Pray for us.

As the news of the abuse scandals cover our news and social media and numbers grow worse day after day, it can be easy for us all to despair. 

If you ask me how I feel about these revelations that are finally coming to light, I ask you in return, "What are you truly asking me?" 

Are you asking me how I feel about unspeakable, horrendous abuse and corruption? 

Or are you asking me how I feel about the Catholic Church?  

I hope you would know my answer to the first question. 

And, I hope you would know my answer to the second as well. If you do not, here is my answer:

It is truly unsettling that such evil existed, and was tolerated, for so long in a place that should be safe in this world. 

In turn, it is equally unsettling that the revelation of this evil now potentially has the power to drive a deeper wedge into Christ's Christian Church on earth, and so Satan's work has the opportunity to continue in a different way.

I don't know if you realize this, but if you are Christian, we are on the same team.

If a member of your team discovers a cancer has been overtaking his or her own body, through no fault of their own, how do you respond?

With condemnation?

Or do you show compassion and pray for them to aid in their healing?

As Catholics and Christians, we should be grateful that this evil has been brought to light. It can only be eradicated in the light. The Catholic Church on earth will become smaller, but it will become brighter. And I will still be here, either in the Church Militant, the Church Penitent, or the Church Triumphant, when it does. 

Please keep our priests in your prayers. The thousands of good men who have sacrificed and devoted their lives to honestly and wholeheartedly shepherd Christ's Church are now weighted down by the burden of horrible sins committed by others. These holy men don't deserve your condemnation, suspicion or criticism. They urgently need your prayers.

Likewise, please keep your Catholic brothers and sisters in your prayers. We are hurting so much. But for those of us who are Catholic for the reasons above, we love the Catholic Church. Although many may choose to leave, those of us whose faith is in Jesus and the Sacraments, we are not looking for a place to escape. We know we are Catholic at this time and placed in this generation so that we can help the Church we love with all our hearts to shine brighter after this time of painful purification.

And it will.

 I ask you to help in our healing.

For my Catholic friends, I urge you not to despair. 

To quote a great priest who now enjoys eternal life, "The choice is yours. Choose well."

-Fr. Todd Reitmeyer

"Clean Heart" by Matt Maher

Woke up this morning
The whole world was yelling
I wish I was dreaming
Of all that we've been through
My soul has been searching
For some deeper meaning
I know there's a kindness
That leads me to the truth

When everybody's looking for another fight
When trouble's on the rise, no end in sight
Oh Savior, won't You come and make the wrong things right
Let me be the place You start
Give me a clean heart

What is forgiveness if it isn’t given
We measure our mercy
When mercy is a flood
Give us a vision
Your eyes of compassion
In all this division
May we be known by our love

Back to School

We have a Freshman this year! It's taken me all summer to come to grips with that fact, and I'm not totally sure I've accepted it yet. :)

Nathan is in 7th grade. He leaves early every morning for cross country practice this time of year. 

Teresa is in 5th grade and excited to have Mr. Rozell as her teacher this year.

Rachel is in 1st grade and her teacher is Mrs. Hughes. She learned to ride a two-wheel bike just a few days before school started and a couple of her kittens will even willingly ride in her basket!

The girls made a Back-to-School cake to celebrate the occasion.

And then they were off!

Summer

So long, summer!

It was a good one . . . one of the best, I would say, even though I spent it mostly in the car! 

The NW Midgets came in 2nd in the End of Season Tournament in a thriller of a Championship game. It was a good summer for these boys, as they were undefeated in their regular season.

Then came wheat harvest!

One night in August, I was treated to a concert by my youngest three. They spent the day making their CD covers and everything that goes with a concert.

Landen played in his first varsity football game the Friday before school started. 

The next day, we traveled to Minnesota to spend time with cousins and go to their church's planned Michael W. Smith Concert. Rain threatened the event all day and came within a mile or two, but God answered many prayers and it held off until after the concert. 

Jacob Daniel (above) was another singer we were looking forward to see that day. He is a friend of our friends in Sioux Falls and a youth pastor at his church. He has recorded a couple of CD's, and you can find his music on Amazon, too. :)

 Right before the concert, my sister-in-law Angela sent me these photos from backstage. 

Teresa was very excited to get to meet Michael W. Smith and get his autograph.

And with that, we left reminded that we have God to help us fight our battles as we prepared to enter another school year!

I can't even . . . .

As I was walking up to our parish hall last Sunday morning, our church secretary Jeanne stopped me at the sidewalk and warned me that the hall had a strange smell. They were airing it out, but they weren't sure what it was. I continued into the hall and kitchen and smelled it, too. It smelled like a dead mouse, but I did a quick look around and didn't see anything.

(You already know this isn't going to end well. . . .)

At the end of mass this morning, Father announced the KC Pancake Breakfast following mass to raise money for a defibrillator. He commented that we would then be ready for a heart attack, and ended with the best place to die would probably be church if it's your time to go. We all laughed.

(Can you guess where this is going? No you can't.)

I had forgotten all about the smell, and didn't notice anything this morning. We all enjoyed our pancake breakfast and I started helping the guys wipe down tables afterward. (They were all doing so well with their hands in dishwater, I didn't want to disturb them!) As the people dispersed and I wiped down my last table,  I remembered that I had wanted to check on some books in the center classroom for the upcoming school year. Just as I got close to the room, my boys and their friend Jude rushed out of the room to tell me they had found a dead . . . SNAKE in the classroom! At first I thought they were joking, and when they assured me they weren't, I didn't outwardly scream, but I sure did inwardly! 

My eyes must have shown my panic, as Landen calmly and quietly followed up with, "Mom, don't make a scene." OK, so it's sad that my 14 year old had to calm his mother down, but if you know me, and he certainly does, you know I am TERRIFIED of garter snakes--alive OR dead.

Landen shared my relief that they were the first ones in the room. He told me, "I told Jude that if you would have seen it first, we would have needed that defibrillator!" 

Yes, yes, very probably true.

While I stayed a safe distance away, from the dead snake that wasn't going anywhere since it, too, obviously thought church was a great place to die, the boys informed their dads who promptly disposed of the intruder. From the cloud of Glade sprayed in the room and the boys' comments, it was obvious that it was smelling pretty bad by this morning. 

After the excitement had passed, Landen returned to my side. "You know," he said, "the funny thing about you is I could have told you we found a dead body and you would have just said, 'OK, I'll call someone and they will take care of it.' We tell you we found a dead snake and you freak out." 

Ah . . . he knows his mother so well.

Microwave Caramel Corn

Happy Belated 4th of July and all of that fun stuff!

We split our holiday into two celebrations--Faulkton's Wild West Days the weekend before and Eureka on the 4th. It had been several years since we had been in Eureka for the 4th of July. Even though we played at Grandpa and Grandma's, some went golfing and some went swimming, the fireworks were what everyone was waiting for all day. Eureka's show never disappoints!

As we have been traveling through our summer, it has brought opportunities to make treats to share. Instead of trying new things, I have found myself making more oldie-but-goodie recipes. Teresa and I made up a couple of batches of this yummy caramel corn this morning to share with the construction crew on the roof. It is so simple and the result is delicious, not-too-sticky caramel corn.

Microwave Caramel Corn

First, pop 14-16 cups of popcorn. For our air popper, that is one batch. Pour the popped popcorn in a brown paper grocery bag.

For the caramel, you will need--1 stick of butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup corn syrup, and 1/2 tsp salt. Melt all of these together in a saucepan (stirring constantly) and bring to a boil. Stir constantly and boil for 2 minutes.

Add 1/4 tsp baking soda to the caramel.

Pour this over the popcorn.

Roll up the top of the bag to close it and shake it a little. Microwave the bag for 90 seconds on high; take it out and shake it well. Microwave for 1 more minute. Shake again. 

Then pour onto cookie sheets to cool. 

Enjoy!!