Friday, April 05, 2013

I love being Catholic. And spring. (7qt)

These first three takes are inspired by Micaela and her 3 Reasons I Love Catholicism link up.  The last four are your typical dweej-nonsense.

(1)
The fundamental dignity of every person

If you didn't grow up believing in reincarnation as a fundamental bit of your belief system, this one might not be high on your list.  But for me....wow, this saved my life.  Anyway, you can read about the problem with reincarnation here, but the idea that I am really me and God loves ME, this exact individual person, gives my life purpose and meaning and ultimately joy.

(2)
The Eucharist

Sometimes people who believe in God will say "But why do I need to go to Church?  I can venerate God in my living room or on the side of a mountain...".  And you know what I say to that?  I totally agree.  I wouldn't really feel compelled to go to church either if it weren't for the treasurest treasure of them all:. The Eucharist.  Receiving the body of Jesus fortifies me.  Gives me spiritual strength to get through the week.  Brings me into communion directly with God.  That is pretty sweet.  The sweetest.

(3)
The Sacrament of Marriage

Y'all, I'm fixin' to drop a truth bomb right here: marriage is hard.  Even when you really get along and think the other person is freaking amazing and you laugh so hard together that tears stream down your cheeks and your special alone time (wink wink) is very special and super fun, things can sometimes suck.  Life is full of all sorts of crap you have to wade through, and then you have to do it TOGETHER.  Oh, doing it all together might seem romantical and stuff in the beginning, but when stuff really sucks, sometimes you just wanna do it your own way and all other imperfect people, especially spouses, need to take their opinions and ideas and temperments and personalities and shove it.

But that's not how marriage is.  That's not how relationships work.  And I know I'm rambling here, but without God's grace, without the principles of mutual respect and dignity that the Church knits into the very fabric of a sacramental marriage, I don't see how they can last.  I mean, I'm kind of not even shocked at divorce rates right now.  Maybe I should be?  It's just that marriage WITH God as the third member is challenging enough.  Without God?  On our own?  Making up stuff as we go along?  Fuggeddabout it.

(4)
Ehrmagherd.  Yesterday I went to this store that I've been meaning to go to and have been told to go and have been somehow not going to for almost three whole years.  And all I keep saying is "Why did I wait so long to go?????"

  
 

If you are localish to Battle Creek or Lansing (two locations), you must must must must check out Horrock's Farm Market.  I am going to evangelize for this store the same I do for that America's Test Kitchen cookbook, y'all.  It is incredible.  Wine bar, olive bar, local cheeses, craft beer, cheap fresh produce, great prices on Mexican and Asian food ingredients.  I can't say enough.  Just go there.  It ain't fancy, either.  Just the way I likes it!

(5)
The bulbs are FINALLY showing signs of life.  Whose idea was it to put the flower bed on the northeast corner of the yard?  In the shade?  She should slap herself.  #permawinter


(6)
Speaking of springtime magic, do you see what is on my child's feet in this most horribly blurry photo?





Flip flops, baby.  Bring on the dirty toenails and sweaty head smell.  Mama's ready.

(7)
Anyway, so we brought the van into the yard yesterday to clean out the crusty film of trash and toys that's been reproducing over the winter months in honor of no-socks-no-jacket-Thursday.  The dog is obsessed.  Obsessed.  Absolutely obsessed with being in the car.
He is a solid 7 years old and was leaping like a yelpy puppy with excitement when he saw what I was doing.  Do you know how many hours a day he would spend in the vehicle if we would let him? 26.  Yes, he would create two extra hours just so that he could frolic with his special motorized friend.  Weirdo.

Imma link it up crazy like today.  Ready?

Funny picture above in honor of Theme Thursday (go there see much funnier pics!)
First three takes about my much beloved faith for the linky at California to Korea (read 'em and love)
And the whole shebang is gettin' the 7 Quick Takes treatment, so hop over there to catch more o' dem.

Happy weekend!  Drink all the things!

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30 comments :

  1. Dwija, I love the smooth flow of profound and funny in all your posts. You're not afraid to evangelize and crack me up all in one post. But this time what's going to stick with me is Ehrmagherd. That is one funny word.

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  2. Dwija, how you can move me to tears and then make me crack up laughing in one fell swoop continues to amaze me.

    Your thoughts on marriage are spot on. When Charles and I first were married, we did a little ritual thing of touching our wedding rings together and saying: "Ring time, Nancy! SHAZAM!". This was our way of saying that we were in this together, for better and for worse as long as we both shall live. We would have incorporated it into our wedding liturgy, but the Bishop who witnessed our vows probably wouldn't have let us...

    And Horrock's Farm Market? I want to go to there.

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    1. The ring thing reminds me of our little ritual of "Go Team W(rest of our last name)!" with a high 5.

      I still sometimes pull that out if the moment is right.

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    2. Ha! We do a "Donaldsons RULE!" thing like "O'Doyles RULE!" from Billy Madison. I think having a team chant is a good thing for a marriage to have.

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    3. If we did a team chant, all four of our children plus the two children-in-law would rise up as one and shoot us. But then, none of them likes our last name. Eh, tough luck for them, right?

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  3. I am so happy that your very special alone time is super fun! And even happier that you blogged about! Ha!

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  4. A linking trifecta!!
    And yay for green shoots, flip-flops, happy dogs and sharing in the wonders of the Church!

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  5. Replies
    1. After the rough patches, our marriage is always even better than we imagined it could be. But you gotta make it to the other side, first, ya know?

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  6. I do not miss the MI cold! Our bulbs have been up and flowering for a while now. I have become such a cold weather whimp! My parents (who live in Buffalo) laugh at me when I complain how cold it is in MD.

    Love #3! I cannot imagine going through marriage without the grace of the sacrament and the eucharist! God is so good to us!

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  7. Marriage ranks up there as one of the hardest things I've ever "done", no doubt about it. Thank God for the Sacrament and the Eucharist!!
    We are slowly inching our way into the 40's here. Yay.

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  8. Oh, Catholicism. It's a whole other world. And it's true about the Eucharist. That gold box calls to you sometimes, it draws you in when you need it most. You run to it, because you know He's there, inside, even if you can't see Him. You know it because of the red light, and the other people on their knees, and because He told you so. It's really amazing.

    Still snow on the ground here. Kind of like that moment in childbirth when you give into the pain and realize there is no other way out of it except to go through it and you totally accept it, that's where I am now with the weather. Except even up to the moment the baby is actually being born I am usually still screaming "I can't do this!" so we all can see how far that analogy is really getting me. But Lent's over, so now I can drink and be cold at the same time. Yea? ;)

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  9. Love your #2 and I am so ready for flip flop weather! I think we may finally have turned the corner here as well. Have a great weekend!

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  11. The Eucharist makes me emotional. It makes me smile when I see/hear that other people love it too :)

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  12. I love everything about this post. And your dog is so stinking cute. :)

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  13. I am so jealous you get to go to Horrocks. I've been once and loved it. We have some great places up here at the top of the mitten, but Horrocks is the best!

    Loved #3 also! :)

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  14. Please send some of that nice, warmer, NO SNOW weather up here! We're due to get MORE of that nasty white stuff tonight into tomorrow :(.

    YAY for flip flops! I wore mine to town last night, it was 38*. I'm so over jackets and boots and bundling up against the cold in layers and layers of clothing.

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  15. Ohhh the grocery store. I LOVE the grocery store, especially awesome ones! Next time I'm in Michigan I will totally check that one out! Makes me crave some adult time at our Wegman's - I might have to sneak out some night soon after the kids are asleep for a little alone timr, just me and the produce section...

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  16. I am SO with you on #2! I once had a friend who didn't understand why I wouldn't hike with her on a Sunday. She stated that she felt so much closer to God in the mountains than she did in a building. I smiled my secret, Catholic, oh-if-ONLY-you-just-knew smile and likely shrugged and said something non-committal. Yeah, I love me some mountains and hiking and climbing, but ain't no place for me but Mass and the Eucharist on a Sunday!

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  17. Spring; the only time of year I have kids wearing both snow boots and Crocs at the same time. Hopefully we can hide those boots away for good soon. I wish we had more buds popping up but something keeps nibbling at them. Darn country living with its assortment of critters!
    Props for the link up multi-tasking.

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  18. AMEN, sister on marriage. WHYYYYYYYYYYY does no one speak of the WORK that must go into a successful marriage!!??!?!?!? WHY!!!?!?!??!?!?!?!

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  19. Even down here in the south it was freakin'- 40 degree weather the other day. I mean, c'mon!! There has to be SOME benefit here. Hoping for 70's today. And my dog LOVES the car. I mean, LOVES. If he thinks for the remotest second that he gets to go for a ride, he is CRAZY. Your dog and my dog would make quite the road-tripping pair.

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  20. 1. Amen!
    2. AAAAAAAAAAMEN!
    3. Preach it, sister! I married my dream guy and it is still so hard. Our faith makes us stronger and better and smoothes the rough patches.

    OhMyGosh, your dog is so cute and funny. As are you. 2 extra hours. You slay me.

    Thanks for linking!

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  21. What a packed blog post full of fun to read stuff. I love that furbaby you have there. What gorgeous eyes.

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  22. I love that you had three link-ups in one post. You are my blogging hero. ;-) Loved them all!

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  23. Loved this post.. I want to second how I love that you blend soul, honesty, and humor all in one post. Hard to believe but I realized I've been reading your blog for more than a year and a half now!

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  24. So thankful for this post this morning. I've had Harrock's suggested to me, but I couldn't remember the name and couldn't find it in the list of 80 grocery stores in Lansing. So I came over here and yay! We're going today!

    Hope you guys are hanging in there. We're praying.

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  25. Oh, horrocks! My happy place! We live about 20 minutes from the Lansing one and I try to get there every week or so. Their beer selection rules and in a few weeks the nursery area will rock my socks and make me want to plant all the things! So glad I found your blog!

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  26. Oh, horrocks! My happy place! We live about 20 minutes from the Lansing one and I try to get there every week or so. Their beer selection rules and in a few weeks the nursery area will rock my socks and make me want to plant all the things! So glad I found your blog!

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