All Nature Glorifies God: Christmas 2020

 This is a picture we took at sunset on the first day of Christmas.

Seeds Going Out

Today my daughter took a picture of this dandelion pictured above. These plants grow as weeds in our region. Adults work hard to get them out of their yards. When a flower has gone to seed such as the one in the photograph, most adults quickly grab these heads before any of the seeds are blown away. One good burst of wind and the weeds can be sent throughout the yard and beyond depending on how strong the wind is blowing. Yet, kids love to pick these seed heads and blow them to the dismay of their parents. But today my daughter seemed to find a beauty in these dandelions and began taking pictures of them. We were on our way to meet Fr. Richard Okiria. He was coming to pick up a barrel packed with over 7,000 rosaries, almost all handmade, that will be sent via a cargo ship to Uganda. These rosaries will be given to Children's Rosary groups. When the ship leaves it will carry four barrels from the Children's Rosary with over 25,000 rosaries combined. As we walked back from meeting Fr. Richard, my daughter mentioned that the seeds that had been on the dandelion were now all gone. It seemed a beautiful way to imagine the rosaries that were now being driven away by Fr. Richard Okiria. We never know exactly how long it will take for them to get to their destination. With the pandemic there is even more uncertainty. Yet seeds were going out into to the world. Little hearts wait for them. These rosaries are for children. It gives one great hope to think of all Our Lady can do with so many rosaries and so many children, who by the grace of God, will use them to pray the Rosary. 

Photo above includes Fr. Richard Okiria in the center.

In God's Time

A few weeks ago my children helped me in planting some spring vegetables. We began with things such as sugar snap peas, beets, lettuce, carrots, and Swiss Chard. My husband built us two raised beds for some of the veggies. Seeds were planted in the beds. The weather was rainy and a bit chilly. We watched eagerly waiting for those first shoots but none seemed to come. My son would ask if anything was up and he seemed a bit disappointed that the answer seemed always "no." But I assured him they were coming. Then on Easter we went out to the garden. The sun was bright and the day warm. Peeking out of the black earth were little sprouts. First I noticed the beets with the characteristic red stems (see above), then even smaller were the first sprigs from the spring carrots. 

In the garden we have learned patience. We have seen that nature cannot be rushed. Everything happens in God's time. Not only were there new sprouts in the garden but one of the apple trees in the back of the yard had buds just ready to open. 

Purple flowers dotted the edge of the driveway. Indeed all spring was bursting forth. The timing seemed so perfect as we celebrated Easter Sunday this year at home. There was no going to Church Mass with the pandemic having closed all those in our state. Yet there was beauty all around us. Nature was showing her colors and bursting forth new life. Last night my husband read from the Bible. The last few lines stood out to me, "But those that trust in the Lord shall renew their strength as eagles grow new plumes: They shall run and not grow weary, they shall march and not grow faint" (Isaiah 40:31). While we still do not know how long we will be confined to our homes, we trust in the Lord. All happens in God's time and we should not grow weary. 

A Puddle

Occasionally on this blog I have shared a bit about the journey of an illness that pulled me from an active career as an Endodontist and bit by bit simplified my life. At the time it did not feel like my life was becoming simpler. Rather it felt like a terrible road that was leading away from my ability to live life. Through a genetic condition that was diagnosed during the pregnancy with our son, I was warned that my body might deteriorate. Indeed this is what happened. Not only would I lose the ability to do many of the things I wanted to do to care for myself such as even tying my shoes for myself. I could not even open a refrigerator to get something to eat. This was due to instability of the joints in my hands and other parts of my body. This instability caused injury and even joint dislocation. There were periods of time when I was in excruciating pain. It was through this process that Our Lord was breaking down deeply rooted ideas that I could do things on my own and did not need to rely on God. 

After reaching the worst of my physical decline, often I would think of myself as a puddle. I was brought low, so low in fact that nothing solid remained just a puddle of my former self. I thought of this puddle as the lowest point. One could get no lower at least in the way I thought of myself. 

Our Lord did not leave me alone...in fact I am certain I was never alone at any point in that spiraling decline. But once I hit rock bottom and I turned everything over to God hope flooded in. I would never get back my ability to do many things such as practice dentistry, drive or even open a refrigerator, yet the future seemed bright. In some ways my body began to stabilize and I again could walk more then across a room and even could walk to Mass each day. Yet as I would speak of those darkest moments I would often relate the feeling of being a puddle. The image of myself never seemed to leave me. The sadness was gone. It was rather just a way to describe a feeling I had. 

Today when after Mass I found myself needing to lay down I was reminded of the puddle. As I thought of the puddle Our Lord showed me the beauty of even a simple dirty puddle. The water that fell was clean but the world had in many ways sullied it. Yet even in this rather pitiful state when the sun peeked out from behind a cloud this dirty little puddle could reflect that which is above. It surely had no beauty of its own.  Of itself the puddle is to be avoided by most people of good sense as one wants to keep your shoes clean and dry. Yet God can use even this little puddle for His Glory. The puddle could do what many of the things in the yard could not do. It could reflect the beauty of the sky in such a way. 

I have always felt that Our Lord kept my limitations always present to keep me always aware at how dependent I am on Him. He had taught me in a very hard lesson, hard because of my stubbornness. He had taught me the beauty of the response of Peter to Our Lord's question: "You do not want to go away also, do you?" and Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go?"(John 6:68)  I had through many tries attempted many other paths. I found none satisfying save one that Our Lord was leading me on. So today in my bed I called to my daughter to go out and take some pictures of puddles. As a good daughter she indulged me. What she brought back was just what I suspected in my heart. There were small puddles that shown beautifully the sky with all its splendor. As I mentioned before, most people try to avoid puddles. This is of course save for the little child who loves nothing more then jumping in puddles. What can be more fun? Maybe this is why Our Lord has put me among so many children through the Children's Rosary. It is there that His little puddle can serve Him best.

Other Posts You May Enjoy:

A Day of Incredible Blessings at the Shrine of Divine Mercy

Nuestra Fe en Vivo interview

How to Plan a May Crowning

Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR NEW VIDEO:

A VIEW FROM HEAVEN 

UNA PERSPECTIVA DESDE EL CIELO

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org

Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org

Pour plus d'informations sur le Rosaire des Enfants, visitez notre site Web:www.rosairedesenfants.org

Under the Protection of Our Mother

This past week I was walking in the evening praying the Rosary. The sun had gone down and it was almost dark. There was quiet and some things were coming to mind. Areas where I wish I was better, places in my day to day life with my family where I fall short of all that I hoped I could be as a wife and mother.  It was at that moment that I found great gratitude for being under the protection of Our Blessed Mother. For I trust that with Rosary in hand in prayer She sees my situation and is protecting me and helping me.

The next thought that came to mind were some mother hens at my mom's farm.  This requires a little back story to give you the context of the image that came to mind.  My mom lives on a farm. She has four flocks of chickens. All these chickens she purchased either at a store or farmers co-op when they were only a few day old chicks. Chickens these days at least in the United States have been bred not to have the brooding trait, meaning they no longer know how to sit on eggs. They simply lay an egg and go about their business. My mom has had a few chickens over the years who still had the brooding instinct and sat on eggs but sadly they never hatched as there was no rooster near them.  But this summer there was a rooster and two hens began sitting on eggs.  This process is not quick... it takes weeks. The two hens sat patiently waiting...keeping their eggs warm with wings spread wide to cover them. My daughter was at her grandmother's farms helping when something wonderful happened. On the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus a chick emerged. It was black with a yellow dot. My mom had not seen the chick. It was my daughter, Alina, who discover the chick as the mother hen had the chick hidden under her wing. 

Normally it is very challenging to raise baby chicks, one must keep the temperature over 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet the mother hen was doing everything. My mom put her hand under the hen and she said it was very hot. My mom and Alina quickly went to the store to get the special chick food. But when they first put it out the mother hen pushed it away. She had chewed something up herself and was giving it to the chick. Again the mother hen knew best. She had it covered. Several other chicks hatched. All were tucked safely under their mother's wing obscured from site.  Alina was lucky to catch some moments when the chick emerged to snap a few pictures. 

So it was this image of the mother hen with her little chick under her wing that came to mind as I was praying. I felt in prayer Our Blessed Mother was reminding me of the mother hen. She was showing me through nature how this weak little chick is protected in such a tender way by its mother. 
How much more, I thought, must we be protected under Our Blessed Mother's mantle.  

Other Posts You May Enjoy:
How to Start a Children's Rosary
Where is Your Bible
Resources to Help Begin a Group

Don't forget to unify prayers with the children during their meetings. A schedule of meetings is present on our website. By clicking "Join in Prayer" you can add your gold flashing light to our View from Heaven map.

For more information about the Children's Rosary visit our website: www.childrensrosary.org
Visite nuestro sitio web en español para obtener más información: www.rosariodeninos.org