Our Lady of Guadalupe

Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, everyone! Enjoy!



And on this special day, it is a good reminder to pray for Fr. Tom Kraft, OP, our dear priest and friend who has end-stage esophageal cancer. Fr. Tom despite being exceptionally weak and rather fragile, has been traveling to visit both family and communities that he served. He and his brother are currently in Mexicali, Mexico (where Fr. Tom had lived and served for 8 years) for the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Please pray for Fr. Tom's strength of body and heart as he completes this trip, and please pray his comfort and peace, as well.

Cold Weather Comfort

It's cold in Seattle. Freakin' cold. The kind of cold where you can wear a sweater and a down jacket, and a hat and cashmere gloves too, and still be cold. The forecast is calling for snow this weekend, and more likely than not, it will snow.

Yup, it's cold around here.

And I know it's cold not because the heat in my home is set to "high", and not because of what the forecast tells me. Rather, I know it's cold because I have this great urge to knit. This evening, I grabbed some fabulous yarn, "Maeve" handspun - wool, recycled sari silk, glitz and more (thanks Jess!) - and began contemplating what to make out of it. Yes, for me, that's the first sign of Winter... my desire to knit something fun (and warm)!

And, too, despite my desire to snuggle in with a warm cup of tea, knitting needles and yarn in hand, I find myself thinking of far-off lands. This weekend, I wish I were here instead:

(The Dead Sea Resort in Jordan)

Doesn't this place look luxuriously warm and fabulous?! When I was there last, the daytime highs were 115F and the lows were mid-to-upper 80s. Sounds pretty good to me right now!

Meme - Tag, You're It!

Alex, over at Vitus Speaks, tagged me in the meme -- my very first one!

1) If you had one million dollars to give to any three charities, which ones would you choose and why?

• The Dougy Center: The Dougy Center is a non-profit center founded in Portland, OR. It was the first center in the nation to provide grieving children with peer-counseling. In the past 26 years, their centers have spread all over the nation. When my father died, I remember feeling like no one understood, that my brother and I were somehow different from all the other children in the world. The Dougy Center helped me to feel less isolated and alone. Though we only went there briefly, it was such a life-line to me as a child. The Dougy Center has provided that same refuge and peace for countless other grieving children. They are fabulous!

• The Missionaries of Charity: The mission of this order is "to labor for the sanctification and salvation of the poorest of the poor all over the world". Mother Teresa is truly a modern-day saint and her work and love of the poor carries on in the Missionaries of Charity.

• St. Vincent de Paul: Growing up, we had a very active St. V's group in our parish. I saw, first-hand, much of the good they did in our community. They're still doing a lot of good work in our parish here in Seattle. Go St. V!

2) If you could only ever read three books again, which ones would you choose and why?

• Le Petit Prince by Antione de St. Exupery: (in French, of course) Yes, I know, this is a children's book, but I love, love, LOVE it!!! It's simply one of the best books ever written! The rose, the sunsets, the Little Prince...

• Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light: Um, it should be pretty clear by now that I'm pretty big Mother Teresa fan. Mother Teresa's words are so inspiring and always have a way of just speaking to my heart.

• Anything written by Henri Nouwen. I'd be remiss to choose just one of his books.

3) If you could somehow incorporate three people (living or dead) into your family, who would you want to be related to?

Like Alex Vitus, and Scott, who tagged him, I'm also pretty dang pleased with my family. I love my family! Still, there are plenty of people who I'm not related to, whom I've incorporated into my family. My "Grandparents", my "Auntie", my German "Sister", my Mentor, and Fr. Steve (who is very much my "Dad") all come to mind. I'm not actually related to any of them, but it doesn't matter, we're all family anyway. As far as I'm concerned, I am related to them. It would be impossible to choose just three...

And now, for the meme part of the Meme... Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Mo... I choose: Brit at Running Stitch, Kevin at Wholly Catholic, and Neil at The Deposit of Faith.