Letting Ourselves Be Helped.....

We are to look to others for help...to ask when we are in need. Right?? On our way home from Drivers Ed last night, Laura (my lovely, 16 year old) and I had a conversation about several things.  Yes, we talked about her first driving experience with her instructor on the East Longmeadow rotary. Then I changed the subject.  Lately, I keep asking myself how I can stop being selfish.  How can I expect my children to be unselfish, if I am more selfish than they are?!

So, I ask Laura how it is that she's able to put the needs of others ahead of her own.  She's puzzled by my question, and wants to know why I'm asking.  I tell her that lately I've really been struggling.  I proceed in saying to her, "Aren't there times that you want other people to put you ahead of them....just once?!"  Laura admits that, yes, there are times that she thinks that, but then realizes that the devil is the one who wants her to think that way.  I know that she is right, and why is it that I'm hearing my own words smack me right in the face?!  Because, I too, need to be reminded that the evil one is the one who wants to bring me down...the one who wants me to lose Hope....the one who wants me to stay as far away from God as possible.  At this time, he's winning.  What to do?!

Laura tells me that when she recognizes that the devil is affecting her mood, that she says a Hail Mary, and when she says another one, she starts to feel much better.  Yes, there are times in my life when I remember to invoke Our Lady's, my Guardian Angel, or my Patron Saint's help.  Why has this slipped so easily from my memory?

Laura talked about many of the special qualities of St. Therese, her Confirmation name.  Then she asks me if I have a Patron Saint.  (In high school, I dated a young Catholic gentleman....I was not a Catholic at that time, that happened several years later...another story..., and we use to go to Mass every Saturday evening prior to going out for the evening.  The Church is named St. Anthony's, and was located in the town of Saint Anthony, Indiana.) My immediate response is St. Anthony.  Then she asks me about my 'Confirmation Saint', and wonders if I ever invoke St. Mildred for help.  I told her that I really don't know anything at all about St. Mildred.  She tells me I need to find out about her.  Duh!

After we arrived home, I went right on the Internet and found this lovely information:

St. Mildred
(Died AD 732)Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet
Died: 13th July AD 732 at Minster-in-Thanet, Kent

St. Mildred was the daughter of King Merewald of Magonset and his wife, St. Ermenburga (alias Aebbe of Minster-in-Thanet); and therefore sister of SS. Milburga and Milgitha. At an early age, her mother sent her to be educated at Chelles in France, where many English ladies were trained to a saintly life.

A young nobleman, related to the Abbess of Chelles, entreated her to arrange that he might marry this English princess. The abbess tried to persuade her, but Mildred said her mother had sent her there to be taught, not to be married, and all the abbess's advice, threats and blows failed to persuade her to accept the alliance offered to her. At last the abbess shut her up in an oven in which she had made a great fire; but after three hours, when she expected to find not only her flesh but her very bones burnt to ashes, the young saint came out unhurt and radiant with joy and beauty. The faithful, hearing of the miracle, venerated Mildred as a saint; but the abbess, more infuriated than ever, threw her on the ground, beat, kicked and scratched her and tore out a handful of her hair. Mildred found means to send her mother a letter, enclosing some of her hair, torn from her head by the violence of the abbess; and Queen Ermenburga soon sent ships to fetch her daughter. The abbess, fearing that her evil deeds should be made known, would, on no account, give permission for her departure. Mildred, however, fled by night; but, having in her haste forgotten some ecclesiastical vestments and a nail of the cross of Christ which she valued extremely, she managed to return for them and brought them safely away. Upon her arrival back in England, she landed at Ebbsfleet where she found a great square stone, miraculously prepared for her to step on from the ship. The stone received, and retained, the mark of her foot and was afterwards removed to the Abbey of Minster-in-Thanet and kept there in memory of her. Many diseases are said to have been cured for centuries after, by water containing a little dust from this stone. It was often removed from its first situation, until an oratory was built for it.
 
With her mother's consent, Mildred joined her at her foundation of Minster-in-Thanet. She was given the veil by Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the same time as seventy other nuns. On St. Ermenburga's death, Mildred succeeded her as Abbess of the community, to whom she set a holy example and by whom she was much beloved. An old story is recorded that one night, while she was praying in the church of her monastery, the devil blew out her candle, but an angel drove him away and relighted it for her.
 
Mildred died of a lingering and painful complaint, around AD 732. She was succeeded by St. Edburga of Minster-in-Thanet. During the latter's rule, it apparently happened that the bell-ringer fell asleep before the altar. The departed Mildred awoke him with a box on the ear, exclaiming, "This is the oratory, not the dormitory!"

She continued to be an extremely popular saint, eclipsing the fame of St. Augustine, in the immediate neighbourhood of her monastery, where the place that used to be proudly pointed out as that of his landing came to be better known as "St Mildred's Rock." In 1033, St. Mildred was translated to St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury and minor relics also passed from here to Deventer in Holland where she was honoured on 17th July; though her feast, in England, is three days earlier. There was, however, a rival set of relics which were said to have been hidden at Lyming, with those of her sister, Milgitha, during the Viking devastation. These were given to the Religious Hospital of St. Gregory in Canterbury, by Archbishop Lanfranc in 1085. Mildred is represented in art holding a church and accompanied by three geese, as she was protector against damage by such wild birds.

Edited from Agnes Dunbar's "A Dictionary of Saintly Women" (1904).
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Several years back, a friend advised me to look into the background of my Confirmation Saint.  She told me that when she had researched her saint's name, that there were many similarities about her life that were parallel to the saint's.

Laura said it best, "Hey, Mom....it looks like you have a really great saint!"  I wholeheartedly agree!

Joy of the Resurrection

Today, on this Easter Monday, we are reminded that our true joy should have its origin in Christ.  By the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ we have been saved from sin, from the power of the devil, and from eternal death. The gates of heaven we re-opened on that First Resurrection! Thanks be to God!

Are any of us deserving of these Gifts? No! But, God loves us so very much that He gives them to us freely.  In all of these reminders at this time of year, where is my joy?? I've come to the realization that I'm just not looking hard enough.  God calls me to be a wife, and mother.  We have six children living at home, and we homeschool as well.  A Mother's job is never done....I don't know of too many Mom's that would disagree with that statement.  If my life is truly what God is calling me to, then why am I not spending more of my time focusing/looking for the joys that are right in front of my eyes?!

The autistic child, whom you've struggled with for several days trying to get him to understand that there are some verbs that just cannot stand alone in a sentence, and need help....and.....POOF!.....the light comes on.  To the daughter that thoroughly enjoys the chocolate mousse that is only made once a year, asking at 9:30 at night for "just a little more, please."  How can I say no to that!

Then there is my eight year old, Michael, who is just as sweet as he can be!  With the coughs still lingering around the house, I look at him in wonder as I see that he slipped off to sleep during the Rosary.  Peaceful looking angel!  My almost twenty month old, shows me the most frequently of God's joy and precious gifts.  These gifts come from an unsuspecting smile, the mimicking of the word "ouch" because he heard me say it when I get up to leave the room....he follows behind me saying the word, I turn and say "ouch" back...he giggles, and smiles HUGE, follows me....repeat....repeat....repeat.  Warms my heart!  Matthew loves flowers.  At Mass on Sunday morning, he was in awe of all the beautiful flowers around the altar.  Laura helps him look at all of the flowers after Mass, and his "MMMMMM!" tells us how pretty they smell.  Our centerpiece of Easter Dinner were a gathering of daffodils from outside.  Matthew found the vase after breakfast this morning, and was a great reminder to me of God's beauty.....

I guess it's easiest for me to say that sin, causes a gap in the bridge....

but Confession and God' grace and goodness restore us back to Him....right where we belong!

In closing, the recipe I posted last week on the "Potato Dough Baked Goods".....the reviews are in and this is definitely a keeper recipe.  The rolls were light, moist, and delicious.  We made 40 rolls for dinner (thank you, Michael, for all the help with stirring, dumping of flour, and cracking eggs), that we are enjoying with leftover ham or grilled on the cast iron griddle and topped with grape jam, and the remaining bit of dough is in the refrigerator waiting to be made into homemade doughnuts.

Michael with Mrs. Crosset at a 4H Bread Making Demonstration

A blessed Easter to you, and may God bless you and yours abundantly!

Holy Thursday

Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his Apostles many, many years ago.  Special arrangements were made by Peter and John, and the greatest care was given to these preparations.  This should remind us of the great pains we should take to prepare ourselves for each Mass we attend. The same Sacrifice of Christ, where He gave Himself to us, is a renewed, unbloody sacrifice at each Mass.

Today, we should meditate on the love Jesus has for each one of us, and how we respond to it.  In our everyday lives....how do we greet Him in our regular dealings, in our love for the Church, in acts of atonement and reparation, in charity towards others, in preparation and in thanksgiving for Holy Communion, in our desire to co-redeem with Him, in our hunger and thirst for justice....Jesus gives Himself to us in the Eucharist to strengthen us in our weaknesses, to be there with us in our loneliness.

Take the time today to speak to Him as the Apostles did, let us tell Him our concerns and share our joys.  Let us remember to thank Him for being among us.

When Jesus is telling the Apostles of what will take place in the days that follow, He tells them of what we hear so many times in the Gospel....."This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12).  Jesus calls us, through his Apostles, to love our neighbor, who is one with Christ.

This Holy Thursday let us ask ourselves if the people around us, whom we spend the greater part of our lives with, know that we are disciples of Christ.  In our daily dealings with our family and friends are we loving them as Jesus loves us?  Do we show charity in our thoughts, words, and deeds? As Jose Escriva said, "This love is not something reserved for important matters, but must be exercised above all in the ordinary circumstances of daily life."

"Greater love has no man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).

May God bless you and yours abundantly!

Easter Menu

With the arrival of Holy Week, my attention goes from remembering how our Lord sacrificed, suffered, and died for our sins.....to cleaning the house to welcome Him....to taking care of three boys diagnosed with walking pneumonia.....to caring for the other three, especially the baby, who may be showing possible signs of needing to see the pediatrician like their three diagnosed brothers.....to working on the remaining curtains for the Airstream.....to another load of laundry.....to figuring out what to make for supper tonight.....to making sure all of the invites have been made to family members to come to our house for Easter Sunday dinner....to tweaking the menu since we found out in early April that my mother-in-law is lactose intolerant.

Does that mean no twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, chocolate mousse (a dessert that I only make for Easter Sunday), or dinner rolls? What's a Mom/daughter-in-law to do?! Tweak the recipes....or make suitable substitutes so that everyone will be happy in the end.  If Jesus were to come to my home for dinner, wouldn't I go out of my way to make Him happy and comfortable?  Yes!  Since we are called to treat others as we want to be treated (The Golden Rule) and to put their needs ahead of our own (J-O-Y....Jesus, Others, Yourself) then I started thinking of how I was going to pull it off and keep my sanity.

First, the twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole, and chocolate mousse are still on the menu and will be made as they have always been.....with lots of good ingredients and tons of love. For my mother-in-law, Tim, and myself, we're going to have the dairy free foods (Tim and I have been doing Weight Watchers together for a few months now, and we want to keep our numbers on the downside, even with having holiday food) and a special dessert.  What about the dinner rolls?  My recipe, and everyone's favorite, is made with butter and milk.  Both are no-no's for my mother-in-law, so my creative hat comes on.

A friend suggested a recipe that four of my children helped to make in bread making with a 4H group. This dough can be used to make loaves of bread, dinner rolls, doughnuts, cinnamon buns, sticky buns, or coffee cakes.  And, if there should be any extra (who am I kidding?! In my house, home baked goods don't last that long, and I can always give our guests extras to take home with them), they freeze well, too!

The recipe is from "More-With-Less Cookbook," written by Doris Janzen Longacre, and commissioned by Mennonite Central Committee in Akron, PA.

I will be replacing the milk with Lactaid.  My sister-in-law told me just this morning that she has used it to make instant puddings, and a few other things and has found no significant change in the taste of the food.  This is a plus for me, since I've never used it before.  The mashed potatoes that are called for in the recipe specifically say to not add milk or butter to them.  Nice! The last hurdle is the 1 cup of fat in the recipe.  The original recipe calls for half butter and half margarine.  I will be replacing that with lard.

Here is the recipe, and when I make these rolls for Easter Dinner on Sunday, I will be sure and post pictures and the results on how they came out.

POTATO DOUGH BAKED GOODS

Dissolve 3 packages of yeast in 1 cup lukewarm water.

In a separate large bowl, combine:
     1 quart scalded milk (Lactaid)
     2 cup mashed potatoes (no milk or butter added)
     1 cup fat (half butter, half margarine)-using lard
     1 cup sugar

Let cool till lukewarm, then add:
     yeast mixture
     6 cups flour

Let stand until mixture foams up (about 20 minutes)

Add:
     2 eggs
     1 Tbsp salt
     11-12 cups additional flour

A little more flour may be needed, but dough should be soft. Turn out onto floured board and knead until satiny. Let raise in warm place until doubled in bulk.

Dinner rolls: Shape dough as desired, place on greased pans, and bake at 400 degrees starting on a lower rack and changing to a higher rack about halfway through for 15 minutes of baking time. Brush tops lightly with butter to remove any floury appearance.

Doughnuts: Roll out dough, cut doughnuts, place on trays and let raise until not quite double. Fry in hot shortening (375 degrees). When drained and still hot dip in glaze mixture. Insert a stick through holes and let a number of doughnuts drain over glaze bowl until next ones are ready to go.

Glaze.  Combine:
     1 lb. Powdered sugar
     1 Tbsp. margarine
     1 tsp. vanilla
     dash of mace
     enough rich milk to make thin icing

Cinnamon buns: Prepare a mixture of butter and margarine and a mixture of sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll a piece of dough to about 18x9”. Spread sough with butter mixture and sprinkle on some of the sugar mixture. Roll up the dough as for a jelly roll. Cut 1 ½ “ chunks and place in greased pans, pressing lightly down on each chunk. Cover and let raise in a warm place until nearly double. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until browned. These may be iced with doughnut glaze as soon as they are taken out of the oven.

Sticky buns: Handle dough same as for cinnamon buns, except make a mixture of brown and white sugar, cinnamon, and a little white corn syrup and water. Spread nuts in bottom of heavily greased pans if desired before putting rolls. Immediately after baking, invert pans over trays and let syrup run down before removing pans.

Coffee cake: A good way to use all the leftover bits of dough—put dough in greased pan, dab or punch holes in it, and spread leftover sugar, syrup, or butter mixtures over. Let raise and bake as for cinnamon buns.

To freeze: Let baked goods cool. Wrap or place in large plastic bags and freeze the same day.
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Have a most blessed Holy Week and may God bless you and yours abundantly!

I'm in a funk...I've thought trippped over several thoughts in what I have wanted to write during this Holy Week.  I've read over other blogs, looking for inspiration, or just a spark.  Nothing!

 

So, I open up my emails and go to the folder labeled "Inspiration" to see if "there's anything to jump start my thinking."  Here's what I found:

 

On this day of your life, God wants you to know ... that when you feel down, look at yourself through God's eyes.

There are times when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot accept yourself as you are. During such times, think of how you look to God's eyes. In God's eyes, there is no judgment, there is only acceptance. God sees your light when all that you can see are your shadows. God loves you more than anyone could ever love you as you really are.

 

Do I feel inspired yet? You bet! This "Inspiration" certainly made me think about what has been going on in our house for the past several days. Six children living at home, and they are all sick.  Some worse than the others, and three of them will be making a trip to the pediatrician this morning to get their ears checked, and there's probably a strep test in there for each of them too.

 

 

Tim and I prayed for months asking God if I was better off staying home with our children (pregnant with my fourth child at the time), and raising them instead of paying to give that privilege to someone else.  Shortly after David was born, I was spending time in the morning and afternoon visiting the nurses office to pump milk. It broke my heart taking my three young children to "daycare" so that I could commute into work each day, and just going through the motions.  A lovely, motherly woman from my Church gave me a copy of the book, "The Apostolate of Holy Motherhood".  Whenever I spent time in the nurses office, I would read this book.

 

Most of the members of my family believe that I trust God completely in all things.  Well, that's not the case.  Especially with this situation.  I told God that if He really wanted me to be a stay-at-home Mom, and take care of these children that He gave me, that He was going to have to show me.....three times. What nerve I had! I remember at the time thinking that I needed His reassurance (because society says that in order to give your children everything that the need, that both parents HAVE TO WORK!).  And boy, did I ever get shown!

 

I cannot remember the first two incidents that He showed me, but the final, third one, I will never forget!  At the time that I was working full time, I was in a new position in a call center and required to work one shift a week from 11 in the morning until 8 at night.  Tim was adjusting his schedule so that he was able to watch the children at least 2 days a week to "save us money".  On this particular morning, I headed down to the nurses office, got my things all set-up, started pumping milk, and reading my book.  Like a bolt of lightning, I read about how it's the woman's job to care for the chilren and the home (contrary to popular belief!).  When the woman does the job that God is calling her to, than her husband has to worry less about where she is, what the children are doing, and the state of the home.  The husbands focus is where it should be, on the vocation that God is calling him to (provider, and head of the family).

 

So, the leave of absence was requested and approved.  After two weeks of being home, full-time, I realized that I truly was where I belonged.....where God showed me where He wanted me to be!  That was over 14 years ago, and there hasn't been one time where I've had the urge to get into my car and drive the commute into the city or deal with the office politics.

 

Thank you God, for loving me as I am.

Thank you God, for putting up with my demanding requests.

Thank you God, for showing me where You want me to be.

Thank you God, for not giving up on me.

And.....thank you God, for being patient with me....while I'm waiting!

 

May God bless you and yours abundantly!

 

Bread Making

What does a Mom do when there's no bread for lunch?  Make it, of course! That's what we did.  I have loaf pans that I bought several years back from King Arthur Flour Company, and they are the length of a loaf of bread that you would find in the grocery stores.  I own four of them, and use them on a regular basis.  Here's the recipe.....90 minutes, start to finish!

First, heat 3 cups of milk and 1 stick (that's 1/2 a cup) of butter in the microwave for 3 to 4 minutes.  The butter needs to be melted completely, and you want the mixture nice and warm.

While the milk and butter are warming up in the microwave, measure 8 cups flour, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 4 tsp. salt, and 4 tsp. yeast in your mixer bowl.  With the dough hook, mix together the dry ingredients.  With the milk and butter warmed, slowly add it to the mixer bowl, with the mixer set on stir.  Once all of the milk/butter mixture has been added, increase the speed to 2.  Continue mixing until dough is nice and smooth (in my mixer, this only takes about 3 minutes).

Allow dough to rest for 10 minutes, and gather your other items to get your bread ready for the pans!  You will need a cutting board, additional flour for dusting the board, a bench scaper, loaf pans (2 regular pans will equal one of my larger pans), shortening or butter (for greasing the pans), cinnamon and sugar (for making cinnamon bread).

 Lightly dust your board with flour, and dump out the dough.  Divide it into two pieces.  Set one piece aside.

  

Flatten out one piece of dough, roughly about the length of your loaf pan, with your hands.  For regular bread, roll up, pinch seam and ends, and place in greased pan.  For cinnamon bread, once dough is flattened out, sprinkle on sugar and cinnamon to taste.  Roll up, pinch seams, and place in greased pan.

Using a serrated knife, make 3 to 5 diagonal slits in the top of each loaf.  Allow loaves to rise for 30 minutes (at the 20 minute mark, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.)

Place the loaves on the lowest rack of the oven, and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove immediately from the loaf pans, placing loaves on their side to cool.  ENJOY!  This recipe yields 4 regular loaves of bread, and can be cut in half if need be. I have also used this recipe to make dinner and cinnamon rolls.



Regular Bread



Cinnamon Bread



 May God bless you and your abundantly!