Tuesday Tidbits #4

Running Through My Head Today:

Good Time by Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen and Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammer

I must admit that I didn't know who Andy Grammer was (though I did know some of his songs) until about a week ago when we found out that John had been given four tickets to the Brewer's Game which included an Andy Grammer post-game concert. The game was a lot of fun (even though the Brewers made the Padres look good, which is really saying something!) but went 12 innings and so the concert started really late - I think after 11. We stayed for 4 or 5 songs and it was a lot of fun.

Grateful For:

Having Gus home! He just finished his Sophomore year at Thomas Aquinas College. There are a lot of changes around here since he was last home and we were particularly excited to have him finally meet Zita! (They hit it off right away.)

Everything Keeps Coming Up...

Getting more active. John has had a Fitbit for awhile now and it has really motivated him to get in better shape. He does a lot of stairs during breaks at work. Terri is interested in becoming an EMT and wants to get in better shape for that, so she bought a Fitbit too. Most of the rest of the family were able to get pedometers on our cell phones and have been eagerly trying to pass the 10,000 steps mark each day. We are all wondering what would happen if we were able to track the steps of Zita the Space Dog. ;)

Playing:

Baseball! Track season is winding down and Little League has started for Kate and Frank. Looks like we'll be rooting for the Cardinals and the Astros this year. :)

 
Reading:

Aside from all the previously mentioned books that I haven't yet finished, I started re-skimming (i.e. going through the parts I've highlighted on my Kindle) Caryll Houselander's Reed of God. I made a little Marian notebook to try to help process and remember some of the wonderful tidbits from the 33 Days to Morning Glory Consecration and thought some of the choice quotes from Reed of God would be a nice addition. Unfortunately these kinds of things never end up as pretty as I'd like when I start copying out a lot of material (and I had picked out an un-lined notebook, which has its ups and downs) but I think it will be just ride to skim through when I need it.

The Reed of God is probably my favorite book about Mary. It's especially helpful for those who have grown up with misunderstandings about Mary or who have frustrations or misunderstandings about the role of women in the Church and in the world. 

Watching:

Whenever our college kids come home, we are eager to share with them all of the movies and what not that they have missed out on since they were last home. For Gus, we started out with Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, which was enjoyed by all. John and I saw it on a whim last summer and were amazed at how much we enjoyed it. The opera sub-theme alone made it worth watching. :) It's the fifth in the Mission Impossible series, but the first one that we had seen. It stands up pretty well on its own. Also, the stunts, which Tom Cruise does himself, are phenomenal.

Other movies on his catch-up list:

The Martian
X-Men (especially Days of Future Past)
Cutthroat Kitchen
Kids' Baking Championship
Captain America: Civil War
Jungle Book 


Quote I'm Pondering: 

Something I found on Facebook recently:

Love one another.
Jesus; John 13:34

The only remedy against loneliness is communication,
to touch someone, not only physically,
but gladly, joyfully, simply, in a friendly fashion.
It is quite easy if you really love people
but you have to love your brothers and sisters as they are.
Servant of God, Catherine Doherty, 20th century

I was thinking about this partly in terms of how God wants us to help others. Not only do we have to love them as they are, but we also have to remember that our job isn't to change who they are. Even though we need to strive for virtue and good judgment and things like that, we still approach a situation as ourselves, with all of our particular strengths and limitations. (More about that here: Living Differently - Be Who You Are Meant to Be). This is one way in which we can begin to define what we should do and how we can help in a particular situation. But this is also critical to remember in looking at others (and especially our own children!). Everyone has their own strengths and limitations and needs to accept and work within that context. I also find it help to remember (particularly in working to understand and appreciate others) that with certain strengths tend to come certain limitations. Which reminds me of another wonderful quote...

I distribute the virtues quite diversely; I do not give all of them to each person, but some to one, some to others… I shall give principally charity to one; justice to another; humility to this one, a living faith to that one… And so I have given many gifts and graces, both spiritual and temporal, with such diversity that I have not given everything to one single person, so that you may be constrained to practice charity towards one another… I have willed that one should need another and that all should be my ministers in distributing the graces and gifts they have received from me. – The Catechism of the Catholic Church #1937, quoting the Dialogue of Jesus to St. Catherine of Siena