Daily Meditation Inspiration

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The other day, while reading Fr. John's blog, a part of this post jumped out at me: "If you are a woman, don't try to be perfect clones of Mary the mother of Jesus. She was preserved from original sin; you weren't!


Choose instead Martha or Mary, the sisters of Lazarus of Bethany, depending on whether you are a doer or a dreamer.

In conclusion, be yourself! And if your immediate answer is: I'm not sure I know who I am! then as Margo Channing said in All About Eve: "Hold on tight! It's going to be a bumpy ride" . "

This relates to my striving to be like the Proverbs 31 woman.... she was a balanced combination, I believe of the "doer", Martha, and the "dreamer", Mary. I most definitely have mostly "dreamer Mary" tendencies. I love planning, and it is something I am fairly good at. Give me paper to write lists and ideas on, and I am a happy woman. I look at this picture and I so identify with Mary.

While I am not always at Jesus's feet in Adoration, I do love reading my spiritual blogs and books; and feel that while I am reading them that I am figuratively at His feet, learning more about how He wants me to live. Unfortunately, life being what it is, I am required to be much more of a "doer Martha". And this is something I am not as good at. I would much rather sit and think and plan or read or do some creative thing than settle down to the mundane, practical tasks required for living. Even now, while Busker is napping beside me, rather than taking advantage of having my arms free to clean (although I did take a couple of minutes to remove the bread dough from the breadmachine and set it to rise more in a warm oven), I am instead here - pondering, reading, learning.

I find that I get very easily overwhelmed by the physical aspect of homekeeping. There is just so much to remember and to do. Part of the being overwhelmed is not having a routine set up. I've never yet been able to stick to one. Now whether that means I haven't found one that works well or that I'm simply lazy... well, I don't know that I care to ponder that too much. I have a strong feeling that it's the latter, even with my ADHD clouding the issue.

Well, I should go. I have to run some errands, and I really do have a lot of work to do here in preparation for the weekend (we will be heading out to the LI house to ready it for the first Open House after M's wedding). I will have to dig up the "Martha" hat and do laundry, take King B's suit to the cleaner's, hit the thrift store to see if I can find a nice suit for Buddy (he

outgrew his and should wear one to my friend M's wedding on Saturday), and pack for the weekend. I think I will add in a "Mary" task though, and stop at AC Moore and pick out some sock yarn to try out some of the crocheted sock patterns I found earlier this week. And while I know crocheting does *produce* something and could technically fall under the "Martha" hat,

for me it really does feel more like a "Mary" thing.... as picking out the yarn, choosing the

pattern to follow (and learning how crocheted socks are constructed), and planning when/where to wear the new socks all involve the more "dreamer" parts of "doing". Hmmm, maybe that's a way I can get to develop my "Martha" side more - by incorporating as much of my "Mary"-ness as I can into it!

Blessings to you,

Welcome to Grasp the Spindle

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On September 30, 2007 the world lost an amazing woman. My grandmother was a prime example in my life of the "Proverbs 31" woman, and I was chosen to read that passage at her funeral Mass. This passage has been in my life for a long time. Upon first encountering it, early in my adult years, it was very intimidating. I wanted very much to emulate this praise-worthy woman, and yet most days I was lucky to get dinner on the table while nursing and changing the current baby. Of course, I had limited help and 3 children under 5 at that point, and always felt consumed by the baby's needs. Even now, with much more willing help (albeit limited by available time), I find I struggle with accomplishing all I feel I need to in order to be that Proverbs 31 woman.

After a few years of feeling intimidated by this passage, a particular phrase struck me: She orders her handmaidens. Ah, a revelation... no wonder I couldn't do it all by myself! The P31 woman didn't either - she had household help! And this became almost an excuse for letting things go when I was tired after working out of the home all day after my divorce. Rather than properly training my own force of handmaidens (and handgentleman), I "rested" from my daily labors, leaving the bulk of the housework to the weekends, and thus never feeling caught up.

Now, I find the passage a challenge. And I have learned that this intense period of baby needs won't last forever, so it's ok to have things not quite as I'd like them (although I'd like them a little better than they currently are today, however, the Princesses and Prince - *my* handmaidens and handgentleman - have been quite unwilling to do their chores of late, and I feel that if I cave and do them for them, I will only be reinforcing that), and in this apartment I know that unless I go out to the laundromat laundry will never be caught up (6 people full-time + itty bitty apartment-sized washer/dryer + dryer that doesn't dry in less than 2 or 3 cycles = Mt. Laundry the Unending), I am challenged to do better with creating HOME for my family.

While looking for a blog title that would encompass all I want to be able to do with this blog (there are myriad topics I want to be able to cover - crafting {especially crochet and fiber art}, homemaking/organizing, green/sustainable/frugal living, my faith/purposeful living), I returned to that passage. Since my favorite craft is crochet, and I'd love to learn how to handspin my own yarn, the phrase "grasp the spindle" jumped out at me from it. That phrase conjures for me the image of taking something unfinished and making something beautiful and useful from it.

I can't promise to post daily, or even weekly sometimes. I have 4 children living with me full time, one of them being only 7 weeks old. I will also be returning to my "day job" of teaching in an inner city school come May 1st. Since I want to strive to be a better homemaker, my blogging will have to take a back seat to other tasks.

I hope and pray that I am able to use this blog to help me keep focused on being that Proverbs 31 woman, just like my grandma was. I love and miss you Grandma!!

Blessings to you,