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Daily Lenten Meditations

«  March 2010  »

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
  • Pray Light a candle. Every time you pass that candle today, offer a prayer of thanks. Don’t ask for anything. Just thank him.
  • Fast Don’t cut corners. Even if no one will know, complete today’s work thoroughly.
  • Give Touch is a powerful thing. Make an effort today to touch your children: a hug, a shoulder rub, a tousled head -- especially the bigger ones
1
  • Pray Make five minutes in the morning, at midday and in the evening to be still, silent, and alone, only asking God to infuse your soul with his will.
  • Fast No noise today. Turn off the TV, the radio, the iPod. Find God in the silence.
  • Give Pay particular unsolicited attention to your least demanding child today.
2
  • Pray Begin a gratitude journal. At the end of the day, jot down five things for which you are grateful. Think upon these things.
  • Fast Remember the first time you had a moment alone with your first child. What did you promise him? Do that. Be that.
  • Give We can only expect what we inspect. For every task you assign today, follow through and before it’s truly finished ensure that there is praise from you.
3
  • Pray “My sheep listen to my voice. I know them and they follow me." -- John 10:27
  • Fast Every time a child interrupts you today, stop what you are doing and look into his eyes as he talks.
  • Give “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Speak kindly all day long.
4
  • Pray Ask God to show you how weak and small you are. Open your heart to see it.
  • Fast Don’t argue today. As much as possible give up, give in, give way.
  • Give When you are tempted to put on the TV for kids today, pull out a stack of favorite picture books instead. Invite the kids to join you on the couch.
5
  • Pray Take a walk, even if it’s cold or raining. Leave your iPod at home.
  • Fast Think of someone whose life you are tempted to envy and then choke out these words: Thank you, God, for the blessings you have given to X. Help me to see my own.
  • Give Think about the kind of person your husband married. Be that person for him today.
6
7
  • Pray "Love consumes us only in the measure of our self-surrender." -- St. Therese of Lisieux
  • Fast As you go about your daily routine today, remember that you are expecting someone very important for dinner tonight. Together with your children, work towards your husband’s homecoming as if you were expecting to welcome a king back to his castle.
  • Give “You can do nothing with children unless you win their confidence and love by bringing them into touch with oneself, by breaking through all the hindrances that keep them at a distance. We must accommodate ourselves to their tastes, we must make ourselves like them.” -- St. John Bosco
8
  • Pray Take this quote to prayer today and listen to God’s answer: “Real love is demanding. I would fail in my mission if I did not tell you so. Love demands a personal commitment to the will of God.” -- John Paul II
  • Fast Stop looking for encouragement and approval. Genuinely encourage and affirm someone else instead.
  • Give Let your child choose a huge stack of picture books (use that word “huge” when you ask her to gather them). Read them all to her today.
9
  • Pray Persevere. “He who does not give up prayer cannot possibly continue to offend God habitually. Either he will give up prayer, or he will give up sinning.” -- St. Alphonsus Liguori
  • Fast Don’t forget that the only pedestal you need ever stand on, is the one your husband and children build for you.
  • Give Focus on your home today. The world can find another volunteer, but your husband and children have only you.
10
  • Pray Insist on quiet from all your children during naptime today. Pray the Divine Mercy chaplet.
  • Fast We’re half way through. Compare yourself now only to yourself when Lent began. Tweak the plan.
  • Give Reach out to a local friend today. Reconnect.
11
  • Pray Ask God to make you humble and lowly.
  • Fast Don’t compare or complain. Do compliment.
  • Give Pack a picnic and go somewhere to eat it with your children. If the weather is prohibitive, build a tent in the living room and it eat there. Sit on the ground with them. Be fully present.
12
  • Pray Sometime before bedtime tonight, make time to pray with and for each of your children.
  • Fast Rise a little earlier and bring your husband breakfast in bed. (If it’s too late today, plan for tomorrow).
  • Give Plan a date night.
13
14
  • Pray Give thanks for food, clothes, and shelter. Listen to His plan for stewardship.
  • Fast Clean out the refrigerator today instead of eating lunch. Pull everything out and wipe it all down. As you do it, thank God for the food he provides for your family.
  • Give “We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” -- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
15
  • Pray Before you read or do anything else today, pray this prayer, taken from the writings of St. Louis de Montfort: Lord, help me to imitate Mary's deep humility, lively faith, blind obedience, unceasing prayer, constant self-denial, surpassing purity, ardent love, heroic patience, angelic kindness, and heavenly wisdom. Amen.
  • Fast Give up thinking things have to be perfect.
  • Give As you do laundry today, bless the person for whom you are folding. With every crease, offer a prayer.
16
  • Pray For a few minutes tonight, after your children are sleeping, kneel beside their beds. Let your breath rise and fall with theirs. Entrust them to the Father and thank him for lending them to you.
  • Fast Let go of self-recrimination. “There is still time for endurance, time for patience, time for healing, time for change. Have you slipped? Rise up. Have you sinned? Cease. Do not stand among sinners, but leap aside.” -- St. Basil the Great
  • Give Do not say “In a minute” or “When I finish this” at all today. Instead, put aside your agenda and meet their needs (and even some wants) immediately and cheerfully.
17
  • Pray Pray to know how God wants you to spend your time today.
  • Fast Let go of despair and know that God gives you sufficient grace. "Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible." -- St. Francis of Assisi
  • Give Make sure that every one in your family gets at least one of your hugs today.
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Bloggers

Meet the Faith & Family bloggers. We invite you to join us in encouraging and helping the Faith & Family community grow in faith!

Danielle Bean

Danielle Bean
Danielle Bean, a mother of eight, is Editorial Director of Faith & Family. She is author of My Cup of Tea: Musings of a Catholic Mom (Pauline 2005) and Mom to Mom, Day to Day: Advice and Support for Catholic Living (Pauline 2007). Though she once struggled to separate her life …
Read My Posts

Rachel Balducci

Rachel Balducci
Rachel Balducci is married to Paul and together they are the parents of five lively boys. Besides being a mom, she is also a writer and a newspaper columnist for the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia. For the past four years, she has maintained her personal blog at Testosterhome.net where she …
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Lisa Hendey

Lisa Hendey
Lisa Hendey is the founder and editor of CatholicMom.com, a Catholic web site focusing on the Catholic faith, Catholic parenting and family life, and Catholic cultural topics. Most recently she has authored The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa is also employed as webmaster for her parish web sites. …
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Arwen Mosher

Arwen Mosher
Arwen Mosher lives in southeastern Michigan with her husband Bryan and their young children Camilla and Blaise. She has a bachelor's degree in theology. She dreads laundry, craves sleep, loves to read novels and do logic puzzles, and can't live without tea. Her personal blog site is ABC Family. …
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Rebecca Teti

Rebecca Teti
Rebecca Teti is married to Dennis and has four children (3 boys, 1 girl) who -- like yours no doubt -- are pious and kind, gorgeous, and can spin flax into gold. A Washington, DC, native, she converted to Catholicism while an undergrad at the U. Dallas, where she double-majored in …
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Robyn Lee

Robyn Lee
Robyn Lee is the managing editor of Faith & Family magazine. She is (yikes!) an almost 30 year-old, single lady, living in Connecticut with her two cousins in a small bungalow-style kit house built by her great uncle in the 1950s. She also conveniently lives next door to her sister, brother-in-law …
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Hallie Lord

Hallie Lord
Hallie Lord married her dashing husband, Dan, in the fall of 2001 (the same year, coincidentally, that she joyfully converted to the Catholic faith). They now happily reside in the deep South with their two energetic boys and two very sassy girls. In her *ample* spare time, Hallie enjoys cheap wine, …
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Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr. John Bartunek, LC

Fr John Bartunek, LC, STL, received his BA in History from Stanford University in 1990, graduating Phi Beta Kappa. He comes from an evangelical Christian background and became a member of the Catholic Church in 1991. After college he worked as a high school history teacher, drama director, and …
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Guest Bloggers

Melissa Wiley

Melissa Wiley
Melissa Wiley is a homeschooling mother of six and the author of The Martha Years and The Charlotte Years, two series of books about the ancestors of Laura Ingalls Wilder. She blogs about children’s books, family, and home education at Here in the Bonny Glen.
Read My Posts

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Under the Big Top

we can all have heart failure

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Thursday, March 18, 2010 9:38 PM

We are back from a very exciting, harrowing, grand adventure to The Circus. What a time!

Here’s the thought I had, during the nearly three hours we sat watching the cutting-edge flips and daring deeds: what has become of me?

Growing up, my family went to the circus fairly often. My parents brought us whenever it came to town; this was one of those “special things” we did as a family. I loved it and... READ MORE

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0
Filed under growing, memories, parents

~Sniffle~

a little boy's love for his daddy

Posted by Rebecca Teti in Family on Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:14 PM

It’s an old video, but new to me, and I’m a sucker for it.

Comments
2
Filed under dads, family, little boy, returning sailor, reunion, video

50-Degree Skiing?

Uh, not so much

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Family on Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:22 PM

My parents-in-law own a condo near one of Michigan’s best ski hills. Yes, I realize that’s like saying “one of Kansas’s best beaches,” and with just 500 vertical feet it is fairly unimpressive as a ski resort. It still has enough runs to keep us busy for a weekend, though, and we enjoy our visits each winter.

Generally we go up in January and in March. In January we’re lucky if the temperature is... READ MORE

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0
Filed under activities, outdoors, seasons, skiing, sports, weather

Baby Blues and Blessings

Special guest Kate Wicker joins us on today's podcast

Posted by Lisa Hendey in News on Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:32 PM

Download Podcast

This week on the podcast (click here to listen or click on the player above) Danielle and I are joined by special guest and Senior Faith & Family writer Kate Wicker.  Our conversation accompanies Kate’s wonderful article this week on the topic of Postpartum Depression. 

Kate shares her personal experience with Postpartum Depression following the birth of her third daughter.  She describes her symptoms,... READ MORE

Comments
0
Filed under fitness, health, kate wicker, podcast, postpartum depression, prayer, pregnancy

Kick Your Kids Out

How much time do your kids spend outdoors?

Posted by Danielle Bean in Health on Thursday, March 18, 2010 3:05 PM

I am a big fan of outdoor play for kids. Some winter months it’s not very practical here in New Hampshire, but I do my best to maintain a strict “Spend at least 60 minutes outdoors” policy for my kids, even in the cold weather.

We are fortunate in that we have a large yard and so they have no problem meeting my outdoor play quota (and lots more!) during nice weather in the spring, summer, and fall.... READ MORE

Comments
12
Filed under fun, kids, nature, outdoors, outside, play

Small Stuff, Big Difference

Small Successes vol. 59

Posted by Danielle Bean in Family on Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:01 AM

It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

To participate, just write up a list of 3 of your recent Small Successes and post it on your blog along with the Small Successes button (go here to get the code). You are not required to use the button, but please do link back to the main post... READ MORE

Comments
8
Filed under encouragement, links, moms, small successes

Just the Two of You

Coffee Talk: Marriage

Posted by Danielle Bean in Marriage on Thursday, March 18, 2010 7:00 AM

(Join each day’s Coffee Talk discussion: Mon: Parenting; Tues: Open Forum; Wed: NFP; Thu: Marriage; Fri: Education; Sat/Sun: Homemaking)

Struggling in your marriage? Have some relationship advice to share? Have a marriage success story to share? Have a man/woman question? This weekly thread is the place to do it.

Come on in and join the conversation!

Comments
29
Filed under advice, coffee talk, couples, discussion, relationships

Bright Evenings or Dark Mornings?

What does Daylight Saving Time mean to you?

Posted by Arwen Mosher in Just me on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 10:04 PM

I used to hate “spring forward.” Losing an entire hour of sleep was torturous!

(I don’t know why I didn’t just go to bed an hour earlier. Also, back then I had no idea what real sleep deprivation was.)

Once I became a stay-at-home mother, I developed more complex feelings about the time change. On the one hand, losing an hour of already-precious sleep time was no fun. On the other hand, waiting for... READ MORE

Comments
15
Filed under dark, daylight saving time, evening, experiences, light, parenthood, preferences, time, time change

Which Cleaning Method Works Best?

Posted by Rebecca Teti in Homemaking on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 4:00 PM

Hey, Bags Ladies!

Come back! I didn’t mean it like that!

I mean all you participants in the 40 Bags, 40 Days challenge.

I thought you might be interested in Ditching 800 Pounds of Clutter.

The author, a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, realized her home hadn’t been seriously de-cluttered in two years and wondered if such a thing could be accomplished without taking time off from work.

So she divided her home into zones and tested three popular approaches (one of which is like the 40 bags method, which is what made me think of it).

Read her results at the link.

Comments
1
Filed under 40 bags, clutter, housework, spring cleaning

Corned Beef

Is it what's for dinner?

Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 2:00 PM

Just a quick bloggy poll as you take a break from your St. Pat’s Celebrations or preparations: how many of you are making corned beef and cabbage for dinner? Is this your family tradition? Any other good Irish fare on the menu?

In our fair city, St. Patrick’s Day is a huge celebration. There is a parade downtown (though the weather right now isn’t looking too friendly). If it doesn’t rain, we’ll go... READ MORE

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22
Filed under celebration, feast, irish, tradition


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