My Peanut Butter Pickle

I can't believe the end of another school year is in just 3 days.... and furthermore, I can't believe Gigi is finishing her last few days as a preschooler!  In just a few short months, my baby girl is going to be in kindergarten.  I am definitely not ready for her to be away from me everyday!!!!

She has grown so much this past year...it is always so much fun to watch the littles perform at their end of the year program!!!

Sweet Shots:

We are so proud of you Peanut Butter Pickle!!!!  Now it's time for SUMMER FUN!!!  I can't wait ...

Connectedness

It was no surprise that one of my top 5 strengths is connectedness...

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I have so much faith in the links between all things.  Coincidences, not so much....I firmly believe God has a given us a purpose and path!  Every event has a reason...

I can see this everyday in my life, especially when I look back at the past.

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In short~ words will not justify how grateful I am that Ryan and I were 'listening' to our Lord when he opened the road to St. Joan of Arc!!!!  The people we have met at St. Joan of Arc are now our family, and they help us everyday by showing us ways to grow in our Faith, Service, and Community!!!

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Now to the point of this blog, we were with a few of those people last night.  We were chatting about our kids and and one of our friends mentioned something and (because of my connectedness) I can't help but think about it ALL day today!

This friend is incredibly knowledgable in scripture and religious teachings....anyways, we were talking about Garyn and a few things he has mentioned in the past...and he looked at him and said..."His hair reminds me so much of St. Peter."  

I say this all the time, God has place this boy on this Earth for a very special reason!!!!  I think this friend is 'connecting' Garyn with big things too!!!!  ...and not just because of the curly hair  ;)

26.2

goal:

26.2 in 4 hrs.

oct. 19, 2013

#Catholic

(#catholic) “God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission. I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.

He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do His work.

I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.

Therefore, I will trust Him, whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him, in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him. If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me. Still, He knows what He is about.”

― John Henry Newman

It's a good morning...

It was a beautiful Friday morning on Penn!!!

Lynx

When I look back and try to remember my 1st grade experience, the things I remember are sitting at a round table learning to read short words.  We would fold a paper into a book and on the back there would be 3 short words: pig, run, hop.  Ok, you get my drift....

So let's fast forward 28+years....

The last quarter of 1st grade for Garyn is SLIGHTLY different.  This week he completed his research project and presented it through a power point presentation to his class.  At the beginning of the quarter, they had to pick an animal to research.  They had 5 questions to answer plus had to include 5 other interesting facts about the animal.  Once this was completed, they took every Wednesday in technology (love how the classes work together) to prepare a power point presentation.  Garyn took his writing and type it onto power point slides.  He included pictures too.
The creative part of the project was to complete a mobile, diorama, poster board, etc for a visual for the report.

Well....let me tell you!!!  These children are so far above from pig, run, hop it's incredible!!!!  We had the honor of going to his class to watch him along with his classmates present their power points.  Each child did an OUTSTANDING job.  We learned about horses, lions, whales, the lynx.  Each child stood in front of the class so proud and excited to share what they learned.  Each classmate listened with excitement!  They all offered questions and compliments!

Thank you Miss Scheidler!  You have fed these little (or should I say BIG) minds with so much knowledge and more importantly confidence.  We love you!

words from Gus Lloyd

so quickly.....
Gus Lloyd, one of my favorite Catholic Christians.  Read what he had this to say about yesterday's Gospel reading... I think I never want to forget it, what about you?

Here it is:
www.GusLloyd.com

Open Ears, Open Hearts

In Acts 16 today, Paul and Luke find themselves in the city of Thyatira, where they meet a woman named Lydia. More on that encounter in a moment. In the Gospel from John 15, Jesus talks about sending the Advocate, the Spirit of truth. He says, “I have told you this so that you may not fall away.” Even with the coming persecutions, the Holy Spirit would keep them strong.

Lydia was “a worshiper of God.” As she listened to Paul, “the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.” What an interesting concept, this notion of the Lord opening her heart. Of course, the Lord is God, so He can always open our hearts. But don’t we play a part in all this, too? I think the key here comes from what Lydia was doing just before the Lord opened her heart. She was listening.

How wonderful it would be if more people in the world were better listeners. I think this is a skill that is all but lost these days. We are all so hell-bent on being heard that we seldom listen. But I believe that God rarely opens our hearts when we’re talking. It is only when we are listening that we become open to hearing God. That’s when the real heart-opening can really take place. Have you ever heard the old axiom: God gave us two ears and one mouth and He wants us to use them in those proportions. How true.

Father, help us today to be better listeners. Help us to listen to one another, listen to your Word and allow you to open our hearts today. Amen.

Bottom Line-- listen more, talk less!!!