(The last two photos are courtesy of my friend who made the carpets)

"Sanctity Consists in Doing Good...in Whatever Condition and Place God Has Places Us"

What's a mama to do when she has kids of different ages and stages of belief, and sadly, unbelief?

Keep on, keeping on.

Recognize that while hearts for God are strengthened while serving others, hardened hearts, can be softened by service.

There are plenty of people close to home who could use  helping hand.

Case in point for my crew: friends with littles who are trying to start a big garden project.

As the old saying goes, "Many hands make light work." So, when a friend of ours was feeling overwhelmed about building gardens in time to plant this year for her growing family, other friends were there to help.

Some talked through possibilities and plans, helping our friend imagine what could be done to make her garden plot fruitful. Others helped haul supplies. Still others - including us - came together to build the gardens...

Breaking down carboard boxes...

Measuring out where beds and stakes would go...

Driving stakes into the ground to tie off measured garden beds...

Shoveling compost onto the carboard to create deep garden beds...

Persisting shovelful by shovelful with a project to move it from dream to reality in an afternoon.

The ordinary help of laboring to create friend's gardens was a good that we could do that day, and who knows what good it may seed - both literally and figuratively.

As I think about my child who is at a place of unbelief, I am grateful that the child is still willing to offer acts of service alongside family and friends. I pray that the child's heart is extraordinarily moved back towards belief one day while we are going about the ordinary good of each day.

I ask for your prayers for this, too.

I also ask: What good is there to be attended to in whatever condition and place you and those around you are in?

Answer that and then go savor an opportunity for sanctity.

May God bless you and yours - and those around you - in whatever condition and place you are in.

Secretly Give Bread of Baked Goods in Honor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary {FREE Printable}

Sometimes, it is fun to do secret kindnesses for others.

Saint Elizabeth of Hungary's feast day on November 17 is a perfect day for committing such an act. For, just like St. Elizabeth sometimes secretly delivered bread and essentials to the sick and poor around her, we can share with those that we know are facing needs, troubles, or sorrows.

This November 17th, we can remember how St. Elizabeth imitated Christ and saw Him in those she served, looking beyond our own challenges to see how we might recognize and honor Jesus amongst our friends, family, and community members.

Surely you can think of someone who is down on their luck, facing a challenge, or just needs to know they are thought of and loved.

If so, I encourage you to  begin a new annual "secret service" tradition by printing a FREE Remember St Elizabeth of Hungary and Know that You Are Loved printable, pairing it with some bread or baked goods - and anything else you feel inspired to give, and secretly delivering it to the person you are thinking about right now.

Then, each year, choose a new person to secretly make a delivery to on St. Elizabeth of Hungary's feast day - sharing forward her story, her love for service, and her dedication to Our Lord.

If you like this ideas, you might also wish to deliver secret St. Nicholas baskets in December... 

...give Love Buckets on St. Valentine's Day...

...and make Secret Blessing Boxes on St. Teresa of Calcutta's feast day in September.

Random acts of service are a wonderful way to teach young people to honor God and love one another.

St. Elizabeth of Hungary, pray for us.