yesterday's crap

This morning, after lecturing for about an hour on introjection and projective indentification, my psychology professor rubbed his face and bald head vigorously, then looked at us and said this:

"Ok, look. It's like this. People from today catch the crap from yesterday. See you next class."

for those of you who remember joe and samo

Joe has been in jail for four years (actually prison for some of that time) and just got out last week. Please pray for him. Of course all the bad stuff shows up and tries to ensnare right away, and he is trying hard to stay clean, pray, go to church, get a job, etc....

Samo is still in juvenile hall and will be out in June. That is if his mouth doesn't get him in trouble. Please pray for him, too. I miss him.

Jackie (their mom) is doing so well... has given her life to Jesus, has been clean for about three years, goes to church, has a job and a house and a car. All praise goes to Jesus, who never gives up on us.

It was soooo good to see Joe walk through our door.

come be my light

I have just finished reading the book of Mother Teresa's letters.

It took me a while.

It's pretty intense.

Recently much has been made of her apparent 'crisis of faith'. I know this might surprise you, but the media didn't exactly get it right.

I have always been an admirer of Mother Teresa's. After reading her letters--which begin before her calling to start the Missionaries of Charity and follow through until her death-- I am even more humbled by this woman who gave her life to Jesus in loving the poorest of the poor.

She brought the light of God's love into the darkest of places.

It seemed fitting to me that on September 5, 1997, the night she died, there was an electricity outage in the city. Two separate emergency lines brought in also failed, which had never happened before.

While Calcutta was in darkness, the earthly life of the one who had brought so much light to this city and to the whole world was extinguished.
--Brian Kolodiejchuk, author

Here are just a few words from Mother Teresa. Her letters are filled with them:

"People are hungry for God. What a terrible meeting it would be with our neighbor if we give them only ourselves."

"Do we know who our own poor are? Do we know our neighbor, the poor of our own area? It is easy for us to talk and talk about the poor of other places. Very often we have the suffering, we have the lonely, we have the people--old, unwanted, feeling miserable--and they are near us and we don't even know them. We have no time even to smile at them."

"God is in love with us and keeps giving Himself to the world--through you--through me... May you continue to be the sunshine of His love to your people and thus make your life something truly beautiful for God."

"First thing in the morning... offer Him everything you will say, or do during the day. Love Him with a deep, personal, intimate love..."

Thanksgiving 2007

quote for the day

Coming home from very lonely places, all of us go a little mad: whether from great personal success, or just an all-night drive, we are the sole survivors of a world no one else has ever seen.

-- John le Carre

from the I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HEAR MYSELF SAY THIS department

"What the heck did I do with my protractor?!"

indecent exposure...exposed

"That's the big difference between us," he said with a shrug. "You Westerners make love in public and pray in private. We Muslims do exactly the opposite."

--Time magazine article

raise your hand if you think...

...we should have some grandbabies.

(thank you to the Cosbys for sharing in our time of need.)

garden love

Yeah. Check out our string beans.

I married a man who, in addition to other desirable qualities, has a green thumb.

Happy me.

the sound of your voice

bella for life

Brad and I went to the movies with my son Nate and his girlfriend Kim tonight.

It was an incredible film.

Go see it before it leaves the theater.

phone conversation with friend

"Well... at least it made for a good blog post."

"That's really what it all comes down to."

rent this movie. seriously. do it.