I gave up driving over the speed limit one year - that was hard 😅😂
Another year my husband and I gave up driving within our bike-friendly town. Going to church took thirty minutes longer than usual, so it required more thoughtful planning.
The past few years, I’ve taken on a practice of sitting outside (weather permitting) for five minutes doing nothing (although this year, I’m bird-watching) and then weeding for ten minutes. I don’t do much gardening or yard work usually, so it’s a change in rhythm and somehow reminds me that I’m a body.
This year I gave up the snooze button! I never used to need it but I've gotten into some bad habits. My penitential practice is no radio setting for my morning alarm, just the obnoxious beeping, and I have to get right up and start my morning stretches without lingering in bed.
I just finished Small Things Like These. I don’t even know what to say. 😢 it was a hard thing to read and just pains my heart so much, as trite as that sounds.
So much good stuff in here! Where can I get my very own mousekeeper? 🥰 And for Lent this year, I am reading "40 Days of Decrease" which presents more unorthodox things to fast from (tidy faith, artificial light, speeding past grief, etc), it's been a good shift for me this year.
I took a pretty little antique sugar bowl with a lid and filled it with 40 little slips of paper. On each slip of paper is the name of a child, a godchild, a coworker, a neighbor, a nephew, a friend….Each morning I look forward to pulling out a name and saying a little prayer for that person by name.
We are lucky enough to have a space in our home we’ve slowly been turning into a ‘chapel.’ My parents got us a kneeler for Christmas that finally arrived, and I’m making myself spend 15 min of consecutive prayer specifically in the ‘chapel’. I can moan internally a lot about not having adoration nearby, or how hard it is to go to daily mass with two very little ones, and on and on. So I’m trying to focus on what I do have as a sacred space and not just be content with prayers said as I’m half-asleep in my bed.
I gave up driving over the speed limit one year - that was hard 😅😂
Another year my husband and I gave up driving within our bike-friendly town. Going to church took thirty minutes longer than usual, so it required more thoughtful planning.
The past few years, I’ve taken on a practice of sitting outside (weather permitting) for five minutes doing nothing (although this year, I’m bird-watching) and then weeding for ten minutes. I don’t do much gardening or yard work usually, so it’s a change in rhythm and somehow reminds me that I’m a body.
One year I vowed to do 3 things each day that I didn’t want to do. It gave me insight into the things I tend to avoid and why…
This year I gave up the snooze button! I never used to need it but I've gotten into some bad habits. My penitential practice is no radio setting for my morning alarm, just the obnoxious beeping, and I have to get right up and start my morning stretches without lingering in bed.
I just finished Small Things Like These. I don’t even know what to say. 😢 it was a hard thing to read and just pains my heart so much, as trite as that sounds.
This is such a treasure trove. Thank you for sharing these blessings!
May I have a gift link to the NYT article? Thank you! 😊
So much good stuff in here! Where can I get my very own mousekeeper? 🥰 And for Lent this year, I am reading "40 Days of Decrease" which presents more unorthodox things to fast from (tidy faith, artificial light, speeding past grief, etc), it's been a good shift for me this year.
I took a pretty little antique sugar bowl with a lid and filled it with 40 little slips of paper. On each slip of paper is the name of a child, a godchild, a coworker, a neighbor, a nephew, a friend….Each morning I look forward to pulling out a name and saying a little prayer for that person by name.
We are lucky enough to have a space in our home we’ve slowly been turning into a ‘chapel.’ My parents got us a kneeler for Christmas that finally arrived, and I’m making myself spend 15 min of consecutive prayer specifically in the ‘chapel’. I can moan internally a lot about not having adoration nearby, or how hard it is to go to daily mass with two very little ones, and on and on. So I’m trying to focus on what I do have as a sacred space and not just be content with prayers said as I’m half-asleep in my bed.
I read “Small Things Like These” the week after Christmas. Exquisite! Haunting.
I just ordered “Foster” — thanks for the reminder.
I’ll try the podcast too.
Thanks!