Being Perfect

An important reminder for this sometimes-still-perfectionist mom. :)
There's some really good stuff in this one.

Being Perfect-Fr. Josh Waltz

Lent 2020

Ready or not, Lent 2020 is happening NOW!

An idea I am bringing into this Lent is one that I heard Fr. Mike speak on this past November at the University of Mary. Instead of looking at Lent as a time of giving something up, we should look at it as a time of spiritual training. We want to emerge on Easter Sunday as stronger Christians, not the same Christians who just start eating chocolate again.



Here are a few videos I have found helpful as I prepare to enter into Lent 2020. . . .

Why isn't Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation? Fr. Mike Schmitz

How to Do Lent Differently Fr. Mark-Mary, the CFRs

Where is Lent in the Bible? Fr. Mike Schmitz (from 2017, but still good) :)

Telling the Story of God's Love

We just need to tell the story. That story can be as simple as including, " . . . and then I went to church . . . as you tell about your weekend."

Evangelization has to be RIGHT HERE before it is OUT THERE.

"See a need, fill a need."

Good stuff here--

Fr. Mike on Evangelization:

Telling the Story of God's Love

Returning by a Different Way

I recently discovered Fr. Josh Waltz, who is a priest in Bismarck, ND. I really appreciate his homilies, and since Bismarck is just a little over two hours from where I grew up, I also feel like we're neighbors. (Because that's how you define neighbors in the Midwest, or at least that's how I do.) :) 
This one from Epiphany looks closely at the Magi, and how after they encountered Christ and gave Him their gifts, returned by a different way. We are called to do the same.

Returning by a Different Way

Rachael Ray Doesn't Bake.

Rachael Ray doesn't bake.
She admits she doesn't bake.
Generally, if there is something to be baked on camera for The Rachael Ray Show, she has a staff member or guest bake it for her.
She doesn't bake.

She. Doesn't. Have. to. Bake.

Just think for a moment, though, what would have happened, if decades ago as a waitress in upstate New York, she had relented, "Oh, I can't become a successful cook/TV host/cookbook author/furniture designer/pet food developer/advocate for hunger, because, well, I don't bake. . . ."?

Of course, there have been countless decisions and steps that have led to her success in all of the areas and more mentioned above, but the most important quality I see when looking in on her career is one very important thing she didn't do at the very beginning.
She didn't disqualify herself based on something she didn't--and still doesn't--do.

"Things You Don't have to Do to be a Good Catholic Woman," by Haley Stewart, was written a few years ago for Carrots for Michaelmas. When I first read this, I was struck by all of the things I used to think a good, holy, Catholic woman looked like. The items listed are almost all characteristics that at one time or another I thought disqualified me in one way or another on my journey toward holiness and God's plan for my life, simply because that's not what my life looked like. The Church never taught me that; I just took these misconceptions to be true. Isn't it funny (not in a funny way) how our minds can make our differences disqualifying when we might not even realize it? The truth is, it isn't funny in any way--it is truly sad how many times I have disqualified myself from the plans God has for my life when He just asked me to follow. He never asked me to solve a complicated algebra equation--or "bake"--he just asked me, asks me, and all of us, to follow.

While we're on the topic of the tendency to disqualify ourselves, this three-part homily series from last January/February is what first really got me to examine how I have disqualified myself in all sorts of areas in my life in the past. These homilies from Fr. Mike are dear to my heart, and are always a reminder that God never asks us to use gifts that He hasn't given us.


Disqualified: Prevented or Prepared?

Disqualified: Remarkably Average

Disqualified: Unfit

Noisy Children and the Life of our Church

As a mom who has been there on many a Saturday night Mass alone with three young children, I know without a doubt that fortitude comes directly from the Holy Spirit. Wrangling the frequent circus that often escalated in our pew was definitely not done on my own power. In fact, after one particularly difficult Mass for the Melius kids, a parishioner told his wife, "If she keeps coming, it will be a miracle." 
Yes, it was a miracle. Through God's grace, that beautiful gift of fortitude, friendly parishioners' encouragement, and good old-fashioned German stubbornness, we all made it through those trying toddler years to the years when my boys would race each other into church to be chosen as an altar server for that Sunday.
After a few quiet years as the younger generation took time to go to college, get married, and start their own families, our parish is now alive with the sound of babies and children. Our priest, Fr. Tom, consistently thanks their parents for bringing them to mass, and I hope our young families continue to feel encouraged in their faithful presence.
We each have a responsibility to pass the faith down to the next generation. If all you can manage is a smile for a young parent, that will be enough.


From "Noisy Children at Mass are Part of our Catholic Community," by Christina Antus, bustedhalo.com--

Sometimes all we have when it comes to our faith is perseverance, especially when it’s hard. If I stop going to Mass because my kids are little and loud, or busy and distracting, I set an example for them that church isn’t important. If I quit, I will have failed God, who entrusted my children to me so that I could love them and raise them to love him. 

When we baptized our children, we promised we would raise them in the faith. I have come to understand that motherhood is my vocation and a huge part of that is to make sure my kids have a foundation in their Christian faith. Even though they don’t seem to be doing much praying during Mass, they are immersed in prayer. (I know because our 5-year-old sometimes recites snippets of the creed when he plays with his trucks.) 

I, like many parents, have discovered that children learn by continual repetition. They don’t learn to walk the first time you stand them up. They don’t learn how to eat from a spoon after the first feeding. It all takes practice and patience. So, of course they don’t learn how to be silently still in Mass just because they are there. 

My hope is that people will grow to make families with little kids feel more welcome. We should not only embrace young families at Mass, but celebrate them. We have to nurture our community or there won’t be one. 

To read the entire post, visit

Noisy Children at Mass are Part of our Catholic Community

Bible Lens

If you love photography with words, as especially Bible verses as much as I do, you will ADORE this app.

Bible Lens takes your photos and assigns several choices of appropriate Bible verses to them. If you have another in mind, it will use that instead.

This was the first verse suggested for this photo I took at Backbone State Park in Iowa last summer.

I know what I will be doing with pretty much every photo I take from now on!

Love Your Family.

"If you want to change the world, go home and love your family."

-St. Teresa of Calcutta (Mother Teresa)

There is a lot of inspiration from Mother Teresa in our home, but this my favorite, and by far the most challenging. It can be easy to think that to change the world, I have to go somewhere else, when, in fact, I have to begin right where I am. 

Although Mother Teresa accomplished great things, she lived her life simply--through prayer and one small yes to God at a time helping the people nearest to her. 

Every wound cleaned mattered. 

Every glass of water mattered. 

Even when she couldn't feel God's presence, which actually encompassed several years of her life, He never left her and she never wavered from her prayer or her mission. 

Every load of clean uniforms matters.

Every time I patiently repeat myself three times matters. (It's the THIRD time that ALWAYS gets me. . . ugh.)

Every glass of water matters.

It all starts at my own kitchen sink, the most important mission field.

St. Catherine of Siena

"Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire."

St. Catherine of Siena

Do the Thing.

As much as I try to switch things up here, there inevitably is going to be a lot by Fr. Mike. As I've been listening to his homilies, and archived homilies,  I have tucked away a multitude of little reminders from them. There's a reason why he is one of the leading voices in the Catholic Church right now and has a bazillion (or so) followers and listeners. You can also find his 7-10 minute talks on Ascension Presents, or just wait and I will probably eventually post them here. :)
As Saturday begins, it can be easy to get caught up in the haveta-go-here, gotta-go-there, haveta-do-this, gotta-do-that.

Just
Do the Thing.

Quote from Bishop Barron

“In the end, we are not Catholics because of our leaders are flawless, but because we find the claims of Catholicism both compelling and beautiful. 

We are Catholics because of the Church speaks of the Trinitarian God whose very nature is love; of Jesus the Lord, crucified and risen from the dead; 

of the Holy Spirit, who inspires the followers [us] of Christ up and down the ages; 

of the sacraments, which convey the Christ-life to us; 

and of the saints, who are our friends in the spiritual order. 

This is the treasure; 

this is why we stay.” 

-Bishop Robert Barron, Letter to a Suffering Church

A Little Explanation

Realizing that some of my friends who are visiting from Facebook may not have seen the invitation I put on Wife and Mom Under Construction yesterday, this explains An Ordinary Hope a bit more . . . .

I've recently felt called to start something new apart from our family's activities--a place where I can share what I have been reading and listening to regarding hope, faith and the Church. Honestly, I'm not really sure what it's going to be, or how much I'll post, so we will all learn along the way. Some days I might post a pod cast I've heard, some may just be a quote, and some might be my own thoughts.

I read a lot, listen to a lot, but if I don't write it down, I tend to forget what I've read or listened to after a time. So, the purpose of this is two-fold--to share what has inspired or challenged me in my faith life, and to remind myself of these words when I need to revisit them--my collection of inspiration and hope.

The Fighting Virtue

Where to begin?

With this homily. 

No question.

This homily is what defined hope for me and it is a booster shot that I've revisited on so, so many morning walks and drives along South Dakota highways in the past year. Whenever I get discouraged, I come back to these words, that were on my refrigerator for most of last year, and now adorn the bulletin board on my desk.

"This world needs fighters.

This Church needs fighters.

You were born to fight, 

which means you were born to hope."

I love, love, love this one from Fr. Mike Schmitz, Feb. 17, 2019. 

(www.bulldogcatholic.org)

The Fighting Virtue