Monday, March 26, 2012

New in Store- Rosary Bracelets and Beaded Bookmarks

Check out what's new at Clay Rosaries...

Divine Mercy Chaplet Bracelet- Perfect for praying the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on the go! Also makes a great gift for Divine Mercy Sunday (because I know you were wondering what to get yourself ;) http://www.clayrosaries.com/divine-mercy-rosary-bracelet.html




The Mother's Love Bracelet you already knew about... http://www.clayrosaries.com/mothers-love-rosary-bracelet.html
First Communion Rosary Bracelet- all these Rosary Bracelets can be prayed the same way as a rosary which makes them very cool gifts.  http://www.clayrosaries.com/first-communion-rosary-bracelet.html
























Lastly, I have added beaded bookmarks for First Communicants. These are new for me. I think they are a great gift option for boys making their First Communions because how many bracelets and necklaces can a little boy want??  They come with the bead meaning sheet too.  http://www.clayrosaries.com/first-communion-bookmarks.html

Here a link to all my new things: http://www.clayrosaries.com/rosary-bracelets--bookmarks.html

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Finding the Courage to Use the Teachable Moment



When my oldest was two, we went to a church function where there was another little girl the same age as my son who looked up at a big crucifix and said, "Jesus" as she pointed at it. It was at that moment, it dawned on me that I needed to stop being afraid to talk about my faith to my child because he is old enough.   My son did not know that there was Jesus on that cross, yet he could talk very well for his age and could count to 20 and identify 7 Thomas trains.  For some reason, I gave myself a free pass to skip over the topic of religion because there is no way a kid as young as that could understand! How little did I know.

I've been reading a very good book that was recommended to me from some people who read my blog. It's called A Mother's Touch, by Elise Arndt. In it, Elise talks about how it can be embarrassing to talk about your faith in front of your children at first.  She says most adults feel very inhibited when it comes to sharing their faith in with children in an informal setting and that it's normal to feel awkward at first.  "It takes practice and a good deal of persistence to be able to express what I really feel about my relationship to Jesus.  Many times I felt foolish and would have been embarrassed if I thought anyone but my children was listening to me."  (A Mother's Touch, by Elise Arndt). 

If only I had read that three years ago when I first tried to get out a few feeble words about God to my two year old son!   After all, I taught Sunday School to preschoolers for three years while I was in college and never once felt awkward.   Why was it so hard to get out the words, "Jesus loves you" while my son sat on my lap?  I felt like I must have some hidden psychological issues if I can't talk to my two year old about God without having a book in front of me to read it from. 


Little by little, I found the courage to talk about God and what I discovered was that the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the more natural it flows around daily life.  There are many times it still feels awkward.  It's easier too, when I'm not the one to initiate the conversation.  My son often asks questions about God and I so delight in sharing what I have come to know.    But there are many times when I could and should use everyday life to teach spiritual truths.  Elise calls this "investing in your children," when you have to stop what you are doing, and take time out to teach in the moment.  Teachers call it the "teachable moment"- when your student is prepped and ready for the lesson.  Jesus did it to in the form of parables and used common, everyday examples to teach eternal truths.  Like while weeding the soil, to talk about the weeds of sin (her example) or while going for a walk, to talk about the beauty of God's creation in everything around us.   Elise specifically talks about the time when she watched how baby chicks drink.  When the put their heads up to the sky, it's like their thanking God for the drink.  There are so many times I could talk about spiritual things, but it will take some discipline on my part to stop what I am doing.  I do get engrossed in my work and everything else that needs to be done.

I am confident that in time, I will find more and more courage to use the moment to give a spiritual lesson or two.  Although I know that it takes just as much self control to stop and smell the flowers.  Grace happens in the moment. Not in the past or future, but in the present. (something I need to remember!)

Mr. Fixit

As my husband hands Jude a screw driver, he says, "Go fix something."

I see Jude walk into the kitchen and go right to his high chair. He stoops over to see the place that needs fixing and gets right to it.  It cracked me up that a 16 month old knew what to do with a screw driver without even giving it a second thought.

This boy loves his tools! Everyday he finds Liam's old toy tool box and whines for someone to open it up for him. There he will sit and play for quite some time- engrossed in the world of tools. I hope he becomes a Mr. Fixit someday. I could use another one of those around the house!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Coming soon- A Mother's Love Rosary Bracelet with Prayer

I am very excited to announce this... (better photos coming soon too)


My first ever rosary bracelet and my first ever composed prayer!  I put this bracelet together at the request of a mother's love chaplet.  I can vouch that the rosary bracelet is just as good if not more practical. The whole rosary was prayed in the parking lot on this handy dandy bracelet on St. Patrick's day thanks to a million cars trying to get out at once.

With the beads and some inspiration from other mother prayers I found,  I composed a mother's love prayer that includes all the beads of the bracelet.

Coming to my store soon along with a Divine Mercy rosary bracelet too.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Good Ole, USDA

Hamburger sprayed with ammonia?? YUM. Thank goodness the USDA controls our quality of food here in America.  Now I don't have ever question another thing in the supermarket.

http://news.yahoo.com/pink-slime-choice-schools-230530972--abc-news.html

I also saw this in action on Food Inc.  So disgusting.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Peace Not As the World Gives

These words struck me this morning as odd.  It made me think about how much I strive for peace during the week amongst the chaos of a 5, 3 and 1 year old while making all our food by hand, while trying to keep a house somewhat clean, and a run a small business.  I grasp at every chance of peace and quiet I can get.   However, I don't think that my grabbing is the kind of peace Jesus is talking about. 

"The peace that the world cannot give" was won by the price of suffering and death on a cross.   When I think of peace, I don't think of bloodshed.  But I should.  There is no peace without going first through the cross, and yet, I continually try to find my easy way out for a moment of peace and quiet, which is nothing more than that- momentary worldly peace.  What am I really doing to work toward true peace?

It seems my lent was a bit on the easy breezy side and I'm finding God calling me to step it up a bit.  After all, eternal life wasn't won over on the lazy boy watching Jane Austin.   "Live a life in a manner worth the call you have received".  Sometimes you'd think I thought eternal life was somehow owed to me and all I need to do is sit back and wait for it to happen.   Entitled is not a word I use to describe myself, but yet when I think of how many sacrifices I have made to show my gratitude for the Sacrifice that was made for me, it's starting to look like that ugly word.

I would like my life to look a little more like self forgetfulness vs. self righteousness, sacrifice vs. self satisfaction, receiving peace vs. grabbing.   I thank God for all the wonderful people he has put in my life to show me these examples of how to live a life worthy of the call and I pray I can spend the rest of the Lenten season working toward receiving the peace that only God can give.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Spilled Beads

You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now that if toddler is quietly playing in the next room, trouble is ensuing.  Maybe it's the moment of stillness that I want to relish that makes me think I can ignore the ominous clouds that are about to spoil my peace.  This time, no moment of peace was worth the trouble of three boxes of neatly organized beads that were dumped on my basement floor by this boy. 

But you should have seen the look on his face when he saw me. He knew it was bad and he was going to going to savor every last minute of trouble as he could. He immediately starts squealing in joy and kicking around beads on all fours.

Then he starts to feel remorseful and puts them back into the boxes. What a great helper..NOT! He even puts the beads in the nearby drawers and other random boxes. Then for his finale, he swims through the beads because one can never get enough coverage just sitting on top of them. You really need to lay down and roll around for maximum mess.

I've come to the conclusion that when it comes to messes, this guy is a profession. I had to take a picture in admiration of his stunning talent. Then he went down for a nap- thank you, Jesus.