The Depth of Love

Often, I have asked my kids, "what is the depth of your love?  What is more important?  Is it how many times You say 'I Love You' or how many times you actually mean it?"

I wish to raise children who become like this Man, this Father  - I want boys who are- Never too old to learn something more about themselves! Even when they believe they already know everything that they need to know about themselves.  I wish for daughters who will challenge their husbands to love when it is hard to love, not just when it easy.

Our new born children's birth forced our own birth of our selves.   We went from selfish to selfless, it was a birth of our spirits  and our minds and in many ways of our physical beings.  May our  children carry on in that same manner.  May they love all, the perfect and imperfect, accepting every human one.

Click on these words to go to the ESPN video

Sunny Sundays

When you realize you wish to rise above perfection and accept being human- imperfections and all, it helps to look at it with a sunny disposition.

I found this to be something worth reading to understand how to do that.  Just a few minutes of your time, spare or not, for a lifetime reward of Sunny Days:  Read it here

In the end, the perfect day may just await you, whether it is actually sunny or not, it can still be a "not perfect"  but " perfectully human day".

Enjoy your Sunday!

October and The Rosary

Hail Mary

I wanted to show you a post from an amazing mom and Catholic Author

Click on the above highlighted text (not the picture)  to be led to favorite quotes about the beloved and meditative rosary prayer.

Let me add a quote from my little middle school nun teacher,

"Each Hail Mary you say is like laying a rose before the Blessed Mother"

When my children were little (well lil' Hen Bird is still little and does still do this) they would bring me dandelions from the yard, in big yellow bouquets.  

I am sure your children have done the same. 

 How beautiful is it that we can deliver bouquets of roses to the Blessed Mother with each Hail, Mary?  My hope is that you will be touched by these quotes from the link above and send some loving prayer and bouquets to heaven.  Meditate on the mysteries of the Mother and Her Son, Jesus.

Blessings and Love from the Hen Nest  

We Need More Little House on the Prairie Attitude

This resonated with me today.

Post by Jaime Primak Sullivan.

Where have all the Pa, Ma, Mary and Laura Ingalls gone?  

Why are we over run with Nellie's, Nellie's behavior and Nellie=like MOMS??

This runs personal for all of us, this didn't start over night, it is like little flames that have turned into a burning AMAZON jungle and the Amazon is precious.  People's presence in our life is a gift.  Maybe you do not feel they are the best gift you have received, maybe you wish there was a simple return  policy like Kohl's has, no receipt, no tags, no problem.  But real life relationships do not work like that.

Why do we have to say this?   Why do we not, as adults, know this already?

But we do and we choose to make Mean Nellie Choices anyway........

(and I think the majority of us feel like absolute Sheet afterwards, too and then we beat ourselves up, which doesn't make ourselves feel any better so we go back out and repeat the same cycle.....)

So what does that say about Society?

I do not have a worldwide answer, I am going to try to LIVE this daily

"Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” 
― Mother Teresa

I'm going to try to say, do, think it all with LOVE at the forefront, for others and for me.  Not pride, not personal gain, not jealousy, envy, sloth, and gluttony.  I am just going to try try try to live what Jesus said

TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED

dedicated to my friend, Marianne, who taught me the Golden Rule by example : )

Shopping with A Sunflower

This morning I was shopping in my favorite grocery store!  I actually drive to another state to shop there because sadly, New York  does not have everything. Well, it does!!! ( just not near me)  so, I drive to CT **sometimes** to do my weekly shopping at-.....can you guess???  Wide aisles, beautiful produce, fresh sourdough bread :)

Today, I saw so many wonderful things

Okay, I didn't actually see this ^  (( but I really wish I had)) :) :) :)

Instead, what I saw, made my heart and soul explode even more.

A mother was shopping with her daughter, who was drooling, not over the food mind you, but because she had no control over the drool. She was pushing the shopping cart with a guiding hand from her mom.  She was quiet with brown eyes, reminding me of the middle of the the seed head in an autumn sunflower.  Eyes which were wide and watching the people attempting to avoid her. 

Her Mother's beautiful sing song voice was floating around us.  Like a leaves falling from the tree, it was filled with colorful ideas about everything that was on their list, all the items in the store, and the thoughts of the people they were shopping for this morning.  None of us could not help but hear the mom.  She was a happy kind of loud with no apparent stress, no anxiety, just a beautiful mother's voice.  

We slowed down to help the girl and her mom shop around us.  We could not help but see the differences in the daughters gait and facial expressions from our own but like a cool autumn breeze, change had blown through the aisles and colorful moods and expressions attempted to penetrate the sunflower stare.

ALL of us, were shopping with the mother and her flower.  Happiness spilled into our carts and our cares and we all began asking the daughter ((and each other)) questions about our list or expressing thoughts about the loved ones we, too, were shopping for this morning.

Everyone blossomed!

Dedicated to my Beautiful Friend, Tiffany :)

Read her story by clicking HERE