Supposedly one thing that sets humans apart from animals is humans have religion, and animals do not.
Whoever came up with that idea, has not met my cat.
Every night, when we gather for the rosary, the cat calmly enters the room, finds a spot in the ring of people praying, and joins us. After the final ".. through the Mercy of God, rest in peace" she exits, as silently as she entered.
When I try to read the newspaper, she sits on it, obviously pointing out SHE is much more important than the newspaper and I ought to be attending to HER.
But with the rosary, she does not demand front and center. She just joins us, quietly, from the Sign of the Cross to the last Amen.
Animals know Who God is.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Faith, Hope, Love, and Courage
"Discouragement is a tool of the devil" said Thomas Aquinas.
I think of that often. We often see big evils, but one of the most damaging attacks most of us get is the "soul eating bacteria" of discouragement. Satan always says "no, you can't. Don't bother"
I think that's one think I loved in the movie "The Passion". The 'attack' on Jesus in the Garden was one of discouragement. No wonder He needed his friends to be awake, to support him.
There is a young woman in my life right now, whom I will call "Mary". She is pregnant, and without a place to stay. She has family members who want her to abort. She has voices all around her, saying she cannot raise a child, it will not be right for the child, the child will suffer, she might as well abort, it would be kinder, because she CAN'T do this, she's messed up before, so she might as well give up now.
This young woman is facing the tearing of the discouraging chorus with great courage. She is determined to make a change, to do this right. But it is wearying her. I can see her near falling... though each time she's gotten up and continued to put one foot in front of the other.
Please pray for her. The attacks keep coming, from so many angles. We need to join together to support, and encourage, so she may have Grace and Courage.
Christ makes all things New. I know she CAN do this. I'm edified by her example right now. Please pray for her, and may she be so surrounded by God's Grace that the darts of the evil one, the darts of discouragement and even despair, will not be able to penetrate.
And remember to be there for others, when they need you, in prayer, in service, in love.
I think of that often. We often see big evils, but one of the most damaging attacks most of us get is the "soul eating bacteria" of discouragement. Satan always says "no, you can't. Don't bother"
I think that's one think I loved in the movie "The Passion". The 'attack' on Jesus in the Garden was one of discouragement. No wonder He needed his friends to be awake, to support him.
There is a young woman in my life right now, whom I will call "Mary". She is pregnant, and without a place to stay. She has family members who want her to abort. She has voices all around her, saying she cannot raise a child, it will not be right for the child, the child will suffer, she might as well abort, it would be kinder, because she CAN'T do this, she's messed up before, so she might as well give up now.
This young woman is facing the tearing of the discouraging chorus with great courage. She is determined to make a change, to do this right. But it is wearying her. I can see her near falling... though each time she's gotten up and continued to put one foot in front of the other.
Please pray for her. The attacks keep coming, from so many angles. We need to join together to support, and encourage, so she may have Grace and Courage.
Christ makes all things New. I know she CAN do this. I'm edified by her example right now. Please pray for her, and may she be so surrounded by God's Grace that the darts of the evil one, the darts of discouragement and even despair, will not be able to penetrate.
And remember to be there for others, when they need you, in prayer, in service, in love.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Things I've Learned Homeschooling- Part Five
Copywork.
My children are aweful spellers. ;) So am I! It took me a long time to find out the simple solution (other than making sure I have a good, updated "Spell Check" program on the computer).
Just like in the olden days, have them COPY.
I spent lotsa money on spelling programs. Lists? My kids would memorize the lists, get them all right on the test, and then proceed to misspell every other word they wrote in a letter, composition, or story.
I tried unspelling programs... write words with Chalk on the sidewalk. Use shaving cream on the bathroom walls. Spell in Jello.
It was a lot of fun. Did it help them to learn to spell? Perhaps they'd spell every word wrong, instead of every other word, if I hadn't used the jello.
Scrapping the many pricey Language ARTS program (what's more artistic than jello?), I decided to have my little guy copy songs from the Hymnal.
Why the Hymnal? Well, we get a Religion lesson (as long as we avoid Weston Priory), a Spelling lesson, a Handwriting lesson, and an English lesson all in one. And those words in the Hymnals are broken into Syllables. Had to help.
The little guy wrote the words to Oh Holy Night from Lent until Three Kings Day. Just copied verse one, each day. Not a huge bunch of copying... just the same stuff, every day.
He said to me "I finally know how to spell NIGHT! I remember!" and then he launched off into all the other words that were similar. Wow... mission accomplished! And it just took one borrowed Hymnal from Church (yes, I got permission).
There are drawbacks. I asked him to spell 'Holy' and he said "H, O, Dash, L, Y"
He's been doing We Three Kings this week, and next week we move to All Things Bright and Beautiful
My children are aweful spellers. ;) So am I! It took me a long time to find out the simple solution (other than making sure I have a good, updated "Spell Check" program on the computer).
Just like in the olden days, have them COPY.
I spent lotsa money on spelling programs. Lists? My kids would memorize the lists, get them all right on the test, and then proceed to misspell every other word they wrote in a letter, composition, or story.
I tried unspelling programs... write words with Chalk on the sidewalk. Use shaving cream on the bathroom walls. Spell in Jello.
It was a lot of fun. Did it help them to learn to spell? Perhaps they'd spell every word wrong, instead of every other word, if I hadn't used the jello.
Scrapping the many pricey Language ARTS program (what's more artistic than jello?), I decided to have my little guy copy songs from the Hymnal.
Why the Hymnal? Well, we get a Religion lesson (as long as we avoid Weston Priory), a Spelling lesson, a Handwriting lesson, and an English lesson all in one. And those words in the Hymnals are broken into Syllables. Had to help.
The little guy wrote the words to Oh Holy Night from Lent until Three Kings Day. Just copied verse one, each day. Not a huge bunch of copying... just the same stuff, every day.
He said to me "I finally know how to spell NIGHT! I remember!" and then he launched off into all the other words that were similar. Wow... mission accomplished! And it just took one borrowed Hymnal from Church (yes, I got permission).
There are drawbacks. I asked him to spell 'Holy' and he said "H, O, Dash, L, Y"
He's been doing We Three Kings this week, and next week we move to All Things Bright and Beautiful
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