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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
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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 …
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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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Good for You!

Small Successes vol. 19

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 here. Then you can add your blog here using the Mr. Linky form (please link to the individual blog post, not the home page of your blog).

If you don’t have a blog, please share your Small Successes in the comments.

To get us started, here are my small successes for this week:

1. Yesterday, I promised God that if he made it rain enough to cancel baseball, I would clean out my kitchen cabinets. It worked! He delivered the downpours and I kept my side of the bargain. Clean cabinets! Even Dan was impressed.

2. Someone has been having “accidents.” And someone has uncomplainingly added an extra load of laundry to her daily duties.

3. I emptied my inbox. Emptied it! It’s full again, of course, but that was a glorious 20 minutes.

Now it’s your turn. Mr. Linky has been temperamental lately, but I hope he will cooperate with us today. I just love reading everyone’s entries—please share all the small ways you’ve succeeded this week.


Comments

Page 1 of 1 pages

 

Danielle, I’m in awe of your successes.  I don’t think there’s anything small about them!!!  (OK, to be truthful, cleaning out the kitchen cupboards just plain scares me.  And the empty inbox? Wow.  WOW!)

 

Small Successes is a lovely idea. Thank you for hosting it. I’m glad to have found your blog. Your successes are amazing - cleaning up of three different kinds - well done!.

 

1. Cleaned under and behind the refrigerator. Found baby’s missing bracelet!

2. Deleted thousands of old emails.

3. Got caught up by writing about a couple of events in my journal.

 

1. Cleaned the pantry cabinets and now I know what I am dealing with when it comes to preparing meals and not having to do useless grocery shopping.

2. Cleaned the boys room and found a place for everything/everything in its place so now the boys can do the upkeep.

3. Filed monthly expense report for reimbursement for my highspeed internet as my employer reimburses that as I work from home.

 

I really love the small successes.  Sometimes it motivates me to do something, other times it helps me feel not so alone, and sometimes it makes me realize that I do have productivity even on days I don’t feel it.
1.  I pulled off a Memorial Day BBQ at my house.  Stressful getting ready for it, but I enlisted the help of my mom with my 6 month old and….it worked!
2.  All the toys are picked up all over!  OK, kind of goes with having the BBQ, but really they are all pretty much where they need to be smile
3.  Got everyone dressed and breakfast and it is only 10am.  Sounds easy to many, but we have been lagging so….this is nice.

 

I’ve read these before but have never been able to remember any of my small successes. But today I have a few to share.

1. Have been able to stick with Light Weigh for 8 weeks now. Lost almost 20 pounds, and gained a deeper spiritual life. God is good!

2. Finally faced my fear of failure and meltdowns and took my kids ages 5, 3, & 2 to the “Homeschool Wednesday” at our parish which involves noon Mass (during lunch time), a picnic lunch and play afterward (during nap time)...It turned out fine. God is SO good!

3. My husband and I worked on our 2009 budget this week…and finished it (better late than never). Any given year, I’d rather set my eyebrows ablaze than do the budget. God is GREAT!

 

1. FINALLY ironed my husbands work shirts and the stuff that’s been sitting in the ironing basket for way too long.
2. Caught the two toddlers streaking before either of them left a deposit on the floor for me (they got bored in the playroom while I was ironing).
3. Actually read a book simply for the joy of reading. (I miss time for doing more of that)

 

1.  I have followed through with my commitment to decide every evening whether clothing goes in the laundry basket or back in the closet.  For the first time in years, there is no pile on the floor!
2.  I cooked a new recipe and had dinner ready when DH got home.
3. We planted parsley in our empty pot…can’t wait to have fresh parsley!

 

Emptying the inbox…completely empty only happens here like once a year! I’m impressed!

 

My inbox was last emptied sometime in 1997! I’m in awe…

 

AWESOME job Danielle! Incredible on #1, and love your whole list.

Loved reading everyone else’s!!!!!!

Blessed weekend to all!

 

1. Done better with my eating this week.
2.  Kept up my marriage promise. 
3.  Kept all three of my appointments yesterday.

 

I love this forum!  I also appreciate a good rainy day to get stuff done because I am an outdoor girl and feel compelled to be outside if it is nice!


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