Articles from July 2009

…you’re missing a kitchen utensil and you look in the sandbox before rummaging through your kitchen drawers.

Problem solved.

Pregnant mothers are apparently at higher risk for serious infection and possible death upon contraction of the H1N1 flu virus. If you are expecting and feel flu-like symptoms coming on, head to the doctor immediately! A pregnant family member of one of the builders was hospitalized recently for H1N1. We’re glad to report that she and the baby are well–the little bean arrived a week later and doctors are relieved the baby had time to build antibodies while in the womb. Praise God for a happy outcome on all fronts!

LUKE’S BEEN FOUND!!
Please join us in prayers of thanksgiving and praise.

Message from his family: Luke Dillier was found this afternoon, Monday July 26th. He is safe and back at home with his family. Luke was identified by a DART Police officer who had just 5 minutes before seen one of the fliers our community has been posting. The family wishes to thank the entire community and the police officers for their support, love and prayers that brought Luke home safely to them. God Bless

***UPDATE: FOUND! Please pray for their family****

A local boy is missing from the Dallas area. I still think of this Building Cathedrals blog as an offshoot of our Princeton moms emails, but a quick glance at our site meter reminds me that we have many readers. Please pass along any information you may have and pray for Luke and his family.

6’2″, 200 lb and 15 year old Christopher Luke Dillier is missing. He goes by Luke. Luke went along with his brother and mother, to his brother’s violin lesson on Friday July 24, 2009 around 9 AM in the area of Coit and 635. He mentioned to his mother that he had forgotten something in the family’s van and left the instructor’s house to go out and retrieve it. He never returned.

From Charlotte’s blog:

Please take Luke’s picture and post it on your blog in the sidebar with a link to this Facebook page which is an open group (you don’t need an account). All of the evidence right now points to the strong probability that he left of his own free will. Whether he had help, nobody knows. What happened to him after he left, nobody knows. It is possible that he is still in this area. It is possible that he’s making his way to other parts of the country. If we can get his picture circulated far and wide, we stand the best chance of someone recognizing him. It only takes one to bring him home.

St. Raphael, protect him! St. Luke, protect him! St. Anthony, please find him!

In the June 19th issue of The Week magazine, an article once again reported that “new” studies have found that there are detrimental effects for children under the age of 2 who watch a lot of TV. In not-so-shocking news, the article reported that when the TV is on, adults speak 500-1000 less words per hour to their children, which can impede their children’s intellectual and emotional development. It doesn’t matter whether the programming is adult or child-focused; either way, adults aren’t speaking as much to children and this is why having the TV on can be detrimental to a child’s development.

So there you have it: your bit of shocking and not-so-shocking news for Monday

After my last parenting post regarding the trials we’ve experienced while raising our little angels (one little angel, in particular), I received many wonderful suggestions for books to read and digest. Thank you to many of you who reached out with kindness and support. I have taken your thoughts and comments to heart and have since been greatly encouraged on the homefront.

“The seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the Lord.”

We just returned from a wonderful vacation from Colorado, replete with exploring, digging, wading, swimming, collecting and just enjoying nature and family. We drove all day saturday, pulling in in time to tuck the boys into bed. Sunday was a strange day….a day of washing, folding, unpacking, grocery shopping, and organizing. We went to mass in the evening instead of at the crack of dawn, because my husband had to fly home from the opposite coast from a wedding the previous night.

Monday morning felt like it should be a saturday. Exhausted and out of our routine, coupled with the need to make doctors calls and talks with the insurance company, I felt that I had missed Sunday: a day for rest and refrehment, both physical and spiritual.

I have some vague idea to do less work on Sundays and to be more purposeful about spending time with family. But the reality is that the needs of little ones are so great and urgent that many things must still be done on Sunday. (“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.”) The CCC says, “On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body.” How do you all go about setting aside the Lord’s day for your family?

I remember being confused as a child when my mother would say, usually towards the end of our family vacations, that she couldn’t wait to sleep in her own bed again. This was her way of saying that she was ready for our family “vacation” to be over, and I could never quite understand why she would think this! After all, I loved vacation and would have stayed forever if I could have! Now that I’m the parent, I understand my mother’s words much better than I did as a child, although I must say that our first “real” family vacation was a great one. We just returned from a week at the beach with extended family, and we had a wonderful time! While it was nice to sleep in my own bed again, I could have definitely spent a couple more days playing on the beach and spending the days with family.

Partly, this is because the coming home can be so tough Not only did my hubby return to work this morning, but there is a whole laundry list of things that need to get done around the house. On top of that, I’ve made some outside commitments (to vacation Bible school at our church, to be exact) that have me feeling a bit in over my head. So, while it’s always good to be home, I’m already feeling ready for the next vacation

This past week spent at the beach with our family made me feel truly blessed: to have the wonderful family that we do, to have the opportunity to have a new experience with my hubby and kids, to be able to spend time resting away from the responsibilities of everyday life. These are truly blessings that many people do not enjoy, and we have tried to help our kids understand this and to be grateful. As we prepared for this family vacation, my husband and I agreed that our main goal was to create memories for our children, and in the process I think that we also created great memories for ourselves. As I finish organizing for VBS (and to think that just a year ago, I had no idea what VBS stood for!), I can just close my eyes and remember our family jumping through the waves and playing in the sand together. All in all, I would say that this trip was a winner

Only 5 days until we depart for our summer vacation at the Jersey Shore. I’m busy packing, cleaning, doing extra laundry, organizing, and PRAYING for peace this week. I hope your Monday is going well!

While watching my four-and-a-half-year-old daughter play outside in wind and sunshine this week, I was struck by something very refreshing. This child does nothing superfluous to herself. She cleans, feeds and dresses herself well. Vanity and peer pressure do not yet factor into her decisions. The imposed desire to improve her appearance for the approval or attention of others is still distant – or at least minimal – in her consciousness. As soon as she was able to make decisions for herself we allowed her the liberty of selecting clothing that is appropriate to her planned activity and the weather, regardless of how color coordinated or fashionable it was. She continues to avoid uncomfortable things because, well, they are uncomfortable. She lets me cut her hair into an, immensely-practical-albeit-not-super-fashionable, bowl cut. Smearing her face with chemical pigments or punching holes in her ears have not yet crossed the threshold of acceptability in her mind. She enjoys articles of clothing because of what they look like, not what they make her body look like. In other words, a practical but shiny one piece bathing suit will trump a revealing two piece any day.
I love this phase. I know it is fleeting. I know the day is coming when I will have a six year old who yearns to look like the older girls and who may not accept my explanations about practical and modest dress as readily as my current cutie. Nonetheless, I just wanted to share my appreciation of her total lack of vanity and the ease of living I witness in her as a result.

We are called to have “faith like a child”, well my new plan is to strive for the “humility of this child” as well.