Doesn't this little girl look sweet in her new 1st birthday dress?A Happy New Year to everyone!
I've been out of action with a bad virus in the early new year and then into serious planning for a MUCH BETTER start to our schooling year than the last one.
I've done much soul searching with this new year, as it is so natural to do at this time of the year. In fact I agree with G. K. Chesterton when he says:
“The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul”
My thoughts and resolutions don't feel so much like new year pie crust promises as some have been in the past, maybe because I had such a hard time with many different trials last year. The things needing to change in my life are glaringly obvious.
The big change for the year was going back to daily Mass for the whole family. I look at it as the cornerstone to all my other planned changes. This is where I will receive the grace to 'follow through.'
I have more definite thoughts on what I would like to blog about as well. Here is a list of them but only God knows if they all come to fruition.
1. Complete my 'Tuesdays with St Anne' (starting again next Tuesday) St Anne has been so incredibly good to me and to those I have remembered in prayer. I love her chaplet dearly and St Anne's oil is an important sacramental in our home. My one big intention I give to St Anne this year is my sister Carmen, that she may have a baby after 7 years of marriage and infertility. Any prayers you may offer for her are greatly appreciated.
2. I love G K Chesterton and his quotes, his profound and witty thoughts. He is greatly needed, more than ever in this world we live in. His writings are timeless. I'd love to blog in a regular way about them, a different topic each posting...
3. I'd definitely like to chat more about my great love of God's pharmacy on earth - herbs. I love them with a passion and raise my children with that love. I try to share it with as many people who may be interested or open. Herbs are powerful, they are effective. They are also gentle to our bodies. They are not expensive in these uncertain financial times and spiralling health costs and I reckon they are better than health insurance any day! I share and use them readily with those I love, my husband, my children. I want to share with others the herbs I particularly love. What their benefits are. How I use them in the practical sense.
4. I'd love to post more about the title of Our Lady to whom this blog is dedicated to - Our Lady of Guadalupe. Strangly enough when I am busting to share from my heart, all my thoughts, what I've read and learnt, I feel something welling up inside of me saying, "How can I do justice to this?" It sort of deflates me a bit. It is true, how CAN I do justice, but I see now, it is stopping me from talking about Our Lady of Guadalupe as I wish to. So I'm going to try to work past that mental block this year!
5. I've also been toying with the idea of getting that camera rolling on movie and taping some short tutorials on beading and quilting and putting up here in a post or two (though I am no expert on anything, it's just that it is thanks to one lady who spent a little time with me, who got me going with quilting - she is no expert either, just good old, woman to woman sharing!)
6. I have completely fallen in love with St Patrick's Breastplate. I've just learnt it off by heart, even though my brain felt like mush when I first started reciting it daily. But when you say it at least 8 times a day, you pick it up!! I'm teaching my children now. We will incorporate it into our schooling life. I hope to buy some good books on the prayer. It is a prayer for life for me - it has given me great peace as I pray it for my children. I can just see myself saying it 50 times a day as an old grandmother, with grandchildren to pray for as well! LOL~! I pray it for people in urgent need of prayer, it is a beautiful prayer for that. I want to share it with others. It is a prayer that grabbed at my heart and soul immediately.
So there are my blogging hopes for the year.
My blessed baby girl turned one on the 17th. Here she is, she's learnt how to funny noises if she blows on the palm of her hand against her face.
I love this below and had to photograph it. My precious girl clinging to my skirt, resting against my leg, it doesn't get more beautiful than that.
11 comments:
+JMJ+
Thanks for sharing your plans, Annie. I can't wait to read what you have to write--especially about herbs. =)
Annuncia is absolutely beautiful!
Thanks for sharing Anne, I think we are all reflecting at the moment. I am, particularly, God's mission for us as a family.
Leanne
Your daughter is adorable. My youngest, and only daughter, turned 2 in November. They learn so much so quickly it's just amazing watching them soak it all in like little sponges.
I love your comment on herbs, if used well they can do wonders. I have pretty nasty insomnia from time to time, I was prescribed sleeping pills that were expensive and knocked me out. I wasn't functional the next day after taking even half of one. I started taking Valerian and it was like night and day. I could sleep and when I woke I was rested and alert and not drugged up still. I still have bouts of insomnia, but I will never again take prescription sleep aids.
LOVE your blog, could you possibly post something on homeschooling and how you go about planning things. We're really considering taking our oldest out of public school after this year ends and homeschooling him and I just have no idea where to even start and I feel so unqualified to teach him myself. ANY information you could share on this subject would be very much appreciated.
I'll be praying for your sister as well. Children are such a blessing and having an Aunt that struggled with infertility I know it's a rough path to be on. May God bless her this year with a child.
Anne, I am so looking forward to your blog this year...what a treasure trove it will be! Happy birthday beautiful Annuncia!!!
I pray for Carmen twice a week, each time I pray through the Joyful Mysteries. May she be blessed with fruit of her womb this year and know the joy that Our Lady felt as a mother. Praying also for your own health to bounce back.
You are a wonderful woman and friend, Anne...thank you for being so open to sharing God's love on your blog.
CP thanks for dropping by, I hope I can post soon on my schooling plans but I'm no wizz unfortunately, Kim's blog in my sidebar, "Starry Sky Ranch" I highly recommend her blog for the best info on school planning and effective schooling, she's a gold mine!!
I also recommend you come over to the 4Real forum (check my side bar again) and have a good look around, join up and ask plenty of questions. My homeschooling life opened up beautifully after becoming a part of 4Real and I had been schooling for quite a few years then, I only wish they had been around when I started out 9 years ago...
Thanks for your prayers!!
Bless you Jenny!! I am indebted to you for your prayers, we just need to live closer, that would be SO GOOD!!!
If you'd like a (fairly) convenient way to dip into Chesterton, you might consider paying a weekly visit to The Hebdomadal Chesterton.
I would love to read about herbs and their medicinal uses. :)
Thanks cnb, I've linked it to my blog~! Much appreciation!
Hi Anne,
I always enjoy my visits to your wonderful blog. You have a beautiful family. You are so blessed to be a Mom!
I would LOVE to hear more about your devotion to Our Lady and the Rosary. I am also looking forward to hearing more about St. Anne and her chaplet.
I also would enjoy hearing more about your interest in herbs. Maybe you could share some recipies?
My heart goes out to your dear sister. I know exactly how she must feel. The cross of infertility is a heavy one to bear. What has been helping me are family and friends prayers, reading my Bible, and praying my rosary.
A friend said something to me recently that really helped me. She told me that maybe God wants me to be a spiritual mother and pray for others. She told me maybe my prayers will help others reach heaven someday. So when my heart and arms start aching for a child, I try to remember this. It really helps.
Also I was sent this in email. It really helps too. Maybe you could share it with your sister? Please tell her that a lady in south eastern mass in the USA is praying for her and her husband and all of their intentions in my daily rosary. Your sister can continue to count on my prayers! It really helps me to be able to pray for others!
Now here's the email I would like to share with you and your sister:
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I recently received this in email and wanted to share with all of you:
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taken from an email from:
http://www.whosaidyouare2old2conceive.com to order.
The Lord's Word on Healing Ministries
Many of you have prayed all year for God to take away the miscarriage and infertility that has troubled you and give you your own child. Low sperm
production problems has troubled you and stopped you from having your own child.
You have done all you know to do in the physical yet no answer. It looks like God has forsaken you. It looks like heaven has become brass in your case. In times like these what can I do? You may ask?
Today I want us to visit the bible and see someone who faced the problem of unanswered prayer and how she finally overcame it.
In the book of 1 Samue1- 1:11, I found an unanswered prayer. A woman named Hannah was offering this prayer. It becomes obvious upon close observation that
she had been praying this prayer for a long time. If you will notice, her prayer is not unscriptural It is simply unanswered. All she wants is a child. However, no child is born. Day and night she cried out to God to bless her with her own child.
The bible tells us that Hannah is a faithful child of the Most High God. She and her husband go to Shiloh and worship God each time there is a feast. During
those pilgrimages they always make the proper sacrifices and give generously to the work of the Lord in Shiloh.Since we know that Hannah is a faithful worshiper of Almighty God, it is only
reasonable to believe she is also a woman of prayer. Because of her great desire to have a son, we know she is constantly praying to conceive. No doubt she rises
early every morning with this special prayer request, "Oh, God, give me a Son!"
Like so many out there she keeps at it, Lord, take away this miscarriage, take away this infertility from my life! Visit my womb with a child. Surely she
continues to call out to the Lord Almighty every single day yet nothing seemed to be happening.
Everyone in the house knows her prayer by heart. I am sure she has asked all her family and neighbors again and again to agree with her that she will overcome infertility. All the angels of heaven know her desire. To put it bluntly, everyone in heaven and earth seems to have heard her prayer -- that is, everyone
except God. Here we see the most heart-breaking kind of prayer. It is an unanswered prayer!
The bible tells us that sorrow over her unanswered petition finally causes her
to stop eating, "In bitterness of soul Hannah wept much and prayed to the LORD".
At this point she makes a radical change in the way she prays. Driven by desperation, she makes one last, violent attempt to move God's hand. Thank God,
she has the sense to throw tradition to the wind and boldly take hold of that which is rightfully hers! Child of God, don't be turned off by the thought of taking violent action in prayer, for the violent leap of faith almost always
brings deliverance, especially when your heaven has turned to brass.We can see the desperation in Hannah's heart in the unusual way she forms her
prayer. Her approach to God totally disregards tradition. The words she speaks can be described only as spiritual violence. It did not matter to her any more
what anybody had to say.
Hannah's new way of praying swiftly moves God's mighty hand to her point of need. The Bible tells us that within hours of praying, she becomes pregnant.
Take a moment, and read her most unusual prayer.
Hannah's Prayer:
"she made a vow, saying, O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a
son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head,1 Samuel 1:11.
In her prayer she openly accuses God of forgetting her. She dares to bargain with Him for an answer. She talks to God the way a child will talk to a father.
She talks to God like one who has a relationship with Him. She knows God's Word does tell us He chooses to be reminded of his word. For the bible says in,
Isaiah 49:14-16.
"But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me. Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has
borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me".
I hope you caught the significance of what you just read? The Bible says your name is tattooed on the palm of God's hand. He has placed it there as a reminder
so that He won't forget you. Furthermore, He plainly asks you to remind Him of his word. God wants us to remind Him of our needs, our wants and our desires.
Hannah Confronts God
Be assured that Hannah's new-found way of prayer does not contradict God's Word. She simply expresses her true feelings about her situation and how she feels
forgotten by God. She literally storms heaven for an answer. She demands an
answer from her God, and she gets one.She Bargains With God
If you carefully study the next part of her prayer, you will see that she actually bargains with God for an answer.
Hannah's Prayer:
"she made a vow, saying, O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a
son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head,1 Samuel 1:11. She gives her unborn child as a
gift to God in faith.
1 Samuel 1:11
Please make a mental note of the extreme value of her gift. It is very precious, for it will be her first-born son. Don't let the thought of mixing your giving
and praying together disturb you. It is not unscriptural to strengthen prayer by
adding something to it. Many times I always encourage people to strengthen their prayers with their giving. Sow your seed into a good ground. If you are
believing God for a child sow into a ministry that God is using in the earth for such cause. Bless the orphans and give specifically by faith towards your hearts
desire. Hannah did it and it moved Gods hand.Fasting Added to Prayer
Once the Lord Jesus himself instructed his disciples to add something to one of
their unanswered prayers. If you remember, He told them to add fasting when prayer alone had failed. "And he said unto them, this kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting". Mark 9:29.
This is what Hannah did -she added giving to her prayers. You too can do the same. Note how swiftly God's hand moves when Hannah boldly adds giving to her
prayer! Notice carefully the decisive steps that bring her the answer.
* First, she makes a vow (a strong promise)
* Second, she asks that she be no longer forgotten
* Third, she adds sacrificial giving to her prayers
Let's look at her prayer one more time. I want you to have no doubt about what I am saying:
"she made a vow, saying, O LORD Almighty, if you will only look upon your servant's misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a
son, then I will give him to the LORD for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head,1 Samuel 1:11.
God remembers her, "Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the LORD and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah lay with Hannah his
wife, and the LORD remembered her, 1 Samuel 1:19.
There you have it in black and white! God states that Hannah's new line of prayer reminded Him of her need. I want you to notice further how quickly her
answer comes. As Soon as she returns home she conceives.
While Hannah's prayer may disturb some it is evident that it pleased God. Notice that in just a few days years of unanswered prayer have ended. The miracle does
not stop there.
The bible says that after Hannah gave Samuel to the Lord, s work the Lord visited Hannah in a second pregnancy "the LORD was gracious to Hannah; she
conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the LORD" I Samuel 2:21.
Chance! Luck! I Think Not!
Some will say that what you have just read is nothing more than a coincidence.
However this same kind of prayer is repeated throughout the pages of the bible. It has worked in my life again and again. I also know by faith that if you will do the same it will work for you too. If you feel the leastbit
uncomfortable with the things you have just read, I encourage you to remember the following words of God from the bible, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts, Isaiah 55:8-9.
Remember, God's ways and thoughts are different from yours. Isn't it amazing that Hannah, a simple housewife, knew more about moving God's hand than most people do theses days?
God is no respecter of person but will surely honour your faith if you give it to him, like Hannah did. Praise the Lord!
Prayer: I will sing to the Lord a new song. For the Lord is good. Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name. I proclaim his salvation day after day. I declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. My God is good and his mercy endures for ever. Great is my Lord and
most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods. I bless you Lord. I give you glory Lord.
The Lord God of Heaven you answered Hannah. You are my Father too. I know you will do the same in my life. I want to make a deal with you Lord. Hannah made a deal with you and you moved in her life. Lord I am making this vow before you today. (Make your vows only if you mean to keep it-now make that exchange with
God). Lord remember me like you did Hannah and open my womb now in Jesus name.
Thank you Lord for hearing me and doing it in my life too in Jesus name. From today I call myself a happy mother of children in Jesus name. Amen.
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I pray this email will help and encourage you all and be a blessing to you like it has been to me!
http://hailmaryfullofgrace-mt.blogspot.com/
May God Bless you all,
Maria :)
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