tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9182776001570956642024-03-13T23:30:09.420-07:00Everything Down the ChuteMeek attempts in seeking what is needful while placing my whole life, with trepidation, into God's handsKelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-18937947012234579212009-09-30T09:53:00.001-07:002009-09-30T10:02:00.652-07:00Fearfully & Wonderfully MadeA dear soul shared this with me. Her beautiful, healing and poignant words have pierced my soul. Thank you ever so much, sister in Christ...<br /><br /><div align="center"><span style="font-size:180%;">Fearfully and wonderfully made</span></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">You were fearfully and wonderfully</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Tiny form never gracing this earth</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">My broken womb never giving you birth</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">You were fearfully and wonderfully</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">I will always wonder how you were knit together—</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">boy or girl?</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">I will always wonder if blonde and blue—</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">or black way curl?</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Though I never heard your heart beat </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">and though your life began incomplete</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">You were fearfully and wonderfully </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">God is Sovereign and Good.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Even though I may not, He understood</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">That time and place would not be yours</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">And you would only see heaven’s door</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">You were fearfully and wonderfully </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">We loved the thought of you </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">while you were in my womb </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">I am sorry, little one, that my womb became your tomb.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">You were fearfully and wonderfully </span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">May you rest in perfect peace.</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">May you enjoy from this world, release</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">and may you recognize those who gave you life</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">Someday in Paradise</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">for you were fearfully and wonderfully</span></div><div align="center"><span style="font-size:130%;">made.</span></div><br />CJZ8-98<br /><br />May your baby's memory be eternal.Love, Cindy ZimmermanKelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-50824860420074405712009-09-24T16:47:00.000-07:002009-10-01T10:25:54.183-07:00Blessed are they...<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sr1vuBUSeFI/AAAAAAAAAn8/gt99YvcvIJw/s1600-h/stcroix09+242.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5385583565823178834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 283px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sr1vuBUSeFI/AAAAAAAAAn8/gt99YvcvIJw/s320/stcroix09+242.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sr1vZ10aXWI/AAAAAAAAAn0/2b8DfBT37T0/s1600-h/stcroix09+241.JPG"></a><div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">The past months have been long and slow while dream filled plans are laid out. So much of our conversations are monopolized with friends and family as we prepared for baby #5...</span></div><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Without warning I awoke one morning and all was about to change, darkened by an indescribable inner-silence of pain. Tuesday September 1, the sad-reality hit that I was miscarrying our baby. The next day, we had a sonogram affirming what we had already feared. Salt was rubbed into an old wound, taking me back to our first miscarriage 6 years ago.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">This time was to be different...we "planned" this baby. Please do not misunderstand me, we received news of our previous births with great happiness-- just this time, ALL of us were included. The children's anticipated preparations, along with our own, made this pregnancy all the more, well, meaningful. Before, they were too small to ever realize that life grew tender and small in a mother's womb...to truly understand that Life was a gift from God. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em><span style="font-size:180%;">"Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted"</span> </em></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">With undefined grief we mourned while comfort like a welcoming warm shower poured in flooding us with His love. We knew this to be a blessing... humbly allowing others to nurse, cook, clean, watch children, sit and cry and laugh with, we were yielding to God's goodness, He who is the Comforter of our souls.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Time seems to have slowed down as this life swirls by, picking me up in a comforting embrace. Many weeks later, the sting from the loss of our baby slowly heals. In grief, one becomes keenly aware of their own weaknesses (thankfully) and strengths (Lord have mercy) recognizing that all Good and Perfect things come from Jesus Christ.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">At least for a time, please understand my decision for a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sabbatical</span> from my blog. As I stated in the beginning, this was a meek attempt to place all things in God's hands, to seek what is needful while trusting, while allowing others to enter into my life...to place "everything down the chute"</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Everyday I am thankful to God for all of you! If it weren't for the blogging world, I would not have been blessed by your faithful sisterhood. I have grown to truly love you all so much.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><em><strong>"I am filled with comfort; with all our tribulation and in spite of it, I am filled with comfort, I am overflowing with joy." </strong></em></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><em><strong>2 Corinthians 7:4</strong></em></span></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-28745383713131842662009-07-30T05:25:00.000-07:002009-07-30T06:45:58.856-07:00A Review: The Life of Saint Brigid<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SnGhWTBkctI/AAAAAAAAAnk/kR8qzG8b8kY/s1600-h/SaintBrigidcross.jpg"></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SnGhWOXYInI/AAAAAAAAAnc/OTMaG77x-lY/s1600-h/St-Brigid-cover.gif"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364246034360312434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SnGhWOXYInI/AAAAAAAAAnc/OTMaG77x-lY/s320/St-Brigid-cover.gif" border="0" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><blockquote><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"In ancient days a little girl was born..." </span></p></blockquote><p></span></p><span style="font-size:130%;">One MUST meet St. Brigid: Abbess of Kildare. After reading this book, my family is encouraged and strengthened by her life. St. Brigid loved purely as Christ commanded us to, shared all that she had (and what others had as well). A true sense of "Robin Hood" offering all unto the Lord:</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">"O God, bless my pantry! Pantry which the Lord hasblessed. Mary's<br />son, my friend, come and bless my pantry"</span></blockquote></span><p><span style="font-size:130%;">Along with my children, we remain entranced with </span><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/394754.Jane_G_Meyer"><span style="font-size:130%;">Jane G Meyer</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">'s simple beautiful language and caught up in the inspiring illustrations by Zachary Lynch. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:180%;">Musical to the ears, just the way an ancient Celtic tale should be heard. A feast to the eyes with all it's Celtic splendor! </span></p><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><p>"Momma, read it again...if we have a baby girl, we really should name her Brigid!" Hmm...</p><p>Saint Brigid, pray unto God for us!</p><p></span></p>P.S. with gratitude to Jane for writing about St. Brigid, sending us a copy, trusting me with a review...May God grant you many years AND many more books!Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-34760739533569637232009-07-29T16:12:00.000-07:002009-07-29T16:35:23.658-07:00Changes<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SnDbbikgTdI/AAAAAAAAAnE/jhz5ddRoVHM/s1600-h/baby.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5364028422381129170" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 230px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SnDbbikgTdI/AAAAAAAAAnE/jhz5ddRoVHM/s320/baby.jpg" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:130%;">To actually blurt it out would seem so informal, possibly tactless on my behalf but here goes: We are expecting #5 in late March...er, Holy week! Most of you may already know from my face book page and with a thankful-heart we receive all your warm prayerful well-wishes.</span><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">We are excited AND nervous! -- the children are ecstatic and ask everyday (the younger ones especially) where the baby is?, how big?, when will he/she be here?, what shall we name the baby?, where will the baby sleep?, etc, etc, etc...</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">I heard once: "If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans" The plan was to prepare for hubby's ordination and well, we are comforted and aware that God's timing is everything and we are grateful - relieved more like it - to remain at our current status in the church. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">This new life, God-willing, is very welcoming, indeed!</span></div><div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-79117485029641864822009-06-25T10:02:00.000-07:002009-06-25T10:30:51.570-07:00Together on the Beach<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzwAtLpaI/AAAAAAAAAm8/MrfEzN8lkPc/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+090.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351318419650880930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzwAtLpaI/AAAAAAAAAm8/MrfEzN8lkPc/s320/CarolinaBeach09+090.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzvyxV-4I/AAAAAAAAAm0/-gs7qEhV_Dg/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+098.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351318415910239106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzvyxV-4I/AAAAAAAAAm0/-gs7qEhV_Dg/s320/CarolinaBeach09+098.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzva204YI/AAAAAAAAAms/Gf0oqG8pvxk/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+132.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351318409490784642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzva204YI/AAAAAAAAAms/Gf0oqG8pvxk/s320/CarolinaBeach09+132.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzvKQ8UUI/AAAAAAAAAmk/KUxrRQ28fHA/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+102.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351318405036921154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzvKQ8UUI/AAAAAAAAAmk/KUxrRQ28fHA/s320/CarolinaBeach09+102.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzu_O7KDI/AAAAAAAAAmc/8nZvXcWmK40/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+019.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351318402075666482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOzu_O7KDI/AAAAAAAAAmc/8nZvXcWmK40/s320/CarolinaBeach09+019.JPG" border="0" /></a> All together again<br /><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7yA0GpI/AAAAAAAAAmM/4_MvKBBXJVY/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+105.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351315323330239122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7yA0GpI/AAAAAAAAAmM/4_MvKBBXJVY/s320/CarolinaBeach09+105.JPG" border="0" /></a> our view and short walk each day... </div><div><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7bTSF4I/AAAAAAAAAmE/4TSOTnYzfwM/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+029.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351315317233686402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7bTSF4I/AAAAAAAAAmE/4TSOTnYzfwM/s320/CarolinaBeach09+029.JPG" border="0" /></a> united with her dear friend...<br /></div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7Ac6LTI/AAAAAAAAAl8/dk3B7sTJguo/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+133.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351315310026304818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 203px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw7Ac6LTI/AAAAAAAAAl8/dk3B7sTJguo/s320/CarolinaBeach09+133.JPG" border="0" /></a> yeah...he's alright!<br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw6z8lk9I/AAAAAAAAAl0/hLkcXprrcjs/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+087.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351315306669511634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOw6z8lk9I/AAAAAAAAAl0/hLkcXprrcjs/s320/CarolinaBeach09+087.JPG" border="0" /></a> beauty deep inside<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvgG75jRI/AAAAAAAAAls/NWbjqaxBP5I/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+145.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351313748398804242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvgG75jRI/AAAAAAAAAls/NWbjqaxBP5I/s320/CarolinaBeach09+145.JPG" border="0" /></a> some R&R...<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvf__sggI/AAAAAAAAAlk/GH7FIqIVOtE/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+137.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351313746535678466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvf__sggI/AAAAAAAAAlk/GH7FIqIVOtE/s320/CarolinaBeach09+137.JPG" border="0" /></a> love this little face!<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvfm5HsrI/AAAAAAAAAlc/JRtC3HPoWMw/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+116.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351313739797213874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvfm5HsrI/AAAAAAAAAlc/JRtC3HPoWMw/s320/CarolinaBeach09+116.JPG" border="0" /></a> Love this nature-girl!</div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvfXgUqdI/AAAAAAAAAlU/G8VxHhfDWEM/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+054.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351313735666674130" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvfXgUqdI/AAAAAAAAAlU/G8VxHhfDWEM/s320/CarolinaBeach09+054.JPG" border="0" /></a> yeah, he's pretty cool...</div><div><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvewCTa4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/qbX7DT4M5ZQ/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+061.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351313725071780738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOvewCTa4I/AAAAAAAAAlM/qbX7DT4M5ZQ/s320/CarolinaBeach09+061.JPG" border="0" /></a> frolicing with his big sissy and "other mommy"<br /></div><div><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOuqtsxb9I/AAAAAAAAAlE/SKEM2Mygho0/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+159.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351312831091404754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOuqtsxb9I/AAAAAAAAAlE/SKEM2Mygho0/s320/CarolinaBeach09+159.JPG" border="0" /></a> that's all you'll get from me...</div><div><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOuqSc3UDI/AAAAAAAAAk8/-4iOCvvKEhU/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+156.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351312823776923698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOuqSc3UDI/AAAAAAAAAk8/-4iOCvvKEhU/s320/CarolinaBeach09+156.JPG" border="0" /></a> a little friend stopped by</div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOup5uaDNI/AAAAAAAAAks/8sjDVJSMMEM/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+066.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351312817139616978" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOup5uaDNI/AAAAAAAAAks/8sjDVJSMMEM/s320/CarolinaBeach09+066.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOupks_0AI/AAAAAAAAAkk/5ZXN-2HlkEw/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+027.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351312811496558594" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOupks_0AI/AAAAAAAAAkk/5ZXN-2HlkEw/s320/CarolinaBeach09+027.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-13921088754995407782009-06-25T09:54:00.000-07:002009-06-25T10:01:25.021-07:00Hopeful indeed!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOtSmef9dI/AAAAAAAAAkc/r6w5SFwNmp8/s1600-h/CarolinaBeach09+109.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5351311317324002770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SkOtSmef9dI/AAAAAAAAAkc/r6w5SFwNmp8/s320/CarolinaBeach09+109.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">"For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?<br />But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.<br />Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.<br />And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.<br />And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:24-28</span>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-80072854081402637612009-06-17T10:08:00.001-07:002009-06-17T10:08:40.203-07:00<a href="http://bonovox.squarespace.com/journal/2009/6/17/ordination-cancelled.html#comments">http://bonovox.squarespace.com/journal/2009/6/17/ordination-cancelled.html#comments</a>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-43702332446217608422009-06-16T16:28:00.001-07:002009-06-16T16:56:41.652-07:00Down hearted...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sjgv8BYy9QI/AAAAAAAAAj8/6AExAMMNzB8/s1600-h/photos+673.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5348077265713558786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sjgv8BYy9QI/AAAAAAAAAj8/6AExAMMNzB8/s320/photos+673.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Not sure how else to write this. Not sure what to think, feel or say. For, I may say too much, think too much and feel too much. Weighted heaviness.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">FDR's ordination is not a go. Not "accepted" for lack of paper work that was needed by our Bishop? There is much more here, yet we choose to Love; covering a multitude of transgressions--may God give us the strength! </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">We have been assured that this decision has nothing to do with him. Truthfully, we are caught in a whirlwind of political <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">affairs</span>--a giant wait-and-hold-on sticky net hoping and praying for our leaders to straighten out the current torrential mess in the Archdiocese. I need not say much; we all know the current state of the archdiocese. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">I ask for your prayers. Pray hard for the church, the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Hierarchy</span>, and the clergy.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">This too shall pass -- I hold onto this and can only trust in God's will. </span></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-16497139106360764642009-06-02T07:09:00.000-07:002009-06-02T07:24:02.238-07:00By God's grace...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SiU10ZWiF2I/AAAAAAAAAj0/v86gsI6huHU/s1600-h/wedding.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342735707219826530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 217px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SiU10ZWiF2I/AAAAAAAAAj0/v86gsI6huHU/s320/wedding.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SiU1fgQGN2I/AAAAAAAAAjs/KNSPCZFrh_U/s1600-h/wedding1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342735348294629218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 259px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SiU1fgQGN2I/AAAAAAAAAjs/KNSPCZFrh_U/s320/wedding1.jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">14 years ago</span></strong> I married this man, where TODAY I love him with more intensity than that glorious June 3rd day.</span><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em></em></strong></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong><em>"Together...</em></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em>We have loved, laughed, cried, sacrificed and endured. </em></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em>I would not change a thing</em></strong>."</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">May God continue to give us strength to endure while sacrificing -- remembering to laugh, cry and love all the days of our lives.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">As you can tell...I'm mad about this man!</span></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-29499735499552740792009-05-23T19:39:00.000-07:002009-05-27T09:47:59.891-07:00I'm still here<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ShjANW4lMbI/AAAAAAAAAik/Nj-1lvTfJig/s1600-h/road.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339228693961454002" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ShjANW4lMbI/AAAAAAAAAik/Nj-1lvTfJig/s320/road.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Shi9E2gNVSI/AAAAAAAAAic/jAYKvLN5ahQ/s1600-h/photos+747.JPG"></a><div><span style="font-size:130%;">INSANELY BUSY! Yep, that's been my life since May 3...when we (sans FDR) left --homeward bound. There is a long list of menial reasons for the "no-other-way" separation, that if I begin to tell you, you may think me mad. I shall spare you the boring details assuring you that we are well, thank God. Normalcy, as we <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Barberg's</span> know it, is -- well, let's just say we're on the right road--I think.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">This past year has brought on it's share of adjustments--for all of us. This time last year, we were on a 2 week vacation in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Destin</span>--soaking up the glorious beach and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">bam</span>! the house finally sold while away. We returned to start the frenzied packing, sorting, tossing, with worry--praying and finally handing our earthly cares to God. It's hard to believe a full year has whirled past us at warped speed. I only pray God continues to give us His grace as we continue and learn while completely trusting in His ways--His path for our salvation.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">All in all, it's been good to be home up north. To be with treasured friends and solid family members who share in our fight to follow God's will for our lives. We can not thank them enough for opening their homes, in sharing their food--it's no easy feat in feeding this gang, sacrificing their spare towels and space and even some extra funds. We are truly loved. It is amazing when others can come out of their "comfort-zones" for your sake. "Every good and perfect thing comes from above" May I remain grateful in and for ALL things.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">We'll return to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">SVS</span> June 1 and from there--well, I'll have to tell you then...</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">As we travel life's road, my love and prayers dear friends.</span></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-30203499739929638732009-04-30T07:02:00.000-07:002009-04-30T07:06:20.426-07:00Water Fun on a Hot day!<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv4AyJkcI/AAAAAAAAAiU/1_QXTrV15EQ/s1600-h/waterfun09+008.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330485010787570114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv4AyJkcI/AAAAAAAAAiU/1_QXTrV15EQ/s320/waterfun09+008.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv30JvkvI/AAAAAAAAAiM/ZwLUAUEQnBI/s1600-h/waterfun09+004.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330485007396868850" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv30JvkvI/AAAAAAAAAiM/ZwLUAUEQnBI/s320/waterfun09+004.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3o9ca1I/AAAAAAAAAiE/yx8vudK93oE/s1600-h/waterfun09+017.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330485004392491858" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3o9ca1I/AAAAAAAAAiE/yx8vudK93oE/s320/waterfun09+017.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3S4yEUI/AAAAAAAAAh8/eMk8GBvucYI/s1600-h/waterfun09+007.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330484998467359042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3S4yEUI/AAAAAAAAAh8/eMk8GBvucYI/s320/waterfun09+007.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3JuVwYI/AAAAAAAAAh0/10tKjXKQL1M/s1600-h/waterfun09+001.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5330484996007641474" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Sfmv3JuVwYI/AAAAAAAAAh0/10tKjXKQL1M/s320/waterfun09+001.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-3050311490778417942009-04-30T06:27:00.000-07:002009-04-30T07:00:12.452-07:00"I've been tagged"<strong><span style="font-size:180%;">8 Things I am looking forward to:</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">1. my husband's elevation to the Holy Priesthood in June</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">2. our summer vacations: Carolina Beach with the kids and the other is a 2nd honeymoon to St. Croix for 10 days (sans kids, of course)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">3. St. George Camp in August</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">4. the next school year (going in as 2nd years is comforting)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">5. eating more and more sushi (really, I am!)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">6. exercising to better health and for strength</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">7. a return trip to Alaska (hopefully next summer)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">8. heading home for the month of May to be with friends and family</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:180%;"><strong>8 Things I did yesterday:</strong><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;">1. took Emily and sweet Abigail to the airport...all by myself (a proud driving moment through this NYC mess).</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">2. treated the kids and mom out for breakfast (a treat for me too)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">3. bought Colin new glasses and rec specs (finally)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">4. visited with FDR's cousin, Micah. Haven't seen him in 10 years...he's all grown up!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">5. went out for sushi dinner with hubby and our monk friend, Fr. Christopher (a treat for him and another for me)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">6. watched the rest of "Little Dorrit" by Charles Dickens on masterpiecetheatre.com</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">7. I did not clean, straighten or tidy a thing in my house...that is something!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">8. I wore flip-flops all day</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">8 Things I wish I could do:</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">1. exercise more patience with the children</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">2. pray more </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">3. trust God more and worry less</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">4. exercise more</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">5. less talking to listen better</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">6. spend all day sipping tea while reading book after book...one for the kids, one for me, one with hubby, one in a book club among friends (but I may want to sip some vino during that).</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">7. take a class in photographing/photo shop</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">8. love by letting go...</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-size:180%;">8 Shows I Watch (I don't watch so much any more, but we watch a few on-line)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">1. LOST!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">2. The Office</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">3. Masterpiece Theatre!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">4. Nova</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">5. American Experience</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">6. PBS cartoons (with the kids)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">7. Rachael Ray (rarely)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">8. Yankees game</span>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-82996899374234971892009-04-28T07:12:00.000-07:002009-04-28T07:20:19.220-07:00A good link...<a href="http://orthodoxseminarian.blogspot.com/">http://orthodoxseminarian.blogspot.com/</a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">This is a great insight into the life of the Priesthood from our friend, Michael Sakran. Not only am I baised because my husband and he are classmates but we, FDR and I, are to be the God-parents to their soon-to-be-born-twin boys: Gabriel and Michael! </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">May God grant them all many years!</span>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-79409742487720884182009-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:002009-04-22T22:27:17.088-07:00May God give us Strength<div align="justify"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Se_ooFWF5BI/AAAAAAAAAhU/cypZwphE-u0/s1600-h/FPordination32509+061.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5327732659529835538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/Se_ooFWF5BI/AAAAAAAAAhU/cypZwphE-u0/s320/FPordination32509+061.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><blockquote><p><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em>"For the priestly office is indeed discharged on earth,but it ranks amongst heavenly ordinances; and very naturally so:for neither man, nor angel, nor archangel, nor any other created power, but the Paraclete Himself, instituted this vocation, and persuaded men while still abiding in the flesh to represent the ministry of angels. Wherefore the consecrated priest ought to be as pure as if he were standing in the heavens themselves in the midst of those powers." </em></strong></span></p><p>"On the Priesthood." St John Chrysostom,<br />N&PNF, First Series, Volume IX. p. 46. </p><blockquote><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">By the grace of God and the laying on of hands by His Grace Bishop ALEXANDER, Fr. Deacon Raphael, my beloved husband, will be elevated to the Holy Priesthood June 28th, at our hometown parish, St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Niagara Falls, New York during the 2009 Parish Life Conference.</span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">While trusting in God's timing, we did not have plans nor any expectations once here at St. Vladimir's. However, it came upon us peacefully, in a quiet still voice, knocking at our door. </span></p><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">We have enjoyed 8 years of my husband's diaconal ministry in the Church. FDR often refers to the order of the Diaconate as "the best of both worlds". </span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Undoubtedly, his elevation brings us, our family, to a whole different level and much is to change...a struggle and a blessing, indeed! </span></p><p><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Please keep us, as we keep you, in your prayers. </span></p><blockquote><p><span style="font-size:130%;">"I know my own soul, how feeble and puny it is: I know the magnitude of this ministry, and the great difficulty of the work; for more stormy billows vex the soul of the priest than the gales which disturb the sea." </span><span style="font-size:130%;">(p.49).</span></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-80969974173678075842009-04-19T08:13:00.000-07:002009-04-19T15:00:17.885-07:00Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen!<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvhbYzmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/fRPASEH8v1U/s1600-h/Pascha109+054.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326524424048397922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvhbYzmI/AAAAAAAAAhM/fRPASEH8v1U/s320/Pascha109+054.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvWfT_gI/AAAAAAAAAhE/Y_Rp-gF8bTo/s1600-h/Pascha09+027.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326524421112069634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvWfT_gI/AAAAAAAAAhE/Y_Rp-gF8bTo/s320/Pascha09+027.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvJbCqBI/AAAAAAAAAg8/czE8FhG46pI/s1600-h/Pascha09+020.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326524417604495378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 302px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeudvJbCqBI/AAAAAAAAAg8/czE8FhG46pI/s320/Pascha09+020.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SetAkr6GTHI/AAAAAAAAAg0/GR99PmcqMtY/s1600-h/resurrection.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5326421983301618802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 272px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SetAkr6GTHI/AAAAAAAAAg0/GR99PmcqMtY/s320/resurrection.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The angel exclaimed to her, full of grace: "Rejoice, O Pure Virgin; again I say, rejoice! Your Son is risen from the grave on the third day and has raised the dead. Let all nations rejoice!"<br /><br />Shine in splendor, O new Jerusalem! For the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, O Sion; sing with joy and rejoice! And you, pure Mother of God, rejoice in the resurrection of your Son.<br /><br />How pleasingly divine and sweet was Your voice, O Christ, when You promised, without fail, to remain with us until the end of time. We, the faithful, rejoice in this firm foundation of hope.<br /><br />O Christ, Great and Sacred Pasch, Wisdom, Power, and Word of God, grant that we be with You in Your kingdom on the never-ending day.<br /><br />HIRMOS<br />Shine in splendor, O new Jerusalem! For the glory of the Lord is risen upon you, O Sion; sing with joy and rejoice! And you, pure Mother of God, rejoice in the resurrection of your Son.<br /><br />EXAPOSTILARION<br />You, O King and Lord, have fallen asleep in the flesh as a mortal man, but on the third day You arose again. You have raised Adam from his corruption and made Death powerless. You are the Pasch of Incorruption. You are the Salvation of the world.</span> <div></div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-6715685811718624572009-04-12T19:25:00.000-07:002009-04-12T20:58:30.239-07:00Image of God<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeKk93BzWHI/AAAAAAAAAgc/KlFrgAvYdeE/s1600-h/LazarusSaturday09+003.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323999092155832434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeKk93BzWHI/AAAAAAAAAgc/KlFrgAvYdeE/s320/LazarusSaturday09+003.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">God-willing, from the image above<span style="font-size:78%;">,</span> we pray that Luke will strive to be an aspiring iconographer of fine frescoes in many colorful hues and gold depicting God's perfect image. </span><span style="font-size:85%;">(sadly, after snapping Luke's art work, I had to use the magic eraser on the wall)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">With prayers seeking patient guidance and understanding, we find ourselves blessed with Luke's many talents...talents that also make us scratch our heads in bewilderment or wanting to frantically pull out our hair!</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Most importantly, may our son strive to love with a Godly love, while living body and soul for Jesus Christ, the son of God -- the giver and lover of all mankind!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Hmm, on second thought, maybe a grand chanter...</span><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx9kAnC4RdIoHV0ptJH1-L1bJcy0EA4BSr0NJIjD7yzXSuV13823xoGdPhOuGUrFHEMFaOWsSy1HBG2pTzJwA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-54780180176437270312009-04-11T12:27:00.000-07:002009-04-11T13:07:08.079-07:00"Lazarus, come forth." And he who was without breath obeyed the One Who gave him breath, the Savior of our souls."<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeD37OEBaXI/AAAAAAAAAf0/Mb6UaWIcFUA/s1600-h/LazarusSaturday09+007.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323527356311234930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 263px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeD37OEBaXI/AAAAAAAAAf0/Mb6UaWIcFUA/s320/LazarusSaturday09+007.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrruyEjI/AAAAAAAAAfk/S5iSNLRbM-E/s1600-h/LazarusSaturday09+017.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323518293304283698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrruyEjI/AAAAAAAAAfk/S5iSNLRbM-E/s320/LazarusSaturday09+017.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrcATd2I/AAAAAAAAAfc/WD2peUmNmzU/s1600-h/LazarusSaturday09+016.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323518289082808162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrcATd2I/AAAAAAAAAfc/WD2peUmNmzU/s320/LazarusSaturday09+016.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrfNjCQI/AAAAAAAAAfU/gIixOUvWipM/s1600-h/LazarusSaturday09+009.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323518289943660802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SeDvrfNjCQI/AAAAAAAAAfU/gIixOUvWipM/s320/LazarusSaturday09+009.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-size:130%;">SVS Children sing the Troparion:</span></div><br /><div><strong><em><span style="font-size:180%;">By raising Lazarus from the dead before Your Passion,You confirmed the universal resurrection, O Christ God!Like the children with palms of victory,We cry out to You, O Vanquisher of Death;Hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!</span><br /></em></strong><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzDWvrF1BaQQTPw6t-OSwLWYORIYODaKRipxk2jfnCT2NgvlYTlIZwOIQFaRmdApaIsuIET5xatjTOtPFF6bA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-22509941334716198912009-03-26T12:19:00.000-07:002009-03-26T20:37:22.415-07:00observing<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZFZOc3UI/AAAAAAAAAe8/YAOjHRsiA_A/s1600-h/FPordination32509+014.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317582471735074114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZFZOc3UI/AAAAAAAAAe8/YAOjHRsiA_A/s320/FPordination32509+014.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZFA9kFKI/AAAAAAAAAe0/cMtAPY36VRE/s1600-h/FPordination32509+157.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317582465221792930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZFA9kFKI/AAAAAAAAAe0/cMtAPY36VRE/s320/FPordination32509+157.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZEn0BGwI/AAAAAAAAAes/IHBaqz0Xego/s1600-h/FPordination32509+115.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317582458470865666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZEn0BGwI/AAAAAAAAAes/IHBaqz0Xego/s320/FPordination32509+115.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZEMLbsZI/AAAAAAAAAek/gdPkxXtbSIw/s1600-h/FPordination32509+076.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317582451052884370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvZEMLbsZI/AAAAAAAAAek/gdPkxXtbSIw/s320/FPordination32509+076.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXt9Vq6fI/AAAAAAAAAec/G8E68RQfRpg/s1600-h/FPordination32509+155.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317580969600543218" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXt9Vq6fI/AAAAAAAAAec/G8E68RQfRpg/s320/FPordination32509+155.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXtTukxAI/AAAAAAAAAeU/4ugsCWjLXVc/s1600-h/FPordination32509+136.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317580958430708738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 151px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXtTukxAI/AAAAAAAAAeU/4ugsCWjLXVc/s320/FPordination32509+136.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXtFCEgHI/AAAAAAAAAeM/RYpmz6QZB7g/s1600-h/FPordination32509+083.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317580954485948530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXtFCEgHI/AAAAAAAAAeM/RYpmz6QZB7g/s320/FPordination32509+083.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXs1zZyaI/AAAAAAAAAeE/WevWBF_2uLM/s1600-h/FPordination32509+054.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317580950397897122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXs1zZyaI/AAAAAAAAAeE/WevWBF_2uLM/s320/FPordination32509+054.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXsnDRcDI/AAAAAAAAAd8/H2OmxW1JeZI/s1600-h/FPordination32509+009.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317580946437926962" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 229px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/ScvXsnDRcDI/AAAAAAAAAd8/H2OmxW1JeZI/s320/FPordination32509+009.JPG" border="0" /></a> <span style="font-size:130%;">Often, I struggle in searching for precise words describing the many impressionable emotions swirling inside my mind, heart and soul. Here, are my wanna-be-amateur- photo-taking-skills; hopefully capturing the essence of holy observations. There is a wealth of incredible beauty that surrounds us...especially that of The Church. There is a natural-growing, transfigured, yet not suppressed, beauty while observing my children's child-like readiness as all their senses awaken when they "come and see that the Lord is good". </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Praying that all had a blessed Feast in celebrating The Annunciation of the Most -Holy Theotokos. Hopefully, this respite from the Great Fast was nourishment to weary souls in continuing the good and Holy Fight...Blessed Lent!</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-32171593324311111152009-03-23T19:54:00.000-07:002009-03-24T06:29:33.563-07:00introducing the Talented MK!<p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dw6iiVF8js_tFQBZjPVMwkB54vItPFJGGTJrDuCYQ4eT08Ix7FtXQJJfZh5HRKHpI295Cq7kHFfHuJaEZCMpg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>Mark Kate's video debut, with a little help from her dear friend "Miss Katie". Enjoy! </p><p>I've watched this over and over as it keeps a huge smile on my face! </p><p>We're the Lucky ones!</p><p></p>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-54184830030567690882009-03-02T18:00:00.000-08:002009-03-02T18:05:16.257-08:00"Let us Begin with Joy"Let us enter the Fast with joy, O faithful.<br />Let us not be sad.<br />Let us cleanse our faces with the waters of dispassion,<br />blessing and exalting Christ forever.<br /><br />Let us begin the Fast with joy.<br />Let us give ourselves to spiritual efforts.<br />Let us cleanse our souls.<br />Let us cleanse our flesh.<br />Let us fast from passions as we fast from foods,<br />taking pleasure in the good works of the Spirit<br />and accomplishing them in love<br />that we may be made worthy to see the passion of<br />Christ our God<br />and His Holy Pascha,<br />rejoicing with spiritual joy.<br />(First Friday Matins)Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-59121267064242707862009-03-01T17:47:00.000-08:002009-03-01T18:53:17.870-08:00Forgive me a sinner...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SatJOcq08EI/AAAAAAAAAdM/dKeNKMYc6gY/s1600-h/1422.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308417098349080642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SatJOcq08EI/AAAAAAAAAdM/dKeNKMYc6gY/s320/1422.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">By your prayers for the next 40 days, my wavering attentions make room for Great Lent. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">I'll do all this by falling, getting up and falling to get up again and again. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">May the mirror of my sins be ever before me. May I keep forgiving...</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">In all my ways, may I acknowledge Him, who is Christ the Lord. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">May I learn that Great Lent is more than the abstaining of food but rather that which ought not come into my thoughts nor dare reach my wretched tongue. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">In fervent prayers, my I abstain from the flesh of the world as God directs my path where I struggle to trust in Him, the Bread of Life!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">May I endure to fight the good fight while praying, through the intercessions of the Most Holy Theotokos and all the Saints, for His strength in attaining True Love, till the end of my days. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">May I learn to quiet my mind - placing Truth into my heart - to make room for He who cannot be contained! </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">God forgives a sinner, as must I, a sinner, forgive...</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Blessed Lent!</span></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-14422251724902244542009-02-13T09:47:00.000-08:002009-02-13T20:45:05.351-08:00Everything out in the open...<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SZW7GTJC8XI/AAAAAAAAAc0/eSCAUbWB1Ks/s1600-h/laundry.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302349853190451570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 235px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SZW7GTJC8XI/AAAAAAAAAc0/eSCAUbWB1Ks/s320/laundry.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">While speaking to a friend on the phone, FDR mentioned how much I missed my laundry chute and how EVERYTHING now is thrown into a hamper inside our room -- out in the open where others may happen to smell it -- EVERYDAY!</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I laughed...remembering how blissfully simple it was to toss all our dirty laundry down the chute into the darkness of the basement. I laugh...knowing full well that our dirty laundry is OUT IN THE OPEN for anyone to view. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Living at our old home was an oasis; it was an island of our very own. Privileged few saw anything out of place -- unfortunately only available to those residing inside. </span><span style="font-size:130%;">Nevertheless, here on campus in an apartment building among several other families, the magnifying glass is in front of me. Did I mention the laundry area is right outside our door? All who do their dreaded must-do chore hear, hopefully not always, the going ons of the Barberg gang. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Yesterday was an unexpected blessing. After minutes from throwing my back out, this community came calling offering all the help needed from watching/feeding children, setting up a chiropractor appointment, preparing a meal, precisely situating the heating pad while taking in the aroma of the un-showered moi. And then, then, the laundry was washed and folded!</span> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">A self-proclaimed (and many on-going confessions) control freak...a sassy "I'll-do-it-myself"; </span><span style="font-size:130%;">*this* allowing others IN is uncomfortable territory for me. But since I was stuck literally on my back, I had no other option and relinquished control. Letting go where others are, indeed, welcome into my mess, inspite of this messy soul, and are willingly embraced. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">To think that I had the nerve to believe one could handle anything on their own -- by hiding away -- by hibernating the soul! God-given love is the remedy. Carefully, I learn, for myself that is, that by allowing others to truly love you, to receive God's grace, and forgiveness... it is then one may start to heal...Lord have mercy!</span></div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">So, for now, I actually like my dirty laundry out there while tending to it more often -- rechecking and rechecking to make sure I am well enough to help others the way they have helped me.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Thank you!</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><strong>"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him who is alone when he falls, and doesn’t have another to lift him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10</strong></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-15775440772382317522009-02-06T07:43:00.000-08:002009-02-07T06:48:10.948-08:00Memory Lane...<span style="font-size:130%;"></span><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBfMbLCI/AAAAAAAAAck/k-UZM9wMKgU/s1600-h/me%26Kim.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299715340666350626" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 262px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBfMbLCI/AAAAAAAAAck/k-UZM9wMKgU/s320/me%26Kim.jpg" border="0" /></a> My twin sister, Kimmy, and me at our First Holy Communion when we were Catholic before we were Protestant and where I am now, Eastern Orthodox...whew! :)<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBY9t4gI/AAAAAAAAAcc/jtxbKK3wDbw/s1600-h/me.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299715338994049538" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 314px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBY9t4gI/AAAAAAAAAcc/jtxbKK3wDbw/s320/me.jpg" border="0" /></a> I think I am 17 here...with the Amy Grant look-a-like hair do!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBHbnHMI/AAAAAAAAAcU/8yaL4yRWn4E/s1600-h/prom.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299715334287596738" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 208px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYxfBHbnHMI/AAAAAAAAAcU/8yaL4yRWn4E/s320/prom.jpg" border="0" /></a> Senior Prom 1991!</div><div></div><div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Bear with me as I embellish my listening pleasure -- a little. Upon a stimulating response from a friend, and with all my affection, I shall fill the need to endulge our memories...</span></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-48581794460955808802009-01-29T17:30:00.000-08:002009-01-29T18:33:00.564-08:00Last word<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYJhIElNXgI/AAAAAAAAAcM/o2UsgBamEjo/s1600-h/corkkid.bmp"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296902903037779458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 212px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SYJhIElNXgI/AAAAAAAAAcM/o2UsgBamEjo/s320/corkkid.bmp" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Lately, okay more than once a day, I am entangled in this web of where I fail miserably in trying my hardest, against my will no less, in keeping my mouth shut. The battle of the wills surmounts in the never-ending need to get the last word in, or is that out? In other words, I would like to break the cycle of continuous arguments with my children. </span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">This largely occurs with my older two whenever it comes to chores, school work, when, how long and where they can spend time with their friends. I mean every time I say "no", "did you do your chores?" or "How about finishing your Math" etc... The correct answer being: "yes, Ma'am" or "no, Ma'am". However, I hear moans, groans, and the infamous but, but...it's not my fault!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Now reader, we have schedules of "to-do" lists for the work that is expected to be accomplished throughout a given day -- for all within the family. No one is exempt...For Goodness sakes! this is not at all new to anyone. So why the resistance? Why the weeping and gnashing of teeth? ARGH!!!!</span></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">I realize that yes, in fact, I am the parent here and not trying to make friends with my on-the-threshold-adolescent children. On many occasions I have been dubbed "the mean mommy" Although, I know this is par-for-the-course, yet it stings...a tad bit. No mom wants to be the meany. Yet, I know my actions and reactions toward the children's balking is to be firm while being loving. I lose site of loving them while remaining firm and lose the firmness while loving. The truth is I have never done this before. I've never raised a "tween" nor read the-book-of-the-month-club and lack the wisdom to write one on this topic. </span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">I love my children very much. Let me be honest, there are those times -- those moments when, well, I'd like to hop on the next available plane and head for Bali or Greece to escape it all. Reality hits knowing that I could not nor should I do this...unless, of course, the trip is well thought out and planned with my husband's blessing :)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:130%;"></span> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">While my finger-tips quickly form the words of my heated thoughts, dear hubby is preparing dinner, so that is an escape. In the background the two youngest are arguing about who knows what. Hannah puts out the fire. Colin helps his father set the table. It is, afterall, his "kitchen duty". So, that is also a break, right?</span></div><div> </div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Be thankful in the small moments. Ah! yes, to remain grateful. </span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size:130%;">Pray for me, a sinful mother, who seriously has no clue what she is doing. I live and pray only by God's grace - day to day. Thank God that is all He gives us...any more and this gal would find the nearest crazy house. Oh yes, she already lives there...</span> </div><div> </div><div>"Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth. A door of enclosure about my lips. Incline not my heart to evil words, to make excuses in sins..."Psalm 140:3-4a</div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-918277600157095664.post-6598176304489216522009-01-23T09:35:00.001-08:002009-01-23T14:11:39.567-08:00Moments at the March for Life...<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBlG2A2gI/AAAAAAAAAbs/Yj9H1s50xzQ/s1600-h/march6.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294546048931387906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBlG2A2gI/AAAAAAAAAbs/Yj9H1s50xzQ/s320/march6.jpg" border="0" /></a> In the midst of the massive amount of God's faithful believers, here my family stood for four hours...may the prayers of all be according to God's ultimate will.<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBlDYShII/AAAAAAAAAbk/mG0HPf7l3Hg/s1600-h/march8.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294546048001410178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBlDYShII/AAAAAAAAAbk/mG0HPf7l3Hg/s320/march8.jpg" border="0" /></a> FDR with Hannah and Colin<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBkzstA_I/AAAAAAAAAbc/mqPP4EV2nwI/s1600-h/march7.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294546043792065522" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBkzstA_I/AAAAAAAAAbc/mqPP4EV2nwI/s320/march7.jpg" border="0" /></a> I love this shot (well done DH) where you can get a glimpse of the amount of faithful that showed up on this beautiful sunny Washington DC day holding onto hope through their prayers<br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSgyfhjI/AAAAAAAAAbM/AdeTHMD_lCA/s1600-h/march5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294545729478428210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSgyfhjI/AAAAAAAAAbM/AdeTHMD_lCA/s320/march5.jpg" border="0" /></a> Met. JONAH of the OCA giving the first address to the faithful<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSfezmYI/AAAAAAAAAbE/X4VQ8H483vg/s1600-h/march4.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294545729127422338" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSfezmYI/AAAAAAAAAbE/X4VQ8H483vg/s320/march4.jpg" border="0" /></a> Hannah united with Srs. Vicki and Martha from the Monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA...happy smiles all around!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSNxC2dI/AAAAAAAAAa8/g9t2lTq6mlc/s1600-h/march3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294545724372081106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSNxC2dI/AAAAAAAAAa8/g9t2lTq6mlc/s320/march3.jpg" border="0" /></a> one of the many icon banners of St. Elizabeth and the Theotokos, as expectant mothers, bearing in their wombs the Forerunner John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, the Son of God!<br /><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSADDBDI/AAAAAAAAAa0/j-AzQppa2hQ/s1600-h/march2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294545720689493042" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoBSADDBDI/AAAAAAAAAa0/j-AzQppa2hQ/s320/march2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoAI06vcXI/AAAAAAAAAas/BY5Ks737OTE/s1600-h/MarchH%26L"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294544463571415410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoAI06vcXI/AAAAAAAAAas/BY5Ks737OTE/s320/MarchH%26L" border="0" /></a> Hannah with a friend, Lucy<br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoAIqSamdI/AAAAAAAAAak/9b6a4a_zQ5I/s1600-h/FDRMarch"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5294544460717922770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_w3IWxLMTv9k/SXoAIqSamdI/AAAAAAAAAak/9b6a4a_zQ5I/s320/FDRMarch" border="0" /></a> FDR in the thick of it all...awesome!</div><div> </div><div>The following is taken from the National Review by Frederica Matthews-Green</div><div><blockquote>Just two days after the inauguration, another crowd fills Washington<br />streets, the pro-lifers who gather each year for the "March for Life." This<br />January 22 marks the 36th anniversary of Roe v Wade, and after so many years<br />with little change or improvement, the nation has grown a bit blasé about this<br />annual demonstration against abortion. We still say abortion is a "hot issue"-<br />but if you think about it, it's not as hot as it used to be. The abortion<br />controversy used to command cover space on magazines, and TV networks showcased<br />hour-long debates. You don't see that anymore.<br /><br />You could say that<br />people just got tired of hearing about it. Year after year the two sides said<br />mostly the same thing, and nothing much changed. Eventually, public attention<br />was bound to sidle off to a newer, more exciting topic (gay marriage, anyone?).<br />When attention drifted, it was the pro-choice side that had command of the<br />status quo.<br />And you could say that that settles that; from now on there will<br />be less and less talk about abortion, and we'll just get used to things the way<br />they are.<br /><br />But I can imagine things going a different way. Not<br />soon-maybe not till the baby boomers have passed from the scene-but it's<br />possible that a younger generation will see abortion very differently. And the<br />reason is, as the saying goes, "Nobody knows when life begins." With abortions<br />now running around 1.2 million per year, the total number of abortions since Roe<br />v Wade is about 49 million. That's a big number-about a sixth of the US<br />population. It's a big number, if you're not absolutely sure that it's *not*<br />life.<br /><br />After all, if you saw a little girl hit by a car, you're<br />going to yell, "Get an ambulance!" not "Get a shovel!" It's in the very fabric<br />of humanity to be on the side of life, if there's the faintest hope that life<br />exists. We don't throw children away when we're not sure whether they're alive<br />or not. And, as the pro-choice side never stops saying, it's not that they're<br />positive a fetus is "not alive" - it's that they're not sure.<br /><br />When<br />I was a young fire-breathing college feminist in the early 70's, we didn't see<br />abortion as a melancholy private decision-it was an act of liberation. By<br />choosing abortion, a woman could show that she was the only person in charge of<br />her life, and bowed to no one else's control. But this formulation turned sour<br />as the grief felt by post-abortion woman began to accumulate. The flip side of<br />autonomy is loneliness, and for many women, their abortion decision was linked<br />to emotional abandonment.<br /><br />And then there was the advent of<br />ultrasound technology, enabling live images of a baby moving in the womb. In<br />1989, word went round the pro-life movement to order the tape of pollster<br />Harrison Hickman's presentation at that year's NARAL convention. On it he said,<br />"Nothing has been as damaging to our cause as the advances in technology which<br />have allowed pictures of the developing fetus, because people now talk about<br />that fetus in much different terms than they did 15 years ago. They talk about<br />it as a human being, which is not something that I have an easy answer how to<br />cure."<br /><br />So there are some reasons to think that the abortion<br />question has not been settled, but has merely gone underground. That might be a<br />necessary step. It has to go away so that it can be rediscovered, and seen in a<br />fresh light.<br /><br />I don't expect that reconsideration soon: my Boomer<br />generation will never see abortion as anything other than the wise and<br />benevolent gift we bestowed on all future generations. We still control the<br />media, the universities, and so forth, and it will take time for all of us to<br />topple off the end of the conveyer belt.<br /><br />But the time is coming<br />when a younger generation will be in charge, and they may well see abortion<br />differently. They could see it, not as "a woman's choice" but as a form of<br />state-sanctioned violence inflicted on their generation. It was their brothers<br />and sisters who died; anyone under the age of 36 could have been aborted (and<br />somewhere around a fourth or a fifth of all pregnancies, in fact, are aborted).<br />A younger generation might feel a strange kinship with the brothers and sisters,<br />classmates and coworkers, who are missing.<br /><br />And I'm afraid that, if<br />they do see things that way, they aren't going to go easy on my generation. Our<br />acceptance of abortion is not going to look like an understandable goof. The<br />next generation can fairly say, "It's not like they didn't know." They'll say,<br />"After all, they had sonograms." And they may judge us to be<br />monsters.<br /><br />Maybe that won't happen. Maybe future generations won't<br />think twice about abortion. But even we who have grown sick of talking about it<br />still harbor some doubts. In particular, people who think of themselves as<br />defenders of the weak and the oppressed must have many a quiet moment when they<br />wonder, "How, in this one issue, did I wind up on the side that's defending<br />death?"<br /><br />There's a lot of ambivalence out there, and a lot of<br />unspoken grief too, I think. So you never know. Pro-choice may have won the<br />day-but sooner or later, that day will end. No generation can rule from the<br />grave. When that time comes, another generation will sit in judgment of ours.<br />And they are not obligated to be kind.********Frederica Mathewes-Green<a href="http://www.frederica.com/" target="_blank">www.frederica.com</a><br /></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kelleylynnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14434578851575849465noreply@blogger.com6