Day Two/Three: Luke 1:39-45

Sorry I did not get this up yesterday. My youngest had a rough nap and was very needy of her mommy after she woke up.

Ahh, this is one of my favorite parts of the Gospel of Luke. Why? Because we see where some of the first half of the Hail Mary prayer comes from!

Growing up, I’ve heard this story a million times (exaggeration, but you understand what I am saying.), but I never really paid attention to the words. Yes, I know that Mary went to visit her cousin after getting the news that Elizabeth had conceived a child, but that greeting? I grew up as a nondenominational, not a Catholic, so we never really cared to look at the words more closely in the bible. We just knew that Elizabeth was pregnant and her baby leaped when she heard Mary’s voice.

I converted to Catholicism in 2007 and this was the first I had a conversation about the Hail Mary prayer and where you can find it in the bible. Of all the people in the bible, it was Elizabeth, her cousin, who has given us the first part of the Hail Mary! I would have thought it to be an Angel, someone with more meaning and value, not a relative, but that’s the thing! We, as human beings, have a hard time just stopping to look at the little things in life, or those who do not seem so important. We worry about what computer we have, or if we have the latest iPhone that’s out on the market. We never look and think about the little things we have in our lives. We know that our family is important, that’s why we put them before us. We want to make sure that our children and husbands or wives are well taken care of before we think about ourselves. But is that all? Would we say that our aunt or uncle is significant or as important as an Angel? Probably not and that is why this passage is so important and meaningful to our faith. Elizabeth has greeted our Heavenly Mother with the most important message for us: “Most blessed are you amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” For Mary is the mother of our Lord, Jesus!

There are many things I hope to accomplish this Lent and one of them is for me to just stop and look at my surroundings and to thank God for all that he has provided for me and to be thankful for the little things and not the material things in life.

Food for thought: What do you hope to accomplish this Lent?

Day one: Luke 1:26-38

What better place to start then the announcement of the birth of Jesus to Mary. This passage is one of many where Mary has given to herself to God’s will without question.

There were a couple of verses that really stuck out to me while reading. Luke 1:28-29 starts with Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, ‘…Hail favored one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.’ 

If this happened to someone today, I think they would be scared out of their mind. Who would ever take to a greeting like that? Or be told that they have found favor with God? BUT this has not happened in the modern world. For us to really understand the whole of the bible, we have to look back at when this actually took place. This took place in a different time and a different era, something none of us are remotely familiar with.

To be approached by an angel, someone so great and beautiful, to tell me that I am in favor with God would be something so remarkable and unbelievable in a sense. I would probably have the same reaction as Mary had, but I would feel so blessed by this greeting and would feel more at ease after the angel has told me to not be afraid.

I just really wanted to touch base with this because it’s not everyday that we ponder what it would be like to be approached by an angel telling us we have found favor with God.

The biggest verse that I believe everyone is familiar with is Luke 1:38: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” What does this truly mean to me? Why in the world would someone say this after being told that they were to bear a child without having any relations with a man?

Reading the few verses above Mary’s answer will help you to understand my own. It was basically Gabriel telling Mary that she will conceive a child and he will be named Jesus. She some what starts to question this because logically, she cannot conceive without having relations with a man. She was only betrothed to Joseph at this point and during those times (which most of us still practice to this day) if a woman had a relations outside of marriage, they were looked down upon. Of course this was Joseph’s thought when he found out, but that’s for a different post. I digress, even with some doubt in her, the angel assured her that nothing is impossible for God and said to her that her cousin (relative) has conceived was in her 6^th month. Elizabeth was pretty old to be having children, but again, nothing is impossible for God!

Going back to the questions I posed… What does this truly mean to me? The most trouble I have been having is being vulnerable with my husband. I close myself off a lot of times, especially when we have disagreements or misunderstandings. To see a young woman, possibly even younger than I am today, actually give herself up to the Lord, is astounding.  I think I would have a hard time with this, but through prayer and looking to Mary’s life, I believe I could overcome it be vulnerable to our Lord.

The second questioned I asked, I somewhat answered, but I want to explain more. During these times, carrying a child without being married first was seen as a sin and typically the woman was stoned to death for it. Now, in this day and age, it is still seen as a sin, but the women aren’t stoned to death, but you have to understand, the woman during Mary’s time did not have much of a place in society. Yes, they were not very outspoken, nor had a mind of their own like we do today, but that’s how it was, and they accepted it. And Mary knew this, yet she still said let it be done. That takes remarkable courage and strength to accept what is happening to her and to follow through with it, but it was like she knew that God would watch over her and protect her.

Knowing that God is there to help us, to protect us from harm/evil, is the greatest thing to stand by with your life. Even through the tough times that many go through, he is always there, guiding us to be better people, to help us to become more in the image that he created us to be.

This Lenten Year...

I normally have a hard time trying to think of things to give up during the Lenten Year. It usually boils down to "giving up cussing" or "giving up drinking soda." To me they seem so bland and over done by so many people.

This year I want to do something different. Yes, I will think of something to give up, but I will also be adding something. 

I always had an aversion to broadening my faith. My husband has given me plenty of things I could do to help my spiritual self, but I always fought it. A couple of weeks ago he asked me to look to the one person who has gone through the birth of a child, the raising of a child, and seeing her own son die while she was still alive. He ask that I look to our Heavenly Mother Mary for guidance with my own struggles with raising our two (almost three!) daughters. He asked that I read passages from the bible that has any kind of reference or mentions of Mary and to ask myself "what does this mean to me?" It's not an interpretation of the scripture I read, but more of a way to help me to understand why Mary did these things.

And so, I will be doing a post, hopefully, every day with my answer(s) to the passages I read from the bible. I guess you can say this will be part of the "diary" aspect of this blog, heh! :-)

I hope my passages may inspire you to look towards the scriptures for your own personal use and experience this Lenten year.




Food for thought: What does Lent mean to you?

Love Language Quiz

Last Tuesday at the mom's group I go to, we talked about this thing called the "Love Language." I have never head of it, but when we were discussing it, it was sounding quit interesting.

For our discussion, it was geared towards our children. You could also do this with your spouse/partner as well, but for that day it was our children. Each child has a different love language that they speak or show towards you. The way it was explained in the book we are reading from is that what our child (or spouse) do for us is what they would like for us to do to them. For instance (and what I started to notice with my eldest), if your child likes coming up to you randomly, may it be during their playtime or just out of the blue, they hand you a "gift." In return, this is something that your child would like to receive from you. It doesn't necessarily have to be a tangible gift (although who wouldn't like that!), but it could also be a gift of self during important moments or time of crisis.

I never really paid attention to the love language after our discussion last Tuesday, until my eldest kept coming up to me saying "here's your gift mommy." Of course, it was just one of her toys that she put in one of her play bags, but still. It made me realize that this may be something to do with her when she starts elementary school. I can start now with at least the gift of self since she has been going through a very sensitive stage right now, but just imagining the possibilities of what little "gifts" I can put in her backpack or lunch box. I'm kind of excited about it actually, hehe!

You can also do this quiz to figure out what language your spouse is "speaking," and yourself if you are not sure what you may be trying to speak to your husband. I will try to upload an image that have the questions and explanation of the Love Language Quiz for you, your spouse/partner, and child/children. I think it would be fun to let your spouse/partner take the quiz to see what language YOU are speaking!

Instructions (p1)

Quiz for Self and Spouse (p1)

Quiz for Self and Spouse (p2)

For each group, write down which answer is #5

Explanation of Love Languauge

Instructions (p2)

Quiz for children (p1)

Quiz for Child (p2)

Pumpkin Muffins

I got into the baking mood again last night. I didn't take much photos one this one like I did with the cherry pie I made. I was extremely tired from grocery shopping and holding my youngest for most of the day, but I just couldn't help myself!

I found this recipe right after my youngest was born. My mom had come up for a couple of weeks to help us out with our newborn and was going a lot of baking from some of my grandmother's recipes. One of them was pumpkin bread. Now, I have never really liked pumpkin bread until about 7 years ago and boy did I enjoy it immensely! My grandma's recipe uses canned pumpkin for her pumpkin bread, so I was curious to see if there were any recipes out there for muffins. I am a BIG muffin eater in my family, and I was glad I found this recipe. I actually found this recipe on babycenter.com and includes the nutritional facts you will receive when you eat it. It's super easy and taste absolutely wonderful. It's also great if you are diabetic!

Ingredients:

2 egg whites or 1 whole egg

1 TBS of light margarine, or 1 1/2 tsp of margarine + 1 1/2 tsp of water 

3/4 cup + 2 TBS of canned pumpkin (it equates to the whole can)

2/3 cup of brown sugar

3/4 cup skim milk 

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 tsp of ground ginger

1/2 tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg

1/2 cup of raisins, optional 

Prep:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine egg whites (or a whole egg), margarine, pumpkin, brown sugar, and milk.

2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3) Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until blended. Fold in raisins (or cherries) if desired.

4) Spray muffin pan cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

5)Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Yields 12 regular size muffins.

Ok, looks simple yes? Well I've made some adjustments to this recipe over the many times I have made this. Instead of skim milk, I used 2% since that is what we drink in our house. I had to play with the margarine because the recipe doesn't say if it needs to be melted or be at room temperature. I've tried it both ways and it does not seem to make a difference. I like the way the margarine mixes when it is at room temperature. I also used dried cherries instead of raisins and it is super yummy! 

Also, it says it yields 12 muffins.... not at all. It makes a little more than that, probably 24 regular sized muffins. I guess it depends on how much you fill the tin. I usually put 2/3 of the batter so that it doesn't overflow my pan when they rise up. I usually get 24 regular sized muffins out of the batter, but last night I did 12 muffins, and 16 mini muffins. It makes great snacks for the kids and I still get my own without having to share, hehe!

The website gives a recipe for a creamy orange spread. I haven't tried the spread myself since I typically don't use orange marmalade with anything, but by all means go for it!

source: http://www.babycenter.com/209_pumpkin-muffins_75320066_1.bc

My eldest with one of the mini pumpkin muffins