Last week was Reflection Week in the Roman Catholic Church and schools actually closed for this holiday. It was created for a very good purpose, to give people a chance to reflect over their lives before Easter. A very good idea in my opinion.
But in reality, nothing is different. In fact, the pace of life increases instead of having a spirit of solemn contemplation. Young people hang around town in groups. The streets swarm with a harried crowd racing from store to store to find their Easter baskets and "palm branches." People are wildly beating rugs and feriously washing windows in preparation for their great "Wielkanoc" (Easter). All the town flocks to the market to buy new curtains and rugs for their newly cleaned houses. Actually, the whole country is in a frenzy to make sure that they are following their age-old traditions surrounding Easter.
The church is busier than usual, it is true. Many stop for a few minutes of reflection on their way to town. But are these people reflecting on the true conditions of their heart? As they deprive themselves of something dear to them during their "Great Fast", are they comprehending the true meaning of what they are doing? As they carry their branches to church on Palm Sunday, do they really think about Jesus coming to the earth as King for them personally? As they carry their baskets to church to be blessed by the priest for their Easter breakfast, are they contemplating the true meaning of the bread, the egg, and the meat that they carried within?
Then I look at my own heart? How many times am I just doing what I'm doing because I feel obligated? How many times is my heart far away from my actions? How many times am I doing my duty out of habit and not an initiative of my own. My greatest pray is to really understand the sufferings that Jesus endured for my sins personally. I want to make the cross a daily experience for myself. How I long for the cross and resurrection to have real meaning in my life.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday, March 16, 2007
Spring Cleaning is Dangerous!!!
My house was in sad need of a cleaning from top to bottom today . I was planning to clean the downstairs yesterday, but I've learned the flexibility is essential here. I didn't get one thing cleaned yesterday. So, this morning, I'm thinking that I will do a quick over all cleaning. But as I began looking at the living room I saw so many things that needed to be cleaned I decided to spring clean the whole room. Very dangerous! So instead of cleaning my house, I spent all day cleaning my living room. I was washing and hanging out curtains, polishing the lights and windows, dusting the shelves, cleaning out magazine racks, wiping the baseboards, and oh, my, everything looked so nice. Such a good feeling!!!
The last thing that needed to be done was to roll up the big rug and haul it outside. These sweepers over here are for the birds. Every so often we just have to take our carpets out and beat all that dust out of them, which isn't impossible since we don't have wall-to-wall carpet. So, bless their hearts, Austin and Robin hoisted the rolled up rug and hauled it out and I could hear "Whack! Whack!" What a lovely sound. I quickly swept and mopped so it would be dry and ready when it was ready to be laid down. Soon, Robin comes in and says, "You won't believe this, but the neighbor lady saw us out there beating rugs and she decides hers needs to be beat, too. So, our comes her husband laden with their rug. 'Only a little one!' she told them. Ha! It was big!" So they got a double job. But what a blessing! My rug is nice and bright and I can just feel that everything is cleaner.
And the final stroke was to move out the couch! That is dangerous. How embarrassing! Here is what I found:
1. 4 matchbox cars
2. 3 dice, all different colors
3. a pencil
4. a broken pen, plus two that still worked
5. various game cards and game pieces
6. play money
7. blocks
8. Derek's favorite recorder
9. peanut shells
10. an eraser
11. a crayon
12.a puzzle
13. legos
14. a screw
15. a sticky blob of something
16. 2 children's books
17. a table knife
18. 1,000 dustballs
Ok, everyone! Move out your furniture and you will be appalled at the discovery!!! And sadly, the rest of my house waits to be cleaned. Next week perhaps???
The last thing that needed to be done was to roll up the big rug and haul it outside. These sweepers over here are for the birds. Every so often we just have to take our carpets out and beat all that dust out of them, which isn't impossible since we don't have wall-to-wall carpet. So, bless their hearts, Austin and Robin hoisted the rolled up rug and hauled it out and I could hear "Whack! Whack!" What a lovely sound. I quickly swept and mopped so it would be dry and ready when it was ready to be laid down. Soon, Robin comes in and says, "You won't believe this, but the neighbor lady saw us out there beating rugs and she decides hers needs to be beat, too. So, our comes her husband laden with their rug. 'Only a little one!' she told them. Ha! It was big!" So they got a double job. But what a blessing! My rug is nice and bright and I can just feel that everything is cleaner.
And the final stroke was to move out the couch! That is dangerous. How embarrassing! Here is what I found:
1. 4 matchbox cars
2. 3 dice, all different colors
3. a pencil
4. a broken pen, plus two that still worked
5. various game cards and game pieces
6. play money
7. blocks
8. Derek's favorite recorder
9. peanut shells
10. an eraser
11. a crayon
12.a puzzle
13. legos
14. a screw
15. a sticky blob of something
16. 2 children's books
17. a table knife
18. 1,000 dustballs
Ok, everyone! Move out your furniture and you will be appalled at the discovery!!! And sadly, the rest of my house waits to be cleaned. Next week perhaps???
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Could Spring Really Be Here?
John's student says, "No, it's impossible. Spring came too easy. There will be more snow and cold." Maybe so....
...but for now I see little brave crocuses breaking through the hard ground...I see green buds on my rosebushes...I see that the snow drifts have disappeared...and I hear birds...I feel a warmth in the air...I see the world waking up around me...
...And I choose to rejoice and believe that Spring is here and I will enjoy it to the full and believe it is here to stay!!!
I told the children today that we should have a "Welcome Spring" picnic soon just to celebrate that winter is gone!!!
And somehow I choose to rejoice in the feelings of newness in my heart as well. Why does it feel so much easier to rejoice and feel happy in the Spring of the year?
...but for now I see little brave crocuses breaking through the hard ground...I see green buds on my rosebushes...I see that the snow drifts have disappeared...and I hear birds...I feel a warmth in the air...I see the world waking up around me...
...And I choose to rejoice and believe that Spring is here and I will enjoy it to the full and believe it is here to stay!!!
I told the children today that we should have a "Welcome Spring" picnic soon just to celebrate that winter is gone!!!
And somehow I choose to rejoice in the feelings of newness in my heart as well. Why does it feel so much easier to rejoice and feel happy in the Spring of the year?
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Keeping Sane For the Weekend
Overnight guests can throw my weekends into an frenzy. In fact, this past weekend we had seven young people from Ukraine visiting us. That doubled the amount of people in our house. There are a few things that make entertaining more stressful for me here than in the states. I have...
...a small oven
...not a huge fridge
...a small table which means always cafeteria style
...no dryer
...not enough towels and washclothes
...limited storage space
So, I will share a few things I have learned in the past few years to adjust to my predicament when I have guests. I started cooking and baking on the Monday (almost a week ahead) so I wouldn't be trying to bake everything all at the same time. What a relief it was on the weekend to pull out fried hamburger for taco soup, mint brownies and pecan pie bars, baked apple doughnut muffins, and cinnamon rolls all ready to just thaw and be served.
On Tuesday I made out all my menus for the weekend (great idea). It was a comfort to just consult my list magneted to my fridge to see what the next meal was going to be and to know I had everything prepared and ready. Not one thought had to be directed to what I was going to have for the next meal. And I tried to keep it all simple. No time to try new recipes!!!
On Wednesday I went shopping for all the ingredients and stashed my cupboards full. I did find some frustration that my family couldn't understand why they couldn't eat all the apples and taco chips right now that mom had bought for the weekend. And a few things disappeared until the Saturday and had to be replaced, but it still was pretty stress-free to have all my ingredients at my fingertips.
On Thursday, I began cleaning my downstairs. I simply can't clean the whole house well all in one day. I spent the day cleaning out the childrens' rooms and the downstairs bathrooms. How nice it was on Friday to have half of my cleaning behind me.
On Friday, the day of arrival, I cleaned the main floor. I took out an hour or more to visit a friend that I had promised to go see this week. But, despite all my organization, I still worked up to the last moment. I did have time to whip up a breakfast burrito casserole to pop in the oven for brunch the next morning and also grate all my cabbage for my crockpot kraut and sausage dish for our meal at church on Sunday. I changed all the sheets, and that is always a circus because the beds over here aren't set up for American covers, sheets, etc.
My weekend was a whirlwind of activity. All day Saturday and all day Sunday was filled with activities and I never had one moment to do anything but survive. But it wasn't all that stressful thanks to my busy week of preparation.
And Monday morning, after they all left, I went downstairs to assess the situation. Embarrassed, I noticed that in both of my bathrooms there was not one towel or washcloth left!!! Oh, my, I do hope that none of them had to drip dry or anything. And I also found a batch of laundry that I had thrown in the washer Saturday morning, but never had time to get it hung up all weekend. And I will still be washing until at least Wednesday. The joys of no dryer!!!
All things considered, I count it a good weekend.
...a small oven
...not a huge fridge
...a small table which means always cafeteria style
...no dryer
...not enough towels and washclothes
...limited storage space
So, I will share a few things I have learned in the past few years to adjust to my predicament when I have guests. I started cooking and baking on the Monday (almost a week ahead) so I wouldn't be trying to bake everything all at the same time. What a relief it was on the weekend to pull out fried hamburger for taco soup, mint brownies and pecan pie bars, baked apple doughnut muffins, and cinnamon rolls all ready to just thaw and be served.
On Tuesday I made out all my menus for the weekend (great idea). It was a comfort to just consult my list magneted to my fridge to see what the next meal was going to be and to know I had everything prepared and ready. Not one thought had to be directed to what I was going to have for the next meal. And I tried to keep it all simple. No time to try new recipes!!!
On Wednesday I went shopping for all the ingredients and stashed my cupboards full. I did find some frustration that my family couldn't understand why they couldn't eat all the apples and taco chips right now that mom had bought for the weekend. And a few things disappeared until the Saturday and had to be replaced, but it still was pretty stress-free to have all my ingredients at my fingertips.
On Thursday, I began cleaning my downstairs. I simply can't clean the whole house well all in one day. I spent the day cleaning out the childrens' rooms and the downstairs bathrooms. How nice it was on Friday to have half of my cleaning behind me.
On Friday, the day of arrival, I cleaned the main floor. I took out an hour or more to visit a friend that I had promised to go see this week. But, despite all my organization, I still worked up to the last moment. I did have time to whip up a breakfast burrito casserole to pop in the oven for brunch the next morning and also grate all my cabbage for my crockpot kraut and sausage dish for our meal at church on Sunday. I changed all the sheets, and that is always a circus because the beds over here aren't set up for American covers, sheets, etc.
My weekend was a whirlwind of activity. All day Saturday and all day Sunday was filled with activities and I never had one moment to do anything but survive. But it wasn't all that stressful thanks to my busy week of preparation.
And Monday morning, after they all left, I went downstairs to assess the situation. Embarrassed, I noticed that in both of my bathrooms there was not one towel or washcloth left!!! Oh, my, I do hope that none of them had to drip dry or anything. And I also found a batch of laundry that I had thrown in the washer Saturday morning, but never had time to get it hung up all weekend. And I will still be washing until at least Wednesday. The joys of no dryer!!!
All things considered, I count it a good weekend.
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